The influence of the Russo-Japanese War on the design of battleships in France
English Royal Sovereign-class ironclad
Armored cruiser vs battleship
At the beginning of 1901, the modernization of the battleships Royal Sovereign was discussed in England, while various options for fighting with the battleships of other countries were considered. The new Japanese armored cruisers Asama did not go unnoticed either.
According to some officers, the armored cruiser Asama has every chance of defeating the battleship Royal Sovereign with the help of rapid-fire artillery. Asama, using its advantage in speed, can quickly approach the battleship at a distance of 2 yards (000 meters) and disable 1-mm guns with shells from its guns. At a distance of 829 yards (343 meters), 4-mm armor-piercing shells can penetrate the barbettes of an armadillo. It will take 000–3 minutes to disable the guns and supply shells. After that, the five remaining 658-mm guns will not pose a danger to Asama.
It was proposed to strengthen the armor of the barbets and protect the guns with only shields, also to replace the 343-mm guns with modern 305-mm guns, and replace the 152-mm guns with ten 190-mm guns.
While agreeing that part of the artillery was weakly protected, most of the officers said that the predicted victory of an armored cruiser over an ironclad was practically impossible. It was indicated that 343-mm guns would penetrate armor from a distance of 5 yards (000 meters).
For this distance, clarification is required, in the instructions of the English fleet at that time, it was indicated that the most effective distance for opening fire for main battery guns with optical sights was 3–000 yards (4–000 meters), for guns with old sights, 2 yards (744 meters). Therefore, if an armored cruiser tries to get close to the battleship at a distance of effective impact from her guns, she will receive hits from large-caliber shells, which will greatly reduce her combat capabilities and, as a result, she will have to retreat.
According to Admiral D. Fisher, the presence of armored cruisers in the squadron line will lead to their death or serious damage from the fire of large-caliber guns. The appearance of steam, which made it possible to keep any course regardless of the wind, gave rise to the belief that an advantage can be obtained by dividing the fleet into several parts, maneuvering them, and achieving a concentration of fire on one of the parts of the enemy squadron.
At that time, among the officers of the fleets of different countries, the theory of building a squadron in battle in two lines was popular. This made it possible to send ships (detachments) of the second line to a certain point in order to create an advantage in the number of guns against individual parts of the enemy squadron. It was believed that this theory had not only advantages, but also disadvantages, for more free maneuvering of ships of the second line, the distance between the detachments of the first line should be increased.
In 1899, Admiral D. Fisher was presented with arguments in favor of a single-line formation, but it took some time before he finally decided to accept it, along with the two golden rules of naval warfare:
By following these rules, you will force the enemy to expose your ships to the concentrated fire of your large-caliber guns.
At the same time, he constantly reminded his officers:
Large-caliber guns
Since battles start at long ranges, only large-caliber guns and heavy projectiles with a lower muzzle velocity can now be used. Large-caliber guns on ships in service have calibers of 305 mm, 274,4 mm, 240 mm and 194 mm. Nevertheless, the 194-millimeter is planned to be attributed to medium-caliber artillery.
At a meeting held in May 1905, the Naval Board divided its votes between three ironclad projects, each of which had enough supporters that the board did not find it possible to make a final decision.
One of these projects proposed a battleship with a displacement of 17 tons, armed with 000 guns of 4 mm caliber and 305 guns of 10 mm caliber, the second project recommended a battleship with a displacement of 240 tons, also armed with 17 guns of 000 mm caliber and 4 guns of 305 mm caliber. The third project involved the creation of an armadillo with a displacement of 16 tons, armed with 194 guns of 18 mm caliber and 000 guns of 4 mm caliber.
The project, armed with only 305 mm guns, was abandoned due to the large weight of artillery systems and ammunition and the inability to place a sufficient number of large-caliber guns in the indicated displacement, which would not allow the required number of shots to be fired in a certain period of time.
For the 194 mm gun of the 1902 model, the use of a new 117 kg projectile fired at a speed of 876 m/s, instead of an 86 kg projectile fired at 975 m/s, would increase armor penetration by 26% at 6 meters and by 000 % at 34 meters.
However, the majority of representatives of the Naval Council, after additional discussions, came to the conclusion that it was necessary to abandon the use of 194-mm guns on new battleships.
For a 240 mm gun, the use of a new 220 kg projectile at a speed of 800 m/s increased armor penetration by 37% for a distance of 6 meters and by 000% for a distance of 49 meters. The industry was ordered 8-mm shells of the old and new models, which were to be tested by shooting at armor plates. The optimal amount of explosive in the projectile also had to be determined. It was this type of projectile that was offered to the minister under the new program.
In the draft budget of the Naval Ministry for 1906, armaments with a displacement of 18 tons were defined by the new program: 000 guns of 4 millimeters and 305 guns of 12 millimeters, without guns of 240 mm or 164,7 millimeters, that is, they completely abandon medium rapid-fire artillery.
French battleship Danton
At that time, the Office of Naval Weapons was developing a new 274,4-mm gun with a barrel length of 45 calibers. For this reason, representatives of the commission had questions to the Naval Ministry.
A 305 mm gun is considered too heavy, but a 240 mm gun may be insufficient in some cases and at certain distances. An intermediate type - 274,4 mm could replace 305 mm with the same effects and would be better than 240 mm guns. This would simplify the manufacture and supply of shells to the fleet.
In artillery, it is recognized as an indisputable principle that each caliber must penetrate, at an angle of incidence that cannot be more than 30 degrees, a thickness of armor equal to the diameter of the projectile. So, our 274,4-mm model of 1893-1896, at a distance of 6 m, penetrates armor 000 mm thick, and at 280 m - 8 mm. The new model will certainly give better results. This will make it possible to install ten 000-mm guns on the planned battleships without increasing the displacement of more than 219 tons.
Based on these findings, a request was sent to the Navy Department.
In response, the Department of the Navy expressed its point of view:
The Ministry considered the issue of increasing the weight of shells, in order to improve the penetrating power that can be obtained with a given caliber. Based on the calculations made, a weighted 274,4 mm projectile would weigh 330 kg, which roughly corresponds to the weight of the current 305 mm projectile of 340 kg.
Since it seems useless to increase the weight of the 305 mm projectile, since the latter has effective penetration at a distance of 7 meters, it is quite rational to give preference to which of the two calibers has the greatest advantage, that is, the smallest caliber that will achieve the following advantages: lighter artillery equipment, ammunition, turrets, high rate of fire, a relative increase in speed due to the fact that the 000 mm gun will have a 274,4 caliber barrel, while the 45 mm gun has only 305 calibers.
In terms of velocities, taking into account ongoing testing, we hope to get 865 m/s for a 305 mm BM15 projectile, instead of 815 m/s at present. For a 274,4 mm gun with BM 17 gunpowder, the speed will be 875 m/s.
Thus, it seems reasonable to expect a 274,4 mm gun in the near future, which can replace the 305 mm gun. But for the time being, there is no need to provide for the replacement of 274,4-mm guns by 305-mm guns for the designed ships, since at present the fleet has a 305-mm gun of the 1895-1896 model, which is well known to calculations, while the development of 274,4-mm guns not completed yet.
Under these conditions, we cannot foresee right now when the 274,4 mm gun will be ready. In addition, in case of unsatisfactory results, this will cause a negative reaction of “public opinion”, and as a result, it will increase the criticism expressed against the fleet.”
The German battleship Nassau was laid down in July 1907, with a displacement of 18 tons, she was armed with 870-10 mm guns and had a speed of 280 knots. Fear of the French Naval Ministry to receive a backlash"public opinion"did not allow him to wait for the results of the development and testing of the new 274,4-mm guns.
As a result, the French fleet received six Danton-class battleships, which had much worse combat capabilities than the first German battleships. In addition, it should be noted that in 1909 the estimated battle distances increased to 9–000 meters.
To be continued ...
Information