Korietz

A paper model of the Russian Korietz gunboat was made in 1:200 scale from the "Dom Bumagi" publishing house. The work got a distinction at the 10th Lublin Model Meetings in 2015.

The gunboat was a medium-sized artillery ship. As a class of ships, it disappeared after the Second World War. Sails had been still using as an auxiliary drive until the first years of the twentieth century.

Korietz was launched in 1886. She gained fame in 1904 after the Battle of the Korean Chemulpo (today's Incheon), when together with another ship, Varyag, she tried to break into the high seas by overwhelming Japanese forces. The attempt was unsuccessful and the ships returned to the port. In order to prevent the enemy from capturing the ships, Varyag was sunk and Korietz was blown up.

In the photos showing the gunboat before the battle, Korietz did not look like a sailing ship, because the topmasts and yards were dismantled by the crew to make it difficult for the Japanese to aim.

Some technical data:

• Displacement: 1,355 t (UK-1,334 tons),
• Length: 66.3 m (217½ ft),
• Width: 10.7 m (35.1 ft),
• Draft: 3.5 m (11½ft),
• Powerplant: a steam engine and sails,
• Screw propellers: 2,
• Speed: 13.5 kn (25 km/h),
• Range at 8 kn (15 km/h): 2,850 NM (5,280 km),
• załoga: 174 osoby.

Armament:

• Two 203 mm (8 in) guns,
• One 152 mm (5.98 in) gun,
• Four 9 lb guns,
• Four 37 mm (1.46 in) guns,
• One 63,5 mm (2½ in) gun,
• One torpedo tubes.

Sources:

• http://www.konflikty.pl/historia/1815-1918/bitwa-na-redzie-chemulpo-i-narodziny-legendy-wariaga/
• https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanonierka
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_gunboat_Korietz
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/

30 Oct 2016