Russian cruiser Oleg
Russian cruiser sunk at Kronstadt in 1919
Oleg was a Bogatyr-class protected cruiser and Tsushima veteran, torpedoed at Kronstadt on 17 June 1919 by Lieutenant Augustus Agar's Coastal Motor Boat CMB 4, a small fast boat that today's uncrewed strike craft echo.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Russian cruiser Oleg
Stark and MBDA plan Sea Venom on a USV
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
Oleg was a Bogatyr-class protected cruiser built at the New Admiralty Shipyard in St Petersburg and commissioned in 1904. She fought at Tsushima in May 1905 and escaped to internment at Manila. On 17 June 1919, during the British campaign in the Baltic, Lieutenant Augustus Agar's Coastal Motor Boat CMB 4 sailed from Terijoki in Finland and torpedoed her at Kronstadt. Agar received the Victoria Cross. The wreck was raised and scrapped in 1938.
Agar's 1919 attack set the pattern for today's small armed robot boats. On 30 September 2026 Stark Defence and MBDA announced a plan to fit Stark's 12m uncrewed boat with four Sea Venom anti-ship missiles and ten Cascade loitering munitions. Both rely on a compact, quick hull to bring an anti-ship weapon within reach; the 2026 design swaps Agar's CREW for software.
CMB 4 had a CREW aboard and a single torpedo. Saildrone has already fired missiles from an uncrewed hull, and in June 2026 Ukrainian drones struck the Baltic Fleet at Kronstadt, the same Anchorage where Oleg was lost.