The Cruiser Aurora

The cruiser Aurora has a special place in Russian history – she is reputed to have fired the blank shot that signalled the start of the Russian Revolution – and has been preserved as a museum and training ship ever since she was re-floated and restored after the Second World War.

Aurora was one of three Pallada-class cruisers that were built in St. Petersburg for service in the Pacific Far East, and all three ships served their during the Russo-Japanese War. Aurora was one of the ships that formed the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron (commanded by Vice-Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky) that was sent to the Far East after the war had started. She took part in the Battle of Tsushima and helped to escort some of the slower ships that survived the battle to Manila in the Philippines, where she was interned until the war was over.

During the First World War the Aurora took part in operations as part of the Russian Baltic Fleet, and in 1915 she was re-armed. When the Russian Revolution started in 1917, most the ship's crew joined the Bolsheviks. The ship then took no further active part in the Revolution or the Civil War that followed.

In 1922 Aurora was recommissioned as a training ship, and she remained in this role until the siege of Leningrad began in September 1941. At this point her main guns were removed and used as part of the land defences of the city and to arm an armoured train. The ship, which was docked in Oranienbaum on the outskirts of Leningrad, was repeatedly attacked and on 30th September 1941 she sank whilst at anchor. Aurora was raised and repaired after the war, and in 1957 she was moored at her present location and became a museum ship. Between 1984 and 1987 she was restored by the the Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad, and most of the underwater hull of the ship was replaced.

Her specifications were:

• Displacement: 6731 tons
• Length: 416 feet
• Beam: 55 feet
• Draught: 24 feet
• Propulsion: Three x triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines powering three screws
• Speed: 19 knots
• Complement: 590
• Armament (1903):
  • 8 x QF 6-inch guns (8 x 1)
  • 24 x QF 75mm guns (24 x 1)
  • 8 x 37mm guns (8 x 1)
  • 3 x torpedo tubes (two submerged, one above water)
• Armament (1917):
  • 14 x QF 6-inch guns (14 x 1)
  • 4 x QF 76mm/3-inch anti-aircraft guns (4 x 1)
  • 3 x torpedo tubes (two submerged, one above water)

On the day of our visit it was Russian Navy Day and the Aurora was a very popular attraction … so popular – in fact – that it proved impossible to go aboard her in the time that was available. I therefore had to content myself with taking as many photographs of her starboard side as was possible!

Aurora … as seen from forward on the starboard side

Aurora … as seen from aft on the starboard side

Bow

Midships and stern

Bridge, compass platform, and control tower

Midships, showing her funnels, ventilators, boats, and three of her starboard 6-inch guns

Aft superstructure, showing some of the ship’s 76mm/3-inch anti-aircraft guns and one of her starboard 6-inch guns

Aft superstructure, showing some of the ship’s 76mm/3-inch anti-aircraft guns and her rearmost 6-inch gun

Foremost 6-inch gun, showing the plaque that commemorates the firing of the blank shot that signalled the start of the Russian Revolution

Various photographs of Aurora’s starboard 6-inch guns

Aurora’s 76mm/3-inch anti-aircraft guns

Aurora’s 45mm anti-aircraft guns

Aurora’s steam pinnace