Russian cruiser Varyag ( 1899 ) Varyag ( also spelled Variag ; see Varangian for the meaning of the name ) ( ) was a Russian protected cruiser . Varyag became famous for her crew ' s stoicism at the Battle of Chemulpo Bay . History . The Imperial Admiralty contracted William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania to build the ship , and her keel was laid in October 1898 . Launched on October 31 , 1899 , under Captain Vladimir Behr , she was commissioned into the Imperial Russian Navy on January 2 , 1901 . During her construction , an assistant physician , Leo Alexandroff , left the ship ' s advance party on April 20 , 1899 , and applied for U . S . citizenship . He was arrested for desertion . His case reached the United States Supreme Court , which ruled in " Tucker v . Alexandroff " that the ship , though not accepted for service in the Imperial Russian Navy , was a warship under the terms of the 1832 treaty between Russia and the United States . During the Battle of Chemulpo Bay at the start of the Russo - Japanese War , " Varyag " ( under the command of Captain of the First Rank Vsevolod Rudnev ) accepted a badly unequal battle with the Japanese squadron of Admiral Uriu ( one armoured cruiser , five protected cruisers and eight destroyers ) in a heroic attempt to break out from Chemulpo ( Incheon ) harbour February 9 , 1904 . Chemulpo was in neutral Korean waters . Admiral Uriu gave the Russian ships in harbor a written ultimatum to sail by 12 : 00 noon or be attacked in the harbor itself . Captain Rudnev sortied , accompanied by the gunboat " Koreets " ; having lost 31 men dead , 191 injured ( out of 570 ) and outgunned , both ships returned to harbor by 1 : 00 p . m . , the crew decided not to surrender , but to sink the ship . The crew was saved by transferring them to the British cruiser , the French cruiser " Pascal " , and the Italian cruiser " Elba " ; the captain of the American cruiser declined doing so as a violation of U . S . neutrality . In 1907 , Vsevolod Rudnev ( by that time dismissed from Russian naval service in the rank of rear admiral ) was decorated with a Japanese order for that battle ; although he accepted the order , he never wore it in public . The " Varyag " was later salvaged by the Japanese and repaired . She served with the Imperial Japanese Navy as light cruiser . During World War I , Russia and Japan were allies and several ships were transferred by the Japanese to the Russians . She was returned to the Imperial Russian Navy at Vladivostok on April 5 , 1916 and renamed " Varyag " . She was sent to Great Britain for an overhaul , and was due to re - enter service with the Arctic squadron of the Russian Navy . However , following the Russian October Revolution on November 7 , 1917 she was seized by the British and sold to Germany in 1920 for scrap . That same year , while under tow in the Firth of Clyde , she ran aground on rocks near the Scottish village of Lendalfoot , and was scrapped there ( ) . She finally sank in 1925 and was never recovered . Legacy . The Varyag crew ' s stoicism at Chemulpo was commemorated in that remains popular today : Наверх вы , товарищи , все по местам ! < br > Последний парад наступает . < br > Врагу не сдается наш гордый “ Варяг ” , < br > Пощады никто не желает . < br > < br > < br > " ( translation ) " < br > Get up you comrades , take your places , < br > The final parade is at hand . < br > Proud " Varyag " will not surrender to the enemy , < br > No one wants their mercy . On Sunday July 30 , 2006 ( Russian Navy Day ) , a monument to the cruiser was unveiled at Lendalfoot in a ceremony attended by senior Russian politicians and navy personnel , veterans and local dignitaries . On 8 September 2007 a large bronze memorial was dedicated at Lendalfoot . In 2010 , as a gesture marking the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Russia , the flag of the " Varyag " was restored . The Japanese Navy recovered the flag when the ship was salvaged ; and the Incheon Metropolitan Museum acquired them after Japan ' s defeat at the end of World War II . The return of the flag takes the form of a two - year renewable loan because of the Korean law protecting cultural assets .