SMF Zuzanna
 Zuzanna at sea in 1905
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Górska | |
| Name: | Zuzanna |
| Builder: | Federal Ship Foundry |
| Commissioned: | 1898 |
| Status: | Sunk 18 September, 1907 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Opolski-class battleship |
| Displacement: | 12,985 tons |
| Length: | 117.9 meters |
| Beam: | 22 meters |
| Draught: | 7.6 meters |
| Propulsion: | 2 shafts, 2 triple-extension steam engines |
| Speed: | 18 knots |
| Range: | 9,100 kilometers |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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SMF Zuzanna was a Opolski-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Górskan Federal Navy that saw extensive service during the Third Chryse War, where its performance under Captain Celina Jaworska earned a legendary reputation.
Like the rest of Opolski-class, Zuzanna was built with assistance from Ossoria. Designed in the 1890s, the class was intended to provide parity with the Republic of Syara, which had introduced its Nemaro-class battleships in the same decade. Zuzanna was built in 29 months and commissioned in the Federal Navy in 1898. She served uneventfully for her first seven years of service, taking part in a world tour in 1902 and visiting eastern Siduri. Like all other pre-dreadnoughts, she was rendered obsolete when the Cacertian Empire unveiled the HMS Eerika Waterly-Davion dreadnought warship. She continued her service and in March 1905 was placed under the command of Celina Jaworska, the daughter of Admiral Olaf Jaworska. The assignment initially drew claims of nepotism, but the younger Jaworska remained in command.
On 21 June, 1905 Zuzanna fired some of the first shots of the Third Chryse War in a sneak attack on the Navy of the Syaran Republic ships in Sena. Zuzanna was the lead ship (alongside her sister Apolonia) of the 2nd Battle Squadron and assigned to cover the eastern coast of Chryse. In October 1905 she took part in the Battle of Grelen Bay where she engaged ships of the Syaran Western Cluster, sinking the armored cruiser Vigilant Shepherd. Four months later she joined the navy of the Ruvelkan Socialist Republic to raid Syaran ports along the northern coast of Symmeria, during which she sunk two torpedo boats. In April 1906 she took part in fighting off the eastern coast of Chryse in a battle against a Syaran fleet led by the battleships Lament for Rhexenor and Solemn and Sacred. Zuzanna suffered eleven hits and was struck by a torpedo, but in return sunk the Solemn and Sacred after landing several hits that collapsed the bow of the Syaran ship and caused her to founder. For the next five months Zuzanna remained in port for repairs before taking to sea again in late September.
On 16 November Zuzanna entered into legend when she engaged a fleet of Syaran ships led by the Republic-class battleship pair Provider of Purpose and Driven by Faith. In the ensuing engagement Zuzanna suffered heavy damage, but succeeded in crippling the Provider of Purpose and sinking the Driven by Faith, along with the protected cruiser Compassionate Prayer. She returned to port for repairs and was rushed back into service following a string of losses suffered to the Syara-class dreadnoughts. On 18 March 1907 she engaged the Child of Nature and suffered serious damage that necessitated another return to port for repairs, although not before sinking two Syaran torpedo boats and one destroyer. She returned to service in June and engaged the Syaran fleet in three inconclusive engagements before finally meeting the dreadnought Salvation in Purpose on 18 September. Zuzanna sank another destroyer and torpedo boat, but was hit more than 17 times by the Salvation in Purpose and sank with the loss of 713 crew out of 750 total. Captain Jaworska reportedly survived the initial onslaught, but remained onboard as it sank.
Over the course of her service, Zuzanna sank two battleships, two cruisers, five torpedo boats, and two destroyers. She entered into Górskan folklore and maritime tradition while she was still in service and became a source of national pride for the Republic. The loss of her and her crew was mourned in the years after the war, and several monuments and memorials were established both by the Górskan government and private citizens to commemorate the ship. In the decades that followed, it became Górskan tradition that the flagship of the Federal Navy be named either Zuzanna or Celina.