Russian battleship Petropavlovsk ( 1894 ) The Petropavlovsk ( Петропавловск ) was the lead ship of the " Petropavlovsk " class of pre - dreadnought battleship s built for the Imperial Russian Navy . She displaced at full load and was long overall , and mounted a main battery of four guns in two twin turrets . " Petropavlovsk " participated in the Boxer Rebellion , and during the Russo - Japanese War was the flagship of the First Pacific Squadron , taking part in battles against the Imperial Japanese Navy . On 13 April 1904 , the battleship was sunk after striking two mines near Port Arthur . 652 men and 27 officers died , including the Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov and renowned war artist Vasily Vereshchagin . The loss of " Petropavlovsk " and Makarov greatly hindered the Russians in the war . Design . The first design for " Petropavlovsk " and her sister ships of the 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 copied from the and the American s , such as the flush - deck hull and " Brennus " high freeboard . Following a redesign of the class , " Petropavlovsk " 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 on " Georgii Pobedonosets " . " Petropavlovsk " had nickel - steel armor imported from the United States . Characteristics . " Petropavlovsk " 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 . " Petropavlovsk " 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 . Early years . In October 1897 " Petropavlovsk " sailed from Saint Petersburg to Kronstadt to be outfitted . In 1898 the guns were fitted ; later the battleship moved to Liepāja , returning to Kronstadt in 1899 . On 5 October 1899 " Petropavlovsk " was transferred to the Far Eastern , East Asia Squadron . Aleksandr Kolchak , who was the chief of the watch on aboard , was to have conducted hydrology experiments in the northern Pacific ocean . However , when the ship arrived in the Mediterranean , Kolchak accepted a position with Eduard Toll ' s expedition and left the vessel . " Petropavlovsk " reached Port Arthur on 28 April 1900 , becoming the flagship of Vice Admiral Skrydlov and the East Asia Squadron . In 1900 the ship took part in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China . In October 1902 Rear Admiral Oskar Victorovich Stark took command of the East Asia Squadron and raised his flag on the " Petropavlovsk " . Russo - Japanese War . In early February 1904 the Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur . The squadron was attacked by a flotilla of Japanese torpedo boat destroyer s . The Russians were not prepared for the attack and confusion ran rampant throughout the harbor ' s interior . " Petropavlovsk " escaped damage during the torpedo attack , but was lightly damaged in an engagement the next day against the Japanese fleet ( she was hit by one six - inch and two 12 - inch shells ) , killing one and wounding four . " Petropavlovsk " fired twenty 12 - inch and sixty - eight 6 - inch shells at the Japanese battleships , but none hit . As a result of the more superior ( at least in Makarov ' s opinion ) " Tsesarevich " undergoing repairs for damage done during the surprise attack , Makarov chose " Petropavlovsk " to be his flagship . Sinking . Having failed to blockade or bottle up the Russian squadron at Port Arthur by sinking blockships in the harbor ' s channel , the Japanese under Admiral Togo formulated a new plan . Ships were to mine the entrance from the harbor and then lure the Russians into the minefield in the hopes of sinking a number of Russian warships . Under cover of four detachments of torpedo boat destroyers , the minelayer " Koru - Maru " began to lay mine s near the entrance to Port Arthur on the night of 31 March . The Japanese were observed by Admiral Makarov , who believed that they were Russian destroyers whom he had ordered to patrol that area . On 13 April 1904 ( 31 March old style ) , " Strashnii " , a Russian destroyer , was intercepted by Japanese destroyers . A sea battle erupted between the opposing destroyers . Makarov immediately dispatched the cruiser " Bayan " to assist the " Strashnii " . After the " Bayan " had informed on presence of enemy cruisers on the site , Makarov decided to lead main forces in order to seek battle with the surrounding enemy warships and rescue more survivors from " Strashnii " . He led two battleships ( " Petropavlovsk " and " Poltava " ) , four cruisers and a group of destroyers into the Yellow Sea . However , the Japanese retreated beyond Port Arthur ' s gunfire support range , and had been reinforced by main forces of six battleships . At 0850 , Makarov turned around to head back to the harbor and join with three other battleships that had just left . After the squadron had united and turned back towards the enemy , about two miles from the shore , on 9 . 42 " Petropavlosk " detonated a Japanese laid mine on her port side . " Petropavlosk " sank , taking 27 officers and 652 men , including Admiral Makarov and renowned war artist Vasily Vereshchagin with her . A monument was constructed in St . Petersburg in 1913 to honor Stephan Makarov after Japanese divers identified his remains inside the wreck of " Petropavlovsk " and gave him a burial at sea . Bibliography . Print sources