Russian monitor Admiral Greig

Admiral Greig at anchor; the crew's laundry is drying on her rigging
History
Russian Empire
Name: Admiral Greig
Namesake: Samuel Greig
Ordered: 1865
Builder: New Admiralty Shipyard, Saint Petersburg
Cost: 1,596,700 rubles
Laid down: 10 May 1866[Note 1]
Launched: 30 October 1867
In service: 1872
Out of service: 31 March 1907
Reclassified: As coastal-defense ship, 13 February 1892
Struck: 22 December 1909
Fate: Scrapped, 1912
General characteristics (as built)
Type: Monitor
Displacement: 3,820–3,881 long tons (3,881–3,943 t)
Length: 262 ft (79.9 m) (o/a)
Beam: 43 ft (13.1 m)
Draft: 21 ft (6.4 m)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Range: 1,200–1,500 nmi (2,200–2,800 km; 1,400–1,700 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement: 269–74 officers and crewmen
Armament: 3 × twin 9-inch (229 mm) Rifled muzzle-loading guns
Armor:

The Russian monitor Admiral Greig was the second and last of the two Admiral Lazarev-class monitors built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1860s. She was assigned to the Baltic Fleet upon completion and remained there for her entire career. Aside from one accidental collision, the ship's service was uneventful. She was reclassified as coast-defense ironclad in 1892 before she became a training ship later that decade. Admiral Greig was stricken from the Navy List in 1909 and scrapped in 1912.

Design and description

Right elevation and plan from Brassey's Naval Annual 1888

The Admiral Lazarev-class monitors were significantly larger than their predecessors, the Charodeika class, and had an overall length of 262 feet (79.9 m), a beam of 43 feet (13.1 m) and a maximum draft of 21 feet (6.4 m). The ships were designed to displace 3,505 long tons (3,561 t), but turned out to be overweight and actually displaced 3,820 to 3,881 long tons (3,881 to 3,943 t). They were fitted with a plough-shaped ram. The Admiral Lazarevs had a double bottom and their hulls were subdivided by six main watertight bulkheads. Their crew consisted of 269–74 officers and crewmen. The Admiral Lazarev-class ships had a single two-cylinder horizontal direct-acting steam engine that drove a single propeller, using steam provided by four rectangular fire-tube boilers. The engine was designed to produce a total of 2,020 indicated horsepower (1,510 kW) which gave the ships speeds between 9.54–10.4 knots (17.67–19.26 km/h; 10.98–11.97 mph) when they ran their initial sea trials in 1871. The Admiral Lazarev class carried 260 long tons (264 t) of coal which gave them a range of about 1,200–1,500 nautical miles (2,200–2,800 km; 1,400–1,700 mi) at a speed of 9 knots. They were fitted with a light fore-and-aft sailing rig to steady her and aid in maneuvering.[1]

Armament

The monitors were ultimately designed to be armed with six 20-caliber Obukhov 11-inch (279 mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns, a pair in each Coles-type turret. Around 1874–75 the guns were replaced by three 11-inch (279 mm) guns, based on a Krupp design. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 a 9-inch mortar was fitted to attack the thin deck armor of enemy ships, but accuracy was poor and they were later removed, probably in the early 1880s. An improved, more powerful, 22-caliber 11-inch gun was installed aboard the sister ships during the 1880s.[2]

Light guns for use against torpedo boats were added to the Admiral Lazarev class during the Russo-Turkish War when a pair of 4-pounder 3.4-inch (86 mm) guns were mounted on the roofs of the fore and aft gun turrets and a 44-millimeter (1.7 in), 4-barreled Engstrem quick-firing (QF) gun. By the early 1890s, the light armament consisted of one or two 2.5-inch (64 mm) Baranov QF guns, five 47-millimeter (1.9 in) QF Hotchkiss guns, replacing the 4-pounders, and a pair of 37-millimeter (1.5 in) QF Hotchkiss five-barreled revolving cannon. The ships could also carry 12-15 mines intended to be used to create a secure anchorage.[3]

Armor

The hull of the Admiral Lazarev-class monitors was completely covered by wrought iron armor that 4–4.5 inches (102–114 mm) thick amidships and thinned to 3 inches (76 mm) aft and 3.5 inches (89 mm) forward of the main belt. The turrets had 6 inches (152 mm) inches of armor, except around the gun ports, where it thickened to 6.5 inches (165 mm). The conning tower was 5 inches (127 mm) thick and the deck armor was in two layers with a total thickness of 1 inch.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ All dates used in this article are New Style.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ McLaughlin, pp. 115–16, 122–23
  2. ↑ McLaughlin, pp. 118–19
  3. ↑ McLaughlin, pp. 119–20
  4. ↑ McLaughlin, pp. 121–22

References

Further reading

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