Russian cruiser Bayan (1900)

Bayan at anchor
History
Russian Empire
Name	Bayan
Namesake	Boyan
Ordered	May 1898
Builder	Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne-sur-Mer, France
Laid down	March 1899
Launched	12 June 1900
Completed	December 1902
Captured	By Japan, 1 January 1905
Fate	Sunk, 9 December 1904
Japan
Name	Aso
Namesake	Mount Aso
Acquired	1 January 1905
Commissioned	22 August 1905
In service	1908
Reclassified	As a training ship, 1908 As a minelayer, 1 April 1920
Stricken	1 April 1930
Fate	Sunk as a target, 4 August 1932
General characteristics
Class and type	Bayan-class armoured cruiser
Displacement	7,802 long tons (7,927 t)
Length	449 ft (136.9 m)
Beam	57 ft 6 in (17.5 m)
Draught	22 ft (6.7 m)
Installed power	26 Belleville boilers 16,500 ihp (12,300 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range	3,900 nmi (7,200 km; 4,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	573
Armament	As built: 2 × single 8 in (203 mm) guns 8 × single 6 in (152 mm) guns 20 × single 75 mm (3 in) guns 2 × single 15 in (380 mm) torpedo tubes As Aso: 2 × single 8 in (203 mm) guns 8 × single 6.0 in (152 mm) guns 16 × single 3 in (76 mm) guns 2 × single 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 3.9–7.9 inches (100–200 mm) Deck: 2.0 inches (50 mm) Gun turrets: 6.3 inches (160 mm) Barbettes: 6.7 in (170 mm) Conning tower: 6.3 in (160 mm)

The Bayan (Russian: Баян) was the name ship of the four Bayan-class armoured cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ship had to be built in France because there was no available capacity in Russia. Bayan was assigned to the First Pacific Squadron after completion and based at Port Arthur from the end of 1903. She suffered minor damage during the Battle of Port Arthur at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 and supported destroyers as they patrolled outside the harbour. After bombarding Japanese positions in July 1904, the ship struck a mine and was out of action for the next several months. Bayan was sunk during the Siege of Port Arthur and was then salvaged by the Japanese after the war.

Renamed Aso by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) she served as a training ship after extensive repairs. The ship was converted into a minelayer in 1917 and was decommissioned in 1930 to serve as a target ship. She was eventually sunk as a target in 1932.