Ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet

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Let's wrap the surface ships as long as Dropbox still works...

Destroyers of the Russian Black Sea Fleet

1. Pylkij-Class
Of the 26 Krechet-class torpedo boats of 1899-1903 vintage (named for birds, but all renamed in 1902/3 for qualities, which since has become pretty much standard for Russian destroyers), four were transferred to the Black Sea after the Russo-Japanese war. They were based on the British-built Sokol, herself a somewhat smaller version of the British standard 27-knotter. The names of the Black Sea units were Strogiy, Smetliviy, Svirepiy and Stremitelniy. They were armed with a 75mm gun, three 47mm guns and two 381mm torpedo tubes.
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In 1909/10, they were modernized with a high mainmast and a heightened foremast, w/t equipment and aerials, a new bridge between foremast and forefunnel, heightened funnels and another 75mm gun aft, and two machineguns; the 47mm pieces were landed. The 381mm torpedo tubes were replaced with 450mm ones.
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Two were scuttled during the revolution, two were used by the Soviets in secondary roles throughout the 1920s and scrapped in the 1930s.

2. Boykiy-Class
These 22 destroyers were a development of the Pylkij-class with similar outer lines, but more than half again the size; they were however much slower than similarly sized British turtleback destroyers, being only good for 26 knots. They were completed between 1902 and 1907, had two additional 47mm guns and a third torpedo tube, and incorporated some of the improvements worked into their predecessors during the 1909 refit from the beginning, especially the larger bridge and the mainmast. Nine of the class were built at the Black Sea; their names were Zharkiy, Zhivoy, Zhivuchiy, Zhutkiy, Zavetniy, Zavidniy, Zorkiy, Zvonkiy and Zadorniy.
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W/t gear was added after completion, exact date unknown.
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They were rearmed the same way as their predecessors in 1912 through 1914, now carrying two 75mm guns, six machineguns and two 450mm tubes. The fixed bow tube was removed.
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Zhivuciy and Zadorniy were war losses; four of the class went to Bizerta with Wrangel's fleet and were scrapped by the French after 1924, the other three were scrapped by the Soviets in the 1920s.

3. Leytenant Shestakov-class
These four units were half-sisters to the four Vsadnik-class destroyers of the Baltic fleet. Although an all-Russian design, they were similar to the British E-class in layout and speed (25 knots), although they were somewhat larger at 635 tons standard. They were virtually the only Russian destroyers designed and built between the end of the Russo-Japanese war and the delivery of Novik. Their names were Leytenant Shestakov, Kapitan Saken, Kapitan-Leytenant Baranov and Leytenant Zatsaryonniy, and they were all commissioned in 1909. Due to a poorly conceived underwater hull shape, they failed to attain their design speed, but they were at least well armed. Zatsaryonniy was the only one to be completed with the designed armament of six 75mm guns and three 450mm torpedo tubes.
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The other three had their aft 75mm gun replaced with a 120mm piece; written sources all say the 120mm gun was forward, but all available photographs show the heavy gun aft.
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In 1914/5, all units landed their 75mm guns (the sponsons and hull recesses forward were removed) and received an uniform battery of two 120mm guns.
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Zatsaryonniy was a war loss; Saken went to Bizerte with Wrangel's fleet, the other two were taken over by the Reds. All three were scrapped in the 1920s.

4. Derzkiy/Schastliviy-class
These ships were the Black Sea variant of Russia's numerous Novik-clones. Two different designs were built simultaneously, but they differed only externally; size and performance were identical. All displaced 1.100 tons, were good for 34 knots, and carried three 100mm guns and five twin 450mm torpedo sets for an exceptionally strong torpedo broadside of 10 tubes. The first group commissioned in 1914; their names were Bespokoyniy, Gnevniy, Derzkiy and Pronzitelniy.
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The second group commissioned 1915; they were named Schastliviy, Bystriy, Pylkiy, Gromkiy and Pospeshniy.
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During the war, they were the most active Russian destroyers in the Black Sea; only few improvements were worked in. These included a new w/t rig, some added superstructure and two 47mm HA guns each. These were arranged side by side aft on the Derzkiy-group...
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... and one aft / one amidships on the superstructure on the Schastliviy-group.
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None were lost in the war. Of the Derzkiy-group, one was scuttled and three went to Bizerta with Wrangel's fleet, later scrapped. Of the Schastliviy-group, three went to Bizerta with Wrangel's fleet (one sank on the way there, two were scrapped after 1924), one was scuttled during the revolution, and one was taken over by the Reds under the name Frunze; she remained in service until sunk by the Luftwaffe in 1941.

5. Fidonisi-class
The follow-on destroyer type was based on Derzkiy, but lenghtened to 102 meters and upsized to 1.350 tons (some sources claim the hull was actually shortened from 98 to 92 meters, but that seems to be a mix-up between LPP and LOA, given the much larger displacement). Armament was changed to four 100mm guns and four triple 450mm torpedo tubes. Only four units - Fidonisi, Kerch, Gadzhibey and Kaliakriya - were completed before the revolution; all were scuttled in 1918, but Kaliakriya was salvaged and re-commissioned by the Reds as Dzerzhinskiy and later lost in the Second World War. A fifth unit (Tserigo) was transferred to Wrangel's fleet incomplete and scrapped by the French in 1924. The other three - Zante, Korfu and Lefkas - were completed by the Reds during the 1920s as Nezamoshnik, Petrovskiy and Shaumiyan, respectively. Shaumiyan was lost in the second world war, the other two were scrapped in the late 1940s.
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Greetings
GD

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