Expendable glory: : a Russian battleship in the Baltic 1915-1917 / George M. Nekrasov.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nekrasov, Georgiĭ (Georgiĭ M.)

Series:

East European monographs ; no. 636.

East European monographs ; no. 636

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slava (Ship).

World War, 1914-1918--Naval operations, Russian.

World War, 1914-1918.

World War, 1914-1918--Campaigns--Riga, Gulf of (Latvia and Estonia).

Physical Description:

v, 138 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Boulder [Colo.] : East European Monographs ; New York : Distributed by Columbia University Press, 2004.

Summary:

The Gulf of Riga was a critical battleground for both Germany and Russia during the First World War. If the Germans could break through the Russian lines near Riga, they could advance against the Russian capital of Petrograd and thus win the war quickly by defeating Russia and then re-deploying her might against the British and French forces. To achieve this, however, Germany first had to gain control of the Gulf of Riga. It was there that the German Navy met Slava, an obsolescent Russian battleship charged with defending the Russian minefield at the entrance to the Gulf. Despite German air and submarine attacks, despite the upheaval of the Russian Revolution and hit squads of sailorconscripts murdering Russian naval officers, despite being out-numbered and under-equipped, Slava fulfilled her mission for two years before finally being scuttled during the Battle of Moon Sound to help block the German advance. Defiant to the very last, Slava lived up to her name, which means "Glory."

Contents:

1 The Ship 3

2 The Midshipmen's Training Squadron 9

3 The Baltic Sea

An Old Battleground 19

4 Service in the Baltic 27

5 The War Begins 33

6 Gulf of Riga

First Phase 43

7 Gulf of Riga

The Struggle Continues 57

8 Into a Turbulent Future 69

9 The Fateful Winter 77

10 REturn to the Gulf of Riga 85

11 The Loss of the Gulf of Riga 93

12 Slava's Last Battle 101

13 Aftermath and Controversy 109

Appendix 1 Russian Rank Structure 123.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 137-138).

ISBN:

0880335343

OCLC:

55141634