Russian destroyer Pobeditel

History
Russian Empire
NamePobeditel
BuilderMetal Works, Saint Petersburg
Laid downNovember 1913
Launched23 October 1914
Commissioned25 October 1915
FateJoined the Bolsheviks, October 1917
Soviet Union
AcquiredOctober 1917
RenamedVolodarsky, 31 December 1922
FateSunk by mine, 28 August 1941
General characteristics (as built)
Class & typeOrfey-class destroyer
Displacement1,260 t (1,240 long tons)
Length98 m (321 ft 6 in)
Beam9.3 m (30 ft 6 in)
Draught3 m (9 ft 10 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts, 2 steam turbines
Speed31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph)
Range1,250 nmi (2,320 km; 1,440 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement150
Armament

Pobeditel (Russian: Победитель, lit.'Victor') was one of eight Orfey-class destroyers built for the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I. Completed in 1915, she served with the Baltic Fleet and participated in raids into the Baltic Sea in 1915 and 1916 to attack German shipping or lay minefields before the Baltic iced over. The ship participated in the Battle of Kassar Wiek in October 1917 when the Germans invaded the West Estonian Archipelago (Operation Albion). Her crew joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet during the October Revolution of 1917. The ship had to be towed from Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, to Kronstadt in early 1918 during the "Ice Cruise".

The destroyer was renamed Volodarsky (Володарский) in 1922 and spent much of the 1920s either in reserve or under repair. She played a minor role during the Winter War of 1939–1940. When the Axis powers invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 (Operation Barbarossa), the ship participated in the early stages of the Gulf of Riga campaign. Volodarsky was part of the rear guard during the Soviet evacuation of Tallinn, Estonia, and sank with the loss of all hands after striking a mine on 28 August.