page_title: Russian battleship Oslyabya
section_title: Construction and career
hierarchical_section_title: Russian battleship Oslyabya / Construction and career
caption_attribution_description: English: The Russian battleship Oslyabya leaving Bizerte, 9 January 1904
context_page_description: Oslyabya was the second of the three Peresvet-class second-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy at the end of the nineteenth century, although construction delays meant that she was the last to be completed. The ship was part of the Second Pacific Squadron sent to the Far East during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, and served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Baron Dmitry von Fölkersam. Oslyabya was sunk on 27 May 1905 at the Battle of Tsushima, and was the first all-steel battleship to be sunk by naval gunfire alone. Sources differ on the exact number of casualties, but over half her crew went down with the ship.
context_section_description: Oslyabya, named for Rodion Oslyabya, a 14th-century monk of the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra and a hero of the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, was laid down on 21 November 1895 by the New Admiralty Shipyard in Saint Petersburg and launched on 8 November 1898. Problems at the New Admiralty Shipyard delayed her completion until 1903 at a cost of 11,340,000 rubles. The ship sailed for Port Arthur on 7 August 1903 with the armored cruiser Bayan, but Oslyabya ran aground in the Strait of Gibraltar on 21 August and was under repair until late November, first in Algeria, then at La Spezia, Italy. After repairs, the ship resumed her voyage to the Far East, but she was recalled to join the Baltic Fleet on 12 February 1904, following the start of the Russo-Japanese War three days previously. After arrival at St. Petersburg in April, Oslyabya was fitted with 4.5-foot (1.4 m) Barr & Stroud rangefinders, telescopic gun sights, a new ventilation system, and Telefunken radio equipment.
caption: Oslyabya leaving Bizerte, 9 January 1904
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