Interesting facts about the cruiser Aurora. Surprising facts: Armored cruiser of the 1st rank “Aurora. Waiting for a new life
November 17, 1948 the cruiser "Aurora" was placed on the "eternal parking" at the quay wall of the Bolshaya Nevka. Since then, the legendary ship has become one of the main symbols of St. Petersburg, and the history of its service is covered with myths and legends.
Russian naval commander, Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky loved a non-standard approach to standard processes. Among the admiral's favorite quirks was the habit, which amused the sailors, of arbitrarily giving out "nicknames" to warships under his command. So, the battleship Sisoy Veliky became the Invalid Shelter, the yacht Svetlana became the Maid, the cruiser Admiral Nakhimov was named the Idiot, and the Aurora was awarded the title Prostitute Podzabornaya.
We are not responsible for Rozhdestvensky, but he would know what kind of ship he called!
The appearance of the legend
Contrary to the patriotic role of the ship in the history of the country, there is an opinion that the famous cruiser was built abroad. In fact, the miracle of shipbuilding arose in the same place where it ended its glorious path - in St. Petersburg. The development of the project began in 1895, but only in July 1897 a contract was signed with the Society of Franco-Russian Factories for the manufacture of machines, boilers and all the mechanisms listed in the specification. Such a late deadline for reaching an agreement was due to the reluctance of the management to share the drawings with the Baltic Plant, and over the next six years, the Admiralty Izhora and Aleksandrovsky iron foundries, the Ya.S. Perm. In total, four ship builders, officers of the Corps of Naval Engineers, were directly involved in the construction of the cruiser from September 1896 until the end of sea trials, that is, for almost eight years. Unfortunately, the author of the cruiser project is still unknown - in different sources two names are called: K.M. Tokarevsky and De Grofe, and officially the construction was carried out at the New Admiralty plant, under the leadership of the Society of Franco-Russian Plants.
Battle glory
The Aurora is known to many contemporaries only by the ambiguous fact of its naval biography, as the ship whose guns gave the signal to storm the Winter Palace. But the cruiser participated neither more nor less in four wars and two revolutions. Emperor Nicholas II himself, after the battle of Tsushima, telegraphed the crew: “I heartily thank you, commanders, officers and the crew of the cruisers Oleg, Aurora and Zhemchug for their unrequited, honest service in a difficult battle. May you all be consoled by the consciousness of a holy duty .Nicholas II". In 1968, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the cruiser "Aurora" for the outstanding services of Auror sailors in the Great October socialist revolution and the protection of its conquests, fruitful work to promote military and revolutionary traditions and in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Armed Forces was awarded the Order of the October Revolution, and in the harsh years of the Great Patriotic War The sailors of the Aurora took an active part in the heroic defense of Leningrad on the Dudergof Heights, as one of the paintings exhibited in the museum on the Aurora narrates.
The revolutionary nature of the ship
A rebellious ship is not glorious with a single shot. A few years before historical events In 1917, in 1905, the disarmed Aurora stood in the port of Manila under the control of the Americans after the Battle of Tsushima. The Philippine Islands turned out to be a prison for miraculously surviving sailors, forced to eat rotten food, unable to contact their relatives, seized by a brewing outburst of anger. They managed to raise an international signal on the mast, symbolizing the beginning of a riot, which led to the arrival of local police and port officials on board. The Aurors put forward their ultimatum - improved nutrition and immediate distribution of letters addressed to the sailors. The conditions were accepted by the Americans, but immediately led to a new outbreak of rebellion - opened envelopes and read letters finally informed the sailors about the horrors " bloody sunday". Upon returning to Russia, most of the sailors were decommissioned from the ship - in this way the tsarist government sought to separate the existing combat crews in order to avoid revolutionary sentiments. Attempts were unsuccessful, and in the future it was the sailors, including recruits, who formed the revolutionary backbone of Russia.
historical shot
The volley that signaled the assault on the Winter Palace on October 25, 1917 is one of the most colorful legends about the cruiser. They say that despite the well-known proverb about a woman on a ship, the sailors not only did not drive away the beauty who boarded the ship, but did not dare to disobey. A pale-faced, tall and slender girl of unearthly beauty gave the order “Blow!”, And then disappeared from sight. At the moment, it is not known for certain who dared to become the ghost of the Aurora, but most historians tend to believe that he was the famous journalist, Soviet writer and revolutionary Larisa Reisner. They say that she was not sent to the Aurora by chance, it was purely psychologically calculated that not a single sailor would refuse such a beautiful woman. Yes, and the shot, according to historians, was fired at 21:40, while the assault began after midnight, which, alas, does not confirm the theory of the Aurora's signal function in the capture. Nevertheless, the Aurora cruiser is depicted on the Order of the October Revolution, which he himself was awarded in 1967.
Explosions and drunken sailors
And where without myths about alcohol and its consequences? Recently, curious information has appeared from various sources about the participation of drunken revolutionary sailors of the Aurora in the explosion of Fort Pavel in 1923. It is even rumored that drunken sailors set fire to the mine depot located there. In July 1923, several sailors sailed here on a boat from the battleship "Paris Commune" (formerly "Sevastopol"). The "rest" of the sailors ended with a big fire. Cadets from the cruiser "Aurora" tried to put out a burning mine set on fire by sailors from the "Paris Commune". The fort rumbled for several days, and, they say, in all of Kronstadt there was not a single whole glass left. According to one of the members of the current crew of the cruiser, four sailors died during the fire, and many were awarded medals for their heroic help in extinguishing. The authors of the brochure "Forts of Kronstadt" were among the first to voice the version of the cause of the explosion. In Soviet books this question was bypassed, it was left to think that the evil counter-revolution was to blame.
Cruiser Star Life
Every schoolboy who is going to visit St. Petersburg definitely wants to visit the legendary ship that served faithfully in so many battles and is now a branch of the Central Naval Museum. In fact, in addition to military merit and excursion programs, the Aurora did not bypass the path of show business: in 1946, the cruiser played the role of the no less famous colleague of the Varyag in the film of the same name. To match, the "make-up artists" had to work: they installed a fake fourth tube and several guns on the ship, built a commander's balcony in the stern and redesigned the bow. These two ships are completely different from each other, but for the undemanding viewer, the “fake” went unnoticed. In parallel, the Aurora's hull was reinforced with concrete, which already meant that the ship could not be restored, which determined the future fate of the ship.
Ship or layout
It is believed that the Aurora is the only domestic ship that has retained its original appearance to this day. The legendary cruiser was put on "eternal parking" in front of the St. Petersburg Hotel, however, this is already half the ship that the rumor does not stop: the ship itself was towed to the village of Ruchi near the coastal strip of the Gulf of Finland, sawn into pieces, flooded and taken away by the patriots of the 80s. During the reconstruction in 1984, most of the main part and superstructures of the unforgettable Aurora were replaced, the current museum ship on the new hull used the technology of welds instead of the rivets that distinguished the original. The batteries, which included guns removed from the cruiser, died on the Dudergof heights, another gun was installed on the Baltiets armored train. About the historical gun that heralded the “new era of the proletarian revolution”, the senior midshipman, with a sly wink at us, said: “Read carefully the plate on the shield, it says that a historical shot was fired from the bow gun of the cruiser. And about the fact that they shot specifically from this gun - it is not said anywhere. ”
The ship, whose name was chosen by the emperor, is a symbol of St. Petersburg.
The shipyard "New Admiralty" exactly 107 years ago - on June 4, 1897 - began the construction of the legendary cruiser "Aurora". Emperor Nicholas II personally chose the name for the ship, and was also present at its launch in 1900.At the moment, the Aurora cruiser is being repaired in Kronstadt and is waiting to return to Petrogradskaya Embankment.
SPB.AIF.RU collected five interesting facts about the legendary ship, which will return to its historic place in 2016.
"Polkan" or "Bogatyr"
armored cruiser of the first rank "Aurora" was the last in a series of three ships with a displacement of 6.6 thousand tons, built at the shipyard "New Admiralty" in late XIX century.The first two ships of the project were named "Pallada" and "Diana". The third within a year was unnamed. According to the tradition that has existed since the time of Peter I, the right to give names to large ships belonged to the emperor. A list was placed in front of Nicholas II, in which there were such names: “Helion”, “Juno”, “Psyche”, “Polkan”, “Boyarin”, “Neptune”, “Askold”, “Bogatyr”, “Varangian” and “Aurora” ". The emperor emphasized the latter, and also, so that there were no mistakes, he wrote it in the margins with his own hand.
The ship under construction was named Aurora by order of April 6, 1897.However, earlier the three-masted sailing frigate had the same name. That Aurora was built in 1835 in St. Petersburg at the Okhta shipyard.
Cruiser Aurora". Campaign of 1902 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Crocodiles, lemurs and boa constrictor
The cruiser was solemnly launched in St. Petersburg in 1900. The ceremony was attended by Emperor Nicholas II, as well as Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna.
In 1905, when the Aurora sailed to the shores of the Land of the Rising Sun at the height of the Russo-Japanese War, two crocodiles lived on board the ship - they were the sailors' pets. The reptiles were taken on board in one of the African ports on the way to Japan.The crocodiles were called Sam and Togo. According to the memoirs of the writer Yuri Chernov, who spoke about the life of the sailors from the Aurora in the book The High Fate of the Aurora, there were also several chameleons, lemurs and a boa constrictor on board. The crew took exotic animals on board after the death of Sharik's dog.A difficult fate awaited the reptiles: Sam threw himself off the deck and died, and Togo was killed during the Battle of Tsushima.
Cruiser "Aurora" on trial June 14, 1903 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Cover yourself at Tsushima
Second squadron Pacific Fleet, which consisted of 38 warships and auxiliary vessels, reached the coast of Japan. Having crossed three oceans, she could not pass the Korea Strait. There, 89 ships of the Japanese fleet were waiting for her under the flag of Admiral Heihachiro Togo (ed. note - it was in his honor that the crocodile was named on the Aurora).
With the most powerful fire, the Japanese tried to disable the battleships.
The cruiser "Aurora" managed to survive in the battle at Tsushima, protecting the ships. The hull of the ship covered the wounded Russian battleships. In that battle, only three cruisers survived - Zhemchug, Oleg and Aurora. Also, one destroyer and two auxiliary ships were able to withstand the Russians. In the Tsushima battle, the Aurora received about 10 hits from 75 to 200 mm caliber shells, five guns were disabled. 16 crew members were killed, including the captain of the ship Yevgeny Egoriev. Also, 89 crew members were injured (according to other sources - 15 killed and 83 wounded).
A detachment of cruisers left for the Philippine port of Manila. The Americans disarmed the ships there. They left the foreign harbor only at the end of 1905, when a peace treaty with Japan was signed.
Sending the cruiser for repairs to Kronstadt. Photo: AiF / Irina Sergeenkova
Blank volley of the revolution
The cruiser "Aurora" is considered one of the main symbols of the October Revolution of 1917, primarily because of the historic shot on the night of October 26.Many people still have doubts about this volley. The fact is that the Aurora team immediately hurried to convince everyone who believed in the legend about the firing of live shells at the Winter Palace by sending a note to the newspaper. It said that only one blank salvo was fired from the ship, serving as a call for "vigilance and readiness."This shot also could not be called a signal shot, since it was fired at 21.40 Moscow time, and the assault on the Winter Palace began after midnight.It was important for the sailors, who gave a note in the Pravda newspaper, to emphasize that the ship did not fire live shells at the Winter Palace and did not threaten the lives of ordinary people.
Cruiser - actor
After the Great Patriotic War, the Aurora, which received serious damage, arrived for repairs at the Baltic Shipyard, where it was to be prepared for installation in an eternal parking lot.
At this time, the Soviet officials decided to give the ship to shoot in the film about the cruiser "Varyag". By that time, the latter was already resting at the bottom of the Irish Sea, so the legendary cruiser Aurora played its role, which the filmmakers had to significantly “make up”, changing its appearance. The film was presented to the public in 1946.
There were many memorable events in the history of the Aurora cruiser. The ship took part in the Battle of Tsushima, rescued the Italians during the earthquake and fought the Germans in the First World War. However, the cruiser is known to many thanks to the blank shot that gave the signal to storm the Winter Palace.
Of the three twin warships, all the glory went to him - the cruiser Aurora. Having descended from the stocks of the shipyard in 1900, he did not have anything outstanding for his time. It was an ordinary military vessel. But the events in which he had a chance to participate elevated the ship to the Olympus of glory. The history of the cruiser Aurora is rich in dangerous incidents, but it survived and survived to this day.
ship building
The construction of the cruiser "Aurora" began in 1896. He was last ship, from a series of three armored cruisers for the Pacific Ocean. The first ship was called "Pallas", and the second - "Diana". It is noteworthy that the project was not named after the first ship, as is customary, but after the second - "Diana". It is more sonorous and concise. The construction of shipyards began in 1985:
- The galley island was equipped for the hulls of the Pallada and Diana ships.
- The new Admiralty prepared the site for the Aurora.
All buildings were solemnly laid in one day, May 23, 1987. The aggravation of relations with Germany in the Baltic made adjustments to the program, and the terms for the manufacture of ships were maximally compressed. On May 11, 1900, the Aurora hull was the last to be launched to the water to applause. royal family. Further, superstructures and the installation of a power machine were made on the cruiser. And three years later, on July 17, the ship was put into operation.
For a whole year, the third cruiser had no name. In the documentation, it was referred to as the “Cruiser with a displacement of 6,630 tons, of the Diana type”. Only in 1987, Nicholas II was given a list of names: "Askold", "Aurora", "Bogatyr", "Boyarin", "Varyag", "Helion", "Naiad", "Neptune", "Psyche", "Polkan" and "Juno". Most of all, the king liked "Aurora", the name of the ancient Roman goddess.
Cruiser Specifications
The hull of the Aurora, like the other two cruisers of this type, is three-deck. He was recruited from mild steel for shipbuilding. The armored (carapace) deck was protected from enemy artillery fire. Each hold shared 13 bulkheads for the greatest survivability of the vessel after mine damage. home power point included 3 vertically mounted machines and 24 steam boilers. The generated energy was transferred to the shafts of 3 propellers. Coal was used as fuel, the reserves of which reached 1,000 tons.
| Project author | K. K. Ratnik, director of the Baltic Shipyard |
| Team (sailors, foremen), pers. | 550 |
| Officers, pers. | 20 |
| Displacement, t | 6731,3 |
| Length, m | 126,8 |
| Width, m | 16,8 |
| Draft, m | 6,4 |
| Maximum speed, knots | 19,2 |
| Maximum travel distance, miles | 4,000 (at 10 knots) |
| Power plant power, l/s | 11 610 |
| Hydroacoustics | Sound underwater communication station “Fessenden” (since 1916) |
| Means of communication | Radio station of the system of A. S. Popov |
| T.S.F system radio | |
| 75 mm Mangin floodlights (6 pcs.) | |
| Firing control devices | PUAO system N. K. Geisler |
| 1.4-meter rangefinders of the Barra-Struda system (2 pcs.) | |
| Armament | Artillery |
| mine | |
| Mine (nets) | |
| torpedo |
For the first time, a system of automatic water pumping was installed on ships of the Diana type. It consisted of 8 electric pumps. Initially, the innovation caused a lot of problems for the crews due to imperfections. Problems were eliminated only on the Aurora, just before the trip to the Pacific Ocean.
Battle of Tsushima
The heated military-political situation in the Far East required the immediate strengthening of the Pacific Fleet. From Baltic ships formed a detachment, which included the Aurora, cutting the time of its testing. On September 25, 1903, the cruiser anchored the Great Kronstadt raid. Throughout the journey, the ship's shortcomings constantly appeared, which the team eliminated on the go.
On May 1, 1905, the Second Pacific Squadron set out from the coast of Vietnam in the direction of Vladivostok. "Aurora" got the second place in the order of building ships and had to follow the wake of the cruiser "Oleg". Two weeks later, well after midnight on May 14, the Russian squadron entered the waters of the Korea Strait. There, Japanese ships were already waiting for them, which were discovered at 6:30. From 10:30 a battle began with the lead warships.
The Aurora entered the battle at 11:14. At first, the young ship supported the cruiser Vladimir Monomakh with fire, which dominated the skirmish with the Japanese armored cruiser Izumi. Over the course of an hour, the Japanese reinforced with reinforcements, and the Aurora got all the power of enemy fire. It was especially hard at 15:00.
The ship managed to maneuver from enemy torpedoes. But it was not possible to avoid multiple damage from enemy artillery salvos. One shell hit the wheelhouse, where shrapnel hit everyone. The captain was mortally wounded in the head. The nose compartment was flooded. The mast with the flag was knocked down and raised 6 times.
By 19:00, the surviving Russian ships of the Admiral Enkvist detachment: Oleg, Zhemchug and Aurora, retreated in a chaotic manner to the southwest, leaving the Korea Strait. The defeat became clear. The way to Vladivostok was closed. The Japanese planned to finish off the remnants of the squadron at night. But the Russian ships managed to break away. On the "Aurora" were killed: 1 officer (commander of the vessel captain of the 1st rank Evgeny Romanovich Egoriev) and 8 members of the team. Repaired in Manila, the cruiser returned to the Baltic Sea in 1906.
Italian oranges
In 1910, the Aurora was located not far from peninsula and entered the port of Messina for a reward. The cruiser expected gold medal, since two years earlier the team rescued Italians from an earthquake. On the first night of the mooring, the city began to flicker with flames. Russian sailors rushed to save the locals, ahead of the arrival of local firefighters. In addition to the gold medal, which had been waiting for the team for 2 years, the population thanked the crew for saving them from the fire by filling the holds with lemons and oranges.
Hull Incident
During the trip to the Pacific Ocean, the crews of Russian ships were in suspense and expected to meet the Japanese anywhere. The squadron's guns were at constant readiness. On the night of October 8-9, 100 km from the coast of Britain, on the shallows of Dogger Bank, an unknown three-masted vessel appeared, accompanied by a flotilla, moving in a cross course. Transport "Kamchatka" requested help, as it seemed to him that they were under attack.
"Aurora", "Dmitry Donskoy" and other ships turned on their searchlights and began to fire at unknown ships. When the two flotillas mixed up, the Aurora got 5 shells from her own, as in the darkness the cruiser was mistaken for a Japanese ship. Later it turned out that Russian ships collided with English fishing ships. Two people died as a result of the incident. The incident has complicated diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia.
Participation of the ship in the First World War
The cruiser "Aurora", as a warship, could not but take part in the First World War. However, they managed to show their combat power only in the middle of the military conflict in 1916. 75 mm naval guns were upgraded to effectively destroy low-flying aircraft. The combat duty of the Aurora determined a square in the Gulf of Riga, where the cruiser successfully suppressed air raids on military and civilian ships.
February Revolution
After moving the front, the Aurora was sent for maintenance. On February 27, 1917, a strike of workers took place at the Admiralteysky and Franco-Russian repair plants. The cruiser's crew wanted to join the strikers, but the ship's commander, M. I. Nikolsky, decided to calm the rebellious crew by firing at the departing sailors with a revolver. The sailors arrested the commander and shot him. After the mutiny, the commanders on the Aurora appointed a ship committee.
October Revolution: a historic volley
After February Revolution the cruiser was subordinate to the Provisional Revolutionary Committee. On October 24, 1917, the commander of the ship was given the task of climbing the Neva to the Nikolaevsky bridge, which was bred by the cadets. Aurora's energy mechanics managed to bring the bridge together, reuniting Vasilyevsky Island and downtown. By evening, the assault on the Winter Palace was being prepared. As a signal for the capture, they decided to use a cannon shot. At 21:54, the Aurora fired a blank salvo from her bow gun, which made the warship famous.
Shooting in the film about "Varangian"
In the summer of 1944, the administration of Leningrad, operating in the blockade, ordered the Aurora to be installed at the Petrogradskaya embankment with subsequent equipment on the museum cruiser. But the decision was postponed for 2 years, since in the fall of 1945 filming began on the legendary cruiser Varyag. The image of the "Varyag" went to "Aurora". To do this, the ship was restored after shelling by German aircraft, the 4th chimney was erected and the felling was built on.
The cruiser "Aurora" was supposed to sink into oblivion in the autumn of 1941. The People's Commissar of the Navy signed a decree on assigning this name to a new ship under construction. Two ships with the same name are prohibited in the fleet. But the outbreak of World War II prevented the destruction of the cruiser.
Base of the Nakhimov School
In 1948, the Aurora was moored at Petrogradskaya Embankment, across the street from the Nakhimov School. educational institution took over the cruiser. A training building for cadets and a branch of the Central Naval Museum were organized on the decks of the ship. In 1960 Soviet government assigned the status of a monument to the cruiser and transferred it to the maintenance of the state.
Repair and new life of the museum ship
On September 21, 2014 at 10:00 a.m., the Avrora cruiser was moored off the embankment and towed for repairs. The museum ship had to make its way to the Kronstadt steamship plant. At 14:50, the ship took a place in the dry dock named after. P. I. Veleshchinsky. On July 16, 2016, the Aurora was returned to Petrogradskaya Embankment. The ship's hull has been completely renovated. Created an updated exposition of the museum. On the opening day, Aurora was visited by 1,500 people.
"Aurora" and the October Revolution in the minds of the inhabitants of our country are inseparable from each other.
But ask about combat way the legendary cruiser passerby on the street - will not answer. Meanwhile true story Aurora is amazing, almost unbelievable...
1. SURVIVED "TWIN SISTERS"
In the year of the centenary of the revolution, the Aurora cruiser itself celebrates the round date. It was laid down in 1897 at the New Admiralty shipyard.
Over the 120 years of its history, Aurora managed to take part in three revolutions and two world wars, successfully surviving to this day, which cannot be said about its two older sisters.
The cruiser "Aurora" was built third after two similar cruisers - "Diana" and "Pallada". Shipbuilding work was carried out as part of the program "to equalize our naval forces with the German and with the forces of the secondary states adjacent to the Baltic."
The first armored cruisers of Russia had rather average military and driving characteristics. Diana and Pallada were the first to go on combat duty in 1903, reinforcing the Russian squadron in Port Arthur on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War.
During the heroic defense of the city, "Diana" and "Pallada" took an active part in it. On July 28, 1904, the squadron began an attempt to break through towards Vladivostok. "Diana", escaping from the battle, went to Saigon.
Returning to Russia, she took part in the First World War. After the revolution in 1922, the cruiser was sold to a Soviet-German joint-stock company and dismantled for scrap.
"Pallas" suffered a no less sad fate. Unable to escape from the besieged Port Arthur, she was blown up along with other ships after the decision was made to surrender the fortress.
2. "DAUGHTER" OF THE EMPEROR
Since the time of Peter I, naming large ships of the Russian fleet has been the prerogative of the autocrat. Aurora is no exception. Nicholas II was given a choice of eleven proposed names: "Aurora", "Askold", "Bogatyr", "Varangian", "Naiad", "Juno", "Helion", "Psyche", "Polkan", "Boyarin", " Neptune". After a moment's hesitation, the emperor succinctly wrote in the margin: "Aurora."
Why did the choice fall on the name of the ancient Roman goddess of the dawn? On this occasion, there is such a version: the cruiser was actually named after the sailing frigate "Aurora", which participated in the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky from the superior forces of the English squadron during Crimean War in 1854.
By the way, the total cost of building the Aurora was 6.4 million rubles in gold.
3. THREE YEARS TO REFINE
The ceremonial launching took place on May 11, 1900. On the upper deck of the ship, as part of the guard of honor, there was a 78-year-old sailor who served on the Aurora frigate.
However, until 1903, the Aurora was installing the lead machines, general ship systems and weapons. Only after that, the cruiser set off on her first long-distance voyage along the route Portland - Algiers - Bizerte - Piraeus - Port Said - the port of Suez.
In January 1904, the formation of Rear Admiral Virenius, which included the Aurora, received news of the outbreak of war with Japan and an order to return to the Baltic.
4. Crocodiles and Midshipmen
At home, the Aurora crew immediately received an order to immediately go to Vladivostok to help the Pacific squadron.
During a previous trip, while in an African port, the sailors took on board two pets - crocodiles named Sam and Togo. Various competitions were arranged with them, they tried to tame them, but in vain. The first crocodile escaped from the ship during training, the second was killed during the Battle of Tsushima on May 14, 1905.
On that fateful day, 50 ships of the Russian squadron entered the Korea Strait. When the Japanese cruisers opened heavy fire on the Russian transport ships, the Aurora, together with the flagship Oleg, entered the battle. They were assisted by "Vladimir Monomakh", "Dmitry Donskoy" and "Svetlana".
Unfortunately, the battle was lost. The captain of the cruiser Yevgeny Egoriev was killed. During the battle, several compartments of the ship were flooded, the guns were disabled, and a fire broke out on the cruiser. But the Aurora did not sink - she even tried to break through to Vladivostok. However, the fuel reserves were only enough to reach the Philippine Islands, where the cruiser was interned by the Americans in the port of Manila.
Only on October 10, 1905, after the end of the war with Japan, the Andreevsky flag was again raised on the ship, the Americans released the cruiser to their native shores. Until 1913, the ship remained a training ship for midshipmen and made long trips to Thailand and the island of Java.
5. CRUISER OR AIR DEFENSE ELEMENT?
Having fallen into the category of veterans, the Aurora became part of the ships on which the sentinel service of the fairways from the Gulf of Finland to the Botanichesky was assigned. But to fight in the First world war Aurora nevertheless had to, however, in a very unusual way. She played the role of air defense in the fight against low-flying low-speed enemy aircraft. And the cruiser coped with the task brilliantly.
6. THE STORM OF THE WINTER COST WITHOUT "AURORA"
For a long time it was believed that a salvo from the Aurora in October 1917 served as a signal for the start of the assault on the Winter Palace, but this is not so.
In September 1916, the Aurora stood up to the wall of the Admiralty Plant for repairs. At the end of February 1917, a strike began at the plant. Wanting to prevent possible unrest on the cruiser, its commander Nikolsky opened fire with a revolver on the sailors who arbitrarily decided to leave the ship, was killed by the crew, and a mutiny broke out on the cruiser.
From that moment on, the command of the Aurora was elected by the ship's committee. On the eve of the revolutionary events on October 24, 1917, the Aurora passed up the Bolshaya Neva to the Nikolaevsky Bridge, preventing the junkers from taking possession of it.
The ship's electricians brought together the openings of the bridge, connecting Vasilyevsky Island with the city center. It was assumed that on October 25 at 21.40 the cruiser would fire a couple of blank shots, meaning “Attention! Readiness.
The cannon of the Peter and Paul Fortress fired first, and only then the legendary blank shot was fired from the Aurora in the direction of Zimny. But he had nothing to do with the beginning of the assault.
The shot, as the Pravda newspaper later confirmed, was only to call on the revolutionary masses to be vigilant. The assault on the palace began a few hours later. The signal to him was given by volleys of guns from the Peter and Paul Fortress, two of which hit the windows of the palace.
7. VETERANS DO NOT AGE IN SOUL...
In 1922, it was decided to use the Aurora as a training ship for the Baltic Fleet. In 1924, already under the Soviet flag, the ship made a long trip around Scandinavia past Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. By 1941, they wanted to exclude the veteran cruiser from the fleet, but the war prevented this decision.
Some of the guns were removed from the cruiser and used both on other ships and as part of land batteries. On July 9, 1941, a special-purpose artillery battery was formed, known in the history of the defense of Leningrad as battery "A" according to capital letter cruiser name. Unfortunately, the same gun from which a blank shot was fired at the Winter Palace was lost in the battles.
In 1944, the Aurora cruiser was forever installed on the Neva as "a monument to the active participation of the sailors of the Baltic Fleet in the overthrow of the bourgeois Provisional Government." The cruiser took its place of eternal parking only on November 17, 1948, after it depicted another revolutionary cruiser, the Varyag, in the cinema.
Today, after another scheduled repair, the legendary cruiser Aurora has returned to its place of eternal parking.
Dmitry Sokolov.
TOPFOTO/FOTODOM,
Next year will pass under the sign of a big and controversial anniversary - the 100th anniversary of October revolution. On the eve of this date, Rodina will publish unknown documents and memoirs, analytical articles and transcripts of discussions, photographs and verbal portraits of the characters of 1917. And it opens the anniversary column "VECTORS OF THE REVOLUTION" with its main symbol.
I heard this text on March 30, 2003 on board the cruiser "Aurora", where the writer-sailor Viktor Konetsky was commemorated. He loved this ship very much. And those who came here loved Konetsky very much.
Tables were laid in the wardroom. They spoke quietly and not only about sad things. When Konetsky's friend was still naval school, the St. Petersburg actor Ivan Krasko began to read this letter, the admirals and officers also began to smile. But then they suddenly reached for scarves ...
_Igor Kots, editor-in-chief of Rodina
"Having received 18 shells in battle..."
Let's look at the article of the dashing Mars Fleet L. I call him so familiarly, because he loves artistic images very much. Let's start with the title of his article - "Pirate Cruiser".
"A ship of dubious fame, he writes, participated in the sadly ended campaign of the 2nd Pacific squadron of Admiral Rozhdestvensky on Far East and even managed to avoid death at the bottom of the Tsushima Strait - the cruiser broke through to Manila.
Here the most interesting word is "even" and also "at the bottom of the Tsushima Strait".
Ships do not die "at the bottom", but in the waves of the ocean. You still have to get to the bottom. And one must be able to avoid death in battle and break through the encirclement of enemy ships, having received 18 shells in battle, with the commander and 14 sailors killed, having 8 wounded officers and 75 wounded sailors on board ...
You, Mr. L., just try to imagine what it means for the crew to remain in battle without a commander. The ability to maneuver, the ability to shoot, the ability to close up holes, the ability to evade torpedoes and shells, the ability to work for all the dead and wounded, and, most importantly, not to lower the flag, but to break through the enemy’s encirclement, which is ten times stronger than you both in number and in terms of quality, and still walk from Tsushima to Manila on a ship riddled with shells.
"What are you dreaming about, cruiser Aurora, at the hour when the morning rises over the Neva?"
A spectacular ending for a novice writer in a literary circle. Aurora dreams of many things, a lot. Let's take the collection of articles "Russian Naval Art", volume 2, p. 364. An officer of the cruiser "Aurora" who participated in the Tsushima battle writes:
“Our teams held themselves in battle beyond praise. Each sailor showed remarkable composure, resourcefulness and fearlessness. Golden people and hearts! They cared not so much about themselves as about their commanders, warning about every enemy shot, covering the officers at the moment of rupture. Covered with wounds and blood, the sailors did not leave their places, preferring to die at the guns. They didn’t even go for dressings! You send, and they: "It will be in time, later, now there is no time!" Only thanks to the dedication of the team, we forced the Japanese cruisers to withdraw, sinking two ships , and four incapacitated, with a large roll. "
You write: "Aurora" is a monument to the Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless."
L. writes: "The revolutionary ferocity of Russian sailors, their sadistic hatred of naval officers has not yet been explained by historians. Were they a response to the specific aristocratic rudeness of graduates of the Naval Corps, or were they formed by the stress of service in a closed room of cabins and cockpits?"
What a hell of a hair dryer can be stress, if a thousand years sailors lived "in a closed room"? Of course, this is not a suite for you at the Astoria Hotel. And did they go to the nok-for-bom-bram ray in Perth at a height higher than the Pillar of Alexandria? Nice enclosed space!
Now about the ferocity and sadistic hatred of officers, which our historians still cannot explain.
Have you ever tried molting, Mr. L.? A line is a thin rope of white yarn, no thicker than an inch and a half in circumference.
"Specific aristocratic rudeness of graduates of the Naval Corps", of course, was. But you read Boris Lavrenev or Sergei Kolbasiev. Did Nakhimov, Lazarev, Ushakov and hundreds of others, whom Russia is proud of, not finish the Naval Corps?
Why are you, Mr. L., so angry at the sailors? Officers and admirals educate sailors and lead them into battle. Yes, for one voyage of the Aurora to Siam (autumn - winter 1911 - 1912) with the Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich on board, the sailors should have gone berserk. So much tyranny, rudeness Boris Vladimirovich managed to show in the campaign, not at all embarrassed by either sailor or officer eyes. He brought three chefs with him and 500 bottles of champagne.
You write further: "... the sailors of the Aurora, together with the" petrels of the revolution "from Kronstadt, tried to capture Petrograd in July 1917, and in October, having shelled the city, they finally earned their notorious fame of the" cruiser of the revolution ..."
Yes, the Aurora did not fire (it "fired" at you) at St. Petersburg, except for one idle clap in the direction of Zimny.
Lieutenant Commander Viktor Konetsky
ONLY THE FACTS
And the guns of the cruiser smashed the Nazis
- On May 11, 1900, the cruiser was solemnly launched at the St. Petersburg shipyard "New Admiralty". Received the name "Aurora" - in memory of the sailing frigate of the same name, which fought heroically during the Eastern War of 1854 near Petropavlovsk-on-Kamchatka.
- In 1903 he became part of the Russian Navy.
- Participated in the Russo-Japanese and World War I.
- On October 25, 1917, he fired a blank shot from a tank gun, which became the signal to storm the Winter Palace. From the "Aurora" was transferred written by V.I. Lenin's appeal "To the citizens of Russia!"
- Since 1923 she became a training ship.
- During the Great Patriotic War, Aurora sailors smashed the Nazis in the area of Voronya Gora and Pulkovo Heights from the main caliber guns taken from the ship.
- November 17, 1948 anchored at the place of eternal parking at the Petrograd embankment of Bolshaya Nevka.
- In 1956, a branch of the Central Naval Museum was opened on the ship.
