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''Rostislav'' was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Nikolaev Admiralty Shipyard in the 1890s for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was conceived as a small, inexpensive coastal defence ship, but the Navy abandoned the concept in favor of a compact, seagoing battleship with a displacement of . Poor design and construction practices increased her actual displacement by more than . ''Rostislav'' became the world's first capital ship to burn fuel oil, rather than coal.〔Willmott, p. 57.〕 Her combat ability was compromised by the use of main guns instead of the de facto Russian standard of . Her hull was launched in September 1896, but non-delivery of the ship's main guns delayed her maiden voyage until 1899 and her completion until 1900. In May 1899 ''Rostislav'' became the first ship of the Imperial Navy to be commanded by a member of the House of Romanov, Captain Alexander Mikhailovich.〔Melnikov, p. 12.〕 From 1903 to 1912 the ship was the flagship of the second-in-command of the Black Sea Fleet. During the 1905 Russian Revolution her crew was on the verge of mutiny, but ultimately remained loyal to the regime, and actively suppressed the mutiny of the cruiser ''Ochakov''. ''Rostislav'' was actively engaged in World War I until the collapse of the Black Sea Fleet in the beginning of 1918. She was the first Russian ship to fire on enemy targets on land during World War I, the first to be hit by a German airstrike, and the first to destroy a submarine, albeit a Russian one. In April 1918 the fleeing Bolsheviks abandoned ''Rostislav'' in Sevastopol. A year later the British occupation forces permanently disabled her engines. The White forces used the ship as a towed floating battery, then scuttled her in the Strait of Kerch in November 1920. ==Design and description== Similar in size to earlier coastal defence ships but seaworthy for operations in the Black Sea, ''Rostislav'' was conceived in 1892 as a cheap and compact platform for 12-inch guns. Admiral Nikolay Chikhachov, Chief of the Ministry of the Navy, envisioned a squadron of such ships, each displacing , that would fit into his total desired displacement target of . Chief designer of the Nikolaev Shipyard, Sergey Ratnik,〔In the very beginning of 1893 Ratnik moved from Nikolaev to Saint Petersburg and became chief executive of privately owned Baltic Shipyard. – Melnikov, p. 4.〕 evaluated Chikhachov's request for proposals, and advised against the idea in general. The Naval Technical Committee (NTC) concurred: any meaningful combination of firepower, armor, speed and stability required at least . The NTC discarded Ratnik's advice to build an improved copy of the battleship of , but did not present a definite alternative. The NTC declined to discuss tactical matters, leaving the choice of armament to Chikhachov.〔Melnikov, p. 4.〕 Chikhachov instructed Andrey Toropov of the Nikolaev Shipyard to draft two proposals, one armed with 10-inch and the other with 12-inch guns.〔Melnikov, p. 5.〕 Toropov estimated that the ship should have displaced at least 8,880 tons. Chikhachov admitted the fact and presented the two options to the NTC. The admiral himself and the active fleet commanders voted for the 12-inch caliber, which had already become a worldwide battleship standard, but the NTC strongly advised against it.〔 The Navy brass spent April and May 1893 in lengthy debates. They agreed to increase displacement to 8,880 tons and were leaning toward accepting 12-inch guns when General Admiral Grand Duke Alexey resolved the discussion in favor of the smaller caliber.〔Melnikov, p. 8.〕 ''Rostislav'' had the same hull as ''Sissoi Veliky'', protected with the newly developed Harvey armor. She was also the first Russian battleship to use electric power instead of older hydraulic systems to train her guns.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Russian battleship Rostislav」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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