“Bayan” – the Rusian armored cruiser I rank

Work at the “La-Sen” shipyard in Toulon began at the end of 1898. On December 21 Emperor Nicholaj II named the cruiser under construction "Bayan". The official laying of keel took place on June 26, 1899, launching - on May 30, 1900. Factory and acceptance tests of the cruiser dragged on and it was handed over to the Russian Navy only on December 16, 1902. On January 1, 1903, even in the Toulon raid, the flag of the Russian Navy was hoisted on the ship and the ship began service. In the spring of 1903 “Bayan” made the transition to Kronstadt, where on July 22 he participated in the general admiral's review, and on July 26 - in the imperial review. On the same day the cruiser, together with the battleship “Oslyabya”, headed for the Mediterranean Sea to join the battleships “Tsesarevich” and ‘Emperor Nicholas I”. According to the plan of the General Staff, this detachment was supposed to go to the Far East to strengthen the squadron of the Pacific Ocean. However, on August 9 (22) "Oslyabya" had an accident in the Strait of Gibraltar, and "Bayan" continued alone. On September 25, 1903 the battleship "Tsesarevich" and the cruiser "Bayan" left the Mediterranean Sea, heading for the Far East. At 9 am on November 19 the “Tsesarevich” radio station entered into negotiations with the station of the flagship battleship “Petropavlovsk”, which was stationed on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur. On November 30 by order of the head of squadron No. 984, "Tsesarevich" and "Bayan" were enlisted in its composition. The ships were included in the program of raid exercises and were preparing to be painted in combat colors. From January 26 to 27, 1904 the squadron was attacked by Japanese destroyers - this is how the Russo-Japanese War began, in which “Bayan” also actively participated. Battles with Japanese battleships and cruisers, shelling of enemy positions and other military operations became daily routine in the life of the crew. On July 14, 1904, when returning to the inner roadstead, the cruiser hit a mine, repairs lasted 2 months. During the frequent Japanese shelling, “Bayan” also got a lot, but the ship was constantly being repaired and it remained combat-ready. On November 22, when the Japanese occupied Mount Vysokaya, the open destruction of Russian ships in the Western Basin began. November 25 also began in the Eastern Basin, where the "Bayan" also stood. For 17 hours of shelling, about 320 280-mm and 152-mm shells were fired at the cruiser, but only 10 of them hit the ship, fires started, after the bow cellars were flooded, the cruiser landed on the ground with her nose. On November 26, another 10 shells hit the “Bayan” and the ship completely sat down on the ground. After the occupation of Port Arthur, the Japanese raised the "Bayan", in 1906-1908 it was restored, the boilers and weapons were replaced, and the ship, called "Aso", became part of the Japanese fleet. In 1920 she was rebuilt into a mine layer, on April 1, 1930 she was excluded from the lists, on March 8, 1932 she was sunk during practical firing by the guns of the “Mioko” heavy cruiser.

A moderately complex, well-designed and richly detailed armored cruiser I rank “Bayan” model for intermediate to advanced modelers.