The legendary cruiser "Varyag" became world famous thanks to the courage and dedication of the crew, which, despite the advantage of the Japanese squadron, entered into an unequal battle with it. The team, not wanting to surrender, chose to drown the ship so that the enemy would not get it. However, such a feat in the history of the Russian fleet was accomplished more than once. To your attention 7 ships, which repeated the feat of the "Varyag".
Gunboat "Korean"
"Korean" became a kind of colleague of "Varyag" in feat, because she was next to the cruiser in the port of Chemulpo. On January 26, 1904, a gunboat, heading for Port Arthur, collided with an enemy squadron and turned back.
The next day, the "Korean" entered the battle with the enemy. Trying to confuse the enemy, the ship's crew had previously taken a trick: the tops of the masts were removed so that the Japanese could not correctly calculate the distance to the target. And it helped: the boat left the battle on January 27 without damage. However, the battle was uneven, and the team decided to blow up the gunboat on the Chemulpo raid.
Armored cruiser "Rurik"
This ship was in service with the Vladivostok cruiser detachment and took part in the Russian-Japanese war. And if at the initial stage of hostilities the activity of the cruiser was successful, then on August 1, 1904, this luck ended. During the battle in the Korean Strait, Rurik came under fire from enemy armored and armored cruisers.
The damage to the ship was serious, but the crew continued to fight the already unequal battle with the Japanese squadron. Only after most of the weapons were lost, it was decided to flood the cruiser.
Interesting fact: The Rurik went down in history not only for the feat of its crew - this ship was the only one that used torpedo guns during the Russo-Japanese War.
2nd rank cruiser "Novik"
The Novik ship was part of the First Pacific Squadron. His service was marked by a number of successfully completed combat missions. The reason for this was the good technical characteristics of the cruiser itself, as well as the well-coordinated work of the crew and the captain. So it was during the battle in the Yellow Sea, but the ship did not go to Port Arthur with the others, but turned around Japan, intending to break through to Vladivostok. There he collided with an English dry cargo ship, which, in turn, informed the Japanese about the Russian cruiser.
On the way, Novik arrived in Sakhalin, in the port of Korsakov, to replenish coal reserves. There he was "jammed" by enemy ships. The ship's machines were not in the best condition, and the ship entered the battle. On the other side was the Japanese cruiser Tsushima, which surpassed the Novik in power, but the Russians still forced it to retreat. But another ship came to the aid of the enemy, and the heavily damaged ship of the First Pacific Squadron was no longer able to continue the battle. The Russian cruiser was disarmed, having removed its artillery pieces, and sunk, not wanting to surrender to the enemy.
Destroyer "Impeccable"
The story of the sinking of this ship, unlike others, did not become known immediately. But even now there is little information about that event, most of which is given by the Japanese side. One thing is certain: the destroyer "Impeccable" was in service with the Second Pacific Squadron and took part in the infamous Tsushima battle on May 14, 1905, in which many glorious ships of the Russian fleet were killed.
Late at night on May 14, the destroyer, seriously injured in the battle, was overtaken by two enemy ships - the destroyer Ariake and the cruiser Chitose. As a result of an armed clash between the ships, the Impeccable began to sink, but the flag of the Russian Empire was never lowered. And the Japanese sailors refused to save the ship's crew.
Cruiser "Svetlana"
The fate of the cruiser "Svetlana" is as unusual as its death was heroic. Initially, the ship was built as a yacht equipped with weapons personally for the Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. However, then additional weapons were installed on the ship, and already as a cruiser was introduced to the Second Pacific Squadron.
During the Tsushima battle "Svetlana" receives serious damage to the bow. And on May 15, already having a roll on board and most of the disabled weapons, she entered into battle with two enemy cruisers "Otova" and "Niitaka". Soon, the already few ammunition on the Russian ship ran out, and the crew decided to sink the ship.
Cruiser "Dmitry Donskoy"
This ship, until the moment of its death, managed to serve for quite a long time, being an armored frigate. By the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, already as a cruiser, she was included in the Second Pacific Squadron. It is noteworthy that the "Dmitry Donskoy" was one of the few ships that did not receive serious damage directly in the Tsushima battle, and after the battle headed for Vladivostok.
However, already on May 15, 1905, the ship was overtaken by a whole Japanese squadron in the amount of six ships. Despite the frankly desperate situation, the crew of the Russian cruiser refused the enemy's offer to surrender and opened fire. The shelling from the Dmitry Donskoy was conducted from both sides, and the team finally forced the Japanese to stop pursuing. However, the damage received in the battle turned out to be too serious: before reaching the destination of only 300 miles, the crew sank the ship.
Battleship of coastal defense "Admiral Ushakov"
The battleship "Admiral Ushakov" was another ship that took part in the Tsushima battle. On May 14, 1905, the ship, having serious damage, could not catch up with the rest of the squadron ships. But the next day, the Japanese armored cruisers Yakumo and Iwate caught up with him.
The only guns functioning on the Russian ship could work only at close distances, and if at first they caused damage to enemy ships, then pretty soon they began to keep at a distance. The battle lasted forty minutes, after which the crew of "Admiral Ushakov" decided to flood the ship. According to Novate.ru, among the dead was the ship's captain Vladimir Nikolaevich Miklukha, the brother of the famous explorer N. N. Miklukho-Maclay.
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