Russian battleship Poltava ( 1894 ) The Russian battleship Poltava ( Russian : Полтава ) was a " Petropavlovsk " - class battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy . She was one of eight Russian pre - dreadnought battleship s captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo - Japanese War of 1904 – 1905 . " Poltava " was built at the Galernii Island shipyard , one of a three - ship class . She was the only " Petropavlovsk " - class battleship to survive the war . Her sister ships " Petropavlovsk " and " Sevastopol " were both lost , " Petropavlovsk " sunk by a mine , and " Sevastopol " scuttled after the capitulation of Port Arthur . " Poltava " was sunk during the siege of Port Arthur in December 1904 , but was raised by the Japanese soon after and renamed Tango ( 丹後 ) . She saw little combat service during her Japanese career , aside from the Siege of Tsingtao . As Japan and Imperial Russia were allies at the time , the Japanese government decided to transfer " Tango " back to Russia . Returned in 1916 , she was renamed Chesma ( Russian : Чесма ) . She joined the Russian revolutionary fleet in October 1917 , but was captured by the British , who used her as a barracks hulk to house Bolshevik prisoners . Abandoned by the British and recaptured by the Bolsheviks , she was scrapped in 1924 . Design . The first design for " Poltava " and her sister ships of the " Petropavlovsk " class was approved in January 1891 . She was to be an improved version of the battleship , but with most of her armament in barbettes , including four guns . The class was designed with a displacement of at full load . She had a full waterline belt , and the upper hull featured a tumblehome . " Imperator Nikolai I " was chosen as a starting point for the design because of her good seakeeping and seaworthiness . Some characteristics were also copied from the and the American s , such as the flush - deck hull and " Brennus " high freeboard . Following a redesign of the class , " Poltava " ceased to resemble " Imperator Nikolai I " . The armor plating was changed before construction , and plans for the armament were modified while the ship was being built . The barbettes were replaced with turrets , including wing turret s for some of the secondary guns , modeled after those on " Brennus " , with electric hoists . The propulsion was based on the machinery present on " Georgii Pobedonosets " . " Poltava " was the first Russian battleship to use Krupp armor ; her sisters used Harvey nickel - steel armor . Characteristics . " Poltava " displaced and was long overall . She had a beam of and a maximum draft of . She was powered by 16 cylindrical coal - burning boilers , and could carry of coal . This gave her a range of at a cruising speed of . She had a crew of 662 . The ship ' s main armament consisted of a battery of four guns in two twin turrets . This was supplemented by a secondary battery of twelve guns . " Poltava " s armament was rounded out with ten guns , twenty - eight anti - torpedo boat guns , and six torpedo tube s , four of which were submerged . Service history . " Poltava " was laid down on 19 May 1892 , at the Galernii Island shipyard , launched on 6 November 1894 , and commissioned on 18 August 1896 . Her trials lasted from 1898 to 1899 . She was then assigned to the Baltic Fleet . As no conflicts were ongoing at this time , " Poltava " did not participate in any combat roles . On 3 October 1900 , " Poltava " and her sister ship " Sevastopol " set sail to Port Arthur , where they arrived on 13 April 1901 and were incorporated into the First Pacific Squadron . As Russia was at peace at this time , " Poltava " did not participate in any combat roles . Russo - Japanese War . On 8 February 1904 , the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur . " Poltava " was hit once on her aft hull , but sustained no casualties . In response to the attack , Poltava turned in pursuit along with other ships of the Russian fleet , all firing their forward guns , but she failed to score any hits . She went back to port and remained there for the next six months with the rest of the fleet . The fleet attempted to breakout several times , but " Poltava " did not participate in any of efforts . On 9 August the Imperial Japanese Army , which had been slowly pushing south to Port Arthur , began an assault on the city ' s outer defenses . With their base now directly under attack , the First Pacific Squadron sortied from its base in an attempt to escape to Vladivostok in the morning , around 07 : 00 . They were intercepted by the Japanese fleet in what became the Battle of the Yellow Sea at 12 : 55 . " Poltava " was sixth in the column of Russian ships when the Japanese engaged them , and from her position started to bombard the at around 14 : 45 . , the Japanese flagship , then fired several shots that hit " Poltava " , causing the Russian squadron to drop back to support her . The Russians scored several hits on " Mikasa " , including two from shots fired by " Poltava " . " Poltava " also scored one hit on the . Owing to the damage " Mikasa " had sustained , the Japanese fleet broke off the attack at around 15 : 20 and turned to starboard , opening the range . By 17 : 35 the Japanese were again closing on the Russian tail end . " Mikasa " and three other battleships opened fire on " Poltava " and three armored cruisers , but problems with their turrets forced the Japanese battleships to break off the engagement . They returned at 18 : 30 , with the and " Asahi " firing on " Poltava " . As the Russian fleet began to slip away , two 12 - inch shells from " Asahi " penetrated the conning tower of the Russian flagship , killing Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft , the commander of the First Pacific Squadron , and the helmsman , severely wounding the captain , and causing the ship to come to a dead stop after executing a sharp turn . Thinking that this was a maneuver planned by Vitgeft , the Russian line started to execute the same turn , causing all of the ships directly behind " Tsesarevich " , including " Poltava " , to maneuver wildly to avoid hitting the stationary flagship . Second in command of the squadron , Prince Pavel Ukhtomski , who was on the , signaled the other Russian ships via semaphore to steam back to Port Arthur . The signals were only gradually recognized by " Pobeda " , " Sevastopol " , " Pallada " and " Poltava " . The " Poltava " was hit by twelve 14 - inch and eight 12 - inch shells during the battle , killing 12 and wounding 43 . Returning to Port Arthur on 10 August , the Russian squadron found the city still under siege by the Japanese Third Army led by Baron Nogi Maresuke . The squadron remained safely inside the port until 5 December , when the Third Army captured 203 Meter Hill , a crucial position overlooking the harbor . From there , the Japanese were able to fire on " Poltava " and other ships of the First Pacific Squadron that had survived the Battle of the Yellow Sea . The ships at that time were about away from the hill , placing them within range of Japanese artillery . By 9 December 1904 , the Japanese had sunk four battleships and two cruisers , including " Poltava " . Japanese career . Following the capture of Port Arthur , Japanese engineers raised " Poltava " on 8 July 1905 , repaired her , and commissioned her as the " Tango " , taking her name from the ancient Japanese province of Tango , now a part of Kyoto - fu . She was the only ship of her class still afloat , as her sister ships " Petropavlovsk " and " Sevastopol " were both lost , " Petropavlovsk " sunk by a mine , and " Sevastopol " scuttled after the capitulation of Port Arthur . She was refitted at Maizuru Naval Arsenal from 1908 – 1909 , and was re - classified as a 1st class Coastal Defence Vessel . She saw little combat service during her Japanese career , aside from the Siege of Tsingtao against the Imperial German Navy . As Japan and Russia were allies in World War I , the Japanese government decided that " Tango " should be transferred back to Russia . Return to Russia . She was transferred in early 1916 , arriving at Vladivostok on 21 March 1916 , where she was renamed " Chesma " ( her original name had been re - used for a dreadnought launched in 1911 ) . She then set sail for the Mediterranean , arriving at Port Said on 6 September to join the Allied fleet off Salamis demanding the disarmament of the Greek fleet . Her machinery was overhauled at Birkenhead , an English port , on 22 November , and she arrived at Aleksandrovsk , a port in the Murmansk Oblast , on 3 January 1917 . She joined the Revolutionary fleet in October of the same year . After the Allied invasion in early 1918 , the ship was captured by the Royal Navy , who described her as " aground and unseaworthy " . She was used as a floating prison to house 40 Bolshevik prisoners . After the British withdrew , the ship was instated into the Bolshevik White Sea Military Flotilla . She was turned over to the port of Archangelsk on 16 June 1921 and stricken from the list of naval vessels on 3 July 1924 , after which she was scrapped .