Russian Battleship Imperatritsa Mariya

Imperatritsa Mariya was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Russian navy, along with her sister ships Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya and Imperator Aleksandr III. Launched on 19 October 1913, she was completed on 10 June 1915.

During the First World War, she supported older battleships when they sortied to bombard German positions. She twice engaged the Ottoman light cruiser Midilli, but only inflicted splinter damage. In July 1916, Imperatritsa Mariya along with Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya attempted to intercept the Ottoman battlecruiser Yavuz, which managed to escape.

On 20 October 1916, two explosions (in the forward powder magazine and 40-minutes later in the torpedo compartment) caused Imperatritsa Mariya to sink and capsize killing 228 sailors, while at anchor in Sevastopol. An enquiry concluded that the explosion was probably the result of spontaneous combustion of the nitrocellulose-based propellant as it decomposed.

A salvage operation refloated her on 18 May 1918, however, the Russian Revolution and Civil War prevented further repair work. She was sold for scrap in 1925.

Two of her gun turrets were used as the 30th Coast Defense Battery defending Sevastapol during the Siege of Sevastopol in World War II.