Pervenets-class ironclad

The Pervenets class ironclads were a group of three armored frigates built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1860s. Construction of Petropavlovsk and Sevastopol ironclads began earlier, but they were planned as wooden frigates, converted to ironclad and were completed later. This makes Pervenets the first class of Russian ironclad ships.

Background
The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells as demonstrated by the Russian destruction of a Turkish squadron at the Battle of Sinope. The first ironclad battleship, La Gloire, was launched by the French Navy in November 1859. It was followed by the British Warrior class ironclad. Russia was among the first countries to follow.

Design
The Naval Ministry initially ordered two ships. The first ship in the class, RUSSIAN IRONCLAD Pervenets (Firstborn), was built in England and the second identical ship, RUSSIAN IRONCLAD Ne Tron Menia (Don't touch me) in Saint Petersburg. A few months later the decision was made to build a third ship, RUSSIAN IRONCLAD Kreml (Kremlin), at the Neva shipyards in Saint Petersburg.

The ships were smaller and slower than the contemporary British HMS Warrior and French La Gloire, and were in fact designated "Armored Battery", rather "Armored Frigate", such as the later Admiral Lazarev. They had the same 114mm armour as Warrior. Kreml had a few modifications such as a teak layer under the armor and design-planned later upgrade to the 203 mm guns.

Service history
All three ships served in the Baltic Fleet. They never saw any combat action, and gradually transferred from combat ships to training and coastal defence ships. The last ship in the class, Kreml suffered several serious accidents, accidentally scuttling the frigate Orel in 1869. Kreml itself sank due to a storm on 29 May 1885, although she was recovered five days later and returned to service. The last ship of the class, she was scrapped in October 1905.