Battleship battleship. Linear ship (sailing). Symbol of absolute power
29.04.2015 27 248 0 Jadaha
Science and technology
It is believed that as a class of warships, battleships appeared only in the 17th century, when a new tactic of naval battles was formed.
The squadrons lined up against each other and began an artillery duel, the ending of which determined the outcome of the battle.
However, if we mean by linear large warships with powerful weapons, then the history of such ships goes back thousands of years.
In ancient times, the combat power of the ship depended on the number of warriors and rowers, as well as the throwing weapons that were placed on it. The name of the ships was determined by the number of rows of oars. Oars, in turn, could be designed for 1-3 people. The rowers were placed on several floors, one above the other or in a checkerboard pattern.
Quinqueremes (penters) with five rows of oars were considered the most common type of large vessels. However, in 256 B.C. e. in the battle with the Carthaginians at Ecnome, the Roman squadron included two hexers (with six rows of oars). The Romans were still insecure at sea and instead of traditional rams, they started a boarding battle, installing the so-called "crows" on the decks - devices that, having fallen on an enemy ship, tightly fettered it to the attacking ship.
According to modern experts, the largest ship could be a septirema (seven rows of oars) about 90 meters long. A ship of greater length would simply break in the waves. Nevertheless, ancient sources contain references to octers, eners and decims (respectively, eight, nine and ten rows of oars). Most likely, these ships were too wide, and therefore slow-moving, and were used to defend their own harbors, as well as in the capture of enemy coastal fortresses as mobile platforms for siege towers and heavy throwing devices.
Length - 45 meters
Width - 6 meters
Engines - sail, oars
Crew - about 250 people
Armament - boarding "raven"
It is widely believed that armored ships appeared in the second half of the 19th century. In fact, their birthplace was medieval Korea...
We are talking about kobukson, or "turtle ships", created, as it is believed, by the famous Korean naval commander Lee Sunsin (1545-1598).
The first mention of these ships dates back to 1423, but the opportunity to try them in action appeared only in 1592, when the 130,000-strong Japanese army tried to conquer the Land of Morning Calm.
Having lost a significant part of the fleet due to a surprise attack, the Koreans, having four times smaller forces, began to strike at enemy ships. The battleships of the samurai fleet - sekibune - had crews of no more than 200 people and a displacement of 150 tons. In front of twice as large and tightly armored kobuksons, they turned out to be defenseless, since it was impossible to take such "turtles" for boarding. Korean crews sat in chest-like casemates made of wood and iron and methodically shot the enemy with cannons.
Kobuksons were set in motion by 18-20 single oars and even with a fair wind they could hardly reach speeds of more than 7 kilometers per hour. But their firepower was crushing, and invulnerability brought the samurai to hysterics. It was these "turtles" that brought victory to the Koreans, and Lee Sunsin became a national hero.
Length - 30-36 meters
Width - 9-12 meters
Engines - sail, oars
Crew - 130 people
Number of guns - 24-40
The rulers of the Venetian Republic, perhaps, were the first to understand that dominance over maritime communications allows them to control world trade, and with such a trump card in their hands, even a tiny state can become a strong European power.
The basis of the sea power of the Republic of St. Mark were galleys. Vessels of this type could move both on sails and on oars, but were longer than their ancient Greek and Phoenician predecessors, which made it possible to increase their crews to one and a half hundred sailors, capable of acting both as rowers and as marines.
The depth of the galley hold was no more than 3 meters, but this was enough to load the necessary supplies and even small batches intended for the sale of goods.
The main element of the vessel were curved frames that determined the shape and influenced the speed of the galley. First, a frame was assembled from them, and then sheathed with boards.
This technology was revolutionary for its time, allowing the construction of a long and narrow, but at the same time rigid structure that did not bend under the influence of waves.
The Venetian shipyards were a state-owned enterprise surrounded by a 10-meter wall. More than 3,000 professional craftsmen, who were called arsenolotti, worked on them.
Unauthorized entry into the territory of the enterprise was punishable by imprisonment, which was supposed to ensure maximum secrecy.
Length - 40 meters
Width - 5 meters
Engine - sail, oars
Speed - b knots
Load capacity - 140 tons
Crew - 150 rowers
The largest sailing ship of the line of the 18th century, unofficially nicknamed El Ponderoso ("Heavyweight").
It was launched in Havana in 1769. It had three decks. The hull of the ship, up to 60 centimeters thick, was made of Cuban redwood, the mast and yardarms were made of Mexican pine.
In 1779 Spain and France declared war on England. The Santisima Trinidad went to the English Channel, but the enemy ships simply did not engage with it and slipped away, taking advantage of the speed advantage. In 1795, the Heavyweight was converted into the world's first four-deck ship.
On April 14, 1797, at the Battle of Cape San Vincent, British ships under the command of Nelson cut off the nose of a column led by the Santisima Trinidad and opened artillery fire from a convenient position, which decided the outcome of the battle. The victors captured four ships, but the pride of the Spanish fleet managed to escape capture.
The British flagship Victoria, which carried Nelson, attacked, along with seven other British ships, each with at least 72 guns, the Santisima Trinidad.
Length - 63 meters
Displacement - 1900 tons
Engines - sail
Crew - 1200 people
Number of guns - 144
The most powerful sailing ship of the line of the Russian fleet was launched in 1841 at the Nikolaev shipyard.
It was built on the initiative of the commander of the Black Sea squadron Mikhail Lazarev, taking into account the latest developments of British shipbuilders. Due to careful processing of wood and work in boathouses, the life of the vessel exceeded the standard eight years. The interior decoration was luxurious, so that some officers compared it to the decoration of the imperial yachts. In 1849 and 1852, two more similar ships left the stocks - "Paris" and "Grand Duke Konstantin", but with simpler interior decoration.
The first commander of the ship was the future vice-admiral Vladimir Kornilov (1806-1854), who died during the defense of Sevastopol.
In 1853, the "Twelve Apostles" transported almost 1.5 thousand infantrymen to the Caucasus to take part in the battles against the Turks. However, when the British and French came out against Russia, it became obvious that the time of sailing ships was a thing of the past.
A hospital was set up on the Twelve Apostles, and the cannons removed from it were used to strengthen coastal defenses.
On the night of February 13-14, 1855, the ship was scuttled to reinforce the underwater barriers at the entrance to the bay that had been washed away by the current. When work began on clearing the fairway after the war, it was not possible to raise the Twelve Apostles and the ship was blown up.
Length - 64.4 meters
Width - 12.1 meters
Speed - up to 12 knots (22 km/h)
Engines - sail
Crew - 1200 people
Number of guns - 130
The first full-fledged battleship of the Russian fleet, built on Galerny Island in St. Petersburg according to the project of Rear Admiral Andrei Popov (1821-1898), originally bore the name "Cruiser" and was intended specifically for cruising operations. However, after it was renamed "Peter the Great" in 1872 and launched, the concept changed. Speech began to be conducted already about a vessel of a linear type.
It was not possible to bring the engine part to mind; in 1881, Peter the Great was transferred to Glasgow, where specialists from the Randolph and Elder company took up its reconstruction. As a result, the ship began to be considered the leader among the ships of its class, although it did not have to show off its power in real hostilities.
By the beginning of the 20th century, shipbuilding had gone far ahead, and the next modernization of the case no longer saved. In 1903, the Peter the Great was converted into a training ship, and since 1917 it has been used as a floating base for submarines.
In February and April 1918, this veteran took part in two of the most difficult ice transitions: first from Revel to Helsingfors, and then from Helsingfors to Kronstadt, avoiding capture by the Germans or White Finns.
In May 1921, the ex-battleship was disarmed and reorganized into a mine block (floating base) of the Kronstadt military port. From the list of the fleet "Peter the Great" was excluded only in 1959.
Length - 103.5 meters
Width - 19.2 meters
Speed - 14.36 knots
Power - 8296 l. With.
Crew - 440 people
Armament - four 305 mm and six 87 mm guns
The proper name of this ship became a household name for a whole generation of warships, which differed from the usual battleships in greater armor protection and the power of guns - it was on them that the “all-big-gun” principle (“only big guns”) was implemented.
The initiative of its creation belonged to the first Lord of the British Admiralty John Fisher (1841-1920). Launched on February 10, 1906, the ship was built in four months, involving almost all the shipbuilding enterprises of the kingdom. The power of his fire salvo was equal to the power of a salvo of an entire squadron of battleships of the recently ended Russo-Japanese War. However, it cost twice as much.
Thus, the great powers entered the next round of the naval arms race.
By the beginning of the First World War, the Dreadnought itself was already considered somewhat outdated, and the so-called "superdreadnoughts" were replacing it.
This ship won the only victory on March 18, 1915, sinking the German submarine U-29, commanded by the famous German submarine Lieutenant Commander Otto Weddingen, with a ramming attack.
In 1919, the Dreadnought was transferred to the reserve, in 1921 it was sold for scrap, and in 1923 it was dismantled for metal.
Length - 160.74 meters
Width - 25.01 meters
Speed - 21.6 knots
Power - 23,000 liters. With. (estimated) - 26350 (at full speed)
Crew - 692 (1905), 810 (1916)
Armament - ten 305 mm, twenty-seven 76 mm anti-mine guns
The largest (along with the Tirpitz) German battleship and the third largest representative of this class of warships in the world (after the battleships of the Yamato and Iowa types).
Launched in Hamburg on Valentine's Day - February 14, 1939 - in the presence of Prince Bismarck's granddaughter Dorothea von Löwenfeld.
On May 18, 1941, the battleship, together with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, left Gotenhafen (modern Gdynia) in order to disrupt British sea lanes.
On the morning of May 24, after an eight-minute artillery duel, Bismarck sent the British battlecruiser Hood to the bottom. On the battleship, one of the generators failed and two fuel tanks were pierced.
The British staged a real raid on the Bismarck. The decisive hit (which led to the loss of control of the ship) was achieved by one of the fifteen torpedo bombers that rose from the Ark Royal aircraft carrier.
Bismarck went to the bottom on May 27, confirming with his death that now the battleships must give way to aircraft carriers. His younger brother Tirpitz was sunk on November 12, 1944 in the Norwegian fjords as a result of a series of British air raids.
Length - 251 meters
Width - 36 meters
Height - 15 meters (from keel to upper deck)
SHIPS OF THE LINE
Until the middle of the 17th century, there was no strictly established battle formation for ships in battle. Before the battle, the enemy ships lined up against each other in close formation, and then approached for a shootout or boarding battle. Usually the battle turned into a chaotic scuffle, duels between ships that accidentally collided.
Many naval battles of the 16th-17th centuries were won with the help of fireships - sailing ships, stuffed to capacity with explosives or representing giant torches. Launched downwind towards the crowded ships, the fireships easily found their victims, setting everything on fire and exploding in their path. Even large, well-armed ships often went to the bottom, overtaken by "sailing torpedoes."
The wake system turned out to be the most effective means of protection against fireships, when the ships line up one after the other and can freely maneuver.
The unwritten tactical commandment of that time was: each ship occupies a strictly assigned position and must maintain it until the end of the battle. However (as always happens when theory begins to conflict with practice), it often happened that poorly armed ships had to fight huge floating fortresses. “The battle line should consist of ships of equal strength and speed,” the naval strategists decided. This is how battleships appeared. Then, during the first Anglo-Dutch war (1652 - 1654), the division of military courts into classes began.
The battleship Prince Royal, built in Woolwich by the outstanding English shipbuilder Phineas Pett in 1610, is usually called the prototype of the first battleship by historians of naval art.
Rice. 41 England's first battleship Prince Royal
The Prince Royal was a very strong three-deck ship with a displacement of 1400 tons, a keel of 35 m and a width of 13 m. The ship was armed with 64 guns located along the sides, on two closed decks. Three masts and a bowsprit carried straight sails. The bow and stern of the ship were outlandishly decorated with sculptural images and inlays, on which the best masters of England worked. Suffice it to say that the wood carving cost the English Admiralty £441, and the gilding of the allegorical figures and coats of arms - £868, which was 1/5 of the cost of building the entire ship! Now it seems absurd and paradoxical, but in those distant times, gilded idols and idols were considered necessary to raise the morale of sailors.
By the end of the 17th century, a certain canon of the battleship was finally formed, a certain standard, from which they tried not to deviate at shipyards throughout Europe until the end of the period of wooden shipbuilding. The practical requirements were as follows:
1. The length of a battleship along the keel must be three times the width, and the width must be three times the draft (maximum draft should not exceed five meters).
2. Heavy stern superstructures, as they impair maneuverability, should be reduced to a minimum.
3. On large ships, it is necessary to build three solid decks, so that the lower one is 0.6 m above the waterline (then, even in heavy seas, the lower battery of guns was combat-ready).
4. The decks must be solid, not interrupted by cabin bulkheads - subject to this condition, the ship's strength increased significantly.
Following the canon, the same Phineas Pett in 1637 launched the Royal Sovern from the stocks - a ship of the line with a displacement of about 2 thousand tons. Its main dimensions are: length along the battery deck - 53 (along the keel - 42.7); width - 15.3; hold depth - 6.1 m. On the lower and middle decks, the ship had 30 guns each, on the upper deck - 26 guns; in addition, 14 guns were installed under the forecastle and 12 under the poop.
There is no doubt that the Royal Sovern was the most luxurious ship in the history of English shipbuilding. Many carved gilded allegorical figures, heraldic signs, royal monograms dotted its sides. The figurehead depicted the English King Edward. His Majesty was sitting on a horse that tramples the seven lords - the defeated enemies of "foggy Albion" with its hooves. The stern balconies of the ship were crowned with gilded figures of Neptune, Jupiter, Hercules and Jason. The architectural decorations of the "Royal Soverne" were made according to the sketches of the famous Van Dyck.
This ship participated in many battles without losing a single battle. By a strange whim of fate, one accidentally fallen candle decided his fate: in 1696, the flagship of the English fleet burned down. At one time, the Dutch called this giant the "Golden Devil". Until now, the British joke that the Royal Sovern cost Charles I his head (to ensure the implementation of the maritime program, the king increased taxes, which led to discontent among the country's population, and as a result of the coup, Charles I was executed).
Cardinal Richelieu is considered to be the creator of the military linear fleet of France. By his order, the huge ship "Saint Louis" was built - in 1626 in Holland; and ten years later - "Kuron".
In 1653, the British Admiralty by a special decree divided the ships of its navy into 6 ranks: I - more than 90 guns; II - more than 80 guns; III - more than 50 guns. Rank IV included ships with more than 38 guns; to rank V - more than 18 guns; to VI - more than 6 guns.
Was there any point in classifying warships so scrupulously? Was. By this time, gunsmiths had established the production of powerful guns by industrial methods, moreover, of a uniform caliber. It became possible to streamline the ship economy according to the principle of combat power. Moreover, such a division by rank determined both the number of decks and the size of the ships themselves.
Rice. 42 Russian two-decker ship of the line of the late 18th century (from an engraving of 1789)
Rice. 43 French three-decker ship of the line of the mid-18th century
Until the middle of the last century, all maritime powers adhered to the old classification, according to which sailing ships of the first three ranks were called battleships.
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05/24/2016 at 20:10 · pavlofox · 22 250
The largest battleships in the world
For the first time ships of the line appeared in the 17th century. For a while, they lost the palm to slow-moving armadillos. But at the beginning of the 20th century, battleships became the main force of the fleet. The speed and range of artillery pieces became the main advantages in naval battles. Countries concerned about increasing the power of the navy, since the 1930s of the 20th century, began to actively build heavy-duty battleships designed to enhance superiority at sea. Not everyone could afford the construction of incredibly expensive ships. The largest battleships in the world - in this article we will talk about super-powerful giant ships.
10. Richelieu | Length 247.9 m
The French giant "" opens the rating of the largest battleships in the world with a length of 247.9 meters and a displacement of 47 thousand tons. The ship is named after the famous statesman of France, Cardinal Richelieu. A battleship was built to counter the Italian navy. The battleship Richelieu did not conduct active hostilities, except for participation in the Senegal operation in 1940. In 1968, the supership was scrapped. One of his guns was erected as a monument in the port of Brest.
9. Bismarck | Length 251 m
The legendary German ship "" takes 9th place among the largest battleships in the world. The length of the vessel is 251 meters, the displacement is 51 thousand tons. The Bismarck left the shipyard in 1939. The Fuhrer of Germany, Adolf Hitler, was present at its launch. One of the most famous ships of the Second World War was sunk in May 1941 after prolonged fighting by British ships and torpedo bombers in retaliation for the destruction of the British flagship, the cruiser Hood, by a German battleship.
8. Tirpitz | Ship 253.6 m
On the 8th place in the list of the largest battleships is the German "". The length of the vessel was 253.6 meters, displacement - 53 thousand tons. After the death of the "big brother", "Bismarck", the second of the most powerful German battleships practically failed to take part in naval battles. Launched in 1939, the Tirpitz was destroyed in 1944 by torpedo bombers.
7. Yamato | Length 263 m
"- one of the largest battleships in the world and the largest warship in history ever sunk in a sea battle.
"Yamato" (in translation, the name of the ship means the ancient name of the Land of the Rising Sun) was the pride of the Japanese navy, although due to the fact that the huge ship was protected, the attitude of ordinary sailors towards it was ambiguous.
The Yamato entered service in 1941. The length of the battleship was 263 meters, displacement - 72 thousand tons. Crew - 2500 people. Until October 1944, the largest ship in Japan practically did not participate in the battles. In Leyte Gulf, the Yamato opened fire on American ships for the first time. As it turned out later, none of the main calibers hit the target.
Japan's last pride hike
On April 6, 1945, the Yamato went on its last campaign. American troops landed on Okinawa, and the remnants of the Japanese fleet were tasked with destroying enemy forces and supply ships. The Yamato and the rest of the ships of the formation were attacked by 227 American deck ships for a two-hour period. Japan's largest battleship went out of action, having received about 23 hits from aerial bombs and torpedoes. As a result of the explosion of the bow compartment, the ship sank. Of the crew, 269 people survived, 3 thousand sailors died.
6. Musashi | Length 263 m
The largest battleships in the world include "" with a hull length of 263 meters and a displacement of 72 thousand tons. This is the second giant battleship built by Japan during World War II. The ship entered service in 1942. The fate of "Musashi" was tragic. The first campaign ended with a hole in the bow, resulting from a torpedo attack by an American submarine. In October 1944, Japan's two largest battleships finally came into serious combat. In the Sibuyan Sea, they were attacked by American aircraft. Coincidentally, the enemy's main attack was on the Musashi. The ship sank after being hit by about 30 torpedoes and bombs. Together with the ship, its captain and more than a thousand crew members died.
On March 4, 2015, 70 years after the sinking, the Musashi was discovered by American millionaire Paul Allen. It is located in the Sibuyan Sea at a depth of one and a half kilometers. "Musashi" takes 6th place in the list of the largest battleships in the world.
Incredibly, not a single super battleship was built by the Soviet Union. In 1938, the battleship "" was laid down. The length of the ship was to be 269 meters, and the displacement - 65 thousand tons. By the beginning of World War II, the battleship was built at 19%. It was not possible to complete the ship, which could become one of the largest battleships in the world.
4. Wisconsin | Length 270 m
The American battleship "" is ranked 4th in the ranking of the largest battleships in the world. It was 270 meters long and had a displacement of 55,000 tons. He entered service in 1944. During World War II, he accompanied aircraft carrier groups and supported amphibious operations. Served during the Gulf War. The Wisconsin is one of the last battleships in the US Navy Reserve. Was decommissioned in 2006. Now the ship is in the parking lot in the city of Norfolk.
3. Iowa | Length 270 m
With a length of 270 meters and a displacement of 58,000 tons, it ranks third in the ranking of the largest battleships in the world. The ship entered service in 1943. During the Second World War, "Iowa" actively participated in combat operations. In 2012, the battleship was withdrawn from the fleet. Now the ship is in the port of Los Angeles as a museum.
2. New Jersey | Length 270.53 m
The second place in the ranking of the largest battleships in the world is occupied by the American ship "", or "Black Dragon". Its length is 270.53 meters. Refers to the Iowa-class battleships. Left the shipyard in 1942. The New Jersey is a true veteran of naval battles and the only ship that took part in the Vietnam War. Here he played the role of supporting the army. After 21 years of service, it was withdrawn from the fleet in 1991 and received the status of a museum. Now the ship is parked in the city of Camden.
1. Missouri | Length 271 m
The American battleship "" tops the list of the largest battleships in the world. It is interesting not only for its impressive size (the length of the ship is 271 meters), but also for the fact that it is the last American battleship. In addition, the Missouri went down in history due to the fact that the surrender of Japan was signed on board in September 1945.
The supership was launched in 1944. Its main task was to escort Pacific aircraft carrier formations. Participated in the war in the Persian Gulf, where he opened fire for the last time. In 1992, he was withdrawn from the US Navy. Since 1998, the Missouri has had the status of a museum ship. The parking lot of the legendary ship is located in Pearl Harbor. Being one of the most famous warships in the world, it has been featured in documentaries and feature films more than once.
High hopes were placed on heavy-duty ships. Characteristically, they never justified themselves. Here is a good example of the largest battleships ever built by man - the Japanese battleships "Musashi" and "Yamato". Both of them were defeated by the attack of American bombers, without having time to fire at the enemy ships from their main calibers. However, if they met in battle, the advantage would still be on the side of the American fleet, equipped by that time with ten battleships against two Japanese giants.
What else to see:
Naval historians agree that the first ship of the line (drawings and design by D. Baker) was built in England in 1514. It was a four-masted nave (high-sided wooden ship), equipped with two decks - covered gun decks.
From karakk and galleons
The linear tactics of sea battles began to be used by the fleets of European countries following the initiators of the innovation - England and Spain - at the beginning of the 17th century. Artillery duels replaced boarding duels. According to this strategy, the maximum damage to the enemy fleet was inflicted by ships lined up and conducting aimed volley fire with side guns. There was a need for ships that were maximally adapted to such battles. At first, large sailing ships - karakki - were rebuilt for these purposes. Equipped with decks for the installation of guns and cut holes in the sides - gun ports.
First battleships
The creation of ships capable of carrying powerful, functional artillery weapons required the revision and change of many established shipbuilding technologies, the creation of new calculation methods. So, for example, the flagship sailing ship of the line "Mary Rose", converted from a karakka, sank in 1545 in the naval battle of the Solent, not under the fire of enemy guns, but because of the flooding of incorrectly calculated gun ports by waves.
A new method for determining the level of the waterline and calculating the displacement, proposed by the Englishman E. Dean, made it possible to calculate the height of the lower ports (respectively, the gun deck) from the sea surface without launching the vessel. The first true cannon ships of the line were three-deck. The number of large-caliber guns installed grew. Created in 1637 at the shipyards of England, the "Lord of the Seas" was armed with a hundred guns and for a long time was considered the largest and most expensive warship. By the middle of the century, battleships had from 2 to 4 decks with 50 to 150 large-caliber guns placed on them. Further improvement was reduced to increasing the power of artillery and improving the seaworthiness of ships.
Designed by Peter I
In Russia, the first ship (of the line) was launched under Peter I, in the spring of 1700. The two-deck vessel "God's Omen" which became the flagship of the Azov Flotilla was armed with 58 guns cast at the factories of the industrialist Demidov, caliber 16 and 8 feet. The model of the battleship, which, according to the European classification, belongs to the ships of the 4th rank, was developed personally by the Russian emperor. Moreover, Peter took a direct active part in the construction of the Omen at the shipyards of the Voronezh Admiralty.
In connection with the threat of a Swedish naval invasion, according to the shipbuilding development program approved by the emperor, the composition of the Baltic Fleet in the next decade should be strengthened by battleships of the Azov flagship type. Full-scale construction of ships was launched in Novaya Ladoga, and by the middle of 1712 several fifty-gun battleships were launched - "Riga", "Vyborg", "Pernov" and the pride of the imperial fleet - "Poltava".
Instead of sails
The beginning of the 19th century was marked by a number of inventions that put an end to the glorious history of the military sailing fleet. Among them are a high-explosive fragmentation projectile (invented by the French artillery officer Henri-Joseph Peksant, 1819) and a ship's steam engine, first adapted for the rotation of a ship's lead screw by the American engineer R. Fulton in 1807. It was difficult for the wooden sides to resist the new type of shells. To increase the penetration resistance, the tree was covered with metal sheets. Since 1855, after mastering the mass production of a powerful marine steam engine, sailboats began to quickly lose ground. Some of them were converted - equipped with a power plant and lined with armored plating. Rotating machines began to be used as platforms for installing large-caliber guns, which made it possible to make the firing sector circular. The installations began to be protected by barbettes - armored caps, which later transformed into artillery towers.
Symbol of absolute power
By the end of the century, the power of steam engines had increased significantly, which made it possible to build much larger ships. An ordinary ship of the line of that time had a displacement of 9 to 16 thousand tons. Cruising speed reached 18 knots. The ship's hull, divided by bulkheads into hermetic compartments, was protected by armor no less than 200 mm thick (in the area of the waterline). The artillery armament consisted of two turrets with four 305 mm guns.
The development of the rate of fire and range of naval artillery, the improvement of the technique of pointing guns and centralized fire control due to electric drives and radio communications made the military specialists of the leading maritime powers think about creating battleships of a new type. England built the first such ship in record time in 1906. Its name - HMC Dreadnought - has become a household name for all ships of this class.
Russian dreadnoughts
Naval officials made incorrect conclusions based on the results of the Russian-Japanese war, and the battleship Apostol Andrew the First-Called, laid down at the end of 1905, without taking into account the trends in the development of world shipbuilding, became obsolete even before launching.
Unfortunately, the design of subsequent Russian dreadnoughts cannot be called perfect. If in terms of the power and quality of artillery, the area of \u200b\u200bthe armored surface, domestic ships were not inferior to English and German ships, then the thickness of the armor was clearly insufficient. The Sevastopol (linear) ship being created for the Baltic Fleet turned out to be fast, well-armed (12 305-caliber guns), but too vulnerable to enemy shells. Four ships of this class were launched in 1911, but became part of the Navy only during the First World War (1914).
The Black Sea battleships "Empress Maria" and "Catherine the Great" had even more powerful weapons and an improved system for attaching armor plates. The Emperor Nicholas I, which received 262-mm monolithic armor, could become the most advanced battleship, but the October Revolution did not allow the construction to be completed, and in 1928 the ship, renamed Democracy, was dismantled for metal.
The end of the battleship era
According to the Washington Agreement of 1922, the maximum displacement of battleships should not exceed 35,560 tons, and the caliber of guns should not exceed 406 mm. These conditions were met by the maritime powers until 1936, after which the struggle for military naval superiority resumed.
The bursting fire of the Second World War served as the beginning of the decline of battleships. The best battleships - the German Bismarck and Tirpitz, the American Prince of Wales, the Japanese Musashi and Yamato - despite powerful anti-aircraft weapons, were sunk by enemy aircraft, the strength of which increased every year. By the middle of the 20th century, the construction of battleships had ceased in almost all countries, and the rest were put into reserve. The only power to keep battleships in service until the end of the century was the United States.
A few facts
The legendary battleship Bismarck took just five salvos to destroy the pride of the British Navy, the battlecruiser HMS Hood. To sink a German ship, the British involved a squadron of 47 ships and 6 submarines. To achieve the result, 8 torpedoes and 2876 artillery shells were fired.
The largest ship of World War II - the ship of the line "Yamato" (Japan) - had a displacement of 70 thousand tons, an armor belt of 400 mm (frontal armor of the gun turrets - 650 mm, a conning tower - half a meter) and a main caliber of 460 mm.
As part of the "Project 23" in the 40s of the last century, three "Soviet Union" class super battleships were built in the USSR, in terms of technical characteristics they were slightly inferior to the Japanese "giant".
America's most famous Iowa-class battleships were last upgraded in 1980 with 32 Tomahawk ballistic missiles and modern electronic equipment. The last ship was put into reserve in 2012. Today, the US Naval Museums operate on all four ships.
type "Soviet Union"
The combat charter of the Naval Forces of the Red Army - 1930 (BU-30) recognized battleships as the main striking force of the fleet, and the course towards industrialization opened up real prospects for their creation. However, the matter was held back not only by limited opportunities, but also by dogmatism, extremes in the development of naval theory. Leading theorists B.B. Zhreve and M.A. Petrov, who advocated a proportional ratio of different classes of ships in the combat composition of the fleet, at the turn of the 20-30s. labeled apologists for the "bourgeois old school"; while M.A. Petrov, who brilliantly defended the fleet from its radical reduction in a sharp polemic with M.N. Tukhachevsky at a meeting of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, ended up in prison, where he later died.
Under the influence of a tempting idea to solve the problems of the naval defense of the USSR through the mass construction of relatively cheap submarines, torpedo boats and seaplanes, not always competent specialists of the so-called young school won the theoretical dispute; some of its representatives, out of opportunistic considerations of undermining the authority of the "old specialists", distorted the picture of the struggle at sea during the First World War, idealizing the combat capabilities of "new means", for example, submarines. Sometimes such one-sided concepts were shared by the leaders of the Naval Forces of the Red Army; so, in October 1933, the head of the USSR Navy (Namorsi) V.M. Orlov, at the suggestion of the most aggressive "theoretician" A.P. Aleksandrova demanded "exposing in the press" and "withdrawal from circulation" of the book "Anglo-American Maritime Rivalry", published by the Institute of World Economy and Politics; one of its authors - P.I. Smirnov, who held the position of Deputy Inspector of the Navy of the Red Army, dared to objectively show the place of battleships in the fleet that A.P. Aleksandrov regarded it as "a shameless attack on the party line in naval construction, undermining the confidence of personnel in their weapons."
It is noteworthy that even during the period of enthusiasm for mosquito forces (October 1931), a group of engineers from the design bureau of the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad seemed to foresee the imminent need for these ships; they submitted a memorandum to the industry leadership, which contained proposals to start preparatory work, select types, draw up projects, strengthen the material base, design and workforce. Many of the signatories of this document participated in the design of Soviet battleships. The importance of building large ships in the mid-30s. became obvious to Namorsi V.M. Orlov, his deputy I.M. Ludri and the head of the Glavmorprom of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry R.A. Muklevich.
The greatest success in 1935 was achieved by the Central Design Bureau of Special Shipbuilding of the Glavmorprom (TsKBS-1), headed by V.L. Brzezinski. Among a number of promising projects, six variants of battleships with a standard displacement from 43,000 to 75,000 tons were worked out. According to the results of the work, the chief engineer of TsKBS-1 V.P. Rimsky-Kor-sakov (in the recent past - deputy head of the Naval Training and Construction Department) compiled a generalized code of TTE, which V.L. On December 24, 1935, Brzezinski reported to the leadership of the Naval Forces and Glavmorprom. The first order for the preliminary design of the “project No. 23 of the battleship for the Pacific Fleet” was issued by Glavmorprom to the Baltic Shipyard on February 21, 1936, but the assignment for this project was not approved and was subjected to adjustments according to the TsKBS-1 options. V.M. Orlov recognized projects of battleships with a standard displacement of 55,000-57,000 and 35,000 tons (instead of the option of 43,000 tons) as “interesting and relevant” for the Navy; On May 13, 1936, he gave instructions to I.M. Loudry on the issuance of "clear tasks" to the Naval Research Institute of Military Shipbuilding (NIVK) and industry for the "final sketch design of large ships" in the development of selected options. Preliminary tactical and technical specifications for sketches developed under the guidance of the head of the Shipbuilding Department of the UVMS flagship engineer 2nd rank B.E. Alyakritsky, approved on May 15, 1936 by I.M. Ludry.
The concept of building two types of battleships (larger and smaller displacement) was based on the differences in the theaters of military operations - the open Pacific, limited Baltic and Black Sea. The compilers of the TTZ proceeded from the optimal characteristics of the ships, determined by the level of technology and experience of the past war, combat training. However, at the initial stage, the design was strongly influenced by foreign experience and contractual displacement limits provided for by the Washington (1922) and London (1930 and 1936) agreements, in which the USSR did not officially participate. V.M. Orlov was inclined to reduce the displacement and caliber of weapons of the first battleship of the Pacific Fleet, and for the second he chose the option of a relatively small but fast ship, embodied in the projects of the French Dunkirk and the German Scharnhorst. When discussing the sketches, the proposed placement of all three turrets of the main caliber of the “large” battleship in the bow of the hull (following the example of the English battleship Nelson) did not pass the proposed design bureau of the Baltic Shipyard. The TsKBS-1 sketch was taken as the basis, in which two three-gun turrets were placed in the bow, and one in the stern. August 3, 1936 V.M. Orlov approved the TTZ for the preliminary design of battleships of types "A" (project 23) and "B" (project 25), proposed on a competitive basis by TsKBS-1 and the design bureau of the Baltic Shipyard.
In accordance with the special regulation approved by V.M. Orlov and R.A. Muklevich on August 21, 1936, work on projects was carried out in close cooperation with the heads of the Design Bureau and TsKBS-1 S.F. Stepanova and V.L. Brzezinski with representatives of the Navy, who observed the design. The examination was entrusted to the heads of naval institutes under the general supervision of the head of the NIVK, flag officer of the 2nd rank E.P. Liebel.
In November 1936, the materials of the draft designs of the battleships "A" and "B", together with the reviews of the observers and the NIVK, were considered in the Shipbuilding Department of the UVMS (head - engineer-flag officer 2nd rank B.E. Alyakrinsky). To draw up the general technical design of the first of the battleships, the most thoughtful version of the design bureau of the Baltic Shipyard (standard displacement 45,900 tons) was chosen with changes approved by V.M. Namorsi. Orlov November 26, 1936; displacement, for example, was allowed in the range of 46-47 thousand tons with an increase in draft in full load up to 10 m, it was envisaged to strengthen the booking of decks and the bow end. The development of the general technical design of the battleship type "B" was entrusted to TsKBS in the development of the sketch presented by him with a standard displacement of 30,900 tons (total 37,800).
Fulfilling the government decree of July 16, 1936, the Shipbuilding Department of the UVMS issued on December 3 an order to Glavmorprom for the construction of eight battleships with delivery to the fleet in 1941. In Leningrad, it was planned to build two battleships of project 23 (Baltic Plant) and the same number of project 25, in Nikolaev - four projects 25 . This decision actually meant another correction of the shipbuilding program of the second five-year plan (1933-1937), supplementing it with previously unforeseen battleships. However, the implementation of new plans to strengthen the fleet encountered serious difficulties, some of which were determined by the huge amount of experimental work that could ensure the success of design and construction; this meant the manufacture of steam boilers, mine protection compartments, armor plates, life-size models of turbine and boiler rooms, testing the effects of bombs and shells on deck armor, irrigation systems, remote control, air conditioning, etc. The problems of creating artillery installations and turbine mechanisms of high power turned out to be especially difficult.
All these difficulties were overcome in an atmosphere of disorganization in the management of the fleet and industry caused by the repressions of 1937-1938, when almost everyone who led the choice of types and the creation of future battleships became victims. The already dire situation worsened with the availability of qualified command and engineering personnel, as a result of which the laying of ships in 1937 did not take place, and the design tasks themselves underwent serious changes. Project 25 was abandoned, later it was transformed into a heavy cruiser (Project 69, Kronstadt). In August-September of the same year, the new leadership of the Navy of the Red Army (Namorsi - the flagship of the fleet of the 2nd rank L.M. Galler) reworked the previously drawn up ten-year plan for building ships. This option provided for the prospective construction of 6 battleships of type “A” and 14 of type “B” instead of 8 and 16. However, such a truncated plan, submitted to the Defense Committee by Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov in September 1937, was never officially approved.
Despite the problematic implementation of the ten-year program, the government, by a decision of August 13/15, 1937, determined the revision of the technical project 23 with an increase in the standard displacement to 55-57 thousand tons while optimizing the armor and constructive underwater protection and abandoning two stern 100-mm towers. The increase in displacement, reflecting the objective need to combine powerful weapons, reliable protection and high speed, proved the validity of the initial tasks of 1936. At the same time, TsKB-17 received the flagship of the 2nd rank S.P. developed by the commission. Stavitsky tactical and technical
a request for the design of a battleship type "B" (project 64) with 356-mm artillery of the main caliber. For projects 23 and 64, the unification of the main turbo-gear units with a capacity of 67,000 hp was assumed. each (technical assistance from the Swiss company Brown-Boveri), 152-, 100-mm turrets and quad 37-mm machine guns of domestic design.
The materials of technical project 23 (head of the design bureau of the Baltic Shipyard Grauerman, chief engineer B.G. Chilikin) were considered in the Shipbuilding Department (UK) of the Red Army Navy in November 1937. In December, the head of TsKB-17 N.P. Dubinin and chief engineer V.A. Nikitin submitted to the Criminal Code draft design 64, but both of them were recognized as unsatisfactory. In project 23 (standard displacement 57,825, total displacement 63,900 tons), there were many unresolved issues related to the development of the main power plant, anti-mine and anti-aircraft artillery towers, bottom protection and a reservation system that did not correspond to the results of experimental bombing. The shortcomings of Project 64 were largely explained by the task itself, which involved the creation of a deliberately weak ship, designed to solve problems "in cooperation with other means of connection." Armament (nine 356-, twelve 152-, eight 100-, thirty-two 37-mm guns) and its characteristics (for 356-mm it was planned 750-kg shells with an initial speed of 860-910 m / s) at a speed of 29 knots could not provide a battleship of type "B" with tactical advantages in single combat with the same foreigners. The desire of the designers to meet the stringent requirements of the TTZ for the protection of the ship led to an increase in the standard displacement to almost 50,000 tons. The wishes of the Naval Shipbuilding Administration to reduce the displacement to 45,000 tons did not come true at the beginning of 1938, the battleship "B" was abandoned.
