Gilyak -type gunboats. Skvortsov A.V.

“Gilyak” (as Russian settlers called the indigenous people of Sakhalin) was the first gunboat in the Russian fleet, capable of not only acting on rivers, but also perform ocean transitions. This gunboat became famous for its heroic participation in the assault on the Chinese forts Taku in 1900 at the mouth of the Hayhe River during the suppression of the uprising of the sinoine. In 1904, the ship participated as a floating battery in the defense of Port Arthur, reflecting many attacks of Japanese destroyers and branders.

created after the war, a series of gunboats of the Gilyak type, which had small sediment and speed -firing artillery, was specially intended for service in the lower reaches of the Amur (from the mouth to Khabarovsk) and the protection of the Far Eastern coast of the Russian Empire. They received their names in memory of the gunboats who died in the Russian-Japanese-“Gilyak”, “Sivuch”, “Bobr” and “Korean”. However, in the end, they all became part of the Baltic Fleet. In the First World Gilyaks, they participated in combat operations, and the feat of the crew of Sivuch for the unequal battle with the German battleships “Pozoen” and “Nassau” nicknamed the “Baltic Varangian”, like the feat of the legendary cruiser, went down in the history of the Russian fleet as one of the brightest examples The courage and selfless fulfillment of military duty.

The book of the famous fleet historian for the first time in all details restores the history of the creation, service and combat use of the Gilyak gunboat and the series of gunboats of the same name. The publication is illustrated by many exclusive drawings and photographs.