Russian cruiser Aurora

{{Short description|Russian cruiser that participated in the October Revolution}}

{{Infobox ship image

| Ship image = Крейсер 1-го ранга Балтийского флота «Аврора» в Петербурге 2022 04.jpg

| Ship caption = Aurora, moored in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 2022

}}

{{Infobox ship career

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| Ship country =
Russian Empire → Soviet Union → Russia

| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Russian Empire|naval}} → {{shipboxflag|Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|naval}} → {{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}} → {{shipboxflag|Russia|naval}}

| Ship name = Aurora

| Ship namesake = Aurora (mythology)

| Ship ordered = June 1896

| Ship awarded =

| Ship builder = Admiralty Shipyard, Saint Petersburg

| Ship original cost =

| Ship yard number =

| Ship way number =

| Ship laid down = 23 May 1897

| Ship launched = 11 May 1900{{cite web |url=http://aurora.org.ru/eng/index.php@theme=history |title=History |website=The Cruiser Aurora |access-date=5 June 2021}}

| Ship sponsor =

| Ship christened =

| Ship completed = 10 July 1903

| Ship commissioned = 16 July 1903

| Ship recommissioned =

| Ship decommissioned = 17 November 1948

| Ship in service =

| Ship out of service =

| Ship renamed =

| Ship reclassified =

| Ship refit =

| Ship struck =

| Ship reinstated =

| Ship identification =

| Ship motto =

| Ship nickname =

| Ship honours = *File:Order october revolution rib.png Order of the October Revolution

File:SU Order of the Red Banner ribbon.svg Order of the Red Banner

| Ship notes = *Participated in:

| Ship fate = Museum ship since 1956

| Ship status = Ceremoniously commissioned

| Ship badge =

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

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| Header caption =

| Ship class = {{sclass|Pallada|cruiser|0}} protected cruiser

| Ship displacement = {{cvt|6,731|t|LT|lk=on}}

| Ship length = {{convert|126.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| Ship beam = {{convert|16.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| Ship draught = {{convert|7.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| Ship power = *24 Belleville boilers

{{cvt|11610|ihp|kW|lk=on}}

| Ship propulsion = 3 shafts; 3 triple-expansion steam engines

| Ship speed = {{convert|19|kn|lk=in}}

| Ship range = {{convert|7200|km|mi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn}}

| Ship endurance =

| Ship complement = 590{{cite web |url=http://aurora.org.ru/eng/index.php@theme=info |title=General information |website=The Cruiser Aurora |access-date=5 June 2021}}

| Ship crew =

| Ship armament = *1903:

8 × 152 mm (6 in) guns
24 × 75 mm (3 in) guns
8 × 37 mm guns
3 × torpedo tubes (two underwater)
1917:
14 × 152 mm guns
4 × 76 mm air-defense gun M1914/15 AA guns
1 × QF 2-pounder naval gun{{cite book |first=L.L. |last=Polenov |date=1987 |title=Крейсер "Аврора" |trans-title=Cruiser "Aurora" |language=ru |location=Leningrad |publisher=Судостроение |pages=162–165 }}

| Ship armour =

| Ship notes =

}}

Aurora ({{lang-rus|Авро́ра|r=Avrora|p=ɐˈvrorə}}) is a Russian protected cruiser, currently preserved as a museum ship in Saint Petersburg. Aurora was one of three {{sclass|Pallada|cruiser|0}} cruisers, built in Saint Petersburg for service in the Pacific. All three ships of this class served during the Russo-Japanese War. Aurora survived the Battle of Tsushima and was interned under US protection in the Philippines, and eventually returned to the Baltic Fleet. Aurora is most famous for her actions during the October Revolution where she reportedly fired the shot, that signaled the beginning of the attack on the Winter Palace.

Russo-Japanese War

Soon after completion, on 10 October 1903, Aurora departed Kronstadt as part of Admiral Virenius's "reinforcing squadron" for Port Arthur.Corbett (2015) Vol. 1, p. 51

While in the Red Sea, still en route to Port Arthur, the squadron was recalled back to the Baltic Sea, under protest by Admiral Makarov, who specifically requested Admiral Virenius to continue his mission to Port Arthur. Only the seven destroyers of the reinforcing squadron were allowed to continue to the Far East.Corbett (2015) Vol. 1, p. 146, 147

After her detachment from the reinforcing squadron and her arrival back to home port she underwent new refitting.{{cite book |last=Kowner |first=Rotem |author-link=Rotem Kowner |year=2006 |title=Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-4927-5 |page=52}} After refitting, Aurora was ordered back to Port Arthur as part of the Russian Baltic FleetCorbett (2015) Vol. 2, Chapters I, VI, X, XI, XIII, XIVBritish Naval Attache Reports (2003) p. 354 the new redesignation to the 2nd Pacific Squadron was rarely used, in both Corbett texts and official British Naval Attache Reports, the term Baltic Fleet is mostly consistent. Aurora sailed as part of Admiral Oskar Enkvist's Cruiser Squadron whose flagship would be the protected cruiser Oleg, an element of Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky's Baltic Fleet.Corbett (2015) Vol. 2, p. 194, 215, 273 On the way to the Far East, Aurora received five hits, sustaining light damage from confused friendly fire, which killed the ship's chaplain and a sailor, in the Dogger Bank incident.Corbett (2015) Vol. 2, p. 35

During the Battle of Tsushima the Aurora was only lightly damaged but the ship's captain Evgeny Egoriev was killed. At nightfall the Aurora along with the Oleg were attacked by torpedo boats and at 22:00 they gave up trying to proceed north and headed southwest.{{cite book |last=Pleshakov |first=Constantine |title=The Tsar's Last Armada |publisher=Perseus Press |date=2002 |isbn=1-903985-31-5 |pages=289-291}} Once dawn arrived it was found that Zhemchug had retreated with the other two ships. Enkvist decided transfer his command to the Aurora then take his ships to Manila and American internment.{{cite book |last=Pleshakov |first=Constantine |title=The Tsar's Last Armada |publisher=Perseus Press |date=2002 |isbn=1-903985-31-5 |pages=292-293}} On the way to Manila the ship's doctor managed to set up the ship's X-ray equipment and performed the first post battle X-rays in Russian naval history.{{cite book |last=Pleshakov |first=Constantine |title=The Tsar's Last Armada |publisher=Perseus Press |date=2002 |isbn=1-903985-31-5 |page=296}} Evgeny Egoriev was buried at sea June 3 1905.{{cite book |last=Pleshakov |first=Constantine |title=The Tsar's Last Armada |publisher=Perseus Press |date=2002 |isbn=1-903985-31-5 |page=297}}

World War I, Mutiny and Revolution

During World War I Aurora operated in the Baltic Sea performing patrols and shore bombardment tasks. In 1915, her armament was changed to fourteen 152 mm (6 in) guns. In late 1916 she was moved to Petrograd for repairs.{{Cite web |last=BUDAKLI |first=Maritime Goods-Eren |title=Avrora Cruiser - Maritime Goods |url=https://www.maritimegoods.com/en/content-details/avrora-cruiser-.html?ContentID=633 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.maritimegoods.com |language=en}}

By late 1916, when Aurora arrived in Petrograd, conditions in the capital had deteriorated and the city was lawless and suffering from a cold winter and food shortages. Dissatisfaction with the Tsar was approaching a breaking point.{{Cite web |last=alphahis |date=2012-12-10 |title=A police report on deteriorating conditions in Petrograd (1916) |url=https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/police-conditions-in-petrograd-1916/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Russian Revolution |language=en-AU}}

During the February Revolution a significant number of the enlisted men had become sympathetic with, or had outright joined the Bolsheviks. This led to increasing tensions between the officer class - who were generally Tsarists - and the enlisted men.{{Cite web |last=Other |first=A. N. |date=2016-03-22 |title=Aurora: the Ship that Started a Revolution |url=https://navyhistory.au/aurora-the-ship-that-started-a-revolution/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Naval Historical Society of Australia |language=en-AU}}

Tensions came to a head after officers fired their pistols at the enlisted men in an attempt to restore order. The crew captured the ship's captain, Mikhail Nikolsky, and ordered that he carry a red flag as a symbol of support for the Bolshevik cause. When he declined, he was shot and killed as were an unknown number of the ship's officers.{{Cite web |title=The end of the line for the Aurora? |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/end-of-line-for-aurora/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=openDemocracy |language=en}}

A revolutionary committee was formed and a new captain was elected. The ship joined the Bolshevik cause and became the first major Russian warship to fly the red flag of the Bolshevik cause.{{Cite web |last=Beckett |first=Jesse |date=2022-02-14 |title=The Cruiser Aurora Signaled the Start of the Russian Revolution |url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/russian-cruiser-aurora.html |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=warhistoryonline |language=en}}

On the eve of the October Revolution the ship was assigned to dislodge loyalist military cadets from the Nikolayevsky Bridge. After carrying out that assignment, the ship fired the famous blank shot that, according to Russian lore, was the signal to begin the assault on the Winter Palace. It is for this action that the ship is best known and most closely identified in Russian culture.{{Cite web |title=The Cruiser Aurora Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia |url=http://www.saint-petersburg.com/museums/cruiser-aurora/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.saint-petersburg.com}}

In 1918 Aurora was relocated to the naval dockyard at Kronstadt and her new 6-inch guns were removed and installed on floating batteries to be used by the Bolsheviks during the civil war.

Second World War

In 1922, Aurora returned to service as a training ship.

During the Second World War, her guns were taken from the ship and used in the land defence of Leningrad. The ship herself was docked in Oranienbaum port,{{cite web |url=http://rbth.com/arts/2014/11/07/aurora_the_cruiser_that_sparked_a_revolution_or_did_it_41229.html |title=Aurora: The cruiser that sparked a revolution – or did it? |first=Sofía |last=Sávina |date=7 November 2014 |website=Russia Beyond}} and was repeatedly shelled and bombed. On 30 September 1941, she was damaged and sunk in the harbour.

She was later salvaged and repaired after the war.

Post World War II

The ship was opened as a museum ship in Leningrad in 1957, as a monument to the October Revolution.{{Cite web |last=Mancebo |first=Ivanka Garcia |title=Russian Cruiser Aurora - Opening times, prices & location |url=https://www.introducingsaintpetersburg.com/russian-cruiser-aurora#:~:text=During%20World%20War%20II,%20Aurora,a%20museum%20ship%20in%201957. |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=www.introducingsaintpetersburg.com |language=en}}

After having served as a museum ship for 27 years, from 1984 to 1987 the cruiser was once again placed in her construction yard, the Admiralty Shipyard, for capital restoration. During the overhaul, due to deterioration, the ship's hull below the waterline was replaced with a new welded hull according to the original drawings. The cut off lower hull section was towed into the Gulf of Finland to the decommissioned {{ill|Ruchi Naval Base|ru|Ручьи (военно-морская база)}}, and sunk near the shore. The restoration revealed that some of the ship's parts, including the armour plates, were originally made in Britain.{{Cite web |title=Aurora |url=https://www.museumships.us/russia/aurora |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113210845/https://www.museumships.us/russia/aurora |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 January 2020 |access-date=2021-03-18 |website=Museum Ships.us |language=en-US}}

In January 2013, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu announced plans to recommission Aurora and make her the flagship of the Russian Navy due to her historical and cultural importance.{{cite web |url=http://2-news.ru/info/politics/211-avrora_vernetsya_v_stroy_.html |title="Аврора" вернется в строй |trans-title="Aurora" will return to service |date=27 January 2013 |website=Dve Novosti |language=ru |access-date=5 June 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020195049/http://2-news.ru/info/politics/211-avrora_vernetsya_v_stroy_.html |archive-date=2013-10-20}} On 21 September 2014, the ship was towed to the Admiralty Shipyard in Kronstadt to be overhauled,{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v45NA2LtlKI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/v45NA2LtlKI |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Russian Revolution Symbol: Iconic 'Aurora' cruiser towed to renovation port |author=RT |date=21 September 2014 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} to return in 2016.{{cite news |url=http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/754118 |title=Legendary Aurora to return to its harbour after overhaul in 2016 |date=13 October 2014 |website=TASS}} On 16 July 2016, she returned to her home harbour in Saint Petersburg.{{cite news |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/bolshevik-revolution-warship-aurora-returns-to-st-petersburg/ |title=Bolshevik Revolution warship Aurora returns to St. Petersburg |date=16 July 2016 |newspaper=The Everett Herald}}

In popular culture

The 1965 Soviet film The Salvos of the Aurora Cruiser shows the ship's action in the October Revolution.{{Cite web |title=Призрак бродит по экрану |url=https://portal-kultura.ru/articles/cinema/173409-prizrak-brodit-po-ekranu/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=portal-kultura.ru |language=ru}}

In 1973, a short film about the ship, titled Aurora, was released.{{Citation |last=Kachanov |first=Roman |title=Avrora |type=Animation, Short |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2331648/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |others=Viktor Filippov, Aleksey Konsovskiy, Klara Rumyanova |publisher=Soyuzmultfilm}}

Gallery

Order of the October Revolution (550).jpg|Aurora is pictured on the Order of the October Revolution

aurora 1903.jpg|Aurora in 1903

Aurora 2014-09 1411294651.tif|Aurora towed through drawbridge toward Kronstadt (2014)

Транспортировка Авроры в Кронштадт (Дворцовый мост).jpg|Transport of Aurora to Kronstadt in September 2015

DJI 0001 Санкт-Петербург. Крейсер "Аврора". Фото с дрона. 21.02.2018.jpg|Aurora trapped in ice

Sankt Petersburg. Kreuzer Aurora, Petrograder Damm.jpg|Aurora at night

St. Petersburg (8372405504).jpg|Port side view of Aurora

Aurora and Krasin in Kronstadt.JPG|Aurora and Krasin in Kronstadt

St. Petersburg (8372405290).jpg|Aurora is docked near Nakhimov Naval School

= Aurora Flags =

Due to the honoring of the ship with high state awards, the flag flown at the stern is a special version of the main Naval Ensign. This tradition dates back to 1927, when the aurora was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and lasted until the end of Soviet Navy and was then resumed after returning from a major overhaul in 2016.{{Cite web |url=http://guide.travel.ru/russia/246205.html |title=Крейсер-музей "Аврора" |access-date=2016-12-27 |archive-date=2016-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228123923/http://guide.travel.ru/russia/246205.html}}

{{gallery|mode=nolines|width=180|height=100

|File:Naval ensign of Russia.svg|Naval ensign of Russian Empire

|File:Red flag.svg|Red flag raised on October 25, 1917.

|File:Naval Ensign of Russian SFSR (1920-1923).svg|Naval Ensign of Russian SFSR raised on 23 February 1923 after the renovation of the cruiser Aurora

|File:Naval Ensign of the Soviet Union (1923–1935).svg|Naval Ensign of Soviet Union raised on 7 November 1923

|File:Ensign of the Cruiser Aurora (1927).svg|The honorary version of the Ensign with the Order of the Red Banner used on the ship (1 July 1927 - November 1927)

|File:USSR, Naval 1926 redban.svg|The honorary version of the Ensign with the ORB used on the ship (2 November 1927 - 26 May 1935)

|File:USSR, Naval 1950 redban.svg|The honorary version of the Ensign with the ORB used on the ship (26 May 1935 - 23 February 1968)

|File:Ensign of the Cruiser Aurora (1968).svg|The honorary version of the Ensign with the Order of the October Revolution and ORB used on the ship (23 February 1968 - 26 July 1992)

|File:Naval ensign of Russia (1992).svg|Naval ensign of Russian Federation (26 July 1992 - 1 January 2001)

|File:Naval ensign of Russia.svg|Naval ensign of Russian Federation (1 January 2001 - 31 July 2016)

|File:Ensign of the Cruiser Aurora (2016).svg|The honorary version of the Ensign with the OOR and ORB used on the ship (from 31 July 2016)

}}

References

=Sources=

British Naval Attache Reports. (2003) The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. The Battery Press. Nashville, Tennessee {{ISBN|0-89839-324-8}}
{{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|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor1-first=Roger|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor2-first=Eugene M.|editor2-last=Kolesnik |publisher=Mayflower Books|location=New York|year=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration |url= https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2|pages=170–217 |chapter=Russia |last1=Campbell |first1=N. J. M.|name-list-style=amp}}
Corbett, Sir Julian. (2015) Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. Vol. 1 originally published January 1914. Naval Institute Press {{ISBN|978-1-59114-197-6}}
Corbett, Sir Julian. (2015) Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. Vol. 2 originally published October 1915. Naval Institute Press {{ISBN|978-1-59114-198-3}}
Dowling, Timothy C. Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond. ABC-CLIO, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-59884-947-9}}
{{cite book|last=Hill|first=Alexander|year=2024 |title= Soviet Cruisers 1917-1945: From the October Revolution to World War II |place= Oxford, UK|publisher= Osprey Publishing|isbn= 9781472859334|series=New Vanguard |volume=326}}
{{cite book |last1=McLaughlin |first1= Stephen|title=Warship 2019 |date=2019 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-1-4728-3595-6 |pages=81–97 |editor1-last=Jordan |editor1-first=John |chapter=In Avrora{{'}}s Shadow: The Russian Cruisers of the Diana Class}}
{{cite book |last1=Skvorcov |first1=Aleksiey V.|title=Cruisers of the First Rank: Avrora, Diana, Pallada |date=2015|publisher=Stratus|location=Sandomierz, Poland|isbn=978-83-63678-56-2}}
{{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}}

External links

[http://www.neva.ru/EXPO96/book/chap10-3.html The History of the Russian Navy – Defeat at Port Arthur]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20160322133152/http://www.hnsa.org/hnsa-ships/cruiser-aurora/ HNSA Web Page: Cruiser Aurora]
[http://www.worldwalk.info/en/catalog/258/ Aurora Cruiser Museum Ship (Saint Petersburg)]