''Chervona Ukraina'' (

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: "Червона Україна") was an

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

of the Soviet Navy assigned to the Black Sea Fleet. During World War II, she supported Soviet forces during the Sieges of Odessa and

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

before being sunk at

on 12 November 1941 by German aircraft. She was raised in 1947 and was used as a training hulk before becoming a target ship in 1950.

Description

''Chervona Ukraina'' displaced at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

. The ship had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a beam of and a mean draught of about . She was powered by four Curtiss-AEG steam turbines, each driving one shaft, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The engines were powered by 14

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gen ...

s. Four were coal-fired while the rest were mixed-firing. The ship carried a maximum of of coal and an additional of fuel oil that was sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate in the mixed-firing boilers. At full capacity, she could steam for at a speed of . ''Chervona Ukraina'' was designed to carry about 630 officers and men.Breyer, p. 118 The ship's main armament consisted of fifteen 55-

calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...

B7 Pattern 1913 guns in single mounts, six of which were mounted in casemates. Her anti-aircraft armament consisted of four guns. ''Chervona Ukraina'' also mounted twelve above-water

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in triple swivelling mounts. ''Chervona Ukraina''s waterline

belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practit ...

consisted of of

Krupp cemented armour Krupp armour was a type of steel naval armour used in the construction of capital ships starting shortly before the end of the nineteenth century. It was developed by Germany's Krupp Arms Works in 1893 and quickly replaced Harvey armour as the pr ...

and above it was an upper belt thick. The gun shields were protected by of armour. Each of the armoured decks was thick. The armour of the conning tower was thick.

Service history

She was laid down on 3 October 1913 as ''Admiral Nakhimov'' after

Pavel Nakhimov Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov (russian: Павел Степанович Нахимов, ; – ) was a Russian Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy known for his victory in the Battle of Sinop and his leadership in the Siege of Sevastopol (1 ...

and launched on 6 November 1915. Construction was abandoned in 1917 during the

October 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 Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

when the ship was about 80% complete. In the second half of 1918, the Marine Department of Hetman

Pavlo Skoropadskyi Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi ( uk, Павло Петрович Скоропадський, Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi; – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, decorated Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian Army ...

restarted construction of the ship. On 25 January 1919, the ship was formally renamed ''Hetman

Bogdan Khmelnitsky Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...

'', but Nikolayev was captured shortly afterward by French-led Allied military forces. At the start of the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

, the ship was run aground at the fitting dock in Nikolayev by the shipyard workers to hinder the evacuation by the

Whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

in 1919. The ship was raised by the Soviets in 1920 pending a decision on her disposition. The ship was renamed to ''Chervona Ukraina'' on 7 December 1922. It was decided to finish her in 1923 and the job was completed in 1927 to nearly the original design. She was modified to handle aircraft by adding cranes on either side of the middle funnel and a parking area was built for them between the central and rear funnels, although no catapult was ever fitted. The original internal torpedo tubes were replaced by four triple torpedo tubes mounted on the deck abaft the rear funnel. ''Chervona Ukraina'' made a number of port visits to Turkey, Greece and Italy before World War II. She was extensively overhauled between 26 August 1939 and 1 May 1941 where her aircraft equipment was removed and she was fitted with new fire control equipment. The ship was given three Italian ''Minizini'' twin-gun 50 caliber anti-aircraft mounts, one was placed on the forecastle, in front of the forward B7 Pattern 1913 gun and the other two on each side of the quarterdeck. One torpedo tube mount was removed from each side and four single mounts for the semi-automatic ''21-K'' gun were fitted as well as seven DShK heavy machine guns.

World War II

''Chervona Ukraina'', in company with the cruisers , and a number of destroyers, laid down a defensive mine barrage protecting the Black Sea Fleet base at

on 22 June 1941. She provided gunfire support to Soviet forces during the

Siege of Odessa The siege of Odessa, known to the Soviets as the defence of Odessa, lasted from 8 August until 16 October 1941, during the early phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Odessa was a port on the ...

and escorted convoys bringing the 157th Rifle Division into Odessa during September 1941. She escorted convoys from Odessa to Sevastopol in October when the evacuation of Odessa was ordered. During the Siege of Sevastopol ''Chervona Ukraina'' provided gunfire support and evacuated cut-off troops from elsewhere in the Crimea into Sevastopol and brought in reinforcements from Caucasian ports. She was hit three times in the South Bay of Sevastopol by bombs from German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

dive-bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact through ...

s from II./StG 77 on 12 November 1941, but didn't sink until the next day after her crew was ordered to abandon her. Her guns were salvaged and most of the guns and crew were incorporated into the port's defenses, although two of her twin ''Minizini'' turrets were added to ''Krasny Kavkaz''. She was raised on 3 November 1947, repaired, and used as a training hulk until 30 October 1950 when she became a target ship. On 10 May 1952, ''Chervona Ukraina'' was grounded on a spit to serve as a fixed target; by 1980 there was nothing left of the ship above the surface.

Notes

References

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External links