Immediately after the trials '' Sissoi Veliky '' was ordered to join the Mediterranean Squadron which was engaged in the naval blockade of Crete in the wake of the 1896 Cretan riots and the Hamidian massacres . Her maiden voyage revealed more problems ; the lack of ventilation in the steering compartment was so appalling that during the first port call the captain purchased electric fans with his own money and the electrical systems failed one by one before reaching Gibraltar . The copper rings for sealing the portholes were left in Kronstadt and were not found until February 1897
Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
Russian battleship Sissoi Veliky