Russian cruiser Aurora

Aurora is a 1900 Russian protected cruiser, currently preserved as a museum ship in Saint Petersburg. Aurora was one of three cruisers, built in Saint Petersburg for service in the Pacific. All three ships of this class served during the Russo-Japanese War. Aurora survived the Battle of Tsushima and was interned under US protection in the Philippines, eventually returned to the Baltic Fleet. The second ship, was sunk by the Japanese at Port Arthur in 1904. The third ship, was interned in Saigon after the Battle of the Yellow Sea. One of the first incidents of the October Revolution in Russia took place on the cruiser Aurora.Russo-Japanese WarSoon after completion, in November 1903, Aurora received orders to sail with a group of reinforcements to the Russian Pacific Fleet. However, she suffered from repeated mechanical failures and had to be repaired at several ports along the way. When word was received of the start of the Russo-Japanese War while at Djibouti, she was detached from the reinforcement fleet and sent back to the Baltic. After refitting, Aurora was ordered back to Asia as part of the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron, a collection formed from the Russian Baltic Fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky. On the way to the Far East, Aurora sustained light damage from confused friendly fire, which killed the ship's chaplain and a sailor, in the Dogger Bank incident.