Cruiser aurora short description. Cruiser "Aurora" - a ship known for one shot. Main characteristics, history of the cruiser. Construction and testing

Aurora fired! Aurora gasped!
The eagle fell under the boots...
For the cause of Lenin! For the will of Trotsky!
We will win all over the world...
folk revolutionary song

D to understand what the cruiser Aurora is dreaming of"
I propose to recall her his long and glorious military and life path ...

History of the Aurora
The armored cruiser "Aurora" was laid down on May 23, 1897 in St. Petersburg (in the New Admiralty). The ship is of the same type with the previously laid down "Pallada" and "Diana".

In the Russian Navy, there was (and still is) a tradition of succession in the names of ships, and the new cruisers inherited the names of sailing frigates. The construction of the ship took more than six years - the Aurora was launched on May 11, 1900 at 11:15, and the cruiser entered the fleet (after completion of all outfitting work) only on July 16, 1903.

The main purpose is to conduct reconnaissance, destroy enemy merchant ships, cover battleships from attacks by enemy destroyers, sentinel service. The ship could not conduct artillery duels with modern battleships of that time. It did not have armor and sufficient firepower. But having a solid (about seven thousand tons) displacement and, as a result, good seaworthiness and autonomy. With a full supply of coal (1430 tons), the Aurora could, without additional bunkering, go from Port Arthur to Vladivostok and return back.

On September 25, 1903 (only a week after the staffing ended on September 18), the Aurora with a crew of 559 people under the command of Captain 1st Rank I.V. Sukhotin left Kronstadt.
In the Mediterranean, the Aurora joined the detachment of Rear Admiral A. A. Virenius. The war began and on April 5, 1904, the Aurora returned to Kronstadt, where it was included in the 2nd Pacific Squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Rozhdestvensky, who was preparing to march on the Far Eastern theater of operations.

Admiral Rozhdestvensky was an original and (perhaps for the purpose of conspiracy) gave warships nicknames, with salty naval humor. The cruiser "Admiral Nakhimov" was called the "Idiot", the battleship "Sisoy the Great" - "Invalid shelter", the yacht "Svetlana" was called "Maid", and the "Aurora" was awarded the "honorary" title "Hooker under the fence"))))

On October 2, 1904, as part of the squadron, changing the commander (it was the captain of the 1st rank E. R. Egoriev ("Aurora" went to Tsushima.

in the Battle of Tsushima, Aurora fired 303 152-mm, 1282 75-mm and 320 37-mm shells at the enemy.

During the battle, the cruiser received 18 hits from shells of various calibers, had serious crew losses - up to a hundred people were killed and wounded.

The commander died - his photograph is now exhibited in the museum of the cruiser, framed by a steel sheet pierced by a fragment of a Japanese shell and charred deck planks.

But with all this, the ship managed to escape from the encirclement and go to Manila, where it stood disarmed until the end of the war.

In 1909-1910, the Aurora, together with the Diana and the Bogatyr, was part of the foreign navigation detachment, specially designed for the practice of midshipmen of the Naval Corps and the Naval Engineering School, as well as students of the Training Team of combatant non-commissioned officers.
In November 1911, the Aurors took part in the celebrations in Bangkok in honor of the coronation of the Siamese king.

In 1910, the cruiser accompanied the imperial yacht to Riga.

The cruiser underwent its first modernization after Russo-Japanese War, the second, after which he took on the current appearance, in 1915. The artillery armament of the ship was strengthened - the number of 152-mm main-caliber guns was first brought to ten, and then to fourteen. Numerous 75-mm artillery was dismantled - the size and survivability of destroyers increased, and three-inch shells no longer posed a serious danger to them.

The cruiser was able to take on board up to 150 mines - mine weapons were widely used in the Baltic and proved their effectiveness. And in the winter of 1915-1916, a novelty was installed on the Aurora - anti-aircraft guns. But the glorious cruiser might not have survived until the second modernization ...

the first world war"Aurora" met as part of the second brigade of cruisers of the Baltic Fleet (together with "Oleg", "Bogatyr" and "Diana"). The cruisers went on patrol in pairs, and at the end of the patrol period, one pair replaced the other.

On October 11, 1914, at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, the German submarine "U-26" under the command of Lieutenant Commander von Berkheim discovered two Russian cruisers: the Pallada, which was ending its patrol service, and the Aurora, which had come up to replace it. The commander of the German submarine correctly assessed and classified the targets and attacked. A torpedo hit caused the detonation of ammunition magazines on the battleship Pallada, and the cruiser sank along with the entire crew. And the veteran of the Russian-Japanese war, the cruiser "Aurora" managed to hide in the skerries under the guise.

It is not worth talking seriously about the fateful role of the Aurora in the events of October 1917. The cruiser could not shoot the Winter Palace with guns. It was under repair, and all the ammunition from it was unloaded. But it is possible that the Bolsheviks found a couple of shells for a salvo and effect.

IN civil war and the Aurora did not take part in battles with the English fleet. There was an acute shortage of fuel and other supplies.

In 1918, the Aurora was in deep reserve, without guns, which were used to equip home-made light gunboats.

At the end of 1922, the Aurora was the only ship, by the way, of the old imperial Russian fleet, which retained its name given to it at birth, it was decided to restore it as a training ship. The cruiser was repaired, ten 130-mm guns were installed on it instead of the previous 6-inch guns, two anti-aircraft guns and four machine guns, and on July 18, 1923, the ship entered sea trials.

Then for ten years - from 1923 to 1933 - the cruiser was engaged in a business already familiar to him: cadets of naval schools were practicing on board.
The ship made several foreign voyages, participated in the maneuvers of the newly resurgent Baltic Fleet. But the years took their toll, and due to the poor condition of the boilers and mechanisms, the Aurora, after another repair in 1933-1935, became a non-self-propelled training base. In winter, it was used as a floating base for submarines.

During the Great Patriotic War the old cruiser stood in the harbor of Oranienbaum.

The guns were once again removed from the ship, and nine of its "hundred and thirty" mounted on the coastal battery defended the approaches to the city.

The Germans did not pay much attention to the decrepit veteran, trying first to disable the best Soviet ships(such as the cruiser "Kirov"), however, the ship still received its portion of enemy shells. On September 30, 1941, the half-sunken cruiser, damaged as a result of artillery shelling, sat down on the ground.

After the blockade of Leningrad was lifted in July 1944, the cruiser was taken out of condition. clinical death- lifted from the ground and (for the umpteenth time!) Put it in for repairs. Boilers and onboard machines, propellers, side shaft brackets and the shafts themselves, as well as part of the auxiliary mechanisms, were removed from the Aurora. They installed the weapons that were on the ship in 1915 - fourteen 152-mm Kane guns and four 45-mm salute guns.

In 1946, during the repair, "Aurora" played the steward of the cruiser "Varyag" in the film of the same name. Then the Aurora, as a true actress, even had to make up for her character - the shields were removed from the guns (there were none on the Varyag), and a fourth fake pipe was installed to make the image of the most heroic cruiser of the Russian-Japanese war true.

Now the cruiser was to become a monument ship and at the same time the training base of the Nakhimov School. In 1948, the repair was completed, and the restored Aurora stood where it stands to this day - to Petrogradskaya Embankment opposite the building of the Nakhimov School. And in 1956, the Ship Museum was opened aboard the Aurora as a branch of the Central Naval Museum.

In the Soviet years, of course, the main (and, perhaps, the only) attention was paid to the revolutionary past of the cruiser. Images of the Aurora were present wherever possible, and the silhouette of the three-pipe ship became a symbol of our city.

In 1967, the 50th anniversary of the Great October Revolution was widely celebrated in the Soviet Union. socialist revolution. For the anniversary, they filmed the film "Volley" Aurora ", where the cruiser played himself. All filming was done on location. The Aurora was towed to historical place to the Nikolaevsky bridge. The spectacle was impressive, and thousands of Leningraders and guests of the city watched the gray three-pipe beauty slowly and majestically float along the Neva.

Towing to a parking lot after filming in 1967.

A major restoration of the Aurora took place in 1984. Powerful tugboats removed the cruiser from the eternal parking lot and dragged it to the Northern shipyard.

At the docks, the cruiser of the revolution was simply cut into pieces. The lower part of the vessel, including the entire underwater part, was completely replaced with a new one.

Severe alteration was subjected to what was above the water. By the anniversary date, the Aurora returned to its usual place, and then the question arose of what to do with the skeleton left at the shipyard. The scrapping of the cruiser of the revolution in Soviet times would have been considered ideological sabotage. So they decided to hide the real Aurora from the eyes of the people.

During the restoration, the Aurora was slowly taken away for souvenirs, both military and civilian. From the surface parts, they tore off the sheathing of sheet copper, which covered the entire ship. The chief mechanic of the Baltika fishing state farm, Vladimir Yurchenko, as a deeply religious economic man, tore off all the tiles from the shower room of the heroic ship and laid them in the dacha. And that's right, the good does not disappear. Many took the doors along with the jambs and took out the portholes.

According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, the workers who plundered the restored cruiser stumbled upon a completely serviceable fire extinguishing system. It worked when, with the help of a welding machine, they began to open the bulkheads. At the same time, half of the ship was flooded with foam.

They wanted to turn the cut off hull into a breakwater, but it did not work out. Corpse The severed part sank in the wrong place. Now you can easily find the remains of the cruiser of the revolution.

Against the background of the wreckage, casual tourists willingly take pictures, in the summer local boys recklessly climb the skeleton. At low tide, the hull, stretching 120 meters in length, is visible in its entirety.

And the reborn cruiser Frankinstein "Aurora" was solemnly returned to eternal parking.

The modern cruiser is a partial remake. Of the most noticeable differences from the original is the use of welds on the new body instead of rivet technology.

On the ship in 1992, the Andreevsky flag was again raised, the cruiser was listed as part of the Russian Navy as No. 1. Until recently, officers and sailors served on the ship. All auxiliary mechanisms and life support systems are maintained by the cruiser team in working order. In working well-groomed condition and ship guns.

On the night of June 6, 2009, a banquet and a solemn presentation of the Russian Pioneer magazine were held on the ship, which were also attended by distinguished guests. The prosecutor's office became interested in the case, and the Minister of Defense and the Navy turned out to be the last one, as overwatch)))

December 1, 2010 "Aurora" lost the status of ship number 1 of the Russian Navy. The ship became a branch of the Central Museum of the Navy.

On August 1, the Aurora was finally transferred to the jurisdiction of the Central Naval Museum. The military unit that served on the ship was disbanded. The crew of the cruiser "Aurora" was reorganized into a staff of three military personnel and 28 civilian personnel; the status of the ship remained the same.

In October 2011, a flag with a skull and crossbones was hung on the mast of the cruiser Aurora. Two young people and a girl sat on the mast under the Jolly Roger for about five hours, alarming the police, rescuers, the city commandant's office and military sailors.

The troublemakers called themselves representatives of the organizations "People's Share" and "Food Instead of Bombs." They dedicated the action "Memorable October or Aurora Sunday" to the fight against the crisis, poverty, oligarchs, "endemic pedophilia" and "religious extremism."

A conditional shot from the head gun of the Aurora cruiser at the house of People's Artist Mikhail Boyarsky was reported to herald the beginning of the Russian October Political Postmodernization (ROPP).

The slogans were beautiful and revolutionary.
Russia from tyrants - will! To the people - from oil, gas - a share! Food is a right, not a privilege! Our cause is just - we are not piz..m!

Activists managed to be removed from the masts without loss (for activists). Their further fate is humane and disappointing (it was up to the pussies).

Now officially the crew is recruited from former military sailors. But besides them, there are also sailors on the Aurora. They are seconded to the ship and continue to perform the functions of the crew, as before. It turns out that the status of the cruiser was not finally sorted out.

Now "Aurora" has again left its place at the Nakhimov School.

At the shipyard in Kronstadt, the first stage of repair will take place, after which the cruiser will be moved to another point. It is assumed that by the end of the year the legendary ship will be returned to its permanent mooring.

Historical photos and info (C) different places on the Internet.

"Aurora"

Historical data

common data

EU

real

dock

Booking

Armament

Ships of the same type

"Aurora"- Russian armored cruiser I rank type "Diana". He took part in the Tsushima battle. The cruiser "Aurora" gained worldwide fame by giving a signal with a blank shot from the gun to the beginning of the October Revolution of 1917. During the Great Patriotic War, the ship took part in the defense of Leningrad. After the end of the war, he continued to serve as a blockship training ship and a museum, moored on the river. Neva in St. Petersburg. During this time, the Aurora has become a symbol of the Russian fleet and is now an object of Russia's cultural heritage.

General information

The cruiser "Aurora", like other ships of its type ("Diana" and "Pallada"), was built according to the shipbuilding program of 1895 with the aim of " equalization of our naval forces with the German and with the forces of the secondary states adjacent to the Baltic". Diana-class cruisers became one of the first armored cruisers in Russia, the development of which took into account, first of all, the experience of foreign countries. Nevertheless, for their time (in particular, during the Russo-Japanese War), ships of this type turned out to be ineffective due to the “backwardness” of many tactical and technical elements (speed, armament, armor).

History of creation

Prerequisites for creation

By the beginning of the XX century. Russia's foreign policy position was rather complicated: the persistence of contradictions with England, the growing threat from developing Germany, and the strengthening of Japan's position. Accounting for these factors required the strengthening of the army and navy, that is, the construction of new ships. Changes in the shipbuilding program, adopted in 1895, assumed the construction in the period from 1896 to 1905. 36 new ships, including nine cruisers, of which two (then three) - " carapace", that is, armored. Subsequently, these three armored cruisers became the Diana class.

Design

The basis for the development of tactical and technical elements (TTE) of future cruisers was the project of a cruiser created by S. K. Ratnik with a displacement of 6000 tons, the prototype of which was the latest (launched in 1895) English cruiser HMS Talbot and French armored cruiser D "Entrecasteaux(1896). At the beginning of June 1896, the planned series was expanded to three ships, the third of which (the future Aurora) was ordered to be laid down in the New Admiralty. On April 20, 1896, the Marine Technical Committee (MTC) approved the technical design of the armored cruiser of the 1st rank.

Construction and testing

Silver mortgage plate of the cruiser "Aurora"

On March 31, 1897, Emperor Nicholas II ordered that the cruiser under construction be called the Aurora in honor of the Roman goddess of dawn. This name was chosen by the autocrat from eleven proposed names. L. L. Polenov, however, believes that the cruiser was named after the sailing frigate Aurora, which became famous during the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky during the Crimean War.

Despite the fact that, in fact, work on the construction of the Aurora began much later than the Diana and Pallada, the official laying of the cruisers of this type took place on the same day: May 23, 1897. . the solemn ceremony was held on the Aurora in the presence of Admiral General Alexei Alexandrovich. A silver mortgage plate was fixed between the 60th and 61st frames, and the flag and guis of the future cruiser were raised on specially installed flagpoles.

Diana-class cruisers were supposed to be the first mass-produced cruisers in Russia, but it was not possible to achieve uniformity among them: machines, boilers, and steering devices other than Diana and Pallada were installed on the Aurora. Electric drives for the latter were ordered to three different factories as an experiment: in this way it was possible to find out which drives would turn out to be the most effective, so that they could then be installed on other ships of the fleet. So, the electric drives of the Aurora steering machines were ordered by Siemens and Halke.

The slipway work began in the fall of 1897, and they dragged on for three and a half years (largely due to the unavailability of individual elements of the ship). Finally, on May 24, 1900, the hull was launched in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II and Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna. Following this, the installation of the main machines, auxiliary mechanisms, general ship systems, weapons and other equipment began. In 1902, for the first time in the Russian fleet, Aurora received Hall anchors, a novelty that the other two ships of this type did not have time to equip. In the summer of 1900, the cruiser passed the first tests, the last on June 14, 1903.

Four builders participated in the direct construction of the cruiser (from the moment of construction until the end of running changes): E. R. de Grofe, K. M. Tokarevsky, N. I. Pushchin and A. A. Bazhenov.

The total cost of building the Aurora is estimated at 6.4 million rubles.

Design Description

Frame

Museum ship and cultural heritage site of the Russian Federation

"Aurora" - cruiser-museum in St. Petersburg

In the middle of 1944, it was decided to create the Leningrad Nakhimov Naval School. Part of the Nakhimovites was planned to be placed on a floating base, which was temporarily supposed to be the Aurora. However, by the decision of A. A. Zhdanov, the Aurora cruiser was to be permanently installed on the Neva, “ as a monument to the active participation of the sailors of the Baltic Fleet in the overthrow of the bourgeois Provisional Government". Immediately, work began on restoring the watertightness of the cruiser's hull, which received numerous damages. During more than three years of overhaul (from mid-July 1945 to mid-November 1948), the following were repaired: the hull, propellers, onboard steam engines, onboard propeller shafts, onboard machine shaft brackets, the remaining boilers; reorganization was also carried out in connection with the new function of the mother ship. (Unfortunately, this reorganization had a negative impact on the preservation of the historical appearance of the cruiser. By the way, this was also affected by the participation of the Aurora in the role of the Varyag in the film of the same name, filmed in 1947) On November 17, 1948, the cruiser took its place for the first time on the eternal parking lot on the Bolshaya Nevka. Immediately on the "Aurora" was placed the graduation company of the Nakhimots. From that time until 1961, it became a tradition for Nakhimov graduates to live and serve on the Aurora.

Towing the cruiser "Aurora" to the Leningrad Shipbuilding Plant named after A. A. Zhdanov for repairs. 1984

By the Decree of the RSFSR Council of Ministers No. 1327 of August 30, 1960, the Aurora was given the official status of a state-protected monument ship. Since 1961, the museum, which had existed on the ship since 1950 on the initiative of several officers, was open to free admission, and its exposition was expanded. Soon "Aurora" became one of the popular places in the city.

The final canonization of the Aurora, its transformation into a symbolic ship, took place in 1967, when, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the revolution of 1917, the Aurora again fired a blank shot from a 152-mm tank gun at exactly 21 hours 45 minutes. In February 1968, the cruiser was awarded the Order of the October Revolution, the second most important order in the country. So, "Aurora", once becoming the first order-bearing ship, became the first twice-ordered ship in the history of the Soviet Navy.

The cruiser "Aurora" passes through the Palace Bridge in St. Petersburg, 2014

"Aurora" in the dock of the Kronstadt Marine Plant, November 2014

By the end of the 1970s, the Aurora hull fell into disrepair. Required repair-reconstruction. After proposals were developed by a specially created commission, repairs began in August 1984 and continued until August 1987. Instead of a complete restoration, it was decided to replace the old building with a new one. The "restoration" of the Aurora (however, having the original drawings, the reenactors failed to bring much to its original state in view of the numerous conversions of the cruiser before that) cost about 35 million rubles.

Torpedo-mine armament 3 381-mm TA (8 torpedoes of the "98" type) until 1908; up to 150 mines of the M-1908 type barrier since 1908

The ship was intended to perform the functions of a reconnaissance cruiser and combat enemy merchant shipping at a short distance from the bases, as well as to support battleships in squadron combat. In fact, he could not solve any of these tasks due to insufficient (for the 1900s) cruising range for a cruiser, low speed, weak armament and protection, therefore, from 1908, he served as a training cruiser.

Structurally, it belonged to the type of armored cruisers, tactically - to trade fighter cruisers.

Launching

Built according to the shipbuilding program of 1895.

The Irony of History - the cruiser, which was considered the harbinger of the revolution, the gravedigger of the Russian Empire and the Imperial family, was solemnly launched on May 11 (24), 1900 on the personal command of the Emperor of All Russia Nicholas II, in the presence of two empresses (the dowager and the tsar's wife) and numerous members Imperial family.

On September 25 (November 8), 1903, the Aurora left Kronstadt for Far East, after entering Portland in early October, arrived in the Mediterranean Sea and on October 25 arrived in the port of La Spezia (Italy), where she joined the detachment of ships of Rear Admiral A. A. Virenius (EDB Oslyabya, 3 cruisers, 9 destroyers, 3 steamboats DF), heading to the Far East to reinforce the Port Arthur squadron. She sailed along the route: Bizerte (Tunisia, France) - Piraeus - the port of Suez - Djibouti. During a stay in Djibouti (French Somalia) in connection with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War (!) The entire detachment was recalled to the Baltic on February 2, 1904.

In preparation for the new campaign, the cruiser received three machine guns of the Maxim system, 25-mm armor plates for the main caliber guns and a new Telefunken radio station with a communication range of up to 100 miles.

Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

On April 17, 1904, the ship was listed with the 2nd Squadron of the Pacific Fleet. On August 29, as part of this squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky, he left Kronstadt for the Pacific Ocean to the theater of operations of the Russo-Japanese War. I walked along the route Revel (30.08-28.09) - Libava (2.10) - Skagen (7.10). Then he followed as part of the 4th detachment under the command of Rear Admiral O. A. Enkvist. During the "Hull Incident" ca. 1:00 10.10.1904 was on the beam of the Russian detachment, which fired at ships mistaken for Japanese destroyers. At the same time, several shells hit the cruiser, from which the ship's priest Father Anastasius was mortally wounded and one gunnery was slightly wounded. Then he followed with a detachment along the route Tangier (Sultanate of Morocco, 16-23.10) - Dakar (10-30-3.11) - Gabun (13-18.11) - Great Fish Bay (Portuguese West Africa, 23-24.11) - Angra Pekwena (German Southwest Africa, 28.11-4.12) - Nossi-be bay on about. Madagascar (colony of France, 12/16/1904-3/3/1905). All detachments of the squadron gathered again in Madagascar, which then proceeded through the Malacca Strait to Kamrang Bay (French Annam protectorate, 03-13.04) - Van Phong Bay (French Annam, 13-26.04), where a squadron of counter- Admiral N. I. Nebogatov, - Kua Be Bay (26.04). On May 1, 1905, the cruiser, as part of the joint squadron, left Kua Be Bay to sail to Vladivostok by the Korean Strait.

World War I

In the winter of 1914-1915. underwent modernization, the number of 152-mm guns was increased to 14 due to the dismantling of all 75-mm anti-mine caliber guns. The cruiser received four 75-mm and one 40-mm "air cannon" (anti-aircraft guns). In the campaign of 1915, the cruiser was on patrol to the west of the central mine and artillery position in the Baltic, guarding minesweeping operations, and made trips to study hidden skerry fairways in Finland.

Since May 1916 assigned to the 6th maneuver group (armored cruiser "Gromoboy", cruiser "Aurora" and "Diana"). On August 1 and 2, he conducted training firing at the firing range near Heinland Island to find out the possibility of destroying coastal wire obstacles with naval artillery fire during the planned landing operation. The results were disappointing - out of 209 6-inch shells, three hit the wire and one more hit the trench. After dredging was completed on the Moonsund Canal, on August 14, 1916, the cruiser was transferred by this canal to the Gulf of Riga and became part of the Naval Defense Forces of the Gulf of Riga; based at Kuyvast.

In November 1916, the ship was sent for overhaul to Petrograd, to the Franco-Russian plant. During the winter of 1916-1917, steam engines were overhauled, new steam boilers of the Belleville-Dolgolenko system were installed. The artillery of the main caliber was modernized with an increase in the firing range from 53 to 67 cab. 6 76.2-mm anti-aircraft guns of the F.F. Lender system were installed (at the expense of all previous "air guns"), a new radio station and a sound underwater communication device were mounted.

Revolutions of 1917

The cruiser stationed in Petrograd was at the center of the events of two revolutions in the year. Being in close contact with the workers of the plant, the sailors of the cruiser "Aurora" were involved in revolutionary agitation. This was facilitated by the general situation in Russia, which the war brought to the brink of disaster. The relationship between the officers and the crew on the cruiser heated up to the limit. On February 27 (March 12), the crew demanded that the commander release three imprisoned agitators from custody. During the dispersal of the rally that followed, the cruiser commander Captain 1st Rank M.I. Nikolsky and senior officer P.P. Ogranovich opened fire on the team with pistols; were injured. When on February 28 (March 13), 1917, it became known on the cruiser that the February bourgeois-democratic revolution had taken place, the sailors, together with the workers, raised a red flag on the ship. The ship's commander was killed, the senior officer was wounded, most of the crew went ashore and joined the uprising.

A ship's committee was elected to exercise the democratic rights of the sailors on the Aurora. According to the results of a secret ballot on March 3 (26), on the question of the form of government in Russia, it was unanimously decided that such a form is a democratic republic. During the spring-summer-autumn of 1917, the political situation on the ship was characterized by a gradual loss of confidence in the Provisional Government of Russia, both on the part of sailors and officers. The influence of the Bolshevik Party on the ship grew. After the bloody events of February 27-28 (March 13-14), relations between the ship's committee and the officers became relatively normal: the officers did not go against the team in terms of political opinions, and the ship's committee did not obstruct the officers in terms of the order of service, discipline and ship work.

When in October 1917 the political situation in the country escalated again and the conflict between the Provisional Government and the Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies reached a dead end, most of the team was on the side of the RSDLP (b). By decision of the Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet, the already practically repaired Aurora was left in Petrograd and subordinated to the Petrograd Soviet. The sailors of the cruiser took part in the October armed uprising in Petrograd on October 25 (November 7), 1917: on the night of October 25, 1917, on the orders of the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, the Aurora team captured and brought down the Nikolaevsky bridge in Petrograd, which connected Vasilyevsky Island with the center cities. On October 25, at 21:45, a blank shot from the Aurora's bow gun, fired on the orders of Commissar Belyshev, gave the signal to storm the Winter Palace, where the Provisional Government was located.

On November 28 (December 11), 1917, the Aurora, after repairs, returned to the 2nd cruiser brigade in Sveaborg. After the decree on the dissolution of the old fleet and the organization of the new RKKF on a voluntary basis, most of the team was demobilized. Only 40 people remained on the ship, necessary for ongoing work and protection. In 1918, a civil war broke out in Russia. In the summer of 1918, the cruiser, which could no longer be maintained in a state of combat readiness, was transferred to Kronstadt and put into reserve, like most of the large ships of the fleet. The 152-mm guns of the Aurora were removed and sent to Astrakhan to arm the floating batteries. Most of the sailors of the cruiser went partly to the fronts of the civil war, partly just to go home. In 1922, the ship was transferred to the Kronstadt port for long-term storage (mothballed).

Interwar period and the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945

Cruiser tank (bow) gun plate

When the active restoration of the Russian Naval Forces began in 1922, it was decided to restore the Aurora as a training ship, not least due to the fact that she had already undergone a major overhaul four years ago. After refurbishment and staffing in 1922-1924, the Aurora cruiser became part of the Baltic Sea Naval Forces as a training ship. The ship now had 10x1 - new 130-mm guns and 2x1 - 76.2-mm anti-aircraft guns. In 1924-1930, the ship, together with the training ship "Komsomolets", made a number of training voyages with cadets of higher naval schools, visited the ports of Bergen and Trondheim (Norway, 1924,1925 and 1930), Murmansk and Arkhangelsk (USSR, 1924 and 1925) , Gothenburg (Sweden, 1925), Kiel (Germany, 1926), Copenhagen (1928), Swinemünde (Germany, 1929), Oslo (1930). The merit of "Aurora" in the training of competent specialists for the fleet of the young Soviet state was enormous. On the 10th anniversary of the Revolution, the training cruiser was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In 1933, the ship was surveyed and it was concluded that a second major overhaul was necessary. Since 1933 at the shipyard named after. A. Marty repair work was carried out in Leningrad, but due to the high workload of this plant with the construction of new ships in 1935, repairs were suspended and the ship began to serve as a non-self-propelled training base for first-year cadets of naval schools. During the winter, the cruiser served as a floating base for submarines. It was planned to decommission the ship.

memorial ship

Even before the end of the war, in 1944, it was decided to restore the cruiser as a monument to the active participation of sailors in the 1917 Revolution. "Aurora" was raised in 1944 and in 1945-1947 underwent a major overhaul, during which appearance the ship was brought closer to its appearance in 1917. 152-mm guns of Kane were installed, the same type as those that were in 1917 on the ship, but, unfortunately, guns were found in the arsenals only on land machines. Ship shields for them were made according to the drawings of veteran Aurors. The underwater part of the hull was made waterproof using a concrete "shirt" worn on the inner surface of the ship's skin. The internal premises were converted for the life and service of cadets and teachers. The power plant was removed, with the exception of two boilers for heating and a medium steam engine left as study guide. The superstructures were restored, including the complete replacement of the chimneys, badly damaged during the war. As a result, the ship became a full-fledged training base for students of the Nakhimov School, against the building of which on the Bolshaya Nevka River in Leningrad, the ship solemnly took its place on November 17, 1947. Future officers of the Navy received primary naval skills on the Aurora: they participated in ship work, served as ship outfits.

At Soviet power the cruiser Aurora became a training cruiser and was revered as one of the symbols of the revolution. The fate of this cruiser is told by the children's cartoon of the same name (1976), the song from which "What are you dreaming about, the cruiser Aurora?" gained popularity and became strongly associated with the ship. During the repair, in 1945-46, the cruiser participated in the filming of the movie "Cruiser Varyag", playing the role of "Varyag".

The museum on the ship began to be created in 1950 by the personnel, Auror veterans, and enthusiasts. In 1956, it was decided to give the ship museum the status of a branch of the Central Naval Museum. Since 1961, in connection with the construction of a new residential building for the NVMU, Aurora ceased to be an educational base, and the former quarters of the students of the school were transferred to the museum, the staff of which was increased to 5 people. For ordinary visitors, the upper deck and forecastle with a 152-mm gun, as well as the premises of the ship's museum, were open. The rest of the ship's quarters were inaccessible. Simultaneously with the museum, a team of 50 sailors and officers was left on the ship (and remains to this day) to guard the ship and maintain the mechanisms, so the cruiser itself and the museum on the cruiser are different, albeit friendly, organizations. Current repairs of the ship were carried out in 1957-1958 and 1966-1968. In 1968, the Aurora cruiser was awarded the Order of the October Revolution.

In the late 1980s, the ship's hull was in dire need of a major overhaul. In 1984-1987, repair and restoration work and re-equipment were carried out on the cruiser. The work was carried out at the Leningrad Shipbuilding Plant. A. A. Zhdanov according to the project of the Northern Design Bureau. The work was as follows:

The last exit of the cruiser "Aurora", launched in 1900, to the Neva

The underwater part of the ship's hull (1.2 m above the waterline) was considered unrepairable; it was cut off and handed over to the butcher. The cut off lower part was towed to the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland to the unfinished naval base Ruchi, flooded near the coast, where it is currently being pulled apart for metal. Instead, a new welded underwater part (dummy) was made. The wooden and copper cladding was not recreated. Screws are missing.

• The surface part was divided into four sections, which were installed on the new underwater part. In the engine room of the right and left machines, a boiler room was made and mock-ups of two boilers of the Belleville-Dolgolenko system were placed there. The aft main machine was put in order and installed in its place. The carapace deck was made anew. Most of the old armor plates were returned to it (except for the lower belt).

• The superstructures were installed in their places and mostly externally decorated to look like a ship as it was in 1917. The pipes and masts were made from scratch, since the old ones were also "remake". It was decided to leave the guns on coastal mounts.

• Almost all of the interior of the ship has been redesigned. On the battery deck there is a museum, a compartment for museum employees, a team catering unit with a galley, an officer's quarters, a wardroom and a commander's saloon. Below, on the living deck, are the crew's new living quarters. All accommodation units are equipped according to the habitability requirements of a modern navy. In two aft engine rooms, an engine and boiler room was organized with auxiliary mechanisms and additionally placed combat steam dynamos. The premises of the boiler departments are occupied by modern PEP (energy and survivability post), a power plant, air conditioners, hot water boilers for domestic needs, diesel generators, a drainage station, a fire extinguishing system and other equipment. The tiller compartment, the compartment of the refrigerator car and the central post remained unredesigned.

After repair and restoration work, the Aurora was returned to its place of parking on August 16, 1987 - at the Nakhimov VMU. At present, in addition to scientific staff, a team of 6 officers, 12 midshipmen and 42 sailors is serving on the ship.

cruiser commanders

cruiser commanders

• Cap. 1st rank rank A. A. Melnitsky (November 1897 - October 1898),
• cap. 1st rank P.P. Molas (October-November 1878, November 1898 - January 1900),
• VRID commander cap. 1st rank A.P. Kitkin (January-June 1900),
• cap. 1st rank N.K. Jenish (June-December 1900),
• cap. 1st rank I. V. Sukhotin (January 1901 - July 1904),
• cap. 1st rank E. R. Egoriev (July 1904 - 05/14/1905, died),
• VRID commander cap. 2nd rank A.K. Nebolsin (May 14 - September 1905),
• cap. 1st rank V. L. Barshch (September 1905 - May 1908),
• cap. 1st rank Baron V.N. Ferzen (May 1908 - January 1909),
• cap. 1st rank P.N. Leskov (January 1909 - December 1912),
• cap. 1st rank L. D. Opatsky (August-December 1912),
• cap. 1st rank D. A. Sveshnikov (December 1912 - April 1913),
• cap. 1st rank V. A. Kartsev (April 1913 - July 1914),
• cap. 1st rank G. I. Butakov (July 1914 - February 1916),
• cap. 1st rank M. I. Nikolsky (February 1916 - 02/28/1917, killed by sailors),
• senior lieutenant N.K. Nikonov (elected, March-August 1917),
• Lieutenant N. A. Erickson (elected, September 1917 - July 1918),
• VRID commander of the RKKF M. N. Zubov (since July 1918),
• commander of the RKKF L. A. Polenov (November 1922 - January 1928),
• commander of the RKKF A.F. Leer (January 1928 - September 1930),
• commander of the RKKF G. I. Levchenko (September 1930 - June 1931),
• commander of the RKKF A.P. Alexandrov (June-December 1931),
• VRID commander of the RKKF K. Yu. Andreus (December 1931 - March 1932),
• commander of the RKKF A. A. Kuznetsov (March 1932 - October 1934),
• cap. 2 ranks V. E. Emme (October 1934 - January 1938),
• cap. 2nd rank G. N. Arseniev (January-September 1938),
• cap. 2nd rank F. M. Yakovlev (September 1938 - August 1940),
• cap. 3rd rank G. A. Gladky (August 1940 - March 1941),
• cap. 3rd rank I. A. Sakov (March-September 1941),
• Senior Lieutenant P. S. Grishin (October 1941 - July 1943),
• cap. 2nd rank P. A. Doronin (July 1943 - August 1948),
• cap. 1st rank F. M. Yakovlev (August 1948 - January 1950),
• cap. 2nd rank V. F. Shinkarenko (January 1950 - February 1952),
• cap. 2nd rank I. I. Popadko (February 1952 - September 1953),
• cap. 2nd rank N. P. Epikhin (September 1953 - August 1959),
• cap. 1st rank I. M. Goylov (September 1959 - July 1961),
• cap. 2 ranks K. S. Nikitin (July 1961 - May 1964),
• cap. 1st rank Yu. I. Fedorov (May 1964 - May 1985),
• cap. 2nd rank A. A. Yudin (May 1985 - November 1989),
• cap. 1st rank A. V. Bazhanov (since November 1989).

historical images

	Cruiser bow gun	Cruiser scheme

• The cruiser Aurora is depicted on the Order of the October Revolution, which he himself was awarded (in 1967).
• Due to the fact that most of the sailors were natives of the Vyatka province, the Aurora banner was transferred to the city of Kirov (Vyatka) for eternal storage and is now in the Diorama Museum.
• When shooting the film "Cruiser Varyag", another pipe was fixed on the "Aurora".

Useful information

• The address: 197046, St. Petersburg, Petrovskaya emb., cruiser "Aurora"; tel. 230-8440
• Directions: Art. m. "Gorkovskaya", tram. 2, 6, 30, 63
• Working mode: Daily from 10.30 to 16.00, except Monday and Friday
• Excursions: admission to the cruiser is free; thematic excursions to the underwater part of the hull and the engine and boiler room are paid separately.

Notes

Literature

• Materials of the Central Naval Museum.
• "Aurora". - TSB. Ed. 2nd, vol. 41, pp. 117-118.
• "Aurora": album - L .: Sov. artist, 1967.
• Ammon G. A., Berezhnoy S. S. Heroic ships of the Russian and Soviet navies. - M.: Military Publishing House, 1981. S. 57.
• Andreev V. Revolutionary keep step. - M., 1973. S.168-177.
• Aseev N. Earth and people. - M.: 1961. S. 203.
• Badeev A."Aurora". - In the book: Father's house: collection. - M.: “Mol. guard", 1978.
• Baltic Fleet. Historical outline. - M., Military publishing house, 1960.
• Bartev G.P. Baltic dawns. - Yaroslavl: Upper Volga book. publishing house, 1987.
• Bartev G.P. and others. Cruiser "Aurora": a guide to the museum. - L .: Lenizdat, 1983.
• Bartev G. P., Myasnikov V. A. Pages of the chronicle of "Aurora": Documentary essay. - Yaroslavl: Upper Volga book. publishing house, 1975.
• Belkin S.I. Stories about famous ships. - L .: Shipbuilding, 1979.
• Belyshev A. Baltic Glory. - Kaliningrad, 1959. S. 41-46.
• Belyshev A. How it was (Memoirs of the first commissioner of the cruiser "Aurora"). - In the book: Ships-heroes. - M., 1976. S. 106-107.
• Berezov P. Volley from the Aurora. - M.: Politizdat, 1967.
• Burkovsky B. V., Kuleshov I. M. Cruiser "Aurora": a guide to the museum. - L., Lenizdat. 1967.
• Burkovsky B. V. and others. Cruiser "Aurora": a guide to the museum. - L .: Lenizdat, 1979.
• Burov A.V. Blockade day after day. - L., 1979. S. 55, 63, 67, 388.
• Burov V. N., Yukhnin V. E. Cruiser "Aurora": a monument of domestic shipbuilding. - L .: Lenizdat, 1987.
• Great October. Collection of documents. - M.: 1961. S. 52, 53, 327, 340, 351, 352.
• Godunov M. N. Cruiser "Aurora": a guide to the museum. - L .: Lenizdat, 1988.
• Grishchinsky K.K. Heroes are with us. - L .: Lenizdat, 1982. S. 70-84.
• Dubinkin V. E. Commander from the cruiser "Aurora": A documentary story. Voronezh book publishing house, 1936.
• Kozlov I. A., Shlomin V. S. Northern Fleet. - M., 1966. S. 78, 83.
• Krestyaninov V. Ya. Battle of Tsushima May 14 - 15, 1905 - St. Petersburg: "Galya Print", 1998. - ISBN 5-8172-0002-3.
• Letov B. Hero ships. - M.-L.: Detgiz, 1950.
• Maksimikhin I. A. Legendary ship. - M .: "Youth Guard", 1977.
• Melnikov R. M. Ships-monuments // “Man. Sea. Technique". - L .: Shipbuilding, 1987. Ss. 301-321.
• Moiseev. I.I. List of ships of the Russian steam and armored fleet (from 1861 to 1917). - M .: Military Publishing House, 1948. S. 76.
• Nevolin A.S. Aurors. - M.: Military Publishing, 1987.
• Polenov L. L. Cruiser Aurora". L.: Shipbuilding, 1987.
• Polenov L. L."Aurora": the secrets of a hundred years of history. - St. Petersburg: "Nordmed-Izdat", 1997. - (Events, ships, people).
• Pronin M.P. Legendary cruiser. L.: Lenizdat, 1957.
• Pacific Fleet. - M.: Military Publishing House, 1966. S. 59, 62, 63, 134, 270.
• Chernov B. M. The fate of the Aurora is high. - M.: Politich. lit., 1983.
• Kharchenko V.I. Flasks are broken on the Aurora. - M.: Ed. DOSAAF, 1967.
• Kholodniak A."Aurora". - L., 1925.
• Yunga E. S. Cruiser Aurora". - M.: Military Publishing, 1949.

Cruiser in art

Literature

• Nikolay Cherkashin. Torpedo for "Aurora"
• Michael Weller. Zero hours

Films

• Soviet cartoon "Aurora" with the song "What are you dreaming about, cruiser Aurora ..."
• Lenin in October

Poems and music

);10 × 130 mm guns, 2 × 76.2 mm anti-aircraft guns (1924)

His Imperial Majesty and Their Imperial Majesties the Empress Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna, having examined the cruiser Aurora, deigned to watch it descend from the Imperial Pavilion.

At the command “detainees to cut”, the ship, freed from props, with the commander and crew on it, at first slowly, then faster, began to descend stern forward, with the sounds of the national anthem, shouts of “hurray” and cannon salutes of military ships standing at a distance.

As the ship left the boathouse, the flags were raised on it, and the standard of His Majesty was on the mainmast. Then the anchors were dropped and the ship stopped.

The cruiser of the 1st rank "Aurora" is a ship of exactly the same type as the cruisers "Diana" and "Pallada" launched last year.

Its displacement is 6.682 tons. Longest length with ram - 414 feet, width - 55 feet, recess - 55 feet. The cruiser will be equipped with 3 vehicles of 3,870 forces, so that the total force will reach 11,610.

The total supply of coal for the ship is 972 tons. The Aurora team will consist of 320 people with 30 officers.

Its armament will consist of eight 6-inch, twenty-four 75-mm, eight 35-mm single-barreled and two 2 1/2-inch guns (Baranovsky). In addition, the vessel will have three mine vehicles, of which 2 are underwater and 1 is surface.

Its full moving weight during the descent was 3.621 tons.

From the New Admiralty, Their Imperial Majesties deigned to depart on a steam boat to the Baltic Shipyard.

From autumn to spring of the year, the ship was on the second long-distance training voyage along the route Libau - Christiansund - Vigo - Bizerte - Piraeus and Poros - Messina - Malaga - Vigo - Cherbourg - Libau.

From the autumn of 1911 to the summer of the year, the Aurora went on the third long-distance training voyage to participate in the celebrations on the occasion of the coronation of the King of Thailand (November 16 - December 2 of the year), visited the ports of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In the spring and summer of 1912, the cruiser was part of the international squadron of the “protecting powers” ​​of Crete, stood as a Russian stationer in Souda Bay (Crete).

World War I and Revolution

She took part in the First World War. With the outbreak of war, the cruiser under the command of Captain 1st Rank G. I. Butakov became part of the 2nd brigade of cruisers of the Baltic Fleet, conducted artillery firing and carried out sentinel service. In the winter of 1914/1915, it was modernized, the number of 152-mm guns was increased to 14. During the campaign of 1915, the cruiser was on patrol west of the central mine and artillery position in the Baltic, guarding minesweeping operations, made trips to study hidden skerry fairways in Finland. Since May 1916, the cruiser was assigned to the 6th maneuver group (armored cruiser Gromoboy, cruisers Aurora and Diana). On August 1 and 2, he conducted training firing at the firing range near Heinland Island to find out the possibility of destroying coastal wire obstacles with naval artillery fire during the planned landing operation. After dredging was completed on the Moonsund Canal, on August 14, 1916, the cruiser was transferred by this canal to the Gulf of Riga and became part of the Gulf of Riga Naval Defense Forces, based on Kuivast. At the end of 1916, the ship was sent for serious repairs to Petrograd, to the Franco-Russian plant. During the winter of 1916-1917, steam engines were overhauled, new steam boilers of the Belleville-Dolgolenko system were installed. The artillery of the main caliber was modernized with an increase in the firing range from 53 to 67 cab. 6 76.2-mm anti-aircraft guns of the F.F. Lender system were installed, a new radio station was mounted.

The cruiser was one of the first to join the February Revolution and raised the red flag. On February 28 (March 13), 1917, as a result of a collision with sailors, the commander of the ship, Captain 1st Rank M.I. Nikolsky, and senior officer P.P. Ogranovich were killed. A revolutionary committee was created on the ship, most of the crew joined the Bolsheviks.

On the night of October 25, 1917, on the orders of the Military Revolutionary Committee, the Aurora team captured and brought down the Nikolaevsky Bridge in Petrograd, which connected Vasilyevsky Island with the city center. On October 25, at 21:45, a blank shot from the Aurora's bow gun, fired on the orders of Commissar Belyshev, gave the signal to storm the Winter Palace. On November 28 (December 11), 1917, the Aurora, after repairs, returned to the 2nd cruiser brigade in Sveaborg. After the decree on the dissolution of the old fleet and the organization of the new RKKF on a voluntary basis, most of the team was demobilized. Only 40 people remained on the ship, necessary for ongoing work and protection. In 1918, the cruiser was transferred to Kronstadt and mothballed.

Since the spring of the year, the cruiser has been mothballed, and in the year the Aurora again becomes a training ship. At the same time, however, the cruiser was repaired and radically rearmed in 1924 - the outdated 6 "guns on it were replaced with new Russian 130-mm guns with outstanding characteristics for that time.

During the Great Patriotic War, the guns were dismantled from the cruiser and used to protect Leningrad from the Nazis, the feat of the Aurora gunners on the Pulkovo Heights is known. The cruiser itself was fired upon on 30 September 1941 and sank in the port of Oranienbaum. After the war, it was raised and restored.

Under Soviet rule, the Aurora cruiser became a training cruiser and was revered as one of the symbols of the revolution. The fate of this cruiser is told by the children's cartoon of the same name (1976), the song from which "What are you dreaming about, the cruiser Aurora?" gained popularity and became strongly associated with the ship. Since 1948, the restored ship has been permanently moored on Bolshaya Nevka (opposite the Nakhimov School) and enjoys the attention of tourists. Since 1957 it has been a branch of the Naval Museum. In 1984, the cruiser was again sent for a major restoration, which lasted until 1987. After the restoration of the cruiser, rumors spread for some time that the real cruiser was allegedly not restored and was sunk in the Gulf of Finland, and a copy or another restored ship of this series was installed in its place. These fabrications could only be born in the inflamed brain of a "perestroika" fighter for publicity, their delusion is obvious to any specialist in the history of the fleet, since the Aurora's sisterships died more than half a century before the restoration began. The basis for the rumors was the fact that the underwater part of the cruiser was completely replaced along with the power set, while the old underwater part was available for viewing to onlookers for some time before disposal. Similarly, during the restoration process, some superstructures were cut off and other superstructures and bridges were mounted, since the purpose of the restoration was to bring the cruiser to the design form for 1917, which, however, does not mean that a replica was assembled instead of the historical ship, as some especially gifted believe " connoisseurs of the question.

cruiser commanders

• Cap. 1st rank rank A. A. Melnitsky (November 1897 - October 1898),
• cap. 1st rank P.P. Molas (October-November 1878, November 1898 - January 1900),
• VRID commander cap. 1st rank A.P. Kitkin (January-June 1900),
• cap. 1st rank N.K. Jenish (June-December 1900),
• cap. 1st rank I. V. Sukhotin (January 1901 - July 1904),
• cap. 1st rank E. R. Egoriev (July 1904 - 05/14/1905, died),
• VRID commander cap. 2nd rank A.K. Nebolsin (May 14 - September 1905),
• cap. 1st rank V. L. Barshch (September 1905 - May 1908),
• cap. 1st rank Baron V.N. Ferzen (May 1908 - January 1909),
• cap. 1st rank P.N. Leskov (January 1909 - December 1912),
• cap. 1st rank L. D. Opatsky (August-December 1912),
• cap. 1st rank D. A. Sveshnikov (December 1912 - April 1913),
• cap. 1st rank V. A. Kartsev (April 1913 - July 1914),
• cap. 1st rank G. I. Butakov (July 1914 - February 1916),
• cap. 1st rank M. I. Nikolsky (February 1916 - 02/28/1917, killed by sailors),
• senior lieutenant N.K. Nikonov (elected, March-August 1917),
• Lieutenant N. A. Erickson (elected, September 1917 - July 1918),
• VRID commander of the RKKF M. N. Zubov (since July 1918),
• commander of the RKKF L. A. Polenov (November 1922 - January 1928),
• commander of the RKKF A.F. Leer (January 1928 - September 1930),
• commander of the RKKF G. I. Levchenko (September 1930 - June 1931),
• commander of the RKKF A.P. Alexandrov (June-December 1931),
• VRID commander of the RKKF K. Yu. Andreus (December 1931 - March 1932),
• commander of the RKKF A. A. Kuznetsov (March 1932 - October 1934),
• cap. 2nd rank V. E. Emme (October 1934 - January 1938),
• cap. 2nd rank G. N. Arseniev (January-September 1938),
• cap. 2nd rank F. M. Yakovlev (September 1938 - August 1940),
• cap. 3rd rank G. A. Gladky (August 1940 - March 1941),
• cap. 3rd rank I. A. Sakov (March-September 1941),
• senior lieutenant P. S. Grishin (October 1941 - July 1943),
• cap. 2nd rank P. A. Doronin (July 1943 - August 1948),
• cap. 1st rank F. M. Yakovlev (August 1948 - January 1950),
• cap. 2nd rank V. F. Shinkarenko (January 1950 - February 1952),
• cap. 2nd rank I. I. Popadko (February 1952 - September 1953),
• cap. 2nd rank N. P. Epikhin (September 1953 - August 1959),
• cap. 1st rank I. M. Goylov (September 1959 - July 1961),
• cap. 2nd rank K.S. Nikitin (July 1961 - May 1964),
• cap. 1st rank Yu. I. Fedorov (May 1964 - May 1985),
• cap. 2nd rank A. A. Yudin (May 1985 - November 1989),
• cap. 1st rank A. V. Bazhanov (since November 1989).

Haven't you heard about it? Let's find out where the legs grow from these conversations. And first, let's recall the history of this warship.

For several generations of Soviet (and not only Soviet) people, the name of this cruiser has become a kind of fetish. The legendary ship that heralded the offensive with its volley new era in the history of mankind, the symbol of the Great October Socialist Revolution is the most replicated cliché. And what is the actual history of the cruiser "Aurora"?

At the end of the 19th century, the Russian navy grew and was replenished with new ships. According to the classification of that time, there was such a subclass of cruisers - armored, that is, having an armored deck to protect vital parts of the ship from enemy artillery fire. The armored cruisers did not carry side armor and were not intended for a duel with battleships. It was to this type of warships that the cruiser Aurora, laid down on May 23, 1897 in St. Petersburg (in the New Admiralty), of the same type with the previously laid down Pallada and Diana, belonged.

In the Russian Navy, there was (and still is) a tradition of succession in the names of ships, and the new cruisers inherited the names of sailing frigates. The construction of the ship took more than six years - the Aurora was launched on May 11, 1900 at 11:15, and the cruiser entered the fleet (after completion of all outfitting work) only on July 16, 1903.

This ship was by no means unique in its combat qualities. Neither a particularly frisky speed (only 19 knots - squadron battleships of that time developed a speed of 18 knots), nor weapons (8 six-inch main caliber guns - far from amazing firepower) the cruiser could boast. Ships of another armored cruiser type (Bogatyr), which was then adopted by the Russian fleet, were much faster and one and a half times stronger. And the attitude of officers and crews towards these "goddesses of domestic production" was not too warm - the cruisers of the "Diana" type had a lot of shortcomings and constantly arising technical problems.

Nevertheless, their intended purpose - reconnaissance, destruction of enemy merchant ships, covering ships of the line from attacks by enemy destroyers, patrol service - these cruisers were quite consistent, having a solid (about seven thousand tons) displacement and, as a result, good seaworthiness and autonomy . With a full supply of coal (1430 tons), the Aurora could, without additional bunkering, go from Port Arthur to Vladivostok and return back.

All three cruisers were destined for the Pacific Ocean, where a military conflict with Japan was brewing, and the first two of them were already in the Far East by the time the Aurora entered service with the existing ships. The third sister also hurried to her relatives, and on September 25, 1903 (just a week after the staffing ended on September 18), the Aurora with a crew of 559 people under the command of Captain 1st Rank I. V. Sukhotin left Kronstadt.

Armored cruiser "Aurora", 1903

In the Mediterranean, the Aurora joined the detachment of Rear Admiral A. A. Virenius, which consisted of the Oslyabya squadron battleship, the Dmitry Donskoy cruiser, and several destroyers and auxiliary vessels. However, the detachment was late for the Far East - in the African port of Djibouti, on Russian ships, they learned about the Japanese night attack on the Port Arthur squadron and the beginning of the war. It was deemed too risky to proceed further, because japanese navy blocked Port Arthur, and there was a high probability of meeting with superior enemy forces on the way to it. A proposal was made to send a detachment of Vladivostok cruisers to meet Virenius in the area of ​​Singapore and go with them to Vladivostok, and not to Port Arthur, but this quite reasonable proposal was not accepted.

On April 5, 1904, the Aurora returned to Kronstadt, where it was included in the 2nd Pacific Squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Rozhdestvensky, who was preparing to march on the Far Eastern theater of operations. Here, six of the eight main-caliber guns were covered with armored shields - the experience of the battles of the Arthurian squadron showed that fragments of high-explosive Japanese shells literally mow down unprotected personnel. In addition, the commander was replaced on the cruiser - he became the captain of the 1st rank E.R. Egoriev. On October 2, 1904, as part of the Aurora squadron, she set off for the second time - to Tsushima.

Admiral Rozhdestvensky was, let's say, an original personality. And among the many "quirks" of the admiral was the following - he had a habit of giving the warships entrusted to him nicknames that were very far from examples of belles-lettres. So, the cruiser "Admiral Nakhimov" was called the "Idiot", the battleship "Sisoy the Great" - the "Invalid Shelter", and so on. The squadron included two ships with female names - the former yacht "Svetlana" and "Aurora". The commander nicknamed the first cruiser "The Maid", and the "Aurora" was even awarded the obscene title "Fence Prostitute". If only Rozhdestvensky knew what ship he names so disrespectfully!

Damage to the bow of the cruiser "Aurora" in the Battle of Tsushima, June 1905

"Aurora" was in the detachment of cruisers of Rear Admiral Enkvist and during the Tsushima battle conscientiously carried out the order of Rozhdestvensky - she covered the transports. This task was clearly beyond the capacity of the four Russian cruisers, against whom first eight, and then sixteen Japanese ones acted. They were saved from a heroic death only by the fact that a column of Russian battleships accidentally approached them, driving away the pressing enemy.

In the Battle of Tsushima, the Aurora fired 303 152mm, 1282 75mm and 320 37mm shells at the enemy. During the battle, the cruiser received 18 hits from shells of various calibers, but he managed to escape from the encirclement and go to Manila, where he stood disarmed until the end of the war.

The cruiser did not distinguish itself with something special in battle - the author of the damage attributed to the Aurora by Soviet sources, which he received japanese cruiser"Izumi", in fact, was the cruiser "Vladimir Monomakh". The Aurora itself received about a dozen hits, had a number of injuries and serious losses in people - up to a hundred people were killed and wounded. The commander died - his photograph is now exhibited in the museum of the cruiser, framed by a steel sheet pierced by a fragment of a Japanese shell and charred deck planks.

Cruiser 1st rank "Aurora" on the roads of Manila after the battle of Tsushima, June 1905

At night, instead of covering the wounded Russian ships from the frenzied mine attacks of the Japanese, the cruisers Oleg, Aurora and Zhemchug broke away from their main forces and headed for the Philippines, where they were interned in Manila. However, there is no reason to accuse the crew of the cruiser of cowardice - the responsibility for the flight from the battlefield lay with the bewildered Admiral Enquist. Two of these three ships subsequently sank: Zhemchug was sunk in 1914 by the German corsair Emden in Penang, and Oleg was sunk by English torpedo boats in the Gulf of Finland in 1919.

The Aurora returned to the Baltic at the beginning of 1906, along with several other ships that had survived the Japanese defeat. In 1909-1910, the Aurora, together with the Diana and the Bogatyr, was part of the foreign navigation detachment, specially designed for the practice of midshipmen of the Naval Corps and the Naval Engineering School, as well as students of the Training Team of combatant non-commissioned officers.

Cruiser Aurora". Holes in the area of ​​​​the 75-mm gun No. 7 of the starboard side, June 1905

The Aurora team did not participate in saving the inhabitants of Messina from the consequences of the 1908 earthquake, but Russian sailors from the Aurora received a medal for this feat from the grateful residents of the city when the cruiser visited this Sicilian port in February 1911. And in November 1911, the Aurors took part in the celebrations in Bangkok in honor of the coronation of the Siamese king.

In 1910, the cruiser accompanied the imperial yacht to Riga.

“At the end of the first hour, the Imperial yacht Shtandart, sailing in the wake of the cruiser Aurora, began to slowly approach its mooring place opposite the Tsar’s Quay. Exactly at 2 p.m., the Imperial yacht anchored. From the warships accompanying the yacht, the sounds of music were heard. The city was ringing with bells."
Newspaper "Rizhsky Vestnik", July 5, 1910

The cruiser underwent its first modernization after the Russo-Japanese War, the second, after which it took on its current appearance, in 1915. The artillery armament of the ship was strengthened - the number of 152-mm main-caliber guns was first brought to ten, and then to fourteen. Numerous 75-mm artillery was dismantled - the size and survivability of destroyers increased, and three-inch shells no longer posed a serious danger to them.

The cruiser was able to take on board up to 150 mines - mine weapons were widely used in the Baltic and proved their effectiveness. And in the winter of 1915-1916, a novelty was installed on the Aurora - anti-aircraft guns. But the glorious cruiser might not have survived until the second modernization ...

Armored cruiser "Aurora" in 1916

The Aurora met the First World War as part of the second brigade of cruisers of the Baltic Fleet (together with Oleg, Bogatyr and Diana). The Russian command expected a breakthrough of the powerful German High Seas Fleet into the Gulf of Finland and an attack on Kronstadt and even St. Petersburg. To counter this threat, mines were hastily laid, and the Central mine-artillery position was equipped. The cruiser was assigned the task of carrying out patrol service at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland in order to timely notify of the appearance of German dreadnoughts.

The cruisers went on patrol in pairs, and at the end of the patrol period, one pair replaced the other. The Russian ships achieved their first success already on August 26, when the German light cruiser Magdeburg landed on stones off the island of Odensholm. The cruisers Pallada arrived in time (the older sister of the Aurora died in Port Arthur, and this new Pallada was built after the Russo-Japanese War) and the Bogatyr tried to capture the helpless enemy ship. Although the Germans managed to blow up their cruiser, Russian divers found secret German ciphers at the accident site, which during the war served both the Russians and the British in good stead.

But a new danger awaited Russian ships - since October, German submarines began to operate in the Baltic Sea. Anti-submarine defense in the fleets of the whole world was then in its infancy - no one knew how and with what it was possible to hit an invisible enemy hiding under water, and how to avoid his sudden attacks. There were no diving shells, let alone depth charges and sonars. Surface ships could only rely on the good old ram - after all, they should not take seriously the developed anecdotal instruction, which ordered to cover the sighted periscopes with bags and fold them with sledgehammers.

On October 11, 1914, at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, the German submarine "U-26" under the command of Lieutenant Commander von Berkheim discovered two Russian cruisers: the Pallada, which was ending its patrol service, and the Aurora, which had come up to replace it. The commander of the German submarine, with German pedantry and scrupulousness, assessed and classified the targets - in all respects, the new armored cruiser was a much more tempting prey than a veteran of the Russian-Japanese war.

A torpedo hit caused a detonation of ammunition magazines on the Pallada, and the cruiser sank along with the entire crew - only a few sailor caps remained on the waves ...

The Aurora turned around and took cover in the skerries. And again, you should not blame the Russian sailors for cowardice - as already mentioned, they still did not know how to fight submarines, and the Russian command already knew about the tragedy that happened ten days earlier in the North Sea, where a German boat sank three English armored cruisers at once. The Aurora escaped death for the second time - fate clearly kept the cruiser.

It is not worth dwelling on the role of the Aurora in the events of October 1917 in Petrograd - more than enough has been said about this. We only note that the threat to shoot the Winter Palace from the guns of the cruiser was pure bluff. The cruiser was under repair, and therefore all the ammunition was unloaded from it in full accordance with the instructions in force. And the stamp "Aurora salvo" is purely grammatically incorrect, since a "volley" is simultaneously fired shots from at least two barrels.

The Aurora did not take part in the civil war and in battles with the English fleet. An acute shortage of fuel and other types of supplies led to the fact that the Baltic Fleet was reduced to the size of a bunker - an "active detachment" - consisting of only a few combat units. The Aurora was put into reserve, and in the fall of 1918, part of the guns were removed from the cruiser for installation on makeshift gunboats of river and lake flotillas.

At the end of 1922, the Aurora, by the way, the only ship of the old imperial Russian fleet that retained its name given to it at birth, was decided to be restored as a training ship. The cruiser was repaired, ten 130-mm guns were installed on it instead of the previous 6-inch guns, two anti-aircraft guns and four machine guns, and on July 18, 1923, the ship entered sea trials.

Then for ten years - from 1923 to 1933 - the cruiser was engaged in a business already familiar to him: cadets of naval schools were practicing on board. The ship made several foreign voyages, participated in the maneuvers of the newly resurgent Baltic Fleet. But the years took their toll, and due to the poor condition of the boilers and mechanisms, the Aurora, after another repair in 1933-1935, became a non-self-propelled training base. In winter, it was used as a floating base for submarines.

During the Great Patriotic War, the old cruiser stood in the harbor of Oranienbaum.

The guns were once again removed from the ship, and nine of its "hundred and thirty" mounted on the coastal battery defended the approaches to the city. The Germans did not pay much attention to the decrepit veteran, trying first to disable the best Soviet ships (such as the Kirov cruiser), but the ship still received its portion of enemy shells. On September 30, 1941, the half-sunken cruiser, damaged as a result of artillery shelling, sat down on the ground.

Cruiser "Aurora" in Oranienbaum, 1942

But the ship again - for the third time in its more than forty years of history - survived. After the blockade of Leningrad was lifted in July 1944, the cruiser was brought out of a state of clinical death - they were lifted from the ground and (for the umpteenth time!) Put in for repairs. Boilers and onboard machines, propellers, side shaft brackets and the shafts themselves, as well as part of the auxiliary mechanisms, were removed from the Aurora. They installed the weapons that were on the ship in 1915 - fourteen 152-mm Kane guns and four 45-mm salute guns.

Now the cruiser was to become a monument ship and at the same time the training base of the Nakhimov School. In 1948, the repair was completed, and the restored Aurora stood where it stands to this day - to Petrogradskaya Embankment opposite the building of the Nakhimov School. And in 1956, the Ship Museum was opened aboard the Aurora as a branch of the Central Naval Museum.

The Aurora ceased to be a training ship for pupils of the Leningrad Nakhimov School in 1961, but it retains the status of a museum ship to this day. Long voyages and naval battles are a thing of the past - the time has come for a well-deserved and honorable pension. Such a fate rarely falls to a ship - after all, ships usually either die at sea, or end up at the wall of the factory, where they are cut for scrap ...

In the Soviet years, of course, the main (and, perhaps, the only) attention was paid to the revolutionary past of the cruiser. Images of the Aurora were present wherever possible, and the silhouette of the three-pipe ship became the same symbol of the city on the Neva as the Peter and Paul Fortress or the Bronze Horseman. The role of the cruiser in the October Revolution was extolled in every possible way, and there was even a joke-joke: "Which ship in history had the most powerful weapons?" - "Cruiser" Aurora "! One shot - and the whole power collapsed!".

In 1967, the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution was widely celebrated in the Soviet Union. In Leningrad, bonfires were burning near Smolny, near which, leaning on rifles, stood people in soldier's overcoats and in jackets of revolutionary sailors of the seventeenth year with an indispensable attribute - with machine-gun belts crossed on their chests and on their backs.

The cruiser "Aurora" follows the location of the film "Aurora Volley", 1967

It is clear that the well-deserved ship simply could not be ignored. For the anniversary, the film "Volley of the Aurora" was made, where the cruiser played the main role - itself. For greater authenticity of the events depicted, all filming was done on location. The Aurora was towed to a historical place to the Nikolaevsky bridge, where the episode of the capture of the aforementioned bridge by the Aurors was filmed. The spectacle was impressive, and thousands of Leningraders and guests of the city watched the gray three-pipe beauty slowly and majestically float along the Neva.

However, the "Aurora" itself was not the first time to act as a movie star. Back in 1946, during the repair, "Aurora" played the role of the cruiser "Varyag" in the film of the same name. Then the Aurora, as a true actress, even had to make up for her character - the shields were removed from the guns (there were none on the Varyag), and a fourth fake pipe was installed to make the image of the most heroic cruiser of the Russian-Japanese war true.

The last repair of the Aurora took place in the mid-80s of the last century, and rumors about the “fake Aurora” are connected with this. Let's find out in more detail how it was.

The first major overhaul of the Aurora took place immediately after the Second World War at the shipyards of Kronstadt. Almost all the guns were replaced with new ones, the ship repairmen changed the wooden deck and completely re-equipped the interior, in which the Nakhimovites settled. Soon, however, the question arose of new repairs. The iron hull of the Aurora simply rotted away. In the hold of the ship, pumps were constantly working, pumping out several tens of tons of water every day. By the early 1980s, it became clear that it was simply impossible to keep the Aurora in its original form.

Restoration of the Aurora began in 1984. Powerful tugboats removed the cruiser from the eternal parking lot and dragged it to the Northern shipyard. There, at the docks, the cruiser of the revolution was simply cut into pieces. The lower part of the vessel, including the entire underwater part, was completely replaced with a new one. Severe alteration was subjected to what was above the water. By the anniversary date, the Aurora returned to its usual place, and then the question arose of what to do with the skeleton left at the shipyard. The scrapping of the cruiser of the revolution in Soviet times would have been considered ideological sabotage. So they decided to hide the real Aurora from the eyes of the people.

In the last trip, the cruiser set off along the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland in 1987. The military brought him to the village of Ruchi, located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland in the Luga Bay. Before the Great Patriotic War, a naval base was being built there, designed to reduce the load on Kronstadt. Leaving territories to the advancing fascists, in September 1941, Soviet troops blew up all ground buildings. Neither our engineers nor the Germans, who left these territories a few years later, however, were unable to destroy the huge piers on the Gulf of Finland. Until recently, they were used as a sump for warships.

For some time the legendary cruiser stood near the huge pier. This, however, did not last long. At first, the Aurora was slowly taken away by the military, and then they actually gave the ship to be plundered by the workers of the Baltika fishing state farm operating in these places.

I remember very well the events of those days, - says Vladimir Yurchenko, former chief mechanic of the Baltika fishing state farm. - Our superiors agreed with the military and one fine day we were sent to cut the Aurora. We were allowed to take whatever we could carry. At the state farm, they even shouted “Men! Aida "Aurora" cut! Many responded. We removed the property from the ship by trucks. First of all, the metal ladders were removed. Copper plating was torn off from the surface parts - then the entire ship was covered with a layer of sheet copper. The situation in the interior was practically untouched. In one of the showers, for example, I removed tiles from the floor and walls. Later I tiled the floor in the bath with this tile. Many took the doors along with the jambs and took out the portholes.

The new lower part of the Aurora's hull at the shipyard's dock.

Restoration repair of the cruiser "Aurora" at the plant named after Zhdanov, 1984-1987

Looted by the military and fishermen, the skeleton of the ship, like the skeleton of a giant fish, stood at the old pier for several months. The cruiser of the revolution was destined for a completely unenviable end. A brilliant idea came into someone's bright head in a military cap. Load the metal hull with stones and sink it into the harbor, turning it into a breakwater.

The bay in these places is indeed quite restless, - says Vladimir Yurchenko. - In spring and autumn, it is quite difficult to land on the shore, and a breakwater is really needed here. That's just because of the mistakes made by the workers, nothing good came of this venture. The ship loaded with stones went to the side, and then completely capsized and sank at all where it was planned. Now this is real garbage lying in the coastal strip. Later, local merchants wanted to raise the hulk, cut it up and sell it abroad as scrap metal, however, the military forbade any work to be done in their harbor.

Anyone can find the remains of the cruiser of the revolution, lying in the coastal strip, without any difficulty. In the surrounding villages, anyone can show the current location of the Aurora.

Against the background of the wreckage, tourists are eagerly photographed, who are brought into a rather remote part of the Kingisepp district. In the summer, local boys recklessly climb the iron frame. At low tide, the hull, stretching 120 meters in length, is visible in its entirety. At high tide, the waves hit only a small section of the bow with fastenings for ropes.

Near the giant concrete piers, two half-abandoned buildings still rise. In one, sailors occasionally appear, in the other, a retired military man, Vasily Mochalov, has been living for six years. In the mid-1990s, a migrant from Moldova lost his home and documents in a fire. Having occupied an empty house, he fishes himself and helps local fishermen manage the nets. According to Vasily Stepanovich, scuba divers examine the flooded Aurora almost every year.

This summer, some guys who came from Belarus dived here for almost a week, - says Vasily Mochalov. - True, they did not find anything interesting and began to remove the copper plates that were preserved in the once underwater part. They said that they would cut them into small pieces and sell them as souvenirs. Even under water, they found an old iron and gave it to me in gratitude for staying. He is unlikely to interest museum workers, but it is very possible to stroke them by glowing on a tile.

However, in order to find souvenirs from the Aurora, it is not at all necessary to go underwater with scuba gear. All you need to do is walk through the nearby villages and take a closer look at the houses built in the late 1980s. Parts of the ship turned into building materials are visible here and there. The ladders along which the sailors and officers moved became stairs in residential buildings, the metal frames went to the construction of greenhouses, in some places the roofs were covered with metal. At the entrance to the village of Dubki, there is a brick house with portholes installed instead of windows on the gates of the barn and in the toilet. According to the local elder Viktor Larionov, who lives in it, he did not remove the windows from the Aurora himself, but simply took them from a neighbor who worked at a fishing state farm.

He just had them lying around in the garden, and I adapted them for business, ”says Viktor Ilyich. - From the inside, the toilet resembles a latrine on a famous cruiser.

Towing the cruiser "Aurora" during the passage through the Trinity Bridge.

The modern cruiser is only a replica, since during the last reconstruction in 1984, more than 50% of the hull and superstructures were replaced. Of the most noticeable differences from the original is the use of welds on the new body instead of rivet technology.

In 1992, the Andreevsky flag was again raised on the ship, the cruiser is listed as part of the Russian Navy, until recently officers and sailors served on the ship (even if there are ten times less of them than they once were). Of course, the Aurora itself will no longer be able to move away from the place of eternal parking, but all auxiliary mechanisms and life support systems are maintained by the cruiser's team in working condition. In working well-groomed condition and ship guns.

Today, the main occupation of the cruiser "Aurora", whose age has already exceeded one hundred years, is to serve as a museum. And this museum is very visited - there are up to half a million guests a year on board the ship. And honestly, this museum is worth a visit - and not only for those who are nostalgic for the irretrievably bygone times.

It's great that Aurora has survived to this day. All over the world, such monument ships can be counted on one hand: Victoria and Cutty Sark in England, Queen Mary in the USA, Mikasa in Japan. It remains only to wish the veteran good health for the next hundred years; after all, a blank shot in October 1917 is just one of many pages in the long biography of the glorious cruiser. And from it, as from a song, you can’t throw out the words ...

Recall, "Aurora" lost the status of the ship number 1 of the Russian Navy on December 1, 2010. The ship became a branch of the Central Museum of the Navy. On August 1, the Aurora was finally transferred to the jurisdiction of the Central Naval Museum. The military unit that served on the ship was disbanded. The crew of the cruiser "Aurora" was reorganized into a staff of three military personnel and 28 civilian personnel; the status of the ship remained the same. On June 27, 2012, the deputies of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly adopted an appeal to the Commander-in-Chief of the RF Armed Forces with a request to return the status of ship No. 1 in the Russian Navy to the cruiser, while retaining the military crew on the ship. Let's see how this whole story ends...

Vladimir Kontrovsky