An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir November 2018 www.dfmagazine.ie 28 | BY PETER MULREADY MA The Ship that Began the Bolshevik Revolution N ovember 7th (25th October, old Russian calendar) marks the 101st anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, one of the major events of the 20th century. The shot that began the October 1917 Revolution in St Petersburg was fired by the cruiser Aurora, which was to become the symbol of the revolution. The Aurora, which is still a commis- sioned warship in the Russian navy and is its flagship, due to its historical and cultural importance, is permanently anchored in the river Neva at Petrograd- skaya Embankment in St Petersburg, as a memorial to the Russian Revolution. The ship is an experienced war veteran, its career having encompassed three wars (Russo-Japanese 1904-5, WWI and WWII) and two Russian revolutions (February 1917 and October 1917). Aurora was launched in 1900 in St Petersburg and was intended for service in the Pacific. It was a Pallada class protected cruiser, with an overall length of 126.8m, a beam of 16.7m, a draught of 7.3m, and a displacement of 6,731 tons. It carried a crew of 18 officers and 580 men. The ships maximum speed was only 19kts, which was slow for its designated role as a com- merce raider, and had a range of 7,200 km at 10 kts. The Aurora's original main armament comprised eight 152mm (6-inch) Canet guns: one mounted on the forecastle deck, four in sponsons at upper-deck level close to the bridge and fore funnel, and three aft. (During WWI these were increased from eight to fourteen.) The ship had three torpedo tubes and could also carry mines. After the outbreak of the Russo-Jap- anese War in 1904 the eastern Russian city of Port Arthur was besieged by the Japanese, who also blockaded the harbour containing the 1st Pacific Squadron. In October 1904 the Aurora set off from the Baltic Sea as part of the 2nd Pacific Squadron, to relieve Port Arthur. The voy- age began badly, when on the night of 21/22 October, in a confusing incident, nervous Russian gunners fired on a fleet of British trawlers fishing on the Dogger Bank in the North Sea that the Russians believed to be Japanese torpedo boats. One trawler was sunk and two fishermen killed. The Aurora also suffered damage in the incident and the ship's chaplain and a sailor were killed. The incident caused a serious diplomatic rift with Britain. In December Port Arthur fell and the ships were ordered to break through to Vladivostok. The fleet was reinforced by the 3rd Pacific Squadron off French Indo- china, and after an epic voyage of 18,000 nautical miles (33,336 kilometres) the combined fleet reached the Straits of Tsu- shima, between Japan and Korea, where, on 27/28 May 1905, it was destroyed by the Japanese navy in the Battle of Tsushima. The Aurora protected the transport ships in the battle and sustained serious damage, and lost her captain, ER Yegoryev, and 14 crewmen. The cruiser was one of only four Russian ships to escape after the battle and was interned under US protec- tion in the neutral Philippines until the end of the war. During World War I the Aurora operated in the Baltic Sea, performing patrols and shore bombardment tasks, in addition to minelaying operations. In late 1916 the ship was moved to Petrograd (as St Petersburg was renamed from 1914-1924) for major repairs. The city was full of revolutionary fervour and a section of the crew joined The Aurora then BY PETER MULREADY MA

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