Cruiser ‘Aurora’ was launched

24 May 1900

On May 11 (24), 1900 at 11:15 a.m. under the artillery salute fired by ships docked on Neva river, at New Admiralty was launched the 1st rank cruiser ‘Aurora’.

‘Aurora’ 1st rank Armored cruiser had been built in St. Petersburg at ‘New Admiralty’ governmental shipyard. The cruiser was laid on May 23 (June 4), 1897. The cruiser was named after a frigate sailing vessel ‘Aurora’ which had distinguished itself during the battle operations in August of 1854 while defending Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Along with ‘Aurora’ were laid two similar cruisers of the type: ‘Diana’ and ‘Pallada’. The ships had been built according to the design of Baltic shipyard.

In May of 1900 took place the ceremony of ‘Aurora’ launch attended by workers, sailors, admirals and generals along with numerous guests, foreign ambassadors and military attaché, orchestra and guard. In the ceremony also participated the escort of the Baltic Fleet battleships.

‘Aurora’ cruiser was included into the Russian Navy in 1903. As a number of other ships constructed in 1900s, it was meant for strengthening of the Russian Fleet in the Pacific Ocean. During the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 ‘Aurora’ cruiser being a part of the 2nd Pacific squadron had made a way from Baltic to Japanese sea and took part in Tsushima battle of 1905. Before the First World War ‘Aurora’ had been making foreign trips; it also served as a place for study course of Sea corps naval cadets, ship’s boys and students of non-commissioned officers’ school. During the war the ship was included into the 2nd brigade of Baltic Sea cruisers.

During the revolution, on February 28 (March 13), 1917 the sailors of ‘Aurora’ laying in Petrograd, started a revolt. On the night of October 25 (November 7), 1917 under the order of Petrograd Revolutionary Committee headed by Commissar A. V. Belyshev, the cruiser approached Nikolaevsky bridge and secured the passage of the Red Guard detachments from Vasilievsky island to the city center.

In the end of 1922 it was decided to restore ‘Aurora’ as a training ship. From 1923 to 1933 the cruiser served as a training ship for the Navy schools’ students, had made several foreign trips and taken part in Baltic Fleet manoeuvres.

In 1924 ‘Aurora’ was awarded by the Order of the Red Banner of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and in 1917 the ship was given the Order of the Red Banner for its revolutionary merits. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, ‘Aurora’ and its crew started to defend Leningrad fighting on the distant (Chudskaya military flotilla) and near (Crow Mountain) approaches to the city. In the course of the war the ship’s hull had received many shot holes and set on the ground. In July of 1944 it was picked up from the ground and sent for repair.

In November of 1948 ‘Aurora’ cruiser was moored to Petrograd embankment in Leningrad as a monument of revolution events of 1917. Until 1956 it had been used as a training location for Leningrad Nakhimov Naval School.

In 1956 ‘Aurora’ cruiser was made a brand of the Central Naval Museum.

 

Lit.: Бурковский Б. В. Крейсер «Аврора». Л., 1979; Буров В. Н. Крейсер «Аврора»: Памятник истории отечественного кораблестроения. Л., 1987; Кусков В. П. Аврора // Корабли Октября. Л., 1984; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://militera.lib.ru/tw/kuskov_vp/01.html; Поленов Л. Л. Крейсер «Аврора». Л., 1987; Ратозий Н. В. Вечно живые: Исторические очерки о моряках «Авроры». М., 1989; Юдин А. А. «Крейсер "Аврора»: Символ Революции, символ Октября. М., 1990.

Крейсер Аврора: сайт. 1992-2016. URL: http://www.aurora.org.ru/rus/index.php@theme=info.

 

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Navy // Memory of the Great Victory: [digital collection];

Таубе Г. Н. Последние дни Второй Тихоокеанской эскадры. СПб., 1907.