Armored cruiser "Varyag" Armored cruiser Attitudes in society
Reservation diagram for an armored cruiser with a carapace armored deck (red line). Coal pits are located above the slopes of the armored deck.
Armored cruiser- a type of cruiser common at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the protection of the mechanisms and gun magazines of which consisted of an armored deck, flat or convex (carapace).
On the first high-speed cruisers built at the beginning of the 2010s, in order to reduce displacement, there was no armor; protection of the vital parts of the ship - magazines for ammunition, boilers and engines - was ensured by their placement significantly below the waterline and side coal pits. However, the very first experiments in the combat use of such cruisers showed their extreme vulnerability even to medium-caliber artillery.
The first armored cruiser was the British cruiser Comus, laid down in the city ( Comus), which had a flat 38-mm armored deck below the waterline, covering the middle part of the ship. In Great Britain, cruisers of the Arethusa class were laid down ( Arethusa), the 38-mm armored deck of which had bevels to the sides, to some extent compensating for the lack of an armor belt along the waterline; such an armored deck was called carapace.
The further evolution of the armored cruiser followed the line of thickening the armored deck and its spread along the entire length of the ship. The transition from horizontal to vertical steam engines led to the fact that the central part of the carapace armored deck rose 0.5 - 0.75 m above the waterline; the bevels to the sides dropped 1.0 - 1.2 m below the waterline. The thickness of the armor on the slopes usually exceeded that in the horizontal part of the armor deck. Along the sides (at a distance of 0.8 - 1 m from them) between the middle and armored decks of the cruisers there was a watertight bulkhead, forming a cofferdam, divided into compartments by frequent bulkheads. On some cruisers these compartments were filled with cork or cellulose. The protection of armored cruisers was usually supplemented by armor shields for deck guns, armor for casemates and conning towers; armor accounted for about 1/10 of the ship's displacement.
Armored cruisers were built in all maritime powers; displacement, armor thickness, armament, speed and cruising range varied widely depending on the tasks assigned to the fleets.
In the British Navy, armored cruisers were divided into three ranks (classes). Cruisers of the first rank - large ships with a displacement of over 6000 tons, armed with guns with a caliber of up to 234 mm - were intended for operations on communications and for long-range reconnaissance. The task of second-rank cruisers with a displacement of 3000 - 5000 tons with 152-mm main caliber guns was patrol service and the destruction of enemy merchant ships. Messenger and stationary service (protection of British interests in the colonies and foreign ports) was carried out by cruisers of the third rank - ships of 1500 - 3000 tons with guns of 102-119 mm caliber.
The British classification of armored cruisers was generally used in other countries. Some fleets (including the Russian one) did not have armored cruisers of the third rank.
The variation in the protection of armored cruisers in accordance with the intended nature of combat use can be easily traced using the example of the Russian 1st rank cruisers Varyag, Askold and Bogatyr built at the beginning of the 20th century, which have similar displacement, identical weapons and armored decks of approximately equal thickness . If on the "Varyag" the guns had no armor shields at all, then on the "Askold" both the guns and the servants were already covered with armor, and on the "Bogatyr" four 152-mm guns were placed in armored turrets, four in casemates and four on deck behind armor shields.
We can't wait for him to return from the reconstruction
"Aurora" is a Russian armored cruiser of the 1st rank of the "Diana" class. Took part in the Battle of Tsushima. The cruiser "Aurora" gained worldwide fame by firing a blank signal from a gun at the beginning of the October Revolution of 1917. During the Great Patriotic War, the ship took part in the defense of Leningrad. After the end of the war, he continued to serve as a training block ship and museum, mooring on the river. Neva in St. Petersburg. During this time, the Aurora became a symbol ship of the Russian fleet and is now an object of Russian cultural heritage.
The cruiser "Aurora", like other ships of its type ("Diana" and "Pallada"), was built according to the shipbuilding program of 1895 with the goal of "equating our naval forces with the German and with the forces of minor states adjacent to the Baltic." The Diana-class cruisers became one of the first armored cruisers in Russia, the development of which took into account, first of all, the experience of foreign countries. Nevertheless, for their time (in particular, during the Russo-Japanese War), ships of this type turned out to be ineffective due to the “backwardness” of many tactical and technical elements (speed, weapons, armor).
By the beginning of the 20th century. Russia's foreign policy situation was quite complex: the persistence of contradictions with England, the growing threat from developing Germany, the strengthening of Japan's position. Taking these factors into account required strengthening the army and navy, that is, building new ships. Changes in the shipbuilding program adopted in 1895 assumed construction in the period from 1896 to 1905. 36 new ships, among them nine cruisers, of which two (then three) were “carapace”, that is, armored. Subsequently, these three armored cruisers became the Diana class.
The basis for the development of tactical and technical elements (TTE) of future cruisers was the design of a cruiser with a displacement of 6000 tons created by S.K. Ratnik, the prototype of which was the newest (launched in 1895) English cruiser HMS Talbot and the French armored cruiser D'Entrecasteaux ( 1896). At the beginning of June 1896, the planned series was expanded to three ships, the third of which (the future Aurora) was ordered to be laid down at the New Admiralty. On April 20, 1896, the Marine Technical Committee (MTK) approved the technical design of an armored cruiser of rank I.
On March 31, 1897, Emperor Nicholas II ordered that the cruiser under construction be named “Aurora” in honor of the Roman goddess of dawn. This name was chosen by the autocrat from eleven proposed names. L.L. Polenov, however, believes that the cruiser was named after the sailing frigate "Aurora", which became famous during the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky during the Crimean War.
Despite the fact that, in fact, work on the construction of the Aurora began much later than the Diana and Pallas, the official laying down of cruisers of this type took place on the same day: May 23, 1897. The first one at 10:30 a.m. . the solemn ceremony was held on the Aurora in the presence of Admiral General Alexei Alexandrovich. The silver mortgage plate was secured between the 60th and 61st frames, and the flag and jack of the future cruiser were raised on specially installed flagpoles.
The Diana-class cruisers were supposed to be the first serial cruisers in Russia, but it was not possible to achieve uniformity among them: the Aurora was equipped with different machines, boilers, and steering devices than the Diana and Pallada. Electric drives for the latter were ordered from three different factories as an experiment: this way it was possible to find out which drives would be the most effective, so that they could then be installed on other ships of the fleet. Thus, electric drives for Aurora steering gears were ordered from Siemens and Galke.
The slipway work began in the fall of 1897, and it dragged on for three and a half years (largely due to the unavailability of individual elements of the ship). Finally, on May 24, 1900, the hull was launched in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II and Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna. Following this, the installation of main vehicles, auxiliary mechanisms, general ship systems, weapons and other equipment began. In 1902, for the first time in the Russian fleet, the Aurora received Hall system anchors, a novelty that the other two ships of this type did not have time to equip. In the summer of 1900, the cruiser passed its first tests, the last on June 14, 1903.
Four builders participated in the direct construction of the cruiser (from the moment of construction until the end of the sea changes): E. R. de Grofe, K. M. Tokarevsky, N. I. Pushchin and A. A. Bazhenov.
The total cost of building the Aurora is estimated at 6.4 million rubles.
The Aurora's hull has three decks: an upper and two internal ones (battery and armor), as well as a tank superstructure. There is a platform along the entire perimeter of the armored deck, which was called the living deck, and two more at the ends of the ship.
The main transverse bulkheads (below the armored deck) divide the interior of the hold into thirteen compartments. Four compartments (bow, boiler rooms, engine rooms, aft) occupy the space between the armor and battery decks and ensure the ship's unsinkability.
The outer steel skin was 6.4 m long and up to 16 mm thick and was attached to the kit with two rows of rivets. In the underwater part of the hull, steel sheets were fastened overlapping, in the surface part - end-to-end on backing strips. The thickness of the bulwark sheathing sheets reached 3 mm.
The underwater part of the hull and its surface part 840 mm above the waterline had a millimeter-thick copper plating, which, in order to avoid electrochemical corrosion and fouling, was attached to a teak wooden cladding secured to the hull with bronze bolts.
In the center plane, on a horizontal keel, a false keel was installed, which had two layers and was made of two types of trees (the top row was made of teak, the bottom row was made of oak).
The cruiser had two masts, the bases of which were attached to the armored deck. Foremast height - 23.8 m; mainmast - 21.6 m.
The design of an armored cruiser assumes the presence of a continuous carapace deck that protects all vital parts of the ship (engine rooms, boiler rooms and tiller rooms, artillery and mine ammunition magazines, a central combat post, underwater mine vehicle rooms). Its horizontal part on the Aurora has a thickness of 38 mm, which increases to 63.5 mm at the bevels to the sides and ends.
The conning tower is protected in front, on the sides and behind by armor plates 152 mm thick, which made it possible to protect it even from the aft heading angles; on top - armor plate 51 mm thick made of low-magnetic steel.
Vertical armor 38 mm thick has projectile elevators and control drives where there is no armor deck.
The boiler plant consisted of 24 Belleville system boilers of the 1894 model, which were located in three compartments (bow, stern and middle boiler room). The main steam pipeline to the main steam engines was laid along the sides of the cruiser. The Aurora, like other ships of its type, did not have auxiliary boilers. In view of this, steam was supplied to the auxiliary mechanisms through a steam line from the main boilers.
Above all three boiler rooms there was a chimney 27.4 m high. To ensure the operation of the boilers, the ship tanks contained 332 tons of fresh water (for the needs of the crew - 135 tons), which could be replenished using desalination plants of the circle system, the total productivity of which reached up to 60 tons of water per day.
To accommodate coal, the Aurora had 24 coal pits located in the inter-hull space near the boiler rooms, as well as 8 coal pits for spare fuel, located between the armor and battery decks throughout the engine rooms. These 32 pits could hold up to 965 tons of coal; 800 tons of coal were considered a normal fuel supply. A full supply of coal could last for 4,000 miles of sailing at a speed of 10 knots.
The main engines were three triple expansion steam engines (total power - 11,600 hp). They were supposed to be capable of 20 knots (during testing, the Aurora reached a maximum speed of 19.2 knots, which generally exceeded the maximum speed of the Diana and Pallada in testing). Condensation of the exhaust steam was carried out by three refrigerators; there was also a condenser for steam of auxiliary machines and mechanisms.
The cruiser's propellers are three three-bladed bronze propellers. The middle propeller was a left-handed propeller, the right one rotated counterclockwise, the left one rotated clockwise (view from stern to bow).
Drainage system
The purpose of the system is to pump out the bulk of water from the ship’s compartments after the hole has been repaired. For this purpose, one turbine (water supply - 250 t/h) was used autonomously at the ends, in the MKO - circulation pumps of refrigerators and six turbines with water supply of 400 t/h each.
Drying system
The purpose of the system is to remove water remaining after the operation of drainage systems or accumulated in the hull due to filtration, flooding of bearings, sweating of sides and decks. For this purpose, the ship had a main pipe made of red copper, which had 31 receiving branches and 21 isolation valves. The drainage itself was carried out by three Worthington pumps.
Ballast system
The Aurora had one flood system at the ends and two in the middle watertight compartments, which were controlled from the battery deck. The drives of the flooding kingstons were brought to the living deck.
Fire system
A red copper fire main pipe was laid under the armored deck along the starboard side. Two Worthington pumps were used to supply water. Branches from the main pipe were located on the upper deck, turning into copper swivel horns for connecting fire hoses.
Boat weapons
- two 30-foot steam launches;
- one 16-oar longboat;
- one 18-oar longboat;
- one 14-oar boat;
- one 12-oar boat;
- two 6-oar whaleboats;
- two yawls.
All rowing ships were served by rotating davits, and steam boats were served by tilting davits.
The living quarters were designed for 570 crew members and to accommodate the flagship of the formation with its headquarters. The lower ranks slept on hanging bunks located in the bow of the ship. 10 conductors slept in five double cabins on the armored deck, officers and admirals slept in rooms between the bow and middle chimneys.
The food supply was designed for two months, there was a refrigerator and a refrigeration machine.
The Aurora's artillery armament consisted of eight 152-mm guns of the Kane system with a barrel length of 45 calibers, placed one on the forecastle and poop and six on the upper deck (three on each side). The maximum firing range of the gun is up to 9800 m, the rate of fire is 5 rounds per minute with mechanical feeding of shells and 2 shots with manual feeding. The total ammunition consisted of 1414 rounds. According to their effect, shells were divided into armor-piercing, high-explosive and shrapnel.
On the upper and battery decks, twenty-four 75-mm guns with a barrel length of 50 calibers of the Kane system were installed on vertical machines of the Meller system. The firing range is up to 7000 m, the rate of fire is 10 rounds per minute with mechanical feed and 4 with manual feed. Their ammunition consisted of 6240 armor-piercing rounds. On the top and bridges there are 8 single 37-mm Hotchkiss guns and two 63.5-mm landing guns of the Baranovsky system. For these guns there were 3600 and 1440 rounds of ammunition, respectively.
Mine weapons included one surface retractable torpedo tube, which fired torpedoes through the stem, and two underwater traverse shield tubes installed on the side. Whitehead torpedoes were fired with compressed air at ship speeds of up to 17 knots. The torpedo tubes were aimed using three sights (one for each tube) located in the conning tower. The ammunition was eight torpedoes with a caliber of 381 mm and a range of 1500 m. Two of them were stored at the bow apparatus, and six more were stored in the underwater vehicle compartment.
The mine armament also included 35 spheroconic barrage mines, which could be installed from rafts or boats and boats of the ship. On the sides of the Aurora, anti-mine barriers were hung on special tubular poles if the cruiser was anchored in an open roadstead.
External communication of the ship was provided by signal flags, as well as (less often) “Mangin battle lanterns” - searchlights with a mirror diameter of 75 cm. The main purpose of the latter was to illuminate enemy destroyers in the dark. "Aurora" was armed with six searchlights. For night long-range visual signaling, the cruiser had two sets of lights from the system of Colonel V.V. Tabulevich. This new tool for that time consisted of two lanterns, red and white. To enhance the light intensity of the lights, a special combustible powder was used, which made it possible, under favorable meteorological conditions, to see the lights at a distance of up to 10 miles. The signaling was carried out by transmitting numbers in Morse code: a dot was indicated by a flash of a white flashlight, and a dash by a red one.
Observation was carried out using spotting scopes and binoculars.
The cruiser's artillery fire control system allowed the artillery officer to control all of the ship's artillery and each gun individually. The distance to the target was measured using a Barr and Stroud system rangefinder purchased in England.
Prolonged sea trials allowed the Aurora to make its first trip to sea only on September 25, 1903. The cruiser was sent to the Far East along the route Portland - Algeria - La Spezia - Bizerte - Piraeus - Port Said - Port Suez. Having reached Djibouti at the end of January 1904, the formation of Rear Admiral A. A. Virenius learned about the beginning of the war with Japan and went back to the Baltic, where it arrived by April 1904.
After returning to the Baltic, "Aurora" was included in the 2nd squadron of the Pacific Fleet, which was supposed to go to Vladivostok as soon as possible in order, firstly, to help the ships of the 1st Pacific squadron, and, secondly, to defeat Japanese fleet and establish dominance in the Sea of Japan. The cruiser came under the command of Vice Admiral Z.P. Rozhestvensky, and on October 2, 1904, as part of his formation, he left Libau, thereby beginning a long transition to the Pacific Ocean.
On October 7, the cruiser and its formation almost reached the shores of Great Britain, which was Russia’s political opponent in the fight against Japan and the latter’s ally, so Z. P. Rozhdestvensky ordered all ships to be put on high alert. In the Dogger Banks area, the formation discovered unidentified vessels (which turned out to be British fishing vessels) and fired at them. Moreover, the Aurora and Dmitry Donskoy also came under fire from the battleships. This so-called Gull incident eventually caused a major international scandal.
By May 1, 1905, Z.P. Rozhdestvensky’s squadron reached Van Fong Bay, from where it set out on its final journey to Vladivostok. On the night of May 14, 50 ships of the formation entered the Korea Strait, where the Battle of Tsushima took place a few hours later. During this battle, Aurora operated as part of the Cruiser detachment of Rear Admiral O. A. Enquist. Due to the formation of ships chosen by Z.P. Rozhdestvensky, the Aurora, like the other cruisers of its formation, did not take part in the first 45 minutes of the battle (from 13:45 to 14:30). By 2:30 p.m. nine Japanese cruisers chose the transport ships of the Russian squadron as their targets, and the Aurora, together with the flagship cruiser Oleg, entered into battle with them. Whenever possible, they were also helped by “Vladimir Monomakh”, “Dmitry Donskoy” and “Svetlana”. However, the defeat of the Russian squadron was already inevitable. As night fell on May 15, scattered ships of the Russian squadron made separate attempts to break through to Vladivostok. So, “Aurora”, “Oleg” and “Pearl” made such attempts, but without success. Dodging torpedo attacks from Japanese destroyers, these ships received orders from O. A. Enquist to turn south, thereby leaving the battle zone and the Korean Strait. By May 21, these three cruisers, with almost depleted fuel supplies, were able to reach the Philippine Islands, where they were interned by the Americans in the port of Manila. During the Battle of Tsushima, the Aurora received serious damage; 10 crew members were killed and another 80 were wounded. The only officer of the cruiser who died in battle was its commander, Captain 1st Rank E. G. Egoriev.
While in Manila for four months, the crew of the Aurora carried out repair and restoration work on their own. On October 10, 1905, having received a message about the end of the war with Japan, the St. Andrew's flag and jack were again raised on the cruiser; The Americans returned the previously surrendered gun locks. Having received an order to return to the Baltic, the Aurora reached Libau on February 19, 1906. The condition of the ship was examined here. After this, the cruiser and its artillery weapons were repaired by the Franco-Russian, Obukhov factories and the Kronstadt military port. Already in 1907 - 1908. "Aurora" was able to take part in training voyages.
It is noteworthy that domestic naval designers back in 1906, i.e. when Aurora just returned to Libau, they appreciated the new qualitative level of development of shipbuilding in other countries. The chief inspector of shipbuilding, K.K. Ratnik, drew up a proposal in order to study a new product of that time - a turbine engine - to refrain from immediately building large ships with such a power plant, but to install them on the Aurora and Diana, or to build a cruiser with a displacement of up to 5000 tons similar to the Novik cruiser. However, this proposal was not implemented.
When a new classification of ships of the Russian fleet was introduced in September 1907, according to it (cruisers were now divided into armored cruisers and cruisers, and not by rank and depending on the reservation system), the Aurora, as well as the Diana, was classified as cruisers.
In 1909, “Diana” (flagship), “Aurora” and “Bogatyr” were included in the “Detachment of ships assigned to sail with ship midshipmen”, and after the highest review by Nicholas II, they set off on October 1, 1909 for the Mediterranean Sea, in whose waters they were until March 1910. During this time, many different exercises and exercises were carried out. 1911 - 1913 "Aurora" remained a training ship, making long voyages to Thailand, on the island. Java.
In July 1914, the accumulated knot of contradictions between the countries of the two blocs - the Entente and Germany with its allies - burst, and the First World War began. In mid-August, after almost a ten-year break, the Aurora was included in the warships and was assigned to the 2nd cruiser brigade. All the ships of this brigade were built before the Russo-Japanese War, so the command sought to use them only as a patrol service.
In November-December 1914, the Aurora examined the fairways leading from the Gulf of Finland to the Gulf of Bothnia. The Aurora and Diana, which was also included in this formation, spent the winter in Sveaborg, where during this time they underwent some modernization. Then - again patrol and skerry service.
Only during the 1916 campaign did the Aurora have the opportunity to take part directly in hostilities. At this time, the cruiser was at the disposal of the command of the Naval Corps, where they took exams on how to control the ship. During this year, the cruiser's 75-mm guns were converted in such a way as to be able to fire at low-flying, low-speed aircraft, which was enough for successful shooting at aircraft from the First World War. Thus, while in the Gulf of Riga, the Aurora successfully repelled air attacks.
But the ship required repairs, which is why on September 6, 1916, the Aurora arrived in Kronstadt. In September she was transferred to Petrograd to the outfitting wall of the Admiralty Plant. During the renovation, the second bottom in the MKO area was replaced, new boilers and repaired steam engines were received. The cruiser's armament was also modernized: the maximum elevation angle of the 152 mm guns and, accordingly, the maximum firing range were increased; places were prepared for the installation of three 76.2-mm anti-aircraft guns of the F. F. Lender system, which, however, were installed only in 1923.
On February 27, 1917, a strike began at the Admiralty and Franco-Russian factories, whose forces were carrying out repairs. The commander of the Aurora, M.I. Nikolsky, wanting to prevent a riot on the ship, opened fire from a revolver at the sailors who tried to go ashore, for which he was eventually shot by the rebel crew. From that moment on, the ship's commanders were elected by the ship's committee.
From October 24, 1917, the Aurora took part directly in revolutionary events: by order of the Provisional Revolutionary Committee (PRK), on that day the cruiser sailed upstream of the Bolshaya Neva from the outfitting wall of the plant to the Nikolaevsky Bridge, built by the cadets, forcing the latter to leave it. Then Aurora electricians closed the bridge openings, thereby connecting Vasilyevsky Island with the city center. The next day, all strategic objects of the city were in the hands of the Bolsheviks. By agreement with the Secretary of the Military Revolutionary Committee V.A. Antonov-Ovseenko, “Aurora” “shortly before the start of the attack of the Winter Palace, at the signal shot of the Peter and Paul Fortress, will fire a couple of blank shots from a six-inch gun.” At 21:40 The shot from the Peter and Paul Fortress gun followed, and five minutes later the Aurora fired one blank shot from the bow 152-mm gun, which made her famous. However, the storming of the Winter Palace was not directly connected with this shot, since it began later.
At the end of October 1922, the cruiser was decommissioned in order to later use it as a training ship for the Baltic Fleet. On the holiday of February 23, 1923, despite the fact that the Aurora was still technically unready, the flag and jack were raised on the cruiser. During June 1923, the ship's hull was significantly repaired; a little later it was rearmed, including the artillery magazines and elevators. Thus, Aurora received ten 130 mm guns (instead of 152 mm), two 76.2 mm Lender anti-aircraft guns, and two pairs of 7.62 mm Maxim machine guns. On July 18, sea trials were carried out, and already in the fall the cruiser took part in maneuvers of ships of the Baltic Fleet.
But the canonization of Aurora began earlier. On August 3, 1923, the Central Executive Committee took patronage over the cruiser, i.e. supreme body of state power. This immediately increased the ideological and political status of the ship, elevating it to the rank of a symbol of the revolution.
In 1924, the Aurora made its first long-distance cruise under the Soviet flag: the cruiser circled Scandinavia, reaching Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. Until 1927, the ship participated in various campaigns (mainly in the territorial waters of the USSR). On November 2, 1927, in honor of the 10th anniversary of the revolution, Aurora was awarded the only state award at that time - the Order of the Red Banner:
“The Presidium, recalling with sincere admiration during the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution the struggle of the cruiser “Aurora” at the forefront of the revolution, awarded him the Order of the Red Banner for the differences he showed in the Days of October.
(From the resolution of the Central Election Commission.) "
In the same year, the epic film “October” was shot, where “Aurora” also took part in the filming. These two events made the cruiser even more famous.
Since 1928, the cruiser again became a training ship and annually made training trips on board with cadets abroad. In particular, Aurora visited Copenhagen, Swinemund, Oslo, and Bergen. A visit to Bergen in August 1930 was the last overseas trip for the Aurora due to the deterioration of the boilers (a third of them were taken out of service). The cruiser needed a major overhaul, for which it set out at the end of 1933. In 1935, for various reasons, including the fact that it was impractical to repair a morally and technically outdated ship, the repairs were stopped. Now it has become non-self-propelled due to the fact that the workers of the plant named after. Marty did not have time to replace the boilers during the repair, the Aurora had to become a training fire guard: it was taken to the Eastern Kronstadt roadstead, where first-year cadets of naval schools practiced on it.
According to some researchers, in 1941 the Aurora was planned to be excluded from the fleet, but this was prevented by the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. When there was a threat of German troops reaching Leningrad, the cruiser was immediately included in the Kronstadt air defense system. Back in June 1941, the Aurora cadets went to the front, then a gradual reduction of the cruiser’s crew began (by the beginning of the war - 260 people), which were distributed to active ships of the Baltic Fleet or to the front.
By the beginning of the war, Aurora had ten 130 mm guns, four 76.2 mm anti-aircraft guns, three 45 mm cannons, and one Maxim machine gun. From July 1941, they began to dismantle the Aurora's artillery armament and use it either on other ships (for example, on the gunboats of the Peipus military flotilla) or use it as part of land batteries. On July 9, 1941, a special-purpose artillery battery was formed from the cruiser's 9 130-mm guns. From the exquisite guns in the arsenals of Leningrad and Kronstadt, the 2nd battery was soon formed, and both were transferred to the 42nd Army of the Leningrad Front. In the history of the defense of Leningrad they are known as Battery A (Aurora) and Battery B (Baltiets/Bolshevik). Of the actual crew of the Aurora, there were only a small number of personnel in Battery A. Battery A first opened fire on the advancing enemy on September 6, 1941. Then, for a week, the battery fought with German tanks, fighting completely encircled until the last shell. By the end of the eighth day of fighting, out of 165 personnel, only 26 reached their home base.
The cruiser Aurora itself took part in the hostilities near Leningrad on September 8, 1941. The crew remaining on the ship had to repel German air raids, and on September 16, according to eyewitnesses, the Aurora's anti-aircraft gunners managed to shoot down one enemy aircraft. At the same time, the Aurora was constantly under artillery fire, which was fired from time to time by German batteries until the final lifting of the blockade of Leningrad. In total, during the war the cruiser received at least 7 hits. At the end of November, living conditions on the cruiser became unbearable, and the crew was transferred to shore.
This is how the People's Commissar of the USSR Navy N.G. Kuznetsov spoke about the modest, but still significant participation of the Aurora in the defense of Leningrad:
“The cruiser Aurora was not of serious combat value, but performed all possible service throughout the years of the war. The share of individual ships falls to long-term service, even after they have “lost” their original combat qualities. This is the cruiser Aurora.
In mid-1944, it was decided to create the Leningrad Nakhimov Naval School. It was planned to place some of the Nakhimov crew on a floating base, which was temporarily to become the Aurora. However, according to the decision of A. A. Zhdanov, the cruiser Aurora was to be permanently installed on the Neva, “as a monument to the active participation of sailors of the Baltic Fleet in the overthrow of the bourgeois Provisional Government.” Work immediately began to restore the waterproofness of the cruiser's hull, which had received numerous damage. During more than three years of overhaul (from mid-July 1945 to mid-November 1948), the following were repaired: the hull, propellers, onboard steam engines, onboard propeller shafts, onboard engine shaft brackets, the remaining boilers; Reconstruction was also carried out in connection with the new function of the mother ship. (Unfortunately, this reorganization had a negative impact on preserving the historical appearance of the cruiser. By the way, this was also influenced by the participation of “Aurora” in the role of “Varyag” in the film of the same name, filmed in 1947.) On November 17, 1948, the cruiser took its place for the first time permanently parked on Bolshaya Nevka. The graduating company of Nakhimovites was immediately stationed on the Aurora. From that time until 1961, it became a tradition for Nakhimov graduates to live and serve on the Aurora.
By Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR No. 1327 of August 30, 1960, the Aurora was given the official status of a state-protected monument ship. Since 1961, free access to the museum, which existed on the ship since 1950 on the initiative of several officers, was opened, and its exhibition was expanded. Soon Aurora became one of the popular places in the city.
The final canonization of the Aurora, its transformation into a symbol ship, occurred in 1967, when, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the 1917 revolution, the Aurora again fired a blank shot from its 152-mm tank gun at exactly 21:45. In February 1968, the cruiser was awarded the second most important order in the country - the Order of the October Revolution. Thus, the Aurora, having once become the first ship to bear the order, also became the first twice to bear the order in the history of the Soviet Navy.
By the end of the 1970s, the Aurora hull fell into disrepair. Repair and reconstruction was required. After developing proposals from a specially created commission, repairs began in August 1984 and continued until August 1987. Instead of a complete restoration, it was decided to replace the old building with a new one. The “restoration” of the “Aurora” (however, having the original drawings, the reconstructors were not able to bring much to their original state due to the numerous re-equipment of the cruiser before) cost about 35 million rubles.
On July 26, 1992, the St. Andrew's flag was raised again on the Aurora, and the ship served as part of the Russian Navy. On December 1, 2010, the cruiser Aurora, by order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, was withdrawn from the Navy and transferred to the balance of the Central Naval Museum. The cruiser's military crew was reorganized into a staff of three military personnel and 28 civilian personnel. At the same time, the Aurora retained its status as a warship.
On September 21, 2014, the Aurora was towed to the repair dock of the Kronstadt Marine Plant of the Russian Ministry of Defense for major repairs. We are waiting for him at home, it’s unusual without a cruiser.
Bogatyr-class armored cruisers
Construction and service
Total information
Booking
Armament
Built ships
Bogatyr-class armored cruisers- 1st rank cruisers of the Russian Imperial Navy built according to a special shipbuilding program “For the needs of the Far East.” The series got its name from the lead ship built at the A.G. shipyard. Vulcan in Germany. The ships took part in the Russo-Japanese, World War I and Civil Wars.
General information
Armored cruisers of the 1st rank of the "Bogatyr" type were created for reconnaissance and messenger service with a squadron of battleships and protecting them from destroyers, as well as for independent cruising on trade routes with the ability to withstand a short-term skirmish with armored ships. The ships of this large series are considered one of the most successful armored cruisers of the early twentieth century and had a close to optimal combination of offensive and defensive elements, as well as high speed, which made it possible, if necessary, to avoid battle with a stronger enemy. In total, it was planned to build five units of this type: the lead ship was built at the A.G. shipyard. Vulcan is in Germany, the rest are based on its model in Russia. However, only four ships were completed: the hull of the cruiser built at the Admiralty shipyard of Galerny Island in St. Petersburg "Knight" was damaged by fire and scrapped.
Bogatyr-class cruisers, built under a special program “For the needs of the Far East,” took part in the Russo-Japanese, World War I and Civil Wars, the famous Ice Campaign of the Baltic Fleet and the Great Patriotic War.
History of creation
Prerequisites for creation
In the second half of the 1890s, there was a gradual reorientation of Russian foreign policy activity towards the Far East. Due to the sharply increased likelihood of a collision with Japan, the need arose to create a powerful fleet in the Pacific Ocean. At a special meeting of the leadership of the Russian fleet, chaired by Admiral General, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, held on December 27, 1897 in St. Petersburg, it was recommended to concentrate in the Pacific Ocean by 1903 10 squadron battleships, 5 armored cruisers, 10 armored cruisers of 5000-6000 each. tons of displacement and 10 - 2000-2500 tons each. “Cruisers - long-range reconnaissance ships attached to the squadron” were supposed to not only conduct reconnaissance, but also participate in squadron battles, as well as act independently on communications.
On February 20, 1898, Nicholas II approved a special shipbuilding program “For the needs of the Far East.” Among other ships, it was planned to build six cruisers with a displacement of 5000-6000 tons. Immediately after this, the head of the Naval Ministry, Admiral P.P. Tyrtov instructed the Marine Technical Committee (MTK) to develop a task for the design of new ships.
Design
Prepared by the Marine Technical Committee on April 13, 1898, the final version of the “Program for a cruiser of 6000 tons of displacement” formulated the basic requirements for the ship:
- Displacement – 6000 tons;
- Cruising range is about 4000 miles at a speed of 10 knots;
- Speed – at least 23 knots;
- The use of 152-mm Kane cannons with a barrel length of 45 calibers as the main artillery armament (the method of placing guns was not regulated);
- Reservation of the deck and conning tower.
This program was sent to Russian and foreign factories in April 1898. The conditions for obtaining a contract were determined if the specified characteristics were met - the construction period was 28 months and the cost was 4 million rubles.
"Varyag" is the first cruiser ordered under the 1898 program.
The first to get involved in this work was the head of the famous American shipbuilding company William Cramp & Sons, who arrived in Russia, but considered it impossible and achieved, without participating in the competition, the conclusion of a contract for the construction of the cruiser. "Varangian". As a result, five companies took part in the competition: Nevsky Zavod (St. Petersburg), Ansaldo (Italy), Germaniawerft (Germany), Schichau Seebeck (Germany) and Howaldtswerke A.G. (Germany). The project of the company Germaniawerft, a branch of the famous concern Friedrich Krupp A.G., was recognized as the best. On August 4, 1898, a contract was signed with her for the construction of a cruiser "Askold" .
After summing up the results of the competition, on July 20, 1898, the German company A.G presented its project. Vulcan Stettin. Having compared this project with the winner of the competition, MTK specialists came to the conclusion that this proposal looks much more attractive. As a result, it was recognized as the best, with some reservations, and on August 4, 1898, a contract was signed for the construction of the lead cruiser. At the same time, an agreement was reached on the transfer to the Russian side of technical documentation for organizing the construction of cruisers of this type at domestic shipyards. The technical project was submitted to the MTK for consideration on October 4, 1898; based on the results of its study, 110 comments and suggestions were made. Refinement of the project continued throughout 1899, even after the start of construction of the lead ship of the series at the shipyard in Stettin.
Construction and testing
1st rank armored cruiser "Bogatyr" before launching
The construction of Bogatyr-class cruisers was carried out by five different shipyards: one German and four Russian. The lead ship of the series was ceremoniously laid down on the slipway in Stettin on December 9, 1899 and received the name "Bogatyr". Copying and correction of drawings was carried out as they were received, irregularly and often with long breaks. Construction was held back by numerous project approvals between the builder and the Ministry of Transport and Communications. As a result, the committee's late demands for changes resulted in additional costs beyond the contract and delays in execution. So, for changing the design and improved material of the armored deck, we had to pay an additional 239,332 marks, for replacing the material of the roof and deck of the conning tower - 9,750 marks, for the same replacement in the towers - 2,400 marks, and for replacing the armor cover of four elevators with uncemented Krupp armor - 53,550 marks. Due to all the delays "Bogatyr" launched on January 17, 1901, in May, after the installation of the machines, it underwent mooring tests, and in November 1901, during factory sea trials, it reached a speed of 24.33 knots. Having received a delay until March 15, 1902, the company did not have time to meet it, and only in May was it able to present the cruiser for delivery.
Actual bookmark "Vityaz" took place on October 21, 1900, it was to become the first cruiser of the series built in Russia. Its construction was carried out at the Admiralty shipyard Galerny Island in St. Petersburg. On June 1, 1901, a fire started in the wooden boathouse where the slipway was located. The cause of the fire was failure to comply with basic fire safety rules. The fire destroyed the boathouse along with the building "Vityaz", the degree of readiness of which was 10%.
Launching of the 1st rank armored cruiser "Oleg"
Five stringers were installed on both sides of the keel, and six in the area of the engine rooms. The third stringer formed a middle keelson in the limbs with the lining and the second bottom. The frame parts were riveted to the stringers with bent parts. Some of them were waterproof and formed sealed compartments with the 12-mm flooring of the second bottom. Sheathing sheets were attached horizontally to the power elements of the hull through pads. They had a thickness of 12 mm; on the sheelstrake and at the junction with the bevels of the armored deck, the skin was double.
To ensure unsinkability, the hull was divided by transverse bulkheads into 17 compartments. Some of the bulkheads reached the upper deck and platforms, the rest - to the level of the armored deck. The cruisers had three solid metal decks, which were laid on beams of a box-shaped structure. The upper deck, 11 mm thick, had 76 mm teak flooring, the other two were covered with linoleum. A belt of cofferdams ran along the side at the waterline level. For additional protection of the boilers, coal pits were installed along the sides of the boiler rooms. The hulls were painted three layers, and their underwater part was coated with a special composition to protect against corrosion and fouling.
Booking
Booking scheme
The main element of protection for the Bogatyr-class cruisers was the carapace armored deck. Its horizontal part ran 750 mm above the waterline and had a thickness of 35 mm. The bevels, 70 mm thick, descended to the sides below the waterline by 1350 mm at an angle of 34°. The deck also sloped down to the bow and stern of the cruiser. Above the engine room, the raised part of the deck was covered by side walls - glacis 85 mm thick, boiler casings were 30 mm thick.
The oval-shaped conning tower had vertical walls 140 mm thick, decreasing in thickness towards the stern to 90 mm. The roof of the cabin, 25 mm thick, had downward curved edges that hung over 300 mm embrasures. A steel pipe with armored walls 70 mm thick led from the wheelhouse to the central post. It contained steering drives and communications equipment.
The main caliber towers had vertical walls of variable thickness of 120-90 mm and a 25 mm roof. The feed pipes of the towers had armor with a thickness of 51 to 73 mm, and the ammunition supply elevators had a thickness of 35 mm. Casemates for 152 mm guns had 80 mm armor and were reinforced with 25 mm tower-like shields.
Power plant and driving performance
Vertical four-cylinder steam engines of the "Bogatyr" type cruiser
The power plant consisted of two autonomous vertical four-cylinder triple expansion steam engines with vertically inverted and cylinders. Each machine produces 9,750 hp. drove its propeller shaft with bronze three-blade propellers with a diameter of 4900 mm and a pitch of 5700 mm. The propellers were structurally capable of changing the pitch by rearranging interchangeable blades.
Steam for the machines was produced by 16 water-tube steam boilers of the triangular type of the Norman system. The operating steam pressure was 18 atm. The boilers were located in three boiler rooms: in the bow - four, in the rest - six. Each compartment had its own chimney. In the bow boiler room, the boiler fireboxes were located along the direction of the ship, in the middle and stern compartments - towards the sides.
Each machine had its own horizontal surface refrigerator. To ensure forced air supply to the boiler furnaces, special fans were used. To heat the feedwater, primary steam from the boilers was used; its supply was 280 tons. Up to 1220 tons of coal could be placed in coal pits. The range with a full supply of fuel was 4900 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots.
Auxiliary equipment
Boat rig arrangement
The ships of the series were equipped with an autonomous drainage system with the ability to pump water from each compartment. Six vertical pumps of the Rato system with an electric drive with a capacity of 500 t/h were intended for pumping out of the boiler rooms. Similar pumps with a capacity of 300 t/h were installed in adjacent compartments. The fire extinguishing system had a self-contained pipeline under the armored deck with a separate pump and outlets above the deck. The system for flooding the ammunition cellars ensured that they were flooded with sea water in 15 minutes. The kingston rods were placed on deck for ease of use.
The ships' boat armament included: two steam 40-foot metal boats, a 20-oar longboat, 12-oar light and motor boats, a 14-oar half-longboat, two 6-oar yawls and two whaleboats. All watercraft were placed sideways on roadster beams and were equipped with rotating davits. To launch steam boats, a cargo boom with a steam winch was used.
Crew and habitability
The commander's apartments were located in the aft section and included a bedroom, salon, dining room and office, not counting his own wine cellar and a messenger's cabin. The officers were accommodated in single and double cabins, and had a wardroom at their disposal. The crew was accommodated on the living deck in hanging hammock bunks, which were rolled up and stored in bunk nets. Hanging tables were lowered for eating.
Armament
Main caliber
Main caliber turret
The main caliber consisted of 12 rapid-firing 152-mm guns of the Kane system with a barrel length of 45 calibers. The guns were mounted on machines with a hydraulic compressor and a spring knurl. Four guns were located in two two-gun turrets - bow and stern. Turret guns had electric and manual guidance drives. Another four guns were placed in onboard single-gun casemates. The remaining four guns were placed in open deck mounts behind 25 mm shields.
Loading of guns is separate-case, rate of fire is 6 rounds per minute with mechanical feed. Initially, the guns were equipped with mechanical sights with a rotating front sight. The ammunition included armor-piercing, high-explosive, segment and practical shells, with a total of 2160 rounds. Shells and charges were supplied to the guns in hanging arbors, four sets each. From three groups of cellars, under the armored deck, vertical elevators with electric drives raised the gazebos upward, where they were rolled out onto the guns along an extensive system of rails with turntables.
Auxiliary artillery
Anti-mine artillery was represented by 12 75-mm guns of the Kane system with a barrel length of 50 calibers. The guns were mounted on Meller machines with a hydraulic compressor and a spring knurl. A small flat shield covered the upper parts of the guns. All guns were placed in open deck installations. Six of them are on board the upper deck, interspersed with 152 mm installations. Four guns were located on the forecastle and poop deck, one above each of the casemates. Two more guns were located on the forward bridge on either side of the conning tower. The loading of the guns is unitary, the rate of fire is up to 10 rounds per minute, the sighting devices are the same as those of 152 mm guns. The ammunition included armor-piercing and practical shells with a total of 3,600 rounds.
Mine and torpedo weapons
Barrage mines on the mine rails of the cruiser "Bogatyr"
As a necessary measure of self-defense, the cruisers of the series were supposed to be equipped with four 381-mm torpedo tubes, two surface and two underwater. Surface torpedo tubes were installed in the stem and sternpost. Abeam underwater torpedo tubes, which were located in a special compartment under the armored deck between the 65th and 69th frames. The torpedoes were launched with compressed air at speeds of up to 17 knots. The ammunition included ten 17-foot Whitehead Model 1898 self-propelled torpedoes. Two torpedoes were located at the bow and stern torpedo tubes, and six more were on racks in the department of abeam torpedo tubes. Torpedoes were stored without charging compartments, for which a special separate room was allocated in the charging cellar. Only the lead ship was equipped with a full set of torpedo tubes; the remaining cruisers of the series only had two abeam tubes.
There were 35 barrage ball mines in a special mine cellar.
Communications, detection, auxiliary equipment
Artillery fire was controlled centrally, from the conning tower. To determine the range and aiming of the guns, a Geisler fire control system with Lujol-Myakishev rangefinders was used. Geisler's fire control system included a central aiming and target designation sight in the conning tower, electrical synchronous transmission lines between posts and guns, rangefinders themselves installed on stands in open areas and sights on guns and in turrets.
Intra-ship communication was carried out using bells, telephones and speaking pipes. For external communication, a Telefunken radio station with a power of 2 kW was used. Flag signals were used for communication within the squadron
Armored cruisers
Armored cruiser "Juren de La Graviere" - 1 unit.
"Jurin de La Graviere" (Jurien de la Graviere) Lor 11.1897/26.7.1899/1902 - excl. 1922
5595 t, 137x15x6.3 m. PM - 3, 24 pcs, 17,000 hp = 22.5 knots. 600/886 t coal Armor: deck 65 - 35 mm, gun shields 54 mm, deckhouse 160 mm. Ek. 511 people 8 - 164 mm/ 45, 10 - 47 mm, 2 TA 450 mm.
A large but poorly armed cruiser. It had poor maneuverability and during testing (which lasted more than a year) it never reached the design speed of 23 knots. During the First World War it operated in the Adriatic, Ionian and Aegean seas. Since 1920 - a resident in Syria.
Armored cruiser "Gishen" - 1 unit.
"Gishen" ( Guichen) SNZL 10.1895/15.5.1898/1901 - excl. 1921
8151 t, 133(pp)x17x7.5 m. PM-3, 36 PK, 25,000 hp = 23 knots. 1460/1960 t ug. Armor: 100 - 40 mm, casemates 60 - 40 mm, gun shields 54 mm, wheelhouse 160 mm. Ek. 625 people 2 - 164 mm/45, 6 - 138 mm/45, 10 - 47 mm, 5-37 mm, 2 TA 450 mm.
An ocean-going “trade fighter” with a long range, but with very weak weapons for its size. In 1914, he carried out patrol duty in the Atlantic from the English Channel to Morocco, and since 1915 he has been in the Mediterranean Sea. Partially disarmed in 1917 and then used as a high-speed transport. In 1919, he operated on the Black Sea, participating in the intervention against Soviet Russia.
Armored cruiser "Châteaureno" - 1 unit.
"Châteaureau" ( Chateaurenault) FSh 5.1896/12.5.1898/1902 - died 12/14/1917
7898 t, 135(vl)x17x7.4 m. PM - 3, 14 pcs, 23,000 hp = 23 kts. 1460/1960 t ug. Armor: deck 100 - 60 mm, casemates 60 - 40 mm, gun shields 54 mm. Ek. 604 people 2 - 164 mm/45, 6-138 mm/45, 10 - 47 mm, 5 -37 mm.
The characteristics are similar to the cruiser "Gishen", but differed in a different layout and silhouette. During tests in 1899, strong vibration appeared, which is why it was again sent to the shipyard. The correction of all defects continued from October 1899 to September 1902. During the First World War, he carried out patrol duty in the English Channel, hunting for a German auxiliary cruiser
"Möwe" in the South Atlantic, was used in the Mediterranean Sea as a high-speed transport. Sunk in the Ionian Sea by two torpedoes fired by a submarineU.C.-38.
Armored cruiser "D'Entrecasteaux" - 1 unit.
"D"Entrecasteaux" ( D" Entrecasteaux) FSh 9.1894/12.6.1896/1899 - excl. 1922
7995 t, 117(pp)x17.8x7.5 m. PM - 2.5 pcs, 14,500 hp = 19.2 knots. 650/980 t coal Armor: deck 100 - 30 mm, turrets 230 mm, casemates 52 mm, deckhouse 250 mm. Ek. 559 people 2 - 240 mm/40, 12-138 mm/30, 12 - 47 mm, 6 - 37 mm, 2 TA 450 mm.
An original ship with heavy turret artillery and moderate speed. It was intended for operations in remote areas: the underwater part of the hull was sheathed in wood and covered with copper, and the ammunition magazines had a cooling system. By 1914, the cruiser's speed did not exceed 17 knots. Until 1916, it operated in the Mediterranean Sea, repeatedly shelling Turkish positions in Palestine and Syria. Then he operated in the English Channel and accompanied convoys to Madagascar. Again he moved to the Mediterranean Sea, where he was used mainly as a troop transport. From 1919 she served as a training ship in Brest, was later disarmed and donated to Belgium, and in 1927 sold to Poland. It was a block, dismantled for metal after 1938.
Armored cruiser "Descartes" - 1 unit.
"Descartes" ( Descartes) SNZL 8.1892/27.9.1894/7.1896 - excl. 1920
3960 t, 96.3(pp)x13x6.5 m. PM - 2, 16 pcs, 8500 hp = 19 knots. 543 t coal Armor: deck 60 - 20 mm, gun shields 54 mm, deckhouse 70 mm. Ek. 421 people 4 - 164 mm/45, 10-100 mm, 8-47 mm, 4 - 37 mm, 2 TA 450 mm.
An obsolete cruiser intended for colonial service. The same type "Pascal", "Katina" and "Prote" were decommissioned in 1910 - 1911. Descartes was in the West Indies from 1914 to 1917, and was damaged twice as a result of collisions with merchant ships. In 1917 he arrived in Lorient, was disarmed and laid up. The heavy guns removed from the cruiser were sent to the land front, and the smaller ones were installed on mobilized patrol vessels.
Friant-class armored cruisers - 3 units.
"Frian" ( Friant) Brest 1891/17.4.1893/4.1895 - excl. 1920
"Du Shayla" ( Du Chayla) Cher 3.1894/10.11.1895/2.1898 - excl. 1921
"Cassar" ( Cassard) Cher 1894/27.5.1896/2.1898 - excl. 1924
3960 t, 96.1(pp)x13.7x6.25 m (“Frian”: 94x13x6.3 m). PM - 2, 20 PK, 10,000 hp = 19 knots. 577 - 600 tug. Armor: deck 80 - 30 mm, gun shields 30 mm, deckhouse 100 mm. Ek. 393 people 6 - 164 mm/45, 4 - 100 mm, 10 - 47 mm, from 5 to 9 - 37 mm, 2 TA 450 mm.
Old ships, similar in type to the Russian armored cruiser Svetlana. A total of 6 units were built, but three of them were “Bugeaud” (Bugeaud), "Shaslu-Loba" ( Chasseloup- Laubat) and "D" Assa ( D" Assas) - expelled from the fleet even before the First World War.
"Frian" in 1914 was located on the island. Newfoundland, then moved to the Mediterranean Sea, in 1915 - 1916 he was stationary in Morocco. In 1918 it was used as a floating base for submarines on the island. Wise. "Cassar" and "Du Chaila" served mainly in the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and in 1917 they searched for German raiders in the Indian Ocean. In November 1918, "Du Shaila" took part in the last military operation against Turkish troops in Lebanon, and in 1919 she was on the Black Sea. By the end of the war, this ship's armament consisted of two 164 mm, four 75 mm and four 47 mm guns; the rest of the artillery was sent to the land front.
Armored cruiser "D" Estre - 1 unit.
"D"Estre" ( D" Estrees) Rosh 3.1897/27.10.1897/1899 - excl. 1922
2428 t, 95x12x5.4 m. PM - 2.8 pcs, 8500 hp = 20.5 knots. 345/470 t ug. Armor: deck 40-20 mm. Ek. 235 people 2-138 mm/45, 4 - 100 mm, 8-47 mm, 2 - 37 mm.
3rd class cruiser for colonial service. The same type "Inferne" crashed on November 22, 1910. "D" Estre carried out patrol duty in the English Channel in 1914, was in the Mediterranean Sea from 1915, was based in Djibouti in 1916-1918 and operated in the Red Sea. After the end of the war, he served in the Far East.
Armored cruiser "Lavoisier" 1 - unit.
"Lavoisier" ( Lavoisier) Rosh 1.1895/17.4.1897/4.1898 - excl. 1920
2318 t, 100.6x10.6x5.4 m. PM - 2, 16 pcs, 6800 hp = 20 knots. 339 t ug. Armor: deck 40 mm, gun shields 54 mm, deckhouse 100 mm. Ek. 269 people 4-138 mm/45, 2-100 mm, 10 - 47 mm, 2 TA 450 mm.
"Colonial" class 3 cruiser with main battery artillery located in sponsons. The ships of the same type "Linois" and "Galileo" were decommissioned in 1910 - 1911. The outbreak of the First World War found Lavoisier in Iceland, where he provided security for French fishing vessels. Then he carried out patrol duty in the English Channel, in February 1915 he moved to Port Said, and operated in the Eastern Mediterranean. From September 1916 he was a stationary in Morocco, in July 1918 he was again transferred to the Mediterranean Sea. Returned to France in 1919, disarmed and decommissioned the following year.
Armored cruisers of the Surcouf type - 3 units.
"Surcouf" ( Surcouf) Cher 5.1886/10.1888/1890 - excl. 1921
"Cosmao" ( Cosmao) Bordeaux 1887/8.1889/1891 - excl. 1922
"Forben" ( Forbin) Rosh 5.1886/14.1.1888/2.1889-excl. 1919
2010/2450 t, 95(vl)x9x5.2 m. PM - 2.6 PK (“Cosmao” 5 PK), 5800 hp = 20.5 kt. 300 t ug. Armor: deck up to 40 mm. 4 - 138 mm / 30, 9-47 mm, 4 TA 355 mm.
Old 3rd class cruisers were often classified as advice. "Surcouf" in 1914-1918 was based at Brest, carried out patrol and sentinel service in the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay. Cosmao and Forben spent most of the war in Moroccan waters, with the latter being used as a submarine base in 1917-1918.
Armored cruisers - armament of ships from 1877 to 1912.
One of the characteristic and distinctive features of armored cruisers was their protection and armament of ships, protection was limited to one “turtle shell” on the deck, as well as in some cases the so-called “honeycomb deck”. This decking covered the roof and each of the sheer walls of the “protective deck” and consisted of many small cells formed by numerous partitions intersecting lengthwise and crosswise within the decking. These cells were filled with light, bulky material, such as cork, or were used as coal bunkers.
Thus, they formed a protective structure for armored cruisers, which could be destroyed by enemy fire without causing serious damage to the ship and protected the powder magazines and ammunition depots located behind it from being hit by shells and shrapnel. This “honeycomb deck” was invented by an Italian named Benedetto Brin, who installed it on the battleships Italia and Lepanto, built between 1875 and 1885; however, the idea was not accepted, and most armored cruisers were limited to only the protective deck and side coal bunkers - the ships' weapons were stored in them.
"Esmeralda I" is considered a prototype of an armored cruiser. She was built at Armstrong's British shipyard for the Chilean Navy between 1881 and 1884, and should not be confused with the armored cruiser of the same name, also built by Armstrong between 1893 and 1897. and entered service after Esmeralda I was sold to Japan and renamed Izumi. The first Esmeralda had a steel hull with rounded bows, a smooth deck, no forecastle or poop, and a central superstructure that carried six 6-inch (152 mm) guns in side casemates; in addition, at the bow and stern there were two 10-inch (254 mm) guns, covered with armor shields. The ships' armament was completed with seven machine guns and three torpedo tubes. As for weapons and armor, armored cruisers were decisively inferior to armored cruisers in this regard. However, the British Navy was forced to station warships in its many overseas colonies and therefore built a large number of armored cruisers, which were much cheaper, since a large armored cruiser could cost more than a battleship. The United States Navy, on the other hand, did not favor unarmored cruisers, although it subsequently built several of the class. Armored cruisers had their supporters in other navies, as well as in the British fleet; this included the Italian, French, Austrian, German and Argentine naval departments.
In 1879, the British Navy commissioned the first Comus-class cruiser into service with the fleet's ships. These ships, classified as cruisers of the third rank (although they had characteristics characteristic of armored cruisers, were still equipped with masts and sails and had a 1.4-inch (28 mm) partially armored deck, two 7-inch (178 mm) guns and twelve sixty-four-pound guns and a single-screw powerplant, which allowed the ship to reach a speed of almost 14 knots.
Eleven Pelorus-class vessels formed another class of armored cruisers. They went into operation in 1897-1898. and were armed with eight 4-inch (102 mm) guns on individual mounts on the main deck, eight 1.8-inch (47 mm) guns and two surface torpedo tubes located in the center of the main deck. The protective deck reached a thickness of 1-2 inches (25-51 mm).
The Hermes-class cruisers, the first of which entered service in 1899, had a displacement of 5,600 tons and an armament of eleven 6-inch (152 mm) and nine 3.5-inch (90 mm) guns protected by armor. installations on both sides of the main deck, as well as a 3-inch (76 mm) thick protective deck. These were twin-screw ships with a speed of 18 knots and an autonomous navigation radius of 900 miles at a speed of 10 knots.
Many of the armored cruisers of the French Navy had the characteristic hull shape of the armored cruiser Dupuy de Lome and several other French ironclads of the same period.
The Tazh, which entered service in 1890, had a bulb-shaped (i.e., “onion-shaped”, with a convex bottom part) hull and sides tapering downward. In addition to the 1.9-inch (50 mm) protective deck, it had two more 3.9-inch (100 mm) thick armored floors that defined the boundaries of the centrally located main artillery turret, which had no armor-covered walls and could accommodate ten 5.4 -inch (138 mm) guns aimed at the target. On the main deck there were eight more 6.4-inch (164 mm) guns mounted on individual platforms on both sides. The remaining armament consisted of seven fixed surface torpedo tubes, three on each side and one on the bow. "Algier", "Jean Bar" and "Isly" (1891-1892), classified as cruisers of the second rank, had a displacement of 4,300 tons versus 7,590 tons of displacement for the "Tazh" and were among the few cruisers that had " honeycomb decking" on its 35-inch (90 mm) protective deck. They were armed with four 6.4-inch (164 mm) and four 5.4-inch (138 mm) guns on the side gun platforms, plus two 5.4-inch (138 mm) guns fore and aft. They also had twenty small 1.8-inch (47 mm) and 1.4-inch (37 mm) guns on the superstructures and observation platforms on the tops where the masts meet the topmasts), plus four torpedo tubes, a pair on each side .
Eight cruisers of the second rank of the Chasslu-Loba type, which entered service four years later, had two gun platforms on strong cylindrical supports, protruding beyond the sides on each side. The ships' armament consisted of six 6.4-inch (164 mm) guns: one at the bow, another at the stern, and four on the platforms mentioned above. In addition, the ships had four 3.9-inch (100 mm) and fifteen 1.8-inch (37 mm) guns, as well as four torpedo tubes.
The Russian cruiser Svetlana, built in France between 1895 and 1897, had the same hull shape, as well as a “honeycomb deck”. It was armed with six 6-inch (152 mm) guns, positioned in the same way as on the Chasselou-Loba. Svetlana was the first ship equipped with an electric generator and electric motors for lifting ammunition.
The Italian Navy bought its first armored cruisers from Armstrong in Great Britain. These were "Dogali", "Bosan" and "Piedmonte". Later, three Etna-class cruisers and Liguria-class vessels (modeled respectively on Bosan and Piemonte) were built in Italy.
Piedmonte was armed with six 6-inch (152 mm) guns: one at the bow, one at the stern, and two on each side. Liguria also had six 6-inch (152 mm) guns, but they were arranged in three symmetrical pairs. Other ships of the class, however, had two 6-inch (152 mm) guns on each side interspersed with six 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns, three on each side in the center of the ship. Both the Piedmonte and seven Liguria-class cruisers took part in the First World War, after which they were decommissioned. From August 29, 1903 to April 18, 1905, the Liguria circumnavigated the world under the command of the Duke of Abrutz. The United States Navy had relatively few armored cruisers. Exceptions were the partially armored "Atlanta" and "Boston" (1886), the larger "Chicago" (1889), "Newark" (1891), "Charleston" (1889), "San Francisco" (1890), "Balti- Mor "(1890), "Philadelphia" (1890), "Columbia" and "Minneapolis" (1894), "New Orleans" (1898), "Albany" (1900), "Olympia" (1895) and six ships of the "class" Chattanooga" (1904-1905).
Vessels such as the armored cruisers Atlanta were armed with two 8-inch (203 mm) guns, and this large caliber was also used on the Olympia. An interesting feature of the placement of artillery on the Atlanta was that the 8-inch guns were not located along the center line, the bow was shifted to the left side, and the stern to the right. The main turret's two 6-inch (152 mm) bow and stern guns were positioned in a similar manner, only reversed, while the other four were positioned symmetrically. All of these guns had armor protection, and the 8-inch (203 mm) were also protected by a 1.9-inch (50 mm) thick barbette. The protective deck was 1.2 inches (33 mm) thick. Olympia had four 8-inch (203 mm) guns in two twin centerline rotating turrets, protected by 4 inches (102 mm) of armor on both the rotating section and the fixed barbettes. In addition, the ship had ten 5-inch (127 mm) guns in the main turret casemates on the main deck, ten 2.2-inch (57 mm) guns on the battery deck and four on the superstructure. The Olympia was a twin-screw vessel that sailed twenty-one knots with an autonomous cruising radius of 12,000 miles. She also had a "honeycomb deck" on both sides of the protected deck. The Chattanooga-class cruisers displaced 3,100 tons. They had ten 5-inch (127 mm) guns: one at the bow, one at the stern (both in protected mounts), and eight inside casemates on the gun deck. They did not have torpedo tubes. The outstanding features of the Atlanta and Chattanooga classes were their very tall smokestacks and masts, originally designed to carry a spenker (trapezoidal longitudinal sail).
Small naval powers also had armored cruisers, such as the Austrian Franz Joseph, Kaiserin Elisabeth, built in Trieste, and the German Gefion, built in Danzig. In contrast, the Argentine 25 De Mayo, the Chinese Hai Chi and Haitien, the Brazilian Almirante Baroso and the Uruguayan Montevideo were built in the UK by Armstrong, the international supplier of this type of armored cruiser. An interesting detail: the Brazilian armored cruiser "Tamandare" was built at the naval shipyard in Rio de Janeiro with the help of the British, but its propulsion and guns were all delivered from England. Many armored cruisers had wooden sheathing covered with copper sheets over an iron hull. Examples include the British Pelorus and Comus, the American Chattanooga-class vessels, the Argentine Buenos Aires and the Brazilian Almirante Baroso.
