Since childhood, Russians have known the peppy marching song "Upstairs you, comrades, all in places ...". They know that its protagonist is the Varyag cruiser, which heroically died in battle with superior Japanese forces during the war at the beginning of the 20th century. Another, minor, song "Cold waves are splashing" is less known. But it is dedicated to the same event, and there is no contradiction in that.

The fate of the ship was ambiguous, and the truth about his feat was sacrificed to the demands of propaganda.

American miracle of technology

By the time the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904, a "captive" mood reigned in Russian society in relation to the future enemy. The defeat led to the opposite result: the technical achievements of the Japanese began to be exaggerated.

This trend also affected the assessment of Varyag. At first, the cruiser was characterized as a powerful military unit, capable of "plugging the belt" of the enemy. Later, there were allegations that this cruiser was weak and outdated. Both statements are incorrect. It was not a matter of technology, but (as they would say today) of the human factor.

Naval arms race

Japan at the end of the 19th century lagged behind the developed countries in technical terms, but had already managed to make a grandiose economic breakthrough.

It did not reach the level of a world power, but it was worthy competition to the leading countries of the world. For further development, resources were required that were not available on the cramped islands - this is how the militancy of the young "Asian tiger" is explained.

In 1895, Russian intelligence received information about Japan's intention to increase its fleet so that it would outnumber Russian forces in the Pacific.

This should not have been allowed - Russia itself had expansionist plans in China and Korea. The order for the construction of the ship "Varyag" was one of the steps to prevent Japanese domination.

American order

Import substitution was not established - Russian shipyards worked slowly. Therefore, Philadelphia shipbuilders received an order for the construction of the armored cruiser Varyag. They undertook to do everything in 20 months. The cruiser's guns were made in Russia.

According to the project, these cruisers met all the latest (at that time) requirements for a warship.

The description of the technical characteristics of the ship allows us to imagine a powerful, high-speed, well-armed vessel.

• Overall dimensions: length - 129.56 m, draft - 5.94 m, width - 15.9 m.
• Displacement - 6500 tons (design), 6604 tons (in fact).
• Armor: deck - from 37 to 76 mm, conning tower - 152 mm.
• The total engine power is 20 thousand liters. With.
• Maximum speed - 24.59 knots (obtained during testing).
• The main caliber is 152 mm (12 pcs.).
• Other artillery - 24 guns (75-, 63-, 47-, 37-mm), 2 machine guns.
• Other armament: 6 torpedo tubes 381 mm, 2 * 254 mm, 35 minefields, 6 projectile mines.
• Team - 20 officers, 550 lower ranks (according to the state). There have been changes in the real world; So, at the time of the battle with the Japanese, there were 558 people on the cruiser: 21 officers, 4 conductors, 3 hired civilians, a priest, 529 sailors.

There were other marvels of technology as well.

The ship had a lot of electrics (a novelty for that time) - shell lifts, winches for boats, even dough mixers. There was a telephone connection. The furniture was made of metal, although it was painted "for the entourage" under the tree. This reduced the risk of fire.

Details not reported

In the true history of the Varyag cruiser, facts are found that predetermined his short life. It was built and handed over to the customer in 1899 (that is, on time), but the flag over it was understood only on January 2, 1901. The reason is that the ship immediately required improvement - the performance characteristics did not correspond to what was planned.

There were two main problems. The boilers of the Nikloss system installed on the ship turned out to be unreliable, often breaking down. Although the Russian fleet already had experience with boilers of this system, and they did not cause any special problems, it “did not grow together” here.

For this reason, in combat conditions, the ship was slower than planned, and constantly risked being at the most inopportune moment with emergency boilers. Practically declared by the manufacturers, the speed of 26 knots was not achieved.

Usually the ship did not even give the speed of 24.5 knots shown during the tests.

Captain VF Rudnev complained not only about problems with the boilers, but also about other flaws in the manufacturer, and about a weak repair base. Probably, his information about the maximum speed of 14 knots is underestimated, but the Varyag did not give full speed.

In addition, the guns of the armored cruiser were deprived of armor protection. This created an additional risk for the gunners and the combat effectiveness of the cruiser (it was easy for the enemy to destroy the ship's weapons).

This lack of armor protection played a fatal role in the famous battle of the Varyag cruiser with the Japanese squadron. Most of the cruisers of that time had such protection, but in this case the ship was lightened by gun armor.

Appropriate conclusions were drawn from the sad experience, on other cruisers of this type (including the Aurora) gun protection was installed. But this could no longer help the gunners - "Varangians".

Improvements in the course of service

Throughout its life, "Varyag" was twice subjected to thorough modernization. The first was made by the Japanese, having raised the cruiser in 1905. During the repair, the navigational cabin, pipes, fans, navigation bridges were changed, the poles of mine nets and mars platforms were removed. The 75 mm guns were replaced with 76 mm Armstrong guns.

After the return of the Russian ship in 1916, the bow and stern guns of the main caliber were transferred to the diametrical plane, as a result of which the power of the side volley increased.

The machine guns were converted for firing at air targets. In the mechanics, dead moves were eliminated. And most importantly - the artillery received partial armor protection (shortened shields) - conclusions were drawn from the past.

royal retinue

Upon completion of the modifications, the ship left Philadelphia and went to Kronstadt, where it arrived in early May 1901. After 2 weeks, Tsar Nicholas II personally examined him. It cannot be denied that the cruiser looked great, and at first its fate was successful.

The impression of the monarch was so good that he immediately included the cruiser in the escort group of his own yacht for a trip to Europe. The decision was justified by the fact that the cruiser was still doomed to a long voyage to the place of duty - it was assigned to Port Arthur.

The ship visited many ports of the Old World, and was enthusiastically received everywhere. The cruiser literally went on excursions of the "good company" of those ports where it appeared. This was pleasant for the commander (V.F. Rudnev), but harmful from a military point of view. After all, during his journey, the Varyag also called at Nagasaki, a Japanese port popular with foreign sailors. Mikado intelligence worked well, and got the opportunity to find out more about the Russian ship.

While the Russian command was filled with confidence in its military superiority over the Japanese, they were preparing for war in earnest. In Japan, they adopted the latest ammunition and artillery, captains and admirals perfectly knew the theater of future hostilities, discipline and order reigned at all levels.

Russian sailors served well, but corruption at the top is not an invention of our days. Among the top military leadership of Russia there were enough incompetent people who did not want to be responsible for the consequences of their orders.

Some verified data

There is not much reliable information about the death of the Varyag cruiser. Facts were immediately sacrificed for ideological expediency.

Even the captain's account of the battle is riddled with inaccuracies. But historians managed to restore the true picture.

Only the facts

On December 27, 1903, the Varyag set off from Port Arthur to Chemulpo. It was a neutral Korean port. Officially, the cruiser (it was accompanied by the gunboat "Korean") was supposed to provide communication between Port Arthur and the consulate in Seoul. In Chemulpo, Captain Rudnev learned about the beginning of the war.

On February 8 (new style), 1904, Chemulpo Bay was blocked by the squadron of Admiral Urio. The "Korean" made an attempt to break through to Port Arthur, but was stopped.

Urio gave the Russians an ultimatum: get out of the bay and take the fight, or be attacked in the roadstead, where the ships of other states were. The Japanese squadron consisted of 15 pennants. The officers of foreign ships were categorically not satisfied with the option of shelling the Russians in the roadstead - they would also fall under the distribution.

And Captain Rudnev decided to try to make a breakthrough.

The Varyag left Chemulpo at noon on February 9 and was attacked by the Japanese. The fight went on for an hour. The cruiser was badly damaged, there were dead and wounded on it. Due to the damage received, it was necessary to return to the port. The "Korean" followed, because he could not compete with the Japanese in speed.

It was decided to destroy the ships. "Varangian" died at the hands of his own. Foreigners categorically opposed her explosion, and the cruiser was flooded by opening the kingstones.

The teams of "Varyag" and "Korean" sheltered the ships of Great Britain, Italy and France. US sailors attended to the wounded.

Flight into history

There are more facts regarding the posthumous history of the ship. The story of the feat of the cruiser "Varyag" quickly became known. When the team returned to Russia (at first the sailors were interned), they were received by the tsar. All participants in the battle received St. George's crosses, officers - orders.

They also gave out awards of a mundane nature - the sailors received a nominal watch from the emperor. VF Rudnev was promoted to Rear Admiral.

The outcome of the battle was described almost as a victory. Stories spread about two damaged Japanese cruisers (one even allegedly sank) and several destroyers sunk. Captain Rudnev's report spoke of a thousand or more shells fired.

"Varyag" has become a symbol of loyalty to naval traditions and military prowess. Already in 1954, the Soviet government tracked down the participants in the battle of Chemulpo, who were alive by that time, and awarded them medals "For Courage". Songs and poems have become a monument to the cruiser Varyag, and not only in Russia.

It is believed that the canonical text "Upstairs you, comrades" is a free translation of a poem by a German author. The cruiser was mentioned in books. In 1946, the Soviet film "Cruiser" Varyag "was filmed, and the "main role" in it went to the "Aurora", and in fact there was no more revered, symbolic ship in the USSR! For the sake of filming, an additional fake pipe was even attached to the symbol of the revolution.

The Naval Museum in St. Petersburg has a model (scale 1:64) of a cruiser made in the USA in 1901. There is also a model of his steam engine (1:20), it appeared in the 1980s, the author is S.I. Zhukovitsky.

These are all facts. But they do not answer some questions that are poorly covered in the real history of the Varyag.

tricky questions

They are: not everything is clear in the biography of the "Varyag" and the history of his death.

1. Why was the cruiser sent to Chemulpo on a "postal" mission? Was “Korean” really not enough to establish contact with the consulate?
2. Why did European and American officers object to blowing up the cruiser?
3. Did the Varyag sink Japanese ships?
4. Did the cruiser really fire most of its ammunition? After all, by the end of a short battle, he lost ¾ of the artillery, and the officer on the rangefinder was one of the first to die?
5. Why didn't "Varyag" go for a breakthrough alone, leaving "Korean"? The low-speed gunboat (13 knots) turned out to be a dangerous brake for the cruiser, and the crew could have been evacuated.
6. Why was it easy for the Japanese to raise and repair the ship? The restoration of the Varyag was completed in July 1907, and the cruiser sailed under the Japanese flag for 9 years.
7. Why did Rear Admiral Rudnev resign shortly after being awarded the rank?

Without answers to these questions, it is impossible to know the history of the famous ship as it really was.

The truth about the cruiser "Varyag" turned out to be inconvenient for the propaganda machine, and for the sake of it was hidden. Due to deliberate concealment and distortion of facts, not all uncomfortable questions have answers even now.

Answers to uncomfortable questions

But there are answers, and they create a different picture than the official "biography" of the cruiser.

1. The “postal” purpose of the cruiser is difficult to explain. According to one version, he was required in order to deliver the Korean ambassador to his homeland. But it is still not clear why the ambassador had to travel by cruiser. At that time, the cruiser Boyarin was already in Chemulpo, and the Varyag was supposed to replace it. The port was officially neutral, but there were enough foreign warships in it. This was probably an attempt to fight for influence in Korea.
2. The motives of the foreigners' actions are unclear. They probably did not want to explicitly take the side of Russia. The US was clearly not interested in Russia becoming the leading Pacific power. The Portsmouth peace showed that the Americans needed to weaken both Russia and Japan.
3. The Varyag did not sink a single enemy ship, although it did damage to them. One of the Japanese cruisers, after meeting with the Russians, was forced to undergo a lengthy repair.
4. The scale of the Varyag's defense is exaggerated. Having lifted the cruiser, the Japanese discovered on it stocks of unused ammunition, so Captain Rudnev's data on firing are overestimated. Data on the consumption of shells of the main caliber is not too much exaggerated (but fifty 152-millimeter ones is a lot). However, Rudnev allowed himself to exaggerate the consumption of other ammunition.
5. The principle of "die yourself, and save a comrade" is highly moral. Traditions were honored in the Russian fleet, but in the case of the battle in Chemulpo, it was unreasonable to destroy a cruiser for the sake of a slow-moving gunboat. The real reason for this decision is unclear. Captain Rudnev referred to the difficulties of passing the local fairway. There is a version that the Russian envoy Pavlov did not give permission for the cruiser to leave.
6. In the area of ​​the cruiser's flooding, the bay had insufficient depth. The Varyag did not sink completely, and it was not difficult to raise it. It turned out to be more difficult to repair - work continued until 1907. The repair cost one million yen. The cruiser was part of the Japanese Navy as a training ship. Officially, it was called "Soya", but the inscription "Varangian" on the stern was retained as a sign of respect for the courage of the enemy. He was assigned the 2nd rank (during construction - 1st).
7. Specialists in Russia knew the real picture of what had happened. Experienced sailors could appreciate the unprofessionalism of the actions of both the command in Port Arthur and Captain Rudnev. This could have been the reason for his resignation. But the high authorities could not be considered incompetent.

The idea of ​​the death during the battle of the entire or almost the entire crew of the cruiser does not correspond to reality. Losses during the battle were small.

On the cruiser, 1 officer and 30 lower ranks were killed, 85 sailors and 6 officers (including the captain) were seriously injured and shell-shocked. On the "Korean" there were no losses at all. But the song that became folk spoke about the “boiling sea below us” and the absence of a “stone and cross” in memory of the sailors, and this version was fixed in the mass consciousness.

In fact, many sailors of the cruiser were destined for a long life, and their graves were preserved in Vladivostok, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl.

Technology of the origin of the legend

Why was it necessary to hide the truth and invent beautiful legends and myths about the Varyag?

Then, to hide the fact that the very first battle in the war with Japan ended in defeat for the Russian fleet.

And it was not the sailors and officers who were to blame for this (only a hand was found from the midshipman who died on the Varyag, and this hand never released the rangefinder), but the country's top leadership.

For the sake of propaganda, the sailors were turned into superheroes who dealt with almost half of the Japanese squadron. They honored the glorious traditions, did not abandon their comrades and died under an unconquered flag. Many contemporaries (and descendants - even more so) did not even understand that the Varyag was sunk in the roadstead.

There was no need to debunk the created legend about the Varyag. The heroism of the sailors (and he was real) justified a partially shameful defeat in the war. Further, a beautiful picture from the past was useful for educating the younger sailors. The true history of the Varyag team, which really behaved with dignity and showed true loyalty to the oath, did not bother anyone.

Stronger, boy, tie knots ...

Not marine, but those that are associated with the Motherland.

In 1916, Japan (now an ally in the Entente), along with two more ships, returned the cruiser to Russia. It is noteworthy that Russia also had to pay for the Varyag - it was officially sold.

He did not stay in the Pacific Ocean, but, having undergone partial modernization in Vladivostok, he crossed the Northern Sea Route to Romanov-on-Murman (Murmansk) under his own power.

The ship needed repairs, and for this purpose, at the beginning of 1917, it was sent to England. There he was caught by the news of the revolution, and the "allies" requisitioned him, making him a "school". In 1919, the Varyag was sold for scrap, but it did not reach the place, sitting on the reefs. In 1925, the ship was finally destroyed.

But this is not the end of the story. In 1979, a missile cruiser was laid down in the Soviet Ukraine series. Today, the Varyag is again a thunderstorm in the Far East, the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet.

Another ship with the same name was built in Nikolaev. After the collapse of the USSR, the Varyag aircraft carrier went to Ukraine, but she could not and did not want to complete it. In 1998, the Varyag aircraft-carrying cruiser was sold to China.

They remember that in 1905 the Japanese invaders chopped off the heads of the Chinese, counting the victims in the thousands. Under the name "Liaoning" TAVKR "Varyag" patrols the seas under the red flag. It is weaker than envisaged by the project, but it is still better for the invaders not to fall under its distribution.

The feat of the cruiser "Varyag" has acquired legends that have little in common with the real fate of the ship and its crew. The truth is simple: Russian sailors knew how to follow orders and observe the rules of honor.

We did not lower the glorious St. Andrew's banner before the enemy ...

Video

In About cuts and kickbacks in tsarist Russia

The development of a fire control system for the battleship Borodino was entrusted to the Institute of Precision Mechanics at the court of His Imperial Highness. The creation of machines was carried out by the Russian Society of Steam Power Plants. A leading research and production team whose developments have been successfully used on warships around the world. Ivanov's guns and self-propelled mines designed by Makarov were adopted as weapons systems ...

All of you, there, on the upper deck! Stop laughing!

The fire control system was French, mod. 1899. A set of instruments was first presented at an exhibition in Paris and immediately purchased for the RIF by its commander, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich (according to the memoirs of relatives, le Beau Brummel, who almost permanently lived in France).

Barr and Studd horizontal base rangefinders were installed in the conning tower. Boilers designed by Belleville were used. Searchlights Mangin. Steam pumps of the Worthington system. Anchors Martin. Stone pumps. Guns of medium and anti-mine caliber - 152- and 75-mm guns of the Canet system. Rapid-firing 47 mm Hotchkiss guns. Whitehead torpedoes.

The Borodino project itself was a modified design of the battleship Tsesarevich, designed and built for the Russian Imperial Fleet by specialists from the French shipyard Forge and Chantier.

In order to avoid misunderstandings and unfounded reproaches, it is necessary to make an explanation for a wide audience. The good news is that most of the foreign names in the Borodino EDB design belonged to systems manufactured under license in Russia. On the technical side, they also met the best international standards. For example, the generally accepted design of the sectional boiler of the Belleville system and the very successful guns of Gustave Canet.

However, already one French fire control system on the Russian EBR makes you think. Why and why? It looks as ridiculous as the Aegis on the Soviet Orlan.

There are two bad news.

A great empire with a population of 130 million people, with a quality education system (for the elite) and a developed scientific school - Mendeleev, Popov, Yablochkov. And while all around solid foreign technology! Where is our domestic "Belleville"? But he was an engineer-inventor V. Shukhov, an employee of the Russian branch of the Babcock & Wilksos company, who patented a vertical boiler of his own design.

Everything was in theory. In practice, solid Belleville, the Nikloss brothers and the Tsesarevich EDB at the Forge and Chantier shipyard as a standard model for the Russian fleet.

But, what is especially offensive, ships at domestic shipyards were built many times slower. Four years for EDB Borodino versus two and a half years for Retvizan (Cramp & Suns). Now you should not become like a recognizable hero and ask: “Why? Who did it?" The answer is on the surface - the lack of tools, machines, experience and skilled hands.

Another problem lies in the fact that even with “mutually beneficial cooperation” in the conditions of an “open world market”, there are no torpedoes designed by Makarov in service with the French fleet. And in general, there is nothing that would indicate the exchange of technologies. Everything, everything according to the old, proven scheme. We give them money and gold, in return they give their technical innovations. Belleville boiler. Mina Whitehead. iPhone-6. Because the Russian Mongols in terms of the creative process are complete impotent.

Speaking specifically for the fleet, even licenses were not always enough. I just had to take and place orders at foreign shipyards.

The fact that the Varyag cruiser was built in the USA is no longer hidden. It is much less known that the second participant in the legendary battle, the gunboat “Koreets”, was built in Sweden.

Armored cruiser "Svetlana", place of construction - Le Havre, France.
Armored cruiser "Admiral Kornilov" - Saint-Nazaire, France.
Armored cruiser "Askold" - Kiel, Germany.
Armored cruiser "Boyarin" - Copenhagen, Denmark.
Armored cruiser "Bayan" - Toulon, France.
Armored cruiser "Admiral Makarov", built at the shipyard "Forge & Chantier".
The armored cruiser "Rurik" was built at the English shipyard "Barrow-inn-Furness".
Battleship Retvizan, built by Cramp & Suns in Philadelphia, USA.
A series of destroyers "Kit", the shipyard of Friedrich Schichau, Germany.
A series of destroyers "Trout", built at the plant A. Norman in France.
Series "Lieutenant Burakov" - "Forge & Chantier", France.
A series of destroyers "Mechanical Engineer Zverev" - shipyard Shihau, Germany.
The lead destroyers of the Horseman and Falcon series were built in Germany and, accordingly, Great Britain.
"Batum" - at the Yarrow shipyard in Glasgow, UK (the list is incomplete!).

A regular participant in the Military Review spoke very caustically about this:

Well, of course, ships were ordered from the Germans. They built well, the cars on them were excellent. Well, clearly in France, like an ally, plus kickbacks to the Grand Dukes. You can understand the order to the American Kramp. He did it quickly, promised a lot and rolled back in every way no worse than the French. But we, it turns out, under the tsar-father, even in Denmark, ordered cruisers.
Comment from Edward (qwert).

Anger is well explained. With that colossal gap in technology and labor productivity, the construction of a series of armored cruisers is equivalent to the construction of a modern spaceport. Leaving such "fat" projects at the mercy of foreign contractors is unprofitable and inefficient in all respects. This money should go to the workers of the Admiralty shipyards and move the domestic economy. And together with it to develop their own science and industry. This is what everyone has been trying to do at all times. Steal from profits, not losses. But we don't take it that way.

We did it differently. The scheme was called "to steal the ruble, harm the country for a million." The French have a contract, they, who need it, a rollback. Their shipyards sit without orders. The industry is deteriorating. Qualified personnel are not needed.

There was a time they even tried to build dreadnought battleships, so it would be better not to try. During the implementation of the most complex project, all the shortcomings of pre-revolutionary Russia were clearly manifested. A widespread lack of production experience, machine tools and competent specialists. Multiplied by incompetence, nepotism, kickbacks and a mess in the offices of the Admiralty.

As a result, the formidable “Sevastopol” was under construction for six years and by the time the St. Andrew's flag was raised, it was completely outdated. “Empress Maria” turned out to be no better. Look at their peers. Who simultaneously entered service with them in 1915? Isn't it a 15-inch Queen Elizabeth? And then say that the author is biased.

They say that there was still a mighty "Ishmael". Or was not. The battlecruiser Izmail turned out to be an unbearable burden for the Republic of Ingushetia. A rather strange habit is to pass off as an achievement something that has not been done.

Even in peacetime, with the direct assistance of foreign contractors, the ships over and over again turned into long-term construction. With the cruiser, everything turned out to be even more serious. When the Izmail readiness level reached 43%, Russia got involved in a war in which there was no goal, no objective benefit, and in which it was impossible to win. For "Ishmael" it was the end, because. some of its mechanisms were imported from Germany.

If we talk outside of politics, then LKR “Ishmael” was also not an indicator of the heyday of the empire. In the East, the dawn is already red. Japan stood up to its full height with its 16-inch Nagato. One that even their British teachers were taken aback by.

Time passed, progress was not particularly observed. From the author's point of view, industry in tsarist Russia was in complete decline. You may have an opinion different from the author's, which, however, will not be easy to prove.

Go down to the engine room of the destroyer Novik and read what is stamped on its turbines. Come on, put some light on here. Really? A.G. Vulcan Stettin. Deutsches Kaiserreich.

The engines went wrong from the very beginning. Climb into the engine nacelle of the same "Ilya Muromets". What will you see there? Engines brand "Gorynych"? Right, surprise. Renault.

Legendary royal quality

All the facts testify that the Russian Empire trudged somewhere at the very end of the list of developed states. After Great Britain, Germany, the States, France and even Japan, which, having undergone the late Meiji modernization, by the 1910s. managed to bypass RI in everything.

In general, Russia was not at all where an empire with such ambitions should be.

After that, jokes about “Ilyin’s light bulb” and the state literacy program no longer seem so funny. Years passed, and the country recovered. Fully. It will become a state with the best education in the world, with advanced science and a developed industry that can do everything. Import substitution in the most important industries (military industry, atom, space) was 100%.

And the descendants of the fled degenerates will whine for a long time in Paris about "Russia, which they have lost."
Author A. Dolganov.

The cruiser "Varyag" needs no introduction. Nevertheless, the battle at Chemulpo is still a dark page in Russian military history. Its results are disappointing, and there are still a lot of misconceptions about the participation of the Varyag in this battle.

"Varyag" - a weak cruiser

In popular publications, there is an assessment that the combat value of the Varyag was low. Indeed, due to poor-quality work performed during the construction in Philadelphia, the Varyag could not develop a contract speed of 25 knots, thereby losing the main advantage of a light cruiser.

The second serious drawback was the lack of armor shields for the main caliber guns. On the other hand, Japan during the Russo-Japanese War, in principle, did not have a single armored cruiser capable of withstanding the Varyag and the Askold, Bogatyr or Oleg similar to it in armament.

Not a single Japanese cruiser of this class had 12,152 mm guns. True, the fighting developed in such a way that the crews of Russian cruisers never had to fight an enemy equal in number or class. The Japanese always acted for sure, compensating for the shortcomings of their cruisers with a numerical superiority, and the first, but far from the last in this glorious and tragic list for the Russian fleet was the battle of the Varyag cruiser.

A hail of shells hit the Varyag and Koreets

In artistic and popular descriptions of the battle at Chemulpo, it is often said that the Varyag and the Korean (who did not receive a single hit) were literally bombarded with Japanese shells. However, official figures show otherwise. In just 50 minutes of the battle at Chemulpo, six Japanese cruisers used up 419 shells: Asama 27 - 203 mm. , 103 152 mm., 9 76 mm; "Naniva" - 14 152 mm; "Niitaka" - 53 152 mm., 130 76mm. Takachiho - 10 152 mm, Akashi - 2 152 mm, Chiyoda 71 120 mm.

In response, according to Rudnev's report, 1105 shells were fired from the Varyag: 425-152mm, 470-75mm, 210-47mm. It turns out that the Russian gunners have achieved the highest rate of fire. To this we can add 22 203 mm, 27 152 mm and 3 107 mm shells fired from the "Korean".

That is, in the battle at Chemulpo, two Russian ships fired almost three times more shells than the entire Japanese squadron. The question of how the account of spent shells was kept on the Russian cruiser or the figure was indicated approximately based on the results of a survey of the crew remains debatable. And could such a number of shells have been fired on a cruiser that had lost 75% of its artillery by the end of the battle?

Rear Admiral at the head of the Varyag

As you know, after returning to Russia and upon his retirement in 1905, the commander of the Varyag, Rudnev, received the rank of Rear Admiral. Already today, the name of Vsevolod Fedorovich was given to one of the streets in South Butovo in Moscow. Although, perhaps it would have been more logical to name Captain Rudnev, if necessary, to single out among his well-known namesakes in military affairs.

There is no mistake in the name, but this image needs clarification - in military history this man remained the captain of the 1st rank and the commander of the Varyag, but as a rear admiral he could no longer prove himself. But a clear mistake has crept into a number of modern textbooks for high school students, where the “legend” already sounds that it was Rear Admiral Rudnev who commanded the Varyag cruiser. The authors did not go into details and think that the rear admiral was in command of an armored cruiser of the 1st rank somehow out of rank.

Two against fourteen

The literature often indicates that the cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" were attacked by the Japanese squadron of Rear Admiral Uriu, consisting of 14 ships - 6 cruisers and 8 destroyers.

Here it is necessary to make several clarifications.

Outwardly, the huge numerical and qualitative superiority of the Japanese, which the enemy did not take advantage of during the battle. It should be noted that on the eve of the battle at Chemulpo, the Uriu squadron consisted of not even 14, but 15 pennants - the Asama armored cruiser, the Naniva, Takachiho, Niytaka, Chiyoda, Akashi armored cruisers and eight destroyers and memo "Chihaya".

True, on the eve of the battle with the Varyag, the Japanese suffered non-combat losses. When the gunboat Koreets tried to proceed from Chemulpo to Port Arthur, the Japanese squadron began dangerous maneuvering (which ended with the use of guns) around the Russian gunboat, as a result of which the destroyer Tsubame ran aground and did not participate directly in the battle. The messenger ship "Chihaya" did not participate in the battle, which, nevertheless, was in the immediate vicinity of the battlefield. In reality, the battle was fought by a group of four Japanese cruisers, two more cruisers participated only sporadically, and the presence of destroyers among the Japanese remained a presence factor.

"Cruiser and two enemy destroyers at the bottom"

When it comes to military losses, this issue often becomes the subject of heated discussions. The battle at Chemulpo was no exception, in which estimates of Japanese losses are very contradictory.

Russian sources point to very heavy losses of the enemy: a sunken destroyer, 30 killed and 200 wounded. They are based mainly on the opinion of representatives of foreign powers who observed the battle.

Over time, two destroyers and the cruiser Takachiho turned out to be “sunk” (by the way, these data got into the thin film “Cruiser Varyag”). And if the fate of some Japanese destroyers raises questions, then the Takachiho cruiser safely survived the Russo-Japanese War and died 10 years later with the entire crew during the siege of Qingdao.

The reports of all the commanders of the Japanese cruisers indicate the absence of losses and damage on their ships. Another question: where, after the battle in Chemulpo, did the main enemy of the Varyag, the armored cruiser Asama, "disappear" for two months? Neither Port Arthur nor the squadron of Admiral Kammamura operating against the Vladivostok cruiser detachment was present. And this was at the very beginning of the war, when the outcome of the confrontation was far from being decided.

It is likely that the ship, which became the main target of the Varyag guns, was seriously damaged, but at the beginning of the war, for propaganda purposes, it was undesirable for the Japanese side to talk about this. From the experience of the Russo-Japanese War, it is well known how the Japanese tried to hide their losses for a long time, for example, the death of the battleships Hatsuse and Yashima, and a number of destroyers that apparently ended up at the bottom were simply written off after the war as beyond repair.

Legends of Japanese Modernization

A number of misconceptions are associated with the service of the "Varyag" in the Japanese fleet. One of them is related to the fact that the Japanese, after the rise of the Varyag, retained the Russian state emblem and the name of the cruiser as a sign of respect. However, this was more likely due not to the desire to pay tribute to the crew of the heroic ship, but to design features - the coat of arms and the name were mounted in the aft balcony and the Japanese fixed the new name of the Soya cruiser on both sides on the lattice of the balcony. The second misconception is the replacement of Nikoloss boilers with Miyabar boilers on the Varyag. Although a thorough repair of the machines still had to be made, the cruiser showed a speed of 22.7 knots during tests.

Songs that have become popular

The feat of the cruiser "Varyag" is widely reflected in literature, music and feature cinema. At least 50 songs about the Varyag appeared after the Russo-Japanese War. Only three have survived to this day. Two of them, "The Varyag" and "The Death of the Varyag" gained wide popularity - with a slightly modified text, they go through the entire film "Cruiser" Varyag ", and" The Death of the "Varyag" was considered popular for a long time, although this is not so. Repninsky's poems "Varyag" ("Cold waves are splashing") were published less than a month after the legendary battle in the newspaper "Rus", and then set to music by the composer Benevsky, and the melody is also consonant with a number of Russian military songs of the period of the Russo-Japanese War

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The battle of the cruiser "Varyag" - forever in the history of the Russian fleet and the memory of the Russian people

P.T. Maltsev. Cruiser Varyag. 1955

The fate of a ship is akin to the fate of a person. In the biography of some - only construction, measured service and decommissioning. Risky campaigns, devastating storms, heated battles, and participation in important events fall to the lot of others. The former are mercilessly erased by human memory, extolling the latter as witnesses and active participants in the historical process. One of these ships, without a doubt, is the Varyag cruiser. The name of this ship is well known, perhaps, to every inhabitant of our country. However, the general public knows, at best, one of the pages of his biography - the battle in Chemulpo Bay. The short service of this ship coincided with the fateful military events, social and political changes that swept the world and Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. The history of the Russian cruiser Varyag is unique. It started in the US, continued in Korea and Japan, and ended in Scotland. American and British workers, Russian sailors, the Russian Tsar, Japanese cadets, revolutionary sailors walked on the decks of the Varyag...

Beginning in 1868, Russia constantly kept a small detachment of warships in the Pacific Ocean. The forces of the Baltic Fleet were based here in the ports of Japan on a rotational basis. In the 1880s, the strengthening of Japan's position began, accompanied by an increase in its population, an increase in its military power and military-political ambitions. In 1896, the General Naval Staff prepared a special report on the need for an urgent increase in Russian naval forces in the Far East and the equipment of its bases there.

In 1898, a shipbuilding program was adopted in Russia. Due to the workload of Russian factories, part of the orders were placed at American shipyards. One of the contracts provided for the construction of an armored cruiser with a displacement of 6000 tons and a speed of 23 knots. Nicholas II ordered that the cruiser under construction be given the name "Varyag" in honor of the sail-propeller corvette that participated in the American expedition of 1863.

The construction was accompanied by scandals and heated debates about what the future ship should be like. In search of a compromise between the Crump shipyard, the supervisory commission and maritime officials in St. Petersburg and Washington, important technical aspects were repeatedly revised. Some of these decisions later cost the cruiser's crew dearly, playing a role in its fate. For example, at the insistent request of shipbuilders, boilers were installed that did not allow the ship to reach its design speed. To lighten the mass of the ship, it was decided to abandon the armored shields that protect the gun crews.

The cruiser "Varyag" at the Kramp shipyard. USA

The results of sea trials caused no less controversy. However, despite the delay associated with the strikes of American workers and the coordination of documents between the Russian Naval Department and the American shipyard, at the beginning of 1901 the ship was handed over to the Russian crew. Two months later, the armored cruiser Varyag headed for Russia.

The Russian fleet has replenished with a wonderful ship. The length of the cruiser along the waterline was 127.8 m, the width was 15.9 m, the draft was about 6 m. The cruiser's steam engines, which consisted of 30 boilers, had a total power of 20,000 hp. Many ship mechanisms had an electric drive, which greatly facilitated the life of the crew, but increased the consumption of coal. The cabins, cabins, posts, cellars, engine rooms and other service rooms of the ship were connected by telephone, which was an innovation for Russian ships at that time. The Varyag was surprisingly good with its architecture, which was distinguished by four funnels and a high forecastle, which improved the seaworthiness of the ship.

The cruiser received powerful armament: 12 152-mm guns, 12 75-mm guns, 8 47-mm guns, 2 37-mm guns, 2 63.5-mm Baranovsky guns. In addition to artillery, 6 381 mm torpedo tubes and 2 7.62 mm machine guns were installed on the cruiser. To control artillery fire, the ship was equipped with 3 rangefinder stations. The sides and conning tower of the cruiser were reinforced with solid armor.

To staff the cruiser, 21 officer positions, 9 conductors and 550 lower ranks were supposed. In addition to this state, from the first sailing to the last battle, there was also a priest on board. The command of the new ship was entrusted to Captain 1st Rank Vladimir Iosifovich Baer, ​​who oversaw the construction of the cruiser in Philadelphia from the moment it was laid down to the moment it was handed over to the Russian fleet. Baer was an experienced sailor who had gone through all the necessary career steps in 30 years from watch officer to commander. He had an excellent military education and spoke three foreign languages. However, contemporaries remembered him as a tough commander who kept the crew in exceptional severity.

Having made a transatlantic crossing, the Varyag cruiser arrived in Kronstadt. Here the new ship was honored with a visit by the emperor. Here is how these events are described in the memoirs of eyewitnesses: “Outwardly, it looked more like an ocean yacht than a battle cruiser. The appearance of the "Varangian" to Kronstadt was presented as a spectacular spectacle. To the sounds of a military band, an elegant cruiser in a dazzling white dress color entered the Big Road. And the morning sun was reflected in the nickel-plated barrels of the main caliber guns. On May 18, Emperor Nicholas II himself arrived to get acquainted with the Varyag. The king was captivated - he even forgave the builder for some assembly defects.

The Varyag was rightfully considered the most beautiful ship of the Russian Imperial Navy. This is how it looked in June 1901. Photo by E. Ivanov

However, very soon the ship had to go to the Far East. Relations with Japan escalated, and in the ruling circles, more and more often they talked about the upcoming war. The cruiser "Varyag" had to make a long transition and strengthen the military power of Russia on the eastern borders.

In the autumn of 1901, the cruiser went on a long voyage along the route St. Petersburg - Cherbourg - Cadiz - Algiers - Palermo - Crete - the Suez Canal - Aden - the Persian Gulf - Karachi - Colombo - Singapore - Nagasaki - Port Arthur. The transition began to affect the technical imperfections of the design of the cruiser. The boilers, around the installation of which there was so much controversy, allowed the ship to go at low speed. Only for a short time, the Varyag could go at a 20-knot course (subsequent attempts, already in the Far East, to correct the situation, led to a further decrease in speed. At the time of the battle in Chemulpo, the ship could not move faster than 16 knots).

Having made a significant number of calls to foreign ports, rounding Europe and Asia, on February 25, 1902, the Varyag arrived at the Port Arthur roadstead. Here the cruiser was inspected by Vice Admiral, Chief of the Pacific Squadron, and Admiral, Commander of the Pacific Ocean Naval Forces. The ship became part of the Pacific squadron and began intense combat training. In her first year alone in the Pacific, the cruiser traveled almost 8,000 nautical miles, conducting some 30 artillery practice fires, 48 ​​torpedo fires, and many mine and netting exercises. However, all this was not "thanks" but "despite". The commission, which assessed the technical condition of the ship, gave him a severe diagnosis: "The cruiser will not be able to reach speeds above 20 knots without the risk of severe damage to boilers and machines." Vice Admiral N.I. Skrydlov described the technical condition of the ship and the efforts of its crew as follows: “The stoic behavior of the crew is commendable. But young people would not have had to mobilize all their strength to overcome a simple curriculum if the damned fate of one American had not put them in such conditions with their incompetence in matters of engineering.

The cruiser "Varyag" and the squadron battleship "Poltava" in the Western Basin of Port Arthur. November 21, 1902 Photo by A. Diness

On March 1, 1903, a captain of the 1st rank took command of the cruiser. Unlike his predecessor, he had humane views on working with the crew. With his humane attitude towards the sailors, he soon earned the respect of the crew, but faced misunderstanding on the part of the command. Under the leadership of a talented commander, the cruiser continued to participate in the activities of the fleet. During artillery firing, V.F. Rudnev discovered that almost a quarter of large-caliber shells did not explode. He reported this to the command, and achieved a complete replacement of ammunition. But the shooting results remained the same.

The cruiser continued to regularly serve as part of the Pacific Squadron. Frequent accidents of the Varyag cars, as well as its low speed, forced the cruiser to be sent to the Korean port of Chemulpo as a stationary. In order not to overload the cruiser's vehicles once again, the Korean gunboat was assigned as a courier.

In addition to the Varyag, ships from other countries also stood in Chemulpo: England, the USA, France, Italy and Japan. The latter, practically without hiding, was preparing for war. Her ships were repainted camouflage white, and her coastal garrisons were heavily reinforced. The port of Chemulpo was flooded with many floating craft prepared for landing, and thousands of Japanese masquerading as the local population walked the streets of the city. Captain 1st rank V.F. Rudnev reported on the approaching start of hostilities, but in response he received assurances that all this was just a demonstration by the Japanese of their strength. Realizing that war was inevitable, he spent intense training with the crew. When the Japanese cruiser Chiyoda left the port of Chemulpo, Captain 1st Rank V.F. It became obvious to Rudnev that the start of hostilities was a matter of days, if not hours.

At 07:00 on January 24, the combined fleet of Japan left the port of Sasebo and entered the Yellow Sea. He was to strike at Russian ships five days before the official declaration of war. A detachment of Rear Admiral Uriu separated from the general forces, who was instructed to block the port of Chemulpo and accept surrender from the ships stationed there.

On January 26, 1904, the gunboat "Korean" was sent to Port Arthur, but at the exit from Chemulpo Bay she collided with a Japanese detachment. Japanese ships blocked the "Korean" path, fired a torpedo salvo at it. The gunboat had to return to port, and this incident was the first clash in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

Having blocked the bay and entered it with several cruisers, the Japanese began landing on the coast. This went on all night. On the morning of January 27, Rear Admiral Uriu wrote letters to the commanders of the ships stationed on the roadstead with a proposal to leave Chemulpo in view of the upcoming battle with Russian ships. Captain 1st rank Rudnev was asked to leave the port and take the fight at sea: “Sir, in view of the current hostile actions between the governments of Japan and Russia, I respectfully ask you to leave the port of Chemulpo with the forces under your command before noon on January 27, 1904 Otherwise, I will be obliged to open fire against you in the port. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant. Uriu."

The commanders of the ships stationed in Chemulpo organized a meeting on board the British cruiser Talbot. They condemned the Japanese ultimatum and even signed an appeal to Uriu. Captain 1st rank V.F. Rudnev announced to his colleagues that he was going to break out of Chemulpo and take the fight on the high seas. He asked them to provide "Varangian" and "Korean" with an escort before going to sea, however, he was refused. Moreover, the commander of the Talbot cruiser, Commodore L. Bailey, informed the Japanese about Rudnev's plans.

At 11:20 on January 27, "Varyag" and "Korean" began to move. The decks of foreign ships were filled with people who wanted to pay tribute to the bravery of Russian sailors. It was an uplifting yet tragic moment in which some people could not hold back their tears. The commander of the French cruiser Pascal, Captain 2nd Rank V. Sanes, later wrote: “We saluted these heroes, who were marching so proudly to certain death.” In the Italian newspapers, this moment was described as follows: “On the bridge of the Varyag, its commander stood motionless, calmly. A thunderous cheer escaped from everyone's chest and rolled around. The feat of great self-sacrifice assumed epic proportions. As much as possible, foreign sailors waved their caps and peakless caps after the Russian ships.

Rudnev himself admitted in his memoirs that he did not remember the details of the battle, but he remembered in great detail the hours that preceded it: “Leaving the port, I thought which side the enemy would be from, which guns were standing by which gunners. I also thought about the hot send-offs of strangers: would this be beneficial, would it undermine the morale of the crew? I briefly thought about the family, mentally said goodbye to everyone. And I did not think about my fate at all. The consciousness of too much responsibility for people and ships obscured other thoughts. Without firm confidence in the sailors, I might not have made the decision to engage in battle with the enemy squadron.

The weather was clear and calm. The sailors of the "Varyag" and "Korean" clearly saw the Japanese armada. With every minute, Azama, Naniwa, Takachiho, Chiyoda, Akashi, Niitoka and the destroyers were getting closer. It was hardly possible to seriously count on the combat capabilities of the gunboat "Korean". 14 Japanese ships against one Russian. 181 guns versus 34. 42 torpedo tubes versus 6.

When the distance between the opponents was reduced to the removal of an artillery shot, a flag was raised over the flagship of the Japanese, meaning an offer to surrender. The answer to the enemy was Russian topmast battle flags. At 11:45 a.m., the first shot of this battle, which has gone down in world naval history, was fired from the cruiser Azama. The guns of the Varyag were silent, waiting for the optimal approach. When the opponents got even closer, all Japanese ships opened fire on the Russian cruiser. The time has come to join the battle and the Russian gunners. "Varyag" opened fire on the largest of the Japanese ships. Captain 1st rank V.F. Rudnev, who controlled the battle from the bridge, it was obvious that it would not be possible to break into the sea, and even more so to break away from superior enemy forces. It was necessary to inflict as much damage on the enemy as possible.

Unparalleled battle "Varangian" and "Korean" near Chemulpo. 1904 poster

The shells of the Japanese fell closer. When they began to explode at the very side, the deck of the cruiser began to fall asleep with a hail of fragments. In the midst of the battle, the Japanese fired dozens of shells per minute at the Varyag. The sea around the brave ship literally boiled, rising in dozens of fountains. Almost at the very beginning of the battle, a large Japanese projectile destroyed the bridge, caused a fire in the navigational cabin, and destroyed the rangefinder post along with its personnel. Midshipman A.M. died. Nirod, sailors V. Maltsev, V. Oskin, G. Mironov. Many sailors were injured. The second accurate hit destroyed the six-inch gun No. 3, near which G. Postnov died and his comrades were seriously wounded. Japanese artillery fire disabled six-inch guns No. 8 and 9, as well as 75-mm guns No. 21, 22 and 28. Commanders D. Kochubey, S. Kapralov, M. Ostrovsky, A. Trofimov, P. Mukhanov were killed, sailors K. Spruge, F. Khokhlov, K. Ivanov. Many were injured. This is where the savings in the mass of the ship affected, due to which the guns were deprived of armor, and the crews were deprived of protection from fragments. The participants in the battle later recalled that real hell reigned on the upper deck of the cruiser. In the terrifying roar, it was impossible to hear a human voice. However, no one showed confusion, concentrating on doing their job. Most clearly, the crew of the Varyag characterizes the mass refusal of medical care. The wounded commander of the plutonga midshipman P.N. Gubonin refused to leave the gun and go to the infirmary. He continued to command the crew while lying down until he passed out from loss of blood. Many "Varangians" followed his example in that battle. The doctors managed to carry away to the infirmary only those who were completely exhausted or lost consciousness.

The tension of the battle did not abate. The number of Varyag guns that failed from direct hits by enemy shells has increased. Sailors M. Avramenko, K. Zrelov, D. Artasov and others died near them. One of the enemy shells damaged the combat main-mars and destroyed the second rangefinder post. From that moment on, the gunners began to shoot, which is called "by eye".

The conning tower of the Russian cruiser was destroyed. The commander miraculously survived, but the staff bugler N. Nagl and drummer D. Koreev, who were standing next to him, died. Orderly V.F. Rudneva T. Chibisov was wounded in both hands, but refused to leave the commander. The helmsman Snegirev was wounded in the back, but he did not tell anyone about this and remained at his post. The commander, who was wounded and shell-shocked, had to move to a room located behind the conning tower and direct the battle from there. Due to damage to the steering gear, it was necessary to switch to manual control of the rudders.

One of the shells destroyed gun number 35, near which gunner D. Sharapov and sailor M. Kabanov died. Other shells damaged the steam pipe leading to the steering gear. At the most intense moment of the battle, the cruiser completely lost control.

Trying to hide from the destructive fire behind the island, in order to give the crew the opportunity to put out the fires, the cruiser began to describe a large circulation in the narrow strait and received serious damage to the underwater part on the pitfalls. At this point, the guns were thrown into confusion caused by rumors of the commander's death. Captain 1st rank V.F. Rudnev had to go to the wing of the destroyed bridge in a bloody uniform. The news that the commander was alive instantly spread around the ship.

Senior navigator E.A. Behrens reported to the commander that the cruiser was losing its buoyancy and was gradually sinking. Several underwater holes filled the ship with outboard water at once. The bilge men courageously fought against her arrival. But in the conditions of a fierce battle, it was impossible to eliminate the leaks. As a result of the concussion, one of the boilers moved and leaked. The boiler room was filled with scalding steam, in which the stokers did not leave their efforts to seal up the holes. V.F. Rudnev decided, without changing course, to go back to the Chemulpo raid in order to repair the damage and continue the battle. The ship went back on its course, after receiving several more accurate hits from large-caliber shells.

Throughout the entire hour of the battle, boatswain P. Olenin was on duty at the main mast, ready to change the flag on the hafel every minute if it was shot down. Shrapnel wounded P. Olenin's leg, tore off his uniform, smashed the butt of a weapon, but he did not leave his post for a minute. The sentry had to change the flag twice.

The gunboat "Korean" throughout the battle maneuvered after the "Varangian". The distance at which the shooting was carried out did not allow her to use her guns. The Japanese did not fire on the boat, concentrating their efforts on the cruiser. When the "Varyag" left the battle, a signal was raised on its yardarm to the "Korean": "Follow me at full speed." The Japanese fired at the Russian ships after. Some of them began to pursue the "Varangian", leading an artillery duel with him. The Japanese ceased fire on the Russian cruiser only when it stood on the Chemulpo roadstead in close proximity to the ships of neutral countries. The legendary battle of Russian ships with superior enemy forces ended at 12:45.

There is no reliable information about the effectiveness of the firing of Russian gunners. The results of the battle at Chemulpo are still the subject of discussion among historians. The Japanese themselves insist that their ships did not receive a single hit. According to foreign missions and military attachés in Japan, Rear Admiral Uriu's detachment nevertheless suffered losses in this battle. Three cruisers were damaged and dozens of sailors were killed.

The cruiser "Varyag" was a terrifying sight. The sides of the ship were riddled with numerous holes, superstructures were turned into piles of metal, rigging and torn, crumpled sheets of plating hung from the sides. The cruiser was almost lying on the port side. The crews of foreign ships again looked at the Varyag, taking off their hats, but this time in their eyes there was not delight, but horror. 31 sailors died in that battle, 85 people were seriously and moderately wounded, more than a hundred were lightly wounded.

Having assessed the technical condition of the ship, the commander gathered a council of officers. A breakthrough in the sea was unthinkable, a battle in the road meant an easy victory for the Japanese, the cruiser was sinking, and could hardly stay afloat for a long time. The officers' council decided to blow up the cruiser. The commanders of foreign ships, whose crews provided considerable assistance to the Varyag by taking on board all the wounded, asked not to blow up the cruiser in the narrow water area of ​​the port, but simply to drown it. Despite the fact that the "Koreets" did not receive a single hit, and did not have any damage, the gunboat's council of officers decided to follow the example of the cruiser's officers and destroy their ship.

The mortally wounded "Varyag" was about to roll over when the international signal "I'm in distress" rose on its mast. The cruisers of neutral states (the French Pascal, the English Talbot and the Italian Elba) sent boats to remove the crew. Only the American ship Vicksburg refused to take Russian sailors on board. The commander was the last to leave the cruiser. Accompanied by the boatswain, he made sure that all the people were removed from the cruiser, and went down into the boat, holding the Varyag flag torn by fragments in his hands. The cruiser was sunk by the opening of the Kingstons, and the gunboat "Koreets" was blown up.

It is noteworthy that the significantly superior Japanese detachment failed to defeat the Russian cruiser. He went to the bottom not from the combat impact of the enemy, but was flooded by the decision of the officers' council. The crews of the "Varyag" and "Korean" managed to avoid the status of prisoners of war. Russian sailors were taken on board by the French, British and Italians in response to Rudnev's signal "I'm in distress" as victims of a shipwreck.

Russian sailors were taken out of Chemulpo by a chartered steamer. Having lost their uniforms in battle, many of them were dressed in French. Captain 1st rank V.F. Rudnev thought about how his act would be accepted by the tsar, the naval leadership and the Russian people. The answer to this question was not long in coming. Upon arrival at the port of Colombo, the commander of the Varyag received a telegram from Nicholas II, with which he welcomed the crew of the cruiser and thanked him for his heroic deed. The telegram informed that Captain 1st Rank V.F. Rudnev was awarded the title of adjutant wing. In Odessa, the "Varangians" were greeted as national heroes. A worthy meeting was prepared for them and the highest awards were presented. The officers were awarded the Order of St. George, and the sailors - the insignia of this order.

The heroes of the Varyag, led by the commander of the cruiser V.F. Rudnev in Odessa. April 6, 1904

The further journey of the "Varangians" to St. Petersburg was accompanied by general rejoicing and stormy applause from the people who met their train along the way. In large cities, the composition with the heroes was greeted with rallies. They were presented with gifts and all kinds of treats. In St. Petersburg, the train with the sailors "Varyag" and "Koreets" was personally met by General-Admiral Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, who told them that the Sovereign himself was inviting them to the Winter Palace. The procession of sailors from the station to the palace, which caused an unprecedented excitement among the people of St. Petersburg, turned into a real celebration of the Russian spirit and patriotism. In the Winter Palace, the crews were invited to a solemn breakfast, each participant of which was presented with cutlery in memory.

When Japanese engineers examined the Varyag at the bottom of Chemulpo Bay, they came to a disappointing conclusion: design flaws, multiplied by significant combat damage, made raising the ship and repairing it economically unprofitable. However, the Japanese nevertheless went for an expensive procedure, raised, repaired and commissioned the cruiser as a training ship under the name Soya.

The rise of the cruiser "Varyag" by the Japanese

In the midst of the First World War, when the Russian Empire was in dire need of warships, after lengthy negotiations, the cruiser was bought from Japan for a lot of money. Under his native name, he became part of the Russian fleet. The technical condition of the Varyag was depressing. The right propeller shaft was bent, causing the hull to vibrate heavily. The speed of the ship did not exceed 12 knots, and its artillery consisted of only a few small-caliber cannons of an outdated model. A portrait of Captain 1st Rank Rudnev hung in the cruiser's wardroom, and a bas-relief depicting a battle scene in Chemulpo was placed in the sailor's cockpit at the initiative of the crew.

In March 1917, the cruiser received an order to make the transition from Vladivostok to Murmansk through the Suez Canal. For 12 officers and 350 sailors under the command of Captain 1st Rank Falk, this campaign was very difficult. In the Indian Ocean, during a storm, a leak opened in a coal pit, with which the crew continuously struggled. In the Mediterranean, the list of the vessel reached alarming values, and the ship had to stand up for repairs in one of the ports. In June 1917, the ship arrived in Murmansk, where it was supposed to reinforce the flotilla of the Arctic Ocean.

The condition of the cruiser was so bad that immediately upon arrival in Murmansk, the naval command sent it to the English port of Liverpool to undergo major repairs. Taking advantage of the political confusion in Russia, the British refused to repair the ship. Most of the Varyag crew were forcibly taken to the United States. When, after the October Revolution, a few Russian sailors, left on the cruiser for protection, tried to raise the flag of the Soviet Republic on it, they were arrested, and the cruiser was declared the property of the British Navy.

While proceeding to the place of dismantling in the Irish Sea, the long-suffering cruiser ran aground. Attempts to remove it from the coastal stones were unsuccessful. The legendary ship found its last resting place 50 meters from the shore in the small town of Landalfoot in the Scottish county of South Ayrshire.

Immediately after the historic battle in Chemulpo, there were many who wanted to perpetuate the name "Varangian" in the names of ships and vessels. This is how at least 20 "Varyags" appeared, which during the years of the Civil War were marked by participation in hostilities both on the side of the Whites and on the side of the Reds. However, by the beginning of the 1930s, there were no ships with that name left. The years of oblivion have come.

The feat of the "Varangians" was remembered during the Great Patriotic War. Military newspapers sang the battle of the patrol ship Tuman, saying that its sailors accepted death to the song about the Varyag. The icebreaking steamer "Sibiryakov" received the unspoken nickname "polar Varyag", and the boat Shch-408 - "underwater Varyag". Immediately after the end of the war, a film was made about the Varyag cruiser, in which the equally famous ship, the Aurora cruiser, played its role.

The 50th anniversary of the battle in Chemulpo Bay was celebrated on a grand scale. Historians managed to find a lot of sailors who participated in those memorable events. In the cities of the Soviet Union, several monuments dedicated to the historical battle appeared. Veterans of "Varyag" and "Korean" were assigned personal pensions, and from the hands of the Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Navy, they received medals "For Courage".

The leadership of the Soviet fleet decided to return the well-deserved name "to service". The project 58 missile cruiser under construction was called the Varyag. This guards ship was destined for a long interesting service. He happened to go through the Northern Sea Route. For 25 years of service, he was recognized 12 times as an excellent ship of the USSR Navy. No one before or after managed to hold this title for 5 years in a row.

Missile cruiser "Varyag" project 58

After the decommissioning of the Varyag missile cruiser, it was decided to transfer this name to the aircraft-carrying cruiser under construction in Nikolaev. However, political upheavals intervened again in the fate of the Varyag. Due to the collapse of the USSR, it was never completed. The well-deserved name was transferred aboard the project 1164 missile cruiser of the Russian Pacific Fleet. This ship is still in service today, with its daily military work providing an invisible link between generations of Russian sailors.

Missile cruiser "Varyag" project 1164

The battle of the cruiser "Varyag" is inscribed in the history of the Russian fleet in golden letters. It was reflected not only in the names of subsequent ships, but also in many works of art. A monument to V.F. Rudnev with a bas-relief depicting a battle in Chemulpo. The Russian people composed many songs about the Varyag. Artists, cinematographers, and publicists turned to the history of the Varyag. The battle of the cruiser is in demand by creative people, because it is a case of unparalleled courage and loyalty to the Fatherland. Russian museums cherish the memory of the Varyag with special care. After the death of Captain 1st Rank Rudnev, his family handed over the unique materials of the commander for storage to the museums of Sevastopol and Leningrad. Many artifacts related to the battle in Chemulpo are stored in the Central Naval Museum.

No wonder they say that the war is not over until the last participant is buried. The situation when the legendary Russian cruiser lay forgotten by everyone on the coastal rocks of Scotland was intolerable to people who were not indifferent to the fate of the Russian fleet. In 2003, a Russian expedition examined the site of the Varyag sinking. A commemorative plaque was installed on the Scottish coast, and fundraising began in Russia for the installation of a memorial to the legendary Russian ship.

On September 8, 2007, a solemn ceremony of opening the memorial of the cruiser Varyag took place in the town of Lendelfoot. This monument became the first monument of Russian military glory in the territory of the United Kingdom. Its components were a bronze cross, a three-ton anchor and an anchor chain. At the base of the cross were laid capsules with earth from places dear to the sailors of the Varyag: Tula, Kronstadt, Vladivostok ... It is noteworthy that the memorial project was selected on a competitive basis, and Sergey Stakhanov, a graduate of the Nakhimov Naval School, won this competition. The young sailor was given the honorable right to tear off a white sheet from the majestic monument. To the sound of a song about the cruiser Varyag, the sailors of the large anti-submarine ship Severomorsk of the Northern Fleet marched past the monument.

More than a century after the battle of the Varyag in Chemulpo Bay, the memory of this event continues to live. The eastern borders of Russia are guarded by the modern missile cruiser Varyag. The memorial to the cruiser is inscribed in all guidebooks in Scotland. Exhibits associated with the cruiser take pride of place in the expositions of museums. However, the main thing is that the memory of the heroic cruiser continues to live in the hearts of the Russian people. The cruiser "Varyag" has become an integral part of the history of our country. Now, when Russia is on the way of comprehending its history and searching for a national idea, the unparalleled feat of the Varyag sailors is in demand more than ever.

Major Vladimir Pryamitsyn,
Deputy Head of the Research Department
Institute (military history) VAGSh Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,
candidate of military sciences

The feat of the "Varyag" and "Korean" at the very beginning of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) is rightfully considered one of the most heroic pages in the history of the Russian navy. Hundreds of books, articles, movies were written about the tragic battle of two Russian ships with the Japanese squadron near the Korean port of Chemulpo... The previous events, the course of the battle, the fate of the cruiser and its crew were studied and restored to the smallest detail. Meanwhile, it should be recognized that the conclusions and assessments made by researchers are sometimes too biased and far from unambiguous.

In Russian historiography, there are two directly opposite opinions about the events of January 27, 1904 near the port of Chemulpo. Even today, more than a hundred years after the battle, it is difficult to say which of these opinions is more correct. As you know, based on the study of the same sources, different people draw different conclusions. Some consider the actions of "Varyag" and "Korean" a real feat, an example of selfless courage and heroism of Russian sailors. Others see in them simply the fulfillment by sailors and officers of their military duty. Still others are inclined to consider the "forced heroism" of the crews only as a result of unforgivable blunders, official negligence and indifference of the high command, shown in the conditions of the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War. From this point of view, the events at Chemulpo are more like not a feat, but an official crime, as a result of which people suffered, and a warship was not just lost, but literally “donated” to the enemy.

Many of our contemporaries, who are familiar with the history of the Varyag battle, not only from songs and patriotic films, often ask themselves: where, in fact, is the feat? Two “forgotten” (in fact, abandoned to the mercy of fate) by the command in the Korean port of the ship could not break through to Port Arthur and connect with the squadron. As a result, the battle was lost, one officer and 30 lower ranks died, the crews with things and ship's cash desks calmly went ashore and were taken on board by ships of neutral powers. Two lightly damaged ships of the Russian fleet went to the enemy.

This should have been silent, as the Japanese were silent about the damage inflicted by the Varyag on their ships during the battle at Chemulpo. But Russia needed a “small victorious war”, which cannot be started with defeat, punishment of the guilty, recognition of its own slovenliness before the whole world.

The propaganda machine is in full swing. Newspapers sang! A short naval skirmish was declared a fierce battle. Self-flooding was presented as an act of selfless courage. The number of victims was not specified, but the superior forces of the enemy were emphasized. Propaganda turned the small, successful and bloodless victory of the Japanese - with the helplessness and real inaction (because of the inability to do something significant) of the Russian ships - a moral victory and a glorious deed.

Not a single real victory of the Russian fleet was glorified so hastily and pompously.

A month after the battle, Chemulpo appeared the famous song about the "Varangian" ("Upstairs, you, comrades, all in places!"). For some reason, the song was considered a folk song for many years, but it is reliably known that its text was written by the German poet and playwright Rudolf Greinz.

By the summer of 1904, the sculptor K. Kazbek made a model of the monument dedicated to the battle of Chemulpo, and called it "Farewell of Rudnev with the" Varyag "". On the layout, the sculptor depicted V. F. Rudnev standing at the rails, to the right of which was a sailor with a bandaged hand, and behind him sat an officer with his head down. Then another model was made by the author of the monument to the "Guardian" K. V. Isenberg. Soon the painting “Death of the Varyag” was painted. View from the French cruiser Pascal. Photo cards were issued with portraits of commanders and images of the Varyag and the Korean. The ceremony of meeting the heroes of Chemulpo, who arrived in Odessa in March 1904, was especially carefully developed.

On April 14, the heroes were solemnly welcomed in Moscow. A triumphal arch was erected on the Garden Ring in the area of ​​the Spassky barracks in honor of this event. Two days later, the Varyag and Koreets teams march along Nevsky Prospekt from the Moscow railway station to the Winter Palace, where they are met by the emperor. Further, the gentlemen officers were invited to breakfast with Nicholas II in the White Hall, and for the lower ranks a dinner was arranged in the Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace.

In the concert hall, a table was laid with a golden service for the highest persons. Nicholas II addressed the heroes of Chemulpo with a speech, Rudnev presented the officers and sailors who distinguished themselves in battle for awards. The emperor not only approved the submissions sent, but also granted orders to all participants in the battle in Chemulpo without exception.

The lower ranks received St. George's crosses, officers - the Order of St. George of the 4th degree and extraordinary promotions. And the officers of the "Korean", who practically did not participate in the battle, were even awarded twice (!).

Alas, even today a complete and objective history of that bygone, largely forgotten war has not yet been written. The displayed courage and heroism of the crews of the "Varyag" and "Koreets" are still beyond doubt. Even the Japanese were delighted with the truly "samurai" feat of Russian sailors, considering him an example to follow.

However, to this day there are no unambiguous answers to the simplest questions that were asked more than once by contemporaries and the first historians of the Russo-Japanese War. What caused the need to keep the best cruiser of the Pacific squadron in Chemulpo as a hospital? Could the Varyag have avoided an open collision with Japanese ships? Why didn’t the commander of the Varyag, Captain 1st Rank V.F. Rudnev, withdraw his cruiser from Chemulpo before the port was blocked? Why did he flood the ship so that it would later go to the enemy? And why didn’t Rudnev go to court as a war criminal, but having received the Order of St. George of the 4th degree and the title of aide-de-camp, calmly retired and lived out his life in the family estate?

Let's try to answer some of them.

About the cruiser "Varyag"

Cruiser I rank "Varyag" became the first in a series of Russian armored cruisers built in the late XIX - early XX centuries. under the program "for the needs of the Far East".

It sounds like a mockery of homegrown jingoistic patriots, but the pride of the Russian fleet, the Varyag cruiser, was built in the USA, at the William Crump shipyard in Philadelphia. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the United States, by European standards, was considered not the most technologically advanced, practically agrarian and "wild" country. Why did the Varyag decide to build it there? And how did this affect his fate?

In Russia, warships of this class were built, but it was very expensive, time consuming and time consuming. In addition, on the eve of the war, all shipyards were overloaded with orders. Therefore, under the fleet reinforcement program of 1898, new armored cruisers of the 1st rank were ordered abroad. Best of all, they knew how to build cruisers in Germany and Sweden, but the government of Nicholas II found this to be an extremely expensive pleasure. The prices of American shipbuilders were lower, and representatives of the William Crump shipyard promised to do the work in record time.

On April 20, 1898, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II approved a contract, according to which the American company The William Cramp & Sons received an order for the construction of a squadron battleship and an armored cruiser (the future Retvizan and Varyag) at its plant.

Under the terms of the contract, the cruiser with a displacement of 6000 tons was to be ready 20 months after the arrival of the monitoring commission from Russia at the plant. The cost of the ship without weapons was estimated at $2'138'000 (4'233'240 rubles). The commission, headed by Captain 1st Rank M.A. Danilevsky, arrived in the United States on July 13, 1898 and took an active part in the discussion and design of the future cruiser, making a number of significant design improvements to the project.

As a prototype for the construction of a new ship, the head of the American company, Charles Crump, suggested taking the Japanese cruiser Kasagi, but the Russian Naval Technical Committee insisted that the 6000-ton armored cruisers built in St. Petersburg - the famous "goddess" "Diana" be taken as a model , "Pallada" and "Aurora" (the sailors familiarly called them "Dashka", "Palashka" and "Varka"). Alas, the choice was initially vicious - the concept of cruisers of this class did not justify itself. However, the relationship of "Varyag" with the famous "Aurora" came in handy. When the feature film Cruiser Varyag was filmed in 1946, they shot the Aurora in the title role, sticking a fourth fake pipe for her resemblance.

On January 11, 1899, by the will of the emperor and by order of the Naval Department, the cruiser under construction was given the name "Varyag" - in honor of the propeller-sailing corvette of the same name, a member of the American expedition of 1863. The ship's laying ceremony took place on May 10, 1899. And already on October 19, 1899, in the presence of the Russian ambassador to the USA, Count A.P. Cassini and other officials of the two countries launched the Varyag cruiser.

It cannot be said that the William Crump shipyard did not know how to build warships at all. Simultaneously with the Varyag, the Americans built the beautiful battleship Retvizan for the Russian fleet. However, with the "Varyag" initially everything did not go as planned. Two design flaws were made that ultimately killed the ship. Firstly, the Americans installed the main battery guns on the upper deck without any protection, even without armored shields. The ship's gunners were extremely vulnerable - in battle, the crews on the upper deck were literally mowed down by fragments of Japanese shells. Secondly, the ship was equipped with steam boilers of the Nikloss system, extremely capricious and unreliable. However, such boilers for many years regularly served on the gunboat "Brave". The battleship Retvizan, built at the same shipyard by Ch. Kramp, also had no big problems with Nikloss's boilers. Only on the Varyag, perhaps due to other technical violations, the power plant (boilers and machines) periodically failed already at a speed of 18-19 knots. And the fastest cruiser, according to all technical specifications, was supposed to reach speeds of up to 23 knots.

Nevertheless, the first tests in July 1900 of the Varyag were quite successful. In the most difficult weather conditions, with a strong headwind, she set a world record for cruisers of her class in speed - 24.59 knots [about 45.54 km/h].

On January 2, 1901, the crew that arrived from Russia while parking in Philadelphia raised the pennant on the mainmast - the Varyag officially entered the campaign. After several trial trips along the Delaware Bay, the cruiser left the shores of America forever.

When the cruiser came to the Baltic, it was visited by Emperor Nicholas II. Captivated only by the external gloss of the new snow-white cruiser and the brave appearance of the guards crew, the autocrat wished to forgive Kramp "some design flaws", as a result of which no penalties were applied to American shipbuilders.

Why did the Varyag end up in Chemulpo?

It is in the answer to this question, in our opinion, that the most plausible explanation of all subsequent events lies.

So, the Varyag cruiser, built “for the needs of the fleet in the Far East”, was based in the main Russian naval base in the Pacific Ocean, Port Arthur, for two years (1902-1904). On March 1, 1903, captain of the 1st rank V.F. Rudnev took command of the Varyag.

By the beginning of 1904, relations between Russia and Japan had escalated to the limit. War could break out over the slightest trifle. According to the official version, the command was strictly forbidden to take any initiative, so as not to provoke the Japanese. In fact, it would be very beneficial for Russia if Japan was the first to start hostilities. And the viceroy, Admiral N.E. Alekseev, and the head of the Pacific Squadron V.O. Stark, repeatedly reported to St. Petersburg that the forces in the Far East were quite sufficient to successfully carry out the campaign.

Admiral Alekseev was well aware that the ice-free Korean port of Chemulpo was a major strategic facility. The warships of the leading states were constantly located here. In order to capture Korea, the Japanese would first of all need to capture (even land troops) in Chemulpo. Consequently, the presence of Russian warships in this port will inevitably become a cause for conflict, i.e. provoke the enemy to start active hostilities.

Russian warships were constantly present in Chemulpo. The extreme aggravation of relations with Japan at the end of 1903 did not at all prompt the command in Port Arthur to withdraw them from there. On the contrary, the Russian ships "Boyarin" (also, by the way, an armored cruiser) and the gunboat "Gilyak" on December 28, 1903 were replaced by the cruiser "Varyag" under the command of Captain I rank V.F. Rudnev. On January 5, the gunboat Koreets joined the Varyag under the command of Captain II rank G.P. Belyaev.

According to the official version, the Varyag was sent to Chemulpo to communicate with the Russian ambassador in Seoul. In case of complications or rupture of diplomatic relations, he had to take the Russian diplomatic mission to Port Arthur.

Any normal person can understand that sending a whole cruiser to evacuate diplomats was, at least, inexpedient. Especially in the context of the upcoming war. In the event of the outbreak of hostilities, the ships inevitably fell into a trap. For communication and removal of the mission, it was possible to leave only the gunboat "Korean", and save the fast and powerful "Varyag" for the fleet in Port Arthur.

But, most likely, by that time it had already become clear that the Varyag was not so fast and powerful. Otherwise, how to explain the use of a modern battle cruiser as a port station? Or did the command in Port Arthur think that it was shameful for the Russian diplomatic mission to travel around on some kind of gunboat, it was necessary to bring the cruiser to the entrance? ..

Not! Alekseev pursued, apparently, only one goal: to force the Japanese to start the war first. To do this, he decided to sacrifice the "Varangian", because it is impossible to portray the "military presence" in the Korean port through a single gunboat. Captain Rudnev, needless to say, should not have known anything. In addition, Rudnev was not supposed to show any initiative, leave the port on his own and generally take any active actions without a special order. On the morning of January 27, the departure of the Russian squadron from Port Arthur to Chemulpo was scheduled.

By the way, during the strategic game in the 1902/03 academic year at the Nikolaev Naval Academy, exactly this situation was played out: during a sudden Japanese attack on Russia in Chemulpo, the cruiser and gunboat remain unrecalled. In the game, destroyers sent to the port will report the beginning of the war. The cruiser and gunboat manage to connect with the Port Arthur squadron, going to Chemulpo. So all attempts by some historians to present the command in the person of Admiral Alekseev and Admiral Stark as complete slobs and irresponsible types have no basis. It was a premeditated plan, which was not so easy to implement.

“It was smooth on paper, but they forgot about the ravines…”

On January 24 at 16:00, Japanese diplomats announced the termination of negotiations and the severance of diplomatic relations with Russia. The Far Eastern governor, Admiral Alekseev, found out about this (taking into account the time difference) only on January 25th.

Contrary to the assertions of some "researchers" who reproached V.F. Rudnev for criminal inaction and the fatal loss of 2 days for the "Varyag" (January 24 and 25), there was no "inaction". The captain of the "Varangian" in Chemulpo could not find out about the break in diplomatic relations earlier than the governor himself in Port Arthur. In addition, without waiting for "special orders" from the command, on the morning of January 25, Rudnev himself went by train to Seoul to receive instructions from the head of the Russian mission, A.I. Pavlov, on the actions of the "Varyag". There he received information about the approach of the Japanese squadron to Chemulpo and the landing being prepared on January 29th. No orders were received regarding the Varyag, so Rudnev decided to send the Korean to Port Arthur to convey a report about the impending landing, but the port was already blocked by the Japanese squadron.

January 26 "Korean" tried to leave Chemulpo, but was stopped at sea. Not having an order to engage in battle, Belyaev decided to turn back.

The commander of the Japanese squadron, Rear Admiral Uriu, sent messages to the commanders of the warships of neutral countries that were in Chemulpo - the English cruiser Talbot, the French Pascal, the Italian Elba and the American gunboat Vicksburg - with a request to leave the raid in connection with possible hostilities against "Varyag" and "Korean". The commanders of the first three ships protested that a battle in the roadstead would be a flagrant violation of the formal neutrality of Korea, but it was clear that this was unlikely to stop the Japanese.

In the early morning of January 27 (February 9, New Style), 1904, VF Rudnev took part in a meeting of ship commanders, which took place on board the Talbot. Despite the obvious sympathy on the part of the British, French and Italians, they could not provide any obvious support to the Russian sailors for fear of violating neutrality.

Convinced of this, V.F. Rudnev told the commanders gathered on the Talbot that he would make an attempt to break through and accept the battle, no matter how great the enemy’s forces were, that he would not fight in the raid and did not intend to surrender.

At 11.20 "Varyag" and "Korean" raised anchors and headed for the exit from the roadstead.

Did the Varyag have a chance to get away from the Japanese squadron, using the advantage in speed?

Here the opinions of specialists and historians differ sharply. According to the statements of Rudnev himself, set out by him in reports to his superiors, and later partly repeated in his memoirs, the "fastest" cruiser had not the slightest chance to escape from the Japanese. And the point was not in the slow-moving gunboat "Korean", the command of which Rudnev could easily take on board the "Varyag". It’s just that the cruiser itself, at low tide, without the ability to develop speed in a narrow fairway, could not give more than 16-17 knots at sea. The Japanese would have caught up with him anyway. Their cruisers reached speeds of up to 20-21 knots. In addition, Rudnev through the word mentions the "technical imperfections" of the Varyag, which could bring the cruiser at the most crucial moment.

In his book, published after the war, Rudnev insists on an even greater (apparently due to a much greater need to justify his actions in battle) lowering the maximum speed of the Varyag:

"The cruiser" Varyag "at the end of 1903 tested the bearings of the main mechanisms, which, due to the unsatisfactory metal, could not be brought to the desired results, and therefore the cruiser's stroke only reached 14 knots instead of the following 23"(“The battle of the Varyag at Chemulpo on January 27, 1904,” St. Petersburg, 1907, p. 3).

Meanwhile, in a number of studies of domestic historians, the fact of the "low-speed" "Varyag" or its malfunction at the time of the battle is completely refuted. Documents have been preserved showing that during repeated tests in October-November 1903, the cruiser showed a speed of 23.5 knots at full speed. Bearing failures have been eliminated. The cruiser had sufficient power and was not overloaded. However, in addition to Rudnev’s information, the “defectiveness” of the ship is evidenced by the fact that the Varyag, while based in Port Arthur, was constantly subjected to repairs and tests. Perhaps the main malfunctions had been eliminated by the time they left for Chemulpo, but on January 26-27, 1904, Captain Rudnev was not one hundred percent sure of his cruiser.

Another version of this version is put forward by the modern Russian historian V.D. Dotsenko in his book Myths and Legends of the Russian Navy (2004). He believes that the "Varyag" replaced the slow-moving "Boyarin" in Chemulpo only because only such a cruiser could get away from the Japanese pursuit using the evening tide. The height of the tides in Chemulpo reaches 8-9 meters (the maximum height of the tide is up to 10 meters).

“With a cruiser draft of 6.5 meters in full evening water, there was still an opportunity to break through the Japanese blockade,” writes V.D. Dotsenko, “but Rudnev did not use it. He settled on the worst option - to break through during the day at low tide and together with the "Korean". What this decision led to, everyone knows ... "

However, it is worth remembering here that the Varyag was not supposed to leave Chemulpo at all until further notice. The “breakthrough” of the cruiser to the Russian squadron planned in the headquarters game did not take into account that there would be no destroyers and no squadron near Chemulpo at that moment. On the night of January 26-27, almost simultaneously with the battle of the Varyag, the Japanese fleet attacked Port Arthur. Carried away by plans for offensive operations, the Russian command neglected defensive measures and actually missed the enemy's "preemptive strike" on the main naval base in the Far East. Such impudence of the Japanese "macaques" could not be imagined in any strategy game!

Even in the event of a successful breakthrough from Chemulpo, the Varyag had to make a 3-day transition to Port Arthur alone, where it would inevitably collide with another Japanese squadron. And where is the guarantee that on the high seas he would not have met even more superior enemy forces? Having accepted the battle near a neutral port, Rudnev had the opportunity to save people and publicly accomplish something similar to a feat. And in the world, as they say, even death is red!

Battle at Chemulpo

The battle of the Varyag and the Korean with the Japanese squadron near the port of Chemulpo took just over an hour.

At 11.25, Captain 1st Rank V.F. Rudnev ordered the combat alarm to be sounded and the flags to be raised. The Japanese squadron guarded the Russians at the southern tip of Philip Island. Closest to the exit was "Asama" and it was from her that they found the "Varangian" and "Korean" going towards them. At that time, Rear Admiral S. Uriu received an officer from the Talbot, who delivered the documents of the conference of commanders, on board the cruiser Naniva. Having received news from the Asama, the commander, quickly ending the conversation, ordered the anchor chains to be riveted, since there was no time to raise and clean the anchors. The ships began to hastily stretch out onto the stretch, reorganizing themselves into battle columns on the move, according to the disposition received the day before.

Asama and Chiyoda were the first to move, followed by the flagship Naniwa and the cruiser Niytaka, a little behind. On the beam of the non-firing side of the Naniva were the destroyers of one of the detachments. The remaining destroyers with the cruisers Akashi and Takachiho, having developed a large course, rushed in a south-westerly direction. Aviso "Chihaya" together with the destroyer "Kasasagi" were on patrol at the exit from the 30-mile fairway. Russian ships continued to move.

According to Japanese sources, Rear Admiral Uriu gave the signal to surrender, but the Varyag did not answer and was the first to start shooting at the Japanese flagship Naniwa. Russian sources claim that the first shot came from the Japanese cruiser Asama at 11.45. Following him, the entire Japanese squadron opened fire. “The Varyag, upon leaving the neutral raid, returned fire with armor-piercing shells from a distance of 45 cables. Asama, observing the cruiser breaking through on the port side, went to approach without stopping fire. He was actively supported by Naniva and Niitaka. One of the first Japanese shells destroyed the upper bridge of the Varyag and broke the fore-shrouds. At the same time, midshipman Count Alexei Nirod died, and all rangefinders of station No. 1 were killed or wounded. In the first minutes of the battle, the 6-inch Varyag gun was also hit, all the servants of the gun and feed were killed or wounded.

At the same time, Chiyoda attacked the Korean. The gunboat first fired high-explosive shells from the right 8-inch gun alternately at the lead cruiser and Takachiho. Soon, shortening the distance allowed the "Korean" to use the stern 6-inch gun.

At about 12.00, a fire started on the Varyag: cartridges with smokeless powder, deck and whaleboat No. 1 caught fire. The fire was caused by a shell that exploded on the deck, while 6 guns were hit. Other shells almost demolished the combat main top, destroyed the rangefinder station No. 2, knocked out several more guns, set fire to the lockers of the armored deck.

At 12.12 an enemy shell broke the pipe in which all the steering gears of the Varyag were laid. The uncontrolled ship rolled on the circulation on the stones of the island of Yodolmi. Almost simultaneously, the second shell exploded between Baranovsky's landing gun and the foremast, killing the entire crew of gun No. 35, as well as quartermaster I. Kostin, who was at the wheelhouse. Fragments flew into the passage of the conning tower, mortally wounding the bugler N. Nagle and the drummer D. Korneev. The commander of the cruiser Rudnev escaped with only a slight wound and shell shock.

The "Varangian" sat on the stones of the island and, turning to the enemy with its left side, was a stationary target. The Japanese ships moved closer. The situation seemed hopeless. The enemy was rapidly approaching, and the cruiser sitting on the rocks could not do anything. It was at this time that he received the most severe injuries. At 12.25 a large-caliber shell, breaking through the side under water, exploded in coal pit No. 10, and at 12.30 an 8-inch shell exploded in coal pit No. 12. The third stoker began to quickly fill with water, the level of which approached the fireboxes. with remarkable dedication and composure, they covered up the coal pit, and the senior officer, captain of the 2nd rank, Stepanov, and the senior boatswain Kharkovsky, under a hail of fragments, began to bring patches under the holes. And at that moment, the cruiser itself, as if unwillingly, slid off the shallows and backed away from the dangerous place. No longer tempting fate, Rudnev ordered to lie down on the return course.

To the surprise of the Japanese, the pierced and burning Varyag, having increased its speed, confidently left in the direction of the raid.

Due to the narrowness of the fairway, only the Asama and Chiyoda cruisers could pursue the Russians. "Varyag" and "Korean" fired furiously, but because of the sharp heading angles, only two or three 152-mm guns could fire. At this time, an enemy destroyer appeared from behind the island of Yodolmi and rushed to the attack. It was the turn of small-caliber artillery - from the surviving guns "Varyag" and "Koreets" opened a dense barrage. The destroyer abruptly turned around and left without harming the Russian ships.

This unsuccessful attack prevented the Japanese cruisers from approaching the Russian ships in time, and when the Asama again rushed in pursuit, the Varyag and the Korean were already approaching the anchorage. The Japanese had to cease fire, as their shells began to fall near the ships of the international squadron. The cruiser Elba even had to move deeper into the raid because of this. At 12.45 the Russian ships also ceased fire. The fight is over.

Personnel losses

In total, during the battle, the Varyag fired 1105 shells: 425 -152 mm, 470 -75 mm and 210 - 47 mm. The effectiveness of his fire, unfortunately, is still unknown. According to official Japanese data published during the Russo-Japanese War, there were no hits on the ships of the Uriu squadron at all, and no one from their teams was injured. However, there is every reason to doubt the truth of this statement. So, on the cruiser "Asama" the bridge was destroyed and caught fire. Apparently, the aft turret was damaged, as it stopped firing until the end of the battle. The cruiser Takachiho was also seriously damaged. The cruiser "Chyoda" was sent to the dock for repairs. According to British and Italian sources, after the battle, the Japanese brought 30 dead to A-san Bay. According to an official document (a sanitary report for the war), the losses of the Varyag amounted to 130 people - 33 killed and 97 wounded. Rudnev in his reports gives a different figure - one officer and 38 lower ranks were killed, 73 people were injured. Several more people died from their wounds already on the shore. The "Korean" did not receive any damage and had no losses in the crew - it is clear that all the attention of the Japanese was turned to the "Varyag", after the destruction of which they were supposed to quickly end the boat.

Cruiser status

In total, 12-14 large high-explosive shells hit the cruiser. Although the armored deck was not destroyed and the ship kept moving, it should be recognized that by the end of the battle, the Varyag had almost completely exhausted its combat capabilities for resistance due to numerous serious damage.

The commander of the French cruiser Pascal, Victor Sene, who boarded the Varyag immediately after the battle, later recalled:

When examining the cruiser, in addition to the damage listed above, the following were also identified:

all 47 mm guns are unfit for firing;

five 6-inch guns received various serious damage;

seven 75-mm guns have completely disabled knurlers, compressors and other parts and mechanisms;

the upper elbow of the third chimney was destroyed;

all fans and boats are destroyed;

the upper deck was pierced in many places;

the commander's quarters were destroyed;

damaged for-mars;

four more holes were found.

Naturally, all these damages in the conditions of the besieged port could not be replenished and corrected on their own.

The sinking of the "Varyag" and its further fate

Rudnev, on a French boat, went to the English cruiser Talbot to arrange for the transportation of the crew of the Varyag to foreign ships and report on the alleged destruction of the cruiser right on the roadstead. Bailey, the commander of the Talbot, sharply objected to the explosion of the Varyag, motivating his opinion by the large crowding of ships in the roadstead. At 13.50 Rudnev returned to the Varyag. Hastily gathering the officers, he announced his intention and received their support. They immediately began transporting the wounded, and then the entire crew, to foreign ships. At 15.15, the commander of the "Varyag" sent midshipman V. Balk to the "Korean". G.P. Belyaev immediately gathered a military council, at which the officers decided: “The upcoming battle in half an hour is not equal, it will cause unnecessary bloodshed ... without harming the enemy, and therefore it is necessary ... to blow up the boat ... ". The crew of the "Korean" switched to the French cruiser "Pascal". The Varyag team was assigned to Pascal, Talbot and the Italian cruiser Elba. Subsequently, the commanders of foreign ships received approval and gratitude from their envoys for their actions.

At 15.50, Rudnev with the senior boatswain, bypassing the ship and making sure that no one was left on it, got off it along with the owners of the hold compartments, who opened the kingstones and flood valves. At 16.05, the "Korean" was blown up, and at 18.10 "Varyag" lay down on the port side and disappeared under water. The team also destroyed the Russian steamship Sungari, which was in the bay.

Almost immediately after the battle in Chemulpo, the Japanese began to lift the Varyag. The cruiser lay on the ground, on the port side, almost immersed in silt along the diametrical plane. At low tide, most of its hull was clearly visible above the water.

Specialists were brought from Japan to carry out the work and the necessary equipment was delivered. The rise of the ship was led by Lieutenant General of the Corps of Naval Engineers Arai. After examining the cruiser lying at the bottom, he hit Admiral Rear Admiral Uriu, saying that his squadron "could not sink a hopelessly faulty ship for an hour." Arai further suggested that raising and repairing the cruiser was not economically viable. But Uriu ordered the lifting work to begin anyway. For him, it was a matter of honor ...

In total, more than 300 skilled workers and divers worked on lifting the cruiser, and up to 800 Korean coolies were involved in auxiliary areas. Over 1 million yen was spent on lifting work.

Steam boilers and guns were removed from the ship, chimneys, fans, masts and other superstructures were cut down. The property of the officers found in the cabins was partially transferred to the local museum, and the personal belongings of V.F. Rudnev were returned to him in 1907.

Then Japanese specialists built a caisson, and pumped out water with the help of pumps, on August 8, 1905, they raised the Varyag to the surface. In November, accompanied by two steamships, the cruiser headed for the repair site in Yokosuka.

The overhaul of the cruiser, which received the new name Soya, took place in 1906-1907. After its completion, the appearance of the ship has changed a lot. There were new navigation bridges, navigational cabin, chimneys, fans. Dismantled mars platforms on mars. The nasal decoration has changed: the Japanese have erected their unchanging symbol - the chrysanthemum. The steam boilers and armament of the ship remained unchanged.

At the end of the repair, Soya was enrolled as a training ship in a cadet school. He served in his new role for 9 years. Having visited many countries of the world during this time.

Meanwhile, the First World War began. Russia began to form the flotilla of the Arctic Ocean, within which it was supposed to create a cruising squadron. But there were not enough ships for this. Japan, which at that moment was an ally of Russia, after lengthy bargaining, agreed to sell the captured ships of the First Pacific Squadron, including the Varyag.

On March 22, 1916, the cruiser was returned to its former, legendary name. And on March 27, in the Golden Horn Bay of Vladivostok, the Georgievsky pennant was raised on it. After repairs, on June 18, 1916, the Varyag under the flag of the Commander of the Detachment of Special Purpose Vessels, Rear Admiral A.I. Bestuzhev-Ryumin went to the open sea and headed for Romanov-on-Murman (Murmansk). In November, the cruiser was enrolled in the Arctic Ocean Flotilla as a flagship.

But the technical condition of the ship inspired concern, and in early 1917 an agreement was reached on its overhaul at a shipyard in the UK. On February 25, 1917, the Varyag left the shores of Russia forever and set off on his last independent campaign.

After the October Revolution in Russia, the British seized the cruiser on account of the debts of the tsarist government. Due to the poor technical condition in 1920, the ship was sold to Germany for scrap. While being towed, the Varyag landed on rocks off the coast of Southern Scotland, not far from the town of Lendelfoot. Part of the metal structures was then removed by local residents. In 1925, the Varyag finally sank, finding its last refuge at the bottom of the Irish Sea.

Until recently, it was believed that the remains of the Varyag were hopelessly lost. But in 2003, during the expedition led by A. Denisov, organized by the Rossiya TV channel, they managed to find the exact place of the ship's death and found its wreckage at the bottom.

The conclusions from all of the above suggest themselves.

The feat of the "Varyag" and "Korean", of course, is the very "feat" that could have been avoided, but ... Russian people are not used to running away from feats.

Today we cannot unequivocally judge the reasons for leaving the Varyag in Chemulpo. This action can be considered as part of a far-reaching strategic plan aimed at provoking the enemy, as well as presumptuous slovenliness. In any case, the commanders of the "Varyag" and "Koreets" became victims of a miscalculation of the top military leadership and a general "hatted" mood on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War.

Once in a hopeless situation, the officers and sailors behaved quite adequately and did everything to preserve the Russian military honor. Captain Rudnev did not hide in the port and draw the courts of neutral powers into the conflict. It looked worthy in the eyes of the European public. He did not surrender "Varyag" and "Korean" without a fight, but did everything to save the crews of the ships entrusted to him. The captain sank the Varyag in the waters of the port, where he had the opportunity, without fear of a sudden Japanese shelling, to evacuate the wounded in an organized manner, take out the necessary documents and things.

The only thing that can be blamed on V.F. Rudnev, it is that he was unable to immediately assess the scale of the damage inflicted on the Varyag in battle, and then followed the lead of the British and did not blow up the ship, as circumstances required. But, on the other hand, Rudnev did not want to quarrel with the captain of the Talbot and other Europeans at all: who would then take the teams of the Varyag and the Korean to Shanghai? And here it is worth remembering that Japanese engineers at first considered the recovery of the broken cruiser inappropriate. Only Admiral Uriu insisted on raising and repairing it. Rudnev also did not know about the peculiarities of the national Japanese character and could not foresee that the Japanese are able to repair anything ...

In 1917, one of the assistants of V.F. Rudnev, who had been in battle at Chemulpo, recalled that some senior officers, after the death of the Varyag, were afraid to return to Russia. They considered the clash with the Japanese at Chemulpo a mistake that turned into an expected defeat, and the loss of a warship was a crime for which a military court awaits them, demotion, and even bigger troubles. But the government of Nicholas II in this case acted more than reasonably. With the general hostility of Russian society to the war in the Far East, it was simply necessary to make a legendary feat out of an insignificant skirmish, appeal to the patriotism of the nation, honor the newly-minted heroes and continue the “small victorious war”. Otherwise, the drama of 1917 would have been played ten years earlier ...

Based on materials

Melnikov R.M. Cruiser "Varyag". - L .: Shipbuilding, 1983. - 287 p.: ill.