Were the reconstruction proposals attributed to Orel's engineer adopted, and could they have changed the Borodino-class ships' vulnerability?
Short answerNo firm verdict is offered because memoirs can overstate personal credit and shift blame after the fact.
NotesThe answer draws on several Russian accounts from the Tsushima period, including material worked through outside English translation. It gives no firm verdict on the proposed reconstruction and warns that memoirs often claim credit for good decisions while shifting blame for bad ones. Disputed naval-design anecdotes need corroboration beyond a single participant's account. That caution matters when Orel's survival encourages explanations for why her sister ships were lost.