New type batteries
9-inch mortar on the machine Durlehera installed for viewing in Sveaborg.
13 February 1856 in Paris in order to sum up the results of the Crimean War opened the congress of representatives of the great European powers. It was the grandest European forum since 1815 of the year. Finally, on March 18, after the Congress 17 meetings, a peace treaty was signed, according to which, in peacetime, Turkey closes the Black Sea straits for all military courts, regardless of their affiliation, with the exception of stationery in Istanbul. The Black Sea is declared neutral and open to merchant ships of all nations. Russia and Turkey pledge not to have "naval arsenals" on its shores. They are allowed to keep on the Black Sea for coastal service no more than 10 light military vessels each.
At the insistence of Foreign Minister Gorchakov in 1864, the Sevastopol fortress was officially abolished. The guns were taken to Nikolaev and Kerch, the artillery companies disbanded. The post of military governor was also abolished, and Sevastopol became part of the Tauride province. Initially, the city was incorporated into Simferopol, and then Yalta districts.
The southern part of Sevastopol lay in ruins that no one tried to restore. In the summer of 1860, the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky visited the city. He wrote: “I was in poor Sevastopol. Without tears of this city it is impossible to see, there is no positive stone left in it ”. The restoration of the city began only in the 1871 year.
RESTORATION BEGINS, BUT ...
Since the beginning of the 19th century, in the city, two infantry regiments of the 60 Infantry Division and the 13 artillery brigade were garrisoned by the garrison. Since 13, in Sevastopol, the preparation of submarine mine components began secretly, and a warehouse of Kerch fortress artillery (1865 78 gunpowder pods and 970 143 shells) was organized. For the construction and repair of buildings and structures of the Military Department, Simferopol engineering distance was created, the management of which was located in Sevastopol.
After the abolition of the “neutralization of the Black Sea” in 1871, Russia formally got its hands free in construction fleet and coastal defense. But then both the Military and Naval ministries did practically nothing. I note that the London treaty of March 1, 1871 finally resolved the issue of the construction of the Lozovaya – Sevastopol 613 km railway. And although the Parisian world did not prohibit the construction of roads even along the entire perimeter of the Black Sea, trains went to Kharkov from Moscow in 1869, and the first train went from Lozovaya to Sevastopol only in January 1875.
At the start of 1870, an elderly lieutenant general, Count Totleben, drew up a plan for the construction of seven coastal batteries in Sevastopol. However, it was launched only in 1876, when Alexander II finally decided to start a war in the Balkans.
As of October 15 1876, the list of fortifications of Sevastopol was as follows (all batteries under construction). North side: Battery No. 1 — Two 6 inch mortars of the 1867 model and four 24-pound cast iron guns; Battery No. 2 — Two 6-inch mortars of the 1867 model of the year; Battery No. 3 - two 6-inch mortars of the 1867 model of the year; South side: battery No. 5 (formerly Aleksandrovskaya) - four 9-inch guns of the 1867 model of the year and two 24-pound pig-iron cannons, battery No. 6 (former No. of 10) - four 9-inch guns of the 1867 model of the year and four 24-pound pig-iron guns, battery No. 7 (former No. 8) - fourteen 6-inch mortars of model 1867 of the year, in stock - six 12-pound cast-iron guns of model 1867 of the year.
Moreover, all coastal batteries in Sevastopol at the end of 1876 were already connected by a telegraph line.
However, a few weeks after the king ratified the Berlin Congress 15 in July 1878, the War Department decided to disarm the batteries of the Sevastopol fortress. The official wording: for financial reasons, “in order not to give Sevastopol fortress status”. At the same time disarmed the coastal fortresses of Odessa and Poti. Thus, on the shores of the Black Sea there is not a single coastal battery. Their guns were removed from the batteries and stored in these cities in the so-called "emergency reserve". This stock was intended to arm the fortresses in the event of war.
In such circumstances, the disarmament of Sevastopol was actually a crime. Moreover, the money for the maintenance of the fortress in Sevastopol was. Another issue is that very many high-ranking officials had huge profits in the form of bribes from the commercial activities of the Sevastopol port. The turnover of the Sevastopol commercial port grew steadily from 1859, and by 1888 only overseas traffic reached 31 million rubles, and together with short-sea shipping, it exceeded 47 million rubles. In 1888, the 42 981 passenger arrived in the port of Sevastopol and the 39 244 man departed. Naturally, the officials dreamed of turning Sevastopol into the second Odessa and by all means prevented the militarization of the city.
NEW THREAT
At the end of 1884, a new crisis erupted in connection with the advancement of Russian troops in Central Asia, which the press of that time dubbed “1884 – 1885's military alarm”. In fact, England and Russia were on the brink of war. Spring and early summer of 1885 became the apogee of the Russo-British conflict, and only on 29 in August (September 10) in London was agreement reached on the division of the spheres of influence of Russia and England.
From the beginning of 1885, Sevastopol began to prepare for defense. By April 1885, the 28 078 people lived within the Sevastopol city government. In addition, there was a 5177 man from two regiments of the 13 Infantry Division and the 13 Artillery Brigade. April 12 issued the highest commandment, according to which seven old built in 1876 – 1877 years should be restored in Sevastopol and two new batteries built. Two weeks were given for the restoration of old batteries, and six for the construction of new ones. The cost of the engineering part allocated 160 thousand rubles.
28 April 1885, frightened by Sevastopol authorities, began to search for guns stored in 1879. In stock artillery assets in Sevastopol in the "emergency reserve" it has been found: the three-inch gun 11 1877 sample year, twelve-inch 9 1867 sample guns year 24 sixteen-pounder long iron cannons, six 12-pounder iron guns, two 9- inch steel mortars of model 1867 of the year and twenty-four 6-inch copper mortars of model of 1867 year. In addition, 400 mines turned up at the mine depot of the Military Department.
According to the Highest order of 12 on April 1885, seven 11-inch guns of the 1867 model of the year and seven 9-inch mortars of the 1867 model from the Kerch fortress and nine 9-inch guns of the 1867 model from the Poti fortress were to be delivered to Sevastopol. Fortunately, 9 March 1885, the highest order issued on the abolition of the fortress of Poti.
Work on the restoration of old and construction of new batteries were carried out mainly by the 5-th sapper brigade of the Odessa Military District.
Based on the conclusion of the Special Meeting of 3 of May 1886 of the year, under the chairmanship of the Minister of War, it was decided to build land fortifications of a temporary nature around Sevastopol. At the same time, for the service on batteries in April 1886, in Sevastopol, the management of the fortress artillery and one fortress artillery battalion of the five-third squad were formed.As a result, by March there were thirteen 1888-inch guns (three 11 models of the year and 1877 10 models of the year) for arming coastal batteries in Sevastopol, twenty-one 1867-inch guns of the 9 model, two 1867-inch guns weighing 6 guns , four 190-inch mortars and nine 11-inch mortars of the 9 model of the year. There were six 1867-inch guns in 6 pounds, forty 190-pound long and six 24-pound short guns, thirteen 24-inch copper mortars of the 6 model of the year and several smaller-caliber guns for arming ground batteries that protected the rear of the fortress. August 1867 31 of the year from the Ochakov fortress to Sevastopol transported three more 1887-inch guns of the model 11 of the year. In addition, in the fall of the same year, thirteen 1867-inch copper fortress mortars of the 6 model of the year were delivered from Ochakov to Sevastopol.
Smooth was on paper
On paper, everything looked smooth - dozens of serf guns defended Sevastopol from the rear. In fact, all the tools of the land defense peacefully lay in stock. This broke out only 30 May 1889 of the year. In 5 hours 30 minutes of the morning for an unknown reason (apparently, it was still a diversion) a fire broke out in an artillery depot in the Laboratory gully. I note that our brilliant generals decided in order to save and for their own convenience to build a powder cellar on the 45 thousand pounds of gunpowder next to the warehouse of guns.
The fire turned into a disaster. The Sevastopol authorities tried to hide its size even from the leadership of the Military Department in St. Petersburg. Therefore, the scale of the catastrophe can be judged only by indirect data found by me in the Military Historical Archive. So, four 6 guns in 190 pounds 6 of September 1891 of the year that were seriously damaged were sent to overhaul in Perm, and thirty-eight 24-pound cast-iron long guns, four 24-pound short guns, twenty-six 9-pounder guns 1867 of the year and eleven 6-inch mortars of the 1867 model of the year were sent for repair to the Bryansk arsenal. As you can see, heavy damage received 83 guns.
Meanwhile, 17 May 1890, Sevastopol was officially counted among the fortresses of the 3 class.
WEAPONS AND DRAPES
Initially, shells with a lead sheath were taken to the guns of the 1867 model of the year, and shells with copper bands were specially developed for them in the 1880s. However, there was no interchangeability of projectiles with copper belts for 1867 sample guns of the year and shells of the same caliber for 1877 sample guns, since their belts had a different design.
The largest caliber until the end of the 10-ies of the twentieth century in the Russian coastal artillery remained the caliber 280 mm, that is, 11 inches (single 14-inch and 13,5-inch guns in the Kronstadt fortress - a special question). Armed with the Sevastopol fortress consisted of three types of 11-inch guns: 11-inch model 1867 year, 11-inch model 1877 year and 11-inch 35 caliber in the latter (initially 11-inch model gun 1887 year, but this name is not unsuccessful 80-inch model 1-year model, but this name is not unsuccessful, 1918-inch model 11 guns of the year, but this name is not unsuccessful in 1867-inch model 1885 guns of the year, but this name is not unsuccessful, 11-inch model 1867 guns of the year, but this name was unpleasant in 1889 calibers. . From the middle of the 19th century XNUMX and up to XNUMX in January XNUMX, ten XNUMX-inch guns of the XNUMX model of the year were in service with the Sevastopol fortress (in XNUMX, four XNUMX-year guns of the XNUMX model were sent by sea to Vladivostok and four XNUMX-inch guns of the XNUMX model of the year, and in XNUM by sea year they took three of the same guns from Ochakovo).
These 10 guns were made at the Krupp plant and initially stood on the carriages of the sample 1870 of the Semenov system with a maximum angle of elevation 15 degrees. By 1895, this elevation angle, which limited the range of 5,3 km, was found to be small, and in 1897, the Semenov machine, successfully reworked by Colonel Durlyakher, was successfully tested at angles up to 35 degrees at the Main artillery range. Accordingly, the firing range of a projectile weighing 224 kg has increased from 5,3 km to 10,3 km, that is, almost twice. The first six gun carriages of the 1870 model of the year went down from Sevastopol for remaking in Petersburg at the Metal Plant in 1897. By 1 July 1908, all ten 11-inch guns of the 1867 model of the year stood on machines with an elevation angle of 35 degrees.
As of January 1, 1891, in Sevastopol, for 11-inch cannons of model 1867, there were shells: old armor-piercing hardened cast iron with thin lead shells - 1762, old cast-iron ones from ordinary cast iron with thick lead shells - I, I had found by 16 years, I had found 16, I went. 450 of the year (shells with leading belts, close to the shells of the model 1888 of the year) - 1877 pieces.
Three 11-inch guns of the 1877 sample, manufactured by the Krupp plant, were delivered to Sevastopol at the end of the 1879 year. Initially, they stood on the Krupp “first delivery” machines with an elevation angle of 24 degrees. In 1895, the Putilov factory began the reworking of Krupp machine tools designed by Durlecher. The converted machines had an elevation angle of 35 degrees, thanks to which the firing range increased from 8,5 km to 12 km. By 1 July 1908, all three guns were on converted machines, and three undistorted Krupp machines remained in reserve until the end of 1911, when they were sent for scrap.
By 1 January 1891 of the year in Sevastopol for three 11-inch guns of the 1877 model of the year there were projectiles: old cast iron - 296, old armor-piercing tempered cast iron - 734, new steel armor-piercing (delivered in 1889 year) - 162 pieces.
In connection with the abolition of the Batumi fortress at the beginning of 1911, eight 11-inch guns of the 1877 model, produced by the Obukhov Steel Plant, arrived from Batumi at the beginning of the year. In addition, by March 1 1888, five 11 / 35-inch Krupp guns were delivered to Sevastopol. The first one was put on the battery number 10 in June 1889 of the year, and the last one was put on the 10 of August of the same year. However, they were not shells. But the Journal of the Artillery Committee (Jacques) number 592 from 1888 years allowed was obtyuriruyuschih in case of need to shoot from 11 / 35-inch cannon shells from 11-inch 1877 sample cannon year, although this will burn barrels, because the sample 1877 years cannons rings. For example, 24 and 26 on July 1891 of the year in Sevastopol passed training shooting of four 11 / 35-inch guns (No. 1, 2, 3 and 4), as a result of the cannon No. 2 had a premature rupture of the projectile in the channel.
By 1 January 1891, there were five 11 / 35-inch guns in Sevastopol, and only 496 ordinary iron bombs, that is, shells that were formally considered high-explosive, but were not very powerful explosives. Later, three more 11 / 35-inch guns manufactured by the Obukhov factory with gun carriages were delivered to Sevastopol. At the end of 1910, five 11 / 35-inch guns arrived from the Libava disarming fortress (four of them were manufactured at the Obukhov plant and one at the Perm plant). In 1911, one of these cannons departed for the Main Artillery Range to St. Petersburg.
In 1912, the Putilov factory ordered new machines for the 11 / 35-inch guns. However, the crooks at the Putilov factory didn’t make a single machine for 1 in January 1918, and most of the 11 / 35-inch cannons during the 1914 – 1918 war lain in warehouses.
1 June 1913 of the Year with the Putilov Plant of the Military Department was contracted to manufacture 13 machines for 11 / 35-dm guns at the price of 37 thousand rubles. each. 12 machines were intended for the Sevskoraz, and one - for the gap. The machines had to have electric drives for vertical and horizontal guidance and projectile feed.
OVERROLATED ROLE OF MORTARS
The Main Artillery Directorate of Russia strongly overestimated the role of coastal mortars in the nineteenth-century 70, and by the beginning of the twentieth century they had become absolutely useless when firing at ships, with the exception of narrowness. Nevertheless, the defense ministry spent enormous sums on the production of 9-inch and 11-inch coastal mortars and the construction of mortar coastal batteries.
From the mid 80-ies of the XIX century in the Sevastopol fortress consisted of twenty-one 9-inch mortar model 1867 year. Of these, 16 mortars were with a wedge lock manufactured by the Obukhov plant, and five with a piston lock produced by the Perm plant. All 9-inch mortars were installed on the Semenov's gun carriages, which allowed the maximum angle of elevation 17 degrees. In addition, there were two spare gun carriages in stock. 1 January 1891 year to 9-inch guns and mortars in the fortress kept shells: ordinary cast iron with a thick lead sheath - 569, hardened cast iron with a thin lead sheath - 5177, steel with a thin lead sheath - 105 pieces.
By the beginning of the 1905 of the year, seventeen 9-inch guns of the 1867 model of the year consisted in the fortress. Moreover, twelve of them, with a wedge lock, were installed on new Durlächer system machines with a hydraulic compressor instead of friction compressors at Semenov's carriages and with an elevation angle of 40 degrees. All twelve 9-inch guns were on the battery number 1 in combat status. By this time, five 9-inch piston-bolt guns lay on the lining, and the Semenov 13 gun carriages were stored separately. This old one was scrapped at the end of 1911.
In the first half of 1915, four 9-inch guns of the 1867 model were sent from Sevastopol to the Kerch fortress, and in the second half of 1915, four more such guns poisoned the city of Reni on the Danube.
By the beginning of the 1888 of the year, nine 9-inch mortars of the 1867 model of the year consisted in the Sevastopol fortress. In the 1893 year, the first eight 9-inch mortars of the 1877 model of the year arrived from Perm. In 1897, eight more such mortars arrived from Perm. As a result, by 1905, all 9-inch mortars of the 1867 model of the year were removed from Sevastopol, and the number of 9-inch mortars of the 1877 model of the year was brought to 40.
After the 1907 survey, three 9-inch mortars were found to be unusable, and three new 9-inch mortars were sent in exchange for them. However, unfit mortars were not excluded from official reports, and it was believed that there were 43 mortars in the Sevastopol fortress. All mortars were installed on Durlecher machines that were manufactured from 1899 onwards.
In the second half of 1915 of the year (hereinafter the second half means the period from July 1 to 1 of January of the following year), the 9-inch mortars were taken out of Sevastopol: the 24 mortars with carriages - to the Grodno fortress, and the 16 mortars - to the Petra fortress Great to the Baltic. The three remaining worthless mortars were taken from the Sevastopol fortress in the first half of 1916.
By the beginning of the 1888 of the year, the first four 11-inch mortars of the 1877 model of the year, manufactured by the Obukhov plant, were delivered to Sevastopol. At the same plant, unique machines of the Lieutenant Raskazov system were made for them. The main difference between the Razskazov machine and other cannon and mortar gun carriages is not the tilt of the pivoting frame forward, but backward in order to reduce the pressure on the frame when rolling back.
The machine consisted of the actual machine of the Vavaler system and the frame of the cobbled system. In addition to the hydraulic compressor, Balvilean springs served to reduce recoil, and they also provided the machine after the gun samonakat. 209 springs were put on each compressor stock. When fired, the mortar with the machine, as a result of recoil, slid down the pivoting frame, and after the end of the run-up period, the Belvilean springs, opening, lifted the machine. In this case, there were difficulties with the adjustment of the springs with a decrease in charges. The design of the machines was extremely difficult, and they began to function normally only after the modernization made in 1895 at the Sevastopol Marine Plant. More Razskazov machines were not made.
By 1905, there were sixteen 11-inch mortars in the Sevastopol fortress, four of which were on Razskazov’s machines, and twelve on Kokorin’s machines. This situation was maintained at least until September 15, 1917, after which there was no reporting in the Sevastopol fortress. Eight 11-inch mortars were located on the No. 3 battery on the North side and eight on the No. 12 battery at Quarantine Bay.
WEAK PLACE IN DEFENSE
The weakest guns, which consisted of 1885 of the year in service with the coastal batteries of Sevastopol, were 6-inch guns weighing 190 in pounds of the 1877 model of the year.
I'll start by explaining the name of the gun. The 1875 – 1878 years produced about one hundred 6-inch guns of the 1867 model year, which weighed 190 pounds. From the beginning of the 1880-s, they began to be manufactured with a channel of the 1877 model of the year, and in parallel they made lighter 6-inch guns weighing 120 pounds. Both systems were intended for siege fortress artillery and in order to distinguish them, the weight was entered into the name - 190 pounds and 120 pounds. At the end of 1880-X - the beginning of 1890-s, all the guns in 190 of poods with the 1867 model's channel of the year were remade by inserting a new pipe with the 1877 model's channel of the year. After that, the words “model 1877 of the year” disappeared from the name of the guns in 190 and in 120 pounds.
By March, 1888 had eight coastal batteries in Sevastopol, and in fact there were two 6-inch guns in 190 pounds, and for the defense of the fort's land front, there were six 6-guns in 190 poods, but the latter were not on batteries, but rusting in warehouses. By 1907, the number of 6-inch guns in the 190 pounds transferred to shore batteries was brought to 20.
Initially, the 6-inch guns in the 190 poods were installed on high fortress carriages of the 1878 model of the year that did not have a turning mechanism. It is clear that shooting at a moving ship, turning manually the entire carriage with high wheels, was extremely inconvenient. Therefore, in 1889, the coastal carriage of the Durlecher system was tested. The swivel frame of the new gun carriage rotated on the pedestal, which allowed for fast horizontal targeting and circular firing.
By 1907, out of twenty 6-inch 190 pounds, 14 cannons were on Durlecher's carriages, and six were on machines from 9-inch light mortars. These machines were listed under the authority of the Sevastopol fortress artillery in 1906, from a part of the Special Reserve located in Sevastopol. A special reserve was created back in the 1880-ies and was intended for the landing in the Bosphorus. Altogether, four 9-inch light mortars were listed in the property of the Sevastopol fortress with carriages. I note that the maximum firing range of such a mortar 160-kg projectile was only 3 km. And no matter what else, except for shooting in the Black Sea straits, this weapon was not suitable. Therefore, four 9-inch light mortars remained in the same warehouse where they were, and were only formally listed as the Sevastopol fortress. Where they disappeared between July 1 1913 and July 1 1914, the author could not be established.
But back to the 6-inch guns weighing 190 pounds. There was no rent from them in the coastal defense due to bad ballistics and low rate of fire. At the beginning of 1915, they were sent to Riga and Reni.
By order of the Military Department No. 31 of February 28 of 1892, the Nordenfeld Coastal Gun 57-mm cannon is put into service. Readers will have a reasonable question, but what could such a “cracker” do not only with an armadillo, but even with a cruiser? Quite right, but the matter is different. The leadership of the Ministry of War desperately clung to the old coastal systems of the 1877 model of the year and 1867 of the year, and instead of replacing them with new rapid-fire guns with improved ballistics, they used various tricks to improve the capabilities of the old guns. Since the 8 – 11-inch 1867 model cannon and the 1877 of the year were able to make one shot in three to five minutes, the Main Artillery Directorate decided to introduce into the 57-fortress guns fast-firing guns with good ballistics for use in sighting. Since by the 1890 year, our generals planned to fight with enemy battleships at distances from 0,5 km to 5 km, the 57-mm guns could provide sighting at all "real" combat distances. In addition, 57-mm coastal guns were planned to be used to combat the destroyers and enemy landing forces. Installed Nordenfeld's 57-mm guns on or near heavy gun batteries.
By November 24, 1906 was supposed to be 24 coastal 57-mm Nordefeld cannons in Sevastopol, but only two were, and 18 were listed from Special Reserve.
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