Editing Russian cruiser Aurora (section)

==World War I, Mutiny and Revolution==
During [[World War I]] ''Aurora'' operated in the Baltic Sea performing patrols and shore bombardment tasks. In 1915, her armament was changed to fourteen 152&nbsp;mm (6&nbsp;in) guns. In late 1916 she was moved to [[Petrograd]] for repairs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=BUDAKLI |first=Maritime Goods-Eren |title=Avrora Cruiser - Maritime Goods |url=https://www.maritimegoods.com/en/content-details/avrora-cruiser-.html?ContentID=633 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.maritimegoods.com |language=en}}</ref> 

By late 1916, when ''Aurora'' arrived in Petrograd, conditions in the capital had deteriorated and the city was lawless and suffering from a cold winter and food shortages. Dissatisfaction with the Tsar was approaching a breaking point.<ref>{{Cite web |last=alphahis |date=2012-12-10 |title=A police report on deteriorating conditions in Petrograd (1916) |url=https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/police-conditions-in-petrograd-1916/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Russian Revolution |language=en-AU}}</ref> 

During the [[February Revolution]] a significant number of the enlisted men had become sympathetic with, or had outright joined the [[Bolsheviks]]. This led to increasing tensions between the officer class - who were generally Tsarists - and the enlisted men.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Other |first=A. N. |date=2016-03-22 |title=Aurora: the Ship that Started a Revolution |url=https://navyhistory.au/aurora-the-ship-that-started-a-revolution/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Naval Historical Society of Australia |language=en-AU}}</ref>

Tensions came to a head after officers fired their pistols at the enlisted men in an attempt to restore order. The crew captured the ship's captain, Mikhail Nikolsky, and ordered that he carry a red flag as a symbol of support for the Bolshevik cause. When he declined, he was shot and killed as were an unknown number of the ship's officers.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=The end of the line for the Aurora? |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/end-of-line-for-aurora/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=openDemocracy |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

A revolutionary committee was formed and a new captain was elected. The ship joined the Bolshevik cause and became the first major Russian warship to fly the red flag of the Bolshevik cause.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Beckett |first=Jesse |date=2022-02-14 |title=The Cruiser Aurora Signaled the Start of the Russian Revolution |url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/russian-cruiser-aurora.html |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=warhistoryonline |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

On the eve of the [[October Revolution]] the ship was assigned to dislodge loyalist military cadets from the [[Nikolayevsky Bridge]]. After carrying out that assignment, the ship fired the famous blank shot that, according to Russian lore, was the signal to begin the assault on the Winter Palace. It is for this action that the ship is best known and most closely identified in Russian culture.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Cruiser Aurora Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia |url=http://www.saint-petersburg.com/museums/cruiser-aurora/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.saint-petersburg.com}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

In 1918 Aurora was relocated to the naval dockyard at Kronstadt and her new 6-inch guns were removed and installed on floating batteries to be used by the Bolsheviks during the civil war.<ref name=":1" />