View source for Russian ironclad Kreml

{{Short description|Imperial Russian Navy's  Pervenets-class broadside ironclad}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Russian Fleet (1892) il. 16 (cropped).jpg
|Ship caption=
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=[[Russian Empire]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Russian Empire|naval}}
|Ship name= ''Kreml'' ({{langx|ru|Кремль}})
|Ship namesake=[[Kremlin]]
|Ship ordered=20 April 1863
|Ship builder=Semiannikov & Poletika, [[St. Petersburg]]
|Ship original cost=898,000 [[ruble]]s (hull and machinery only)
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=23 December 1863<ref group=Note>All dates used in this article are [[Old Style and New Style dates|New Style]].</ref>
|Ship launched=26 August 1865
|Ship commissioned=1866
|Ship struck=12 October 1905
|Ship fate=Sold for [[ship breaking|scrap]], 8 September 1908
|Ship reclassified=Coast defense ironclad, 13 February 1892
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(as completed)
|Ship class={{sclass|Pervenets|ironclad|0}} [[Ironclad warship#Broadside ironclads|broadside ironclad]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|3664|LT|t}} 
|Ship length={{convert|221|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} ([[Length overall|o/a]])
|Ship beam={{convert|53|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|15|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} (mean)
|Ship power=*{{convert|913|ihp|lk=in|abbr=on}}
*4 rectangular [[fire-tube boiler]]s
|Ship propulsion=*1 shaft
*1 horizontal [[Marine steam engine#Trunk|trunk steam engine]]
|Ship speed={{convert|8|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|2000|nmi|lk=in}}
|Ship complement=430 officers and crewmen
|Ship armament=17 × {{convert|7.72|in|adj=on|0}} 60-pounder [[smoothbore]] guns
|Ship armor=*[[Belt armor|Belt]]: {{convert|4.5|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}
*[[Deck (ship)|Deck]]: {{convert|1.14|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}
*[[Bulkhead (partition)|Bulkhead]]s: {{convert|4.5|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''Russian ironclad ''Kreml'' ({{langx|ru|Кремль}})''' was the third and last {{sclass|Pervenets|ironclad|0}} [[Ironclad warship#Broadside ironclads|broadside ironclad]] built for the [[Imperial Russian Navy]] during the mid-1860s. She joined the [[Baltic Fleet]] upon completion and accidentally sank a Russian [[frigate]] in 1869. The ship was assigned to the Gunnery Training Detachment in 1870 and was frequently rearmed. ''Kreml'' sank in shallow water after a storm in 1885; she was [[Marine salvage|refloated]] and returned to service. The ship was placed in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] in 1904 and disarmed the following year before being sold for [[ship breaking|scrap]] in 1908.

==Design and description==
The ''Pervenents''-class ironclads were designed as [[coastal defence ship]]s to protect the approaches to [[Saint Petersburg]] and were referred to as "self-propelled armored [[floating battery|floating batteries]]". As such, heavy armament and protection were the most important factors in their design.<ref>McLaughlin, pp. 115</ref>

''Kreml'' was {{convert|221|ft|m|1}} long [[length overall|overall]], with a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|53|ft|m|1}} and a [[mean]] [[Draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|15|ft|m|1}}. [[Displacement (ship)|Displacing]] {{convert|3664|LT|t}} at [[Full-load displacement|full load]], she was somewhat larger than her [[sister ship|half-sisters]] and displaced over {{convert|300|LT|t}} more. She was fitted with a [[naval ram|ram]] [[bow (ship)|bow]] and lacked the stern ram of her half-sisters. Based on the experiences with her sister {{ship|Russian ironclad|Pervenets||2}}, [[bilge keel]]s {{convert|12|in|0}} deep and {{convert|20|ft|1}} long were fitted to reduce the ship's rolling. The ship did not steer well and historian Stephen McLaughlin notes that she had "an unpredictable habit of suddenly lurching to one side or another", probably as a result of poor water flow to the rudder. ''Kreml'' required six men to man her [[Ship's wheel|wheel]] and her total crew numbered 459 officers and enlisted men.<ref>McLaughlin, pp. 117–19</ref>

As a cost-cutting measure, the ship received the refurbished horizontal [[Trunk engine|trunk steam engine]] from the wooden [[frigate]] {{ship|Russian frigate|Ilya Muromets||2}}, built by [[Carr and MacPherson]] of [[Saint Petersburg]]. It had two cylinders, each with a  [[bore (engine)|bore]] of {{convert|83.6|in}} and a [[stroke (engine)|stroke]] of {{convert|36|in}}. Using steam produced by four rectangular [[fire-tube boiler]]s to drive a single {{convert|13|ft|6|in|adj=on}} propeller, the engine was designed to produce {{convert|870|ihp}} and gave the ship a maximum speed of {{convert|7.08|-|8.93|kn|lk=in}} during her [[sea trials]] on 18 October 1866. ''Kreml''{{'}}s boilers proved to be unable to last more than about a decade in service before they had to be replaced, notably in 1876, 1886, 1892 and 1901. To save money, the replacement boilers were taken from retiring ships and reconditioned before installation in ''Kreml''.<ref>McLaughlin, pp. 117, 125–26</ref>

The ship was intended to be rigged as a three-masted [[schooner]], like her half-sisters, but her first captain suggested that her [[Mast (sailing)|fore-]] and mainmasts be [[square rig]]ged to take advantage of her more seaworthy hull form. ''Kreml''{{'}}s masts were hollow iron and were used to ventilate the lower decks, the first such masts in the Imperial Russian Navy. To protect her leadsmen, sailors who determined the depth of water under the [[keel]], in combat, ''Kreml'' was fitted with two [[Depth sounding|sounding tubes]] that led from the gun deck through the bottom of the hull.<ref>McLaughlin, pp. 119, 126</ref>

''Kreml'' was completed with 17 of the most powerful guns available to the Russians, the {{convert|7.72|in|adj=on|0}} 60-pounder [[smoothbore]] gun. Fifteen were mounted on the [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]] and two guns were placed in [[pivot gun|pivot mounts]] on the upper [[deck (ship)|deck]] to serve as [[chase gun]]s. Unfortunately, it proved to be incapable of penetrating {{convert|4.5|in|0}} of [[wrought iron]] armor at a distance of only {{convert |200|yd|0}} during trials in 1859–60. Despite this, the ship continued to be armed with varying numbers of these guns, as well as {{convert|8|in|0|adj=on}} [[Rifling|rifled]] guns throughout her career. Her upper deck armament changed even more frequently and used different configurations of {{convert|6|in|0|adj=on}} and 8-inch rifled guns in addition to varying numbers of smaller guns.<ref>McLaughlin, pp. 114, 121–22</ref>

The ship's armor configuration differed from that of her half-sisters. Most of her side was covered by {{convert|4.5|in|adj=on}} of [[wrought iron|wrought-iron]] armor, but transverse armored [[bulkhead (partition)|bulkhead]]s of the same thickness protected the gun deck from [[raking fire]] and the upper part of the hull outside the bulkheads was unprotected. The [[teak]] backing of the armor was increased to {{convert|15|in|0}}. ''Kreml''{{'}}s deck had a maximum thickness of {{convert|1.14|in}}. The [[conning tower]] was also protected by 4.5 inches of armor. The ship's hull was divided by four watertight transverse and two longitudinal [[bulkhead (partition)|bulkhead]]s for protection against underwater damage.<ref>McLaughlin, pp. 117, 122, 124</ref>

==Construction and service==
''Kreml'', named after the [[Kremlin]],<ref>Silverstone, p. 378</ref> was ordered on 20 April 1863 when a contract was signed with the Russian shipbuilder Semiannikov & Poletika for a total cost of 898,000 [[Russian ruble|rubles]]. Construction had not yet begun when the Russian [[Admiralty Board (Russian Empire)|Admiralty Board]] amended the contract on 20 July to shorten the construction time by one year for a payment of an extra 48,000 rubles in response to the adverse foreign reaction to the brutal Russian suppression of the [[January Uprising|revolts in Poland and Lithuania]] that year. Fearing attack by Britain and France, the Board switched priority to the smaller {{sclass|Uragan|monitor|3|warship}}s shortly afterwards in the belief that they could be completed more quickly so that progress on ''Kreml'' slowed to a crawl once construction began on 2 October. The ship was not formally [[Keel laying|laid down]] until 23 December and she was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 26 August 1865.<ref>McLaughlin, pp. 115–16</ref>

The ship entered service in 1866 with the Baltic Fleet.<ref>McLaughlin, pp. 119, 121, 128</ref> During exercises with {{ship|Russian frigate|Oleg|1860|2}}, {{ship|Russian ironclad|Pervenets||2}}, {{ship|Russian ironclad|Petropavlovsk||2}} and {{ship|Russian corvette|Vityaz|1862|2}} off [[Hogland]] on 15 August 1869, she accidentally collided with and sank the wooden [[steam frigate]] ''Oleg'', killing 16 of the 445 crew of ''Oleg''. Survivors were rescued by the four ships.<ref name=PMG260869>{{Cite news |title=This Evening's News |newspaper=Pall Mall Gazette |location=London |date=26 August 1869 |issue=1416 }}</ref><ref name=S270869>{{Cite news |title=Russia |newspaper=The Standard |location=London |date=27 August 1869 |issue=14061 |page=5 }}</ref> ''Kreml'' was only slightly damaged. She was assigned to the Gunnery Training Detachment in March 1870 and remained with it for the bulk of her career. In November 1881, the steam-powered steering gear taken from the ironclad {{ship|Russian ironclad|Petr Veliky||2}} was installed which required the installation of a high-pressure [[donkey boiler]] in the cramped boiler room. This proved to be more trouble than it was worth and was removed two years later. ''Kreml'' was caught by a storm on 10 June 1885 while sailing for [[Reval]] and began taking on so much water that her [[captain (nautical)|captain]] decided to make for shallow water; she reached [[Kunda Bay]], on the Estonian coast, under sail alone after her engine [[bearing (mechanical)|bearing]]s overheated and forced the engine to be stopped. Once there, the progressive flooding continued through the ventilation shafts, sounding tubes, and defective valves in the internal bulkheads, and the ship sank in {{convert|26|ft|m|1}} of water. ''Kreml'' was refloated on five days later and repaired in [[Kronstadt]]. She was reclassified as [[coast defense ship|coast-defense]] ironclad on 13 February 1892 and placed in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] on 24 December 1904. ''Kreml'' was disarmed and turned over to the Port of Kronstadt for disposal on 15 September 1905. She was stricken from the [[Navy List]] on 12 October and sold for scrap on 8 September 1908.<ref>McLaughlin, pp. 119, 121, 128</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
* {{cite book|chapter=Russia's First Ironclads: Pervenets, Ne tron menia and Kreml|author=McLaughlin, Stephen|editor=Jordan, John|publisher=Conway|location=London|year=2011|title=Warship 2011|isbn=978-1-84486-133-0|pages=112–29}}
* {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984|publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor=Robert Gardiner|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich|year=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
*{{cite book|last=Watts|first=Anthony J.|title=The Imperial Russian Navy|publisher=Arms and Armour|location=London|year=1990|isbn=0-85368-912-1}}

{{Pervenetz class ironclad}}
{{1885 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreml}}
[[Category:Naval ships of Russia]]
[[Category:1865 ships]]
[[Category:Ironclad warships of the Imperial Russian Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in June 1885]]