A SPECIMEN OF RUSSIAN IRONCLADS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2094, 14 September 1885, Page 2

A SPECIMEN OF RUSSIAN IRONCLADS.

• A violent north-eaßter on the Baltic ' culminated on May the. 29 and 3ft in a tempest which wrought a vast dm of mischief amonp the vessels in the Mffituy ■ Haven at Cronstadt, and caused the wreck of several steamers and barges. • The ironclad batteries Kremlin and Pervenetz, which both went out of port ■ together on May 28, were surprised the storm, and have proved once more* how unpractical such lumbering- heavy ships are as soon' as bad weather .over-.

takes them. The Pervenetz, managed to reach Reval, though in a sadly disabled state;but the Kremlin, which is the moßt unlucky vessel ever on the sea, wan so damaged by two days struggling and ' buffeting in the uncompromising Baltic, that it soon began to take in water in an.: alarming way, and to save the crew, consisting of 2(i officers, sixteen pupils of the -Marine Schnol, and 418 sailors, the ship had to be run purposely on a sand-!' bank between Narva and Reval, where.it sticks until now. Ab it lies -• iri • an entirely exposed position, and the sea is utill very high, it will.-be'no easy' . : matter to save it from final destruction,.' which can only be done when it is relieved C _ of its heavy artillery. There is no doubtthe luckless battery has received sucjHgfoi-" " siderable damage as to render any ffflPei narvidfl from.it hopeless for along time to come. Owing to a capital faultr in its original construction it waß continual}™ comins( to grief. Its debut took place » v ' 1865, when, during the naval manceuvre* '- at Cronstadt, the Kremlin caused unutterable confusion, surprise, and horror, .ty unexpectedly coming into violent contact with the Olog, which it sank, receiving itself such injuries as to impede its further ■ use for years. After lying idle in port or floundering aimlessly about in the Pacific, in 1875 it ran down a Danish merchant . vessel on a sea as smooth as a looking. ■ glass, and in broad daylight. It has now achieved its career in a manner worthy of its antecedents, and proves that the ' Russian ironclads, though they mako an. imposing show, are but poor things when put to a serious test, not only against the enemy, but against the elements. The Russians, however, build great hopes upon their torpedoes and mining boats, which they manage with marvellous skill and bravery; and tho system adopted to defend the Baltic is such, it is thought, aa to render the approach of the British fleet simply impossible.—St. Petersburg correspondent,- •• .