''Gerzog Edinburgski'' (russian: Герцог Эдинбургский) was an
armoured cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...
of the built for the
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...
. She was the
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
of and was named after
Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was the sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from ...
, Duke of Edinburgh (''Gerzog Edinburgski'' in Russian) who married
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (russian: Мария Александровна; – 24 October 1920) was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine; she wa ...
.
''Gerzog Edinburgski'' was originally to be named ''
Alexander Nevski
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...
'' but was renamed before launching. She was launched in 1875 and served in the
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
from 1879 to 1884 and in the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
from 1897 until ca. 1900. While in the Mediterranean, she deployed to
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
to serve in the
International Squadron, a multinational force made up of ships of the
Austro-Hungarian Navy
The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...
,
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
,
Imperial German Navy
The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
, Italian Royal Navy (''
Regia Marina
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...
''), Imperial Russian Navy, and Royal Navy that intervened in the 1897-1898 Greek uprising on Crete against rule by the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. She took part in the squadron's final operations when, as flagship of the commander of the squadron's Russian forces,
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
Nikolai Skrydlov
Nikolai Illarionovich Skrydlov (russian: Николай Илларионович Скрыдлов), (1 April 1844 – 4 October 1918) was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy.
Biography
Skrydlov was born in Pskov to the family of a career nav ...
, she departed Crete along with the British battleship (flagship of the commander of British forces in the squadron,
Rear-Admiral Gerard Noel) and the Italian battleship ''
Francesco Morosini'' (flagship of the admiral commanding the squadron's Italian ships) in steaming to
Milos with the French protected cruiser ''
Bugeaud
Thomas Robert Bugeaud, marquis de la Piconnerie, duc d'Isly (15 October 178410 June 1849) was a Marshal of France and Governor-General of Algeria.
Early life
He was born at Limoges, a member of a noble family of Périgord (Occitania), the you ...
'', flagship of the International Squadron's overall commander, Rear Admiral
Édouard Pottier. At Milos, they rendezvoused with
Prince George of Greece and Denmark aboard his
yacht
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
. After Prince George boarded ''Bugeaud'' on 20 December, ''Gerzog Edinburgski'', ''Francesco Morosini'', and ''Revenge'' escorted ''Bugeaud'' to Crete, where Prince George disembarked on 21 December 1898 to take office as the
High Commissioner of an autonomous
Cretan State under the
suzerainty
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...
of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the Cretan uprising to an end. The International Squadron then dissolved.
''Gerzog Edinburgski'' was used as a training vessel beginning in the early 1900s. She visited
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
in September 1902, and was in
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
*Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
*Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
**Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Brest, ...
the following month.
She was converted to a second-line
minelayer in 1908. The ship could carry 600
mines and was renamed ''Onega''. She was
hulked in 1915 as a
depot ship
A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing an ...
and renamed ''№ 4'', ''Barrikada'' \ «Баррикада», ''№ 9'') after the
Bolshevik Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...
. She was broken up in 1949.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
* Clowes, Sir William Laird. ''The Royal Navy: A History From the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria, Volume Seven''. London: Chatham Publishing, 1997. .
McTiernan, Mick, ''A Very Bad Place Indeed For a Soldier. The British involvement in the early stages of the European Intervention in Crete. 1897 - 1898,'' King's College, London, September 2014.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerzog Edinburgski
General-Admiral-class cruisers
1875 ships
Naval ships of Russia
Cruisers of the Imperial Russian Navy
Ships built at the Baltic Shipyard