Russian battleship Imperator Nikolai I
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| History | |
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 Russian Empire
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| Name: | Imperator Nikolai I |
| Namesake: | Nicholas I of Russia |
| Ordered: | 1 January 1886 |
| Builder: | Franco-Russian Works, Saint Petersburg |
| Cost: | 2,853,756 rubles |
| Laid down: | 4 August 1886 |
| Launched: | 1 June 1889 |
| Commissioned: | July 1891 |
| Fate: | Captured by Japan 28 May 1905 |
 Japan
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| Name: | Iki |
| Namesake: | Iki province |
| Acquired: | 28 May 1905 |
| Commissioned: | 6 June 1905 |
| Struck: | 1 May 1915 |
| Fate: | Sunk as target 3 October 1915 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Imperator Aleksandr II-class battleship |
| Displacement: | 9,594 long tons (9,748 t) |
| Length: | 346 ft 6 in (105.61 m) |
| Beam: | 66 ft 11 in (20.40 m) |
| Draft: | 24 ft 3 in (7.39 m) |
| Installed power: | 7,842 ihp (5,848 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft vertical compound steam engines, 12 cylindrical boilers |
| Speed: | 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Range: | 2,630 nautical miles (4,870 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 616 |
| Armament: |
As built:
As Iki:
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| Armor: |
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As built:
As Iki:
Imperator Nikolai I (Russian: Император Николай I) was a Russian Imperator Aleksandr II-class battleship built for the Baltic Fleet in the late 1880s. She participated in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America in New York City in 1892. She assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and visited Toulon in October 1893. She sailed for the Pacific Ocean during the First Sino-Japanese War and remained in the Pacific until late 1896, when she returned to the Mediterranean Squadron and supported Russian interests during the Cretan Revolt. She returned to the Baltic in April 1898 and had a lengthy refit, which replaced all of her machinery, before returning to the Mediterranean in 1901.
Returning to the Baltic during the Russo-Japanese War Imperator Nikolai I was refitted in late 1904 to serve as the flagship of the Third Pacific Squadron under Rear Admiral Nikolai Nebogatov. She was slightly damaged during the Battle of Tsushima and was surrendered, along with most of the Third Pacific Squadron, by Admiral Nebogatov to the Japanese the following day. She was taken into the Imperial Japanese Navy under the new name of Iki (壱岐) and she served as a gunnery training ship until 1910 and then became a first-class coast defense ship and training vessel. She was sunk as a target ship in October 1915.
Imperator Nikolai I was originally intended as a smaller ship than her half-sister Imperator Aleksandr II along the lines of the Brazilian battleship Riachuelo, but armed with 12-inch (305 mm) guns. A contract was signed on 6 November 1885 with the Baltic Works for a 7,572-long-ton (7,694 t) ship armed with two 12-inch guns in a forward barbette. However, this was quickly cancelled and a contract was quickly let with the Franco-Russian Works for a repeat of Imperator Aleksandr II even though the earlier ship had been built by the Baltic Works. The Franco-Russian Works had difficulties getting the drawings and was forced to redraft some of them. They took the opportunity to change the design in a number of relatively minor ways while doing so. However, the substitution of a gun turret for Imperator Aleksandr II's barbette mount was made in 1887, well after the start of construction and proved problematic. The design of the turret was not finalized until April 1889 and work on the forward part of the hull had to cease for more than six months because the dimensions of the turret were not yet known. The turret proved to be 44.9 long tons (46 t) heavier than the older ship's barbette and made Imperator Nikolai I slightly bow-heavy despite a reduction in the height of the belt armor in compensation.
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