“Variag” – the Russian I rank armored deck cruiser

In 1904-1905 at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese war, the cruiser "Variag" and the gunboat "Korejets" were in the neutral Korean port Chemulpo, the ships were at the disposal of the Russian embassy in Seoul. There were ships from other countries (England, France, USA, etc.) in Chemulpo. In 1904 January 26 (February 8) Japanese Contr Admiral Uriu's squadron (1 armored cruiser “Asama” and 5 armored (light) cruisers “Naniva”, “Niitaka”, “Takajiho”, “Cijoda”, “Asaki”), 8 destroyers, 1 messenger the ship "Chaja" blockaded Chemulpo in order to cover the landing (3 thousand people) and prevent the intervention of "Variag". On the same day "Korejec" tried to break into Port Arthur, but was attacked after leaving the port, after which it returned to the raid. On January 27 (February 9), "Variag" captain V. Rudnev received Uriu's ultimatum: by 12:00 p.m. leave the port, otherwise Russian ships will be attacked in the raid. Rudnev decided to break through with a battle to Port Arthur, and in case of failure to blow up the ships. At noon "Variag" and "Korejets" left Chemulpo. Captains of foreign ships did not expect such a move by Russian ships. They were both surprised and impressed by this act. The proudly sailing "Variag" was accompanied by French and English ships with an orchestra. The captains of the ships greeted the Russian sailors. Leaving the harbor at a distance of 10 miles, the ships met a Japanese escadre, which took up a position behind the island of Jodolma. Uriu offered the Russian ships to surrender, but received no response and opened fire. The uneven fight lasted 50 minutes. During this time, "Variag" fired 1105 shells at the enemy, "Korejets" - 52 shells (the ship's guns were weaker and it entered in the battle at the end of them). According to the commander's report, one destroyer was sunk by “Variag” fire and 4 Japanese cruisers (“Asama”, “Cijoda”, “Takajiho” and the flagship “Naniva”) were damaged; the enemy lost about 30 killed and about 200 wounded. “Variag” had 5 hit holes in the subwater part, lost three 6 inch guns; crew losses: 1 officer and 30 sailors killed, 6 officers and 85 sailors injured and contused, about 100 others slightly injured. "Korejets" did not experience any losses. According to Rudnev, the ship could not continue the battle, so it returned to Chemulpo. After assessing the suitability of the remaining weapons and equipment, everything of value on the ship was destroyed, and the “Variag” itself was sunk by opening the kingstons, and the “Korejets” was blown up.

A complex, well-designed and highly detailed model of a I rank armored deck cruiser “Variag” for the intermediate to advanced modeler. This cruiser model has been presented in grey color. The model includes sheets with double-sided printing.