Historically, warships named after the "Varyag" have had twists and turns, such as the aircraft carrier "Varyag" and the missile cruiser "Varyag". Most netizens know the story of these two ships, so I won't talk about it here. Today I will tell you about a protective cruiser named after the "Varyag", which is also very famous in history.
"Varyag" is a symbol of pioneering spirit
First of all, it should be said that the protective cruiser "Varyag" was not built by Tsarist Russia itself, but commissioned to the United States. At the end of the 19th century, in order to compete with Japan for hegemony in the Far East, Tsarist Russia vigorously expanded its navy, and all shipyards in the country were building warships. In addition to Britain, which had a bad relationship, Germany, France, and the United States were all helping Tsarist Russia build large warships at that time, among which the United States was responsible for building a battleship and a large protective cruiser, and this large protective cruiser was the "Varyag". Why was it named "Varyag"? "Varyag" is the name given to the Vikings by the Eastern Slavs, who eventually integrated into the Russian nation, and the word "Varyag" became a symbol of fighting the storm and forging ahead.
On April 11, 1898, the Russian Admiralty signed a construction contract with the Crump shipyard in Philadelphia, the United States, in St. Petersburg, stipulating that the "Varyag" must be completed within 20 months after the arrival of the Russian observer group at the American shipyard, and that the rest of the construction was provided by the United States, except for the artillery and torpedo weapons produced by Russia, with a total contract value of 4.233 million rubles (about 2.138 million US dollars).
"Varyag" under sail
The main characteristics of the protective cruiser "Varyag" are: length 127 meters, width 15.9 meters, draft 6.3 meters, conning tower armor thickness 152 mm, dome deck slope thickness 76 mm, flat thickness 38 mm, standard displacement 6500 tons, crew establishment 580 people. It is powered by two three-expansion reciprocating steam engines, 20,000 horsepower, twin shafts, 23 knots, and a cruising range of 5,000 nautical miles/10 knots. Equipped with 12 152 mm/45x radial rapid-fire guns, single mounted, 8 on the upper deck, 1 on each side of the bow and stern, and no gun shield. There are also 12 75 mm/50 x radial rapid-fire guns, 8 47 mm rapid-fire guns, 2 37 mm rapid-fire guns, and 6 381 mm torpedo tubes. In addition, in order to support the landing operation of sailors, two 63.5 mm camp guns were also carried.
"Varyag" was built with a pit that later had to sink itself! Due to the lax signing of the contract, the United States and Russia disagreed on the main equipment for the ship, and were forced to switch to the boiler produced by the French company Nicklaus due to economic reasons, resulting in a significant decline in performance. A total of 30 French Nicklaus boilers were installed on the Varyag, and the biggest disadvantage of this boiler was that its performance was greatly reduced after a period of use.
Diagram of the line "Varyag".
On July 12, 1900, the "Varyag" carried out its first sea survey near Boston, USA, and reached a maximum speed of 24.6 knots, which is amazing. But the problem came, after 8 hours of sailing, the left engine top cover burst, the high-pressure cylinder was also seriously damaged, and the repair work was up to 2 months. The second sea survey began on October 21, 1900, with a maximum speed of 23.2 knots, which also met the design requirements, and the power facilities were intact.
After the "Varyag" was in service for some time, the Russians finally discovered the fundamental problem - the power system required frequent maintenance, the boiler flue was cleaned frequently, and there were several pipe bursts during the voyage. After overhaul, it was found that the cylinder was unstable due to uneven steam distribution during construction. In the autumn of 1903, Russian mechanics carried out a major overhaul of the power system, and it turned out that the speed could only reach 20 knots for a short time, and 14 knots for a long voyage. The only way to solve the problem was to replace all the boilers, but this was impossible for a new cruiser that had just been in service for two years. Soon the Russians tasted the bitter fruit!
A ship bell with the inscription "Varyag".
In 1904, relations between Japan and Russia deteriorated, and on February 5, Japan announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Russia, which was the signal for war. On 6 February, the Japanese Combined Fleet sent a large number of warships to escort the Japanese Army to Incheon, Korea, in an attempt to land at the port of Jemulpo. At that time, the Russian Navy's protective cruiser "Varyag" was anchored in the port of Jemulpo together with the gunboat "Korean", but they had no idea of the coming war, let alone that the Japanese would go to war without declaring it.
At that time, the Japanese Combined Fleet consisted of 1 armored cruiser ("Asama"), 5 protective cruisers ("Chiyoda", "Naniwa", "Takachiho", "Akashi" and "Shintakaka") and 4 destroyers, in addition to a number of torpedo boats, and the Japanese side had an overwhelming advantage. However, the Russian Inchon Detachment, which was in an absolute contrarian situation, did not accept the Japanese ultimatum (lay down its arms and surrender), and the "Varyag" took the "Korean" to the front, anchored and set off one after another, and fought to the death with the besieging Japanese ships.
Japanese armored cruiser "Asama".
After a fierce artillery battle, the Varyag conning tower was shot, the wheelhouse was destroyed, and most of the ship's guns were unable to fire. The incapacitated "Varyag" was unwilling to surrender and finally had to sink itself in case the warship was captured by the Japanese. After the war, the desperate combat behavior of the "Varyag" was greatly appreciated by both Russia and Japan, and the navies of various countries who watched the battle also spoke highly of it -- the "Varyag" set off at anchor with the salute of the officers and men of warships of various countries.
In fact, if it were not for the problem with the power system of the "Varyag", the "Varyag" would have been able to rush out with its maximum speed of 23 knots, and the maximum speed of the Japanese cruisers participating in the battle would have been around 20 knots. As for destroyers and torpedo boats, although they are fast, they do not have endurance, and the effective range of early torpedoes is too short, often firing at a distance of 300 meters, the problem is that it is difficult to get so close, and the large number of rapid-fire guns on the "Varyag" is not vegetarian. However, the power system of the "Varyag" failed, and it could only reach 20 knots in a short time, and it could not exceed 14 knots during a long voyage, and it could not run away at all!