< Youresowki

Youresowki

 

Youresowki (Former Russian torpedo-boat destroyer: dp. 350; l. 202~'; b. 22'4"; dr. 7'6"; s. 27 k.; cpl. 64; a. 2 11 pdrs., 2 mg., 2 tt.; cl. Bestrashi) Youresovski, or more properly Kapitan Youresovski —a torpedo-boat destroyer built in 1899 for the Imperial Russian Navy at the Schichau yard in Danzig, Germany—was placed in commission in the Imperial Russian Navy soon thereafter and was assigned to the Siberian Flotilla, probably based at Vladivostok. She served with that unit at least until the beginning of World War I. Not long after the outbreak of war, she and most of her sisters were transferred to the Russian Baltic Fleet with which she served until the Treaty of BrestLitovsk ended hostilities on the Eastern Front in March 1918. Sometime before Germany's collapse on the Western Front, Kapitan Youresovski was again transferred, this time to the fleet operating out of Murmansk. When American forces moved into northern Russia in the spring of 1918, they found the Russian warship in a dilapidated, but repairable, condition. Craftsmen attached to Olympia (Cruiser No. 6) set about the task of reconditioning her for service with the Allied interventionist forces. With a crew of 60 from 0lympia's company, Kapitan Youresovski was placed in service in the summer of 1918. She served as a patrol vessel and a home for 50 American sailors until late 1918 or early 1919 at which time she was placed out of service. The disposition of the former Imperial Russian torpedo-boat destroyer is not known; however, she does not appear on any postwar Soviet Navy listings. Presumably, she was eventually scrapped.