Russian ironclad Kreml
Kreml's half-sister Pervenets at anchor
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| History | |
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 Russian Empire
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| Name: | Kreml (Russian: Кремль) |
| Namesake: | Kremlin |
| Ordered: | 20 April 1863 |
| Builder: | Semiannikov & Poletika, St. Petersburg |
| Cost: | 898,000 rubles (hull and machinery only) |
| Laid down: | 23 December 1863 |
| Launched: | 26 August 1865 |
| Commissioned: | 1866 |
| Reclassified: | Coast defense ironclad, 13 February 1892 |
| Struck: | 12 October 1905 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 8 September 1908 |
| General characteristics (as completed) | |
| Class and type: | Pervenets-class broadside ironclad |
| Displacement: | 3,664 long tons (3,723 t) |
| Length: | 221 ft (67.4 m) (o/a) |
| Beam: | 53 ft (16.2 m) |
| Draft: | 15 ft (4.6 m) (mean) |
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| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
| Range: | 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) |
| Complement: | 430 officers and crewmen |
| Armament: | 17 × 7.72-inch (196 mm) 60-pounder smoothbore guns |
| Armor: | |
The Russian ironclad Kreml (Russian: Кремль) was the third and last Pervenets-class broadside ironclad built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the mid-1860s. She joined the Baltic Fleet upon completion and accidentally sank a Russian frigate in 1869. The ship was assigned to the Gunnery Training Detachment in 1870 and was frequently rearmed. Kreml sank in shallow water after a storm in 1885; she was refloated and returned to service. The ship was placed in reserve in 1904 and disarmed the following year before being sold for scrap in 1908.
The Pervenents-class ironclads were designed as coastal defence ships to protect the approaches to Saint Petersburg and were referred to as "self-propelled armored floating batteries". As such, heavy armament and protection were the most important factors in their design.
Kreml was 221 feet (67.4 m) long overall, with a beam of 53 feet (16.2 m) and a mean draft of 15 feet (4.6 m). Displacing 3,664 long tons (3,723 t) at full load, she was somewhat larger than her half-sisters and displaced over 300 long tons (300 t) more. She was fitted with a ram bow and lacked the stern ram of her half-sisters. Based on the experiences with her sister Pervenets, bilge keels 12 inches (305 mm) deep and 20 feet (6.1 m) long were fitted to reduce the ship's rolling. The ship did not steer well and historian Stephen McLaughlin notes that she had "an unpredictable habit of suddenly lurching to one side or another", probably as a result of poor water flow to the rudder. Kreml required six men to man her wheel and her total crew numbered 459 officers and enlisted men.
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