''Rossiya'' (''russian: Россия'') was the 120/128-gun first-rate

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1830s. The ship was assigned to the

Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...

for her entire career. She was one of the ships deployed to Denmark during the First Schleswig War of 1848–50. She took part in the defence of Sveaborg during the Crimean War. ''Rossiya'' was decommissioned in 1856 and sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

in 1860.

Description

The constructor of ''Rossiya'' was Alexander Popov (father of the future admiral Andrei Popov). She was built as a First-rate 120-gun

. She was long between perpendiculars (195 ft keel), with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of about (55 feet and 4 or 8 inches according to various sources) and a

depth of hold Depth(s) may refer to: Science and mathematics * Three-dimensional space * Depth (ring theory), an important invariant of rings and modules in commutative and homological algebra * Depth in a well, the measurement between two points in an oil w ...

of about (24 feet 11 inches or 25 feet 1 inch according to various sources). She displaced 4,904 tons. At first she was equipped with an experimental uniform armament of 60-pounder cannons: long, short and

gunnade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main funct ...

s on the lower, middle and upper decks, respectively, with the 60-pounder

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...

s on the forecastle and

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

. Officially, these 60-pounders were considered as 48-pounders. Uniform armament of such a large caliber was installed on such a large ship of the Russian fleet for the first time. In 1854 and 1855, instead of the 60-pounders, 36-pounder gunnades and carronades were listed and part of the short 60-pounder guns were replaced by 36-pounder guns. The two 96-pounder carronades that were listed in 1839 disappeared later. Also at different times, several 2- pood or 1.5-pood

shell gun A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage so ...

s were listed.

Career

The ceremonial launch of the ship in the waters of

Neva River The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it i ...

took place on 5 July 5, 1839. The ship was tested in 1840 and in subsequent years sailed in the Baltic Sea (not further than Denmark). She was one of the ships sent to Denmark during the First Schleswig War of 1848–50 to help preserve Denmark's territorial integrity against Prussia. After the start of the Crimean War, she was based at the naval fortress Sveaborg (near Helsinki) with the Third Division of the Russian

, while most of the Fleet took up positions in Kronstadt, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. During the bombardment of Sweaborg on 28 July 1855, she took up an enfilading position between Bakholmen and Gustafsvard islands. Defending the position she received 85 holes, the crew lost 11 people killed and 89 wounded. At night, she left this position. According to Andrew Lambert, this was achieved by ''Stork'' and ''Snapper'' gunboats, armed with Lancaster guns. ''Rossiya'' was decommissioned in 1856; from 1857 she was used as a floating barracks and she was sold for scrap in 1860.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossiya Naval ships of Russia 1839 ships Ships of the line of the Imperial Russian Navy