Vladimir Monomakh

Vladimir Monomakh (Владимир Мономах) was an armoured cruiser of the Imperial Russian Navy built 1881-83. She was named after Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Prince of Kiev. Her career was spent in the Far East, but was back in the Baltic Sea as the Russo-Japanese War flared up in 1904 and then assigned to the Third Pacific Squadron, taking part in the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905. She was not in the thick of battle, tasked of escorting Russian transports, not heavily engaged in daylight but caught up, torpedoed during the night, scuttled the following morning to prevent capture.

Monomakh and Pamiat Azova

Development

Vladimir Monomakh was classified as a semi-armored frigate, derived from the Minin. She was improved version designed for high endurance and high speed to act as a commerce raider, superior to escort, and able to outrun British battleships. She was laid out as a “central battery ironclad” since her armament was concentrated amidships. But her lesser armor and superior speed made her a cruiser. Since she was intended for long patrols soon distant seas and in the pacific in particular she had a full rig originally.

In September 1890, decision was made to build a second cruiser of the Dmitry Donskoy type at the Baltic Shipyard. Construction began on February 10, 1881. The original project was repeatedly revised during construction, due to which the ships differed from each other in design (unlike the Donskoy, Monomakh did not have a closed battery deck), armament, and mechanical installation (on the Monomakh, each of the two machines worked on its own propeller shaft).

Design of the class

Hull and general design

She had an iron-hulled fitted with a ram, sheathed in wood and copper to combat fouling. The hull was subdivided by ten transverse bulkheads for better protection against flooding, with in addition a double bottom 1.73 metres (5 ft 8 in) deep that was accessible and can be filled with coal as extra ballast. She measured 307 feet 9 inches (93.8 m) long overall for a beam of 51 feet 10 inches (15.8 m) mean draft of 25 feet (7.6 m), for a displacement deeply loaded of 5,593 long tons (5,683 t).

Design-wise, she looked like a classic masted cruiser, with three masts, two funnels, minimalistic superstructure reduce to her conning tower and flying command bridge both between funnels. So forward vision was reduced. Her fixtures were limited to hatches and her main steering double wheel was located forward of her sterncastle. She also had a forecastle. The two funnels were surrounded by four air intakes. Her crew amounted to 550 officers and men, which could evacuate the ship using no less than ten boats under davits along the hull, the aftermost ones having tall twin davit mounts.
The poop was rounded with a cutout for an old school officer’s gallery. Her rudder was leaf-shaped and rather small, and her ram bow was not much pronounced. Her tumblehome was reduced as well. Of course this appearance changed considerably over time and refits until 1905 (see later).

Powerplant

Vladimir Monomakh had two vertical compound steam engines. They drove two four-bladed, manganese-bronze 18-foot (5.5 m) propellers.
Steam came from six cylindrical boilers working at a pressure of 70 psi (483 kPa; 5 kgf/cm2). This powerplant was rated for 7,044 indicated horsepower (5,253 kW) as achieved on sea trials, enabling a top speed of 15.8 knots (29.3 km/h; 18.2 mph). She had on board some 900 long tons (910 t) of coal in normal conditions. This gave her a range of 6,200 nautical miles (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). But using all void spaces, she could be loaded with 2.5 times more as ballasts. She was rigged with three masts originally for a sail area of 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2) but her sailing speed is unknown. To reduce drag however in that configuration, and typically of the 1860-70s ironclads, her funnels were retractable.

Protection

Unlike protected cruisers which had a turtleback protective deck and no proper belt, she was designed originally as an ironclad, and so she had a complete waterline belt composed of compound armour, extended to both ends. It was six inches thick amidships, then 4.5 inches (114 mm) at the ends. This belt extended 2 feet (0.6 m) above the waterline, 4 feet (1.2 m) below.
This belt was enclosed by Transverse bulkheads 3–4 inches (76–102 mm) thick on both ended of the main battery to avoid raking fire, creating a citadel.
The sponsons for the main guns were also 3–4 inches (76–102 mm) thick.
The protective deck on top of this was however only 0.5-inch (13 mm) thick, since the belt ensured protection already.

Armament

It was inspired by Minin, and comprised the following:
-Four 8-inch (203 mm) guns, sponsoned out at the corner of the battery sides.
-Twelve 6-inch (152 mm) mounted between the eight-inch guns (central battery) with four outside at the ends.
-Four 9-pounder, ten Hotchkiss guns for anti TB defence.
-Three above-water 15-inch (381 mm) torpedo tubes.

8-inch (203 mm) Obukhoff

No data

6-inch (152 mm) Obukhoff

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Modifications

Vladimir Monomakh after her 1892 refit
In her Baltic refit in 1892-93 she saw her original heavy wooden rigging was removed and replaced with three light signal masts. This also reduced draft, and the crew, improving life on board. The boilers were also overhauled completely and rearranged.

Monomakh in 1897
In 1896 she had greatest refit, being completely rearmed in Kronstadt. Between 1896 and 1897 she gained five 152mm/45(6 inches), one on the forecastle and four in sponsons, and six 120 mm (5-inches) on the battery deck, all modern Canet guns with unitary rounds. Her new Möller mounts on central pintle significantly reduced the size of these guns, making aiming easier as well.
-5x 152mm/44 Canet
-6x 120/43 Canet
-2x 63mm/17 Baranovski (usable as feld guns in landing parties)
-16x 47mm/40 (3 Pdr) QF Hotchkiss
-4x 37mm/20 (2-pdr) QF Hotchkiss
-3x 381mm (15 inches) TTs, one bow, 2 beam.
Her masts were replaced by military ones, which gained fighting tops.

Vladimir Monomakh 1905

Vladivostok. Crew and guests of the cruiser “Vladimir Monomakh”. 1898-1900.

color profile, c1890 – the blueprints

Career of Vladimir Monomakh 1883-1905

Monomakh and Pamiat Azova in Pireus, Greece
In August, without completing acceptance trials, Monomakh then under command of Captain 1st Rank P. A. Polyansky, escorted the Imperial yacht Derzhava to Copenhagen and then joined back the Baltic Fleet. On September 29, 1884 she left for the Mediterranean, on her way to the Far East via Suez. On her way from Port Said she was shadowed by HMS Agamemnon due to tensions with Britain, but later broke away and arrived in Nagasaki. Her, the flag was symbolocally raised by Rear Admiral A. E. Crown, commander of the Pacific Squadron, staying in Vladivostok and preparing for war with Britain. Monomakh was the only Russian armored ship in the Pacific Ocean at the time and so she had a special importance.

From April 9, 1885, under command of Captain 2nd Rank Ya. A. Giltebrandt she sailed to Japan. After a negociation lowering tensions with Britain, she headed south to spent the winter months. On March 7, 1886 she resumed her service at Vladivostok. On December 20 she Nagasaki for Kronstadt in July 1887.
In 1888-1889 she was modernized and from January 1, 1889, under Captain 1st Rank F. V. Dubasov, she took part in exercises. On November 25 she returned to the Far East but underway in Piraeus, she waited a detachment with which Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich. However she was sent in Trieste to join Pamyat Azova (flagship, Rear Admiral V. G. Basargin) and her captaon confered with him on October 19, 1890 and Tsarevich Nikolai which arrived with his jacht to take part in the Far East. By February 1891 she stopped in Ceylon and arrived on May 11 to Vladivostok.

There she had a new captain 1st Rank O. V. Stark appointed and by December, she was in Nagasaki, refitted for returning to the Baltic. On April 9, 1892 while in the roadstead she ran aground, free the evening of the next day. She was in the Baltic by September 10 and was refitted and modernized in 1892-1893. On October 2, 1894 under Captain 1st Rank Z. P. Rozhestvensky (future admiral of the 1904 war), she left for the Mediterranean to relieve Pamyat Azova, but due to the threat of war with Japan sent to the Pacific, making in into Chefoo on April 11. On May 1, Rear Admiral E. I. Alekseyev made her his flagship. After the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki she cruised off Korea, looking for ports suitable for a new naval base. On January 24, 1896 she was recalled to Kronstadt for an arament refit.

In November 1897 under Captain 1st Rank P. P. Ukhtomsky she returned to the Far East and took part in the capture of Port Arthur. By June 1900, she carried troops to take part in the “Boxer Rebellion” internationa response. Her crew was sent as landing partis and took part in battles on land. On June 27, two 120-mm guns were brought ashore to fire at Chinese positions. In September 1900, while maneuvering in unfamiliar waters in Port Arthur she rammed and sank the merchant ship Crown of Aragon. In December 1901 she trained with the cruiser Dmitry Donskoy in Hong Kong and returned to the Mediterranean with RADM G. P. Chukhnin squadron via the Suez Canal to Tangier. She was stationed until sailing back to Kronstadt in September.
In 1903-1904 a conversion into a training ship was planned, but when the creaiton of the 3rd Pacific Squadron (RADM N. I. Nebogatov) she was recalled here with minimal alterations such as optical sights for her arttillery.

At 13:45 on May 14, 1905, in the Battle of Tsushima, Monomakh, under command of Captain 1st Rank V. A. Popov was guarding the transports. She was attacked and duelled with the Japanese cruiser Izumi, scoring many hits wehile taking light damage. She later took place in the cruiser column under RADM Admiral O. A. Enkvist, last in line. During daytime she only received 5 hits (1 killed, 16 wounded, one 120-mm gun destroyed). At 16:00 she took a heavy shell at her bow 152-mm elevator but the fire was mastered notably thanks to the bilge petty officer.

At night she was attacked and repelled three destroyers attacks, but at 21:00 luck ran out, as she was torpedoed in the bow starboard. Heer crew failed to stop the flooding. Her old bulkheads gave in gradually to the pressure and soon the boiler rooms and starboard were flooded, emergency pumps turned off due to the loss of electricity. V. A. Popov tried to beach her on the Korean coast but it was too far and he aimed for Tsushima Island when caught by the DD IJN Shiranui and auxiliary cruiser Sado-Maru. At that stage she listed 18 degrees and could not return fire due to the guns angle. The Japanese soon saw her hopeless situation and hold fuiring, closing in to propose a surrender. Under Popov’s order, the crew opened the valves and she started to sink more quickly while being evacuated at 10:20 am on May 15, 1905. The crew was made POW and she was stricken on September 19, 1905.

Read More/Sources

Books

A. A. Alliluyev. Semi-armored frigates of the Dmitry Donskoy type (1881-1905). R. R. Munirov, 2006
Gruzdev A. I. Coastline: name on the map. Maritime toponymic dictionary of Primorsky Krai. – Vladivostok: Dalnauka, 1996.
S. Suliga. Cruiser “Vladimir Monomakh”.

Links

http://www.mmt.ru/win/ships/monomah/amain.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20190322113044/https://www.battleships.spb.ru/RusCr/monomah.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cruiser_Vladimir_Monomakh
https://www.navypedia.org/ships/russia/ru_cr_vladimir_monomakh.htm

Model Kits

Kombrig kit page
1:700 Kombrig kit review on modelwarships.com
kit review on modelwarships.com/