Russian Fleet in the Great War is our exhibition at the Martial Chamber of Tsarskoe Selo commemorating the Russian Navy's 330th anniversary and history during World War I of 1914-18.
Six museums and archives and several private collectors offer over 300 artefacts. Most of them have never been showcased or published before.
The exhibition covers a time period starting from Emperor Alexander III whose reign launched the construction of powerful armoured warships. One of the rarest objects on display is a naval officer's 1855 pattern sabre with precious stones from the Tsarskoe Selo Collection, which is believed to belong to the emperor.
The early 20th-century period of rebuilding after the losses caused by the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 is represented by two keel-laying plaques from the collection of Paul Klimov. Such plaques would commemorate the ceremonial commencement of a vessel's construction. One of them is from the protected cruiser Zhemchug (Russian for 'pearl'), laid down in St Petersburg, then named Petrograd, on 14 [O.S. 1] June 1902. The cruiser took part in the Battle of Tsushima in 1905 and was sunk during World War I by the German light cruiser Emden in the Battle of Penang in 1914.
A scale model of a Russian 1915 pattern 12-inch long-range siege howitzer from the Obukhov Plant History Museum demonstrates guns used at the coastal defense forts that protected St Petersburg and other cities on the Baltic and Black Seas.
The exhibition also covers: the Russian Imperial Navy's composition and leadership before the war; early 20th-century domestic shipbuilding, naval schools and uniforms; the insignia, and regalia of the Naval Department units; the the Russian fleet's active participation in the naval battles of 1914–18; and the exploits of Russian sailors during the war and their postwar stories.
The exhibition is accompanied by a scientific catalogue.
Exhibitors:
• Tsarskoe Selo
• State Archive of Cinematic and Photographic Documents, St Petersburg
• State Naval Archive, St Petersburg
• Peter the Great Central Naval Museum, St Petersburg
• Artillery Museum, St Petersburg
• Obukhov Plant History Museum, St Petersburg
• Paul Klimov, collector
• German Klimov, collector
• Alexander Sirotkin, collector
• Vladimir Ponsov, collector
• Mikhail Red'kin,collector
• Valentina Gerber, collector