She became famous in the world history when her crew mutinied in June 1905 while protesting against their officers.(1) The common man became familiar with the events thanks to the silent film The Battleship Potemkin made by Sergej Eisenstein in 1925.
Originally named after Grigori Aleksandrovich Ptemkin, already in October 1905 renamed as Panteleimon (after Saint Pantaleon, in April 1917 renamed Potemkin-Tavricheskiy but all ready a month later in Borets za Svobodu.
She was laid down on 8 October 1898 at the Nikolayev shipyard using the designs of the battleships Tri Sviatitelia and the Peresviet, launched on 9 October two years later, was commissioned in 1904, captured in 1918 by German forces, recaptured by White Russians, scuttled in April 1919 at Sevastopol to prevent capture by the Bolshevik. The wreck was later salvaged en broken up in 1922.
With a displacement of 12,500 tonnes (standard)-13,500 tonnes (full load) were her dimensions 115 x 22,3 x 8,2 metres or 377’4”x 73’2”x 26’11”. The two shaft vertical triple engines and 22 Bellville coal fired boilers supplied 11,300 hp allowing a speed of 16 knots. Her crew numbered 781 men. The armament consisted of 2x2-30,5cm guns, 16-15,2cm guns, 4-7,5cm guns and a number of small-calibre guns. The armour based on the design of the British HMS Majestic consisted of a 6-9” thick belt, a 2.5-3” thick deck while the gun turrets were protected by 10”, the casemates by 5-6” and the conning tower by 9” thick armour.
The title of this Russian poster (found on the url http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Poster15.jpg) can best be translated as Glory to People’s Heroes of the Potemkin
Note
1. See elsewhere on this weblog for this mutiny http://warshipsresearch.blogspot.com/2011/10/russian-sailors-protested-against.html
