Peresvyet:

The Peresvyet (also spelled "Peresviet, Peresvet") was the first of three 13,500 GRT pre-dreadnaught ships of the same class name, Peresvyet, after the Russian Monk Alexander Peresvyet who was the champion at the Battle of Kulikovo, Built for the Imperial Russian Navy at the Baltic Shipbuilding yard, St. Petersburg, Russia construction was inspired by the British HMS Centurion. She was designed for good range and seakeeping, higher speeds, but with weaker armour and armament than first class battleships. Her construction style also shows a French influence by the tumblehome of the ship's hull. Russian ship construction was typically slow at the time, which resulted in her being nearly outclassed by the time she entered service.

Her keel was laid 21 November 1895, launched 19 May 1898, and completed in July 1901. She was 133 meters in length, 21.8 meters in beam, and 8-meters in draught with 32 Bellville type coal fired boilers (generating 15,000 Bhp), 2 vertical triple-expansion engines, and 2 shafts which provided a maximum speed of 18-18.5 knots and a range of 3500 NM.

Armament consisted of:
4 x 10-inch guns (254mm in twin mount formation)
11 x 6-inch 152mm guns (single-mount installations)
20 x 75mm guns (single-mount installations)
5 x 15-inch torpedo tubes (381mm)

Armour was 9-inch Harveyised nickel steel belt which ran nearly the entire length of the ship.
The Peresvyet was based at Port Arthur, Tasmania as part of the Russian Pacific Fleet. She participated in the Yellow Sea Battle on 10 August 1904 where she was seriously damaged by the Japanese while pierside. She was subsequently trapped in Port Arthur and reportedly was hit by 20 or more 11-inch Howitzer rounds. The ship was scuttled by the Russian Navy on 07 December 1904.
The "Peresviet" scuttled at Port Arthur
The Japanese Navy eventually raised and repaired the Peresvyet, renaming her the Sagami where she served in the Japanese Navy until Russia, in great need of warships for her White Sea ports against possible German raids in WWI, purchased her from the Japanese Navy in 1916 and returned to her original name, Peresvyet.

Shortly after being purchased and renamed Peresvyet, she promptly ran aground off of Vladivostok on 26 May 1916, where she remained aground until being refloated the following July.

Later during that same year, she was reassigned to the Russian Arctic Fleet to become the fleet's flagship. However, while enroute from Vladivostock to her new station in the company of the Russian ships Ashold and Variag, she had just passed through the Suez Canal on 04 January 1917 when she struck a mine laid by German Type UC-II Mine Laying Boat UC-73 (Kurt Schapler) approximately 10 miles off of Port Said. The following is an excerpt from the son of the Variag's commanding officer:

"From Ceylon, the ships proceeded through the Suez Canal, and warning had been given that the waters outside the Canal on the Mediterranean side had been heavily mined by enemy submarines, and strict orders were given to sail through lanes, which had supposedly been cleared of mines.
     Father disobeyed orders, feeling that at the exit of those lanes enemy submarines may be lurking, and he was right, the Variag, taking another course, and coming out safely, whereas the Persviet, on coming out of the lane, struck a mine, or was torpedoed, and sunk, the Ashold came out alright".


Over 700 sailors of the ship's sailors were rescued by British ships in the area, where they were taken to Port Said and treated at the 31st General Hospital. The number of lives lost varies between 47 and 60.
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