page_title: Russian battleship Retvizan
section_title: Design and description
hierarchical_section_title: Russian battleship Retvizan / Design and description
caption_attribution_description: English: Sketch of the Russian battleships Retvizan - corrected armour scheme, funnels, bow shape according to S.Suliga: Корабли Русско – Японской войны. Часть 1. Российский флот. Main belt marked as thicker.
context_page_description: Retvizan was a pre-dreadnought battleship built before the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 for the Imperial Russian Navy. She was built by the American William Cramp & Sons because Russian shipyards were already at full capacity. Named after a Swedish ship of the line that was captured during the battle of Vyborg Bay in 1790, Retvizan was briefly assigned to the Baltic Fleet, but was transferred to the Far East in 1902.
  The ship was torpedoed during the Japanese surprise attack on Port Arthur during the night of 8/9 February 1904 and grounded in the harbour entrance when she attempted to take refuge inside, as her draft had significantly deepened from the amount of water she had taken aboard after the torpedo hit. She was refloated and repaired in time to join the rest of the 1st Pacific Squadron when they attempted to reach Vladivostok through the Japanese blockade on 10 August. The Japanese battle fleet engaged them again in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, forcing most of the Russian ships to return to Port Arthur after their squadron commander was killed and his flagship damaged.
context_section_description: Preliminary design work on a battleship intended to equal the latest Japanese ships began in late 1897 and early 1898 by the Naval Technical Committee; the displacement was limited to 12,000 long tons (12,193 t) for economic reasons. The basic design was that of the Peresvet class with its speed increased to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) using only two shafts and its steaming range increased to 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The Naval Ministry intended to conduct an international design competition with the ships being built abroad as the Baltic shipyards were at full capacity.
  Cramp's contacts kept him informed of the Russians' intentions and he sailed to Saint Petersburg to offer his services and design expertise in March 1898. Initially Cramp offered American designs to the Russians, including an updated version of USS Iowa as it was a relatively close match for the Russian specification, but the Russians preferred their own designs. Both sides compromised and the final design was based on the Russian battleship Potemkin. The new ship had four fewer 6-inch (152 mm) guns, but twice the coal capacity for improved range and a longer, slightly narrower hull for more speed. The contract was signed on 23 April 1898 for a price of $4,360,000. The protected cruiser Varyag was ordered at the same time for $2,138,000.
caption: Plan and right elevation line drawing showing the armour (shaded areas) in the elevation view and the armament in the plan view
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