RUSSIAN SQUADRON IN THE EAST.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 19 July 1901, Page 4

RUSSIAN SQUADRON IN THE EAST.

It was stated by cable lately that two battleships and four cruisers were to proceed at once to the Par East, at Admiral Alexieff's request. A vernacular paper (according to the "Nagasaki Press") publishes another telegram from London, in which the names ot the vessels are given. The battleships are the Oslyabia and Peresvyct, and the cruisers Pallada, Askold, Varyag, and Novik. The two battleships are sister ships, and were launched in 1898. They are two of the most formidable vessels in the Russian Navy, having a tonnage -of 12,674 and a speed of eighteen knots. Each has an armament of four lOiu guns, eleven 6iu q.f., twenty 3in q.f,, and thirty smaller q.f. guns. _ In addition each carries six torpedo ejectors. The engines are 12,000 i.h.p. The vessels have the Belleville boilers and a very large coal supply, a feature rarely met with in Russian warships. With regard to the cruisers, the Novik is a second class one of 3,000 tons; the others are all of the first class, having a displacement of 6,630 tons. The Pallada was built on the Neva, but the Askold and the Varyag were constructed in foreign yards. These three cruisers are powerfully armed, and have speeds respectively of 20, 21 and 23 knots an hour.