Ugly Duckling

Svietlana, an ugly armoured cruiser built in Denmark about 1897 for the rapidly expanding Russian Fleet. She was one of Enkvist's cruisers at the Battle of Tsushima and here she wears the colour scheme of the Second Pacific Squadron. Likely the photo was taken before the fleet set out in October 1904.

Svietlana tried to follow Rear Admiral Enkvist when he fled late in the battle. Unfortunately, she'd taken hits that had damaged her engines and was unable to keep up. Her captain, therefore stood off to draw the pursuing cruisers of Japanese Rear Admiral Kamimura away from Enkvist's surviving squadron.

But Kamimura was called away by Togo, in any case, to round up the Russian supply ships. Therefore, Svietlana staggered off towards Tsushima Island in the hope she might slip past the Japanese and make Vladivostok.

Alas, Dewa's cruiser's caught her and requested her surrender. Svietlana would have nothing of that and their ensued an unequal fight with no less than four Japanese. After Svietlana fired off her remaining ammunition, she opened her Kingston valves and sank herself.

Most of her crew were picked up by the Japanese, who regarded them as heroes for fighting their ship to the last.

Svietlana was a tough ship, despite her antiquated appearance, but her speed turned out to be her biggest problem. Her old fashioned 'extended ram' bows, reminiscent of French practice of the time, resulted in an 'ugly duckling' appearance. But, she performed better than some of her more modern squadron mates.

Don