Design and Description
Imperator Alexandr III was 397 feet (121.0 m) long long overall, had a beam of 76 feet 1 inch (23.19 m) and a draft of around 29 feet 2 inches (8.9 m) at deep load. Designed to displace 13,516 long tons (13,733 t), she was over 600 long tons (610 t) overweight and displaced 14,181 long tons (14,409 t). This caused a problem during sea trials on 6 October 1903 when Imperator Alexandr III made a high-speed turn that caused her to heel 15° and submerged the embrasures for the 75-millimeter (3.0 in) guns. Her intended crew consisted of 28 officers and 754 enlisted men, although she carried 826–46 crewmen in service. Her design was based on that of the Tsesarevich, modified to suit Russian machinery.
The ship was powered by two 4-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam generated by 20 Belleville boilers. The engines were rated at 15,800 indicated horsepower (11,800 kW) and designed to reach a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Imperator Alexandr III, however, only reached a top speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) from 16,225 indicated horsepower (12,099 kW) during her official machinery trials on 23 July 1903. She carried a maximum of 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) of coal which allowed her to steam for 2,590 nautical miles (4,800 km; 2,980 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).
The ship's main battery consisted of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns mounted in two twin-gun turrets, one forward and one aft of the superstructure. The secondary armament consisted of 12 Canet 6-inch (152 mm) quick-firing (QF) guns, mounted in twin-gun turrets. A number of smaller guns were carried for defence against torpedo boats. These included twenty 75-millimeter (3.0 in) QF guns and twenty 47-millimeter (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns. She was also armed with four 15-inch (381 mm) torpedo tubes, one each at the bow and stern above water and two submerged. Imperator Alexandr III's waterline armor belt consisted of Krupp armor and was 5.7–7.64 inches (145–194 mm) thick. The armor of her gun turrets had a maximum thickness of 10 in (254 mm) and her deck ranged from 1 to 2 inches (25 to 51 mm) in thickness. The 1.5-inch (38 mm) armored lower deck curved downwards and formed an anti-torpedo bulkhead.
Read more about this topic: Russian Battleship Imperator Aleksandr III (1901)
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