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Russian armoured cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi

DmitriyDonskoy1880-1905.jpg
Dmitrii Donskoi
History
Russian Empire
Name: Dmitrii Donskoi
Namesake: Dmitry Donskoy
Builder: New Admiralty Shipyard, Saint Petersburg
Cost: 3,421,468 rubles
Laid down: 21 May 1881
Launched: 30 August 1883
Completed: Early 1885
Struck: 28 September 1905
Fate: Scuttled after the Battle of Tsushima, 29 May 1905
General characteristics (as built)
Type: Armoured cruiser
Displacement: 5,882 long tons (5,976 t)
Length: 306 ft 5 in (93.4 m)
Beam: 58 ft 1 in (17.7 m)
Draught: 25 ft 10 in (7.88 m)
Installed power: 7,000 ihp (5,200 kW)
Propulsion:
Sail plan: ship rigged
Speed: about 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Range: 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 591
Armament:
Armour:

Dmitrii Donskoi (Russian: Дмитрий Донской) was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the early 1880s. She was designed as a commerce raider and equipped with a full suite of sails to economize on coal consumption. The ship spent the bulk of her career abroad, either in the Far East or in the Mediterranean. Dmitrii Donskoi was assigned to the Second Pacific Squadron after the Japanese destroyed the Russian ships deployed in the Far East during the early stages of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The squadron was intercepted by the Japanese fleet in May 1905 in the Battle of Tsushima after a lengthy voyage from the Baltic. The cruiser was not seriously damaged during the initial fighting and tried to continue on to Vladivostok after the first day's fighting. She was spotted by several groups of Japanese warships the following day and was badly damaged in the resulting combat. Her captain ordered the crew ashore off Ulleungdo Island and had Dmitrii Donskoi scuttled offshore.

Dmitrii Donskoi was classified as a semi-armoured frigate and was an improved version of her half-sister Vladimir Monomakh. The ship was designed with long endurance and high speed to facilitate her role as a commerce raider. She was laid out as a central battery ironclad with her armament concentrated amidships. The iron-hulled ship was fitted with a ram and was sheathed in wood and copper to reduce fouling. Her crew numbered approximately 550 officers and men.


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