Aurora

Protected cruiser Aurora was laid down in 1896, launched in 24 May 1900 and commissioned 29 July 1903. She took part in battle of Tsushima on 27 and 28 May 1905 and was one of the few Russian ships to survive sinking or capture by the Japanese and also one of two combatants of that battle still in existence (the other one is admiral Togo's flagship Mikasa preserved at Yokosuka, Japan).

On 25 October (7 November in Gregorian calender)) 1917, a blank shot from her forecastle gun signalled the start of the attack on the Winter Palace, which was to be the first episode of the October Revolution. Since 1947 Aurora has been permanently anchored on the Neva in Leningrad (now: St. Petersburg) as a monument to the Great October Socialist Revolution and in 1957 she became a museum-ship.