Although I have featured the Russian cruiser Aurora on several earlier blog entries, I never cease to be impressed by her. On the day that we visited her she was closed, with the result that it was was possible to photograph her without tourists wandering about her decks.
Nice pictures. They made me look back at those I took in 2014. You clearly got closer - and so more detail - but I had better weather (sunshine to light up the ship).
ReplyDeleteSeeing these reminded me of how hard it must have been to fight the ship in any kind of rough weather. The gun crews would quickly have got soaked and I suspect that those on the bow gun would have been washed away. Maybe I actually need to bother with the weather rules when fighting naval battles?
Mike Hall,
DeleteThe only other people who were around when I was taking the photographs was a group of Japanese tourists ... who tried to push us out of the way to take their photographs! Luckily our driver - Alexei - made them very aware that we were not to be disturbed.
The weather was overcast all that day - hence the general darkness of the images - but it was not too cold.
Not being able to work a ship's armament due to heavy seas is a factor that most naval wargame rules tend to ignore, and yet in battle it could be a decisive difference. It is certainly something that we ought to consider in our battles.
All the best,
Bob
I visited a couple of old warships yesterday - the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") and a WWII US Navy destroyer. Neither had much headroom for anyone around 6 ft. tall or taller, and generally cramped quarters all around. Interesting to visit though.
ReplyDeleteFitz-Badger,
DeleteThe headroom on warships - especially very old ones - is never great, but the worst I've ever come across was on a 1970s diesel-electric submarine. Not only was the clearance above ones head almost nonexistent, but the watertight hatches were like large round safe doors that one had to swing ones body through.
All the best,
Bob
A very impressive looking ship... looks very well preserved.
ReplyDeleteLee Hadley,
DeleteShe is even more impressive close up.
All the best,
Bob
I beieve she fired the first shot to start the assualt on the winter palace
ReplyDeleteJohntheone,
DeleteSo history records ... although there is a version that states that the sailors were drunk at the time and we're playing about when the gun went off!
All the best,
Bob
Nice to see a WWI era vessel so richly preserved
ReplyDeleteJust a pity we don't have a floating Museum from WWI
The Belfast is the closest we have
I know HMS Caroline is still a floating dry-docked hull
Geordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteOther than HMS Caroline, the only World War I ships that have been preserved in the UK are the small monitor in Portsmouth and the old sloop (HMS Chrysanthemum) that used to be moored on the Thames. I reading that the latter may well be scrapped as the restoration she needs may be prohibitively expensive.
All the best,
Bob
Geordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteI managed to confuse HMS Crysanthemum with her sister ship HMS President. The former was scrapped twelve years ago and it is the latter that is awaiting restoration in Chatham.
All the best,
Bob