Russian ship Imperatritsa Maria (1853)
Imperatritsa Maria under sail, by Alexei Hanzen | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Russian Empire | |
| Name | Imperatritsa Maria |
| Builder | I. S. Dimitriev |
| Laid down | 23 April 1849 |
| Launched | 9 May 1853 |
| Fate | Scuttled at the Siege of Sevastopol, 28 August 1855 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Khrabryi-class ship of the line |
| Displacement | 3,890 metric tons (3,830 long tons; 4,290 short tons) |
| Length | 196 ft (60 m) |
| Beam | 55 ft (17 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft 7 in (8.10 m) |
| Armament |
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Imperatritsa Maria (Russian: Императрица Мария) was an 84-gun third rate ship of the line built for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1840s and early 1850s as part of a naval expansion program to strengthen the fleet during a period of increased tension with Britain and France. The second and final member of the Khrabryi class, she was the last sail-powered ship of the line to be built for the Russian Navy.
Imperatritsa Maria served as Admiral Pavel Nakhimov's flagship at the Battle of Sinop in November 1853. The crushing Russian victory at Sinop led to the intervention of Britain and France and the Russian fleet, which did not seek to engage the Anglo-French fleet that entered the Black Sea, instead stayed in Sevastopol, eventually being disarmed to strengthen Russian defenses during the Siege of Sevastopol and ultimately being scuttled to block the harbor entrance. Imperatritsa Maria was intentionally sunk as part of this effort in August 1855.