into the story as given by Fred T. Jane: "On a trial cruise, they (Novgorod and ) went up the Dniepr very nicely for some distance, till they turned to retire. Then the current caught them, and they were carried out to sea, whirled helplessly round and round, every soul on board helplessly incapacitated by vertigo." The other criticisms made by Preston have been discussed earlier and the opinion of naval historian Stephen McLaughlin is a reasonable assessment of these ships: In the final analysis, the popovkas seem to have been relatively effective coast-defence vessels; certainly their combination of armament and armour could have only been carried by a conventional ship of much greater draught. Their faults – and they certainly had faults – were exaggerated by critics, both in Russia and abroad, and have left as a legacy stories of uncontrollable ships designed by incompetent men. A detailed review of Russian circular ironclads has been made by Roffey in 1974 with photos and information available at that time. Notes Citations Bibliography Roffey, Clifford George (1974). "The Popoffkas". In Warship International, Vol 11, No 3, pp. 218-239, ISSN 0043-0374 Further reading External links 1873 ships Naval ships of Russia Ironclad warships of the Imperial Russian Navy Maritime incidents in July 1879