Korvet Vitjaz
The Vitjaz (Russian: Витязь; "Hero") was a corvet (from 1892: cruiser 1st class) with sail and screw of the Russian Imperial Navy.
The Vitjaz was built on shipyard Galernernogo ostrova in St. Petersburg by shipbuilder P.A. Titov under observation of marine engineer A. E. Leontev. It was completed on August 16, 1883 and abandoned on October 23, 1884. The ship was powered by a steam engine (3000 hp) and had 3 steel masts; The last Russian light cruiser (classification since 1892) with sailing. It was furthermore the first corvette or. cruiser with an armored steel deck, which would later be applied to all armored cruisers, such as the Aurora, Varjag, Novik and Askold. The ship was armed with 10 152 mm, 4 87 mm, 10 47 mm guns and 4 torpedo tubes. It had a water displacement of 3,200 tons, could reach a speed of 14 knots and had a crew of 372 people. On July 16, 1886, the ship was taken into service.
From 1886 to 1889, it made a journey around the world in 997 days led by Captain Stepan Makarov, feeding from Kronsjtadt via the Atlantic Ocean and the Magellan Street to Vladivostok (April 1887) and returned in December 1888 via the Indian Ocean to arrive on 1 June 1889 in Kronstadt after returning after 59,269 miles, of which about half with the help of the sails. During the trip, hydrographic measurements were carried out and described unknown coasts and islands, for example in the Northern Pacific. Also, hypotheses were tested such as the existence of a warm wave flow from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Makarov's scientific operations in the field of hydrology led to return to honors (including the Russian Geographic Society) and international recognition.
In 1891 the corvet again went to the Russian Far East, which became part of the Far Eastern Eskader. The year when the Russian navy introduced a new classification system, the Vitjaz was classified as a cruiser first class. The ship continued the hydrological investigation along the Korean Peninsula. At the beginning of 1893 the crew knew a map of Japanese Sea until then unknown. However, on April 28, 1893, the Vitjaz performed on a cliff in the Nevelskoj Street between the mainland of the Russian Far East and the island of Sachalin. The ship was found to be no longer able to be pulled and dismantled on site. The cliff is now called Vitjazklif. In the Japanese Sea, two bays were further named after the ship, including the Vitjaz bend. The name of the ship was further cut out in the front of the Musée Oceania de Monaco, as part of 10 ships that made an important contribution to the research on the oceans.
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