Concrete ships. An unusual experiment in shipbuilding

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Concrete ships. An unusual experiment in shipbuilding
Building a ship from concrete in the USA during the First World War, photo: erazvitie.org

For thousands of years, people have been building various floating facilities. For many years, wood was the only available and most suitable shipbuilding material. Over time, it was replaced by steel. But even then, the thought of the shipbuilders did not stop. Humanity has always looked for alternative materials; in the XNUMXth century, concrete suddenly became such a material in shipbuilding.

It is worth noting that concrete, like steel, was a more profitable material than wood. Such material does not rot, does not burn, and has good strength. At the same time, the shipbuilders turned to unusual research not from a good life. The demand for reinforced concrete ships appeared during the First World War after a simultaneous shortage of steel and tonnage of operating merchant fleets.



First experiments with concrete ships


In the XNUMXth century, the search began for an alternative material to wood that could be used in the construction of ships. The obvious choice was steel, which will replace wood. However, the cost of steel itself and the cost of building steel-hull ships were considered high. The very process of such construction in the XNUMXth century looked very laborious and time consuming. It is not surprising that the search for an alternative material in shipbuilding that would be cheap and technologically advanced did not stop.

Concrete has suddenly become such a material. Back in the middle of the 1854th century, the French inventor Jean-Louis Lambo proposed an unusual project that attracted the attention of visitors to the Paris World Exhibition of XNUMX. The inventor presented a rowing boat, the highlight of which was the material and manufacturing technology.


Concrete boat Lambo at the Brignoles Museum, photo: podparusami.club

The frame of the boat was made of wire mesh, which was covered with cement. Jean Louis Lambo presented his invention as something capable of completely replacing wood. Inventors from many countries of the world showed interest in the new product, who began to create their own models of boats and yachts. True, this interest did not last long and the project was quickly forgotten. This was not surprising, given the speed at which technology developed in those years.

American concrete ships


The idea of ​​building ships from concrete was returned already in the first quarter of the 1914th century. And they remembered such an opportunity far from a good life. Until XNUMX, not the richest countries in the world were engaged in the construction of reinforced concrete ships. Such ships in single copies were produced, for example, by Turkey and China.

However, after the outbreak of the First World War, there was a shortage of industrial steel stocks in the world, and at the same time, the tonnage deficit of the existing trade was growing. fleet... The volume of military cargo transportation grew, at the same time the ships were out of order, including being destroyed or intercepted by the enemy. Against this background, since 1915, almost all developed countries have turned their attention to ships made of reinforced concrete.

Until 1919, work on the construction of such ships was actively carried out in the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy and other states. In total, at least a thousand concrete vessels for various purposes (barges, dry cargo ships, self-propelled ferries, sea tugs, etc.) with a total tonnage of more than 600 thousand tons were assembled. At the same time, with the end of the First World War, the construction of such ships again came to naught.


Construction of the first American concrete ship Faith, photo: twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday

The most famous is a series of concrete ships built in the United States during the First World War. The Americans were impressed by the project of the Norwegian designer Nikolai Fegner, who in 1917 built a reinforced concrete self-propelled sea vessel. The 26-meter ship with a displacement of about 400 tons was named "Namsenfjord".

Impressed by the Norwegian project in the United States, a much larger vessel was created a year later. In March 1918, the dry cargo ship Faith was launched. The ship was large enough. The hull length exceeded 100 meters, and the displacement was 6125 tons. The power of the power plants installed on board was 1760 hp. This ship finally convinced the Americans of the possibilities and prospects of concrete shipbuilding.

Almost immediately, President Woodrow Wilson approved a project to build 24 concrete ships for the merchant and auxiliary fleet. The project amounted to $ 50 million (taking into account inflation over $ 11 billion at today's exchange rate). The ships were supposed to expand the transport capabilities of the American fleet during the First World War. But by the time of their active construction, the war came to an end.

Under this program, 12 ships were completed, exactly half of the planned volume. Moreover, they were all commissioned after the war. Today you can easily find information about what happened to each of the 12 built ships, this information is available on the Internet. It can only be noted that the very first dry cargo ship Faith, which was built even before the series was laid, served only a few years and sank off the coast of Cuba in 1921.


Stranded concrete steamer SS Atlantus, photo 1926

The second surge of interest in concrete ships arose already during the Second World War. This time, the United States managed to build 24 such ships. They were all built from 1942 to 1943. During the interwar period, construction technology was improved, new ships were stronger and lighter than their predecessors.

By July 1943, the order was fully completed, while the construction of one ship took less than a month. The Americans sank two reinforced concrete ships as barriers during the Normandy landings. Some of the ships that survived the war were used as breakwaters. And the concrete ship Quartz, which survived World War II, was used by the Americans in nuclear tests. weapons on Bikini Atoll. The ship was used to assess the level of damage caused by a nuclear explosion.

Pros and cons of concrete ships


Concrete ships, which were built at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, were mainly used to transport coal, oil, and also worked well for transporting dry bulk cargo, such as sugar. In this regard, they surpassed even steel counterparts, since concrete ships did not have the problem of condensation from which ordinary steel ships suffered. So for cargo that did not tolerate moisture, concrete ships were definitely better.

The main advantages of reinforced concrete ships were the low cost of construction, as well as the possibility of using low-skilled personnel, without the distraction of specialists from traditional shipyards. The non-susceptibility of concrete to corrosion and the fire-resistant properties of the material were also named as important advantages. In addition, the ease of construction had a positive effect on the construction time of the ships.

In addition to the pros, the concrete ships had obvious downsides. To provide strength comparable to metal, the thickness of the hull of concrete ships had to be several times greater. The heavy hull of such vessels caused a large draft, which reduced their passability in shallow water, in canals and rivers. In turn, the large thickness of the hull also reduced the internal useful volume of the holds.


American Reinforced Concrete Oil Tanker Palo Alto, California, 1920, photo: wikimedia.org

Since concrete ships are heavier than steel ones, in order to ensure comparable payload indicators, it would be necessary to build ships of large sizes, including in size, which leads to an increase in towing resistance. Such ships need to be equipped with more powerful propulsion systems, which makes their operation in many aspects unprofitable, negating all other economic advantages.

Another major drawback is that concrete, which can withstand strong static loads, is easily damaged by severe collisions or impacts. For example, the American dry cargo ship Cape Fear, launched in 1919, sank in 1920 after colliding with another vessel. The ship with 19 crew members on board sank in just three minutes.

The experience of the First and Second World Wars, as well as post-war shipbuilding, made it possible to form a nomenclature of ships for which the reinforced concrete structure turned out to be the most justified and expedient. This category includes ships of the docking fleet or non-self-propelled vessels. For example, scows, barges, ferries, lighters. Such ships can be left without maintenance for a long time, they do not rust and require less repair costs, being laid up for decades.

At the same time, a few years after the Second World War, reinforced concrete shipbuilding practically disappeared. Currently, only a few enthusiasts are mainly interested in such projects. The most cost-effective and survived to this day are floating structures made of reinforced concrete - docks and landing stages. Simplified construction technology, high durability and low construction costs allow them to exist in the modern world.
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  1. +13
    13 September 2021 18: 08
    Goering, who was responsible for the implementation of the four-year plan, due to the lack of metal, also proposed building steam locomotives from concrete. And, it seems, several of them were built. Thanks to the author for the article ...
    1. +8
      13 September 2021 18: 28
      I have not heard about steam locomotives, it is possible that you can find data on the network.
      During WWII, they still tried to build an aircraft carrier from ice with sawdust, if I am not mistaken in Canada.
      There were also concrete bombs.
      1. +6
        13 September 2021 18: 42
        Yes, the project was named Habbakuk and was led by engineer Jeffrey Pike. Here was an article about it:
        1. +12
          13 September 2021 22: 15
          This pier is concrete.

          There were hundreds of them on the Volga, if not thousands.
          I think a hundred more serve.

        2. +3
          13 September 2021 22: 16
          yes, but there were other motives - size and "unsinkability", not economy
    2. +5
      13 September 2021 18: 46
      several built
      According to the recollections of Albert Speer, Goering in the fall of 44th persistently tried to promote to him the idea of ​​building concrete locomotives as an opportunity to get around the lack of high-quality steel. Attempts to explain to the morphine addict the absurdity and technical complexity of this "smart" idea did not give results - he returned to it again and again, until at 45m it was no longer up to the locomotives.
      1. +11
        13 September 2021 19: 00
        I don't know about steam locomotives, but the Germans also built concrete barges.
        Kaliningrad Bay
        By the way, in other countries, in the same Germany, good museum exhibits are made from such vessels. For example, one of them called "Capella" is located in the port city of Rostock.
        1. +13
          13 September 2021 19: 04
          A fishing trawler made of reinforced concrete built in Cuba is lying around in Vyborg.

          Trawler "Breeze", 74 years old, there were several of them (like 5)
          1. +8
            13 September 2021 19: 27
            Nice body. And almost eternal, concrete only gets stronger from time to time.
            1. +2
              14 September 2021 09: 15
              How many freeze and thaw cycles will it last?
              1. +3
                14 September 2021 19: 27
                In Cuba!? I think even a couple of such cycles will have to pant. laughing

                Concrete dams in Eastern Siberia have been standing for 70 years without any problems. And there in the winter to minus 50 is often. Metal lends itself to fatigue and wear .. And the walls, as they were, are the strongest.
        2. +4
          13 September 2021 20: 05
          hi The same concrete barge (also, probably, a captured German one?), Sunk in the shallow coastal waters of the Black Sea Ochakovo, was used as a landing stage and an impromptu protective pier for small boats and motor fishing boats.
          Now fishermen with rods are fishing and children are jumping into the water from it.
      2. +4
        13 September 2021 20: 59
        He could and much more "dangerous" put forward the idea - to build dummy models of railway and military equipment from concrete. For the bombing of which the aircraft of the allies will be spent. Concrete "tanks" and "locomotives" that were quickly poured out in the right places would take the bombs on themselves instead of the real ones.
        In fact, these are several supporting concrete pillars, nets and panels, wooden shields, logs depicting a locomotive on the way - and remove the shields - and the path is free for a real train. And this structure, when a bomb explodes, will fall to pieces, which will then be assembled into place.
        Well, or crude models of bait trains for bombing, folded by bricklayers dry from stones on unused or damaged tracks - even cheaper ... Fortunately, I did not think of it.


        "The inventor presented a rowing boat, the highlight of which was the material and the manufacturing technology."
        And now (in a peaceful life), pleasure yachts are being built from concrete, accessible even to the hands of self-made garage operators - for example, the concrete yacht "Aphrodite" floats.
        1. 0
          20 September 2021 15: 12
          And why is concrete in the dummies when you can use sticks and rags?
          1. 0
            20 September 2021 18: 02
            Matter is an expensive enough thing and it will take many thousands of square meters, which are needed for uniforms, at least. The material is disposable and will be destroyed if it hits, and a bricklayer can fix a stone model of a tank in half a day, folded dry, from free stones. Hollow concrete is even more durable and reusable and is quite lightweight and transportable - it is advisable only to pull it with a tractor on rollers periodically, so that on aerial photographs the enemy scouts "seethe with life."
            In general, the original author wanted not just concrete, but heat-resistant concrete - in order to make a firebox and a steam locomotive heat exchanger from it, saving metal. On stationary boilers, everything is arranged this way. And this idea is not stupid, provided that you make high-quality thin-walled concrete shells of steam locomotive smoke boxes.
            In modern times, the same concrete technical court under discussion can be printed at shipyards with a concrete 3-d printer, which is used by advanced builders.
            Over time, new shipyards will be built where such printers are the size of the dock itself and built into it as its main part.
            1. -1
              4 November 2021 07: 50
              Matter is expensive enough thing
              Cement and steel reinforcement, in a war of attrition, are also never cheap and are quite scarce. Cement production is a high-temperature roasting that consumes burst of fuel. For example.
              1. 0
                4 November 2021 10: 16
                The fabric was hopelessly ahead of concrete even at the raw material stage.
                There is the Moscow Cotton Index (prices are indicated in US dollars per metric ton): the price of a ton of raw materials for fabrics is about $ 2500. The price of a cube of concrete (2,5 tons) is about $ 42.
                Therefore, in Iraq, the United States bought reinforced concrete products from local concrete factories for protection from explosions and did not try, for example, to use all sorts of high-tech fabrics on steel frames.
                Historically, in Germany, cotton is not grown, for obvious reasons, but imported, so this price difference (for that historical situation) will only worsen and it will generally be a problem to dress the soldiers and the population at least in something under the blockade. Therefore, in wartime, the Germans dressed in old photos were very modest, and the point here is not only in scientific and technical modern achievements - the clothes were expensive and therefore all non-war clothes and uniforms began to resemble utilitarian robes. The only way to produce your own fabric is to produce viscose; The Germans had their own forests to obtain this fabric from wood in the occupied territories.
          2. -1
            4 November 2021 07: 47
            And why is concrete in the dummies when you can use sticks and rags?
            Well, how, so that it is expensive and rich ...
  2. +4
    13 September 2021 18: 12
    They also tried to hang the tanks with concrete slabs instead of armored screens.
  3. +7
    13 September 2021 18: 18
    I heard about yachts made of cement on a fine mesh, but for the first time about steamers.
    Thank you, Sergey! Interesting.
    1. +1
      26 September 2021 21: 07
      Yachts are made of concrete, and they are still being built. There, a large mass under sail, helps with maneuvers. It is clear, under the engine, an extra load. And in winter, on the keel blocks, put a spatula and go, repair the hull.
  4. +10
    13 September 2021 18: 23
    Apart from the French small rowboat, Russia was a pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete in the construction of ships. The Tsarist Navy officer Alexander Rylke (Pole, author of the excellent book "In the Service of the Ship", after the war professor at the Gdansk University of Technology) was the first in the world to patent the structures and methods of building concrete hulls.

    At that time, concrete ships and barges (for example, on the Rhine) were not unusual in river navigation.



    1. +5
      13 September 2021 18: 37
      Russia was a pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete in the construction of ships

      The Soviet Union continued this business.



      One half is almost at the coast, and the other at depth. I dived near this dock, the reinforcement, due to corrosion, turned into sharp peaks that stick out of the concrete.
      1. 0
        13 September 2021 19: 17
        Quote: Konnick
        I dived near this dock, the reinforcement, due to corrosion, turned into sharp peaks that stick out of the concrete.

        I saw in the Kerch fishing port in the sixties a large reinforced concrete ship afloat, although it was used as part of the infrastructure of the shipyard and did not sail anymore, it stood at the quay wall for a long time. I do not know about its further fate, most likely it was flooded somewhere, because it would be difficult and costly to saw the ship.
  5. +2
    13 September 2021 18: 37
    In the 60s in Kiev, there were enthusiasts and / or employees of some design bureau designed and built several, no more than five, concrete cruising sailing yachts.
    It seems that one of them has somehow survived to this day.

    Heavy, they were not particularly comfortable for their crews, especially when it was necessary to climb, and the living conditions were not the best, as in yachts with an astik hull when sailing in cold waters.
    There was also a large landing stage with a concrete hull.
    And what were the conditions for the crews on the large concrete ships?
    What Soviet ships were built of concrete?

    В
  6. 0
    13 September 2021 18: 54
    Eugene, thank you, plus.
    Back in Soviet times (I don't remember in which magazine) I read an article about Iran's attempts to create a submarine out of concrete. It seems that they even built a couple, with the help of either the GDR or Czechoslovakia.
    For some reason, there is no information in the internet.
    1. +1
      13 September 2021 19: 00
      For some reason, there is no information in the internet.
      If they did, then most likely such a submarine made only one dive. laughing
  7. -8
    13 September 2021 19: 02
    I give you an idea in the order of delirium - the concrete aircraft carrier "Donald Trump", laughing meters by five hundred.
    1. 0
      13 September 2021 23: 43
      Well, I burned the idea.
    2. 0
      14 September 2021 00: 27
      There are ideas for much larger structures - from several kilometers and several tens of meters wide - these are underwater floating tunnels for transport. While they are only in the minds of engineers, but their time will come.
  8. +4
    13 September 2021 19: 03
    Not a bad technology for the construction of landing stages (floating pier)
    1. +4
      14 September 2021 08: 58
      OK. I understand statics. But how interesting did such ships behave in a storm? How did the body react to the torsional moment? On a break on a wave and other loads. what I remember, in a storm when we walked in ballast, it was visually visible how the hull deforms during buckling on a wave.
      1. +1
        14 September 2021 19: 34
        Quote: Region-25.rus
        How did the body react to the torsional moment?

        Exactly the same as an ordinary reinforced concrete bridge for passing heavy trucks. The elasticity of concrete is worse, but the compression is much better. Yes, such a case should be made thicker than metal just because it should not bend much. And if the stock has already been pledged, then it will not be easy to twist it.
        1. +2
          14 September 2021 20: 55
          And if the stock has already been pledged, then it will not be easy to twist it.
          not aware of concrete) But thank you for your answer hi
      2. +1
        15 September 2021 10: 20
        Quote: Region-25.rus
        OK. I understand statics. But how interesting did such ships behave in a storm? How did the body react to the torsional moment?

        Concrete bends. It is believed that a concrete element (such as a beam) can bend up to 1/250 of its length without damage.
        1. +1
          15 September 2021 18: 33
          I will not argue)) About concrete. But have you seen how the ships bend and twist in a violent storm? (I do not argue at all)
          1. 0
            15 September 2021 22: 27
            Quote: Region-25.rus
            But have you seen how the ships bend and twist in a violent storm?

            Never seen in my life. But there are videos on YouTube. Oppression. It seems to me that it is quite within the capabilities of concrete. If the calculated deformations are beyond the capabilities, you can: a) make the ship stiffer (so that it bends less); b) reduce the elongation (in fact, this will also increase the rigidity).
  9. +6
    13 September 2021 19: 21
    Back in the mid-60s of the last century, on the middle Volga there were many all kinds of reinforced concrete floating coastal structures such as landing stages, piers, and guardhouses. Some of them were partially covered with wood.
    In Cheboksary there was a concrete goods plant that produced sealed reinforced concrete blocks with voids inside. Couplings from them were towed down the river and used for the construction of cargo berths.
    1. +3
      13 September 2021 23: 59
      In Cheboksary, there was a concrete goods plant that produced sealed reinforced concrete blocks with voids inside.


      That is, the phrase "A brick is floating along the river ..." is not so awkward?
      HM. And if these voids are filled with foam, a wonderful pontoon bridge can be dazzled. wink
      We wrap the foam plastic with a net (not necessarily steel), invite Uzbek plasterers .. Yes, and you can probably foam concrete instead of foam. And the bridge to Sakhalin, to the Crimea, to Alaska is ready. Just think, there will be a couple of wedge sections - in St. Petersburg they are used to this. Or in winter across the Volga, it won't hurt anyone - one devil ice for six months
      1. +4
        14 September 2021 01: 34
        Quote: dauria
        That is, the phrase "A brick is floating along the river ..." is not so awkward?

        An ax floated down the river in the spring. hi
        1. +4
          14 September 2021 02: 11
          An ax floated down the river in the spring


          Lagged behind life ... Kukuev's ax is in the old days. Now the brick is floating, "wooden as glass" laughing
          1. 0
            14 September 2021 09: 00
            "wooden like glass"
            and he (a brick) is crawling along the walls - "A brick is crawling along the wall. A fighter for the Red Army. I wanted to catch him - a feathered beast flew away." laughing hi
          2. +2
            14 September 2021 14: 54
            Quote: dauria
            Lagged behind life ... Kukuev's ax is in the old days. Now the brick is floating, "wooden as glass"

            We read carefully: in the source. And you show me a red-mold remake. Nobody puts the basics in a penny. That's how history is being rewritten.
            1. 0
              14 September 2021 15: 05
              That's how history is being rewritten.

              What is history, Alexander? After three or four centuries, everything from Chaliapin to Shnur, together with Pugacheva, will be compressed into one "cultural layer" a couple of centimeters thick. Between the rollers of the first phonograph and CD - disks. And only a fan-archaeologist, delving into the archives and the earth, will be able to translate our useless dispute from our Russian into "future" Russian. ...
              1. +2
                14 September 2021 19: 07
                Quote: dauria
                That's how history is being rewritten.

                What is history, Alexander? After three or four centuries, everything from Chaliapin to Shnur, together with Pugacheva, will be compressed into one "cultural layer" a couple of centimeters thick. Between the rollers of the first phonograph and CD - disks. And only a fan-archaeologist, delving into the archives and the earth, will be able to translate our useless dispute from our Russian into "future" Russian. ...

                Yes of course.
                "Fly or crawl, the end is known: everyone will fall into the ground, everything will be dust ..."
                (C)
  10. +4
    13 September 2021 19: 22
    Back in the middle of the 1854th century, the French inventor Jean-Louis Lambo proposed an unusual project that attracted the attention of visitors to the Paris World Exhibition of XNUMX.


    I will not correct the author a lot, I hope he will not mind;

    " In 1848, in the south of France, the gardener Joseph Louis Lambot built a small rowing boat, having coated a frame made of iron rods and mesh with a sand-cement mortar. It was not only the first concrete boat, but also marked the emergence of reinforced concrete as a structural material. Many boat builders followed Lambot's methods in the second half of the 19th century, notably Gabellini and Boon who built the now famous sloop "Zeemeeuw" in 1887."

    If anyone is interested in this topic there is an interesting, in my opinion, book by Tony C. Liu and James E. McDonald "Concrete ships and vessels: past, present and future".
  11. +7
    13 September 2021 19: 25
    In Canada, in the Malaspine Strait, a breakwater was built from ten concrete ships built during the world wars to protect the harbor of a pulp and paper mill.

    1. +5
      13 September 2021 19: 28
      Nine ships built during the Second World War, the tenth - SS Peralta - the last surviving concrete ship from the First World War.
  12. +4
    13 September 2021 19: 30
    the Norwegians seem to have made concrete trawlers until recently. with a thick wall, they are no worse than steel. after the expiration of the concrete life (30 years), they were supposedly simply drowned. and concrete was sometimes called armocemet and reinforced with fiberglass - it does not rust. three such yachts were built in Togliatti at an experimental reinforced concrete plant. one stands as a monument in Togliatti in the Yacht Club Friendship. One in the country like a house. the third I do not know where. wall thickness about 3 cm on average. were very popular. as a racing heavy, as a recreational tourist, quite. yachts allegedly went to the Black Sea and back. in the first issues of "Boats and Yachts" there was an article about them.
  13. +1
    13 September 2021 19: 56
    Honestly, I did not know about such products! Respect to the author good
  14. +1
    13 September 2021 20: 09
    Fir-trees! Of what vessels were not built! Imagine ... even made of wood! belay They also used straw (papyrus)! Now "iron" is no longer in vogue! Fiberglass, luminescence is our "everything"! They also wanted ships made of titanium, but it turned out to be a little expensive! What's next? CFRP? Boron carbide?
    1. +1
      13 September 2021 22: 52
      Quote: Nikolaevich I
      Now "hardware" is no longer in vogue! Fiberglass, luminescence is our "everything"!

      Maybe something small and exclusive only. Large-tonnage steamers are built of steel.

      I recently comrade. Turist1996 told (https://topwar.ru/185963-minoborony-opredelilos-s-datoj-podnjatija-andreevskogo-flaga-na-korable-protivominnoj-oborony-i-sudne-tylovogo-obespechenija.html#comment-id-11700661 ) that the Project 12700 minesweeper is made of fiberglass, but this applies to exclusives.
      1. +1
        14 September 2021 06: 40
        Quote: Motorist
        Maybe something small and exclusive only. Large-tonnage steamers are built of steel.

        Yes, I was joking about "hardware is not in fashion", of course! I just remembered the period when there was a "rush" in shipbuilding about the use of fiberglass and aluminum alloys ... "Experts" then predicted "the future dominance of ships made of fiberglass and aluminum" ... At the same time, they began to build such ships and ships ...
      2. 0
        4 November 2021 07: 58
        Now "hardware" is no longer in vogue! Fiberglass, luminescence is our "everything"
        Maybe something small and exclusive only. Large tonnage steamers are built of steel
        So minesweepers are made of fiberglass. To have a non-magnetic body.
  15. +6
    13 September 2021 20: 10
    Not ships, of course, but ... There was also a huge number of floating workshops in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia
    A good thing, all the necessary equipment is there - metalworking, carpentry, boiler room, blacksmith's, tool, electrical and radio sections, a 25 ton crane, a generator, cockpits, a galley, a wardroom, showers, changing rooms, etc. I got to a new one - I fell in love.
  16. +3
    13 September 2021 20: 23
    In essence, concrete ships became the technological precursors of today's fiberglass and the like. The main principle is observed - resin and reinforcing fibers. There is also a legend according to which the Minoans used linen ships. Quite the same - the layers of fabrics were covered with resin.
  17. 0
    13 September 2021 20: 24
    On the battleship Potemkin, concrete was used in the armor of the main caliber turrets.
    1. Alf
      0
      13 September 2021 21: 46
      Quote: Waterways 672
      On the battleship Potemkin, concrete was used in the armor of the main caliber turrets.

      Can you confirm?
      1. -2
        13 September 2021 21: 50
        Wikipedia to help you.
        1. Alf
          +1
          13 September 2021 21: 59
          Quote: Waterways 672
          Wikipedia to help you.

          Is it possible in short words? By the way, Vika is not a special authority.
          1. Alf
            +2
            13 September 2021 22: 05
            Quote: Alf
            Quote: Waterways 672
            Wikipedia to help you.

            Is it possible in short words? By the way, Vika is not a special authority.

            Especially now I ran through Potemkin, nowhere and nothing about concrete.
          2. -5
            14 September 2021 07: 16
            If we compare the previously built battleship "Three Saints" and "Potemkin", then the second had twice as many 152 mm guns. This was achieved by reducing the weight of the armor. Cemented armor was installed on the Potemkin instead of the previously used steel-iron armor. The weight has decreased, the protective parameters remain the same.
            1. +4
              14 September 2021 09: 52
              Quote: Waterways 672
              cemented armor

              Doesn't mean concrete. Cemented - with hardened surface layer!
              1. +3
                14 September 2021 19: 39
                Don't scare away. These are the first signs of a new wave. Once "cemented" means concrete! The argument is straightforward. I think we can expect a new wave of controversy in the series about battleships and battleships. lol
                1. Alf
                  +1
                  14 September 2021 20: 48
                  Quote: Saxahorse
                  Don't scare away. These are the first signs of a new wave. Once "cemented" means concrete! The argument is straightforward. I think we can expect a new wave of controversy in the series about battleships and battleships. lol

                  And I was already frightened, I thought it was not exactly the hour, Carbine returned ... Damn, he has been gone for more than a year, but the memory of him has survived ...
              2. +1
                20 September 2021 20: 35
                Not just hardened, but with a surface layer saturated with carbon. The stove was smeared with clay from the inside out, pushed into the stove, and a light gas was chased over the front surface.
                Or, as an option, the front surface was covered with finely chewed coke.
                They kept it in the oven for a couple of weeks, and then quenched it on one side.
                Hmm! Concrete armor on Tavricheskoye, it's cool!
            2. 0
              15 November 2021 04: 59
              It's five!! Cemented Armor! No, six!
  18. +6
    13 September 2021 20: 25
    A 1920 concrete tug at the Bremerhaven Museum.


    And here is a modern concrete yacht from Szczecin.

  19. 0
    14 September 2021 00: 02
    some of the Lend-Lease ships of the Liberty type were built of concrete, it seems
    1. +2
      14 September 2021 00: 32
      This is unlikely - Liberty were ocean-going ships and concrete does not like bending stresses in the open sea. Rather, they built concrete port and recourse vessels of the New World, and the released metal went to the liberty.
      1. +1
        14 September 2021 11: 14
        Concrete shipbuilding still remains a promising business, for example, using glass microspheres in a concrete mixture as an inert material instead of sand, and making reinforcement from carbon fiber, by the way, both have been on sale for a long time.
      2. +1
        14 September 2021 12: 12
        Quote: ycuce234-san
        This is unlikely - Liberty were ocean-going ships and concrete does not like bending stresses in the open sea. Rather, they built concrete port and recourse vessels of the New World, and the released metal went to the liberty.

        write 24 pieces made on the basis of the Liberty project. those. technically it was not Liberty himself as the hull was concrete. allegedly from some 6 pieces they made a FLOATING breakwater in Canada and it still swims !!!
        1. +1
          14 September 2021 12: 53
          It will not work "on the basis of the Liberty project" without reworking the project. In metal boats, the hull usually has tension (it works in tension like a membrane, like a tent or umbrella on a frame), and the concrete hull must work in compression and slightly in bending.

          Those ships float because they are being watched - the concrete hull is almost eternal (a boat from the 19th century, perfectly preserved), but the rains-snow-ice flooding the holds can drown so that you have to do ship lifting.
          1. 0
            14 September 2021 13: 19
            Quote: ycuce234-san
            It will not work "on the basis of the Liberty project" without reworking the project. In metal boats, the hull usually has tension (it works in tension like a membrane, like a tent or umbrella on a frame), and the concrete hull must work in compression and slightly in bending.

            Those ships float because they are being watched - the concrete hull is almost eternal (a boat from the 19th century, perfectly preserved), but the rains-snow-ice flooding the holds can drown so that you have to do ship lifting.

            the shipbuilding of the Angles amers was at the height - some liberty riveted more than 2700, and there were also projects before and after them - Victory.
            accordingly, the body was recalculated for concrete, and all the filling is typical from Liberty.
            Yes, and they complained about the first ones about the liberty, then the brand was changed and it became normal, although it was ersatz from all sides.
            eternal concrete probably with fiberglass reinforcement should be, but for some reason it did not work
            1. 0
              15 September 2021 00: 00
              This is because glass fiber and polyester resin were only patented in the US in 1937. And the war is already here. And to build something from fiberglass then it is like building Skylon now, and even with a body immediately from one-dimensional fullerene - "Beautiful far away" is something that can afford it, but neither we nor ancestors yet. Although now there is such - fiberglass reinforcement, instead of metal.
      3. +1
        14 September 2021 19: 43
        Quote: ycuce234-san
        This is unlikely - Liberty were ocean-going ships and concrete does not like bending stresses in the open sea.

        They built it, of course, but it was not Liberty, but a completely different project. And any ocean ship does not like bending stresses, because concrete ones were simply made thicker (and heavier).
  20. +2
    14 September 2021 11: 57
    The precast surrogate ships were good in the conditions of the military metal shortage. As well as the iron early maturing of the United States of the "Liberty" type.

    The plus is that the shipbuilders did not give up, but found an opportunity to build a fleet.
  21. +3
    14 September 2021 12: 52


    Yes, it was. During the Second World War, concrete was used because of the lack of metal. As well as wooden mines, glass grenades
    1. +1
      14 September 2021 13: 20
      highly skilled workers are not needed for concrete
      1. +1
        14 September 2021 13: 55
        Quote: vl903
        highly skilled workers are not needed for concrete

        Like concrete is not 300
        1. 0
          14 September 2021 14: 09
          yes concrete is of high quality, waterproof, plus a lot of fiddling with reinforcement - it must be dense, high quality
          but everything is relative.
          again, they built 24 pieces of concrete, and steel of all projects, probably under 4 thousand
  22. +2
    14 September 2021 16: 05
    Concrete yacht, Togliatti.
    1. 0
      15 September 2021 07: 37
      Quote: KrolikZanuda
      Concrete yacht, Togliatti.

      this two keeled. and the third "Dream" is single-keyed. Built by the head of the Experienced ZhBK. He was an enthusiast of both concrete and yachting. So they say
  23. wow
    +2
    14 September 2021 18: 31
    When I was small, in the mid-60s, in Odessa on the Otrada beach, 10 meters from the coast, there was a flooded German barge made of concrete. The boys and I swam through a large hole in the side to the inside, catching crabs. Somewhere in the year 69-70 it was blown up and the fragments were pulled out of the water by tractors and taken out.
  24. 0
    20 September 2021 20: 37
    Interesting article!
  25. 0
    7 October 2021 10: 11
    It is clear that in our country there was a different civilization. It is clear that the generation of the exam does not even know that our country was the first to launch the Earth's Sputnik, the first to send a man into space. But what can I say, the generation has grown up that does not know that we won the Great Patriotic War.
    The author, it is clear that you think that there is a great wasteland beyond the Moscow Ring Road and there can be no people there, a priori.
    But still, well, at least take a look on the Internet, or something. Yes, on all our rivers where navigation is carried out, including passenger traffic, there are concrete landing stages. left over from a past civilization. And pay attention, they are not dug into the ground. They are exactly afloat. And for the winter period they are dragged ashore.
  26. The comment was deleted.
  27. 0
    4 November 2021 07: 24
    The most cost-effective and surviving to this day are floating structures made of reinforced concrete - docks and landing stages. Simplified construction technology, high durability and low construction costs allow them to exist in the modern world.
    It seems that some towed oil and gas production platforms are poured from concrete. For example, the Troll platform:

    Its entire gigantic base, including float and ballast tanks, is cast from reinforced concrete.
  28. 0
    30 November 2021 14: 55
    they are still building today. Not ships in the full sense of fishing, but docks. I took part in a similar project.
    Azerbaijan ordered in Gorodets for SSK. The chief shipbuilder, a Russian uncle, lives in Burgas in Bulgaria, talked about how everything was demolished in Baku, in scrap metal. An island was put in place of the vacant one for the Eurovision Song Contest. Spat cursed. Now all that they have left is being built or repaired in other countries.
  29. 0
    30 November 2021 15: 00
    https://www.gsverf.ru/composite-shipbuilding.html

    shipbuilders believe that there is a composite shipbuilding, which includes elements from beon.

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