Russian monitor Novgorod

For other uses of "Novgorod", see Novgorod (disambiguation).

Popovkas Vice-Admiral Popov (left) and Novgorod (right) at Sevastopol
Career (Russia)
Laid down:	17 December 1871
Launched:	21 May 1873
Commissioned:	1874
Decommissioned:	4 July 1903
Struck:	1900
Fate:	Scrapped 1912
General characteristics
Displacement:	2,491 tons 2,671 tons at full load
Length:	30.8 m
Beam:	30.8 m
Draught:	3.75 m
Propulsion:	8 coal-fired boilers, 6 screws, 2,000 ihp
Speed:	7 knots
Complement:	128[1]
Armament:	2 × 11 inch guns 2 × 4-pounder guns 16 × 37 mm guns
Armour:	Belt: 230 mm Deck: 60 mm

The Novgorod (Russian: Новгород) was an Imperial Russian warship. It was one of the most unusual warships ever constructed, and still survives in popular naval myth, often described as the "ugliest warship ever built". Together with her near-sister ship Rear Admiral Popov, they were affectionately called "popovkas", after their chief designer. The hull was circular (viewed from the top) intended to be a particularly stable platform for guns but proving to be almost unmaneuverable in practice.^[2]

She was designed by Andrey Alexandrovich Popov of the Imperial Russian Navy, with the purpose of creating a stable platform armed with a few heavy guns, that could operate in coastal waters, and be well protected by armour plating.^[2]

The perceived advantage of the circular hull form was that a shallow-draught vessel could be built with a greater displacement; a small ship could then carry the same armament as a much larger vessel with a more typical hull form.^[2] For comparison, a 100-foot-long (30 m) by 13-foot-beam (4.0 m) and 13-foot-draught vessel would only displace about 2,500 tons.

The primary armament of Novgorod was two 26-ton 11-inch guns mounted on separate revolving turntables that could be moved independently or together.^[2] Recoil was suppressed by a hydraulic frictional compressor, and by wedges placed in the after part of their platforms.

The ship was driven by six engines each with their own propeller shaft. Boiler and engine rooms occupied fully half of the interior hull space. The boilers were placed in two separate compartments, one on either beam.^[2] Four steam launches were usually carried on deck.

Novgorod and her near-sister plunging fire. Worst though, was that the off-axis recoil of the guns would impart a centrifugal rotation to the ship.^[2] In operational use, these ships would have to throw their single rudder hard over during firing, to act as "water brakes". This severely restricted the aiming and rate-of-fire of the main guns. Both ships (dubbed 'popoffkas' after their designer) served in the Danube Flotilla during the Russo-Turkish War. Both were redesignated as "Coastal Defense Armor-Clad Ships" in 1892, and relegated as storeships in 1903. They were not scrapped until 1912.

References

1. ^ Preston, Antony (2002). The World's Worst Warships. Conway Maritime Press. pp. 26–29. ISBN 0-85177-754-6. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Dougherty, Martin J. (2007) The World's Worst Weapons, Metro Books, ISBN 0760785813

External links

• Novgorod Top/Profile illustration
• Novgorod Blueprint
  
• CGI recreation