Russian battleships of the 20th century. Unrealized projects of German battlecruisers and fast battleships of the First World War

Preface

Battleship is an abbreviated name for a battleship. The battleship is the largest, most powerful and balanced in all respects warship among its contemporary ships of other classes. The battleship was the striking force of the navy from the 17th century to the mid-20th century.

The ship received its name due to the initial tactics of using battleships. The squadrons of the opposing sides approached each other in a wake formation, i.e. lined up in one line, after which a hot artillery duel began. Initially, battleships had artillery. Subsequently, with progress in the field of naval weapon systems, the artillery armament of battleships was supplemented by torpedo and mine weapons.

During its evolution, the battleship class included many different subclasses. However, all of these types of warships are still battleships. In this article we will analyze all the main stages of the development of the battleship, and also try to find out at what stage their evolution suddenly switched to those rails that ultimately led to the fact that battleships today have completely disappeared from all military personnel. naval fleets of the world. Someone may object: the battleships were destroyed not by their supposedly incorrectly chosen appearance, but by the rapid development of naval weapons systems. In particular, submarines and mine-torpedo weapons, naval aviation and aircraft weapons, guided missile weapons. There is something to answer to such a seemingly obvious argument. Ships of other classes - minesweepers, minelayers, landing ships, destroyers, cruisers, etc. - have not gone anywhere and quite coexist with these modern types naval weapons, although they are an order of magnitude more vulnerable to them compared to even outdated battleships of the 19th century. So what destroyed the battleships? We will try to find an answer to this question. This article may seem crazy to some, but others will obviously be able to find a rational grain in it. To begin with, let's look at the main classes of a battleship step by step.

Sailing ship of the line

Appeared in the 17th century. Wooden three-masted ships with a displacement of 500 to 5000 tons. As a rule, these ships structurally had three battery decks (from which they were called three-deck), on which were located from 30 to 130 muzzle-loading guns of various calibers. The guns fired through gun ports - special holes in the side. In a non-combat situation, the guns were usually moved inside the hull, and the ports were closed with special semi-porticos. The wooden sides provided protection very large thickness. The quarters for the command staff were concentrated in the stern of the ship. Below the battery decks there were cargo holds in which supplies of water, provisions, as well as gunpowder and ammunition were stored. The sailing battleship was propelled by sails located on three masts. Naturally, he could only move if there was wind. With sufficient seaworthiness and autonomy, the speed capabilities of the sailing battleship left much to be desired. A typical representative of sailing battleships is HMS Viktory, Admiral Nelson's flagship, still carefully preserved in Portsmouth. The domestic ship "Twelve Apostles" is considered the most powerful sailing battleship.

Battery battleship

They were a further development of sailing battleships and in their architecture differed little from them. Ships with a displacement of 2000-10000 tons and a length of 60 to 100 m. Their design was either combined or purely metal. In the case of a combined design, the base of the ship's hull was wooden, and steel armor plates were hung on top of the wooden side in the most endangered areas. In the case of a metal structure, the entire hull of the ship was made of metal, and the armor plates were an integral part of its still fairly simple design. The ships had one battery deck, on which, by analogy with sailing battleships, artillery was located - up to 40 breech-loading or muzzle-loading guns with a caliber usually no more than 203 mm. At that stage, the composition of naval artillery was quite chaotic and had no logic in the matter of its tactical use. The composition of the armor was also quite primitive, and its thickness was about 100 mm. The power plant is a coal-fed piston single-shaft steam engine. Allowed battery battleships to reach speeds from 8 to 14 knots. In addition, there were also masts with sails as a backup propulsion system. A good idea of ​​this type of battleship is given by HMS Warrior, moored in Portsmouth.

Battery battleship "Warrior". Dimensions: 9358 t and 127x17.7 m. Armament: ten 179 mm (7”) guns, twenty-eight 68-pounder guns, four 120 mm (4.7”) guns. Reservation: side - 114 mm. Mobility: 1x5267 hp PM and 14 knots (26 km/h). On sails - up to 13 knots. (24 km/h). This ship differed from its combined wood-metal counterparts in its all-steel hull, divided into 35 compartments with a double bottom. Also, this ship had normal dimensions to ensure proper seaworthiness and autonomy and to accommodate the necessary weapons and mechanisms.

Casemate battleship

These are battleships from the period when the era of steam and armor began to enter its mature age: the 70s of the 19th century. Casemate battleships differed from battery battleships in their improved design, a sharp increase in the number of on-board mechanisms, devices and instruments, as well as a radical complication of their design. And although their size and displacement (about 10,000 tons and up to 110 m in length) changed little in comparison with the largest battery battleships, casemate battleships were already completely superior to them in their combat potential. The fundamental differences were as follows. Firstly, the caliber and number of guns were standardized and began to have a clear classification in accordance with their performance characteristics and the purpose arising from these performance characteristics. On casemate battleships, all artillery was already divided into the main caliber (main caliber) and the anti-mine caliber (PMK). The first was intended to destroy all types of surface targets and carry out artillery strikes on coastal targets, the second was intended to destroy attacking destroyers, destroyers, torpedo boats and other small-sized high-speed targets that could not “catch” bulky main-caliber artillery systems. The main caliber was 4-8 heavy breech-loading or muzzle-loading guns with a caliber from 240 mm to 340 mm. Small-caliber guns with a caliber of up to 76 mm were used as anti-mine caliber. This composition of artillery was less numerous compared to the artillery of battery battleships, but was significantly more powerful and effective. The second innovation is the partial abandonment of the battery deck. The main caliber guns were now housed in individual casemates and were separated from neighboring ones by armored partitions. This significantly increased the survivability of such artillery in battle. Battery decks were now used only to accommodate secondary battery artillery. Part of the secondary gun artillery began to be placed on the upper deck in deck installations of circular rotation. In addition, the gigantic size and weight of the new large-caliber guns, as well as their ammunition, required the introduction of partial or complete mechanization of the process of loading and aiming such a weapon. For example, the fighting compartment of the 340-mm main caliber gun on the French casemate battleship Courbet resembled the premises of a small mechanical factory. All this made it possible to rightfully abandon the term “gun” at this stage, replacing it with the more correct term “gun mount” (AU) in this case. The gun ports of some casemate gun mounts began to receive anti-fragmentation protection. There have been changes both in the design of the case and in the elements of its protection. Firstly, to increase survivability and unsinkability in the event of combat and navigational damage, battleships of this period began to receive a double bottom. Secondly, to withstand the super-heavy “suitcases” of the new large-caliber main-caliber guns, the armor began to be tightened into relatively narrow belts, the thickness of which quickly reached 300 mm or more. The remaining sections of the corps either had no protection at all, or had purely symbolic protection. The power plant now included several steam piston engines operating on 1 or 2 shafts. The maximum speed is up to 15-16 knots. Seaworthiness has become almost absolute (storm up to 11 points). In addition, some battleships of this type began to receive torpedo tubes with torpedo ammunition and barrage mines. Such weapons already made it possible to hit targets with artillery fire at a distance of up to 4-5 km and finally destroy them with torpedoes, if the target still remained buoyant after the shelling. The disadvantages of casemate battleships include very low firing angles of main battery gun mounts, their extremely low rate of fire (1 shot every 15-20 minutes), difficult use of artillery in fresh weather, and a primitive fire control system. The most powerful battleships belonging to the casemate battleship category were the French battleships of the Courbet class.

Casemate battleship "Admiral Courbet" in 1881. Naked power. At the moment of entry into service, it probably caused trembling among the lords of the British Admiralty. The side ended with the upper deck at a height of approximately the 4th floor of a multi-story building, which made the seaworthiness of this impressive floating fortress almost absolute. Dimensions: 10450 t and 95x21.3 m. Armament: four 340 mm/L21 (13.4”) M1881 and four 279 mm/L20 (10.8”) M1875 AU GK, six 140 mm (5.5 "") M1881 AU SK, twelve 1-pound secondary guns, five 356-mm TA. Reservation: side - up to 380 mm (wrought iron). Mobility: 2x4150 hp PM and 15.5 knots. (29 km/h). Obviously, such equipment will not fall apart or sink from a couple of hits from anti-ship missiles of the Exocet/Penguin/Otomat/Harpoon type, etc., as happens with modern high-tech warships, and dimensions it is approximately the same (even significantly shorter in length).

Turret battleship

The design shortcomings of casemate battleships forced designers to look for ways to increase the efficiency of using the already quite solid firepower of battleships. A solution was found - the creation of not casemate, but tower-mounted main-caliber gun mounts, which were located on the upper deck and, as a result, had much larger firing angles. In addition, the turret gun mount is more protected than the casemate gun mount, although it is heavier. One- and two-gun main-caliber turret artillery mounts with guns of caliber from 240 mm to 450 mm were created. Turret battleships were equipped with one to three such installations (rarely more). SK and secondary gun artillery continued to remain on the battery deck, in casemate and deck installations. Since space was required on the upper deck to accommodate huge installations, sailing weapons were finally abandoned. Battleships now carried one or two masts designed to accommodate observation posts, searchlights, small-caliber artillery and signal equipment. Armor protection and propulsion remained approximately at the level of the best casemate battleships. However, the number of auxiliary equipment to control new, complex tower installations has become even greater. Two ships are vying for the title of best turret battleships: the Italian Duilio-class battleship and the domestic battleship Peter the Great.

The battleship "Duilio" is an armored monster with a displacement of 11,138 tons. The main armament of the battleship was two two-gun gun mounts placed diagonally in the center of the ship's hull. Each gun mount had two 450-mm muzzle-loading RML-17.72 guns weighing 100 tons each. The drives of the loading and guidance mechanisms are hydraulic. They fired shells weighing almost a ton at a distance of up to 6 km and could penetrate 500 mm thick steel armor from a distance of 1800 m. Rate of fire - 1 salvo every 15-20 minutes. The ship had three 120-mm artillery mounts and several small cannons as artillery for the SK and secondary guns. The picture was complemented by 3 torpedo tubes. In the stern there was a docking chamber for a Nomibio-class torpedo boat. The ship had total mechanization of all work processes. The battleship "Peter the Great" anticipated the appearance of modern squadron battleships. Its architecture already complied with the canons that shipbuilders still adhere to today. The main caliber artillery is two two-gun turret artillery mounts with 305 mm/L20 guns. One installation was located at the bow, the second at the stern of the smooth-deck ship. This allowed the use of both gun mounts (all four guns) in a broadside salvo, as well as the use of half the artillery on the bow and stern. In the center there was a superstructure with deckhouses, masts, pipes, combat posts and bridges. The ship's firepower was supplemented by two 229 mm mortars at the stern of the ship. Six 87-mm deck guns were used as secondary gun artillery. Armor up to 365 mm. The booking scheme has been improved. Speed ​​up to 15 knots.

The turret battleship Dandolo is one of the Duililo-class battleships. It looks rather unprepossessing, but in terms of the number of innovative technical solutions, the caliber of main guns and the level of mechanization, at one time it was far ahead of the rest. Its disadvantages are poor seaworthiness and a not very good layout of weapons and control posts. Dimensions: 11138 t and 109.2x19.8 m. Armament: 2x2-450 mm/L20.5 (17.7" - fired shells weighing 908 kg) RML-17.72 AU GK, three 120 mm (4.7") AU SK and several small secondary guns, three 356-mm TA, torpedo boat of the Nomibio type in the internal dock (at Duilio). Reservation: side - up to 550 mm, deck - 50 mm. Mobility: 2x3855 hp PM and 15 knots (28 km/h). The “dreadnought” type of “all or nothing” protection of this ship made it possible to withstand heavy single strikes from large-caliber “suitcases” well, but did not provide almost any protection from heavy fire from SK and secondary guns from short and medium distances.

Barbet armadillo

Structurally, they repeated the type of turret battleship, but instead of turrets they had barbettes. The barbet was a structure built into the ship's hull in the form of a well made of armored rings, in which the guns were located along with all the necessary mechanisms and instruments. The guns towering above the barbette were not much of a target, and they decided not to defend them. This design was also not protected from above. Then the rotating part of the barbette gun mount received a light turret-like anti-fragmentation cover. In the process of evolution, the turret and barbette gradually merged into a single structure, in which the barbette is a stationary part of the gun mount, and the turret with guns crowning it is a movable rotating part. Some of the most powerful barbette battleships in the world were the domestic Black Sea battleships of the Ekaterina-II type.

The monumental appearance of the Russian barbette battleship "George the Victorious" - one of the series of battleships of the "Ekaterina-II" class (four ships). What is recognized in the photo as a classic turret gun mount is actually a two-gun main caliber barbette mount with light anti-fragmentation cover. The first step towards merging together the turret and barbette artillery layout. Dimensions: 11032 t and 103.5x21 m. Armament: 3x2-305-mm/L35 (12”) AU main gun, seven 152-mm/L35 (6”) AU SK, eight 47-mm and ten 37-mm AU secondary guns , 7 - 381 mm TA. Reservation: side - up to 406 mm, deck - up to 63 mm (steel-iron). Mobility: 2x4922 hp PM and 16.5 knots. (31 km/h).

Monitor

A variant of the flat-bottomed turret battleship for operations in shallow waters. They had a flat hull with minimal draft and a very low freeboard. Add-ons are kept to a minimum. The main armament is one or two turret gun mounts. The caliber of their guns could reach 305 mm and even more. As a rule, there were no other weapons, although several small cannons could still be present. The power plant made it possible to gain speed of 10-12 knots. Such ships were conditionally seaworthy and were intended for operations maximum in the near sea zone, rivers and lakes.

Squadron battleship

Ships from the heyday of the “steam and armor” era and the beginning of the period of rapid development of electrical engineering and instrument making. This time is from the 80s of the 19th century to the end of the first decade of the 20th century. Squadron battleships are powerful and versatile warships capable of operating in any area of ​​the world's oceans. Their displacement was 10,000-16,000 tons. Length from 100 to 130 m. These ships had powerful multi-row armor from the armor of the most best brands armored steels, and not ordinary steel, like the first battleships. The thickness of multi-row armor barriers reached 400 mm or more. Internal and local booking has appeared. Anti-torpedo protection (PTD) has been strengthened. Progress in the development of electrical engineering and instrumentation made it possible to equip squadron battleships with optical instruments, sights, horizontal-base rangefinders, a centralized fire control system and radio stations. Progress in the field of naval weapon systems, gunpowder and explosives made it possible to equip them with the most modern artillery, torpedo and mine weapons in terms of performance characteristics that were completely superior to similar systems used ten years earlier. Artillery weapons were clearly systematized. The development of new varieties of gunpowder, new shells and the latest long-barreled artillery systems made it possible to equalize the effectiveness of 305 mm guns with the previous 406-450 mm ones. In most cases, two turret gun mounts began to be used as the main caliber on battleships, each with a pair of 305 mm guns. According to the “Peter the Great” type, one gun mount was located at the bow, the other at the stern. There were exceptions: some domestic and British squadron battleships had only one bow main gun mount. On the German Brandenburg-class battleships, the main battery artillery, including three two-gun 283-mm gun mounts, was placed in the same way as was later done on dreadnoughts: all three mounts were placed in a row along the centerline of the ship, which made it possible to achieve a maximum broadside salvo. On the domestic Sinop-class battleships (the ships fall under the definition of both squadron and barbette battleships), three twin 305-mm gun mounts were placed in a triangle around the massive central superstructure. Medium SK and anti-mine caliber PMK artillery was located in casemate and deck installations, as well as on the tops of the foremast and mainmast. In addition, taking into account the large area of ​​​​unarmored areas, as well as the large number of superstructures, bridges and deckhouses, on which numerous equipment and combat posts were located necessary for controlling the ship and its firing, it was decided to sharply strengthen the so-called rapid-fire artillery or medium-caliber gun mounts on the squadron battleships . These artillery mounts, which were quite large in caliber by land standards (120 mm, 140 mm and 152 mm), nevertheless allowed for manual loading and therefore had a rate of fire of 5-8 rounds per minute. Squadron battleships had from 8 to 16 such guns. They threw out huge amounts of metal in a minute and caused colossal devastation on the upper superstructures of enemy ships, which were almost impossible to reliably protect. What happens in this case with a still quite, in general, combat-ready battleship was very well shown, for example, by the night battle off Guadalcanal in 1942. The capabilities of the updated main caliber artillery allowed the squadron battleships to conduct artillery fire on targets located at a distance of 13-18 km, but the effective fire range according to the capabilities of the fire control system was limited to approximately 10 km. At such a distance, the medium-caliber artillery of the squadron battleships was more than effective. As a rule, it was located in onboard casemate or deck gun mounts. The most high-tech squadron battleships had SK artillery, located in the same way as the main battery, in turret deck gun mounts with full mechanization and large firing angles. This further increased the effectiveness of medium-caliber artillery and allowed it to fully support the main caliber in battle. Also, medium-caliber artillery was used to repel mine attacks and was therefore quite versatile. The power of two- and four-shaft triple expansion steam engines reached 15,000-18,000 hp. which allowed the best squadron battleships to reach speeds of 16-19 knots. with a long range and almost absolute seaworthiness. Some squadron battleships also had the so-called “intermediate” caliber. These are several guns of 203 mm - 229 mm - 234 mm caliber. They were located in casemate gun mounts (less often in tower mounts) and served to enhance firepower. Tactically, it was main caliber artillery. Such guns could not be loaded manually and therefore their rate of fire was not much higher than that of 305-mm main caliber guns, with a much lower fire power. It is still not known whether such a technical solution was justified. The splashes from 12" and 9" shells were poorly distinguishable, which confused spotters and made it difficult to control fire. And the reserve displacement and space for these installations could well be used to strengthen the main or medium caliber itself, as well as armor protection and driving performance. The domestic squadron battleships of the "Borodino" type and their prototype "Tsesarevich" are considered one of the best classic squadron battleships in the world. Real floating tanks, armored from head to toe, with a displacement of about 14,000 tons and a length of 120 m, these ships were distinguished by their perfect design and excellent performance characteristics. All of their main long-range artillery was located in twin tower gun mounts on high altitude. Total electric drives and complete mechanization of everything. A highly effective system for centralized fire control of artillery and torpedo weapons from a single post. Very complex design armored hull at the level of battleships of the Second World War. The total reduced armor thickness of multi-row armor barriers is more than 300 mm vertically and up to 150 mm horizontally. Protection of both vital and auxiliary parts of the ship. Powerful PTZ. Speed ​​up to 18 knots.

A real floating tank proudly named “Eagle” is one of the five battleships of the Borodino series. The concept of a squadron battleship in these ships was brought to the limit of its perfection. The most complex protection scheme at the level of battleships of the 2nd World War. Ships of this series are still an excellent combat platform for installing the latest missile, torpedo and artillery combat systems. Dimensions: 14400 t and 121.2x23.2 m. Armament: 2x2-305-mm/L40 (12”) main battery guns, 6x2-152-mm/L45 (6”), twenty 75-mm and twenty 47-mm guns Secondary guns, ten 7.62 mm P, four 381 mm TA, 20 mines. Equipment: TsSUO mod. 1899 (2 - VCN at sighting posts, two 1.2-meter rangefinders, optical sights in the AU), radio station. Reservations: side (reduced, total) - up to 314 mm (Krupp armor), deck (total) - up to 142 mm. Mobility: 2x7900 hp PM and 17.8 knots. (33 km/h). They had optimal dimensions in terms of efficiency/cost/mass availability, which made it possible to produce them in large quantities. This significantly expanded the operational capabilities of connecting such ships, since even the Yamato is not able to be in two places at the same time.

Coastal defense battleship

The ships are built according to all the canons of squadron battleships, but their displacement is three times smaller, at the level of 4000 tons. They are intended for conducting combat operations near their shores in the coastal defense system. As the main caliber they had one or two artillery mounts with guns of caliber from 203 mm to 254 mm. Sometimes they were equipped with 305-mm artillery mounts from the “big brothers”. They were built in small series until the 2nd World War.

2nd class battleship

Ships built according to all the canons of squadron battleships, but with a displacement of approximately 1.5 times less than them - 8000-10000 tons. Main caliber artillery - 254 mm - 305 mm guns. Designed both for general battles and for patrol and sentinel service on communications and guarding convoys. They were built in small series.

Dreadnought

Ships of dramatically increased size and displacement compared to squadron battleships. The first representative of this class of battleships was the famous HMS Dreadnought, which entered service with the British Navy in 1906. Its displacement was increased to 20,000 tons, and its length to 160 m. The number of 305-mm main gun mounts was increased from two to five, and the SK gun mounts were abandoned, leaving only the secondary battery artillery. In addition, a four-shaft steam turbine was used as a power plant, which made it possible to reach a speed of 21-22 knots. All other dreadnoughts were built on this principle. The number of main-caliber barrels reached 12 and even 14. They decided to return to medium-caliber artillery, since, among other things, it also served as a secondary gun, but they began to place it as on the first squadron battleships - in onboard casemate installations. The place of secondary guns on decks and superstructures was taken by anti-aircraft artillery (ZA). Some dreadnoughts continued to have piston steam engines, because they were more economical than turbines. The fire control system continued to be improved, as a result of which the range of effective artillery fire increased to 15 km, and the maximum range to 20 km. Again, it is not known whether dreadnoughts were specifically more effective than squadron battleships. If at long distances the advantage of dreadnoughts is obvious, then at medium and short distances everything could be exactly the opposite. Such experiments were not carried out: all naval battles of squadron battleships against dreadnoughts in the 1st World War took place at the maximum possible distances. The only exception, perhaps, was the first battle at Cape Sarych, where, due to bad weather (there was fog), the German battlecruiser Goeben ran into the Russian squadron battleship Efstafiy, establishing visual contact with it at a distance of only 38 cables (about 7 km). The short and furious fire battle did not reveal the winner: “Efstafiy” received four 283-mm shells (301 kg each), two of which hit at random and did not cause much harm. “Goeben” also received four hits: one 305-mm projectile (331.7 kg), one 203-mm (112.2-139.2 kg) and two 152-mm (41.5 kg). According to other sources, there were 14 hits on the German ship, which led to gigantic casualties and forced the Goeben to hastily leave the battlefield. Sources from the opposite side claim that there was only one hit, and the Goeben fled because of the danger of the remaining Russian battleships approaching and turning the battle with the Goeben into a beating. How it really was there is now unlikely to be established (there are no living witnesses left), but the fact that “Goeben” escaped then is an indisputable fact.

In general, comparing a single dreadnought and a squadron battleship is quite pointless, since there were no classical squadron battleships with a displacement of 20,000-30,000 tons, although there were dreadnoughts with a displacement of 16,000 tons. The most powerful classical dreadnoughts are considered to be the German dreadnoughts of the König type and the domestic ones of the Alexander III type (Black Sea Fleet). The German had super-powerful defense. Ours is a highly effective artillery complex.

The battleship Alexander III had the classic angular appearance of the first dreadnoughts with greatly reduced superstructures. Subsequently, in the course of numerous modernizations, for the normal control of the ship, as well as the placement of all the necessary equipment and combat posts, the superstructures were again developed, and the dreadnoughts (rather, super-dreadnoughts and battleships) began to resemble enlarged battleships with a powerful island of superstructures in the center of the hull . Dimensions: 23400 t and 168x27.3 m. Armament: 4x3-305-mm/L52 (12”) MK-3-12 AU GK, twenty 130-mm/L50 (5.1”) AU SK/PMK, four 75 -mm ZAU, four 457mm TA. Reservations: side (reduced, total) - up to 336 mm (Krupp armor), deck (total) - 87 mm. Equipment: TsSUO (two 6-meter rangefinders DM-6, optical sights in the AU), 2 radio stations (2 and 10 kW). Mobility: 4x8300 hp PT and 21 kts. (39 km/h). In terms of the main caliber artillery complex, battleships of this type were leaders among dreadnoughts with 305 mm guns. The rest of the characteristics were also at the proper level.

Predreadnought, or Transitional Battleship

They were built simultaneously with the first dreadnoughts. Ships with a displacement of 16,000-18,000 tons and a length of 130-150 m. The hull design did not differ from squadron battleships, but there were changes in the composition of the artillery. The place of medium-caliber rapid-fire artillery mounts on such ships was mostly or entirely taken by intermediate-caliber artillery of 203 mm, 234 mm, 240 mm or 254 mm. Despite the fact that controlling the fire of such diverse but similar artillery in terms of performance characteristics was not an easy task, lighter gun mounts of intermediate caliber were more numerous, and therefore many battleships of this type were quite powerful combat units, quite capable of defeating the first dreadnoughts in an artillery battle. In general, the term “pre-dreadnought” refers to any squadron battleship, but, as a rule, it is associated with precisely such ships. Transitional battleships include the domestic battleships of the Andrei Pervozvanny type (four 305 mm + fourteen 203 mm), the French Danton (four 305 mm + twelve 240 mm), and the British Agamemnon type (four 305 mm + ten 234 mm), Austro-Hungarian "Radetzky" type (four 305 mm + eight 240 mm), etc.

The battleship "Danton" is a typical representative of transitional battleships. Powerful six-pipe beauty. Dimensions: 19763 t and 146.6x25.8 m. Armament: 2-2x305-mm/L45 (12”) Mle.1906 AU GK, six 2x240-mm/L50 (9.4”) Mle.1902 AU GK, sixteen 75 mm Mle.1906 AU PMK, ten 47 mm AU PMK, two 457 mm TA. Reservation: side (total, reduced) - up to 366 mm, deck (total) - 95 mm. Equipment: TsSUO (rangefinders, optical sights in the AU), radio station. Mobility: 4x6625 hp PT and 19.5 kts. (36 km/h).

Superdreadnought

The further evolution of the battleship gradually turned them into very expensive toys that people were very afraid of losing. Such a ship was already putting a significant burden on the economy of its country, and their number was limited. For example, in its entire history, the domestic military-industrial complex has not been able to deliver a single ship of this class to the fleet, whereas it previously delivered dozens of battleships. The super-dreadnought differed from the usual dreadnought by a further increase in size, displacement, enhanced protection and artillery of an even larger caliber, but less numerous, while maintaining mobility characteristics at the level of dreadnoughts. Ships with a displacement of up to 30,000 tons and a length of 180-200 m had the most powerful armor up to 350-400 mm thick. Instead of main gun mounts with 10-14 guns of 305 mm caliber, they began to install two-, three- and even four-gun main gun mounts with 8-9 guns of 343 mm caliber (the first super-dreadnoughts of the Orion type), 356 mm, 381 mm and even 406 mm. They fired projectiles weighing from 700 kg to more than one ton at a distance of up to 30 km. The effective fire range had long been determined by the horizon and was still no more than 15 km. These ships abandoned mine and torpedo weapons, making them non-universal and weakening to some extent their combat potential. The most powerful super-dreadnoughts are considered to be the British battleships of the Warspite and Royal Sovereign types, as well as American designs.

Battle cruiser

Ships that were the crown of development of armored cruisers, but structurally and in tactical/operational-strategic terms are battleships. They differed from contemporary dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts either by weakened armor (mainly on British models) or weakened weapons (mainly on German models), due to which they could reach speeds of up to 28-32 knots. They were a high-speed wing of a squadron of dreadnoughts/super-dreadnoughts, just like armored cruisers were once attached to squadron battleships. They showed themselves to be very large, expensive, but at the same time very vulnerable ships and therefore did not gain much love from sailors. A good example is the battle between the German battleship Bismarck and the British battlecruiser Hood, with fatal consequences for the latter. This is despite the fact that the Hood was considered the most powerful of all known battlecruisers of that time. It was sometimes even called a “battlecruiser.”

The idea of ​​​​creating such ships, unbalanced to the point of absurdity, apparently belonged to Admiral Fisher. Some countries have picked it up, some have not. In our country, battle cruisers of the Izmail type were laid down, but they had only one name from battle cruisers. In fact, the Izmails were typical super-dreadnoughts, superior to the previous series of Baltic and Black Sea battleships in all respects except cost and problems.

The battlecruiser Inflexible is the first representative of this class of battleships. It looks like a normal armadillo, but a certain “slenderness” in its appearance betrays its inferiority. Despite its 8 305mm guns, it will most likely be inferior in battle to any squadron battleship built after 1900. Dimensions: 18490 t and 172.8x24 m. Armament: 4x2-305-mm/L45 (12”) Mark.X AU GK, 16 - 102-mm (4”) Mk.III AU PMK, 5 - 457-mm TA . Reservation: side (total, reduced) - up to 318 mm, deck (total) - up to 63 mm. Equipment: TsSUO (rangefinders, optical sights in the AU), radio station. Mobility: 4x10250 hp and 25.5 knots. (47 km/h).

Battleship or fast battleship

The crown of development of the class of battleships. The architecture resembles a squadron battleship enlarged three times - in the center there is a massive superstructure with pipes, deckhouses, masts, control posts, medium (universal) caliber artillery and MZA. At the bow and stern there are one or two, as a rule, triple main gun mounts with guns of caliber from 381 mm to 460 mm. The maximum range of artillery fire reached 40 km. The effective fire range remained at 15-20 km, but thanks to the presence of radar and night vision devices, the battleships became all-weather, i.e. gained the opportunity to conduct effective fire at night, in fog and other difficult weather conditions. Medium-caliber artillery was intended to support main battery fire at accessible distances, to repel torpedo attacks and as an air defense system, and therefore became officially called universal. Many of these ships also had more than a hundred pieces of MZA small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery. Giants with a displacement from 40,000 to 70,000 tons. With the most powerful and complex armor protection up to 400 mm thick. Up to 270 m long - as long as several football fields. Capable of reaching speeds of 27-32 knots. As powerful as they are useless. By their mere presence they ruin the economy of their own country. Quite few in number due to the enormous cost of construction. In a one-on-one artillery duel, a battleship of the Second World War, of course, will easily defeat all previous options, but how to “organize” such a duel in the conditions of modern warfare? Due to its size and small numbers, it is very attractive to various types of naval weapons - from torpedo bombers, bombers and guided bombs to submarines with their torpedoes, as well as mines. The Japanese superbattleships Yamato and Musashi are considered the most powerful battleships created in the history of mankind. Both of them required enormous costs. Both were designed to be the most powerful battleships in history. Both spent almost the entire war at the Hasir roadstead in Japan. Both of them never hit a single enemy ship during the entire war. Both died under the bombs and torpedoes of American naval aviation, without firing a single shot at the American battleships they were called upon to destroy. The Japanese valued these ships too much, which ultimately led to the useless death of both.

The mighty super battleship Yamato is the most powerful battleship in the history of mankind. And probably the most useless. In a duel artillery battle, it will defeat any other ship of any country. The Americans are still somehow trying to compare their “Iowa” with it, but the comparison, despite all efforts, turns out to be childishly naive. Dimensions: 72810 t and 262x38.7 m. Armament: 3x3-460-mm/L45 (18.1”) 40-SK model 94 AU GK (fired shells weighing 1460 kg), 4x3-155-mm/L60 (6.1 ”) AU SK/PMK, 6x2-127 mm UAU, 8x3-25 mm Type-96 MZA, 2x2-13 mm P, 7 LA6. Equipment: TsSUO Type-98 (four 15-meter rangefinders, one 10-meter rangefinder, two 8-meter rangefinders, two directors, target tracking device, shot resolution device, ballistic computer, radar7 21.Mod.3, 2 Type radars -22, 2 Type-13 radars, noise direction-finding stations ShMS, optical and infrared day and night sights and sights in AU and VP), radio stations. Reservation: side (adjusted) - up to 436 mm, deck (adjusted) - up to 232 mm. Mobility: 4x41250 hp TZA and 27 knots. (50 km/h).

Results

Having begun with primitive wooden sailing ships, the development of battleships stopped at the gigantic, ultra-modern Yamato. After the end of World War II, only one ship of this class was added to the naval fleet - the British Vanguard. The construction of all other battleships was cancelled. Domestic battleships of the " Soviet Union", which, if they had been completed, in their power and size would have been second, perhaps, only to the Yamato. However, the Navy did not end there. The navies of developed countries were actively replenished with ships of other classes: aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. Why did they abandon the battleship? There were several reasons for this. The golden age of battleships was the time from the 80s of the 19th century to the First World War. At this time, they were already technically mature designs, and artillery still ruled the show on the battlefield. Aviation at that time was still in its infancy, and submarines, due to their low performance characteristics, were dangerous for the merchant fleet, but were considered relatively harmless for high-speed warships. The battleships of that time were powerful and versatile warships with excellent protection and combat survivability. Capable of solving any maritime and near-sea problems. The most combative and effective of them were squadron battleships, which were built en masse and took an active part in all conflicts (including the First World War). Squadron battleships were produced in huge numbers and constituted the striking force of the fleet of any naval power in the world. They were not embarrassed to use them anywhere and were not particularly taken care of (they can still be customized). In general, it was an effective military equipment for a real war. In addition to the First World War, ironclads took an active part in the Sino-Japanese conflict, the Spanish-American conflict and the Russo-Japanese War. In terms of activity and “omnipresence,” squadron battleships roughly corresponded to light cruisers of the Second World War or corvettes/frigates/destroyers of our time.

With the advent of the dreadnoughts, everything began to change. The first signs of collapse of the chosen development strategy for “sea tanks” appeared, which did not provide for anything new - in the pursuit of improving performance characteristics, the size, weight and cost inexorably increased. While almost the entire world built battleships, only the most industrialized countries were able to build dreadnoughts en masse: Britain, the USA, Germany and France. Russia, which hitherto had been quite efficient in delivering battleships of the latest design in the required quantity, was able to complete the construction program of only four dreadnoughts for the Baltic Fleet and four for the Black Sea Fleet. Almost all of these ships were long-term construction and entered service when super-dreadnoughts had already appeared abroad, against which an ordinary dreadnought has even less chance than a squadron battleship against a dreadnought. Considering the number of dreadnoughts in the Russian Navy, we can say that the Russian fleet of dreadnoughts was weaker than its fleet of battleships, which formed the basis of the striking power of the Russian fleet before the Russo-Japanese War (which showed the complete inadequacy of the military-political leadership of the country). Other countries found themselves in the same situation, with enormous efforts and losses for the country’s economy, rather for the sake of prestige, having built two, three or four dreadnoughts. With the funds with which domestic shipyards built the Baltic and Black Sea dreadnoughts, it was possible to arm an entire army, something that our ground forces lacked. But with incredible amounts of money being spent on the fleet (also a necessary thing), one would expect that the new dreadnoughts, in order to justify the efforts spent on them, would at least be used, as they say, to their fullest potential. Alas, this did not happen. Only those countries that had the opportunity to mass produce them actively used dreadnoughts. Those countries for which the construction of even one dreadnought cost enormous efforts (our country is one of them) used dreadnoughts in any way: as a “scarecrow”, as prestigious toys, as flagships at naval parades, but not for their intended purpose. Use for its intended purpose was very cautious and therefore unproductive. For example, at the Baltic Fleet, dreadnoughts of the Sevastopol type never took part in any battle. The squadron battleships (reclassified as battleships in 1906) “Slava” (Borodino class) and “Citizen” (formerly “Tsarevich”) had to bear the brunt of fierce battles with powerful German dreadnoughts in the Baltic. The squadron of Black Sea pre-dreadnoughts also formed the main striking force in the hunt for the German battle cruiser Goeben and inflicted considerable damage on it. The Empress Maria class dreadnoughts did not achieve much success. About the same thing happened with the dreadnought fleet in other not very industrial countries. As for super-dreadnoughts, domestic shipyards were never able to build a single such ship - the revolution got in the way.

Summing up the dreadnoughts, we can conclude that they justified themselves only when they were part of industrialized superpowers. In “poor” fleets, ships of this type were no longer more than expensive toys, designed more for moral pressure than for real combat operations. The first one left behind World War, the second one began. Battleships turned into huge floating cities, like the Yamato described above. By that time, only the USA, Britain and Japan could build such battleships and maintain their fleet. Germany and Italy also had battle fleets, but more modest ones. This was the heyday of naval aviation and submarines. Battleships fought on all seas and oceans during the Second World War. And although it involved many old-style artillery battles, most of the ships of this type lost were destroyed by bombs and torpedoes from carrier-based naval aviation. The Second World War showed that the time of giants like the Yamato was up, and the reason for this was purely economic - building and maintaining such ships turned out to be too expensive even for the USA and Britain, not to mention other countries. During the Second World War, a huge number of cruisers, destroyers and other ships were killed by the same weapons, but no one was going to give them up. Even though they turned out to be an order of magnitude more vulnerable than battleships. The relative cheapness and mass production allowed these cardboard boats to occupy a niche that was once occupied by battleships of the “battleship” class, which were much stronger in both armament and protection.

One of the light cruisers of Project 68 bis. A ship with a displacement of 17900 tons and a length of 214 m (!) with purely symbolic protection. Outwardly, it resembles an enlarged kayak, ready to break in half simply on a big wave. With a length similar to that of a World War II battleship, the main armament had 12 “cannons” of 152 mm caliber (for comparison: the Aurora had 14 almost the same) in four gun mounts, and the same battleships of the Borodino type had twelve 152 mm The guns were only an auxiliary universal caliber with a smaller displacement. These absurd ships replaced the compact and powerful naval tanks of the early 20th century. It’s easy to guess about their real effectiveness. Where is his weaponry? Where is his reservation? Where did they spend 17,900 tons? Is it really all about speed, which after the war with the advent of missile weapons ceased to be a determining factor? Looking at this ship, you understand that the saying “Generals are preparing for the previous war” very often applies to design bureaus...

Today, the most popular warships are destroyers, frigates and corvettes. Ships with a length of 120-160 m, i.e., approximately the size of a squadron battleship/dreadnought, and with a displacement of 4,000 tons to 10,000 tons, i.e., approximately the same as coastal defense battleships or class II battleships. The experience of their actual combat use is summarized in a table, into which similar experience of battleships of different generations has been added for clarity.

As can be seen from the table, all this modern technology is no good. One "Eagle" of the same length withstood more than all these frigates/destroyers combined. The question arises... Battleships like the Yamato cannot be built, because their construction and maintenance are too expensive. But, as practice shows, building such cardboard boats doesn’t pay off either! Our shipbuilding industry has been giving birth to one such frigate with difficulty for years, and in the event of war, the Americans will sink them in five minutes! Someone will object: modern ships do not need armor, they have highly effective air defense/missile defense systems consisting of air defense systems, air defense systems, jammers, etc. As can be seen from the table, this does not help. But it’s not necessary to build giants like Yamato. As practice has shown, the most advanced and effective battleships in terms of quantity/quality ratio are squadron battleships, the survivability of which is also several orders of magnitude higher than that of modern destroyers, and an order of magnitude higher than that of artillery cruisers of the 2nd World War.

The Russian Navy needs to seriously consider the issue of creating warships in the hulls of squadron battleships of the early 20th century. Of course, their armor will not protect them from a salvo of the P-700 Granit, but they will be able to withstand the same Exocet/Harpoon, and more than one. They will not explode if hit by an RPG-7 grenade. F1 lemon boats will not drown from an explosion and will not capsize from an explosion at the side of a motor boat with explosives. The requirements for such ships are approximately the following.

Displacement: 10000-15000 tons.

Dimensions: length no more than 130 m, width no more than 25 m.

Reservation: widespread citadel with internal and local reservation. The total thickness of the Chob-Ham composite armor is up to 300 mm (side) and up to 150 mm (decks). Availability of a complex of built-in dynamic protection.

Mobility: maximum speed of at least 25 knots.

Armament: 1-2 heavy artillery mounts with guns of 203-305 mm caliber. Active, active-missile projectiles and anti-ship missiles launched through the barrels of these guns. 4-6 universal artillery mounts of 100-130 mm caliber. The location of these gun mounts is onboard. A missile system for launching operational-tactical missiles with a nuclear warhead and their anti-ship variants. 4-6 torpedo tubes with homing torpedoes and a missile-torpedo system. Anti-submarine defense complex. Anti-aircraft missile system. 8-12 ZAK or ZRAK near-zone air defense/missile defense installations. Required electronic equipment. One helicopter.

Using the Borodino series battleships as an example, it will look something like this:

And no matter how ridiculous this idea may seem, with the current boat fleet we are clearly not on the way. We need a large number of compact and powerful sea tanks. Those who once made the hearts of Japanese samurai tremble and the British Grand Fleet reckon with itself.

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Noticed osh Y bku Select text and click Ctrl+Enter

Grosskreuzer program

Despite the fact that in Germany there was a discussion on the topic that it was time to combine two classes of ships, battleships and battlecruisers into one class - fast battleships, work was still underway on projects for new battlecruisers.

At a meeting with the German Kaiser, the head of the German Imperial Navy, Eduard von Capelle, presented preliminary designs for armored and battlecruisers, known under the code names GK1, GK 2 and GK 3 cruisers and L1, L2, and L3 battlecruisers. In all projects, 380 mm guns were chosen as the main caliber. The average caliber was supposed to consist of sixteen 158 mm guns, 8 guns per side.

According to the preliminary design, the armored cruiser GK1 was supposed to have a displacement of 34,000 tons and a length of 235 meters. The power of the cruiser's power plant was supposed to be 110,000 hp. With such machines, the cruiser was supposed to reach a speed of 29 knots. According to the GK2 project, the cruiser should have been much larger:

• Displacement - 38,000 tons;


• Length - 243 meters;


• Machine power - 120,000 hp.


• Maximum speed - 29.5 knots.

The sketch of the cruiser GK3 had the same overall dimensions as the cruiser according to the GK2 project, but the engine power on this ship was planned to be slightly less - 115,000 hp. and accordingly, the cruiser had a lower speed - 29 knots. The main focus on these cruisers was their armor.

These projects were carefully assessed by German admirals. And if von Kapelle was inclined towards the cruiser of the GK1 project, then the commander of the High Seas Fleet, Admiral Reinhard Scheer, was more to the liking of the GK3 project.

Actually, there was no consensus on the issue of the future cruiser in Germany; there were heated debates all the time about what the maximum speed of the cruisers should be and what its armor should be. In the period from May to July 1916, another one was developed, new project cruisers - GK 6.

The cruiser had a displacement of 26,500 tons, a length of 235 m and the same protection as the cruiser of the GK 3 project. However, Scheer and the German Imperial Navy Office did not like the GK6 project. In their opinion, the cruiser's speed was insufficient, and the armament and armor did not take into account the experience of Jutland.

The German admirals suggested that the engineers consider installing a fifth turret with a pair of 380 mm guns on the cruiser or, as an alternative, rearming the cruiser with eight 420 mm guns as the main caliber.

Meanwhile, the difficult military situation in Germany led to a sharp slowdown in work on new projects and delayed their completion to 1920-21.

1. Project GK1, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 19 April 1916;


2. Project GK2, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 19 April 1916;


3. Project GK3 Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Date of development April 19, 1916;


4. Project GK6, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 5 July 1916;


5. Project GK6a, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 1916;


6. Project GK7, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 1916;


7. Project GK8, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 1916;


8. Project GK8a, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 1916;


9. Project GK9, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 1916;


10. Project GK10, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 1916;


11. Project GK11, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 1916;


12. Project GK12, Main armament 8 x 38 cm, Development date 1916.

Grosskampfschiffe program

Assessing the experience of the Battle of Jutland, it became obvious that the ships should continue to grow in size. However, in Germany, the growth in the size of warships was limited by the size of the stocks in Wilhelmshaven. It was not possible to build larger ships at these shipyards:

• Length - 235 m;


• Width - 31 m;


• Precipitation - 9.5 m.

For the construction of larger ships, new slipways were required, as well as deepening of the fairways in the Jade and Elbe rivers.

However, these restrictions did not stop design work. It was necessary to understand, at least, to what size the shipyards needed to be increased. According to preliminary estimates, it became clear that the future high-speed battleship would have to have a displacement of at least 20,000 tons more than that of the Mackensen-class battlecruisers.

Side view of the battlecruiser Mackensen. Estimated view according to the drawings.

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At the beginning of the 20th century, the basis of any fleet was made up of battleships - large ships with strong artillery and powerful armor protection. Let's remember three Russian ships of this class - participants in the Russo-Japanese and First World Wars.

Squadron battleship "Sevastopol"

The battleship Sevastopol was commissioned in 1900. The ship carried four 305 mm main caliber guns. Eight 152 mm cannons were located in pairs in four turrets, and another four six-inch guns were located on the battery.

By the time the Russian- Japanese war"Sevastopol", along with the same type "Poltava" and "Petropavlovsk", was far from a new ship, but destroying it in an artillery battle was very problematic.

"Sevastopol" took part in the battle on January 27, 1904, supporting the actions of ground forces at Port Arthur and the naval battle in the Yellow Sea. Several times the battleship was damaged by Japanese mines, but, unlike the Petropavlovsk, it happily escaped destruction. In October 1904, Japanese troops began methodically shooting down the ships of the 1st Pacific Squadron in the inner roadstead of Port Arthur. Only when most of the squadron was killed under the fire of Japanese siege artillery, the commander of the battleship, Captain 1st Rank Essen, on his own initiative, managed to obtain permission to take the battleship to the outer roadstead of the fortress in White Wolf Bay, where the crew began preparing to independently break the blockade.

However, the lack of people in the team and the lack of part of the artillery transferred to the shore forced them to postpone the breakthrough. Meanwhile, the Japanese command, having discovered the Sevastopol in the outer roadstead, decided to destroy the Russian battleship with destroyer attacks. Over the course of several nights, Sevastopol, protected by coastal batteries, the gunboat Groziashchiy and several destroyers, was subjected to numerous mine attacks.

Having fired up to 80 torpedoes at the Russian ship, the Japanese achieved one hit and two close explosions of torpedoes. On the Sevastopol, a number of compartments were flooded and the battleship suffered a significant list. True, this success cost the Japanese very dearly. Destroyer No. 53 and its entire crew were killed on a Russian barrage mine, and destroyer No. 42, damaged by the fire of Sevastopol, was finished off by a torpedo from the destroyer Angry.0

Another two dozen Japanese fighters and destroyers were damaged, and some, apparently, were no longer put into service until the end of the war. The damage received by the Russian ship already excluded the possibility of a breakthrough, and the Sevastopol crew switched to the fight against Japanese batteries, which continued until the very last day of the defense of Port Arthur. In connection with the surrender of the fortress, the battleship was towed from the shore and scuttled at a depth of more than 100 meters. Thus, Sevastopol became the only Russian battleship sunk in Port Arthur that was not raised by the Japanese and did not fall into enemy hands.

Squadron battleship "Eustathius"

The squadron battleship "Eustathius" was a further development of the project of the battleship "Prince Potemkin Tauride". Unlike its prototype, the Eustathia has 152 mm. the guns at the extremities were replaced with 203 mm guns. However, the experience of the Russo-Japanese War forced us to reconsider the ship's design. As a result, the already lengthy construction was delayed.

In 1907, all battleships of the Russian Navy were reclassified as battleships. With the advent of the battleship Dreadnought in England, all the world's battleships of the pre-dreadnought type, including the Eustathius, instantly became obsolete. Despite this, both the “Eustathius” and the “John Chrysostom” of the same type represented an impressive force on the Black Sea and the Ottoman Empire, as the main potential enemy, in principle could not oppose anything serious to the Russian battleships.

To strengthen the Turkish fleet, the German command transferred the newest battle cruiser Goeben and the light Breislau, which Russia's Entente allies so helpfully allowed into the Black Sea.

The first collision with the Goeben took place at Cape Sarych on November 5, 1914. The battle, in essence, came down to a duel between the flagship Eustathius and the German cruiser. The remaining Russian ships, due to fog and errors in determining the distance, fired over long distances or did not open fire at all.

From the first salvo, the Eustathius gunners managed to cover the Goeben, which in 14 minutes of battle received, according to various sources, from three to fourteen direct hits. As a result German cruiser left the battle and then underwent two weeks of repairs. The Eustathius was hit by five German shells, which did not cause fatal damage.

The second collision between the Eustathius and the Goeben took place on April 27, 1915, near the Bosporus, when a German raider attempted to destroy the core of the Black Sea Fleet piece by piece. However, faced with three dreadnought battleships, the Germans did not tempt fate and hastened to withdraw from the battle after a short firefight. The fate of "Eustathius", which successfully operated in the First World War, turned out to be sad. In 1918, it fell into the hands of the German command, and then into the hands of the former Entente allies. Leaving Sevastopol, they blew up the Eustathia vehicles. The successful restoration of the battleship, which required skilled workers and a strong industrial base, immediately after completion Civil War It turned out to be impossible, and in 1922 the ship was cut into metal.

Coastal defense battleship "Admiral Ushakov"

Coastal defense battleships of the Admiral Ushakov type were built to protect the Baltic coast. Each of them carried four 254 mm guns (Apraksin three), four 120 mm guns and small-caliber artillery. Having a relatively small displacement (just over 4,000 tons), the ships were distinguished by powerful weapons.

After the fall of Port Arthur, the formation of the 3rd Pacific Squadron began, into which, along with the Apraksin and Senyavin, the Admiral Ushakov was included. The value of these ships lay, first of all, in their well-trained crews, who, as part of the artillery training detachment, were engaged in training fleet gunners. However, before the ships were sent, the crews were replaced, and the battleships were sent to the Far East without replacing the main caliber guns, which subsequently played a fatal role in the fate of the Admiral Ushakov.

In the Battle of Tsushima, “Admiral Ushakov was part of the 3rd combat detachment, closing the column of the squadron’s main forces. In a daytime battle on May 14, 1905, the ship, at about 3 p.m., during a firefight with the armored cruisers of Admiral Kamimura, received two large holes in the bow and fell behind the squadron. The speed of the battleship dropped to 10 knots.

At night, walking without lighting, "Admiral Ushakov" managed to avoid attacks Japanese destroyers, but the next day was overtaken by the armored cruisers Yakumo and Iwate. At the Japanese offer to surrender, the Russian ship opened fire. Each of the Japanese cruisers carried four 203 mm and fourteen 152 mm guns, significantly surpassing the Russian battleship in speed. And if the first salvoes of the Ushakov covered the Iwate, causing a fire on the Japanese cruiser, then later the Japanese ships stayed out of the reach of the battleship’s guns at a favorable combat distance. After a 40-minute battle, the Admiral Ushakov, when further resistance became pointless, was scuttled by the crew. Among the 94 dead officers and sailors of the Ushakov was the commander of the battleship, Vladimir Nikolaevich Miklukha (brother of the famous Oceania explorer N. N. Miklouho-Maclay). According to one version, he was mortally wounded by a shrapnel, and according to another, he himself refused to be saved, pointing out to the Japanese a sailor drowning nearby.

A characteristic feature of which was a large number of main caliber guns.

Ships

• Dreadnought is a British warship. Launched in 1573.
• "Dreadnought" is a British frigate (original name - "Torrington"). Launched in 1654.
• Dreadnought is a British warship. Launched in 1691.
• Dreadnought is a British warship. Launched in 1742.
• Dreadnought was a British warship and later a hospital ship. Launched in 1801.
• "Dreadnought" is a British battleship (original name - "Fury"). Launched in 1875.
• Dreadnought is a British battleship that revolutionized naval affairs and became the ancestor of the class of ships named after it. Launched in 1906.
• Dreadnought is the first British nuclear submarine.
• Dreadnought (class of ships) - a class of ships whose ancestor was HMS Dreadnought (1906).

Other

• The Dreadnought is the Skaran equivalent of the Peacekeeper Command Carrier in the Farscape series.
• Dreadnought is a martial arts comedy film.
• "Dreadnought" is a truck from the movie "Death Race".
• “Dreadnoughts” - play/video version by Evgeny Grishkovets.
• “Dreadnought” is a coarse wool beaver-type fabric, a coat made of such fabric.
• "Dreadnought" is a type of guitar.
• The Dreadnoughts - Canadian Celtic punk band

Computer gaming terms

• "Dreadnought" is a vehicle in the online game Allods Online.
• "Dreadnought" is one of the enemy types (race) in Wizardry 8.
• The Dreadnought is a spaceship from the games Homeworld 2 and Homeworld: Cataclysm.
• Dreadnought is a class of warships in the computer game EVE Online.
• The Dreadnought is a combat suit for mortally wounded Space Marines in the Warhammer 40k universe.
• "Dreadnought" is a USSR combat missile ship in the computer games "Red Alert 2" and "Red Alert 3".
• The Dreadnought is a giant flying warship in the video game Final Fantasy II.
• Dreadnought - the largest class of military spaceships in the game Mass Effect
• "Dreadnought" is the third profession of a human warrior in the online game Lineage II.
• "Balaur Dreadnought" - Deradikon, a warship in the online game Aion.
• The Dreadnought is the largest and most powerful combat spaceship in the earthling fleet in the computer game Conquest: Frontier Wars.
• The Dreadnought is the flagship of the Ur-Quan race of alien invaders in the Star Control series of games.
• Dreadnought is the largest Drakkar spaceship from the online strategy Alpha Empire.
• The Dreadnought is a warship, the main force of the fleet in the game Empire.
• Dreadnought - a warship assembled by goblins in the Warcraft III universe

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See what "Dreadnought" is in other dictionaries:

1) English battleship, which laid the foundation for the class of battleships. Entered service in 1906. EdwART. Explanatory Naval Dictionary, 2010 Dreadnought is the general name for large artillery ships at the beginning of the 20th century, preceding ... Naval Dictionary

- (English Dreadnought lit. undaunted), English battleship (built 1906). It had 10,305 mm turret guns and 24 76 mm guns, 5 torpedo tubes; armor up to 280 mm. Until the 30s. Battleships of this type were called dreadnoughts... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Dreadnought, huh, husband. A large battleship, the predecessor of the modern battleship. | adj. dreadnought, oh, oh. Dictionary Ozhegova. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

- (Dreadnought) English battleship, the prototype of the class of modern powerful battleships, for which its name has become a household name. D. was built in England in 1905 06. based on the experience of the Russian-Japanese War. Had a displacement of 17900 tons,... ...Nautical Dictionary

Noun, number of synonyms: 5 battleship (12) ship (101) battleship (5) ... Synonym dictionary

Lenin. Razg. Joking. iron. Cruiser Aurora". Sindalovsky, 2002 ... Large dictionary of Russian sayings

- (English dreadnought lit. fearless) in the first decades of the 20th century. a large battleship with powerful long-range artillery. New dictionary foreign words. by EdwART, 2009. dreadnought dreadnought, m. [eng. dreadnought] (mor.). Large armadillo... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

A; m. [English] dreadnought] Large fast battleship of the first decades of the 20th century. with powerful weapons, the predecessor of the modern battleship. * * * Dreadnought “Dreadnought” (English “Dreadnought”, lit. undaunted), English battleship... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (“Dreadnought”) English battleship, which laid the foundation for this class of ships. Construction "D." was an attempt to take into account the experience of the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905, in which the shortcomings of battleships were revealed (See Battleship). Built in 1905... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Over the 50-year history of battleships (in the classical sense of this type of warship), engineers and shipbuilders in different countries have produced a considerable number of them. There were truly unique projects among them.

Let's start with Italy. After the disaster at Lissa, the shipbuilders of this country were very limited in funds. The shipbuilding budget was cut. It was probably this circumstance, as well as the specifics of the intended theater of operations for the fleet, that gave them the idea of ​​​​creating not very well protected, but fast and well-armed ships. This trend continued until the construction of the Italia-class battleships before World War II. But let's go back to the 19th century. The chief designer of the Italian fleet, Bendetto Brin, due to a reduction in the fleet's budget, proposed the design of a ship that was truly revolutionary for its time - the Caio Duilio-class battleships. These were the first large sparless battleships built in Europe. A powerful armor belt covered only the central part of the hull (less than half the length of the ship), in which steam engines, artillery magazines and the bases of gun turrets were mounted. In the next series, Brin decided to do without waist armor altogether - the new Italia-class battleships were protected only by a powerful 406-mm armored deck. Onboard protection was provided by many compartments filled with cellulose. The creators believed that sea ​​water, getting into the side holes, will lead to swelling of the cellulose, which will close these holes.

And in other respects, the Italia-class battleships were amazing ships: high speed for their time - about 18 knots and very powerful artillery - the main caliber was four 17-inch guns, which were considered the most powerful artillery systems of the 19th century.

The next type of armadillo that I would like to talk about is our “popovki”. These ships can be called more likely a type of monitor; they had all the signs for this: a low side and poor seaworthiness. But this is not surprising, but the geometry of the hull itself - the ships were round. After the unsuccessful Crimean War, Russia did not have the right to keep large warships in the Black Sea. Vice Admiral Popov proposed building round self-propelled batteries armed with 11-inch guns (on the second ship, Kyiv, the guns were 12-inch).

The steam engines of these ships drove six propellers, which allowed the battleships to at least somehow stay on course. The low side could allow these ships to operate only in coastal zone, the speed was extremely low, but on the whole the ships coped with their combat missions.

Battleship Oldenburg

This warship was created in a single copy. The battleship was originally planned as the fifth ship of the Sachsen class, but due to a lack of budgetary funds, they decided to redesign it in the direction of reducing the size and caliber of artillery.

The result was a very distinctive small coastal defense battleship. Slow-moving, not seaworthy enough, with a hopelessly outdated casemate arrangement of main-caliber artillery, it fully justified the nickname “iron”, which was firmly attached to it among the sailors of the German fleet, but this did not prevent it from remaining in service for 28 years, and serving as a target ship.

Battleship Capitán Prat

This armadillo is notable, firstly, for its name.

The ship is named after the captain of the corvette Esmeralda, Arthur Prat, who performed a feat bordering on recklessness. At the moment when the ram of the monitor pierced the side of the corvette, he shouted: “Follow me, guys!”, waving a naked saber, jumped on board the enemy. The “guys” did not follow him (according to official version- the commands were not heard over the noise of the battle), and the attempt to board the battleship ended in the death of the brave man. However, the battleship, built at the French shipyard Forget et Chantiers Mediterane in 1890, turned out to be quite good: it underwent reconstruction and remained in service until 1935.

Triumph-class squadron battleships

There were two battleships of this type: Triumph and Swiftsure. These were seemingly unremarkable 2nd class battleships, and they would never have appeared in the British Navy if Chile, for various reasons, had not refused to purchase these ships. Thus, the British fleet was replenished with two ships that were absolutely unnecessary in terms of technical and tactical data.

During the “adaptation” of the ships for the needs of the British fleet, the inscriptions in vital places written in Spanish were replaced with English, but, for example, on the doors of the crew’s latrines remained “Vacante” (free) and “Occupado” (Occupied). It was under these nicknames that the battleships served in the British Navy.

Squadron battleship "Agamemnon"

Ironclads of this type were the last "classic" ironclads built for the Royal Navy. Two warships of this type were built - the above-mentioned Agamemnon and its sister ship, Lord Nelson. The last pre-dreadnoughts of His Majesty's fleet were typical representatives of their class, with all their advantages and disadvantages. The construction of a new type of battleship - the famous "Dreadnought" - in the opinion of the naval commanders of that time made all the battleships of that time "second-class battleships." But this circumstance did not prevent the Agamemnon from remaining in service for almost 20 years. The ship took a long time to build - more three years, and this was caused by the fact that the main battery guns intended for the Agamemnon and Lord Nelson were installed on the Dreadnought.

The combat career of these battleships was eventful; both ships took part in the Dardanelles operation. It is with this moment that the most curious incident that ever happened to armadillos is connected. In the spring of 1915, during shelling of Turkish batteries, the squadron battleship Agamemnon received a retaliatory hit. The ship was hit by a stone (!!!) cannonball fired from an old muzzle-loading 17-inch cannon.

Squadron battleships of the Kearsarge and Virginia classes

The American school of the late 19th century was still taking its first independent steps, however, American shipbuilders also had a desire to make the most powerful, well-armed ships possible, while saving on linear dimensions. This explains the appearance of ships with a unique arrangement of main and auxiliary caliber artillery - in two-story towers.

However, this arrangement of artillery was more of a disadvantage than an advantage. For guns in two-story turrets, both the process of aiming and loading were significantly difficult, so this design, for all its apparent elegance, was never repeated. The service of the Virginia-class battleships (it was a series of five ships launched in 1902-1907) was short-lived - this is explained by the “dreadnought” fever that gripped all the naval powers of that time, although the ships turned out to be quite good, especially in terms of seaworthiness. But the Kearsarge, which went into operation in 1900, served for a long time: until 1919 - in its main capacity, and then, after re-equipment, until 1955 it served as a floating crane.

"Dupuis de Loma"
(French armored cruiser 1895)

The cruiser's hull, with its characteristically French deep freeboard and far protruding ram bow, was cigar-shaped. Its length was 114 meters, with a width of 15.7 meters. The draft at normal loading was 7.07 meters.

The cruiser's armament was designed for the most powerful pursuit and retreat fire, since the creators of the Dupuy de Loma assumed that their ship would mainly fight either moving away from the enemy or catching up with the victim.

The entire side of the ship was completely protected by 100 mm steel armor. The belt went 1.38 meters below the waterline and rose to the main deck. The thickness of the armor guaranteed protection against 120-mm shells from the rapid-fire guns of British cruisers at almost any distance.

Armadillo killed by a bottle

On December 12, 1862, during the war between the United States and the Confederate States of America, the Unionist battleship Cairo was blown up and sank by a minefield set up by the Confederates on the Yazoo River - the first ship in history to die from this new and, as it turned out, very effective weapons.

The Nobel mines, first used by the Russians against the English fleet eight years earlier in the Crimean War, were too weak (only four kilograms of black powder) to destroy the ship. None of the English steamship-frigates that ran into them sank, escaping with relatively minor damage.

And the Confederate mine contained five gallons (about 19 liters) of gunpowder in a large glass bottle, and this was enough to sink a river wheeled ironclad with a displacement of 512 tons. Previously, Cairo managed to distinguish itself in the Battle of Memphis, withstanding artillery shells hitting its steel sides, but it was defenseless against an explosion under the wooden bottom.

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