Russian Protected Cruiser Varyag

n 1897, the Russian Admiralty, as part of a programme to reinforce the Imperial Russian Navy's Far East Fleet, published specifications for a fast protected cruiser, capable of commerce raiding. The ships were required to be armed with 152 mm (6-inch) quick-firing guns, and to have a speed of 23–24 kn (26–28 mph; 43–44 km/h). Russian shipyards were already busy, and the Imperial Admiralty placed an order with the American shipyard William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia on 11 April 1898 to build a single cruiser, Varyag against this specification. Single ships were also ordered from the German shipyards Germaniawerft (Askold) and AG Vulcan (Bogatyr) against these specifications. Varyag was laid down in October 1898, was launched on 31 October 1899 and commissioned into the Imperial Russian Navy on 2 January 1901, under the command of Captain Vladimir Behr. Varyag was 129.56 m (430 ft) long overall and 127.90 m (420 ft) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 15.85 m (50 ft) and a draught of 5.94 m (19 ft 6 in) at normal displacement. Design displacement was 6,500 long tons (6,600 t) with full load displacement about 7,020 long tons (7,130 t). Thirty Niclausse water-tube boilers fed steam to two sets of four-cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines rated at 21,000 ihp (16,000 kW) which drove two 3-bladed propellers. As a protected cruiser, the main protection consisted of an arched armoured deck which protected the ship's engines and magazines. The deck was 38 mm (1.5 in) thick in the central horizontal portion, and 76.2 mm (3 in) thick in the sloping sections towards the ship's sides. The ship's conning tower was protected by 150 mm (6 in), with 38 mm (1 1⁄2 in) protecting the ammunition hoists and 76 mm (3 in) for the bow and stern torpedo tubes. The ship's main armament was twelve Obukhoff 152 mm (6-inch) L/45 guns, with two guns side by side on the ship's forecastle, two side-by-side on the quarterdeck, and the remaining eight on sponsons on the ship's upper deck.[6] These guns could fire a 50 kg (110 lb) shell to a range of 9,800 m (10,700 yd), and at a rate of 6 rounds per minute. 2388 rounds of 152 mm ammunition were carried. Twelve 75 mm (2.95 in) L/50 QF guns defended the ship against torpedo boats, and could fire a 6 kg (13 lb) shell to a range of 7,000 m (23,000 ft) at a rate of 10 rounds per minute. Close-in defence was provided by four Hotchkiss 47 mm revolving cannon on fighting tops, with four more on the upper deck, backed up by two 37 mm guns and two machine guns. Two Baranowski 64 mm landing guns were also carried for on-shore use by the ship's marines.[7] Six 381 mm (15 inch) torpedo tubes were carried, two on each broadside and one in the bow and stern. During her construction, an assistant physician, Leo Alexandroff, left the ship's advance party on 20 April 1899, and applied for U.S. citizenship. He was arrested for desertion. His case reached the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in Tucker v. Alexandroff that the ship, though not accepted for service in the Imperial Russian Navy, was a warship under the terms of the 1832 treaty between Russia and the United States.