100 Years Ago - The Russian Navy, 1914-18

VISIT TO A RUSSIAN CRUISER OF A MEMBER OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT.

Cheers for 'the Allies

THE RUSSIAN CRUISER BAYAN

BOMBARDMENT OF OESEL, IN THE GULF OF RIGA, OCTOBER 12, 1917.

RUSSIAN SAILORS IN A aRITISH' PORT


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Russia’s Baltic fleet

In November, 1916, a strong German torpedo flotilla, composed of boats of a new type, raided the Gulf of Finland, a fog preventing their approach being discovered until they had fired upon Baltic ports, to the westward of Reval

September 5, 1917

The position of affairs in the Baltic, and on the Riga sector of the Eastern front, brings once more into prominence the significance of the Russian Fleet and its efficiency. Much has happened since the last trial of strength in this theatre, when the Germans were frustrated in their attempt to secure the control of the waters in the Gulf of Riga and to throw a military force ashore in the rear of the Russian line. Until the Revolution, the history of the Russian Baltic Fleet in this war had been one of consistent and steady progress. In the early part of the conflict, it was commanded by the intrepid von Essen, well known as the captain of the Novik during the war with Japan and as the officer who materially assisted to recreate the Navy after the disasters of that struggle. In spite of the numerical inferiority of his command, Admiral von Essen successfully repulsed all the German thrusts against the Gulfs of Riga and Finland. On the untimely death of von Essen, he was succeeded by another capable commander in Admiral Kanin, who was able to reap the reward of his predecessor’s labours not only in regard to the training of the pcrsonncl of the Fleet, but also in regard to material. Speaking in June, 1916, Admiral Kanin referred to the commissioning of the four new Dreadnoughts, with a large number of other ships, torpedo craft, and mine-sweepers, and said that the Russians were in quite a different position from that of the year before. Referring to the enemy’s failure in the summer of 1915 at Riga, the Commander-in-Chief added: “We kept them off then, and I am confident we shall be able to keep them off now that we are so much better equipped.”

The successful defence of the Gulf of Riga in August, 1915, was not the only occasion in which the Russian Navy in the Baltic adequately fulfilled the part entrusted to it. In November, 1916, a strong German torpedo flotilla, composed of boats of a new type, raided the Gulf of Finland, a fog preventing their approach being discovered until they had fired upon Baltic ports, to the westward of Reval. So promptly and effectively, however, did the Russian forces concentrate at the point of attack, that the Germans were beaten off with severe loss, from six to nine of their boats being destroyed by gunfire or mines.

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Command of Baltic in the balance

The indication is that Germany has concentrated a considerable naval force in the eastern part of the Baltic, and that the Finland ports, if not the Fleet as well, may shortly be in grave danger

October 15, 1917

The news that the Germans have landed troops and made good their footing on the island of Oesel is disturbing and ominous of further trouble for. Russia. For several weeks past, almost every communique from Petrograd has contained suggestions to the effect that the activity of the German naval forces in the eastern reaches of the Baltic was growing more intense. German aircraft frequently appeared, the intention evidently being to ascertain the exact position of the Russian Fleet and the strength of the defences. Movements of the German Navy northward had been observed and reported by neutrals on several occasions, and battleships and cruisers armed with heavy guns had certainly been seen in the neighbourhood of Libau, Windau, and Domeness. It is undoubtedly true that the experience of the war has shown that attacks by ships upon land defences have not been wholly satisfactory. But circumstances alter cases, and it is very unlikely that the Russians had been able to mount long-range heavy guns at every spot upon the islands where a disembarkation of troops under cover of the ships’ artillery was possible.

The difficulties of landing an army on a hostile coast have not lessened, they have rather increased, in modern times; but the Russians admit that they were greatly outnumbered. Once the islands are in possession of the Germans the shortening of the lines of communication will immensely increase the threat to the naval base at Reval, if not to Petrograd itself. It will give the Germans the virtual command of the Baltic, but one would hesitate to predict whether they will attempt to make immediate use of such a success, or delay the decisive blow until next year.
The indication is that Germany has concentrated a considerable naval force in the eastern part of the Baltic, and that therefore the Finland ports, if not the Fleet as well, may shortly be in grave danger. If all was well with the Russian Navy, and it was certain that the seamen would obey orders, it might still be said that an advance on Petrograd by the Gulf of Finland was an almost impossible task. Unhappily there is nothing to show that normal conditions in the Fleet have been restored or that its spirit is that it was when Admirals von Essen and Kanin were in command.
KERENSKY’S APPEAL TO THE FLEET
M Kerensky has sent the following telegram to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies on the northern Front:

Tell the redoubtable Baltic Fleet that the hour of trial has arrived. Russia expects, for her safety, a valiant effort by the Navy, and I, as Generalissimo, demand that the sailors should make sacrifices. The hour has come when the Baltic Fleet can defend the honour of the Fatherland and the great traditions of liberty of the Revolution. it is time to reflect seriously and to cease to co-operate involuntarily with the cause of the enemy. The garrison of Kronstadt has by its attitude already caused the defensive resources of the fortress to be incomplete. Let all remember that the Fatherland will not forgive criminal levity or malicious instigation. Let the abominable crime of the battleship Petropavlovsk be redeemed. Let the Fleet repulse the enemy under the command of its officers, whose patriotism is well known to all Russia.
*The Petropavlovsk incident occurred last month, when it was stated that the officers of the Army and Navy in Finland were called upon to sign a pledge of fidelity to the Provisional government, and this gave rise to misunderstandings in the Petropavlovsk, with the result that four officers refused to sign and were shot by the crew.


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october 19, 1917

Russian warships trapped

The latest news of the German enterprise in the Eastern Baltic indicates its complete success. The occupation of Oesel Island has been effected, apparently without great loss. The Russian naval forces were too few and too weak to withstand the German squadrons. With the fall of the coastal batteries on the Sverbe Peninsula the passage of the Irben Channel was forced. The heavier German ships were then able to enter the Gulf of Riga.
Considering the relative strength of the opposed forces, the result must have been a foregone conclusion. The heavy guns in the German Dreadnoughts would outrange and overpower the armaments of the older Russian vessels. The Slava, which has already figured in several engagements in the Gulf, was sunk after a gallant stand against the superior enemy. That two other large Russian vessels should have escaped was due to their retirement into the Moon Sound, but even there they may not find safety.

It is probable that the Russian minefields will, for a little time, offer an impediment to the German ships. When, however, these obstructions are swept away, it is unlikely to be long before all the islands are taken.
It is clear that the failure of the Baltic Fleet to put in an appearance when the strength of the German force became known in Petrograd was the primary cause of the loss of the islands. A couple of old battleships, with the assistance of a flotilla of destroyers and gunboats, could not be expected, even with a display of the most stubborn courage, to withstand the formidable squadrons to which they were opposed. That this little division of the Russian Fleet sacrificed itself in an attempt to delay the enemy is a high tribute to its gallantry and patriotism. That it was not reinforced from the fleet in the Gulf of Finland was due, it must be supposed, to the loss of discipline brought about by the Revolution.

The stirring appeal of M Kerensky to the fleet appears to have been of little avail. The mastery of the Gulf of Riga lays open to German enterprise the whole of Esthonia’s eastern shores. If anything like a normal condition of efficiency can be restored to the Baltic Fleet, it may yet be capable of offering opposition to the advance of the Germans in the Gulf of Finland.