Russian cruiser Bayan ( 1907 ) Bayan ( Russian : Баянь ) was the third of the four armoured cruiser s built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the early 1900s . The ship was assigned to the Baltic Fleet . She was modified to lay mines shortly after World War I began . " Bayan " laid mines herself and provided cover for other ships laying minefield s . The ship fought several inconclusive battles with German ships during the war , including the Battle of Åland Islands in mid - 1915 . She also participated in the Battle of Moon Sound during the German invasion of the Estonian islands in late 1917 , where she was damaged . " Bayan " was decommissioned in 1918 and sold for scrap in 1922 . Design and description . " Bayan " was long overall . She had a maximum beam of , a draught of and displaced . The ship had a crew of 568 officers and men . " Bayan " was named in honor of the earlier Russian cruiser captured by the Japanese during the Russo - Japanese War . Both ships were named for the legendary bard , Boyan . The ship had two vertical triple - expansion steam engines with a designed total of , but they developed on sea trials and drove the ship to a maximum speed of . Steam for the engines was provided by 26 Belleville boiler s . She could carry a maximum of of coal , although her range is unknown . " Bayan " s main armament consisted of two 45 - calibre guns in single turrets fore and aft . Her eight guns were mounted in casemate s on the sides of the ship ' s hull . Anti - torpedo boat defense was provided by twenty two 50 - calibre guns ; eight of these were mounted in casemates on the side of the hull and in the superstructure . Two guns were astern , in admiral ' s apartments , and the remaining twelve guns were located on upper deck amidships ( eight above the six - inch gun casemates ) , in pivot mounts with gun shield s . There were no 47 mm guns , unlike on the prototype ship . The ship also had two submerged torpedo tube s , one mounted on each broadside . In early 1916 , eight of the ship ' s 75 mm guns in the central casemate were removed , and in early 1917 , the rest were removed as well . By early 1917 , an additional eight - inch gun was fitted on the centreline forward of the mainmast ( it was supposed to be protected with a gun shield , but the photos do not confirm this ) . In addition , four more six - inch guns were added on an upper deck , two on each broadside . In early 1917 the " Bayan " was also fitted with two anti - aircraft 76 mm Lender guns , mounted to the sides of the after turret . The ship used Krupp armour throughout . Her waterline belt was thick over her machinery spaces , reducing to towards lower edge . Fore and aft , it reduced to . The upper belt and the casemates were thick . The armour deck was thick ; over the central battery it was a single plate , but elsewhere it consisted of a plate over two plates . The gun turrets were protected by of armour and the conning tower had walls thick . Service . " Bayan " was built by the Admiralty Shipyard in Saint Petersburg . Construction began on 15 August 1905 , although she was ceremonially laid down only on the day of her launching 15 August 1907 . " Bayan " was completed in early 1911 and commissioned on 14 July 1911 . She spent her entire career with the Baltic Fleet . When World War I began , " Bayan " was assigned to the First Cruiser Brigade . Shortly after the start of the war , in December 1914 " Bayan " was modified to carry up to 110 mines . She laid her first mines in early December when she was one of a group of ships that mined the northern and western entrances to the Gulf of Danzig . The following month , she provided cover as other cruisers laid minefields in the western Baltic Sea , near Bornholm and Rügen Islands on the night of 12 January 1915 . Together with her sister and two protected cruisers , she fought a brief and inconclusive action with the light cruiser during the night of 6 / 7 May while covering a minelaying sortie off Libau . On 2 July , the ship participated in the Battle of Åland Islands when intercepted and decoded wireless signals informed the Russians that a small German force was at sea to lay a minefield off the Åland Islands . Rear Admiral Mikhail Bakhirev was already at sea with " Admiral Makarov " , " Bayan " , , the protected cruisers and , and the destroyer en route to bombard Memel . " Rurik " and " Novik " got separated from the others in fog , but the rest of the force encountered the light cruiser and a number of destroyers escorting the minelayer . The Russians concentrated on " Albatross " , which was forced to run aground in Swedish territorial waters , while the faster " Augsburg " escaped to the south . The Russian cruisers were low on ammunition when they encountered two more German cruisers and broke off the action after " Bayan " and the armoured cruiser exchanged hits . The " Bayan " fired forty 8 - in rounds and was hit with one 210 mm round amidships , which caused superficial damage and wounds to two crewmen . The " Roon " lost her wireless aerial due to a near miss ; the Russians reported more hits , but not confirmed . Battle of Moon Sound . In 1917 , " Bayan " was the flagship of Vice Admiral Bakhirev , who now commanded the naval forces defending the Gulf of Riga . During Operation Albion , the invasion of the Estonian islands of Saaremaa ( Ösel ) , Hiiumaa ( Dagö ) and Muhu ( Moon ) , in October 1917 , the ship defended the southern entrance to Moon Sound on 17 October . When the German minesweeper s began clearing the minefields guarding the entrance , they were attacked by " Bayan " and the predreadnought , while the predreadnought engaged the dreadnought s and defending the minesweepers . " Slava " was hit multiple times by the German ships and Bakirev ordered his forces to withdraw . " Bayan " was the last ship to withdraw , but she was hit once by a shell from " König " before she moved out of range . The shell penetrated the deck near the forward turret and started a fire among the flammable material in the cable compartment that was not extinguished until the next day . Fragments from the shell destroyed a bulkhead and loosened some plates of the ship ' s bottom . The location of the fire near the forward magazine forced it to be flooded as a precaution . Between the leaky plates and the flooded magazine , the ship took about aboard and her draught forward increased to . The shell killed five men and wounded three more . Despite her increased draught , " Bayan " was able to pass through the dredged channel connecting the northern and southern parts of Moon Sound later that day . When the general withdrawal was ordered the following day , the ship sailed for Finland . She was paid off in 1918 and did not participate in the Russian Civil War . " Bayan " was sold for scrap in 1922 and broken up in Stettin .