Russian destroyer Fidonisy
| {{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption=}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image=Fidonisy NH 93883.jpg | Ship caption=Fidonisy in 1917 }} {{Infobox ship career | Ship country=Russian Empire | Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Russian Empire|naval}} | Ship name=Feodosia ({{lang|ru|Феодониси}}) | Ship namesake=Battle of Fidonisi | Ship builder = Russud Shipyard, Nikolayev | Ship ordered=17 March 1915 | Ship laid down=29 October 1915 | Ship launched=18 May 1916 | Ship commissioned=1 June 1917 | Ship renamed=Fidonisy ({{lang|ru|Фидониси}}), 9 January 1917 | Ship struck= | Ship fate=Scuttled, 18 June 1918 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Header caption=(as built) |Ship class={{sclass|Fidonisy|destroyer}} |Ship displacement=*{{cvt|1326|LT|t|lk=on}} (normal)
|Ship length={{cvt|92.51|m|ftin}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|9.05|m|ftin}} |Ship draft= {{cvt|3.2|m|ftin}} |Ship power=*5 Thornycroft boilers
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts; 2 steam turbines |Ship speed= {{convert|30|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range= {{convert|1850|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|18|kn}} |Ship complement=136 |Ship armament=*4 × single 102mm 60 caliber Pattern 1911
}} |
Fidonisy ({{lang|ru|Фидониси}}) was the name ship of her class of eight destroyers built for the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I. Originally named Feodonisy ({{lang|ru|Феодониси}}), she was renamed Fidonisy before she was completed. Completed in 1917, she played a minor role in the war as part of the Black Sea Fleet before the Russian Revolution began later that year. Her crew joined the Bolsheviks in December and she supported their efforts to assert control in the Crimea over the next several months. The ship sailed from Sevastopol as the Germans approached in May 1918, but was scuttled in Novorossiysk harbor the following month when the Germans demanded that she be handed over as per the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Her wreck was discovered in 1964 and was partially salvaged.
Design and description
{{Main|Fidonisy-class destroyer}}
The Fidonisy-class ships were designed as improved version of the {{sclass|Derzky|destroyer|4}} with an additional {{convert|102|mm|in|adj=on|0|sp=us}} gun. Fidonisy had an overall length of {{convert|92.51|m|ftin|sp=us}}, a beam of {{convert|9.05|m|ftin|sp=us}}, and a draft of {{convert|3.2|m|ftin|sp=us}} at full load.Apalkov, p. 136 The ship displaced {{convert|1326|LT|t|lk=on}} at normal load and {{convert|1580|LT|t}} at full load. She was propelled by two Parsons steam turbines, each driving one propeller, designed to produce a total of {{convert|29000|shp|lk=on}} using steam from five three-drum Thorneycroft boilers for an intended maximum speed of {{convert|33|kn|lk=on}}. During her sea trials, the ship reached a speed of {{convert|31.4|kn}} from {{cvt|25854|shp}}. Fidonasi carried enough fuel oil to give her a range of {{convert|1850|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|18|kn|}}. Her crew numbered 136 men.Verstyuk & Gordeyev, p. 116
The ships mounted a main armament of four single 102 mm Pattern 1911 Obukhov guns. Anti-aircraft defense for Fidonisy was provided by a pair of QF 2 pounder naval gun anti-aircraft guns and four {{convert|7.62|mm|in|1|sp=us|adj=on}} M-1 machine guns. The destroyers mounted four triple {{convert|450|mm|1|sp=us|adj=on}} torpedo tube mounts amidships with a pair of reload torpedoes and could carry 80 M1908 naval mines. They were also fitted with a Barr and Stroud rangefinder and two {{Convert|60|cm|in|sp=us|adj=on}} searchlights.
Construction and service
The eight Fidonisy-class destroyers were ordered on 17 March 1915 at a cost of 2.2 million rubles each. All of them received names in honor of the victories of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov. The ship that later became Fidonisy was originally named Feodonisy, an alternate spelling of Fidonisy, commemorating the Battle of Fidonisi in 1788Verstyuk & Gordeyev, p. 100 and she received her final name on 9 January 1917. After being added to the Black Sea Fleet ship list on 2 July 1915, Fidonisy was laid down in the Russud Shipyard in Nikolayev on 29 October 1915. The ship was launched on 18 May 1916, completed on 25 May 1917 and was accepted for service on 1 June.Chernyshev, p. 32 Fidonisy participated in a commando raid on the Turkish port of Ordu on 24 August. The following month, she was one of eight destroyers that patrolled off the west Anatolian coast and helped to sink 19 small sailing ships on 13–15 September 1917. Between 30 September and 20 October the ship participated in multiple patrols attempting to interdict the delivery of coal to Istanbul; during this time, the Russian destroyers claimed to have sunk 1 steamship, 23 sailing vessels and captured 2 others. The navy ceased offensive operations against the Central Powers in early November in response to the Bolshevik Decree on Peace before a formal Armistice was signed the next month.Greger, pp. 63–65
In January 1918 the ship supported Bolshevik efforts to consolidate their power in Yevpatoria and Feodosia, Crimea, and helped to suppress armed resistance in Feodosia and Alushta in April. On 2 May Fidonisy sailed from Feodosia to Novorossiysk to avoid being seized by advancing German forces. On 18 June, the ship was scuttled in Tsemes Bay by torpedoes fired by her sister ship {{ship|Russian destroyer|Kerch||2}} to avoid being turned over to the Germans in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Broken in half, Fidonisy{{'}}s wreck was discovered and partially salvaged in 1964.Verstyuk & Gordeyev, p. 102
References
{{reflist|30em}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|last1=Apalkov|first1=Yu. V.|title=Боевые корабли Русского флота 8.1914-10.1917 гг. Справочник|publisher=Intek|location=St. Petersburg|year=1996|isbn=5-7559-0018-3 |language=ru|trans-title=Directory of Russian Navy Warships, August 1914–October 1917}}
- {{Cite book|title=Крейсера и миноносцы. Справочник|last=Berezhnoy|first=Sergey|publisher=Voenizdat |year=2002 |isbn=5-203-01780-8|location=Moscow|language=ru|trans-title=Guide to Cruisers and Destroyers}}
- {{Cite book|title=Русские суперэсминцы. Легендарные "Новики"|last=Chernyshev|first=Alexander|publisher=Yauza/Eksmo|year=2011|isbn=978-5-699-53144-8|edition=2nd|location=Moscow|language=ru|trans-title=Russian Superdestroyers: Legendary Noviks}}
- {{cite book |last1=Greger |first1=René |title=The Russian Fleet, 1914–1917 |url=https://archive.org/details/russianfleet19140000greg |url-access=registration |date=1972 |publisher=Ian Allan |location=Shepperton, UK |isbn=0-7110-0255-X}}
- {{cite book|last1=Verstyuk|first1=Anatoly|last2=Gordeyev|first2=Stanislav|title=Корабли Минных дивизий. От "Новика" до "Гогланда"|year=2006|publisher=Voennaya Kniga|location=Moscow|isbn=5-902863-10-4 |language=ru|trans-title=Torpedo Division Ships: From Novik to Gogland|name-list-style=amp}}
Further reading
- {{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=Watts|first=Anthony J.|title=The Imperial Russian Navy|publisher=Arms and Armour|location=London|year=1990|isbn=0-85368-912-1}}
External links
{{Fidonisy-class destroyer}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fidonisy}}
Category:Fidonisy-class destroyers