Cruiser Aurora

Aurora, moored in St. Petersburg, Russia
History
Russia
Name:	Aurora
Namesake:	Aurora
Builder:	Admiralty Shipyard, St. Petersburg
Laid down:	23 May 1897
Launched:	11 May 1900
Commissioned:	29 July 1903
In service:	1903-1957
Status:	Active, preserved at St. Petersburg
Notes:	Participated in: Dogger Bank incident (1904) Battle of Tsushima (1905) October Revolution (1917)
General characteristics
Class and type:	Pallada-class protected cruiser
Displacement:	6,731 tonnes (6,625 long tons)
Length:	126.8 m (416 ft)
Beam:	16.8 m (55 ft)
Draught:	7.3 m (24 ft)
Propulsion:	1903: Triple shaft; three triple expansion reciprocating steam engines; 24 coal-fired Belleville boilers; total power 11,610 hp
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Range:	7,200 km (4,500 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	590
Armament:	1903: 8 × 152 mm (6-inch) guns 24 × 75 mm guns 8 × 37 mm guns 3 × torpedo tubes (two underwater) 1917: 14 × 152 mm guns 4 × 76 mm AA guns Machine guns 3 × torpedo tubes (two underwater)

Aurora (Russian: Авро́ра, tr. Avrora; IPA: [ɐˈvrorə]) is a 1900 Russian protected cruiser, currently preserved as a museum ship in St. Petersburg. Aurora was one of three Pallada-class cruisers, built in St. Petersburg for service in the Pacific. All three ships of this class served during the Russo-Japanese War. Aurora survived the Battle of Tsushima and was interned under US protection in the Philippines, eventually returned to the Baltic Fleet. The second ship, Pallada, was sunk by the Japanese at Port Arthur in 1904. The third ship, Diana, was interned in Saigon after the Battle of the Yellow Sea. One of the first incidents of the October Revolution in Russia took place on the cruiser Aurora.

Soon after completion, in November 1903, Aurora received orders to sail with a group of reinforcements to the Russian Pacific Fleet. However, she suffered from repeated mechanical failures and had to be repaired at several ports along the way. When word was received of the start of the Russo-Japanese War while at Djibouti, she was detached from the reinforcement fleet and sent back to the Baltic. After refitting, Aurora was ordered back to Asia as part of the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron, a collection formed from the Russian Baltic Fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky. On the way to the Far East, Aurora sustained light damage from confused friendly fire, which killed the ship's chaplain and a sailor, in the Dogger Bank incident.