The “Varyag” was built by an American shipyard 1899 for the Russian Empire. It had a displacement of 6500 tons with a speed of 23 knots. The main armament consisted of 12 x 52 mm guns without shields. It was put into service of the Russian fleet in 1901. During the battle of Chemulpo against the Japanese fleet it fought heroically and was flooded by the crew on February 9th, 1904 without being surrendered.