:Russian cruiser Pallada (1906)

Pallada was {{convert|449.6|ft|1}} long overall. She had a maximum beam of {{convert|57.5|ft|1}}, a draught of {{convert|26|ft|1}} and displaced {{convert|7750|LT|t}}. The ship had a crew of 568 officers and men. Pallada was named in honour of the earlier Russian cruiser captured by the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese War.McLaughlin, p. 75 Both ships were named for the Greek goddess, Pallas Athena.

The ship had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines with a designed total of {{convert|16500|ihp|kW|lk=in|0}}, but they developed {{convert|19320|ihp|kW|lk=in}} on sea trials and drove the ship to a maximum speed of {{convert|22.55|kn|lk=in}}. Steam for the engines was provided by 26 Belleville boilers. She could carry a maximum of {{convert|1100|LT|t|0}} of coal, although her range is unknown.

Pallada{{'}}s main armament consisted of two 203mm 45 caliber Pattern 1892 45-calibre guns in single turrets fore and aft. Her eight 152 mm 45 caliber Pattern 1892 gun were mounted in casemates on the sides of the ship's hull.Watts, p. 100 Anti-torpedo boat defense was provided by 20 75mm 50 caliber Pattern 1892 50-calibre guns; eight of these were mounted in casemates on the side of the hull and in the superstructure. The remaining guns were located above the six-inch gun casemates in pivot mounts with gun shields. Pallada also mounted four QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss Hotchkiss guns. The ship also had two submerged {{convert|15|in|adj=on|0}} torpedo tubes, one mounted on each broadside.McLaughlin, pp. 68, 75

The ship used Krupp armour throughout. Her waterline belt was {{convert|190|mm|1}} thick over her machinery spaces. Fore and aft, it reduced to {{convert|90|mm|1}}. The upper belt and the casemates were {{convert|60|mm|1}} thick. The armour deck was {{convert|50|mm|0}} thick; over the central battery it was a single plate, but elsewhere it consisted of a {{convert|30|mm|adj=on}} plate over two {{convert|10|mm|adj=on}} plates. The gun turrets were protected by {{convert|132|mm}} of armour and the conning tower had walls {{convert|136|mm}} thick.McLaughlin, p. 68

Pallada was built by the Admiralty Shipyard in Saint Petersburg. Construction began on 24 June 1905,McLaughlin, p. 73 although she was not formally laid down until August, and the ship was launched on 10 November 1906. Pallada was completed in February 1911.Watts, p. 99 She spent her entire career with the Baltic Fleet.McLaughlin, p. 78

On 26 August 1914, during the first month of World War I, the German light cruiser Magdeburg ran aground near the island of Odensholm in the Gulf of Finland. Her escort, the V25-class torpedo boat SMS V-26, failed to pull her off and rescued part of the crew before Pallada and the protected cruiser {{ship|Russian cruiser|Bogatyr||2}} appeared and opened fire. The Germans blew up the front part of the ship, but failed to demolish the rest of the ship. They failed to destroy their naval codebooks, which were discovered by the Russians. A copy was later given to the British where it proved enormously helpful to Room 40 in reading German wireless traffic for much of the war.David Kahn, Seizing the Enigma, Houghton Mifflin, {{OL|267866W}} Together with the armoured cruiser {{ship|Russian cruiser|Rurik|1906|2}}, Pallada unsuccessfully searched for German ships between Bornholm and Danzig on the night of 27 August. Less than two months later, on 11 October, Pallada was torpedoed by the German submarine {{SMU|U-26}} and blew up with the loss of all hands, the first Russian warship sunk during the war.Halpern, pp. 36–37, 184–185

The wreck of Pallada was discovered by a diver group outside Hanko near the coast of Finland in 2000, but this was only revealed 2012.[http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/Suuren+ven%C3%A4l%C3%A4isen+sotalaivan+hylky+l%C3%B6ytyi+Hangon+vesilt%C3%A4/a1305603682710 Meritutkijat pitävät Pallada-löytöä merkittävänä]. Helsingin Sanomat, 6 October 2012.{{retrieved|access-date=2012-10-06}} (in Finnish) The ship is lying in three pieces, all upside-down, at a depth of about {{convert|40|to|50|m|ft}}.[http://www.hylyt.net/hylky.jsp?id=pallada Pallada]. Hylyt.net (from "Hylkyjä Suomenlahdella ja Saaristomerellä" by Vaheri-Hyvärinen-Saari). {{retrieved |access-date=2012-10-29}} The wreck is now covered in silt, but a number of details such as a large wooden emblem of the Russian double-headed eagle are still intact. One of the eight-inch turrets is resting on the seafloor next to the bow section.[http://www.hs.fi/kuukausiliite/artikkeli/Kuvakooste+Badewanne-sukellusryhm%C3%A4n+l%C3%B6yt%C3%A4m%C3%A4st%C3%A4+panssarilaiva+Palladan+hylyst%C3%A4/1329104890768 Kuvakooste Badewanne-sukellusryhmän löytämästä panssarilaiva Palladan hylystä]. Helsingin Sanomat, 6 October 2012. {{retrieved | access-date=2012-10-06}} It was reported in 2013 that the previously largely untouched wreck had been looted.[http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/Taistelulaiva+Pallada+on+ry%C3%B6stetty/a1378446579743 Taistelulaiva Pallada on ryöstetty]. Helsingin Sanomat, 6 September 2013. {{retrieved|access-date=2013-09-07}}

{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite book|editor1-last=Gray|editor1-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 |year=1985 |location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-85177-245-5 |last=Budzbon|first=Przemysław |pages=291–325|chapter=Russia}}
• {{cite book|last=Halpern|first=Paul S.|title=A Naval History of World War I|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1994|isbn=1-55750-352-4}}
• {{cite book|last=McLaughlin|first=Stephen|title=Warship 1999-2000|editor=Preston, Antony|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|year=1999|chapter=From Ruirik to Ruirik: Russia's Armoured Cruisers|isbn=0-85177-724-4}}
• {{cite book|last=Watts|first=Anthony J.|title=The Imperial Russian Navy|publisher=Arms and Armour|location=London|year=1990|isbn=0-85368-912-1}}
• {{cite book |last=von Mantey |first=Eberhard |authorlink= |title= Der Krieg zur See 1914–1918 – Ostsee, Bd. 1 (edited by Rudolph Firle)|url= https://archive.org/details/derkrieginderost01firl/page/186/mode/2up?view=theater |others= Kapitel 10. - Kapitänleutnant Freiherr v. Berckheim versenkt im Finnischen Meerbusen mit "U 26" am 11. Oktober 1914 den russischen Panzerkreuzer "Palláda" (p. 187-203.)|location= Berlin |publisher= E. S. Mittler und Sohn |year=1921 |oclc=}}

• [http://www.neva.ru/EXPO96/book/chap11-2.html World War I Naval Operations in the Baltic theater (includes account of Pallada's sinking)]

{{Bayan class cruiser}}

{{October 1914 shipwrecks}}

{{coord|59.6083|N|22.8167|E|source:kolossus-jawiki|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pallada (1906), Russian cruiser}}

Category:Bayan-class cruisers

Category:Ships built at Admiralty Shipyard

Category:1906 ships

Category:World War I cruisers of Russia

Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I

Category:World War I shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea

Category:Maritime incidents in October 1914

Category:Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland

Category:Warships lost in combat with all hands

Category:Naval magazine explosions