"Standard" battleships of the USA, Germany and England. German "Bayern" (h. 2)
Artillery
As we have said, the main caliber of Bayer-type battleships was introduced with eight 380-mm / 45 C / 13 guns (i.e., sample 1913 g). These guns continued the traditional line of development of German naval artillery and, it must be said, were completely different from their British counterparts - literally in all respects.
The Germans have long abandoned the outdated, wire construction of guns, which the British continued to use. The British 381-mm / 42 gun was a liner, which was wound many kilometers of hot rectangular wire - and then the resulting structure was placed in the pipe - the outer casing of the gun. The German 380-mm / 45 gun was created using a much more advanced technology, in which the wire was replaced with three rows of cylinders - as a result, with the same strength, the walls of the German gun were much thinner than the English one. This most positively affected the mass of the German artillery system, which weighed along with the bolt of the entire 76,2 t., While the English 15-inch - 101,6 t. And this despite the fact that the English gun was shorter - the full length of its barrel was 43,36 caliber, while German has 45 calibers. The closures also differed - the British gun had a piston-type bolt, the German gun had a wedge one.
Of course, the concepts also differed - as we know, the German fleet professed the principle “light projectile - high initial speed”, while the British - “heavy projectile - low initial speed”. At the same time, it is not that for Britain this was a conscious choice, the wire construction used there simply made the procedure for increasing the length of the barrel extremely difficult, which is highly desirable for increasing the initial velocity of the projectile. Thus, the concept of "heavy projectile - low initial speed" was for many British forced, which, however, does not mean that this principle is something bad.
Nevertheless, we will postpone a detailed comparison of the British and German implements — together with the American, of course, until the time when, having completed the description of the dreadnoughts of these three countries, we proceed to their comparison, but for now this is still far away. Now back to the German artillery system.
The newest 380-mm / 45 gun fired 750 kg with a projectile with an initial speed of 800 m / s. Ammunition for one gun was 90 shells, including 60 armor-piercing and 30 high-explosive. Trinitrotoluene was used as an explosive, while its content in the armor-piercing projectile was 23,5 (according to other data - 25 kg), in a high-explosive - 67,1 kg. The charge consisted of two parts unequal in mass: most of it fit into the usual double silk cap with a total weight of 192 kg, the smaller - into a brass sleeve weighing 54 kg. Apparently, these figures are obtained by rounding up, since the total charge mass is indicated on 246 kg., But only 245, of which the actual powder was 183 kg., Packaging - 63 kg. I must say that the use of the liner, taking into account the use of a wedge gate, provided an excellent obturation, but it had its price - the total weight of the liners on one battleship reached 43 t.
As for the artillery installation, it was a development of the German gun 305-mm / 50 - not a copy, because a number of improvements were introduced into it, but also not a fundamentally new design. Charging was carried out at a constant angle of elevation 2,5 deg., Thanks to which it was possible to achieve a sufficiently high recharge rate, the full cycle of which took 26 seconds, however, it is unclear whether the lowering procedures and returning it to the shooting position were taken into account at this time. Most likely it does not, since the rate of fire of 380-mm / 45 guns is indicated at the level of 1,5-2 shots / mn, that is, 30-40 seconds per shot.
As for the firing range, there is some hitch. The fact is that initially “Bayern” and “Baden” received towers with a maximum angle of elevation of 16 guns degrees, at which, apparently, the firing range was 20 250 - 20 400 m, that is, 109-110 cable. But in the work of respected S. Vinogradov, dedicated to the battleships of this type, it is stated that the guns fired at 20 250 m at an angle of elevation 13 hail, which, I must say, is very doubtful, and, perhaps, is a typo. On the other hand, it is reliably known that after the Germans in 1917 increased the maximum angle of elevation to 20 degrees, the firing range was 23 200 m or slightly more than 125 cables. It can be stated that the 125 cables in those years were, perhaps, the limit of effective firing, which the fire control devices of those times could still provide.
All of the above characterizes the German tower installations of 380-mm / 45 guns in the best possible way, but they were not free from shortcomings. Some of them were a continuation of their own merits: for example, in the control of the tower, both electricity and hydraulics were used, and devices that "converted" electric energy into hydrodynamic force were located inside the barbet, that is, the substandard compartments its outside the towers. This solution provided better security for all of these mechanisms, but, unfortunately, they were very noisy, which made it difficult for the commanders serving the towers.
Another drawback was much more significant - in the design of the towers there were no overload compartments for the supply of ammunition. As is known, the very first battles of heavy ships demonstrated the vulnerability of their artillery cellars - the defeat of the towers was often accompanied by fires that threatened the ships with doom. In order to avoid this, first by the Germans, and later by the British, a fairly simple system was adopted, which can be described briefly as “one closed door” - that is, in the reloading compartment connecting the artillery grab and the flow tube (barbet) of the tower, always closed armored door. When the charges were transferred from the artillery grab to the reloading compartment, the “armor” was closed into the tower, and when it was necessary to transfer the charges to the supply tube, respectively, the door leading to the artillery grab. Thus, if the tower was pierced and a fire broke out inside it, the fire could not pass into the cellars.
But in the towers of the Bayern type battleships there was no transshipment compartment, and there was only one armored door separated from the supply tube from the supply pipe - the loading door casement doors, if the tower was hit when they were open, the fire was quite capable of reaching cellars.
The mine caliber was represented by sixteen 150-mm (to be absolutely accurate - 149,1 mm) C / 06 guns. It was a very successful gun, fully responding to the tasks of protecting the ship from the attacks of the destroyers. Her projectile weighing 45,3 kg had an initial speed of 835 m / s., While at the maximum elevation angle of 19 degrees, the range of such a projectile was 14 945 m., That is, almost 81 cables. Ammunition left 160 armor-piercing and high-explosive shells on the gun. The loading was a separate liner, while the weight of the loaded cartridge was 22,5 kg, including - 13,7 kg powder and 8,8 kg - the sleeve itself. The rate of fire is usually indicated by 7-8 shots / min., In fact, it most likely did not differ from that of similar 6-inch guns of other fleets.
Nevertheless, it appears that the mine action artillery "Baerna" and "Baden" had a very serious disadvantage, namely, the relatively low content of explosive in the projectiles. In fact, this question is unclear, because a significant number of sources bypass this question with silence, but, according to available data, the content of explosives in the armor-piercing projectile did not exceed 0,99 kg. As for the high-explosive, it is completely unclear, but given the fact that by the Second World War, new shells for this gun had 3,9-4,09 kg of explosives, it is extremely doubtful that there would be more during the First World War.
Nevertheless, S. Vinogradov in the monograph "Superdreadnoughts of the Second Reich" Bayern "and" Baden "" indicates for 150 3,0-3,9 kg armor-piercing X-mm shells, but this is extremely doubtful. In the end, the British semi-armor 152-mm projectiles had 3,4 kg BB, and high-explosive shells had 6 kg. In view of the above, it is most likely that the content of explosives in the German armor-piercing shell was 0,99 kg, and in the high-explosive shell it was within 3,5-3,9 kg, which is much lower than similar indicators of the British gun.
Why is that? Apparently, the thing is this: as we know, the Germans did not adhere to the concept of “only big guns” when building their dreadnoughts. That is, they, of course, installed a large number of 280-mm first, and then 305-mm guns, but at the same time did not intend to give up the average 150-mm caliber. On the German ships, he was just the middle; 88-mm guns served as anti-mine guns, which, of course, did not exclude the possibility of firing 150-mm guns at attacking destroyers.
And within the framework of the medium-caliber concept, the Germans could feel the need for their “six-inch” shells to pierce through some kind of armor. It is known that reducing the content of explosives makes it possible to make the shell of the projectile more durable, providing it with better armor penetration, and, apparently, this is exactly what happened with the German 150-mm guns. Their armor-piercing projectile was full-fledged armor-piercing, and the high-explosive in its capabilities was probably close to the English semi-armored projectile. In other words, it seems that in Germany they preferred to increase the armor penetration of 150-mm guns to the detriment of the impact on the unarmored target, and, of course, this was not the best solution in terms of protecting the ship from destroyers.
All 16 150-mm guns were placed in separate casemates, the height of their shafts above sea level was 5,5 m.
Bayern battleships became the first Kaiser dreadnought fleeton which the "intermediate" 150 mm caliber has finally become a mine mine. The fact is that the 88-mm guns, previously oriented to this function, already received a different purpose in the project - they were anti-aircraft.
The 88-mm / 45 gun itself was quite “in trend” with the guns of similar purpose at that time - they fired 10 kg with projectiles with an initial speed of 890 m / s. at a distance of up to 11 800 m (almost 64 cable), and its maximum angle of elevation was 70%, which made it possible to shoot at planes. The loading was unitary, the total mass of the cartridge was 15,6 kg. The rate of fire reached 10 shots / min.
According to the project, eight such guns were supposed to be on the Bayern type battleships, but, oddly enough, Bayern itself did not have them at all when they were handed over to the fleet, and Baden received only two such guns. Subsequently, both on that and on the other, their number was reduced to four.
Measurement of the distance to the enemy was carried out through four rangefinders with a base of 8 meters, and five - with a base of three meters. Other fire control devices were traditional for the German fleet. We will dwell on this topic in more detail when comparing “Rivendjee”, “Bayern” and “Pennsylvania”, for the time being we note that they, although they were more primitive than English, nevertheless provided very good indicators of shooting accuracy.
Torpedoes
In addition to the ultimatum and powerful artillery weapons, Bayer-type battleships received equally serious torpedo weapon. And if the 380-mm / 45 guns "Bayern" still had its counterpart in England, the 600-mm torpedoes H-8 sample 1912, indisputably occupy the top line of the rating of "self-propelled mines" since World War. The total curb weight of the torpedo was 2 160 kg, while the warhead contained a charge of TNT (according to other sources, hexanite) 250 kg. As for the range and speed, there are conflicting data - according to one source, a torpedo could pass 6 km on 36 nodes or 14 km on 30 nodes, according to others - 13 kilometers, moving 28 on a nodal course.
Bayern-type battleships had five submersible torpedo tubes, one nose and two onboard, the latter were deployed in the nose on 20 degrees. from traverse. The ammunition for one vehicle was 4 torpedoes, respectively, the entire Bayern carried 20 torpedoes.
Without a doubt, we will be absolutely right in asserting that, having placed such powerful torpedo armament on battleships, the Germans absolutely for nothing “threw” many tens of tons of payload and cubic meters of internal space. But we speak from the height of after-knowledge, and in those years, naval specialists considered it completely different. Recall that at about the same years, in England, someone’s timid voice, speaking in favor of removing torpedoes from battleships, was immediately muffled by the categorical statement: “The fate of the Empire depends on the torpedo weapons of battleships!” And no one dared to challenge it .
Reservation
The length of the citadel of the Bayern type battleships was 58% of the total ship length. It was based on the main armor belt, which went almost from the beginning of the barbet of the 1 tower and almost to the end of the barbat of the 4 tower, closing in with casemates perpendicular to the axis of the ship, while the barbet of the above towers were a little behind them, which can be seen very well on one of the the schemes below. The main armor belt consisted of plates with a height of 3 720 mm. Its upper edge was at the level of the middle deck of the ship, and the lower one went down to the 1 700 mm below the waterline. Thus, with a normal displacement of the battleship, its main armored belt protected the board up to 2 020 mm above sea level. The thickness of the armor plates on the whole of its “surface” section and another 350 mm “under water” (that is, for 2 370 mm from the top edge) was 350 mm, then its thickness for the remaining 1 350 mm was gradually thinned to 170 mm on the bottom edge.
Directly above the main armor belt, along its entire length, and in height from the middle to the upper deck, was the second, 250 mm armor belt, the height of its armor plates was 2 150 mm. Thus, within the citadel, Bayer-type battleships had a fully armored board. However, the vertical protection of the citadel was not at all exhausted by the two belts indicated - the fact is that behind them, at some distance from the sides, from the upper to the lower deck, throughout the 250-350-mm armored belts, there was also a splinterproof 30 mm bulkhead. Looking ahead, we note that the horizontal part of the armored decks within the citadel was at the level of the lower deck, and from it went bevels to the lower edge of the 350-mm armor plates. Accordingly, the top of the 30 mm bulkhead was located at the level of the upper deck and the upper edge of the 250 mm armor belt, and the lower edge of this bulkhead was connected to the armored deck at the place where the bevel began. Taking into account the fact that the armor deck within the citadel had 30 mm thickness of the entire length, both on the bevel and on the horizontal part, some kind of Russian dreadnought scheme appeared - behind the main one and behind the upper armor belt there was a solid second protection circuit formed by 30 mm armored assembly and bevels.
True, in addition to the actual thickness of the armor, there was another difference in this design. As a rule, the bevels of the armored deck of the battleships were connected to the lower edge of the armor belt, in the place where the armor ended and began the usual steel skin. But the German designers considered that fixing the bevels, armor belts and skin in one knot weakened the structure as a whole, therefore on Bayern type battleships the bevels of the armored deck were connected to the main armor belt, not reaching its lower edge.
Moreover, the underwater part of the ship along the entire length of the citadel was protected by an armored anti-torpedo bulkhead with a thickness of 50-mm, extending from the very bottom to the junction of the bevels and the horizontal portion of the armor deck and even slightly higher. It was in the same plane with the 30 mm armored partition, and one would expect them to just seamlessly flow into one another, that is, a solid bulkhead would be produced from the bottom to the main deck, just in the hold to the armored deck it would have a thickness of 50 mm and over - 30 mm. But for some reason the Germans did not do this - both of these bulkheads were connected “overlap”, so that over the armored deck along the entire length of the citadel at height 0,8 m from the armored deck the armored partition had 80 mm (30 + 50).
From the bow and stern, the citadel along its entire height (from the upper deck to the lower edge of the boneplit of the main belt) was closed by traverses perpendicular to the axis of the ship, their thickness was 200 mm, except for the part that was located in the space between the middle and lower decks and 30 mm armored partitioning - there traverse thickness was 300 mm.
Let us now consider the “cover” covering the citadel from above: as we have already said, the armor belt and the armored partition reached the upper deck. She, within the citadel, had a booking thickness of 30 mm, but not solid. The fact is that a significant part of the upper deck was occupied by a casemate of 150-mm guns standing on it, and here, where the upper deck was also the floor of the casemate, it had no protection.
And the casemate stretched from the 1-th tower to the 3-s, while its walls were connected with the barbets of these towers. These walls themselves had a thickness of 170 mm, the roof of the casemates had a differentiated protection of 30-40 mm, with the 30 mm sections passing directly above the implements. Inside the casemate 20 mm was divided by steel partitions - it is not entirely clear whether it was armored or structural steel.
In general, the following was obtained - in order to hit the space protected by the citadel, the enemy projectile had to overcome:
1. Below the waterline is the 350 armor plate of mm thickness, or the section where it went down to 170 mm, 30 mm bevel and 50 mm PTZ armored partition, that is (hereinafter, without taking into account the slope of armor plates) 250-430 mm armor.
2. 0,8 m above the waterline - 350 mm armor belt, 80 mm vertical armor section (where 30 mm armored partition was “overlapped” with 50 mm bulkhead TZ) and 30 mm horizontal section of the armor deck, and 460 mm vertical and horizontal armor.
3. At the site at a height of 0,8-1,2 m from the waterline - 350 mm armor belt, 30 mm armored partition and 30 mm horizontal section of the armor deck, and total - 410 mm vertical and horizontal armor.
4. At the height of 2,2-4,15 m from the waterline - 250 mm upper belt, 30 mm armored partition and 30 mm armored deck, and the total 310 mm vertical and horizontal armor.
5. At the level of the upper deck - 30 mm horizontal armor of the upper deck and the same amount of armor, that is, in aggregate 60 mm.
6. The height of the casemate - it would seem, there is the same vulnerability as described by us earlier in the battleships of the “Rivend” type. And indeed - the projectile that pierced the 170 mm dungeon has no more armor above itself than the 30 mm lower deck with bevels. However, there is an important nuance. The British raised the horizontal part of their armored decks to the level of the main deck, and thus, the enemy shell, piercing the upper belt 152 mm (the lower edge of which was just at the level of the main deck), just hit it, and the impact or explosion on armor heavy shell 50 mm armor plate, of course, could not withstand. But with German battleships it turned out a little different. story - The fact is that in order to get to the 30 mm armor deck, the enemy projectile, breaking the 170 mm wall of the casemate, “go” more than two deck spaces down. Given the normalization of the projectile at the moment it hit the dungeon, when the angle of its fall would decrease, the chances that the projectile could reach the 30 mm armored deck were practically non-existent, so if the German armor deck could threaten something, then it was only fragments that exploded projectile. In addition, a small additional protection consisted of the upper and middle decks, which, although they had no armor, were made of 8 mm steel.
7. At the level of the casemate roof - 30-40 mm horizontal roof armor and 30 mm horizontal armor section, that is, in aggregate, 60-70 mm horizontal armor.
Outside the citadel, the corps of the German battleship also had the most thorough protection. From 350 mm of armor to the nose, first went 200 mm of armor plate, and then 150 mm, which were closed by 140 mm by traversing. The armor belt did not reach a bit (approximately - 14 m) to the stem, but here the side plating had a thickening to 30 mm. In the stern, not reaching several meters up to the stern-bow, there was a 200 mm belt, closed with 170 mm as a beam, positioned, like the others, perpendicular to the axis of the ship, but at the same time it was slightly inclined towards the bow.
Interestingly, the 150 and 200 mm armor plates did not match in size and location with the 350 mm main armor belt plates. As we have said, the main armor belt had a height of 3 720 mm, but outside the citadel armor plates had a height of 4 020 m, and their upper edge was located on 330 mm above the main armor belt, and the bottom was on the 1 670 mm below the waterline, that is, " did not reach the main armored belt on the 30 mm. Note also that to the bottom of the nasal 150-200 mm armor plates became thinner to 130 mm, but in the stern of the 200 mm plate - only to 150 mm.
Thus, in addition to the citadel formed by the 350-mm main armor belt and 200 mm, the traverses of the Bairen-type battleships received two more armor cases in the bow (150-200 mm board and 140 mm traise) and in the stern (200 mm board and 170 mm traverse). The bow “box” was completely open at the top, and only along the lower edge of the 200 mm, the armored deck to the very stem was an armored deck without bevels 60 mm thick. Everything was even better in the stern - here the citadel's armored decks seemed to continue (along with bevels), having first thickness 60 mm, then 100 mm and, finally, above the tiller compartment 120 mm, where the deck was slightly raised - however, to the upper edge 200 mm boneplit she, of course, never reached.
The form of the German towers was seriously different from the towers of the battleships of other powers, representing a very unusual polyhedron, which became the "calling card" of the Bayern battleships and the capital ships of the Third Reich. Accordingly, the vertical booking of the 380-mm / 45 turrets for the guns had: the forehead - 350 mm, the sides - 250 mm, the rear part - 290 mm. The horizontal part of the tower roof was 100 mm thick. As for the armor plates, at an angle connecting the vertical booking and the roof of the towers, this was the case here - the frontal armor plate had a slope of 30 hail. and thickness 200 mm, and the side plates were located at an angle 25 hail and had 120 mm thickness.
The barbets had almost the same complex construction as on battleships of the Rivend type, but it should be noted that on the German battleships it looks both more rational and more thorough. The barbety of the first three towers above the forecastle deck, and the barbet of the 4 tower above the upper deck were 350 mm thick, and the same thickness of the barbety 1 and 4 towers in the places where these barbetas stood outside the traverse of the citadel. The exception was the narrow sector in 44 degrees 2-oh and 3-her towers, located in the direction of 1-oh and 4-oh towers, respectively - there barbet defended in front (behind) the standing tower, and the enemy shell could get into it only at a large angle , so armor protection in the area was reduced from 350 to 250 mm. In the other parts, the barbet booking was also weakened, taking into account the side and / or deck armor, which gave them additional protection. So, the 1 th, 2 th and 3 th barbets of the towers between the forecastle deck and the upper deck in the part covered with 170 mm walls of casemates had 170 mm thickness — to get to it, it was necessary to break through the walls of the casemate or its 30 -40 mm roof. But below the upper deck in the protection barbetov there was noticeably greater diversity. So, from the upper to the middle deck (opposite the 250 mm of the armored belt) the barbettes of the 1 and 2 towers had a thickness of 80 mm - in order to reach them, the enemy projectile had to break through the 250 mm of the side and 30 mm of the armored partitioning first. However, there was a certain vulnerability inherent in almost all ships that have “patchwork” armor protection - if a heavy shell hit the upper deck without reaching the casemate wall, it would be separated from 80 mm of barbet only 30 mm of horizontal protection of the upper deck and vertical 30 mm armored partition that could not stop the large-caliber ammunition. The barbet armor of the 3 tower between the upper and middle decks had a variable thickness of 80-115 mm, and the 4-th tower was 200 mm at all. As for the protection from the medium to the lower deck (opposite the 350 mm armor plates), here, in the first three towers, it became thinner to 25 mm, and in the fourth - 115 mm. On the one hand, we again see a certain vulnerability, because the projectile could “get” to the space below the middle deck, piercing the upper belt of a very moderate 250 mm thickness at an angle, but for a significant part of the trajectory it would be resisted no longer by 30 mm, but 80 mm armored partition, towering above the lower deck on 80 cm and 25 mm actually barbet.
The battle cuttings of the Bayern type battleships had two, the main one located in the nose had a conical shape “top down” - its walls had an uneven inclination in 10 degrees to the center plane and 6-8 degrees. on the traverse. The conning tower had three floors - the upper one was protected by 350 mm with vertical armor and 150 mm with a roof, the middle one was protected with 250 mm, and the lower one, located under the forecastle deck, was 240 mm. Such design solution attracts attention - the width of the armored felling was 5 m, which was greater than the width of the chimneys, and allowed to see the stern of the battleship through the slots in the armor. In addition, in the battle, the slots in the wheelhouse were closed, and the review from it was carried out through periscopes placed on the 150 mm roof. The forward conning tower was connected with the central post, a special square mine located deep in the hull and with a width of 1 meter. The thickness of its armor was 70 mm above the deck of the forecastle and 100 mm below.
Everything was much simpler with the aft conning tower - it was smaller, had the shape of a cylinder, with 170 mm walls and a 80 mm roof. She also had an armored tank that had 180 mm armor above the deck of the forecastle and 80 mm - below it.
In addition to all the above, the chimney cuts in the lower deck and the forecastle deck had protection. It consisted of armor grates, laid as if on top of the slots, allowing the smoke to rise upwards without fail, but still protecting the boilers from penetrating into the chimneys of large fragments. Unfortunately, the author of this article could not understand their design, but if briefly - they were a lattice of armored steel.
In conclusion, I would like to mention three more facts concerning the armor protection of Bayer-type battleships. The first is that all 75 mm and thicker armor plates were made from Krupp cemented armor, all armor of smaller thickness was homogeneous (it did not have a hardened surface layer). Second, the Germans attached great importance to the integrity of the armored belts, in the sense that they would not allow the plates to sink or fall out, even if they were not pierced by an enemy projectile. To this end, they not only paid exceptional attention to the joints of armor plates, but also provided for their fastening with keys. And finally, the third. The total weight of armor of Bayer-type battleships was 11 410 t., Or 40,4% of normal displacement.
This concludes the description of the booking of Bayern type battleships, but the review of these battleships will be completed only in the next article.
To be continued ...
- Andrei from Chelyabinsk
- "Standard" battleships of the USA, Germany and England. Who is better? Introduction
"Standard" battleships of the USA, Germany and England. British "Rivengi"
"Standard" battleships of the USA, Germany and England. German Bayern
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