The Wreck of the Mermaid: hunting for Russalka, the Czar's last Ironclad

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The Wreck of the Mermaid: hunting for Russalka, the Czar's last Ironclad

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It was lying 240 feet deep in the Baltic sea. The ship sank with a crew of 177, none of whome survived. Basically, it's now a huge iron tomb lying at the bottom of the ocean. Until now, the mystery as to why it sank remained a myster.  No one knew where it sank for more than a century until the wreck of the Kursk, a nuclear submarine, was found. Rassalka was found in the aftermath.

Russalka was built during the "Age of  Iron" in Russia. It was constructed at the navy yard in St. Petersberg in 1864. It took two years to build this magnificent turret ship.  She came out to be 204 feet long and 42 feet wide. Even though the ship had heavy armenants includihng 2 armored- revolving turrets and two .22 9 inch cailber guns, its decks were only two feet above the water, so there wasn't a lot of room for error in this heavily armored ship. Ironclads were not designed to battle far from shore, and the Russalka was no acception. it only suffered damage from one collison during its entire time out to sea until its final voyage.

The plan was for Russalka to reach Helsanki by following the Tutcha. The captian wasn't feeling well so this delayed the the Russalka from departing. This wans't that much of a problem because the Tutcha was slower than the Russalka and thus the Russalka could catch up. The weather didn't favor their journey, however, and while the Tutcha arrived at Helsanki around 3 in the afternoon, the Russalka never made it.

It wasn't until 2003 that shipwreck diver MASS begain searching for the wreck. He thought he found it in 1932 when he actually salvaged a submaring instead. MASS's theory of how the ship went down went something like this: While the rough sea meant Russalka was nearly submerged, it a;lso dseemed that an unrepaired leaking near the bow was lewtting water into the ship. Water was also coming down the fresh-air intakes, which was slowing down the ship.  It was most likely hit by a wave as it attempted to make a 180 degree turn. Even as it sank the ship continued on its cours until the turrets dropped out, plunging the ship 240 feet below the surafce.

The wonderful benifit of this discovery is that the Russalaka can help us understand contruction of other warships, such as the famed USS Monitor. It can also help understand 19th century technology as a whole. The beauty of this ship is a reminjder of a timeless truth.