Named for the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora made an epic transoceanic voyage and fought in the disastrous Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War, covering the Russian retreat and surviving to return home. She later served in World War I and fired the first shot to mark the assault on the Winter Palace at the start of the October Revolution. During World War II, her crew demounted her guns and deployed them in the hard-fought Siege of Leningrad.