Aurora (Russian cruiser)

Type

Protected Cruiser

Period

20th Century

Nation

Russia

Overview: Aurora is a Pallada-class protected cruiser of the Imperial Russian Navy, launched in 1900, famous for the blank shot she fired that signaled the start of the storming of the Winter Palace during the October Revolution of 1917. She is preserved today as a museum ship on the Neva River in St. Petersburg and is one of Russia's most recognizable naval icons. Specifications: The ship displaced 6,731 tons, measured 126.8 m in length with a 16.8 m beam and 7.3 m draught, and was powered by three triple-expansion steam engines driving three shafts for a top speed of 19 knots. Her 1903 armament comprised eight 152 mm guns, twenty-four 75 mm guns, eight 37 mm guns, and three torpedo tubes; by 1917 this had been revised to fourteen 152 mm guns, four 76.2 mm AA guns, and a 2-pounder. Service History: Soon after commissioning in 1903 Aurora deployed toward the Far East, was recalled, and later sailed with the Second Pacific Squadron during the Russo-Japanese War, surviving the disastrous Battle of Tsushima in 1905 and being interned by the United States in the Philippines afterward. She also took part in the Dogger Bank incident of 1904, and later served through the Siege of Leningrad in World War II, during which she was bombed and would sink in the Gulf of Finland before being raised and repaired. Notable Facts: Aurora's most famous moment came in October 1917, when a signal from the ship marked the start of the assault on the Winter Palace, kicking off the 1917 October Revolution. She was decommissioned from active service in 1948 and has been preserved as a museum ship since 1956, now maintained by cadets from the nearby Nakhimov Navy School, making her one of the oldest floating protected cruisers preserved anywhere in the world.