 Volia at sea
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Imperial Russia and the Russian Provisional Government | |
| Name | Imperator Aleksandr III |
| Namesake | Tsar Alexander III of Russia |
| Operator | Imperial Russian Navy |
| Ordered | 13 April 1912[Note 1] |
| Builder | Russud Shipyard, Nikolayev |
| Laid down | 30 October 1911 |
| Launched | 15 April 1914 |
| In service | 17 July 1917 |
| Renamed | Volia (Russian: Воля, Freedom) on 29 April 1917 |
| Fate | Ship taken over by the Bolsheviks following the start of the October Revolution in November 1917. |
.svg){kind=small} Russian SFSR | |
| Name | Volia (Russian: Воля, Freedom) |
| Operator | Red Fleet |
| Acquired | Taken from the Russian Provisional Government in November 1917 |
| Fate | Turned over to Imperial Germany on 19 June 1918 as part of the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. |
 Imperial Germany | |
| Name | Volia (Russian: Воля, Freedom) |
| Operator | Kaiserliche Marine |
| Acquired | From the Red Fleet on 19 June 1918 |
| Fate | Turned over to the British Empire on 24 November 1918 as part of the terms of the Peace of Compiègne. |
 British Empire | |
| Name | Volia (Russian: Воля, Freedom) |
| Operator | Royal Navy |
| Acquired | From Imperial Germany on 24 November 1918 |
| Fate | Returned to the White Army on 1 November 1919. Renamed General Alekseyev. |
 White Army | |
| Name | General Alekseyev |
| Namesake | Mikhail Alekseyev |
| Operator | Wrangel's Fleet (part of the White Army in Southern Russia) |
| Acquired | From the British Empire on 1 November 1919 |
| Out of service | 29 December 1920 |
| Fate | Remained docked in Bizerte, French Tunisia, until 1936. Scrapped by the French to pay for her docking fees |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Imperatritsa Mariya-class battleship |
| Displacement | 23,413 long tons (23,789 t) |
| Length | 168 m (551 ft 2 in) |
| Beam | 27.43 m (90 ft) |
| Draft | 8.36 m (27 ft 5 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | 4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 1,640 nautical miles (3,037 km; 1,887 mi) at 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Complement | 1,154 |
| Armament |
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| Armor |
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Imperator Aleksandr III (Emperor Alexander III) was the third and last ship of the Imperatritsa Mariya-class dreadnoughts of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was begun before World War I, completed during the war and saw service with the Black Sea Fleet. She was renamed Volia or Volya (Russian: Вóля, Freedom) before her completion and then General Alekseyev (Генерал Алексеев) in 1920. The ship was delivered in 1917, but the disruptions of the February Revolution rendered the Black Sea Fleet ineffective and she saw no combat.
Volia was surrendered to the Germans in 1918 who briefly commissioned her, but they were forced to turn her over to the British by the terms of the Armistice. The British then turned her over to the White Russians in 1919 and they used her to help evacuate the Crimea in 1920. She was interned in Bizerte, French Tunisia, by the French and ultimately scrapped by them in 1936 to pay her docking fees. Her guns were put into storage and were later used by the Germans and Finns for coastal artillery during World War II. Both countries continued to use them throughout the Cold War.
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