Russian monitor Veschun

Veshchun was {{convert|201|ft|m|1}} long overall, with a beam of {{convert|46|ft|m|1}} and a draft of {{convert|10.16|-|10.84|ft|m|1}}. She displaced between {{convert|1500|-|1600|LT|t}}, and her crew numbered eight officers and 88 enlisted men in 1865. By 1877, this had increased to 10 officers and 100 crewmen.McLaughlin, p. 103

The ship was fitted with a two-cylinder, horizontal direct-acting steam engine built by the Belgian firm of Cockerill. It drove a single propellerMcLaughlin, pp. 106–07 using steam provided by two rectangular boilers.Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 175 Specific information on the output of the ship's engine has not survived, but the engines for the class ranged between {{convert|340|-|500|ihp|0|lk=in}}. During Veshchun{{'}}'s sea trials on 21 July 1864, she reached a maximum speed of {{convert|6.75|kn|lk=in}}. The ship carried a maximum of {{convert|190|LT|t}} of coal, giving her a theoretical endurance of {{convert|1440|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|6|kn}}.McLaughlin, p. 107

Veshchun was originally intended to be armed with a pair of {{convert|9|in|adj=on|0}} smoothbore muzzle-loading guns guns purchased from Krupp of Germany and rifled in Russia. However, the rifling project was significantly delayed, and the ship was completed with nine-inch smoothbores instead. These guns lacked the penetration power needed to engage ironclads effectively, so they were replaced in 1867–68 by license-built {{convert|15|in|adj=on}} smoothbore muzzle-loading Rodman guns. The Rodman guns were in turn replaced around 1876 with the originally planned nine-inch rifled guns.McLaughlin, pp. 104–05

All wrought-iron armor used in the Uragan-class monitors consisted of {{convert|1|in|0|adj=on}} plates, similar to the Passaic-class ships. The ship's side was entirely covered with three to five layers of armor plates, with the three innermost plates extending {{convert|42|in|m|1}} below the waterline. This armor was backed by wooden beams with a maximum thickness of {{convert|36|in|0}}. The gun turret and the pilothouse above it were protected by eleven layers of armor. Curved plates six layers thick protected the base of the funnel up to a height of {{convert|7|ft|m|1}} above the deck. Unlike their predecessors, the Uragans were built without deck armor to save weight, but Veshchun{{'}}'s deck was later prepared for the addition of {{convert|0.5|in|1|adj=on}} armor plates, although these were never installed.McLaughlin, pp. 105–06

Construction of Veshchun by the Belgian firm of Cockerill for assembly in Saint Petersburg began on 9 November 1863. The ship was laid down on 9 December 1863 and launched on 8 May 1864. She entered service in 1865, at a total cost of 1,237,000 rubles, nearly double her contract cost of 600,000 rubles. Upon completion, the ship was assigned to the Baltic Fleet. In July–August 1865, she, along with all of her sister ships except {{ship|Russian monitor|Latnik||2}}, made a port visit to Stockholm, Sweden, under the command of General Admiral Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich.McLaughlin, pp. 100, 104, 109

Sometime after Veshchun was completed, an armored ring {{convert|5|in|0}} thick and {{convert|15|in|0}} tall was fitted around the base of the turret to prevent shell splinters from jamming it. Later, an armored, outward-curving bulwark was fitted around the top of the turret to protect crew members there. Three sponsons were also added to the upper portion of the turret, likely during the 1870s. Each sponson—one above the gun ports and one on each side of the turret—mounted a light gun, likely a {{convert|1.75|in|adj=on}} Engstrem gun, for defense against torpedo boats. A fourth gun was mounted on a platform aft of the funnel when a hurricane deck was built between the funnel and the turret, also probably in the 1870s.McLaughlin, p. 108

Little is known about the ship's career beyond the fact that she was laid up each winter when the Gulf of Finland froze. Veshchun was reclassified as a coast-defense ironclad on 13 February 1892 and turned over to the Port of Kronstadt for disposal on 6 July 1900, although she was not formally stricken until 17 August. In 1903, the ship was converted into a coal barge by removing her turret, side armor, and wooden backing, and by dividing her hull into three holdss.McLaughlin, p. 109 She was redesignated as Barzha No. 44 and, in 1914, as Barzha No. 327. The ship was abandoned by the Soviets in Finland in April 1918 following the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and was later scrapped by the Finns.McLaughlin, p. 111

{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{reflist|2}}

• {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|editor2-last=Kolesnik|editor2-first=Eugene M.|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|date=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
• {{cite book|last=McLaughlin|first=Stephen|title=Warship 2012|editor=John Jordan|publisher=Conway|location=London|date=2012|pages=98–112|chapter=Russia's American Monitors: The Uragan Class |isbn=978-1-84486-156-9}}
• {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984|publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}

{{Uragan class monitor}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veshchun}}

Category:Uragan-class monitors

Category:1864 ships

Category:Ships built in Belgium