Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1894)

A Russian postcard of Petropavlovsk
History
Russian Empire
Name	Petropavlovsk
Namesake	Battle of Petropavlovsk
Builder	Galernii Island Shipyard, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Laid down	19 May 1892[Note 1]
Launched	9 November 1894
In service	1899
Fate	Sunk by mine off Port Arthur, 13 April 1904
General characteristics
Class and type	Petropavlovsk-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement	11,354 long tons (11,536 t)
Length	376 ft (114.6 m)
Beam	70 ft (21.3 m)
Draft	28 ft 3 in (8.61 m)
Installed power	14 cylindrical boilers 10,600 shp (7,900 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range	3,750 nmi (6,940 km; 4,320 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	725
Armament	2 × twin 12 in (305 mm) guns 4 × twin, 4 × single 6 in (152 mm) guns 12 × single 47 mm (1.9 in) guns 28 × single 37 mm (1.5 in) guns 4 × 15-inch (381 mm) torpedo tubes 2 × 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes 50 × mines
Armor	Nickel-steel armor Belt: 12–16 in (305–406 mm) Turrets: 10 in (254 mm) Deck: 2–3 in (51–76 mm)

Petropavlovsk (Russian: Петропавловск) was the lead ship of her class of three pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the last decade of the 19th century. The ship was sent to the Far East almost immediately after entering service in 1899, where she participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion the next year and was the flagship of the First Pacific Squadron.

At the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, Petropavlovsk took part in the Battle of Port Arthur, where she was lightly damaged by Japanese shells and failed to score any hits in return. On 13 April 1904, the ship sank after striking one or more mines near Port Arthur, in northeast China. Casualties numbered 27 officers and 652 enlisted men, including Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov, the commander of the squadron, and the war artist Vasily Vereshchagin. The arrival of the competent and aggressive Makarov after the Battle of Port Arthur had boosted Russian morale, which plummeted after his death.
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