Russian Cruiser Bayan (1900) - Operational History

Operational History

The Bayan, one of the most modern ships in the Imperial Russian Navy, was assigned to serve in the Port Arthur squadron of the Russian Pacific Fleet, partly in response to the acquisition of the Asama-class armored cruisers by the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was not however meant as a direct counterpart of heavier Japanese armoured cruisers, but rather as a scout, better armed and armoured, than protected cruisers.

At the outbreak of hostilities between Japan and Russia, the Bayan was not hit during an opening Japanese torpedo attack on 8 February 1904. It took part in a battle of Port Arthur on a following day 9 February, when it was the first ship to attack the oncoming Japanese ships. It suffered superficial damage from 9 hits and numerous splinters, 6 crewmen were killed and 35 injured. It fired 28 rounds 203 mm, 100 - 152 mm and 160 - 75 mm, with unknown results. It was consequently trapped in the harbor along with the rest of the Russian fleet during the subsequent Siege of Port Arthur.

The damage to the Bayan was repaired in several days and subsequently the cruiser patrolled off Port Arthur and took part in several fleet actions. Together with the cruiser Novik, it undertook a sortie on 11 March 1904, to support Russian destroyer Steregushchiy under attack by the Japanese destroyers, but it was sunk before help arrived.

For the next month Bayan was involved in a number of sorties by the First Pacific Squadron, including Admiral Makarov's ill-fated final sortie of 13 April 1904. The Bayan sailed alone to help the destroyer Strashnii, attacked by the Japanese destroyers, but it managed only to save 5 sailors, under a fire from six Japanese cruisers. In a following Russian fleet action, the Bayan was only two kilometers from Port Arthur when the Admiral's flagship Petropavlovsk struck a mine and sank. The Bayan assisted with rescue of the survivors, which did not include the Admiral.

The Bayan participated in additional sorties on 23 June 1904 and 24 July 1904. While returning from this last sortie and flying the flag of Rear Admiral Reitzenstein, the Bayan struck a mine but made it back to Port Arthur. She was still under repair on 10 August 1904 when the Port Arthur squadron under Rear Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft attempted to run the Japanese blockade for Vladivostok and engaged the Japanese fleet in the Battle of the Yellow Sea.

After the death of Admiral Vitgelf, Robert Wiren (1856-1917), the captain of the Bayan, was appointed commander of the Port Arthur Squadron. However, despite Wiren's admirable combat record, he showed no inclination to leave port to engage the Japanese, using the excuse that he needed to preserve his ships to reinforce the Russian Baltic Fleet, already on its way to relieve the siege. His excuse may have had some validity, had he not backed it up by removing almost all of the guns from his remaining ships up to 6-inch caliber to reinforce the shore batteries, and re-assigning most of his sailors to land duty as infantry.

The Japanese Army continued to tighten the stranglehold on Port Arthur. By November 1904 the Japanese had positioned eighteen 11-inch (280 mm) siege mortars (12,242 yard range, 480 lb (220 kg) shells), into place to bombard the Russian ships in the port. By December, all of the warships of the First Pacific Squadron that had not already been sunk were scuttled by their crews to prevent capture, by exploding six to eight torpedo warheads around the hull of each surviving ship. Bayan took more hits from the Japanese guns (12) than any battleship or cruiser in the squadron. She suffered seven hits on the deck, of which five penetrated and five hits on the side of the hull.