Arkhangelsk
Type: Russian battleship of British Royal Sovereign class.
History: When Italy surrendered in September 1943 the Soviet government immediately laid claim to one-third of the Italian fleet as reparations for the damage done by Italian units in the Black Sea. Although the Allies had little choice and no willingness to make this settlement, they compromised by transferring a number of their own ships on loan, until such time as the surrendered Italian fleet could be apportioned.
As part of this deal the Royal Navy made available the old battleship Royal Sovereign, which had been launched in 1915, together with four submarines (U and S class) and nine ex-US Flush-decker destroyers.
The Royal Sovereign class (or short 'R'-class) was the last British battleships build during World War I. This class was originally to have comprised eight ships, but only five were actually completed: Resolution, Revenge, Royal Oak, Ramiillies and Royal Sovereign.
Their dimensions were slightly smaller than the Queen-Ellizabeth-class, but the armour distribution was better, while the main armament of eight 15in (381mm) in four twin turrets was the same.
These five ships were refitted but not modernised in the inter-war years and during WW2 they undertook second-line, but nevertheless important duties such as protecting convoys against attacks by German surface raiders.
The only war loss was Royal Oak, which was sunk in Scapa Flow by U-47 on October 14, 1939. Resolution was torpedoed by a French submarine in 1940 and Ramillies by a Japanese midget-submarine in 1942, but both were repaired and returned to service. Ramillies was used for shore bombardement during the Allied landings in Normandy and south of France.
Battleship Royal Sovereign after handed over to the Soviet navy as Arkhangelsk.
The Royal Sovereign had recently been equipped with new radar and anti-aircraft guns, but she was surplus to Royal Navy requirements except for shore bombardment tasks. A Soviet crew arrived in England early in 1944 and commissioned the ship formally as the Arkhangelsk on May 30, 1944. She left for the Kola Inlet with Arctic convoy JW59 in August 1944 and remained in the Arctic without firing a single shot for the rest of the war.
The battleship Arkhangelsk in June 1944, shortly after commissioning in the Soviet navy.
As a bizarre sidelight on the Russian character at this times, when she was returned in February 1949 it was found that every gun on board was still loaded, from 15-in down to 2-pdr pom-poms. In addition the mess decks were covered in human excrement.
User: British Royal Navy, Soviet navy.
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Arkhangelsk
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| Type |
battleship |
| Displacement |
29,150 tons |
| Displacement
(full loaded) |
32,500 tons |
| Length (oa) |
620 ft 6 in |
| Beam |
101 ft 6 in |
| Draught |
28.6 ft |
| Main Armament |
8 x 15-in (381-mm) guns in 4 turrets. |
| Secundary Armament |
12 x 6-in (152mm) in single turrets |
| Anti-Aircraft guns |
4 x twin-4-in (102mm), 8 x quadruble 2-pdr (40mm), 17 x single 20-mm AA guns
|
| Torpedo tubes |
original 4 x 21-in (533mm) |
| Anti-Submarine weapons |
- |
| Mines |
- |
| Aircrafts |
- |
| Armour side (belt) |
4 - 13 in (102-330 mm) |
| Armour main deck |
3/43 - 2 1/2 in (20-64 mm) |
| Armoured deck |
- |
| Armour main turrets |
11 - 13 in (280-330 mm) |
| Armour secundary turrets |
? |
| Armour barbetts |
4 - 10 in (100-250 mm) |
| Armour conning towers |
6 - 11 in (152-280 mm) |
| Boiler |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Power |
40,000 hp |
| Bunkerage |
?
(3,630 tons oil for 10% bigger Queen Elizabeth with double range) |
| Speed |
23 kts |
| Range |
|
| Complement |
1,146 |
| Completed |
Resolution, Revenge, Royal Oak and Royal Sovereign in 1916, Ramilles in 1917. |
| Remaining |
Royal Oak sunk October 14, 1939.
Royal Sovereign transferred to Soviet navy as Arkhangelsk on May 30, 1944.
All surviving ships scapped in the late 1940s.
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3d model of battleship Revenge of Royal Sovereign class.
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