Russian armoured cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi Dmitrii Donskoi ( ) was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the early 1880s . She was designed as a commerce raider and equipped with a full suite of sails to economize on coal consumption . The ship spent the bulk of her career abroad , either in the Far East or in the Mediterranean . " Dmitrii Donskoi " was assigned to the Second Pacific Squadron after the Japanese destroyed the Russian ships deployed in the Far East during the early stages of the Russo - Japanese War of 1904 – 05 . The squadron was intercepted by the Japanese fleet in May 1905 in the Battle of Tsushima after a lengthy voyage from the Baltic . The cruiser was not seriously damaged during the initial fighting and tried to continue on to Vladivostok after the first day ' s fighting . She was spotted by several groups of Japanese warships the following day and was badly damaged in the resulting combat . Her captain ordered the crew ashore off Ulleungdo Island and had " Dmitrii Donskoi " scuttled offshore . Design and description . " Dmitrii Donskoi " was classified as a semi - armoured frigate and was an improved version of her half - sister . The ship was designed with long endurance and high speed to facilitate her role as a commerce raider . She was laid out as a central battery ironclad with her armament concentrated amidships . The iron - hulled ship was fitted with a ram and was sheathed in wood and copper to reduce fouling . Her crew numbered approximately 550 officers and men . The ship was long overall . She had a beam of and a draught of . The ship displaced at deep load . " Dmitrii Donskoi " had two three - cylinder compound steam engines driving a single propeller shaft . Steam was provided by eight cylindrical boilers . The engines were designed to produce , but produced during sea trials which gave the ship a maximum speed around . The ship normally carried of coal which gave her an economical range of at a speed of , but she is known to have loaded in May 1889 . She was ship rigged with three masts and had a total sail area of . To reduce drag while under sail , her funnels were retractable . The highest speed that she made solely under sail was . " Dmitrii Donskoi " was armed with two 30 - calibre Model 1877 guns , on sponsons on the upper deck between the funnels . The fourteen 28 - calibre Model 1877 guns were mounted in casemates on the main deck . Anti - torpedo boat defence was provided by a number of nine - pounder ( ) , four - pounder ( ) and five - barreled revolver Hotchkiss gun s . The ship was also equipped with four above - water torpedo tube s . The ship ' s waterline belt was composed of compound armour and extended the full length of the ship . It was six inches thick amidships , but reduced to at the ship ' s ends . It extended above the waterline and below . Transverse bulkheads thick protected the guns in the battery from raking fire . The sponsons of the 8 - inch guns were equally thick . The protective deck was thick . Service . Construction began on " Dmitrii Donskoi " on 22 September 1880 at the New Admiralty Shipyard in St . Petersburg , although the formal keel - laying ceremony was not held until 21 May 1881 . She was launched on 30 August 1882 and completed in early 1885 . The ship ' s total cost was 3 , 421 , 468 rubles . The ship was named after Dmitry Donskoy , Grand Duke of Moscow . She sailed to the Mediterranean on 8 August 1885 and remained there until she arrived at Port Said on 6 March 1887 en route to the Far East . " Dmitrii Donskoi " reached Nagasaki , Japan , on 19 May and remained in Japanese waters for several months . The ship arrived at Vladivostok on 20 July and accidentally grounded on 12 October whilst conducting torpedo practice . Only lightly damaged , she was refloated the following day . " Dmitrii Donskoi " wintered in Japan that year and made port visits to Chefoo and Shanghai in February 1888 . She was refitted in Yokohama before she began her return to the Baltic on 20 January 1889 . The ship was inspected by Tsar Alexander III after her arrival at Kronstadt on 12 June . She began a lengthy overhaul in preparation for her next foreign cruise shortly afterwards . " Dmitrii Donskoi " began her second foreign cruise on 3 October 1891 when she sailed for the Mediterranean , visiting Brest , France en route . She was reclassified as a cruiser of the first rank on 13 February 1892 and remained in the Mediterranean for another month or so . The ship reached Vladivostok on 29 June , stopping at Aden , Singapore , and Hong Kong en route . " Dmitrii Donskoi " served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Tirtov several times during the year . She spent the winter in Yokosuka and Nagasaki before she sailed in early 1893 to America for a goodwill visit to mark the 400 anniversary of America ' s discovery . In Algiers in March , the ship picked up Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia and became flagship of Rear Admiral Kaznakov who commanded all the Russian ships at the exhibition . " Dmitrii Donskoi " reached New York City on 25 April and participated in the Presidential Review two days later . She made port visits to Philadelphia , Boston and Newport , Rhode Island before she arrived back at Kronstadt in early September . During the ship ' s lengthy 1893 – 95 refit , she was rearmed with six 45 - calibre six - inch guns , ten 45 - calibre guns , and six guns . Her boilers may have been replaced at this time and her sailing rig was replaced by three pole masts . Wilgelm Vitgeft was appointed as the ship ' s captain in late 1895 and " Dmitrii Donskoi " began her voyage to the Far East on 10 November . She was one of the Russian ships that occupied Port Arthur in March 1898 and participated in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion in mid - 1900 . The ship was ordered home in late 1901 . " Dmitrii Donskoi " was refitted again upon her arrival and six of her 4 . 7 - inch guns were replaced by six guns and two additional 47 mm guns . After the completion of her refit , she escorted a group of seven destroyers and five torpedo boats to the Mediterranean in October 1903 where they were assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Virenius . The Naval Staff decided to reinforce the Pacific Squadron with the Mediterranean Squadron in December , but its departure was delayed by repairs to the battleship after it had grounded . When the Russo - Japanese War began in February , the squadron was in the Red Sea and was recalled to the Baltic lest it be caught and destroyed en route by the Japanese . " Dmitrii Donskoi " was assigned to the cruiser force of the Second Pacific Squadron and departed Libau on 15 October 1904 bound for Vladivostok with Captain 1st Rank Lebedev in command . The ship passed the Cape of Good Hope on 20 December . Whilst approaching the Strait of Tsushima on 27 May 1905 , the Russian force was intercepted by the Japanese in the Battle of Tsushima . The cruiser was assigned to defend the transport ships at the rear of the Russian formation and was not seriously engaged during the day . She became separated from the rest of the fleet during the early evening and attempted to sail north to Vladivostok through the Japanese fleet . " Dmitrii Donskoi " was unsuccessfully attacked by Japanese destroyers and torpedo boats during the night . The following morning , she helped to transfer the badly wounded squadron commander , Vice Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky , from the destroyer " Buini " to the destroyer " Biedovi " and then was forced to scuttle " Buini " when the destroyer ' s machinery broke down . The destroyer ' s crew as well as some 205 survivors from " Oslyabya " were transferred to the cruiser before " Buini " was scuttled . As the ship sailed northward , she was spotted late in the day by several groups of Japanese ships and badly damaged in the ensuing combat . Captain Lebedev decided to run his ship aground on Ulleungdo Island , but the ship anchored instead and all of the men aboard were taken to the island . Roughly 60 men of the ship ' s crew had been killed and another 120 wounded during the fighting . The next morning , 29 May , " Dmitrii Donskoi " was scuttled about a mile and a half ( 2 . 4 km ) offshore , approximately at . The survivors were taken prisoner that afternoon by landing parties from the and the armed merchant cruiser " Kasugu Maru " .