Cruiser Aurora

If you talk about the sights of Saint-Petersburg, the old people at first think about the Cruiser Aurora. The bright symbol of the revolution, which shot changed the life and history not only of the whole country, but the world history in whole. The revolution past of the ship for sure overshadow the events, which happened with the ship before the revolution events, which made a difference in a ship’s destiny, but in lives of millions of people. Before the Cruiser Aurora stopped for the everlasting berthing, it has a great military career, grand past, glorious present and good future.

The Cruiser was constructed specially for the Baltic Fleet, it was a real masterpiece of the military technology, in terms of the technique, excellent work of all mechanisms and systems and missions, which the ship could and was able to fulfil. In 1903 the Cruiser Aurora became a part of the Baltic Fleet and immediately after putting afloat, it joined the squadron of the rear-admiral A. A. Verinius, who the propulsion of the squadron to the far East to reinforce the Port Arthur. The situation was not very serene, so the Russian Army and the Fleet tried to force their positions in this area.

Less than a year later the Russian Empire levied war on Japan. The fleet, which stood in Djibouti, was immediately recalled in Baltic Sea. In April 1904 the Cruiser Aurora entered in to the second armada of the Pacific Fleet, and in August departed for Kronshtadt. Right from here, the Cruiser under the command of the vice-admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky took the course in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, where the military operations went in full swing. It was the Russo-Japanese war.

May 1905 was really heated – the cruiser Aurora took part in the military operations during the Battle of Tsushima, where the admiral H. Togo commanded the Japanese Fleet. Ten shells hit the cruiser, the smoke-stacks were damaged, the forward mine machine was sunk, the water got into the coal compartments. On the 21th of May vice-admiral O. Enkvist withdraw some ships, among which there was the Cruiser Aurora, in the neutral Philippine waters, so that is how “Aurora”, as well as the ships “Oleg” and “Perl” appeared in Manila. Less than a week later the Americans interned the ships and made the crews to undertake not to participate in military actions and to observe neutrality.

The turning for Russia 1917 year was approaching – the workers of the factory, where the ship was on the stocks, persuaded the crew of the cruiser to participate in revolutionary disorders. On the 25th of October 1917 the Revolutionary Council of Petrograd ordered to reduce the bridge, which connected Vasilievsky Island and the city centre. At 9.45 p.m. of the same day the Cruiser “Aurora” fired a blank shot from the prow gun, the signal to start the uprising. Immediately, the soldiers and sailors started the storm of the Winter Palace. What happened next is obvious from the numerous study books.

The Great Patriotic War found the Cruiser “Aurora” in Oranienbaum. The ship bravely defended Leningrad, antiaircraft artillery kept the air attacks of the German aces. During the active military operations the ship was really damaged and it was decided to repair and reconstruct the cruiser and open the museum of the October revolution on its board. In 1947 Cruiser Aurora stopped for its eternal station on the embankment of the Malaya Nevka and looked the same as it was in 1917, when it made a signal for the starting of the revolution. In spite of the fact, that the ship has a status of the museum complex and historical monument, it is officially a part of the Baltic military shipping, has the active crew and is a functioning military unit. Also, it is used as a training base for the students of the Nakhimov Naval School.

In spite the fact that Cruiser Aurora became the part of the Fleet in 1903, it was constructed 6 years earlier on the dockyards f the factory “New Admiralty” and was launched in presence of the Royal Family in May 1900. Originally, Cruiser “Aurora” was supposed to be a part of the squadron of battleships and provide the reconnaissance and cover. Although, in fact, it turns to be not big enough, had a small power reserve and not safe enough armor to participate in big battles, because the original project prepared it for the training purposes. The Cruiser got its name in honor of the frigate, which took part in battles during the Crimean War. The museum exposition is located on the cruiser’s board – it is approximately 10 rooms, among which there is the engine room, the boiler room, the conning tower and captain’s bridge. There are no individual excursions on the cruiser, but it is possible to visit a group excursion, during which you can learn about the glorious centenary history of the ship, see the unique ship machines and other very interesting and unusual exhibits.