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Aurora is a cruiser of the 1st rank of the Baltic Fleet of the Diana
class. Named after the sailing frigate Aurora, which became famous
during the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky during the Crimean War.
During the Russo-Japanese War, he participated in the campaign of
the Second Pacific Squadron, which ended in the Battle of Tsushima. The
cruiser also took part in the First World War. A blank shot from the
Aurora was the signal for the start of the assault on the Winter Palace;
the cruiser became one of the main symbols of the October Revolution.
Since 1948, it has been on the eternal parking lot at the
Petrogradskaya embankment at the source of the Bolshaya Nevka. The
cruiser moved several times for repairs, the last time she returned to
the parking lot on July 16, 2016.
The cruiser "Aurora" is an
object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation.
Design
The order for Diana-class cruisers was
caused by the foreign policy situation that developed at the end of the
19th century. The aggravated contradictions with England, which were
soon resolved diplomatically, were replaced by the ever-increasing
"German threat" in the Baltic. A new round of the naval arms race
against the background of a tense political situation led in 1895 to
another adjustment of the twenty-year shipbuilding program of Russia,
adopted in 1881. As part of the additions made to the program, three
“carapace cruisers” were ordered, which later became Diana-class
cruisers.
The Baltic Shipyard was chosen as the executor of the
order, whose specialists within a month submitted four draft versions of
cruisers of various displacements for consideration by the Marine
Technical Committee. The project of a cruiser with a displacement of
6000 tons, created on the initiative of S. K. Ratnik [5], was chosen as
the basis for further development, the prototype of which was the latest
English cruiser Talbot at that time. Until November 1896, the tactical
and technical characteristics of future ships were being coordinated,
and before that (in early June), a decision was made to build a series -
not from two, as it was originally supposed, but from three cruisers.
The third cruiser (the future Aurora) was ordered to lay in the New
Admiralty. Work on the construction of the Pallada and Diana was carried
out virtually simultaneously, while the Aurora was behind schedule
throughout the entire construction and can be considered an additional
ship of the project under construction.
By the attitude of the GUKiS dated June 11 (23), 1896,
the head of the department, Vice-Admiral V.P. Verkhovsky, ordered to
begin work on the construction of a “cruiser with a displacement of 6630
tons” in the New Admiralty. Diana type. This name of the new ship was
preserved in official documents for almost a year, until the moment when
Nicholas II decided to name the cruiser.
Direct work on the
formation of the ship's hull began in the New Admiralty in September -
October 1896 under the guidance of the appointed cruiser builder, ship
engineer, junior shipbuilder E. R. de Grofe. By this time, there were no
materials (steel) necessary for the construction, since the Admiralty
Izhora Plant was overloaded with orders and could not cope, in
particular, with the manufacture of box-shaped (channel) steel for the
beams of the battery and armor decks and reinforcement of the transverse
bulkheads. In addition, the administration of the plant turned to V.P.
Verkhovsky with a request to increase the terms of work. As a result,
part of the order, by order of the head of the GUKiS, was placed at the
Aleksandrovsky iron foundry. In connection with this delay, at the
initial stage of construction, only the preparation of the center plaza
and the set of slipways-blocks in the slipway were carried out. On
October 18 (30), 1896, with the arrival of the first batch of
shipbuilding steel, the vertical keel was started.
March 31
(April 12), 1897 Emperor Nicholas II ordered to name the cruiser under
construction "Aurora" in honor of the Roman goddess of dawn. This name
was chosen by the autocrat from eleven proposed names, including Helion,
Psyche, Juno, Polkan, Boyar, Askold, Bogatyr, Neptune, Varyag and etc.
The official laying of the Diana class cruisers was made on May 23
(June 4), 1897. The first solemn ceremony was held at 10:30 a.m. on the
Aurora in the presence of Admiral General Alexei Alexandrovich,
strengthening the silver mortgage plate between the 60th and 61st frames
and raising the flag and guis of the future cruiser on specially
installed flagpoles.
The most important issue that arose even at
the beginning of construction and influenced its timing was the order
for vehicles for the cruiser. Only on July 8 (20), 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 of this enterprise to share the drawings with the
Baltic Shipyard, to which the manager of the Naval Ministry, P.P.
Tyrtov, intended to issue an order. On the terms of a two percent
discount from the price of the sets of mechanisms ordered for Diana and
Pallada, the management of the Franco-Russian plant achieved the signing
of a contract for the manufacture of the third batch. The cost of all
work, according to the contract, was 2 million 275 thousand rubles.
Senior mechanical engineer A. A. Perov was now appointed to supervise
the manufacture of mechanisms. In total, from September 1896 until the
end of sea trials, that is, for almost eight years, four builders of the
ship of officers of the Corps of Naval Engineers were directly involved
in the direct management of the construction of the cruiser: E. R. de
Grofe, K. M. Tokarevsky, N. N. Pushchin and A. A. Bazhenov.
Meanwhile, the building berth of the construction of the Aurora
continued; visiting the New Admiralty on October 10 (22), 1897, P. P.
Tyrtov saw the cruiser stem already installed on the slipway. Having
familiarized himself with the work, the manager of the Naval Ministry
gave the order not to make "the slightest deviation from the
construction of the Diana and Pallada cruisers." By the middle of 1898,
the degree of readiness of the Aurora corps had reached 28%, the degree
of readiness of the machines was slightly less than 60%. The
engineer-mechanic N.A. Petrov, appointed to the cruiser as a senior
officer, was supervising the manufacture of the steam power plant.
Gradually, officers and ship specialists began to appear on the ship, as
well as on ships of the same type. At their suggestion, the torpedo
armament of the ships of the series underwent some changes, now
consisting of three 381-mm torpedo (mine) tubes: one surface
retractable, located in the stem of the ship, and two underwater
traverse shield mounted on the bow platform. The corresponding contract
was concluded with the St. Petersburg Metal Plant on June 6 (18), 1898.
By the spring of 1900, the Aurora's hull readiness was already 78%. At
that time, various systems and devices were being installed on the ship.
At 11:15 am on May 11 (24), 1900, in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II and Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna, who watched the ceremony from the Imperial Pavilion, the Aurora was ceremonially launched into the water. Under the volleys of artillery salute of the ships standing on the Neva, the cruiser safely descended into the water, "without bending and leaking," as K. M. Tokarevsky later reported. “As the ship left the boathouse, the flags were raised on it, and the standard of His Majesty was on the main mast.” During the descent, a 78-year-old sailor who served on the Aurora frigate was on the upper deck of the ship as part of the guard of honor. In addition, the descent was attended by a former officer of the famous sailing ship, and now Vice Admiral K. P. Pilkin. The next day, the new cruiser was towed to the wall of the Franco-Russian plant to install the main machines. The displacement of the ship at the time of descent was 6731 tons.
Simultaneously with the start of work on the
installation of machines on the ship, the installation of a steam
pipeline, auxiliary mechanisms and general ship systems began. By
August, three chimneys appeared on the cruiser, and on October 17 (30),
1900, steam was raised for the first time. A test of the machines,
carried out on October 30 (November 12), 1900, showed that they were all
working properly. On November 2, mooring trials took place, culminating
in the signing of act No. 559, which stated that "the commission does
not find obstacles for the cruiser to move to Kronstadt under its main
engines." Nevertheless, a lot of work on the cruiser remained
unfinished, and some (installation of a tiller device, a steam steering
engine and an electric steering device) were not even started.
Starting from the summer of 1900, the Diana and Pallada, which were
significantly ahead of the Aurora in terms of readiness, underwent
acceptance tests. Based on their results, the commission noted serious
shortcomings and miscalculations, especially in the artillery unit. From
the beginning of 1901, easily eliminated shortcomings began to be
hastily corrected on the completed Aurora: the telephones of Lieutenant
Kolbasyev, which turned out to be unreliable, were duplicated by
speaking pipes, and the ammunition cellars also underwent some changes.
The main modification of the ship's design at this stage was the
alteration of the gun ports on the battery deck and, as a result, an
increase in the firing angles of the 75-millimeter guns.
Throughout the construction of the Aurora, there was a lack of labor: at
the state-owned shipyards in St. Petersburg at that moment the
battleships Borodino, Emperor Alexander III, Eagle, Prince Suvorov, the
cruiser Oleg and transport were being built. Kamchatka”, distracting a
significant part of the workers and specialists. Tests of the
watertightness of the aft and bow boiler rooms showed the need to refine
the fasteners, which also inevitably delayed the work. Even more
seriously, the delay in the manufacture of vertical armor for the
conning tower, made by the Izhora plant of poor quality, affected the
timing of the construction of the ship. This work on the cruiser was
completed only in May 1902. The greatest difficulties at the final stage
of construction fell on the completion of electrical equipment, the
industrial development of which by Russian factories had just begun.
At the beginning of 1902, Hall anchors were installed on the Aurora,
which made the cruiser the first Russian-built ship in the fleet
equipped with this novelty. By May, the ship was completely ready; July
28 "Aurora" went on her maiden voyage, heading to Kronstadt. On board
was the new commander of the cruiser, Captain 1st Rank I. V. Sukhotin,
factory specialists and half the crew. During the transition on the
cruiser, the steering briefly failed and as a result the ship touched
the edge of the channel, slightly damaging the right propeller. At
13:30, the Aurora arrived in Kronstadt. The next ten days were spent
preparing the ship for testing.
The total cost of the cruiser as
a whole amounted to approximately 6.4 million rubles.
On August 8, the Aurora began entering factory tests,
mainly to eliminate compass deviation and check the main machines. In
September, the cruiser spent almost two weeks at the Aleksandrovsky
Dock, where the plant's specialists straightened the right propeller
blades damaged in the first exit and installed shields for underwater
mine vehicles. On October 4, representatives of the Franco-Russian plant
reported that the cruiser was ready for acceptance tests.
On
October 10, official tests of mechanisms for delivery to the treasury
took place. "Aurora" under the flag of the chairman of the selection
committee, Rear Admiral K.P. Nikonov, showed a speed of 19.66 knots on
the measuring line, but the tests had to be interrupted due to a knock
in the bearing of the low-pressure cylinder of the right machine. In
addition, a number of other minor defects were discovered during the
movement of the cruiser. Recognizing the state of the machines as
unsatisfactory, the commission gave the plant two weeks to correct the
identified shortcomings.
The next time the ship went to the
measured mile on October 25, and this time the first tests were quite
successful. The check of the artillery unit showed good results, only 16
porthole glasses were broken in the frames of the navigation and
navigational cabins, galley and other premises. Then on October 29, the
cruiser began to undergo official tests of boilers and machines, showing
on two runs a speed of 19.28 knots with a power of 13,007 liters. With.
However, the Aurora again could not withstand the six-hour full speed
regime specified in the contract: after 4 hours and 50 minutes, the
tests had to be interrupted due to heating of the eccentric of the
medium pressure cylinder of the left machine. Two days later, the
Aurora, which was not accepted into the treasury, was withdrawn from the
campaign, and the crew was transferred to the coastal barracks. The
board of the Franco-Russian factories soon achieved an extension of the
tests, and the cruiser was put back into operation for a week. On
November 9, another test of the machines took place, during which the
mechanisms withstood six-hour tests, but the cruiser commander (who was
the chairman of the commission instead of the ill K.P. Nikonov) and the
senior mechanic refused to accept the machines into the treasury due to
a departure from the actual operating conditions of the ship. So,
throughout the exit, the rubbing parts of the machines were continuously
poured with high-quality oil and water, selected coal was used, and the
number of machine servants was twice as large as prescribed by the
state. The end of the campaign gave the Naval Technical Committee time
to consider the case, and on March 26, 1903, it was decided not to
accept cars and boilers, but to postpone the tests for the summer.
On June 6, 1903, the Aurora went to sea to correct the
deviation, and acceptance tests of the cruiser were scheduled for June
14. The acute question of replenishing the Pacific squadron forced the
Naval Ministry to compress the test dates; the head of the ministry
ordered the cruiser to be fully prepared by the end of July for the
transition to the Far East.
On June 14, the final tests of the
cruiser took place in the presence of a commission chaired by Rear
Admiral K.P. Nikonov. At 12:35 "Aurora" weighed anchor, by two o'clock
the course was gradually brought to full speed. Having successfully
withstood a six-hour run (the machines worked satisfactorily), the ship
arrived at the Great Kronstadt roadstead at 9:20 pm. In just a few days,
the cruiser made four runs, during which the total power of the three
steam engines was 11,971.5 ind. l. s., and the average speed - 18.97
knots (maximum - 19.2 knots). Thus, like ships of the same type, the
Aurora failed to reach the contract speed. The control opening of the
mechanisms showed that all malfunctions are easily eliminated, so the
commission "put them to accept them [the main machines, auxiliary
mechanisms and steam boilers] to the treasury." The date of June 16,
1903 became the date of entry of the Aurora into the Russian Imperial
Navy. During the tests, some features of the new cruiser were revealed:
in particular, the difficulty of controlling the ship when sailing in
narrow spaces became apparent due to the location of the propeller
shafts of the onboard machines.
By the beginning of July, the
installation of a refrigeration unit long awaited from England had begun
on the Aurora. On July 10, the cruiser made a control exit, having
tested torpedo tubes. Thanks to the active participation in the
management of the work of the chief commander of the Kronstadt port,
Vice Admiral S. O. Makarov, with the energetic support of and. d. Chief
of the Main Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky, managed to
avoid delays in the further preparation of the cruiser; all work, except
for the commissioning of the refrigeration machine, was completed by
early September.
On September 10, a directive was received from
the General Naval Staff, according to which it was necessary “before
sending new-built ships to the Pacific Ocean, test their mechanisms for
a long run at medium speed in the presence of a commission chaired by
the Commander of the Separate Detachment of ships assigned for testing,
with a representative of the Technical Committee and with the
participation factory technicians. As a test for the Aurora, a
continuous run from Kronstadt to the northern tip of Bornholm Island and
back at a speed of 14 knots was chosen. From September 13 to September
18, the Aurora was on this voyage, covering 1,158 miles at an average
speed of 273.8 miles per day. All mechanisms of the new ship worked
properly
To replenish the Russian naval forces in the Far East
in the middle of 1903, a detachment was created under the command of
Rear Admiral A. A. Virenius as part of the battleship Oslyabya, the
cruiser of the 1st rank Dmitry Donskoy, the cruiser of the 2nd rank "
Almaz", seven destroyers with a displacement of 350 tons each
("Cheerful", "Fast", "Brave", "Trouble", "Wild", "Flawless" and
"Brilliant"), four destroyers with a displacement of up to 200 tons and
three ships of the Volunteer Fleet ("Eagle", "Saratov", "Smolensk"),
focusing on the Mediterranean Sea for the speedy passage to Port Arthur.
It also included the Aurora, which had completed the tests, which had to
urgently connect with the detachment.
On September 25, 1903,
having received detailed instructions from the Main Naval Staff
regarding the upcoming voyage, I. V. Sukhotin at 12:20 gave the order to
weigh anchor. Shortly before leaving, a review of the officers and crew
of the cruiser (there were now 570 people on board the ship: 20
officers, 6 conductors and 543 sailors and non-commissioned officers)
was made by Vice Admiral F. K. Avelan, manager of the Naval Ministry.
Leaving the Great Kronstadt raid, the Aurora headed for Portland. In
addition to regular cargo, the ship carried materials for the repair of
the battleship Oslyabya.
In the Baltic Sea, the cruiser got into
a strong storm, from which it was possible to escape for a short time
only in the zone of the Danish Straits. A major disturbance revealed
many imperfections in the hull: for example, it tore off and carried
away the left cover of the cable lock, the gun ports and portholes
flowed, while pumping water appeared in the living deck, etc. All this
was reflected in the report of the cruiser commander written
subsequently to the manager of the Naval Ministry. The weather improved
only as the cruiser entered the English Channel; On October 1 at 11:50
p.m., 2 hours 30 minutes behind schedule, the Aurora arrived in
Portland. After spending six days there and having completed the minor
repairs necessary for the continuation of the voyage, on October 8, the
Aurora entered Algiers. Strong winds with large waves in the Bay of
Biscay gave way to relatively calm and calm weather in the
Mediterranean. On October 12, however, malfunctions began in the car:
the bearing caught fire, due to which the stroke had to be reduced to a
small one. On October 14, the cruiser visited Algiers, replenishing
supplies and preparing for further sailing. During the journey to La
Spezia, the car was again out of order: with each transition, the knock
in the bearings and spool drives intensified. At the end of October, the
Aurora joined the detachment in La Spezia, where Rear Admiral Virenius
immediately arrived at her. After examining the ship and listening to a
report on the degree of its readiness for further sailing, he gave two
weeks to troubleshoot. During these fourteen days, the team, with the
involvement of craftsmen from the shore, carried out extensive work to
put the engine installation in order.
The next destination of the
Aurora was Bizerte, where the entire detachment was concentrated. The
campaign to Bizerte, which began on November 9, was made by the Aurora
under the flag of Rear Admiral Virenius, commander of the formation,
who, upon arrival at the port, switched to Dmitry Donskoy. In Bizerte,
work was continued to correct the cruiser's engine installation.
December 21 "Aurora" went to Piraeus; during the transition, serious
malfunctions in the machines were again discovered. A report on
incidents with the cruiser's mechanisms, sent to St. Petersburg, aroused
the indignation of Rear Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky. Only the
intervention of the chief inspector of the mechanical part, Lieutenant
General N. G. Nozikov, prevented the punishment of the senior ship
mechanic N. A. Petrov. From December 24 to 28, the cruiser was repairing
damage to vehicles, and then the ship as part of the detachment headed
for Port Said, where it arrived on December 31. In Port Said, a meeting
of Russian ships with the armored cruiser Nissin bought by Japan took
place; On January 1, 1904, the battleship Oslyabya arrived at the port.
On January 8, the Aurora arrived in Suez, but due to the delay of
several ships at once, the detachment was forced to move to Djibouti and
wait for the laggards there. On the same day, while anchoring in Suez on
the Aurora, the steering gear deteriorated, because of which the
departure had to be postponed the next day. In Djibouti, on January 31,
news was received of the outbreak of war with Japan, and on February 2,
the Highest order to return to Russia. Since it was forbidden to be in
the ports of a large number of ships at the same time, the detachment
was divided into two groups. "Aurora" was supposed to follow along with
several destroyers.
On the night of February 16, the Aurora with
four destroyers was sent to Suez for reconnaissance, and the cruiser
reported by wireless telegraph that an American cruiser with five
destroyers, presumably Japanese, was in the canal area. At 5 o'clock in
the afternoon, the detachment safely missed these ships. Before Suda,
the Aurora went alone, leaving the detachment behind. On March 6, having
waited for the destroyers, the Aurora with the Violent, Bravy and
Vigorous headed for Ferrol. On March 13, passing by Algiers, the cruiser
spoke by wireless telegraph with the commander of the detachment
standing there on the Oslyab; The "violent", sent on an assignment to
the admiral, was damaged in the port and was abandoned. Since "Bodry"
lagged behind even earlier, now "Aurora" was left only with "Brave". On
March 16, near Cadiz, the destroyer Shiny joined the cruiser. On March
20, Russian ships arrived at Ferrol.
Having left for Cherbourg,
the cruiser and two destroyers on March 24, contrary to instructions,
quite by accident connected there with the main part of the detachment.
March 28 "Oslyabya", "Aurora" and destroyers set off on a further
journey, taking all precautions in case of Japanese attacks. On April 3,
the detachment arrived in the Belt, and on April 5 at 8:30 the ships
anchored in the port of Emperor Alexander III, ending a long voyage.
Preparing for a journey
Almost immediately upon
returning to the Baltic Sea, the Aurora was included in the formation of
the Second Pacific Squadron, and she became one of the few ships of this
formation that were tested on a long voyage. On April 8, the cruiser was
put into dry dock for inspection of the hull and minor repairs, and two
months later, with the start of navigation, the Aurora moved to
Kronstadt. During this time, the cover of the right propeller shaft,
lost in navigation, was installed on the cruiser.
In Kronstadt,
the craftsmen of the Obukhov Steel Plant repaired and improved the
cruiser's artillery: based on the experience of military operations,
armored shields one inch thick were mounted on the ship to protect the
main caliber gun mounts. Only the second bow pair of guns remained
without shields. All 152- and 75-millimeter guns of the cruiser received
optical sights; two machine guns of the Maxim system appeared on the bow
bridge. The means of communication underwent some changes: a radio
station of the German company Telefunken was installed, and for
long-range signaling, a second set of Tabulevich lanterns was delivered
to the cruiser for installation on a special hafel of the mainmast and
two sets of lanterns for digital signaling (one on the right foremast
forefoot). , the second - on the left leg of the mainmast). Ventilation
was improved, the insufficiency of which manifested itself during the
campaign. After docking, the cruiser was repainted in the battle colors
of the Second Pacific Squadron - black sides and light yellow pipes.
On July 11, Captain 1st Rank E.R. Egoriev, who replaced I.V.
Sukhotin, became commander of the cruiser. N.K. Gerbikh became the new
senior ship mechanic. These rearrangements, according to the
researchers, were caused by the personal preferences of Z. P.
Rozhdestvensky.
On August 12, the Aurora, as part of the
squadron, moved to Revel and began combat training, but a week later the
cruiser returned to Kronstadt to install bypass clinkets on the forward
watertight bulkhead of the onboard vehicles. The work dragged on until
August 29, when the Aurora returned to Kronstadt and took an active part
in the exercises. In total, from September 12 to September 19, the ship
conducted 10 training firings (not counting the barreled ones), having
spent one hundred and eight 152-, four hundred and fifty-three 75- and
seven hundred and thirteen 37-mm shells.
On September 26 and 27,
the Supreme review of the squadron took place, during which Nicholas II
visited many ships, saying parting words and thanking the crews for
their service. On September 28, the squadron headed for Libau; The
Aurora was in the right wake column along with the cruisers Almaz and
Svetlana. In the afternoon, the ships entered the outport of Libava and
began final preparations for the upcoming voyage. On the eve of the exit
from Reval, mechanical semaphores from Shihau were installed on the
Aurora.
On October 2, the Second Pacific Squadron left Libava
in four separate echelons to proceed to the Far East. "Aurora" led the
third echelon of ships, consisting of the destroyers "Imperfect" and
"Bodry", the icebreaker "Ermak", the transports "Anadyr", "Kamchatka"
and "Malaya". On October 3, in the afternoon, the squadron passed the
island of Bornholm, and the next day, at anchor, withstood a small storm
near the Fakkebierg lighthouse. On October 7, Russian ships passed by
the Great Belt to Skagen. There they were divided into small
detachments; The Aurora ended up in the 4th detachment under the command
of Rear Admiral O. A. Enkvist and was supposed to follow to Tangier
along with the cruiser Dmitry Donskoy and the transport Kamchatka. Parts
of the squadron were at a short distance from each other, but Kamchatka
was 17 miles behind its squadron.
Since the departure from
Libava, a tense situation has been established in the squadron
associated with the expectation of a Japanese attack. In case of mine
attacks, the guns were constantly loaded, and the gun servants slept
near them.
On the night of October 8-9, alarming reports began to
arrive from the Kamchatka transport that destroyers were attacking it.
From 2:50 to 23 hours, Kamchatka, briefly opening fire, maneuvered and
soon lost the previously seen ships. When approaching Dogger Bank, a
silhouette of a three-pipe vessel was found in front, which was moving
without distinctive lights and was heading a course that crossed the
course of the Russian squadron, which was a gross violation of
international rules for sailing ships at sea. By this time, the Russian
squadron was in the thick of the fishing flotilla. At 00:55 "Prince
Suvorov", illuminating the ships around him, mistook them for
destroyers. Fire was immediately opened on them by the entire detachment
of battleships, and firing was carried out on both sides. The armored
ships Aurora and Dmitry Donskoy, which were on the left beam, also
opened combat lighting and began to shoot. Their appearance came as a
surprise to the commanders of the armadillo detachment, who transferred
fire to the cruisers, mistaking the Aurora for an enemy ship. Within a
few minutes, five shells hit the cruiser: three 75-mm and two 47-mm
ones. The hull received minor damage, the engine casing was pierced in
two places, and a hole was formed in the chimney. One of the shells was
seriously wounded by the ship's priest of the cruiser Father Anastasius
(his arm was torn off) and gunner Shatilo was lightly wounded. Father
Anastasy later died in a hospital in Tangier. At 1:05 a.m., the
indiscriminate firing on the squadron was stopped. At 3 o'clock in the
morning, the detachments entered the English Channel. The incident with
shooting at fishing vessels, called Gullsky, caused complications with
the UK and was subsequently considered by a specially created
International Commission of Inquiry.
October 16 "Aurora" and
"Dmitry Donskoy" with transport "Kamchatka" arrived in Tangier. After a
long stay in the port and loading coal, the squadron weighed anchor on
October 23, following in marching order to Dakar. There, another loading
of coal took place, during which the steamer standing at the Aurora
crushed its side. On November 3, Russian ships set off for the mouth of
the Gabun River, where 1,300 tons of coal were loaded onto the Aurora in
unbearable heat at a rate of 71 tons per hour, which was the best result
in the entire squadron. The crew of the cruiser, united and exemplary in
training, was repeatedly set as an example by the squadron commander:
for example, when, before moving around the Cape of Good Hope, the ship
for the first time took a double supply of fuel, Z. P. Rozhdestvensky
personally examined the cruiser and in the order recommended that the
officers familiarize themselves with such a rational placement of coal .
The next destination was Great Fish Bay, where the ships arrived on 23
November. From November 28 to December 16, briefly entering small bays
for loading coal, the squadron followed to Madagascar. During this time,
the ships twice got into a storm, and on December 8, the wind and swell
were so strong that, according to Z. P. Rozhdestvensky, the lateral
oscillations of the Aurora reached 30 °.
Captain 1st Rank E.R.
Egoriev did a lot to improve the moral climate on the ship. During the
trip on the ship there was not a single case of gross violation of
discipline. Transferred to the Aurora by the senior ship's doctor
instead of M. M. Belov, who was decommissioned due to illness, court
adviser V. S. Kravchenko wrote in his diary:
The first impression of
the Aurora is the most favorable. The team is cheerful, cheerful, looks
straight into the eyes, and not frowningly, does not walk on the deck,
but flies straight, following orders. All this is good to see.
At
first, I was struck by the abundance of coal. There is a lot of it on
the upper deck, and even more in the battery deck; three-quarters of the
saloon are littered with it. The stuffiness is therefore unbearable, but
the officers do not even think to lose heart and not only do not
complain about the inconvenience, but, on the contrary, proudly inform
me that so far their cruiser has been the first in loading, took first
prizes and is generally in very good standing with the admiral.
The organization of leisure on the cruiser was also exemplary. On
February 27, on Maslenitsa, the Aurora created an entertainment program
for the lower ranks: in addition to boat races, knowledge of the
semaphore alphabet, aiming, running through Mars, etc., a performance
was held on the cruiser with the participation of both sailors and
officers. On the day of the equator crossing on November 19, a
traditional holiday was held with the participation of the entire crew
not on duty. The theater group from the Aurora often visited the ships
of the squadron with performances.
During the stay in Madagascar,
the Second Pacific Squadron was expected to join the main forces of
additional detachments marching through the Suez Canal. Here, news of
the fall of Port Arthur and the death of the First Pacific Squadron
reached the squadron.
December 21 "Aurora" with "Admiral
Nakhimov" under the flag of Rear Admiral O. A. Enkvist and "Dmitry
Donskoy" moved to Diego Suarez to escort coal miners. Then the cruisers
headed to Nosy Be to join the detachment of Admiral D. G. Felkerzam; by
December 30, the entire squadron was concentrated there. To protect the
transports, by order of the commander, a cruising detachment was formed
as part of the Almaz, Aurora and Dmitry Donskoy. A little later, it was
replenished with the cruiser Oleg.
From December 28, 1904 to
January 5, 1905, coal was loaded intermittently, during which the Aurora
set a new “record” of speed - 84.8 tons per hour]. Later, due to a
number of circumstances, the squadron was forced to linger in Nusi-be.
During this time, some changes took place in the cruiser's wardroom: in
addition to the change of the senior ship's doctor, the auditor
decommissioned due to illness was replaced by midshipman M. L.
Bertenson, and Father George became the new clergyman.
On January
13, the first training firing of the squadron at shields took place at a
distance of up to 36 cables. Despite the clear and calm weather, the
shooting results were unsatisfactory: "Aurora", however, was noted in
the order for "serious attitude to the management of fire."
On
March 3, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the squadron went to sea and
lined up in marching order, provided for by the orders of the commander,
given on the eve of the exit. "Aurora", together with the auxiliary
cruiser "Dnepr", was in the wake of the "Pearls" on the right beam of
the first armored detachment. The task of the cruisers was still the
protection of transports. Crossing the Indian Ocean became one of the
most difficult sections of the route: coal constantly had to be taken
directly into the ocean, often with the help of cutters and boats.
On March 26, the squadron passed the Strait of Malacca, and the
ships began preparing for battle. The cruiser commander wrote in his
diary:
The infirmary and the operating room were so badly arranged
that they could not be used at all in the tropics. It was necessary to
adapt new premises, to arrange their possible protection from artillery
fire. All provisions were concentrated in almost one place, and
therefore, if this part of the ship was flooded, 600 people would be
left without food. Much of this kind had to be corrected. On the upper
deck, it was necessary to arrange protection from the hits of wooden
fragments of the masts and traverses from the same nets with sailor
bunks from the spare Bullivin anti-mine nets to protect the servants of
the guns. The internal wooden shields of the sides were broken and
removed, which could give a lot of fragments.
On March 31, the
squadron arrived in Cam Ranh Bay and lingered off the coast of the
Indochinese Peninsula until it joined the detachment of Rear Admiral N.
I. Nebogatov. In the event that significant enemy forces appeared in
sight of the bay, it was supposed to give them a fight, and the Oleg and
Aurora were supposed to act, according to the plan of Z. P.
Rozhestvensky, as offensively as possible. April 6 "Aurora" participated
in maneuvers together with a detachment of battleships; On April 9, the
squadron left Cam Ranh and moved to the neighboring Phan Phong Bay, and
at 3 pm on April 26 it joined Nebogatov's detachment 20 miles from the
entrance to this bay.
On May 1, 1905, the Second Pacific
Squadron, after some reorganization and brief preparations, left the
shores of Annam and headed for Vladivostok. "Aurora" took her place on
the right outer side of the column of transports in the wake of the
cruiser "Oleg". On May 10, in complete calm, the last coal loading took
place, coal was taken with the expectation of having a reserve at the
entrance to the Korea Strait, which should have been enough to
Vladivostok. Soon after the separation of the transports, the cruisers
Oleg, Aurora, Dmitry Donskoy and Vladimir Monomakh, together with the
third armored detachment, formed the left wake column. On the evening of
May 13, an order was received "to have steam in all boilers at dawn and
be ready for battle." On the night of May 14, the squadron entered the
strait.
6:30 - 13:20. Before the fight
At 06:30 on May 14,
the Japanese reconnaissance aircraft Izumi was seen on the horizon on
the starboard side. The squadron at this point was moving at a 9-knot
course and was in two wake columns: the first was the 1st and 2nd
armored detachments, the second was "Emperor Nicholas I",
"General-Admiral Apraksin", "Admiral Senyavin", " Admiral Ushakov",
"Oleg", "Aurora", "Dmitry Donskoy" and "Vladimir Monomakh". At 8 o'clock
on the ships of the Russian squadron, on the occasion of the highly
solemn day of the "Holy Coronation of Their Majesties", the banners were
raised. After 9 o'clock, Japanese ships of the 5th and 6th combat
detachments began to emerge in the darkness, going in a parallel course;
at the same time, Z. P. Rozhestvensky considered it necessary to begin
rebuilding the armored detachments into one wake column. The change of
formation dragged on for more than an hour; Japanese cruisers, having
overtaken the squadron, disappeared into the fog. At 10:20, a steamer
was discovered near the Russian ships, which the Zhemchug drove away. At
11 o'clock the team was given lunch on a watch basis.
At 11:10, a
detachment of Vice Admiral Deva was seen catching up with the squadron
and walking in a converging course with it. Five minutes later, an
accidental shot was fired from the battleship "Eagle" at the cruiser
"Kasagi"; the shooting was immediately picked up by the rest of the
battleships. The Japanese ships immediately began to retreat, engaging
in a skirmish. At 11:14, the Aurora also fired its first shots, ceasing
fire immediately after the order of the squadron commander "not to throw
shells." After breaking through the lights out, the team continued to
have lunch. At noon, following the signal from the "Prince Suvorov", the
battleships lined up in one wake column and began to consistently lay
down on the NO 23 ° course.
At 12:20 the squadron began
rebuilding, interrupted by a brief approach of enemy scouts. By 12:30,
the Russian ships were again in two columns, moving at a 9-knot course.
At 13:20, the main forces of the United Fleet appeared to the right
along the course seven miles away.
13:20 - 19:00. The battle
After the appearance of the enemy squadron, the cruising detachment of
Rear Admiral Enkvist, at the signal of the commander, tilted the course
to the right and increased speed, thus leaving the line of battleships
and the flight zone. In accordance with the wishes of the head of the
detachment, expressed before the battle, the detachment of cruisers
received the opportunity to act independently in battle, performing the
main task of guarding transports.
With the beginning of the
battle of the main forces, the Izumi cruiser began to approach the
Russian squadron, opening fire on the Vladimir Monomakh. "Oleg" and
"Aurora" supported the "Vladimir Monomakh", firing several shots at the
Japanese cruiser. Then we moved to the starboard side of the transports,
covering them from the eastern direction. "Izumi", having received one
hit, soon departed.
At the beginning of the third hour of the
day, the 3rd (Vice Admiral Deva: "Kasagi", "Chitose", "Otova",
"Niytaka") and 4th (Vice Admiral Uriu: "Naniva ”, “Takachiho”, “Akashi”,
“Tsushima”) Japanese detachments, in order to attack the transports. At
14:30, the Japanese cruisers approached, opening fire. "Oleg" and
"Aurora" turned to the right, covering the transports, and developed a
course of 17-18 knots, trying to divert enemy fire. While fighting on
the left side, the Russian cruisers parted ways with the enemy
detachments on a counter-course at a distance of 28 cables, thus passing
between the Japanese ships and their own transports. Since the Russian
cruiser detachment was inferior to the enemy in terms of firepower, Rear
Admiral Enquist had to carry out complex maneuvering in order to change
the distance to the enemy as often as possible and prevent him from
shooting. The battle continued on parallel courses: the Japanese ships,
having completed a sequential turn, fired on their starboard side.
During the battle with the Japanese detachments, the Aurora received
the first damage: fragments of several shells that exploded on impact
with the water pierced the skin at the waterline in several places; a
small-caliber projectile that hit the lower winch room made a hole with
an area of 0.28 m², which led to the flooding of the upper and lower
pits and a roll of 4 ° to starboard. A fragment that flew through the
gun port disabled the 75-millimeter gun. A 120-mm shell hit the top of
the foremast, but the scattered fragments did not hit anyone. A six-inch
shell that hit the conning tower area enveloped everything in
suffocating smoke; its fragments killed almost the entire calculation of
the bow 152-mm gun.
From 14:50, the most difficult period of the
battle began for the Russian cruisers that fell under the crossfire. The
fire of Japanese ships, the distance to which was reduced to 24 cables,
became more accurate. The Aurora received several hits at once: first,
the feed elevator and the steam boat were disabled by a 75-mm
projectile; the next shell of the same caliber did not explode and was
thrown into the sea by gunnery A. N. Krivonosov. An 8-inch projectile
that hit the side joint near the upper deck destroyed almost 2 m² of
plating and disabled two 75-mm guns. From this hit, the cartridges
prepared for firing caught fire; the explosion of the cellar was avoided
thanks to the selfless actions of the sailors Timerev and Repnikov
standing on the pitch. At about 15 o'clock the cruiser was immediately
hit by two 6-inch shells that hit the starboard side in the area of
the bow bridge. The fragments of these shells disabled the crews of
two 152-millimeter guns, and the explosions set fire to the rosters.
While extinguishing the fire, the senior officer of the ship, Captain
2nd Rank A.K. Nebolsin, was wounded. He received two wounds to the head
- one penetrating, the other penetrating to the bone, wounds to the
forearm and right knee, as well as two third-degree burns.
At
15:12, a 75-millimeter shell hit the gangway of the forward bridge. Its
fragments and fragments of the ladder fell through the viewing slot into
the wheelhouse and, reflected from its dome, scattered in different
directions, injuring everyone in the wheelhouse. For a moment, the
cruiser, which had lost control, was returned to the course by the
helmsman Tsapkov. Captain 1st Rank Yegoriev was mortally wounded in the
head and soon died. First, senior navigator K. V. Prokhorov took command
of the ship, then he was replaced by senior officer A. K. Nebolsin.
At 15:35, a flaming Suvorov was seen from Oleg; Admiral Enkvist,
leaving the "Don" and "Monomakh" with the transports, went to his aid,
but soon changed his mind and returned. By this time, the 6th Japanese
combat detachment of Admiral Togo Jr., consisting of four cruisers,
appeared from the south. At about 16 o'clock, the Russian cruisers
(Dmitry Donskoy, Vladimir Monomakh, Svetlana, Almaz, Zhemchug and
Emerald), which were connected at the signal of Enquist to "follow me",
were again subjected to enemy crossfire: on the one hand they were being
fired upon by the approaching Nisshin and Kasuga, and on the other by
detachments of Dev, Uriu, and Togo Jr. At this time, a torpedo was seen
from the Aurora, the cruiser barely avoided hitting it.
During
this period of the battle, the Aurora received several more hits, mainly
in the bow. Fragments of a 203-mm projectile broke the anchor chain,
turned the hawse and made two holes through which water flooded the
compartment of the bow torpedo tube. To equalize the list that arose due
to multiple hits in the underwater part, the coal pits of the port side
were flooded. Another 203-mm shell, which exploded under the forecastle,
pierced the cruiser through and through, breaking through 10 light
bulkheads and making a large hole in the starboard side.
During
the battle on the Aurora, the flag was knocked down by shrapnel six
times, but it was invariably raised into place. By evening, it was
riddled, but continued to flutter over the cruiser.
Our brand new
wide stern flag, all turned into miserable tatters, knocked down six
times during the battle, now lay again on the deck, and Lieutenant
Stark, who arrived in time, immediately commanded in his sharp metallic
voice, calmly as always: “To the flag! Raise the flag! But now it was
not so easy to do: all the ends were cut off, and the flag on the hafel
had to be raised in a different way (on Erins hoists). The boatswain
Kozlov climbed there under fire.
At 16 o'clock, fighting with the
Japanese ships on parallel courses, the Russian cruisers, together with
the entire squadron, began to gradually lean first to the north, then to
the east. By this time, the position of Enquist's detachment had become
hopeless, as the enemy's forces had increased due to the approaching
detachment of Admiral Kataoka. Around 16:30, a column of Russian
battleships found itself between the Japanese and Russian cruisers,
which gave the latter some respite. At 17:30, the battle resumed with
renewed vigor, and the Aurora received a number of hits in the stern.
Fragments of one of the shells killed two and wounded 14 servants of the
guns of the stern plutonga. The wounded prince A. V. Putyatin, who was
with the stern guns, despite the severe loss of blood, remained in the
ranks until the end of the battle. When the seriously wounded midshipman
Yakovlev was carried past the guns he commanded, the young officer
repeated: "Brothers, aim well."
At about 7 p.m., the artillery
battle ended due to the advancing darkness. By this time, the Aurora had
the following losses: one officer and nine sailors were killed (in
addition, five lower ranks later died of wounds); eight officers and 74
lower ranks received injuries of varying severity. Most of the victims -
57 people - were gunmen and gun servants.
Shortly after sunset, following the "Emperor Nicholas
I" - the flagship of Admiral Nebogatov, who took command, the squadron
fell into complete disorder. The beginning mine attacks did not give the
new commander the opportunity to assemble a squadron; after 19 hours,
Admiral Enquist's detachment, which was somewhat to the left behind the
main forces, ceased to be visible from armored ships. From that moment
on, the cruiser detachment had to act independently.
At
nightfall, Japanese destroyers appeared in large numbers on the
battlefield. To avoid attacks, the cruisers turned off all lights and
ceased firing. Nevertheless, Russian ships were often forced to dodge
torpedoes, relying on movement and maneuver, opening fire only in
extreme cases. At 21 o'clock, due to the constant change of course at
high speed, Svetlana, Almaz and Donskoy fell behind; “Monomakh” lagged
behind even earlier. Thus, by 22 o'clock with Admiral Enkvist, in
addition to Oleg and Aurora, only Zhemchug remained. Going south, the
Russian cruisers made attempts to turn to Vladivostok, but each time
they ran into Japanese ships. Often even shots from torpedo tubes were
heard from the Aurora; in total, more than 17 torpedoes passed by her
and Oleg during the night. Admiral Enquist decided to leave the Korea
Strait heading southwest, hoping to meet the squadron along the way. By
2 am on May 15, the detachment left the zone of mine attacks and reduced
the course to ten knots; at 3 o'clock the detachment was at 33° 30'N.
sh. and 128° 42' E. d.
During the night, minimal damage was
repaired on the Aurora: small holes were boarded up with wooden plugs
with rags, shields with mattresses were placed on large ones; the
bulkheads of the flooded compartments were reinforced with stops. A lot
of work fell on the cruiser's medics, because after the battle, the
wounded remaining at combat posts began to go down for dressing.
As it turned out, in the Battle of Tsushima, the Aurora fired 303
152-mm, 1282 75-mm and 320 37-mm shells at the enemy. The cruiser itself
received 18 hits from Japanese shells.
At 6 o'clock in the
morning the cruisers reduced their speed to ten knots, continuing to the
southeast. In anticipation of a meeting with the enemy, the ships
maintained steam in all boilers during the night, which, due to holes in
the pipes, led to an increased consumption of coal. Based on this,
Admiral Enquist decided to go to Shanghai to replenish supplies. After
exchanging signals, the admiral with the headquarters switched to the
Aurora at noon, since A.K. Nebolsin, who commanded the cruiser after the
death of the commander, was himself wounded in battle. The flag of the
head of the detachment, due to the lack of a fore-topmast, was raised on
the main mast, although only the royal standard or the flag of the fleet
commander could be there. In the following days, an impromptu flagpole
was built on the cruiser, which was mounted on the foremast.
Until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the teams put their ships in order:
they threw various debris and fragments, spent cartridges overboard,
patched up holes, washed the bloody and charred decks and
superstructures. At 3:55 the bodies of 14 sailors who fell in battle
were put to sea; the body of the commander was placed on a whaleboat and
decided to be buried on the shore. After the solemn ceremony, the
cruisers continued their journey at an 8-knot course.
After
meeting on the morning of May 16 with the Svir steamer heading for
Shanghai, the admiral decided to go with the cruisers to Manila, where
the Svir was supposed to send a coal miner. In the following days, the
cruisers went to the target with an 8-knot course; on the Aurora, work
continued to correct the damage. At night, only closed stern lights were
carried; the servants on duty were at the guns. These days, doctor V. S.
Kravchenko, for the first time in the world, used an X-ray machine to
examine the wounded on board.
On May 20, a detachment entered
Sualruen in search of coal, but this Philippine port, as sailors sent
ashore for reconnaissance, was reported, was abandoned. On May 21, the
commander of the Aurora was buried, whose body could not be saved: at
noon, under a salute of seven cannon shots, the coffin with the body of
E. R. Egoriev was lowered into the sea. Two hours later, the radio
communications of warships began to be heard, and soon a detachment of
ships appeared on the horizon, heading on a collision course. The guns
were immediately loaded and aimed at the intended enemy; on the Russian
cruisers they sounded a combat alarm. From Mars they reported that the
ships were not similar in type to the Japanese, and Lieutenant von Den
determined that these were two battleships and three cruisers of the
American fleet. Since there were no blank charges on the Aurora, the
salute had to be fired with live ones, directing shots into the water. A
few hours later, Russian ships, accompanied by an American squadron,
arrived in Manila and at eight o'clock in the evening dropped anchor
there. The next day Admirals Enquist and Tran met. It was decided to
appoint a special commission to inspect the damage and determine the
timing of the repair of Russian cruisers.
According to the senior
mine officer, Lieutenant G.K. Stark, during the battle, the Aurora
received 18 hits by medium and small caliber shells. The main damage to
the cruiser:
On the starboard side, the hawse was disabled by
shrapnel; broken anchor chain; the anchor stopped releasing.
From the
hawse to the upper deck, a meter from the waterline, there were two
holes with an area of 0.18 m² and 10-15 small holes; two frames are
deformed.
In the room of the bow mine apparatus, the fastening of the
right anchor was damaged, several rivets were knocked out.
A shell
that exploded in the area of the 71st starboard frame at the junction of
the battery deck caused a large hole and gaps over 3.7 m; two frames are
bent.
There is a crack and 5 holes in the area of the 40th frame.
There are more than ten small holes in the second coal pit.
Three
holes formed on the left side in the area of the 65th frame; broken
ladder to the navigation bridge.
On the spardeck in the area of the
47th frame there is a hole with an area of 0.45 m².
The chimneys
received multiple damages, the largest of which was a 3.7 m hole in the
front pipe; the middle pipe, due to a hole of approximately the same
area, leaned forward somewhat.
All boats, launches and launches of
the cruiser are riddled with shrapnel, as are the ventilation bells.
The foremast of the Aurora received three hits: the fore-topmast and
fore-mars-yards were demolished first, a third of the topmast was shot
down with the second, the third hit the mast at the top, making a crack
in it.
The cruiser's artillery suffered significant damage: all but
one of the 75-millimeter guns were damaged, and five of them were
completely out of order. The aft 152 mm starboard gun became unusable
for firing, the right 37 mm gun of the aft bridge was knocked overboard
with the entire installation.
Mars rangefinding station destroyed; a
searchlight was shot down from the right wing of the aft bridge. Barr
and Stroud's only rangefinder is broken.
Based on the results of the
inspection of the cruiser in Manila, the American commission determined
that the Aurora needed 30 days of repair to continue sailing safely.
The first meeting with Admiral Tran encouraged
Enquist, but on May 24, Tran received instructions from Washington
according to which the Russian detachment was to either disarm or leave
the port within 24 hours. The issue was resolved by a telegram from St.
Petersburg, received the next day: “In view of the need to repair the
damage, I allow you to give an obligation to the American government not
to participate in hostilities. Nicholas."
On May 26, a
non-participation in hostilities was taken from the cruiser team, and on
May 27, 1905, the war for the crews of the detachment ships ended. Locks
of guns and machine parts were handed over to the local arsenal (Fort
Cavite) to prevent ships from leaving the bay. The latter was carried
out despite the protest of Admiral Enquist, who spoke of the frequent
typhoons in Manila, in which it was necessary to keep the ships with the
help of machines. The flags and pennants of the ships were not lowered;
the officers gave a written commitment not to leave Manila.
Even before the internment from the Aurora, 26 people
were sent to the American naval hospital for treatment; on the day of
disarmament, 14 more people were written off in connection with the
upcoming long stay in the port. Contracts for the repair of the Aurora
hull were signed with local factories. Already on May 30, 55 artisans
arrived on the cruiser - mostly Chinese. Damaged sheathing sheets were
removed, for which rivets were drilled out and either straightened or
replaced with new ones. The control over the work was carried out by the
officers who remained on the ship, each watching his part.
By
agreement with the port authorities, 35 people were allowed to go ashore
from the Aurora per day. Initially, no drop in discipline among the team
was observed; on the contrary, the sailors "freshened up and acquired a
brave appearance." Soon, information about the uprising on the
battleship Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky reached the team from foreign
newspapers, which led to grumbling among the lower ranks of the Aurora.
In order to avoid fermentation, as soon as Novoye Vremya was received
from Russia, this newspaper was publicly read out. After that, there was
some relief.
There were cases of assault on the cruiser: by order
of Rear Admiral Enkvist, the mechanical engineer Lieutenant Malyshevich
was punished for the use of such a measure of "disciplinary action", and
by order of the cruiser commander, the mechanical engineer Lieutenant
Schmolling.
A cholera epidemic that broke out in the city in
mid-August led to a brief interruption of communication with the coast.
Teams were no longer allowed to go on leave, workers were no longer
allowed to go to court. Russian cruisers also experienced several
tropical typhoons, during which they made steam and warmed up the cars
so that the ships would not be washed ashore. Contrary to the wishes of
the American administration, the mechanisms of the Russian ships were
not put out of action and functioned.
Weekly meetings of the
officers of the detachment took place on the Aurora, the result of which
was the compilation of a generalized report “What should the fleet be
like”, sent to the Main Naval Headquarters.
Having completed
repairs in August, the Russian cruisers began combat training and the
organization of daily combat service. Instead of the departed officers,
lieutenants N. I. Ignatiev and V. I. Dmitriev from Zhemchug were
transferred to the Aurora. The first took the post of senior artillery
officer, the second - the senior navigator.
On August 23, 1905,
the Treaty of Portsmouth between Russia and Japan was signed in the
United States, and in anticipation of its ratification, the ships of the
Russian detachment began preparations for returning to their homeland.
On September 20, a new cruiser commander, Captain 2nd Rank V. L.
Barshch, arrived at the Aurora. On October 9, Captain 2nd Rank Nebolsin
went to Washington, where he was to take up the post of naval agent.
September 28 "Pearl" and "Aurora" went to sea to test cars.
On
October 10, an official notice was received from the American capital
that the Russian ships were free in their actions. Over the next few
days, the returned locks of the guns were installed on the Aurora, and
the necessary supplies of coal, water and provisions were received.
On October 15, at 8 o'clock in the morning, the
Russian ships, again painted white, after exchanging salutes and three
cheers with the American ships, left Manila. On September 9, 1905, the
“highest approved” distribution of interned ships was adopted, according
to which the Tsesarevich, Gromoboi, Rossiya, Bogatyr, Oleg, Aurora,
Diana and "Diamond". The former ships of the Vladivostok detachment of
cruisers under the command of Rear Admiral K. P. Jessen set off on their
own, so that at the assembly point - Saigon - only Tsesarevich, Diana
and Almaz joined the Enquist detachment. Upon the arrival of the ships
at the port on October 20, an order was received to immediately send
Diana on a solo voyage, understaffing her with officers from other
ships. From the Aurora to the Diana, senior navigation officer
Lieutenant V.I. Dmitriev, senior artillery officer Lieutenant N.I.
Ignatiev and ship mechanic Lieutenant N.I. Kapustinsky, who had not yet
had time to get comfortable on the cruiser, were assigned. November 10
"Tsesarevich" went to Singapore for repairs. The missing officers
arrived at Almaz: six people were assigned to the Aurora: senior
navigation officer Lieutenant P.P. Paletsky, senior artillery officer
Lieutenant V.S. Fedosiu and A. A. Skrydlov and junior mechanic
Lieutenant A. E. Kartovich.
Rumors about the events taking place
in Russia led to unrest in the teams of the ships of the detachment.
This was especially evident on the flagship Aurora, where more than 300
people were waiting for demobilization. With the receipt of newspapers
from Russia, Admiral Enquist held an explanatory conversation with the
team, explaining, as far as possible, the essence of what was happening
and reading out the manifesto of October 17th. After that, the situation
on the cruiser became much calmer.
On November 26, the Aurora,
Oleg and Almaz weighed anchor and headed for Colombo. In this port,
Almaz separated from the detachment; December 21 "Aurora" and "Oleg"
came to Djibouti. Here, performances were staged on them, where sailors
from other ships were invited. Continuing the voyage, the cruisers met
1906 in the Red Sea. Malfunctions found in Oleg's boilers delayed a
detachment in Algiers, where a telegram soon arrived with an order for
Aurora to go to the Baltic on its own. Admiral Enkvist remained on the
Oleg, ordering the Aurora commander to take on board "83 lower ranks of
the Oleg cruiser team, to be transferred to the fleet reserve."
On January 28, the Aurora, under the command of Barshch, promoted to
captain of the 1st rank, left Algeria and arrived in Cherbourg on
February 3. In this port, information was received from the French
detective police about a batch of revolvers allegedly purchased by the
team. The searches carried out yielded no results. On February 14, the
cruiser entered her last passage. On the final leg of the journey in the
North Sea, the ship got into a strong storm, during which the
searchlight on the upper bridge was torn off and a shot from the port
side was blown off.
On February 19, 1906, the Aurora anchored in
the port of Libava, from where it left 458 days ago as part of the
Second Pacific Squadron.
In Libava, Rear Admiral V. V. Lendenstrem, commander
of the naval crew of the port, gave the Aurora a review; the cruiser was
visited by a commission that questioned the lower ranks about claims. On
February 25, demobilization began; Until February 28, three parties of
demobilized people, totaling about 330 people, left the Aurora. At
midnight on March 10, the cruiser lowered her pennant and entered the
armed reserve. By this time, only 157 people remained on the ship.
In mid-May, the Aurora moved first to Kronstadt for the delivery of
artillery ammunition, then to St. Petersburg, to the wall of the
Franco-Russian plant, where the cruiser was to stand up for repairs.
According to the memoirs of G.K. Graf, who spent a little more than a
month and a half on the ship, “due to the lack of officers and due to
the small number of crew, the watch was canceled. We carried daily duty,
which greatly facilitated the service and did not make it monotonous, as
if we had to stand four or five watches.
In the course of repairs
on the Aurora, the most urgent work on machines and boilers was carried
out. The artillery unit underwent some changes: all 37-mm guns were
removed from the ship, except for two boat guns, and the elevator to the
fore-mars, and two more Maxim machine guns were installed on the aft
bridge. Three 152 mm guns were repaired on the spot. Six 75-millimeter
guns, which required a thorough repair or replacement, were dismantled.
Throughout the winter, the Aurora was at the Konstantinovsky Dock in
Kronstadt, where a number of works were carried out to correct the
damage.
By May, the cruiser was ready to go to sea: the missing
75-millimeter guns, two Barr and Stroda rangefinders were installed on
it, and the PUAO system was repaired. In the summer, the Aurora set sail
with midshipmen and visited several foreign ports. In Stockholm, 11
lower ranks did not return to the cruiser, the search for which ended in
vain.
In March 1908, Captain 1st Rank Baron V.N. Ferzen became
the new commander of the Aurora. This summer campaign, like the previous
one, the cruiser spent sailing in the Baltic Sea. During the stay in
Stockholm on June 19, there was again a mass escape of the lower ranks.
On August 13, the ship moored at the wall of the Baltic Shipyard,
preparing for a lengthy repair.
In the course of almost a year of
repair, the following work was carried out:
Dismantling of underwater
traverse mine vehicles
Overhaul of all three main machines, auxiliary
mechanisms and boilers
Replacing the front and middle chimneys
Wiring of an additional fire main, installation of three Wartington
steam pumps
Dismantling of two 75 mm guns located on the 71st frame;
instead of them, two 152-mm guns were installed
The main caliber of
the cruiser is equipped with new elongated shields and separate aiming
Dismantling the combat mars
Improving the protection of the conning
tower
Introducing a number of minor changes to the design for the
convenience of the upcoming placement on the ship of the pupils of the
Marine Corps
Thus, the artillery armament of the cruiser after the
repair consisted of ten 152-mm and twenty 75-mm guns.
On August
25, 1909, the ship entered sea trials, repeated on September 9 due to
identified shortcomings. The second test of the machines gave positive
results, and the cruiser began preparations for a foreign trip. By this
time, Captain 1st Rank P.N. Leskov became the commander of the Aurora.
In the fall of 1909, the Aurora became part of the
cruiser detachment (“Diana” (flagship) and “Bogatyr”), which went on a
foreign voyage with midshipmen and students of non-commissioned officer
schools. From October 1909 to April 4, 1910, the Aurora stayed in the
Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, visiting Algiers, Bizerte,
Villefranche, Smyrna, Naples, Gibraltar and a number of other ports,
taking part in the Kiel Week and other events. Upon returning to the
Baltic Sea, the cruiser spent two months in the active fleet.
In
November 1910, the Aurora again went on a foreign voyage. While in the
Mediterranean, the cruiser visited Messina to receive a gold medal in
honor of Russian sailors who took part in rescue operations during the
1908 earthquake. On the very first night of the visit, a great fire
broke out in the city; the emergency party from the cruiser was the
first to arrive at the scene of the disaster and began to fight the fire
long before the arrival of the city fire brigade. For this, Aurora
received 1,800 oranges and the same number of lemons as a reward. Eight
days later, while moored in the Spanish port of Malaga, the crew of the
cruiser again took part in the fight against fire on the shore. March
31, 1911 the ship returned to the Baltic. In accordance with the new
organization of the fleet, established by order of the Maritime
Department No. 57 of February 25, 1911, the Aurora became part of the
cruiser brigade of the 1st reserve.
In the spring and summer, the
Aurora was on a training voyage in the Baltic Sea, from August 11 to 24
she docked in Kronstadt and on September 21 went to Siam to participate
in the celebrations on the occasion of the coronation of the Siamese
king.
Having entered Revel on September 22 for a review and final
instructions from the Commander of the Naval Forces, the cruiser
proceeded from there to Plymouth, then went to Algiers and, having stood
there from October 05 to October 09, headed for Naples, where she
arrived on October 11. Here, His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Boris
Vladimirovich arrived on the cruiser with his retinue to follow the
cruiser to Bangkok. On October 14, the cruiser entered Port Said.
Sailing to Bangkok took the following route: Port Said, then passage to
Aden, from Aden to Colombo, from Colombo to Sabang, from Sabang to
Singapore, from Singapore to Bangkok. The coronation celebrations began
on December 1 and ended on December 11; during this stay on the Aurora,
2 lower ranks died from gastric diseases. Upon the return of the Grand
Duke to the ship, the cruiser left Bangkok on December 12 for the return
journey to the Baltic Sea. On December 19, the cruiser left Singapore
for Batavia, and on this day, according to the type of passage through
the equator, the traditional celebration of this event took place with
the participation of His Imperial Highness. The cruiser stayed in
Batavia from December 21 to 29, then left for Colombo, where she
remained there until the end of the reporting year.
From January
14 to January 23, 1912 in Colombo, then the cruiser made the transition
to Djibouti, where she stood until February 2. On February 6, the
cruiser arrived in Suez and the next day entered the channel to follow
to Port Said; arriving at this last port, the cruiser then sailed for
Falero on 13 February, where she anchored on 15 February. On the same
day, they arrived on the cruiser to meet His Highness, Her Imperial
Highness Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna and His Highness the Greek
King Nikolai Georgievich. On February 21, on the day of departure from
Falero, Her Majesty the Queen of Hellenes with Her Imperial Highness
Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna and Korolevich Nikolai Georgievich
deigned to arrive on the cruiser, and Her Majesty and all the other
Highest Persons escorted the cruiser on a royal boat. On February 24,
the cruiser arrived in Naples and, having stood there, left for
Villafranca for 5 days. On March 04, while staying in Villafranca, the
cruiser was visited by Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia
Mikhailovna and His Royal Highness Grand Duke Friedrich Franz of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin. On March 06, His Imperial Highness Grand Duke
Boris Vladimirovich left the cruiser and the cruiser urgently left, in
view of the expected complications, to the island of Crete. Arriving on
March 10 in Suda Bay, the cruiser took up the post of stationer, being
part of the international squadron of the “protecting powers” of Crete.
The cruiser stayed on the island of Crete until June 24.
On July
16, 1912, the Aurora returned to the Baltic Sea, staying for the winter
in Kronstadt.
With the onset of navigation in 1913, the Aurora,
under the command of Captain 1st Rank V.A. Kartsov, again began to make
training voyages with pupils of the Marine Corps throughout the Baltic
Sea. At the end of the campaign, the ship was put in for repairs at the
New Admiralty, but due to the employment of workers, only a minimum of
work was completed. With the beginning of the 1914 campaign, the Aurora
became the flagship of the training detachment and made a small
practical voyage with the cadets. On July 16, the captain of the 1st
rank G. I. Butakov became the commander of the Aurora, and the cruiser
became part of the 2nd brigade of the Baltic Sea cruisers (“Russia”
(flagship), “Bogatyr” and “Oleg”).
At 12:20 on July 17, 1914, the Aurora received a
radiogram “Naval Forces and Ports, Smoke, Smoke, Smoke”, announcing that
the naval forces of the Baltic Sea were on full alert. Within a few
hours, preparations for battle were made on the cruiser, and the next
day the brigade moved to Revel. After the tsarist manifesto about the
war with Germany, the Aurora, as part of the formation, went out on
patrol to the west of the central mine-artillery position at the mouth
of the Gulf of Finland. At the end of August, the cruiser took part in
guarding the cruiser Magdeburg, which had crashed near the island of
Odensholm. In the last days of 1914, the Aurora, together with the
Diana, spent a week cruising in the Gulf of Bothnia.
In winter,
while staying in Helsingfors, a for-trawl, rails for mine laying were
installed on the cruiser and the ship was adapted to receive up to 150
galvanic impact mines of the 1908 model. With the beginning of
navigation, the Aurora moved to Kronstadt, where four 152-mm guns taken
from the Diana were installed on it, sixteen 75-mm guns were dismantled
and the ports in the sides were patched up. Thus, the Aurora was now
armed with fourteen 152 mm guns and four 75 mm guns located on the upper
deck.
The Aurora spent the summer of 1915 in the Abo-Oland skerry
position, participating in difficult campaigns to study fairways and
covering trawling. The following winter was spent in repair work, as
during one of the voyages in the ice the cruiser damaged both side
propellers. In Helsingfors, a 40-mm Vickers anti-aircraft gun and four
"anti-aeroplane" 75-mm Kane guns, which made up the fifth plutong, were
installed on the Aurora. On February 8, 1916, Captain 1st Rank M.I.
Nikolsky was appointed commander of the cruiser.
With the
beginning of the 1916 campaign, the Aurora carried out a program of
practical sailings with ship midshipmen, returning to its brigade only
in July. Soon, the Aurora began to hastily prepare to support the
planned landing operation in the Gulf of Riga. Having passed in mid-July
to the Gulf of Riga through the Moonsund Canal, the cruiser took an
active part in assisting the ground forces, supporting them with
artillery fire. Several times the Aurora was attacked by enemy
hydro-aviation, but never suffered.
On September 6, the cruiser returned to Kronstadt and
began preparations for a major overhaul, which was to be completed only
by April 1917. Work on the ship began two weeks later, when the cruiser
was brought into the Konstantinovsky Dock, having previously removed all
artillery from it.
During the repair, the workers of the
Franco-Russian, Admiralty and Obukhov plants had to perform the
following scope of work:
Rearrangement of guns at the suggestion of
the cruiser commander: tank 152-mm gun - closer to the bow, poop - to
the stern, and guns No. 17 and No. 18 (stern in the area of the 109th
frame) - closer to the sides.
Renovation of the PUAO and equipment of
a special post of "anti-aircraft" artillery.
Teak deck repair.
Parodynamo repair, electrical wiring replacement.
Updating of means
of a radio communication.
Installation of underwater signaling
equipment.
Installation of a steam spire.
Re-equipment of living
quarters in connection with the expected increase in the crew to 723
people.
When in the summer of 1916 it became known about the plans to put the Aurora for repairs, Captain 1st Rank M.I. Nikolsky wrote a report in which he pointed out the possible detrimental effect of a long stay in the port on the cruiser's crew. In it, he wrote, in particular: “A team that has not yet succumbed to criminal agitation will succumb to it and, as often happens, will go to the other extreme - due to its solidarity, from the most reliable during the war, it will become the most unreliable. The soil for this is the most favorable - a long stop in Petrograd near the plant. Based on these views, immediately after the start of repairs in the port of Kronstadt, Nikolsky established a strict order on the cruiser; in particular, he introduced restrictions on the crew going ashore and demanded a thorough inspection of all premises locked after work. Believing that the only way to save the lower ranks from corrupting revolutionary propaganda is through strict discipline and constant employment, Nikolsky directed all his energy to maintaining strict order. For his exactingness, the commander soon received the nickname "Viren" among the sailors. The officers also did not like the new commander and addressed him only formally. Appointed in January 1917, the senior officer of the cruiser P.P. Ogranovich, according to colleagues, behaved defiantly with junior officers and crew, was "picky and rudely formal." Nevertheless, until the February events, the Aurora team, which was dominated by old-timers, was distinguished by solidarity and loyalty to military duty.
With the beginning of the February Revolution on
February 27, 1917, Nikolsky, in connection with a strike at the plant,
ordered to strengthen the armed guard on the cruiser; now it was led not
by conductors, but by officers. Soon, with the consent of Nikolsky, the
arrested agitators and "instigators" were placed on the Aurora. After
some time, rumors spread in the cruiser's crew that the ship was going
to be used as a floating prison. Therefore, Nikolsky, fearing
complications with the crew, insisted that the detainees be removed from
the cruiser. When the convoy brought the arrested people on deck, the
revolutionary-minded sailors standing on the waist reacted to their
appearance with joyful cries of “Hurrah! Bravo! Release!" Disobeying the
watch commander's order to stop the noise, the sailors continued to
shout and insult the guards without leaving the waist. Then Nikolsky and
the senior officer of the cruiser Ogranovich opened fire on the crowd of
sailors with revolvers, and the deck was instantly empty. Shots from
Nikolsky (he fired simultaneously from two revolvers) and Ogranovich
wounded three sailors: two lightly and one - Porfiry Osipenko -
mortally. Going down to the cabin, Nikolsky reported to headquarters
about what had happened; from there followed a proposal to send a
hundred Cossacks to pacify a possible rebellion. The commander of the
Aurora categorically refused this measure, counting on the prudence of
the team. Then the "Great Gathering" was played in turn, and Nikolsky
explained to each company of sailors the situation on the cruiser and in
the city, explaining the riots taking place in St. Petersburg as treason
and provocation organized by the Germans. Nevertheless, open threats
were heard against the commander and officers. Machine guns were placed
on the bridge of the Aurora at night to avoid attack from the shore.
In the morning, an officer council was convened, at which it was
decided not to open fire even if the rebels tried to take possession of
the cruiser. 14 officers, 11 conductors and three midshipmen could not
count on the support of most of the team, therefore, bloodshed would be
pointless. After a wake-up call on February 28, the cruiser team began
cleaning up the premises. At 9 o'clock, groups of workers began to
appear in front of the Aurora, which soon turned into a demonstration
with red flags, ribbons and armbands. There were also armed men among
the demonstrators. Shouts were heard from the crowd, urging the crew of
the cruiser to quit their jobs and go to the city. According to
eyewitnesses, Nikolsky said that he was not going to detain the crew on
the ship and everyone, except for those busy on duty, on duty and on
guard, could go ashore. After these words, the commander of the Aurora
went to his cabin.
The crowd meanwhile filled the ship; the
sailors hurrying ashore were in a hurry and changed into their evening
dress. All weapons, including officers, were handed out, partly to
workers. Having learned that on February 27 the officers fired at the
team and there were wounded among them, the workers demanded immediate
reprisals against the commander and senior officer of the cruiser. The
sailors decided to take them to the Taurida Palace, where they took
people who resisted the uprising. They tore off their epaulettes from
Nikolsky and Ogranovich and, mockingly, began to lead them along the
gangway to the shore. There, the workers demanded that the officers lead
the procession with red flags in their hands. Nikolsky and Ogranovich
categorically refused. The senior officer of the Aurora was stabbed in
the throat with a bayonet, and he fell to the ground, covered in blood.
Nikolsky was again forced to carry the red flag, but he again refused.
At that moment, a shot rang out from the crowd; the bullet hit Nikolsky
in the head, and he died on the spot. In addition to the officers, the
unloved stoker conductor Ordin was beaten on the ship.
For the implementation of the democratic rights of the
sailors on the Aurora, a ship committee was elected, the chairman of
which was the artillery non-commissioned officer Ya. V. Fedyanin. In its
first composition, the Bolsheviks were absent, but by June, after
prominent propagandists such as M.I. Kalinin, V. Volodarsky, B.P. Pozern
appeared on the cruiser, the Aurora ship cell already numbered 42
members of the RSDLP (b). The post of commander, according to the
results of the elections, was taken by a former mine officer, Lieutenant
N.K. Nikonov. Rallies and meetings were held almost daily on the Aurora;
the team participated in all events organized by the Bolsheviks. Repair
of the cruiser faded into the background and became sluggish.
On
July 4, sailors from the Aurora, who participated in the Bolshevik
demonstration on Sadovaya, came under machine-gun fire from units loyal
to the Provisional Government; soon seven sailors were arrested by the
commission of inquiry that arrived on the cruiser and were kept in
Kresty for a month until they were taken on bail by the commander and
crew.
Participation in the October armed uprising
In
early September, the Aurora's ship committee was re-elected; now its
chairman was the Bolshevik machinist of the 1st article, A. V. Belyshev.
Lieutenant N.A. Erickson was elected to the post of cruiser commander
instead of Senior Lieutenant N.K. Nikonov, who had left for the Main
Naval Headquarters. The repair of the cruiser was nearing completion,
and in October the Aurora was supposed to go to sea to test the
machines. Understanding the importance of the cruiser in the conditions
of the impending urban uprising, the Bolsheviks opposed - on October 24,
Tsentrobalt decided to "Aurora" "totally obey the orders of the
revolutionary committee of the Petrograd Soviet" and, therefore, remain
on the Neva.
On the night of October 25, the Military
Revolutionary Committee entrusted the Aurora with the task of "restoring
traffic along the Nikolaevsky Bridge", which had been opened the day
before by the junkers. To complete the task and psychologically
influence the protection of the bridge, it was required to bring the
cruiser to the middle of the river, but N.A. Erickson refused to do
this, citing the lack of investigation of the fairway. After threats and
persuasion from the crew, the commander, fearing that the sailors would
run the ship aground, nevertheless brought it to the bridge. When the
Aurora approached, the cadets left the bridge, and the ship's
electricians who landed on the shore brought it down, having completed
the task.
Participation in the storming of the Winter Palace
By the morning of October 25, the main strategic points and government
offices of Petrograd were in the hands of the Bolsheviks. It remained to
capture the Winter Palace; in the event that the government refused to
surrender, the Bolsheviks intended to fire at him from the Peter and
Paul Fortress and from the Aurora, and then take the palace by storm.
The head of the field headquarters of the rebels, V. A.
Antonov-Ovseenko, who arrived on the cruiser during the day, gave the
order that, according to the signal shot of the Peter and Paul Fortress,
"Aurora" would give a couple of blank shots from a six-inch gun. At the
same time, three groups of sailors went ashore from the cruiser to
maintain order in the city. On the radio from the Aurora, an appeal
written by V. I. Lenin "To the citizens of Russia!" was transmitted.
At 21:40, on the orders of Commissar A.V. Belyshev, Commander E.
Ognev fired one blank shot from the 6-inch Aurora tank gun, which had a
psychological effect on the defenders of the Winter Palace. According to
a number of Soviet sources, it served as a signal for the start of the
assault on the Winter Palace. According to the historian S.P. Melgunov,
the assault began on October 25 at about 21:00 with a signal blank shot
from the Peter and Paul Fortress; according to the historian V. T.
Loginov, without a signal shot at all. There were no further shots from
the Aurora's guns. Melgunov wonders if the Aurora would have fired at
the Winter Palace, and puts forward a version about the impossibility of
live firing at it due to the conditions of the cruiser's deployment on
the Neva.
In the following days, information appeared in the
press that the Aurora had fired live shells at the Winter Palace. On
November 9, the newspaper Pravda published a refutation signed by the
cruiser commissar: “... only one blank shot was fired from a 6-inch gun,
indicating a signal for all ships standing on the Neva, and calling them
to vigilance and readiness.” Some researchers express doubts that there
were live shells on board the cruiser at that moment.
Three days
later, the cruiser returned to the wall of the Franco-Russian plant to
complete the repairs. On the Red Fleet Embankment (now Angliskaya
Embankment), opposite the Rumyantsev mansion, in memory of the
participation of the cruiser in history in 1939, a memorial stele was
erected by the architect Gegello. The inscription on the stele reads:
October 25 (November 7), 1917, standing opposite this place, the cruiser
Aurora, with the thunder of her guns aimed at the Winter Palace,
heralded on October 25 the beginning of a new era - the era of the Great
Socialist Revolution.
On November 28, 1917, the Aurora, having completed
repairs and successfully carried out mooring tests of boilers and
machines, moved to Helsingfors, where she again became part of the 2nd
cruiser brigade. On December 8, boilers, main machines and auxiliary
mechanisms of the ship were tested, which revealed many shortcomings;
despite this, the repair of the machines was found to be satisfactory,
and it was decided to retest the new boilers in the spring of the
following year.
On December 22, the 2nd cruiser brigade, in
difficult ice conditions, moved from Helsingfors to Kronstadt. The
transition from Kronstadt to Petrograd was only possible on December 27
with the help of the Yermak icebreaker. Upon returning to the Neva, the
Aurora again stood at the Admiralty Plant, starting work to eliminate
defects in the mechanical installation. In the last days of 1917 and the
first months of 1918, two attempts were made to sabotage the ship:
shortly before the New Year, an attempt was made to poison the crew with
a batch of poisoned ham (up to 200 sailors got into the hospital, some
Bolsheviks claimed 20 dead), and on March 30 on the Aurora, a landmine
was found, neutralized by senior officer B. F. Winter. When
disassembling the mine fuse, Winter was seriously injured.
By May
9, only 127 military men remained on the Aurora: part of the team left
for the front as part of volunteer detachments. At this time, A. A.
Korunov, the dismissed chairman of the ship committee, ran from the
Aurora to the Memory of Azov without the knowledge of the team. Soon it
was discovered that he had stolen the revolutionary red flag, which was
found in Korunov's personal belongings ripped open and intended for
sewing a sweater. The kidnapper was arrested, and the case was
transferred to the Cheka.
On July 29, the cruiser was transferred
to Kronstadt, where, during the active offensive of the North-Western
Army of Yudenich, they planned to flood it in order to block the way for
the interventionist ships. Several times the Aurora, among other ships,
was taken to positions for flooding as a crew training; in one of these
exits, the cruiser lost all anchors. When it became clear that the
British ships would not appear in front of Petrograd, about 40 crew
members were left on the Aurora, led by the new commander M.N. Zubov.
In the spring, work began to prepare for the conservation of the
cruiser; at this time, the Aurora was provided with steam from a
tug-heater. Having passed docking at the Konstantinovsky Dock in
November - December 1919, on June 8, 1922, the cruiser with the
artillery removed and without ammunition was transferred to the storage
of the Kronstadt military port under the protection of the fortress
guard.
Recovery
Inspecting the Aurora in September 1922,
the commission concluded that after simple work, the cruiser could be
commissioned as a training ship. Overhauled in 1917, the ship was the
least damaged during a long layup. By order of the Naval Forces No. 899
of December 30, 1922, L. A. Polenov, who had previously served on it as
a midshipman, was appointed commander of the Aurora. The staffing of the
ship was carried out both by old ship specialists and young sailors of
the Komsomol recruitment. 6 command and 35 non-command staff often
worked 24 hours a day, initially living on the Komsomolets training
ship, and on January 18, 1923, switching to the Aurora. On February 23,
1923, on the day of the holiday dedicated to the creation of the Red
Army, the red flag began to fly over the Aurora again. By this time,
about 100 people were already on the cruiser; On April 11, 100 Komsomol
students joined the crew. The Aurora, under the command of L. A.
Polenov, became part of the training ships of the Baltic Fleet, becoming
the first combat-ready cruiser of the Soviet Baltic Fleet.
Upon
completion of work on the withdrawal of the ship from long-term storage,
it was brought to the Konstantinovsky Dock, where, from May 23, the
plating was repaired and the remains of the for-trawl were dismantled.
Leaving the dock, the cruiser received a new artillery armament, which
consisted of 10 modern 130-mm installations with a barrel length of 55
calibers. Anti-aircraft artillery was now represented by two 76 mm
Lender cannons, which appeared on the aft bridge and four Maxim machine
guns. The cellars were converted to store new ammunition and two
rangefinders of the Barr and Stroud system were installed. In addition,
mine rails, new radio stations and navigation aids were reinstalled. The
previously lost anchors were raised from the Oleg sunk by an English
torpedo boat, and the chains for them were taken out in separate pieces
from different ships.
On July 18, 1923, sea trials took place, which were
successful. On the night of July 20, nine sailors from the Aurora took
part in extinguishing a fire at the Pavel I fort closest to the ship,
where the mines were stored. Four people were killed, the same number
were injured and burned; only one remained unharmed. All nine military
officers were awarded the Order of the Red Banner. The tragedy occurred
due to the negligence of the sailors from the battleship "Paris
Commune", and the sailors from the "Aurora" arrived at the fort after
the first explosions.
The cruiser spent her first campaign
sailing the Baltic Sea, leaving no further than its central part - the
island of Gotland. In the fall, the Aurora took part in fleet maneuvers.
On September 5, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR took
patronage over the ship.
The winter of 1923-1924 passed in
preparation for the future overseas voyage. The Special Practical
Detachment, consisting of the Aurora and the training vessel
Komsomolets, was to make a long trip along the Kronstadt-Arkhangelsk
route and back, calling at foreign ports. On July 10, the ships under
the command of N. A. Bologov set sail, with cadets and teachers of naval
schools on board. The campaign went well and was of great political
importance, as it collected positive feedback in the foreign press about
the behavior of Soviet sailors and the organization of service in the
USSR Navy.
A similar campaign around Scandinavia was made from
May 15 to September 15, 1925. The detachment was now commanded by the
head of the Directorate of Naval Educational Institutions V. M. Orlov.
This time the behavior of the Soviet sailors was not so exemplary; thus,
the chief of staff of the detachment of ships could not come to visit
the administration of the Norwegian port, because he was drunk. Four
sailors were decommissioned from the Aurora in Arkhangelsk for various
faults.
The winter period of 1925-1926 was used for preventive
repairs: four additional 75-millimeter guns for practical firing and
several new navigational instruments were installed on the cruiser. In
the 1926 campaign of the year, the Aurora was on inland navigation,
briefly visiting only the Kiel Bay area.
On November 2, 1927, on
the anniversary of the October Revolution, Aurora was awarded the Order
of the Red Banner. On November 7, the Red Banner Naval Flag was hoisted
on the cruiser in a solemn ceremony, and a bronze memorial plaque was
attached to the shield of the bow gun. Over the next three years, the
Aurora made several foreign voyages, visiting Copenhagen in 1928, and
Svinemünde in 1929 (together with the Profintern cruiser). This action,
being then the first visit to a German port for Soviet warships, which
gave it political significance, was a success.
The last
long-distance cruise of the Aurora was the third voyage around the
Scandinavian Peninsula in the history of the cruiser, which ended
successfully in August 1930. After that, the cruiser did not leave the
Baltic Sea: due to the wear of the boilers, a third of them were
decommissioned. Nevertheless, on a run in the fall of 1932, the cruiser
developed 17.5 knots, which was an excellent result for an old vessel.
By the autumn of 1933, it became obvious that the cruiser needed a
major overhaul, exceeding even the repairs of 1916-1917 in terms of
volume. Work begun at the end of the year was supposed to last until
1937, but due to the construction of a large number of new ships, they
were stopped in the spring of 1935. The workers of the plant named after
A. Marti did not have time to change the boilers; in this regard, the
Aurora was reclassified into a non-self-propelled training base. In the
winter of 1935-1936, one boiler room was dismantled from the ship and
the anchor device was redone.
In subsequent years, during the
campaign, the Aurora was taken in tow to the Eastern Kronstadt
roadstead. Here, first-year cadets of naval schools practiced on it. In
winter, the base was returned to the Lieutenant Schmidt embankment or to
Oranienbaum, where it was handed over to submariners. According to the
researchers, by 1941, the Aurora was planned to be excluded from the
lists of the fleet, but the war prevented this.
With the outbreak of World War II, cadets were
decommissioned from the Aurora, and the ship itself, which was in
Oranienbaum, was included in the Kronstadt air defense system. By this
time, according to L. L. Polenov, “in addition to ten 130-mm guns, the
Aurora artillery armament included: two universal 76.2-mm gun mounts 55
calibers long, mounted on the forecastle, two anti-aircraft 76.2 -mm
Lender system guns on the middle bridge, three universal 45-mm guns with
a length of 45 calibers, standing on the aft bridge, and a machine gun
of the M-1 system. Some authors believe that the ship's poop gun was a
new B-13 artillery system of the first series. The commander of the base
was the captain of the 3rd rank I. A. Sakov, under whose command there
were 260 crew members. As the Nazi troops approached Leningrad, the Red
Navy sailors left the Aurora for the front; weapons were removed from
the cruiser.
In July 1941, battery "A" ("Aurora"), located in the
Duderhof area, was formed, which included nine 130-mm guns removed from
the cruiser. Battery "A" was formed by order of the commander of the
naval defense of Leningrad and the lake district, Rear Admiral K.I.
Samoilov dated July 8, 1941, No. 013. In general, the order formed a
separate special-purpose artillery division of two-battery composition.
Until September 30, 1941, the division was completely subordinate to the
Red Banner Baltic Fleet. Handed over to the Lenfront "posthumously", at
the end of September 1941. Battery "A" - "Aurora" was armed with 9 guns
130-mm / 55 type B-13-1C (the first series of guns, produced by the USSR
until 1939). The guns were removed from the cruiser in Oranienbaum, and
delivered to Duderhof by tractor tractors on drags. The full front of
the battery was about 15 kilometers, from the village. Duderhof to the
village of Pelyol behind the Kyiv highway. Complete lists of personnel
and officers of the division have not been established. Sailors from the
Aurora cruiser and from other units were present in the gun crews. On
September 3, 1941, Battery "A" ("Aurora") began active hostilities,
starting to strike at enemy concentrations in Yam-Izhora. During
September 3–7, strikes were made against enemy concentrations in the
settlements of Kipen, Skvoritsy, Vysotskoye, Lempelovo, and Pelezi. The
coordinates of the targets were transmitted from the command post of the
artillery division to Pulkovo. On September 10, after artillery and air
preparation, the Germans entered Duderhof, going behind the battery,
which by that time still did not have proper fire support from other
branches of the military. Communication with the command post of the
division at the battery was interrupted by bombing. Voronya Gora,
located north of battery "A" (the battery was located under Mount
Orekhovaya), was defended by the 282nd OAPB and the 1st TD, which did
not interact with the battery. By the evening of September 10, the
Germans captured Voronya Gora. The 2nd Battalion, 500th Volunteer Rifle
Regiment, in the anti-tank ditch in front of the battery, was scattered
by an enemy attack at dawn on September 11th. At the same time, on the
morning of September 11, the Germans attacked the 1st gun of battery "A"
at the foot of Orekhovaya Mountain, and during the day they captured
seven firing positions of the right flank and the citadel at the foot of
Mount Kirchhoff. The surviving sailors retreated to 8 and 9 guns behind
the Kiev highway and continued to fire until the shells on each gun were
exhausted, after which, if possible, they disabled the guns or spoiled
the aiming devices. By the end of the eighth day of fighting, out of 165
personnel, only 26 sailors came to their own.
According to an
official certificate from the TsVMA for 1987, according to the report of
the commander of the artillery division, 90 people of the l /
composition, and 6 people from the 12 command staff of the Aurora
battery, left for the position of battery "B" on September 13-14. At the
position of the 1st gun of the Aurora battery, the first obelisk was
built in 1963. Shortly before this, war correspondent K.K. Grishchinsky
conducted the first study of the history of the battery, which was
reflected in newspapers and magazines. In the same years, the Museum of
Local Lore was formed in the 289th Mozhaisk school, which, with the
assistance of the Central Museum of Museums, began to study the history
of the battery, established biographies and contacts of surviving
battery members - Aurors.
The post-war history of battery "A" in
the Soviet period was closely connected in the press with the names of:
lieutenant, commander of the 5th gun, - Alexei Vasilyevich Smagliy,
according to local residents - burned along with his comrades and a
nurse at the position of the first gun on September 11, 1941 , and
Alexander Alexandrovich Antonov, who, according to legend, blew himself
up together with political instructor A. A. Skulachev in the position of
gun number 2, not wanting to surrender. The circumstances of the
execution and undermining of sailors have not been established in detail
outside of fiction. In 1984, a memorial to the "Aurora Sailors" was
erected on the site of the first gun. In 1987, the Explosion memorial
was opened on the site of the second gun. The bed of the 5th gun was
transferred in 1988 to military unit 14108, where its own memorial of
"Battle Glory" was opened. On the 31st kilometer of the Kiev highway in
1987, the Aurora Volley memorial (the modern name is Aurora
Artillerymen) also appeared, which was preceded by the Sea Wave memorial
approved by the interdepartmental commission at the 29th kilometer of
the same highway. For unknown reasons, the previous monument was not
built, as well as the positions of 3-7 guns according to the approved
sketches were not immortalized. In general, it was originally planned to
build a "complex memorial". Monuments and memorials perpetuating the
memory of battery "A" were built according to the designs of the
architect A. D. Levenkov, A. G. Pavlushkina was a public initiator. The
construction took place on a voluntary basis, it was attended by
residents of Leningrad and the Leningrad region, students, soldiers of
military units, and cadets of military educational institutions. From
April to September 1984, about 2,500 people went to the construction of
the memorial to the Aurora Sailors, according to the record of work.
Memorials of artillery battery "A" are included in the Green Belt of
Glory.
German aviation began to subject the Aurora to raids. On
September 16, during a massive raid, Aurora anti-aircraft gunners,
according to eyewitnesses, shot down one plane. Five days later, German
ground artillery opened fire on the cruiser. From that moment on,
combined artillery and air raids occurred daily. Seeing the
senselessness of the crew's further stay on board the ship, Captain 3rd
rank Sakov placed the sailors in a safe place on the shore with his
authority, leaving a permanent watch on the Aurora. For this, the
cruiser commander was arrested and soon shot on charges of "alarming"
and "escape from the ship." On September 27-30, the cruiser received
several hits, as a result of which she landed on the ground with a list
of 3 ° to starboard.
At the end of November, life on the ship
became impossible, and (now by decision of the command) the crew was
transferred to the shore. The watch was carried at the only combat-ready
anti-aircraft gun and the Red Banner flag. The dismantling of artillery
and equipment, begun in the fall, was now taking place in incredibly
difficult conditions under enemy fire. So, on December 1, the Nazi
battery fired 56 shells at the Aurora, achieving four hits. The last
130-millimeter gun removed from the cruiser was installed on the
Baltiets armored train after repairs.
Seeing the flag flying over
the cruiser that had landed on the ground, the German batteries opened
fire on it from time to time. In August 1943, the Aurora again received
three hits; a fragment of a shell shot down the Red Banner flag, which
was immediately raised from the water by the senior sailor A. I. Volkov.
The shelling of the Aurora ceased only with the lifting of the
blockade of Leningrad.
In August 1944, the executive committee of the
Leningrad City Council of Workers' Deputies adopted a resolution
according to which the Aurora was to be installed at Petrogradskaya
Embankment as a museum-monument of the history of the fleet and a
training block of the Leningrad Nakhimov Naval School. On July 20, the
ship was raised by EPRON specialists and transferred to Leningrad with a
team of 13 people under the command of Captain 3rd Rank P. A. Doronin.
Winter left to clear the ship of debris, and on May 3, 1945, a roll that
was increasing every hour was unexpectedly discovered. Malfunction of
the port side kingston of the middle boiler room led to flooding of the
engine room; "Aurora" had to be put on the ground again. After 20 days,
the newly raised ship was transferred in tow to the Kronstadt dock,
where she spent from July 14 to September 6.
On September 7, the
cruiser was towed to Leningrad and began unloading the premises and
dismantling equipment. On October 23, 1945, the Aurora was placed at the
disposal of the film crew of the M. Gorky film studio, which was filming
the film Cruiser Varyag. "Aurora" was to play the role of the famous
cruiser. Until the beginning of 1946, the Aurora was “made up” as a
Varyag: they installed a fourth, fake, pipe, several 152-mm cannons,
removed shields from some guns, made a bow decoration and a commander’s
balcony at the aft end. The deck was covered with a pine board, and the
Sudobetonverf plant carried out the sealing of the hull. First, rust was
carefully removed from the surface of the skin, then almost the entire
underwater part was filled with a thin layer of high-grade concrete.
The protracted filming, in which the entire personnel of the ship
took part, ended on September 29, 1946. The very next day, the Aurora
was returned to the wall of the ship repair shop near the Maslyany
Canal. Here, fourteen 152-millimeter Kane guns were installed on the
ship, and eleven of them had land machines and shields, and for three
they had to make shields according to the existing ones. For the
production of salutes, four 45-mm guns were installed: in pairs on the
middle and aft bridges. On November 6, 1947, the Aurora was installed at
the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge, from where, after the end of the festive
events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the October Revolution, it
was again transferred to the plant to complete the conversion.
November 17, 1948 "Aurora" was transferred to the final parking lot on
Bolshaya Nevka. Here the ship took on board the pupils of the graduation
company of the Leningrad Nakhimov Naval School. The museum created on
the cruiser was expanded in 1956 and made a branch of the Central Naval
Museum. In 1960, after a short dock repair, by a decree of the Council
of Ministers of the USSR, the Aurora was included in the number of
monuments protected by the state. By this time, the cruiser had ceased
to be the base of the Leningrad Nakhimov Naval School.
On
February 22, 1968, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of
the USSR, the Red Banner cruiser Aurora was awarded the Order of the
October Revolution, becoming the only ship in the country twice
decorated with orders. The cruiser itself is depicted on the order.
By the end of the 1970s, the Aurora hull fell into
disrepair. The interdepartmental commission, convened by the
Commander-in-Chief of the Navy in the fall of 1980, after six months of
work, presented an opinion on the technical condition of the hull and
proposed three ways to ensure the buoyancy of the cruiser. After two
years of research, all three options were rejected: they decided to
carry out a refurbishment with the replacement of damaged elements of
the hull structures. The Northern Design Bureau was appointed as the
designer, the Shipbuilding Plant named after A. A. Zhdanov became the
contractor. Despite protests from fleet historians who sought to
preserve a unique monument of technology and history, the engineers
decided to completely replace the underwater part using modern
technologies.
On August 18, 1984, the Aurora was brought stern
forward to the wall of the plant. The following year, the hull was
brought into the dock, where almost the entire underwater part of the
hull was separated. At the end of the summer, repaired equipment was
loaded into the newly rebuilt bottom and the installation of the armored
deck began. Belleville-Dolgolenko boilers were replaced with mock-ups,
the car was saved. Part of the armor that was not needed went to the
manufacture of commemorative crafts and souvenirs. After completion in
the shed, by April 1987, the ends were welded onto the cruiser with
bronze stems, to which pieces of the original hull were attached; in
addition, superstructures, pipes and masts were installed. Then the
reconstruction of the premises began, which they tried to restore in
their original form.
By August 1987, the "restoration" of the
Aurora, which cost about 35 million rubles, was completed. There are
different assessments of the work carried out: a new underwater part,
electric welding seams and the use of modern technologies gave reason to
talk about the transformation of the Aurora into a remake. The most
noticeable external differences from the appearance of the cruiser in
1917 are the "land" shields of the main battery guns, other anchor
hawsers and many small details (such as, for example, the inaccuracy of
the reconstruction of the towed life buoy and the absence of garbage
scuppers on the battery deck). At the former place of eternal parking
(near the Petrovskaya embankment), the Aurora was installed on a road
mount and a standard positional mount, which ensured the movement of the
cruiser hull only vertically with any fluctuations in the river level.
Significantly expanded since the 1950s, the exposition of the ship's
museum occupies the space from the 10th to the 68th frame. The
exposition contains more than 500 unique exhibits, including documentary
photographs, ship items and documents of cultural and historical value.
The exposition of the museum is located in six rooms. The conning tower,
engine and boiler rooms of the ship are also open for visiting excursion
groups.
The underwater part of the cruiser was not disposed of
and, as of 2011, is in a flooded state near the settlement of Ruchy,
Kingisepp District. Parts of the skeleton sticking out of the water in
the 1980s were stolen for building materials by residents of a nearby
village. In July 2010, for the first time, an expeditionary group of
underwater researchers from Moscow and St. Petersburg went to the
historical wreckage, but poor visibility under water caused by strong
waves prevented a detailed inspection of the cruiser's hull.
In the 1990s, the cruiser was equipped with a dental
office, where cadets of the Military Medical Academy practiced.
On the night of June 6, 2009, during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum,
a party of the Russian Pioneer magazine was held on board the cruiser,
which caused a wide resonance in society. The moderators were:
journalist Tina Kandelaki and Andrey Kolesnikov (editor of the Russian
Pioneer magazine). Sergey Shnurov (Rubl group) entertained the guests
with his songs. Among the guests of the evening was the Plenipotentiary
Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the
North-Western Federal District I. I. Klebanov, the Minister of Economic
Development E. S. Nabiullina, the Governor of St. Petersburg V. I.
Matvienko. After the scandal that arose, the ship was closed for such
festivities, occasionally arranging charity concerts on board. None of
the organizers and guests of the "party on the Aurora" was held
accountable.
On December 1, 2010, the Aurora cruiser was
withdrawn from the Navy by order of the Minister of Defense of the
Russian Federation and transferred to the balance of the Central Naval
Museum. The military crew of the cruiser was reorganized into a staff of
three military personnel and 28 civilian personnel; the status of the
ship remained the same.
On October 16, 2011, three people climbed
the cruiser's mast and hoisted the pirate flag. Responsibility for the
action was assumed by the St. Petersburg organizations "People's Dole"
and "Food Instead of Bombs".
On November 11, 2011, the video
“Aurora Shot 1st Rank 2011” appeared on YouTube video hosting, where two
unknown men in wetsuits swim towards the cruiser, make their way along
the deck to the tank gun and fire a shot. Director of the Central Naval
Museum Andrei Lyalin told RIA Novosti: "I know about this, it's a
falsification." Responsibility for the “shot” was taken by the Moscow
agency Echoviruses, which is engaged in viral marketing.
On June
27, 2012, the deputies of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly
adopted an appeal to the President of the Russian Federation with a
request to return the status of ship No. 1 in the Navy to the cruiser,
while retaining the military crew.
On January 26, 2013, the
Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General of the Army S. K.
Shoigu, announced that the Aurora cruiser would be repaired and then put
into running condition. During the repair, outboard fittings, electric
cables, pumps, fire extinguishing systems and other components and
assemblies will be replaced, generators will be repaired. In the future,
it is proposed to send the Aurora for a more detailed repair, during
which the installation of navigation equipment, communications equipment
and radio-technical weapons, and the ship's progress to be provided with
a diesel-electric power plant. Thus, in a completely historical form,
the ship is proposed not to be restored.
On September 21, 2014, the Aurora was towed to the
repair dock of the Kronstadt Marine Plant of the Russian Defense
Ministry for repairs.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, the ship began to
be towed to the plant. At 14:50, the Aurora was docked at the
Veleshchinsky dock.
As of November 26, 2014, the cruiser was taken
out of the dock and moored to the outfitting wall to undergo the second
stage of repair.
The cruiser "Aurora" returned to its place of
eternal parking on July 16, 2016. According to the Aurora Board of
Trustees, the cost of repairing the cruiser was about 840 million
rubles, which were used to renew the ship's hull and create a new
exposition of the branch of the Central Naval Museum operating on the
Aurora.
Repairs in 2014-2016, unlike the previous ones, did not
provide for intervention in the design of the ship, the restructuring of
its interior and superstructures. An ultrasonic examination of the hull
showed that since the last repair, there has been practically no
corrosion dynamics. During the dock repair, repairs were made to tanks,
tanks and other mechanisms, pressure testing and testing of the
tightness of the adjunction of bronze rods and a steel hull were carried
out. The stems, preserved unchanged from the moment the cruiser was
built, turned out to be in excellent condition. The hull connections,
made in 1987, proved to be of high quality. The largest work was aimed
at surveying power cable routes, replacing the electrical network,
repairing decks, masts and all life support systems of the ship,
installing spars, replacing rigging, repairing boat arrangements, boats,
boats, restoring the superstructure, hull structures (with partial
replacement of rusted metal ) and good things. The cruiser received the
latest fire extinguishing systems (“Water Mist”), water supply,
communications, and video monitoring.
Appearance was also not
left without attention. The historical appearance of the flagship cabin
was restored, the design project of which was approved by the
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy. Redecoration was carried out in
the cockpits of the crew and the wardroom. Updated teak deck. The stern
of the Aurora was adorned with a new order flag, developed by the
heraldic service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. However,
the Soviet symbols on the cruiser, built for the Russian Imperial Navy,
remained after the repair. The coat of arms of the Soviet Union on the
stern of the cruiser was not replaced with the coat of arms of the
Russian Federation and the red stars were not removed from the sides, as
expected during the work, although this contradicts the presidential
decree on the symbols of the ships of the Russian Navy, but an exception
was made for the Aurora, because, according to According to the chairman
of the St. Petersburg club of submariners Igor Kurdin, this would be
"damage to the cultural heritage." The rostral double-headed eagle on
the bow of the ship was not restored either, although this idea was
discussed, but rejected.
On board the Aurora, during the repair,
a new museum exposition was created (in comparison with the previous
number of exhibits more than doubled), dedicated to the cruiser as a
participant in three wars: the Russo-Japanese, World War I and the Great
Patriotic War.
By July 2018, on the Aurora, according to archival
photographs and drawings, the Orthodox ship church, abolished in 1917,
was restored. On church holidays and weekends, divine services are held
in it.
Ship and people. About the history and glorious
traditions of the cruiser Avrora (documentary, dir. G. Vengerova and
others, 1973)
In the 1926 Soviet silent film The Ferris Wheel, the
protagonist, Ivan Shorin, a sailor from the Aurora cruiser, did not
return on time to the ship leaving for a foreign trip (based on the
history of the cruiser as a training ship, we can conclude that the film
takes place in May 1925).
Soviet cartoon "Aurora" with the song of V.
Ya. Shainsky and M. L. Matusovsky "What are you dreaming about, the
cruiser" Aurora "..."
In the role of the cruiser "Varyag" on the set
of the film of the same name.
The Soviet film released on October 29,
1965 "Volley of the Aurora" tells about the events of the Great October
Revolution in Petrograd in 1917 (dir. Yu. M. Vyshinsky).
"Cruiser" Aurora "" - a song by V. Ya. Shainsky
(music) and M. L. Matusovsky (words) performed by the Big Children's
Choir, soloist V. V. Nikolaev; performed by E. A. Khil.
"Shot of the
Aurora" - 3rd movement of Symphony No. 12 "1917" by Dmitry Shostakovich.
Azarov V. B. Cruiser of the Revolution.
Eisen A. A., "Aurora".
"Aurora boat" - Song of Alexander Laertsky
"I'll kill you, boatman" -
the song "Professor Lebedinsky".
Russian journalist Konstantin Semin
recorded a video clip "Aurora" together with the Gianni Rodari group.
Valentin Pikul described the moment of the Aurora's arrival on February
16, 1911 to receive a commendation medal from the inhabitants of Messina
in his miniature "Nothing, sir, nothing, señorita!".
In 1996, a
musical film-concert "Mitkovo songs on the Cruiser Aurora" was filmed on
the Cruiser with the participation of Yuri Shevchuk, Alexander Sklyar,
Sergei Chigrakov and Vyacheslav Butusov.
The first stamp dedicated to the cruiser Aurora was
issued in the USSR in 1928 (No. 304, hereinafter - CFA catalog numbers),
it depicts a sailor from the Aurora, and in the background - the cruiser
itself. The silhouette of the cruiser "Aurora" is present on wartime
stamps (1943, No. 848, 865, 868), on the postage block of 1957 (No.
2075), on stamps of the 1960s (No. 2632, 2938, 2939). The cruiser
"Aurora" is dedicated to the postage stamp of the USSR in 1970 from the
series "Warships of the Navy of the USSR" (No. 3909). The cruiser
"Aurora" is depicted on postage stamps of the USSR dedicated to the
Order of the October Revolution (No. 3659, 3665, 4061). The cruiser
Aurora is depicted on the postage stamps of Albania (No. 479,
hereinafter referred to as Iver catalog numbers), Bulgaria (No. 904),
Vietnam (No. 554), GDR (No. 487, 1013, 1931), Mongolia (No. 933), Poland
(No. 1214, 1646), Romania (No. 1883), Czechoslovakia (No. 1240, 1241,
1598, 2243), Cuba (No. 2034), Burundi (No. 771-774), Seychelles (No.
392), Togo (No. 908). Most often, the Aurora cruiser was depicted on
stamps dedicated to the anniversaries of the Great October Socialist
Revolution.
The image of the cruiser is present on Soviet
commemorative coins of 20 kopecks, issued in 1967 and 1 ruble, issued in
1977 (is part of the composition).