Smolensk

The Smolensk (; named for the city of the same name) was a ship built in England in 1901, ostensibly as a merchant vessel for the Russian state-controlled Dobroflot shipping line, but designed to double as a cruiser of the Imperial Russian Navy, in which role she adopted the name Rion (; the river Rioni in the Caucasus). The ship saw active service in the Russo-Japanese War. Design and construction Smolensk was built by Hawthorn Leslie at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the last in a series of ships of similar concept but increasing capability constructed there for Dobroflot. The hull was large and slender, measuring in length and in beam, powered by twenty-four coal-fired Belleville boilers beneath three tall funnels, and two sets of triple expansion machinery driving twin propellers, which enabled the ship to achieve speeds of better than , and cruise comfortably at around . The engines were designed to continue to provide power if they were battle-damaged, and the hull was compartmentalised with transverse bulkheads which allowed the ship to remain afloat if two hull sections were completely flooded, and fitted with powerful bilge pumps that could counteract flooding. There were ammunition magazines and a shell hoist, and mountings for an armament of eight guns and eight guns, arranged in pairs on either side of the hull. In service, these were supplemented by two Hotchkiss guns and two machine guns on the bridge, and additional military equipment such as a radio, searchlights and signal lamps could also be quickly set up. Speed and firepower were more than adequate for the ship's intended commerce raiding role, and were broadly comparable to contemporary protected cruisers like the British and . Notwithstanding its military features, the ship had a classic mercantile appearance with a raised forecastle and poop separated by lower well decks from a central bridge superstructure, and two masts fore and aft. The interior of the ship also contained more deck and hold space than was usual on a warship, fitted out for mercantile purposes with a mix of passenger cabins, steerage accommodation to allow it to serve as an emigrant ship, and large holds for bulk cargo.