Russian cruiser Zhemchug

Zhemchug (Жемчуг, "pearl") was the second of the two-vessel Izumrud class of protected cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy.

Background
Zhemchug was ordered as part of the Imperial Russian Navy’s plan to expand the Russian Pacific Fleet based at Port Arthur and Vladivostok to counter the growing threat posed by the Imperial Japanese Navy towards Russian hegemony in Manchuria and Korea.

Operational History
Zhemchug was laid down at the Nevsky Shipyards in Petrograd, Russia on 1 June 1902, in the presence of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. However, construction was delayed due to priority given to completion of the RUSSIAN CRUISER Novik.

She was launched on 14 August 1903, in the presence of Tsar Nicholas II. Construction continued to be plagued by delays, including flooding in November, and an ice storm in December. However, with the start of the Russo-Japanese War in early 1904, construction efforts were greatly accelerated. Mooring tests were completed by 26 July 1904 and speed trials were held on 5 August. Zhemchug was formally commissioned on 29 August 1904 and was assigned to the Second Pacific Squadron of the Russian Pacific Fleet. On 27 September 1904, she participated in a naval review off Reval attended by Tsar Nicholas II, and departed for the Far East the following day.

During the Russo-Japanese War
Under the overall command of Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky, Zhemchug was part of the Second Pacific Squadron intended to relieve the Japanese siege of Port Arthur. However, she separated from the main squadron at Tangiers and transited the Suez Canal, and rejoined the main fleet at Madagascar. During the transit of the Indian Ocean, she acted as a scout for the main fleet and was frequently on detached duty. Conditions during the voyage were appalling, with the ship overloaded with coal for the voyage, even in the crew compartments, and the crewmen suffering from the unaccustomed tropical heat, poor food and poor hygiene and frequently mechanical failures. One crewman ran amok off Madagascar and had to be shot.

The Second Pacific Squadron took part in the decisive Battle of Tsushima from 27–28 May 1905 and, as part of Admiral Oskar Enkvist's cruiser division, Zhemchug was one of the first ships to open fire on the Japanese Combined Fleet. She took severe damage in the battle, taking 17 hits, with 2 officers and 10 crewmen killed and 32 crewmen seriously wounded. However, she managed to escape sinking or capture after the Russian defeat, and together with the cruisers RUSSIAN CRUISER Aurora and RUSSIAN CRUISER Oleg, she reached the neutral port of Manila on 21 May 1905 and was interned on 25 May until the end of the war.

She was repaired in October 1905, and returned to active service.

With the Siberian Flotilla
During the 1905 Russian Revolution, Zhemchug's crew mutinied, and joined the riot in the streets of Vladivostok. On the suppression of the unrest, the crew was arrested and court-martialed.

From 1905–1910, Zhemchug remained based at Vladivostok, but was in poor repair and could make only short patrols or occasional trips to Korean, Japanese or Chinese ports. She was in overhaul for most of 1910. In 1911, she was appointed flagship of the Siberian Flotilla. She was placed on reserve status in 1912, and was used as a guard ship at the foreign concessions at Shanghai and Yangzi River from 1913–1914, protecting Russian citizens and economic interests. She returned to Vladivostok in May 1914, and was assigned Commander Baron I A Cherkassov as captain.

World War I service
At the start of World War I, Zhemchug was part of the Allied (British-French-Japanese) joint task force pursuing the German East Asia Squadron under Admiral Maximilian von Spee, and operated in the Bay of Bengal together with the Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Chikuma. On 28 October 1914, she was moored at Penang, when attacked by the German light cruiser Emden in what was later called the Battle of Penang.

Zhemchug arrived in Penang on 26 October for repairs and to clean her boilers. Against the advice of Admiral Martyn Jerram, commander-in-chief of the Allied Fleet, Commander Cherkassov had given most of his crew shore leave, and left the ship with all torpedoes disarmed, and all shells locked away save for 12 rounds stowed on deck. Commander Cherkassov was at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in George Town with a lady friend. The remaining crew were having a party on board rather than keeping watch. Emden arrived at Penang disguised as a British warship, then raised the Imperial German naval flag, sank the FRENCH DESTROYER Mousquet and opened fire on Zhemchug at point-blank range with a torpedo and her main batteries. The torpedo hit near the aft funnel, blowing off the fantail of the cruiser and destroying the aft guns. To their credit, Zhemchug's crew managed to load and return fire with the front guns, but missed the German raider and struck a merchant ship in the harbor instead. Emden's second torpedo then struck Zhemchug at the conning tower, breaking the ship in two. The explosion killed 89 crewmen, and wounded 143 others and the ship quickly sank.

A court-martial held in Vladivostok found Commander Cherkassov guilty of gross negligence and sentenced him to 3.5 years in prison. His executive officer, Lieutenant Kulibin, was sentenced to 18 months. The sentences were later commuted to 18 months by Tsar Nicholas II, but both officers were stripped of their rank, decorations and status as members of the Russian nobility. The bodies of 82 crewmen were buried in Penang; the other seven bodies were never recovered. The ship's 5-inch guns were salvaged by the Russian cruiser RUSSIAN CRUISER Oleg in December 1914.