View source for Amur-class minelayer (1898)

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Amur1898-1904.jpg
|Ship caption=''Amur'' at anchor, the door for her center mine rail is visible in the stern
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=
|Builders=[[Baltic Works]], [[Saint Petersburg]]
|Operators={{navy|Russia}}
|Class before=None
|Class after=[[Amur class minelayer (1905)|''Amur''-class minelayer of 1905]]
|Cost=
|Built range=1898–1899
|In service range=
|In commission range=1899–1904
|Total ships completed=2
|Total ships lost=2
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[Minelayer#Naval minelayers|minelayer]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|3010|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length= {{convert|300|ft|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|41|ft|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|18|ft|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 shafts, 2 [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|Vertical triple expansion steam engines]]
*12 coal-fired [[water-tube boiler]]s
|Ship speed={{convert|18|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|2000|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=317
|Ship power={{convert|4700|ihp|abbr=on|0|lk=in}}
|Ship armament=*5 × [[75mm 50 caliber Pattern 1892|{{convert|3|in|0|adj=on}}]] guns
*7 × [[QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss|{{convert|47|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} guns]]
*1 × {{convert|15|in|0|adj=on}} [[torpedo tube]]
*300 [[Naval mine|mines]]
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
[[File:The romance of the ship; the story of her origin and evolution (1911) (14592455928).jpg|thumb|The ''Yenisei'']]
The '''''Amur''-class [[Minelayer#Naval minelayers|minelayers]]''' were the first purpose-built, ocean-going minelayers in the world.<ref name=r5>Russian Minelayers ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei'', p. 205</ref> The class consisted of two vessels: ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei''.  Both ships were constructed for the [[Imperial Russian Navy]] in the late 1890s. During the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–05 they were assigned to the [[Pacific Fleet (Russia)|Pacific Fleet]]. ''Yenisei'' struck one of her own mines two days after the war began while laying a minefield and sank. One of ''Amur''{{'}}s [[minefield]]s sank the Japanese [[pre-dreadnought battleship]]s {{ship|Japanese battleship|Hatsuse||2}} and {{ship|Japanese battleship|Yashima||2}}. ''Amur'' was sunk by Japanese [[howitzer]]s in December 1904 after the Japanese had gained control of the heights around [[Lüshunkou District|Port Arthur]]. She was later [[Marine salvage|salvaged]] and [[ship breaking|scrapped]] by the Japanese.
==Design and description==
The ''Amur''-class minelayers were designed to drop their [[Naval mine|mines]] while at high speed and were given a pronounced, overhanging, stern that allowed the mines to be dropped behind the [[propeller]]s through doors in the stern. Each door was served by a rail that led directly to the mine storage compartments.<ref name=r5/>
The ''Amur''-class ships were {{convert|300|ft|1}} [[length at the waterline|long at the waterline]]; they had a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|41|ft|1}} and a [[Draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|18|ft|m|1}}.<ref name=g4>Gardiner, p. 204</ref> They had two pole masts and a [[Naval ram|ram]] bow.<ref name=r5/>
The ships had two [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|vertical triple expansion steam engines]], each powering one propeller. Twelve Belleville [[water-tube boiler]]s provided steam. The engines were designed to produce a total of {{convert|4700|ihp|lk=in}} and gave the ship a top speed of {{convert|18|kn|lk=in}}. They carried {{convert|400|LT|MT|0}} of coal that provided a range of {{convert|2000|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|knots}}.<ref name=w2>Watts, p. 172</ref>
The main armament of the ''Amur''-class ships consisted of five {{convert|75|mm|adj=on|sp=us}} [[75mm 50 caliber Pattern 1892|Canet Pattern 1892]] 50-[[caliber (artillery)|caliber]] guns.<ref name=w2/> The gun fired {{convert|10.8|lb|kg|adj=on}} shells to a range of about {{convert|8600|yd|0}} at its maximum elevation of 21° with a muzzle velocity of {{convert|2700|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}}. The rate of fire was between twelve and fifteen rounds per minute.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNRussian_29-50_m1891.htm|title=Russian 75 mm/50 (2.95") Pattern 1892 --- French 7.5 cm/50 (2.95") Canet Model 1891 |date=17 July 2007|publisher=Navweps.com|accessdate=12 November 2010| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20101125185139/http://navweaps.com/Weapons/WNRussian_29-50_m1891.htm| archivedate= 25 November 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> The ships also mounted seven {{convert|47|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} [[Hotchkiss gun]]s.<ref name=w2/> They fired a {{convert|3.3|lb|kg|adj=on}} shell at a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1476|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} at a rate of 20 rounds per minute to a range of {{convert|2020|yd|m}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNRussian_47mm_Hotchkiss.htm|title=Russia 47 mm/5 (1.85") Hotchkiss gun 47 mm/1 (1.85") Hotchkiss gun [3-pdr (1.4 kg) Hotchkiss guns] |date=1 December 2006|accessdate=12 November 2010| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20101126040626/http://navweaps.com/Weapons/WNRussian_47mm_Hotchkiss.htm| archivedate= 26 November 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> The ''Amur''-class ships mounted one {{convert|15|in|mm|0|adj=on}} [[torpedo tube]] and carried 300 [[Naval mine|mines]].<ref name=w2/>
==Service==
Both ships, ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei'', were built by the [[Baltic Works]] in [[Saint Petersburg]]. They were laid down in 1898 and completed the following year.<ref name="Warship"/> They were assigned to the Pacific Fleet when the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904 and based in Port Arthur. Two days after the Japanese [[Battle of Port Arthur|surprise attack]] on Port Arthur on 8/9 February 1904, ''Yenisei'' was laying a minefield at [[Dalian Bay]] when one mine broke loose and began floating towards the ship. While maneuvering to avoid the mine ''Yenisei'' accidentally entered the minefield that she'd just laid and hit a mine. The consequent explosion caused eight mines still on the rails to detonate, killing 96 or 100 crewmen and sinking the ship in 20 minutes. The [[protected cruiser]] {{ship|Russian cruiser|Boyarin|1901|2}} and four destroyers responded to the incident, but ''Boyarin'' hit one of ''Yenisei''{{'}}s mines. The explosion flooded the ship's machinery spaces and her crew abandoned ship. The cruiser remained afloat, but [[wikt:founder|foundered]] in Dalian Bay the next day during a storm.<ref name="Warship">Russian Minelayers ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei'', pp. 205-06</ref>
On the morning of 15 May 1904, [[Rear Admiral]] [[Nashiba Tokioki]] led a squadron consisting of the pre-dreadnoughts ''Hatsuse'', ''Yashima'' and {{ship|Japanese battleship|Shikishima||2}} to bombard Port Arthur. They encountered a field of 50 mines laid by ''Amur'' the evening before. ''Hatsuse'' hit one mine that disabled her engines and steering and drifted into another mine that caused one of her forward [[magazine (artillery)|magazine]]s to detonate. The ship sank in about 90 seconds, taking 496 men down with her. ''Yashima'' struck another mine as she maneuvered around the drifting ''Hatsuse'', but she was towed away from the minefield. By the late afternoon ''Yashima''{{'}}s flooding had become unstoppable and she was abandoned by her crew. Three hours later the ship [[Capsizing|capsized]] and sank.<ref>Forczyk, p. 46</ref>
''Amur'' was subsequently [[Siege of Port Arthur|besieged in Port Arthur]] and hit in drydock a number of times by {{convert|28|cm|adj=on}} howitzer shells on 8 December 1904. She was knocked over on her port side and rested on the side of the dock at an angle of 68°. On 18 December she was hit again by 30 shells and sunk on her side. The Japanese later raised the ship and scrapped it.<ref>Russian Minelayers ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei'', p. 206</ref>
==See also==
* [[Timeline of Russian inventions and technology records]]
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
* {{cite book|title=Russian Battleship vs Japanese Battleship, [[Yellow Sea]] 1904-05|author=Forczyk, Robert|publisher=Osprey|year=2009|isbn=978-1-84603-330-8}}
* {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor=Gardiner, Robert|publisher=Mayflower Books|location=New York|year=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
*{{cite journal|year=1972|title=Russian Minelayers ''Amur'' and ''Yenisei''|journal=Warship International|publisher=Naval Records Club|location=Toledo, OH|volume=IX|issue=2|pages=205–06}}
* {{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==
*{{Commons category-inline|Amur (ship, 1901)}}
[[Category:Minelayers]]
[[Category:Ships of the Imperial Russian Navy]]