Russian cruiser Rurik (1906)

The Rurik (Рюрик) was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy in 1906.

Design and construction
She is unusual in that she was built by Vickers in Barrow in Furness, England. Laid down August 1905, launched 4 November 1906, completed July 1909. The Russian Navy was not usually a customer of British shipyards. She is named in honour of Rurik, the semi-legendary founder of ancient Russia.

Unlike her previous namesake, Rurik (1892), she has been described as one of the best armoured cruisers built, with advanced sprinkler protection for the magazines. She was designed by KA Tennison and AP Titov, and the contract was arranged by Basil Zaharoff. The ship had a prolonged work-up while defects were rectified.

There was a plan to build two more ships in Russia, but this was cancelled after the first battlecruiser, HMS Invincible, entered service.

Armament
The main armament consisted of four 10 in guns in two turrets, and the secondary armament consisted of eight 8 in guns in four twin turrets located at the corners of the superstructure. These guns were built by Vickers. The anti-torpedo boat armament comprised twenty 120 mm guns in casemates. There were also four 1.85 in guns and two 18 in torpedo tubes.

Gunnery trials revealed that the fastenings on the 10 in and 8 in barbettes were insufficiently strong and were deformed during firing. Vickers was forced to reinforce the turrets. The work was done in Kronstadt after delivery.

Protection
All plate was Krupp armour made by Vickers. The 254 mm turrets were protected by 8 in plate, and the 203 mm turrets were protected by 7 in plate. The main belt was 500 ft long and extended to 5 ft below mean water line. There was also an upper belt, 3 in thick, which extended to the 120 mm gun battery. Each 120 mm gun had 1 in armour screens and was separated by 1-inch armour from neighbouring guns. The forward conning tower was protected by 8 in armour, and the after conning tower was protected by 5 in armour.

Machinery
The power plant consisted of two four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines and twenty-eight Belleville type boilers. On trials at the Skelmorlie mile she reached 21.43 knots, developing 20,580 hp.

Service
Rurik was commissioned in 1908. She carried out a deployment to the Mediterranean in company with the battleships Tsesarevich and Slava, where she represented Russia at the coronation of King Nicholas of Montenegro

She was the flagship of the Baltic Fleet during World War I and saw much action, being damaged by mines on several occasions. The ship was worn out by 1918, she was hulked in 1922 and sold for scrapping in 1930.