The Packet of Woodbines

A beautiful photo of the Askold - another of Russia's German- built fast protected cruisers of the 1900s. Here, she wears the colours of the First Pacific Squadron - white hull and superstructure, red funnels and black caps. Later, she was painted in Vitgeft's wartime scheme, variously described as 'rusty dark brown' or 'dark olive green.'

Askold was present at Yellow Sea and fled with Tsessarevitch to Tsingtao to be interned by the Germans for the duration of the war.

Later, she turned up in the Mediterranean as Russia's contribution to the Dardenelle's campaign of 1915. The British dubbed her 'a packet of Woodbines' after a particularly vile brand of cigarettes (noted for their slimness and packets of five) on account of her five, slim, narrow funnels.

In 1917 she was based at Murmansk in the Arctic when the revolution broke out. There, the British took her over and incorporated her into the Royal Navy as HMS Glory IV. She was offered back to the Russians in the 1920s but she was in such poor condition that the Soviet Navy didn't want her. Consequently, she was sent to the breakers, in Germany.

Don