THE RUSSIAN CRUISER ASKOLD

In the late 1890s, the Russian Empire sought to strengthen its presence in the Far East, China, and Korea. Faced with a growing threat posed by the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Russians saw an urgent need to build up their naval forces in the region. On February 20, 1898, Emperor Nicholas II approved a supplementary ship-building program for the Far East, which would see the construction of six 5,000 - 6,000 ton cruisers in addition to ships already being built under the 1895 program. The task to formulate technical requirement for the new vessels fell to the Maritime Technical Committee (Russian: MTK). 130 illustrations.