The largest battleships in the world. "Sevastopol" - ship of the line of the Russian navy.

The battleship is a sailing military ship made of wood with a displacement of up to 6 thousand tons. They had up to 135 guns on the sides, arranged in several rows, and up to 800 crew members. These ships were used in battles at sea using the so-called linear battle tactics in the 17-19th centuries.

The emergence of ships of the line

The name "ship of the line" has been known since the days of the sailing fleet. During the multi-decks lined up in one line in order to fire a volley of all guns at the enemy. It was the simultaneous fire from all onboard guns that inflicted significant damage on the enemy. Soon, this tactic of battle began to be called linear. Line-up of ships during naval battles was first used by the English and Spanish navies in the early 17th century.

The ancestors of battleships are the heavily armed galleons, the Karrak. The first mention of them appeared in Europe at the beginning of the 17th century. These battleship models were much lighter and shorter than galleons. Such qualities allowed them to maneuver faster, that is, line up sideways to the enemy. It was necessary to build in such a way that the bow of the next ship was necessarily directed to the stern of the previous one. Why weren't they afraid to expose the sides of the ships for enemy attacks? Because the multi-layered wooden sides were reliable protection of the ship from enemy nuclei.

The process of becoming battleships

Soon a multi-deck sailing ship of the line appeared, which for more than 250 years became the main means of waging war at sea. Progress did not stand still, thanks to the latest methods of calculating the hulls, it became possible to cut through the cannon ports in several tiers at the very beginning of the construction. Thus, it was possible to calculate the strength of the ship even before it was launched. In the middle of the 17th century, a clear distinction between classes emerged:

Old two-deck. These are ships with decks located one above the other. They are filled with 50 cannons firing at the enemy through the windows in the sides of the ship. These floating assets did not have sufficient strength to conduct a linear battle and were mainly used as an escort for convoys.
Double-decked battleships with 64 to 90 cannons represented the bulk of the fleet.
Three- or four-deck ships with 98-144 combat guns played the role of flagships. A fleet containing 10-25 such ships could control trade lines and, in case of military action, block them for the enemy.

Differences between battleships from others

Sailing equipment for frigates and ships of the line is the same - three-masted. Each one had straight sails. But still the frigate and the ship of the line have some differences. The first has only one closed battery, and the battleships have several. In addition, the latter have a much larger number of guns, and this also applies to the height of the sides. But frigates are more maneuverable and can operate even in shallow water.

The ship of the line differs from the galleon in straight sails. In addition, the latter does not have a rectangular tower at the stern and a latrine at the bow. The ship of the line surpasses the galleon both in speed and maneuverability, also in artillery combat. The latter is more suited for boarding combat. Among other things, they were very often used to transport troops and goods.

The appearance of battleships in Russia

Until the reign of Peter I, there were no such structures in Russia. The first Russian ship of the line was named "Goto Predestination". By the twenties of the 18th century, 36 such ships were already part of the Russian Imperial Navy. In the beginning, these were complete copies of Western models, but by the end of the reign of Peter I, Russian battleships began to have their own distinctive features. They were much shorter, had less shrinkage, which negatively affected seaworthiness. These ships were very well suited to the conditions of the Azov and then the Baltic seas. The emperor himself was directly involved in the design and construction. The name of the Russian Imperial Navy was borne by the Russian Navy from October 22, 1721 to April 16, 1917. Only people from the nobility could serve as naval officers, and recruits from the common people could serve as sailors on ships. The service life in the navy for them was lifelong.

The battleship "Twelve Apostles"

"12 Apostles" was founded in 1838 and launched in 1841 in the city of Nikolaev. This is a ship with 120 guns on board. In total, there were 3 ships of this type. These ships were distinguished not only by their grace and beauty of forms, they had no equal in battle among sailing ships. The battleship 12 Apostles was the first in the Russian Imperial Navy to be armed with new bomb cannons.

The fate of the ship developed in such a way that it did not manage to participate in any battle of the Black Sea Fleet. His hull remained intact and did not receive a single hole. But this ship became an exemplary training center, it provided the defense of Russian forts and fortresses in the west of the Caucasus. In addition, the ship was engaged in the transportation of ground troops and went on long voyages for 3-4 months. Subsequently, the ship was sunk.

Reasons why battleships have lost their relevance

The position of the wooden battleships as the main force at sea was shaken by the development of artillery. Heavy bombing guns easily pierced the wooden side with bombs filled with gunpowder, thereby causing serious damage to the ship and causing fires. If earlier artillery did not pose a great threat to the hulls of ships, then bombing guns could send Russian battleships to the bottom with just a few dozen hits. Since that time, the question arose about the protection of structures with metal armor.

In 1848, the propeller-driven propeller and relatively powerful steam engines were invented, so wooden sailboats slowly began to leave the stage. Some ships have been converted and equipped with steam units. Several large ships with sails were also released; they were called linear sailing out of habit.

Linear Imperial Navy

In 1907, a new class of ships appeared, in Russia they were called linear, or in abbreviated form - battleships. These are armored artillery warships. Their displacement ranged from 20 to 65 thousand tons. If we compare battleships of the 18th century and battleships, the latter have a length of 150 to 250 m. They are armed with a gun of caliber from 280 to 460 mm. The battleship's crew is from 1,500 to 2,800 people. The ship was used to destroy the enemy as part of a combat formation and artillery support for ground operations. The ships were named not so much in memory of ships of the line, but because they needed to revive the tactics of linear combat.

type "Soviet Union"

The combat regulations of the Red Army Naval Forces - 1930 (BU-30), battleships were recognized as the main striking force of the fleet, and the course towards industrialization opened up real perspectives in their creation. However, the matter was restrained not only by limited capabilities, but also by dogmatism, extremes in the development of naval theory. Leading theorists B.B. Zhreve and M.A. Petrov, who advocated a proportional relationship between different classes of ships in the combat strength of the fleet, at the turn of the 20-30s. stuck labels of apologists of the "bourgeois old school"; while M.A. Petrov, who brilliantly defended the fleet from its radical reduction in an acute polemic with M.N. Tukhachevsky at a meeting of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, ended up in prison, where he was subsequently killed.

Influenced by the tempting idea to solve the problems of the USSR's naval defense by mass construction of relatively cheap submarines, torpedo boats and seaplanes, the not always competent specialists of the so-called young school won the upper hand in the theoretical dispute; some of its representatives, out of opportunistic considerations of undermining the authority of the "old specialists", distorted the picture of the struggle at sea during the First World War, idealizing the combat capabilities of "new means", for example, submarines. Sometimes such one-sided concepts were shared by the leaders of the Naval Forces of the Red Army; so, in October 1933, the chief of the USSR Navy (namorsi) V.M. Orlov, with the filing of the most aggressive "theo-retic" A.P. Aleksandrova demanded "disclosure in print" and "withdrawal from circulation" of the book "Anglo-American Maritime Rivalry", published by the Institute of World Economy and Politics; one of its authors - P.I. Smirnov, who held the post of deputy inspector of the Red Army Navy, dared to objectively show the place of battleships in the fleet that A.P. Aleksandrov regarded it as "a shameless attack on the party line in naval construction, undermining the confidence of the personnel in their weapons."

It is noteworthy that even during the period of enthusiasm for mosquito forces (October 1931), a group of engineers from the Design Bureau of the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad seemed to foresee the imminent need for these ships; they presented a memorandum to the leadership of the industry, which contained proposals for starting preparatory work, choosing types, drawing up projects, strengthening the material base, design and working personnel. Many of those who signed this document participated in the design of Soviet battleships. The importance of the construction of large ships in the mid-30s. became obvious to namorsi V.M. Orlov, his deputy I.M. Ludri and the head of the Glavmorprom People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry R.A. Muklevich.

The greatest successes in 1935 were achieved by the Central Design Bureau of Special-purpose Construction of Glavmorprom (TsKBS-1), headed by V.L. Brzezinski. Among a number of promising projects, six variants of battleships with a standard displacement from 43,000 to 75,000 tons were worked out. Based on the results of the work, the chief engineer of TsKBS-1 V.P. Rimsky-Kor-sakov (in the recent past - the deputy head of the Naval Training and Construction Directorate) compiled a generalized code of the TTE, which V.L. Brzezinski reported on December 24, 1935 to the leadership of the Naval Forces and Glavmorprom. Glavmorprom issued the first design order for the draft design of "Project No. 23 of a battleship for the Pacific Fleet" to the Baltic Shipyard on February 21, 1936, but the assignment for this project was not approved and was adjusted according to the TsKBS-1 variants. V.M. Orlov recognized as "interesting and relevant" for the Navy the projects of battleships with a standard displacement of 55,000-57,000 and 35,000 tons (instead of the 43,000 tons option); On May 13, 1936, he gave instructions to I.M. Ludry on the issuance of "clear assignments" to the Naval Research Institute of Naval Shipbuilding (NIVK) and industry for the "final draft design of large ships" in the development of selected options. Preliminary tactical and technical assignments for sketches developed under the leadership of the head of the UVMS shipbuilding department, flagship engineer of the 2nd rank B.E. Alyakritsky, approved on May 15, 1936 by I.M. Ludry.

The concept of building two types of battleships (larger and smaller displacement) was based on the differences in theaters of war - open Pacific, limited Baltic and Black Sea. The compilers of the TTZ proceeded from the optimal characteristics of the ships, determined by the level of technology and the experience of the past war, and combat training. However, at the initial stage, the design was strongly influenced by foreign experience and contractual displacement restrictions provided for by the Washington (1922) and London (1930 and 1936) agreements, in which the USSR did not officially participate. V.M. Orlov was inclined to reduce the displacement and caliber of weapons of the first battleship of the Pacific Ocean Fleet, and for the second he chose the option of a relatively small, but high-speed ship, embodied in the projects of the French Dunkirk and the German Scharnhorst. When discussing the sketches, the placement of all three basins of the main caliber of the "large" battleship in the bow of the hull (following the example of the British battleship "Nelson") did not go through the proposed design bureau of the Baltic Shipyard. The design of the TsKBS-1 was taken as a basis, in which two three-gun turrets were located in the bow, and one in the stern. August 3, 1936 V.M. Orlov approved the TTZ for the preliminary design of battleships of types "A" (project 23) and "B" (project 25), proposed on a competitive basis by TsKBS-1 and the design bureau of the Baltic plant.

In accordance with a special provision approved by V.M. Orlov and R.A. Muklevich on August 21, 1936, work on the projects was carried out in close cooperation between the chiefs of the design bureau and TsKBS-1 S.F. Stepanov and V.L. Brzezinski with representatives of the Navy, who oversaw the design. The expertise was entrusted to the heads of the naval institutes under the general supervision of the head of the NIVK, the flagship engineer of the 2nd rank E.P. Liebel.

In November 1936, the materials of the draft designs of the battleships "A" and "B", together with the reviews of the observers and the NIVK, were considered in the Naval Department of Naval Forces (chief - flagship engineer of the 2nd rank BE Alyakrinsky). To draw up a general technical design of the first of the battleships, the most thought-out version of the design bureau of the Baltic Shipyard (standard displacement of 45,900 tons) was chosen with the changes approved by V.M. Orlov on November 26, 1936; displacement, for example, was allowed in the range of 46-47 thousand tons with an increase in draft in full load up to 10 m, it was envisaged to strengthen the armor of decks and bow extremity. The development of the general technical design of the B-type battleship was entrusted to the TsKBS in the development of the conceptual design presented by him with a standard displacement of 30,900 tons (total 37,800).

Fulfilling the government decree of July 16, 1936, the Shipbuilding Department of the UVMS issued an order to Glavmorprom on December 3 for the construction of eight battleships with delivery to the fleet in 1941. In Leningrad, it was planned to build two battleships of Project 23 (Baltic Plant) and the same number of Project 25, in Nikolaev - four projects 25. This decision actually meant another revision of the shipbuilding program of the second five-year plan (1933-1937), supplementing it with previously not provided for battleships. However, the implementation of the new plans to strengthen the fleet encountered serious difficulties, some of which were determined by the huge amount of experimental work that could ensure the success of design and construction; This meant the manufacture of steam boilers, mine protection compartments, armor plates, life-size models of turbine and boiler rooms, testing the impact of bombs and shells on deck armor, irrigation systems, remote control, air conditioning, etc. The problems of creating artillery installations and high-power turbine mechanisms turned out to be especially difficult.

All these difficulties were overcome in an atmosphere of disorganization in the management of the fleet and industry caused by the repressions of 1937-1938, when almost everyone who led the choice of types and the creation of future battleships became victims. The already dire situation worsened with the availability of qualified command and engineering personnel, as a result of which the laying of the ships in 1937 did not take place, and the design tasks themselves underwent major changes. Project 25 was abandoned and later transformed into a heavy cruiser (Project 69, "Kronstadt"). In August-September of the same year, the new leadership of the Red Army Navy (namorsi - the flagship of the 2nd rank fleet L.M. Haller) revised the previously drawn up plan for the construction of ships, calculated for ten years. This option envisaged the prospective construction of 6 battleships of type "A" and 14 type "B" instead of 8 and 16. However, such a truncated plan presented to the Committee of Defense by Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov in September 1937, was never officially approved.

Despite the problematic implementation of the ten-year program, the government, by a decision of August 13/15, 1937, determined the revision of the technical project 23 with an increase in the standard displacement to 55-57 thousand tons while optimizing armor and structural underwater protection and abandoning two aft 100-mm towers. The increase in displacement, reflecting the objective need to combine powerful weapons, reliable protection and high speed, proved the validity of the initial assignments of 1936. At the same time, TsKB-17 received the flagship of the 2nd rank S.P. Stavitsky's tactical and technical

a grant for the design of a B-type battleship (Project 64) with 356-mm main-caliber artillery. For projects 23 and 64, it was planned to unify the main turbo-gear units with a capacity of 67,000 hp. each (technical assistance of the Swiss company "Brown-Boveri"), 152-, 100-mm towers and 37-mm quadruple assault rifles of domestic design.

The materials of the technical project 23 (head of the design bureau of the Baltic plant Grauerman, chief engineer B.G. Chilikin) were considered by the shipbuilding directorate (UK) of the Red Army Navy in November 1937. In December, the head of TsKB-17, N.P. Dubinin and chief engineer V.A. Nikitin submitted a draft design 64 to the Criminal Code, but both of them were recognized as unsatisfactory. In project 23 (standard displacement 57,825, full - 63,900 tons), there were many unresolved issues related to the development of the main power plant, anti-mine and anti-aircraft artillery towers, bottom protection and a reservation system that did not match the results of the experimental bombing. The shortcomings of Project 64 were largely explained by the task itself, which involved the creation of a deliberately weak ship, designed to solve problems "in conjunction with other means of connection." Armament (nine 356-, twelve 152-, eight 100-, thirty-two 37-mm guns) and its characteristics (for 356-mm, 750-kg shells were planned with an initial speed of 860-910 m / s) at a speed of 29 knots could not provide a battleship of type "B" with tactical advantages in single combat with the same foreigners. The desire of the designers to meet the stringent requirements of the TTZ for the protection of the ship led to an increase in the standard displacement to almost 50,000 tons. The wishes of the Naval Shipbuilding Directorate to reduce the displacement to 45,000 tons did not come true at the beginning of 1938, the battleship B was abandoned.

Exactly seventy years ago, the Soviet Union embarked on a seven-year program of "large-scale marine shipbuilding" - one of the most expensive and ambitious projects in the history of domestic, and not only domestic, military equipment.

The main leaders of the program were considered to be heavy artillery ships - battleships and cruisers, which were to become the largest and most powerful in the world. Although it was not possible to complete the superlinkers, interest in them is still great, especially in light of the recent fashion for an alternative history. So what were the projects of the "Stalinist giants" and what preceded their appearance?

Lords of the seas

The fact that battleships are the main force of the fleet was considered an axiom for almost three centuries. From the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th century to the Battle of Jutland in 1916, the outcome of the war at sea was decided by an artillery duel between two fleets lined up in wake lines (hence the origin of the term "ship of the line", abbreviated as battleship). The belief in the omnipotence of the battleship was not undermined either by the emerging aviation or submarines. And after the First World War, most admirals and naval theorists still measured the strength of fleets by the number of heavy guns, the total weight of the side salvo and the thickness of the armor. But it was this exceptional role of the ships of the line, considered the indisputable masters of the seas, that played a cruel joke on them ...

The evolution of battleships in the first decades of the twentieth century was truly rapid. If by the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, the largest representatives of this class, then called squadron battleships, had a displacement of about 15 thousand tons, then the famous "Dreadnought" built in England two years later (this name became a household name for its many followers) had a full the displacement was already 20,730 tons. "Dreadnought" seemed to contemporaries a giant and the height of perfection. However, by 1912, against the background of the latest superdreadnoughts, it looked like a completely ordinary ship of the second line ... And four years later, the British laid down the famous "Hood" with a displacement of 45 thousand tons! Incredibly, powerful and expensive ships in the conditions of an unrestrained arms race became obsolete in literally three to four years, and their serial construction became extremely burdensome even for the richest countries.

Why did this happen? The fact is that any warship is a compromise of many factors, the main of which are three: armament, protection and speed. Each of these components "ate" a significant part of the ship's displacement, since artillery, armor, and bulky power plants with numerous boilers, fuel, steam engines or turbines were very heavy. And the designers, as a rule, had to sacrifice one of the fighting qualities in favor of the other. So, the Italian shipbuilding school was characterized by high-speed and heavily armed, but poorly protected battleships. The Germans, on the contrary, put vitality at the forefront and built ships with very powerful armor, but moderate speed and lightweight artillery. The desire to ensure a harmonious combination of all characteristics, taking into account the tendency of a constant increase in the main caliber, led to a monstrous increase in the size of the ship.

Paradoxically, the appearance of the long-awaited "ideal" battleships - fast, heavily armed and protected by powerful armor - brought the very idea of such ships to complete absurdity. Still: because of their high cost, floating monsters undermined the economies of their own countries more significantly than the invasions of enemy armies! At the same time, they almost never went to sea: the admirals did not want to risk such valuable combat units, since the loss of even one of them was practically equated to a national disaster. From a means of waging war at sea, battleships turned into an instrument of big politics. And the continuation of their construction was no longer determined by tactical expediency, but by completely different motives. To have such ships for the country's prestige in the first half of the twentieth century meant about the same as now possessing nuclear weapons.

The governments of all countries were aware of the need to stop the untwisted flywheel of the naval arms race, and in 1922, at an international conference convened in Washington, radical measures were taken. The delegations of the most influential states agreed to significantly reduce their naval forces and consolidate the total tonnage of their own fleets in a certain proportion over the next 15 years. For the same period, the construction of new battleships was almost everywhere stopped. The only exception was made for Great Britain, a country forced to scrapped the largest number of brand new dreadnoughts. But those two battleships that the British could build would hardly have an ideal combination of combat qualities, since their displacement should have been measured at 35 thousand tons.

The Washington Conference was the first ever real step towards limiting offensive arms on a global scale. It gave the world economy some breathing space. But nothing more. Since the apotheosis of the "battleship race" was still ahead ...

The dream of a "big fleet"

By 1914, the Russian Imperial Navy ranked first in the world in terms of growth rates. On the stocks of shipyards in St. Petersburg and Nikolaev, one after another, mighty dreadnoughts were laid. Russia quickly recovered from defeat in the Russo-Japanese War and again claimed the role of the leading naval power.

However, the revolution, the Civil War and general devastation left no trace of the former sea power of the empire. The Red Navy inherited from the "tsarist regime" only three battleships - "Petropavlovsk", "Gangut" and "Sevastopol", respectively, renamed "Marat", "October Revolution" and "Paris Commune". By the standards of the 1920s, these ships already looked hopelessly outdated. It is not surprising that Soviet Russia was not invited to the Washington conference: its fleet was not taken seriously at the time.

At first, the Red Navy did not really have any special prospects. The Bolshevik government had much more urgent tasks than the restoration of the former sea power. In addition, the first persons of the state, Lenin and Trotsky, looked at the navy as an expensive toy and instrument of world imperialism. Therefore, during the first decade and a half of the existence of the Soviet Union, the RKKF ship composition was replenished slowly and mainly only by boats and submarines. But in the mid-1930s, the USSR's naval doctrine changed dramatically. By that time, the "Washington battleship vacation" was over and all the world powers began to feverishly make up for lost time. Two international treaties signed in London tried to somehow contain the size of the future ships of the line, but everything turned out to be in vain: practically none of the countries participating in the agreements were going to honestly fulfill the signed conditions from the very beginning. France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, the USA and Japan have begun to create a new generation of Leviathan ships. Stalin, inspired by the successes of industrialization, also did not want to stand aside. And the Soviet Union became another participant in a new round of the naval arms race.

In July 1936, the USSR Labor and Defense Council, with the blessing of the secretary general, approved a seven-year program of "large sea shipbuilding" for 1937-1943 (due to the dissonance of the official name in the literature, it is usually called the "Big Fleet" program). In accordance with it, it was supposed to build 533 ships, including 24 battleships! For the then Soviet economy, the figures are absolutely unrealistic. Everyone understood this, but no one dared to object to Stalin.

In fact, Soviet designers began to develop a project for a new battleship back in 1934. The business was progressing with difficulty: they had no experience in creating large ships. I had to attract foreign specialists - first Italian, then American. In August 1936, after analyzing various options, the terms of reference for the design of battleships of type "A" (project 23) and "B" (project 25) were approved. The latter was soon abandoned in favor of the Project 69 heavy cruiser, but Type A gradually turned into an armored monster that left far behind all its foreign counterparts. Stalin, who had a weakness for giant ships, could be pleased.

First of all, they decided not to limit the displacement. The USSR was not bound by any international agreements, and therefore, already at the stage of the technical design, the battleship's standard displacement reached 58,500 tons. The thickness of the armor belt was 375 millimeters, and in the area of the bow towers - 420! There were three armored decks: 25-mm upper, 155-mm main and 50-mm lower anti-fragmentation decks. The hull was equipped with solid anti-torpedo protection: in the central part of the Italian type, and at the ends - of the American type.

The artillery armament of the Project 23 battleship included nine 406-mm B-37 guns with a barrel length of 50 calibers, developed by the Stalingrad plant "Barrikady". The Soviet cannon could fire 1 105-kilogram shells at a range of 45.6 kilometers. In terms of its characteristics, it surpassed all foreign guns of this class, with the exception of the 18-inch Japanese super-battleship Yamato. However, the latter, having heavier shells, were inferior to the B-37 in firing range and rate of fire. In addition, the Japanese made their ships so classified that until 1945 no one knew anything about them. In particular, the Europeans and Americans were sure that the caliber of the Yamato artillery did not exceed 16 inches, that is, 406 millimeters.

The Japanese battleship Yamato is the largest warship of the Second World War. Laid down in 1937, entered service in 1941. Full displacement - 72,810 tons. Length - 263 m, width - 36.9 m, draft - 10.4 m. Armament: 9 - 460 mm and 12 - 155 -mm guns, 12 - 127-mm anti-aircraft guns, 24 - 25-mm machine gun, 7 seaplanes

The main power plant of the Soviet battleship is three turbo-gear units with a capacity of 67 thousand liters each. With. For the lead ship, the mechanisms were bought from the Swiss branch of the British company "Brown Boveri", for the rest the power plant was to be manufactured under license by the Kharkov Turbine Works. It was assumed that the speed of the battleship will be 28 knots and the cruising range of the 14-knot course - over 5,500 miles.

In the meantime, the "large marine shipbuilding" program was revised. In the new "Big Shipbuilding Program", approved by Stalin in February 1938, "small" battleships of the "B" type were no longer listed, but the number of "large" project 23 increased from 8 to 15 units. True, none of the experts doubted that this number, as well as the previous plan, belonged to the realm of pure fantasy. Indeed, even the "mistress of the seas" Great Britain and ambitious Nazi Germany hoped to build only 6 to 9 new battleships. Realistically assessing the capabilities of the industry, the top leadership of our country had to limit themselves to four ships. Yes, and it turned out to be beyond the power: the construction of one of the ships was stopped almost immediately after the laying.

The lead battleship (Sovetsky Soyuz) was laid down at the Leningrad Baltic Shipyard on July 15, 1938. It was followed by "Soviet Ukraine" (Nikolaev), "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Belarus" (Molotovsk, now Severodvinsk). Despite the mobilization of all forces, construction was behind schedule. By June 22, 1941, the first two ships had the highest degree of readiness, respectively 21% and 17.5%. Things were much worse at the new plant in Molotovsk. Although in 1940, instead of two battleships, they decided to build one there, all the same, by the beginning of World War II, its readiness reached only 5%.

The deadlines for the manufacture of artillery and armor were also not kept. Although in October 1940, tests of an experienced 406-mm gun were successfully completed and before the start of the war, the Barricades plant managed to hand over 12 barrels of marine superguns, not a single turret was ever assembled. There were even more problems with the release of the armor. Due to the loss of experience in the manufacture of armor plates of great thickness, up to 40% of them were scrapped. And negotiations about ordering armor from the Krupp firm ended in nothing.

The attack of Hitler's Germany canceled plans to create a "Big Fleet". By a government decree of July 10, 1941, the construction of battleships was stopped. Later, the armor plates of the "Soviet Union" were used in the construction of pillboxes near Leningrad, where the B-37 experimental gun also fired at the enemy. "Soviet Ukraine" was captured by the Germans, but they did not find any use for the gigantic corps. After the war, the question of completing the battleships according to one of the improved projects was discussed, but in the end they were dismantled for metal, and the hull section of the head "Soviet Union" was even launched in 1949 - it was planned to use it for full-scale tests of the anti-torpedo protection system. The turbines received from Switzerland at first wanted to be installed on one of the new light cruisers of the 68-bis project, then they refused this: too many alterations were required.

Good cruisers or bad battleships?

Heavy cruisers of Project 69 appeared in the "Big Shipbuilding Program", of which, like the battleships of the "A" type, it was planned to build 15 units. But these were not just heavy cruisers. Since the Soviet Union was not bound by any international treaties, Soviet designers rejected the restrictions of the Washington and London conferences for ships of this class (standard displacement up to 10 thousand tons, artillery caliber no more than 203 millimeters) immediately. Project 69 was conceived as a fighter for any foreign cruisers, including the formidable German "pocket battleships" (12,100 tons displacement). Therefore, at first, its main armament was supposed to include nine 254-mm guns, but then the caliber was increased to 305 mm. At the same time, it was necessary to strengthen armor protection, increase the power of the power plant ... As a result, the total displacement of the ship exceeded 41 thousand tons, and the heavy cruiser turned into a typical battleship, even larger in size than the planned project 25. Of course, the number of such ships had to be reduced. In reality, in 1939 in Leningrad and Nikolaev, only two "supercruisers" were laid down - "Kronstadt" and "Sevastopol".

The heavy cruiser Kronstadt was laid down in 1939, but not completed. Full displacement 41,540 tons. Overall length - 250.5 m, width - 31.6 m, draft - 9.5 m. Turbine capacity - 201,000 hp. sec., speed - 33 knots (61 km / h). Side armor thickness - up to 230 mm, turrets - up to 330 mm. Armament: 9 305-mm and 8 - 152-mm guns, 8 - 100-mm anti-aircraft guns, 28 - 37-mm machine guns, 2 seaplanes

There were many interesting innovations in the design of the ships of Project 69, but in general they did not stand up to criticism in terms of the cost-effectiveness criterion. Conceived as good cruisers, "Kronstadt" and "Sevastopol" in the process of "improving" the project turned into bad battleships, too expensive and too complicated to build. Moreover, the industry clearly did not have time to produce the main artillery for them. Out of despair, the idea arose to equip the ships instead of nine 305-mm cannons with six German 380-mm guns, similar to those installed on the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz. This gave an increase in displacement by more than a thousand tons. However, the Germans were in no hurry to fulfill the order, of course, and by the beginning of the war not a single gun from Germany had arrived in the USSR.

The fate of "Kronstadt" and "Sevastopol" developed similarly to their counterparts such as "Soviet Union". By June 22, 1941, their technical readiness was estimated at 12-13%. In September of the same year, the construction of "Kronstadt" was stopped, and the "Sevastopol" located in Nikolaev had been captured by the Germans even earlier. After the war, the hulls of both "supercruisers" were dismantled for metal.

The battleship Bismarck is the strongest ship in the Hitlerite fleet. Laid down in 1936, entered service in 1940. Full displacement - 50,900 tons. Length - 250.5 m, width - 36 m, draft - 10.6 m. Thickness of side armor - up to 320 mm, towers - up to 360 mm. Armament: 8 - 380-mm and 12 - 150-mm guns, 16 - 105-mm anti-aircraft guns, 16 - 37-mm and 12 - 20-mm machine guns, 4 seaplanes

Last attempts

In total, in the world in 1936-1945, 27 battleships of the latest generation were built: 10 - in the USA, 5 - in Great Britain, 4 - in Germany, 3 each - in France and Italy, 2 - in Japan. And in none of the fleets did they live up to the hopes placed on them. The experience of the Second World War has clearly shown that the time of battleships is gone. Aircraft carriers became the new masters of the oceans: carrier-based aircraft, of course, surpassed naval artillery both in range and in the ability to hit targets in the most vulnerable places. So it is safe to say that the Stalinist battleships, even if they were built by June 1941, would not have played any significant role in the war.

But here's a paradox: the Soviet Union, which spent slightly less money on unnecessary ships compared to other states, decided to make up for lost time and became the only country in the world that continued to design battleships even after World War II! Contrary to common sense, the designers have been working tirelessly for several years on the drawings of yesterday's floating fortresses. The successor of the Soviet Union was the Project 24 battleship with a total displacement of 81,150 tons (!), The successor of the Kronstadt was the 42,000-ton heavy cruiser of Project 82. In addition, this pair was supplemented by another so-called “medium” cruiser of Project 66 with 220- mm artillery of the main caliber. Note that the latter, although it was called average, but in terms of displacement (30,750 tons) left far behind all foreign heavy cruisers and approached the battleships.

Battleship "Soviet Union", project 23 (USSR, laid down in 1938). Standard displacement - 59,150 tons, total - 65,150 tons. Overall length - 269.4 m, width - 38.9 m, draft - 10.4 m. Turbine capacity - 201,000 hp. sec., speed - 28 knots (when forcing, respectively, 231,000 hp and 29 knots). Armament: 9 - 406-mm and 12 - 152-mm guns, 12 - 100-mm anti-aircraft guns, 40 - 37-mm machine guns, 4 seaplanes

The reasons that the domestic shipbuilding in the post-war years was clearly going against the tide are mostly subjective. And in the first place here are the personal preferences of the "leader of the peoples." Stalin was very impressed by large artillery ships, especially fast ones, and at the same time he clearly underestimated aircraft carriers. During the discussion of the Project 82 heavy cruiser in March 1950, the secretary general demanded that the designers increase the ship's speed to 35 knots, “so that he panicked the enemy's light cruisers, dispersed them and smashed them. This cruiser must fly like a swallow, be a pirate, a real bandit. " Alas, on the threshold of the nuclear-missile era, the views of the Soviet leader on naval tactics lagged behind their time by one and a half to two decades.

If projects 24 and 66 remained on paper, then according to project 82 in 1951-1952 three "bandit cruisers" were laid - "Stalingrad", "Moscow" and the third, which remained unnamed. But they did not have to enter service: on April 18, 1953, a month after Stalin's death, the construction of the ships was stopped due to their high cost and the complete lack of clarity of tactical use. The hull section of the lead Stalingrad was launched and for several years was used to test various types of naval weapons, including torpedoes and cruise missiles. It is quite symbolic: the world's last heavy artillery ship turned out to be in demand only as a target for new weapons ...

Heavy cruiser "Stalingrad". Laid down in 1951, but not completed. Full displacement - 42,300 tons. Overall length - 273.6 m, width - 32 m, draft - 9.2 m. Turbine power - 280,000 hp. sec., speed - 35.2 knots (65 km / h). The thickness of the side armor is up to 180 mm, the thickness of the towers is up to 240 mm. Armament: 9 - 305 mm and 12 - 130 mm guns, 24 - 45 mm and 40 - 25 mm machine guns

The "supership" obsession

In conclusion, it should be noted that the desire to create a "supership", stronger than any potential enemy of its class, at different times puzzled designers and shipbuilders of different countries. And here there is a pattern: the weaker the economy and industry of the state, the more active this striving; for developed countries, on the contrary, it is less typical. So, in the interwar period, the British Admiralty preferred to build ships of very modest combat capabilities, but in large numbers, which ultimately made it possible to have a well-balanced fleet. Japan, on the other hand, sought to create ships more powerful than the British and American ones - in this way it hoped to compensate for the difference in economic development with its future rivals.

In this respect, the shipbuilding policy of the then USSR occupies a special place. Here, after the decision of the party and the government to build the "Big Fleet", the obsession with "super ships" was actually brought to the point of absurdity. On the one hand, Stalin, inspired by the successes in the aviation industry and tank building, too hastily thought that it would be possible to solve all problems in the shipbuilding industries just as quickly. On the other hand, the atmosphere in society was such that the project of any ship proposed by the industry and not superior in its capabilities to foreign counterparts could easily be considered "sabotage" with all the ensuing consequences. The designers and shipbuilders simply had no choice: they had to design the "most powerful" and "fastest" ships, armed with the "longest-range" artillery in the world ... In practice, this resulted in the following: ships with the dimensions and weapons of battleships began to be called heavy cruisers (but the most powerful in the world!), heavy cruisers - light, and the latter - "destroyer leaders". Such a substitution of some classes for others would still make sense if domestic factories could build battleships in the quantities in which other countries built heavy cruisers. But since this was, to put it mildly, not at all the case, the reports on the outstanding success of the designers that went upstairs often looked like banal eyewash.

It is characteristic that practically all "super ships" ever embodied in metal have not justified themselves. Suffice it to cite the Japanese battleships Yamato and Musashi as an example. They died under the bombs of American planes without firing a single salvo with the main caliber at their American "classmates". But even if they had a chance to clash with the US Navy in a linear battle, they could hardly count on success. After all, Japan was able to build only two battleships of the latest generation, and the United States - ten. With such a balance of forces, the individual superiority of the Yamato over an individual "American" no longer plays any role.

World experience shows that several well-balanced ships are much better than one giant with hypertrophied combat characteristics. And nevertheless, in the USSR, the idea of a "supership" did not die. A quarter of a century later, the Stalinist leviathans had distant relatives - nuclear-powered missile cruisers of the Kirov type, followers of Kronstadt and Stalingrad. However, this is a completely different story ...

For many years, battleships were considered the most powerful combat units of the world fleet of their time. They were called "sea monsters". And this is no coincidence. Huge, fearless, with a lot of weapons on board - they carried out attack maneuvers and defended their sea lines. Dreadnoughts represented the highest development of battleships. And she only managed to show her superiority over them. Against airplanes, these lords of the oceans were powerless. They were replaced. Nevertheless, battleships left a big mark on history, taking part in important battles for hundreds of years. Consider the stages of development of the described vessels, starting with the first wooden sailing model and ending with the steel armored dreadnought of the last generation.

In order not to get confused in the terminology, we will clarify.

Battleships were called warships, the guns of which could carry out a one-time salvo from one side;

Dreadnought - the first super battleship of its kind, released in 1906, it was distinguished by an all-metal hull and large-caliber rotary turrets, this name became a household name for all ships of this type;

Battleship is the name of all metal-hulled super-battleships.

Prerequisites for the creation of battleships

The seizure of territories and the expansion of the trade zone became the basis for the financial development of many European powers. In the middle of the 16th century, Spain and Great Britain increasingly clashed off the shores of the New World - the struggle for territory forced them to improve the fleet, which had to not only carry valuable cargo, but also be able to protect its property. The turning point for England was the victory over the Armada in 1588. With the development of trade relations and colonization, it became clear that the sea is the source of the country's future prosperity and power, which must be protected.

Some merchant ships were converted into combat ones - guns and other weapons were installed on them. At this point, no one adhered to uniform standards. This diversity had a negative effect in collisions on the high seas. The battle was won by fortunate coincidences, and not as a result of planned tactical maneuvers. For unconditional victories, it was necessary to improve the naval forces.

The realization that a warship can be more effective in conjunction with others entailed more than just the creation of new tactics for conducting naval battles. But it also changed the ships themselves, namely the location of the guns on them. Also the system of communication between ships, without which wake tactics are impossible.

Linear tactics battle of Gabbard (1653)

The first positive experience of conducting a linear battle was recorded in 1653. The wake position of the British ships - one after another, easily made it possible to repel the first attack of the Netherlands, which, moreover, lost two ships. The next day, the Dutch admiral Martin Tromp gave the order to attack again. This was his fatal mistake, the fleet was defeated. 6 ships were sunk, 11 were taken prisoner. England did not lose a single ship, moreover, it gained control over the English Channel.

A wake is a type of battle formation of ships in which the bow of the next ship looks exactly at the plane of the ship in front.

Battle of Beachy Head (1690)

In July 1690, there was a clash between French and allied (England, Holland) ships. Admiral Tourville of France led 70 ships of the line, which he placed in three rows:

The first line - the vanguard, consisted of 22 battleships;
The second is the corps de battalion, 28 courts;
The third is the rearguard, 20 ships of the line.

The enemy also lined up their weapons in three rows. It numbered 57 battleships, which significantly outnumbered the French in the number of artillery. However, Tourville's tactics managed to win an indisputable victory without losing a single ship. The allies lost 16 battleships, another 28 were seriously damaged.

This battle allowed the French to seize control of the English Channel, which left the English fleet in disarray. A few days later, they regained their maritime boundaries. The Battle of Beachy Head went down in history as one of the largest battles of sailing ships of the line.

Battle of Trafalgar (1805)

During the reign of Napoleon, the French-Spanish fleet met fierce resistance from the British naval forces. Not far from Cape Trafalgar in the Atlantic Ocean, the Allies lined up ships in a linear pattern - in three rows. However, bad weather conditions and an incipient storm did not allow long-range combat. After analyzing the situation, the British Admiral Nelson, aboard the battleship "Victoria", ordered the ships to group in two columns.

Further tactics of the battle of the Royal Navy of Britain turned out to be more successful. None of the ships were sunk, although many were seriously damaged. The Allies lost 18 sailing ships, 17 of which were captured. The commander of the British fleet was wounded. On the first day of the battle, a French gunner on the battleship Redoutable fired a musket. The bullet hit the shoulder. Nelson was sent to the infirmary, but he was never cured.

The advantages of this tactic became apparent. All ships form a living wall with high fire potential. When approaching the enemy, the first ship in the column attacks the target, like each subsequent battleship. Thus, the enemy falls under the strongest onslaught, which is no longer interrupted by the reloading of guns as it was before.

The wake column during the viewing on the Black Sea 1849

The first ships of the line

The predecessors of battleships were galleons - large multi-deck merchant ships with artillery on board. In 1510 England built the first artillery ship named "". Despite the large number of guns, it was still considered the main form of combat. The Mary Rose was equipped with special nets to prevent the enemy from entering the deck. This was a period when, at the time of a naval battle, the ships were located haphazardly, as a result of which the artillery could not fully demonstrate their abilities. Cannons from distant ships could even hit their own ships. Often it became the main weapon against a similar heap of enemy naval forces - an old ship, which was stuffed with explosive substances, set on fire and headed towards the enemy.

At the end of the 16th century, during the next battle, the ships for the first time lined up in a wake column - one after another. It took about 100 years for the world fleet to recognize this arrangement of warships as the most optimal. Each combat unit at this moment could use its artillery for its intended purpose. However, the variety of ships, mostly converted from merchant ships, did not make it possible to create an ideal line. There were always vulnerable ships in the row, as a result of which the battle could be lost.

HMS "Prince Royal" 1610

In 1610, the first three-deck battleship HMS "Prince Royal" was built in Great Britain with 55 guns on board. A few decades later, another similar combat vehicle appeared in service with England, which already included 100 pieces of artillery. In 1636, France put into operation "" with 72 guns. A naval arms race began between European countries. The main indicators of combat effectiveness were considered the number of weapons, speed and the ability of operational maneuvering.

"La Couronne" 1636

The new ships were shorter and lighter than their predecessors, the galleons. This means that they could quickly get into the line, turning their side towards the enemy to start the attack. Such tactics created an advantage against the background of haphazard shooting from the enemy. With the development of military shipbuilding, the firepower of a combat vessel also increased. Artillery increased its number and impact force.

Over time, new combat units began to be divided into classes that differed in the number of weapons:

Vessels with up to 50 artillery units located on two closed gun decks were not included in combat squadrons for conducting linear battles. They acted as an escort for the convoy.
Double-decked ships with up to 90 pieces of fire equipment on board formed the backbone of most of the military forces of the naval powers.
Three- and four-deck ships, including from 98 to 144 guns, served as flagships.

The first Russian battleship

Tsar Peter I made a great contribution to the development of Russia, especially in the field of the naval forces. Under him, the construction of the first Russian warships began. After training in shipbuilding in Europe, he went to the Voronezh shipyard and began to build a battleship, later named "Goto Predestination". The sailing ship was equipped with 58 guns and was similar in design to her British counterparts. A slightly shorter hull and reduced draft became a distinctive feature. This was due to the fact that "Goto Predestination" was intended for service in the Azov shallow sea.

In 2014, an exact copy of the battleship of the times of Peter I was built in Voronezh; today it is used as a floating museum.

Arms race

Along with the development of shipbuilding, smooth-bore artillery also evolved. It was necessary to increase the size of the nuclei, to create new types of exploding shells. The increased range helped to keep their ships at a safe distance. Accuracy and rate of fire contributed to a faster and more successful completion of the battle.

The 17th century was marked by the birth of the standardization of naval weapons in terms of caliber and barrel length. Gun ports - special holes in the sides, made it possible to use powerful guns, which, when correctly positioned, did not interfere with the stability of the ship. The main task of this technique was to inflict maximum damage to the crew. After that, the ship was taken on board.

It was almost impossible to sink the wooden ship. Only in the 19th century, the release of new heavy shells, carrying a large amount of explosives, began. These innovations have changed the tactics of warfare. Now the target was not people, but the ship itself. The possibility of drowning it appeared. At the same time, the wear of equipment (artillery) was still very fast, and repairs were expensive. The need to create more modern weapons grew.

The production of rifled artillery in the 19th century marked another leap forward in the field of naval weapons. It had the following advantages:

Improved shooting accuracy;
The range of the projectiles increased, which marked the prospect of conducting combat at long distances;
It became possible to use heavier shells with explosives inside.

It should be noted that before the advent of electronic guidance systems, artillery still had low accuracy, since mechanical devices had many errors and inaccuracies.

Armament was used not only for shelling enemy ships. Before the start of the assault on the enemy coast, the battleships carried out artillery training - this way they ensured the safe exit of their soldiers to foreign land.

The first battleship - metal hull plating

An increase in the firing power of naval artillery forced shipbuilders to strengthen the hull of a combat vessel. High quality wood was used for the production, usually oak. Before use, it was dried and allowed to stand for several years. To ensure strength, the ship's skin consisted of two layers - external and internal. The underwater part of the hull was additionally covered with a soft layer of wood, which protects the main structure from decay. This layer was updated periodically. Subsequently, the bottoms of wooden ships began to be sheathed with copper.

HMS « Victory "1765

The British battleship Victoria (HMS) is a prominent representative of the 18th century battleship with metal sheathing of the underwater part. Due to the participation of England in the Seven Years War, its construction was delayed for many years. But this period contributed to the receipt of high-quality raw materials for construction - wood began to possess excellent characteristics. The underwater part of the ship was sheathed with copper plates attached to the tree with iron nails.

Any ship of that period had a significant drawback - no matter how well the bottom of the ship was made, water still seeped inside, decay occurred, which exuded an unpleasant odor. Therefore, from time to time the captain of the "Victoria" sent sailors to the lower part of the hull to pump out water.

Over the years of service, the weapons have changed their number and size several times. At the beginning of the 19th century, it included 104 guns of various calibers. Each gun was assigned 7 people to ensure the operation of the equipment.

"Victoria" took part in most of the naval battles that took place during the years of her service. One of the brightest was the Battle of Trafalgar. It was on this ship that the commander of the British fleet, Vice Admiral Nelson, was mortally wounded.

It is noteworthy that this ship can still be seen today. In 1922 it was restored and installed in Portsmouth as a museum.

Steam engine

Further development of battleships required improved seaworthiness. Sailing ships gradually became obsolete, because they could only move in a good wind. In addition, the increase in artillery power made sailing equipment more vulnerable. The period of coal-fired steam engines began. The first samples were equipped with paddle wheels, which, although they ensured the movement of the vessel, but their speed was very low and suitable for river navigation or in the sea with absolute calm. However, the new installation interested the military forces of many countries. Testing of steam engines began.

Replacing the paddle wheels with propellers helped to increase the speed of the steamers. Now even a steam-driven vessel, small in size and armament, was superior to a huge sailing ship of the line. The first could swim up from any side, regardless of the strength and direction of the wind and start an attack. At this time, the second continued to vigorously struggle with natural phenomena.

Ships built after the 40s of the 19th century tried to be equipped with steam engines. Among the first countries to start building military steamers with heavy artillery on board were the USA, Great Britain and France.

In 1852, France built its first propeller driven battleship, leaving the sailing system behind. Equipping with a steam engine forced the number of artillery to be reduced to 90 guns. But this was justified due to improved seaworthiness - the speed reached 13.5 knots, which was considered a very high indicator. Over the next 10 years, about 100 such ships were built in the world.

Armadillos

The appearance of shells filled with explosives required an urgent renewal of the ship's personnel. There was a risk of major damage and burnout of a significant part of the wooden hull. After a couple of dozen successful hits, the ship went under water. In addition, the installation of steam engines on the ship increased the risk of immobilization and subsequent flooding if at least one enemy shell hit the engine room. It was necessary to protect the most vulnerable parts of the hull with steel sheets. Later, the entire ship was made of metal, which required a complete redesign. Reservations occupied a significant part of the ship's displacement. In order to keep the same amount of artillery, it was necessary to increase the size of the ship of the line.

The further development of battleships was the squadron battleships with an all-metal hull, which became widespread at the end of the 19th century. They had a powerful armor belt that protects against enemy shells. Armament included 305 mm, 234 mm and 152 mm artillery. It was assumed that such a variety of technology would have a positive effect during the conduct of the battle. Experience has shown that such a statement was erroneous. The simultaneous control of different-caliber cannons caused a lot of difficulties, especially at the time of adjusting the fire.

First Battleship - Dreadnought

The culmination of all previous types of battleships was the super-battleship Dreadnought, built by Great Britain in 1906. He became the founder of a new class of battleships. It was the first ship in the world to carry a large amount of heavy weapons. The "all-big-gun" rule was followed.

On board were 10 units of 305-mm artillery. The steam turbine system, first installed on the battleship, allowed the speed to be increased to 21 knots - incredible figures in those years. The protection of the hull was inferior to the previous battleships of the "Lord Nelson" class, but all other innovations made a real sensation.

Battleships built after 1906 on the "all-big-gun" principle came to be called dreadnoughts. They played an important role during the First World War. Each naval power sought to have at least one dreadnought type ship in service. The United States and Great Britain have become the undisputed leaders in the number of such ships. However, the 40s of the 20th century and naval battles with the participation of aviation showed the vulnerability of the sea giants.

Battle of Jutland (1916)

The most famous battle with the use of dreadnoughts took place off the coast of the Jutland Peninsula. For two days the German and British battleships tested their strength and capabilities. As a result, each side declared its victory. Germany claimed that the one with the biggest losses lost. The Royal Navy believed that the winner was a country that had not moved away from the battlefield.

Regardless of the outcome, this battle was a huge experience, which was further studied in detail. The construction of all subsequent world dreadnoughts was based on it. All the shortcomings were taken into account, the most vulnerable spots on the ship were recorded, in which the booking should be strengthened. Also, the knowledge gained forced the designers to change the location of the main caliber turrets. Despite the fact that a large number of weapons participated in the battle, this clash did not in any way affect the outcome of the First World War.

End of the era of battleships

The attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy on the American base at Pearl Harbor in December 1941 showed the non-viability of the battleships. Huge, clumsy and vulnerable to attack from the air - their heavy weapons, striking for tens of kilometers, have become useless. The sinking of several pieces of equipment blocked the possibility of leaving the rest of the warships to sea. As a result, they lost a significant part of modern battleships.

The end of World War II marked the final finale of the era of ships of the line. The last years of battles have shown that these ships cannot defend against submarines either. They were replaced by even more powerful and gigantic ones, carrying dozens of aircraft.

At the same time, the dreadnoughts did not immediately write off, their phased replacement was necessary. So, in 1991, the last American battleships Missouri and Wisconsin, built during the Second World War, made a cruise to the Persian Gulf, where they fired Tomahawk cruise missiles. In 1992, the Missouri was decommissioned. In 2006, the last dreadnought in the world, Wisconsin, also left the service.

battleship

LINEAR SHIP (battleship)

in the sailing navy 17 - 1st floor. 19th centuries large in size three-masted warship with 2-3 decks (decks); had from 60 to 130 guns and up to 800 crew. Intended for fighting in the battle line (hence the name).

In the steam armored fleet 1st floor. 20th century one of the main classes of large surface ships. It had 70-150 guns of various calibers (including 8-12 280-457 mm) and 1500-2800 crew members. After World War II, battleships lost their significance.

Battleship

in the sailing navy of the 17th and 1st half of the 19th centuries. a large-sized three-masted warship with 2-3 artillery decks (decks); had from 60 to 135 guns, installed along the sides in a line and up to 800 crew members. He fought in the wake column (battle line), which is why it got its name, which traditionally passed on to the ships of the steam fleet.

In the steam armored fleet, one of the main classes of the largest artillery surface ships, designed to destroy ships of all classes in naval combat, as well as deliver powerful artillery strikes against coastal targets. Light ships appeared in many fleets of the world after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 to replace battleships. At first they were called dreadnoughts. In Russia, the name of the class of L. to. Was established in 1907. L. K. were used in the First World War of 1914-18. By the beginning of World War II (1939--45), the L. k. Had a standard displacement of 20 to 64 thousand tons, armament - up to 12 main-caliber turret guns (from 280 to 460 mm), up to 20 anti-mine, anti-aircraft, or universal artillery guns. caliber 100-127 mm, up to 80-140 anti-aircraft small-caliber automatic cannons and large-caliber machine guns. The cruise speed of the launch vehicle is ≈ 20-35 knots (37-64.8 km / h), the wartime crew is ≈ 1500-2800 people. The side armor reached 440 mm, the weight of all armor was up to 40% of the total weight of the ship. On board the aircraft there were 1-3 aircraft and a catapult for their take-off. In the course of the war, in connection with the growing role of naval, especially aircraft carrier aviation, as well as submarine forces of the fleet and the death of many ships from air strikes and submarines, they lost their significance; after the war, in all fleets, almost all boats were scrapped.

B.F.Balev.

Wikipedia

Ship of the line (disambiguation)

Battleship- the name of the heavy artillery warships designed to conduct combat in wake columns:

The battleship is a sailing wooden military vessel with a displacement of 500 to 5500 tons, which had 2-3 rows of cannons in the sides. Sailing battleships were not called battleships.
The battleship is an armored artillery ship of the 20th century with a displacement of 20 to 64 thousand tons.

Battleship

Battleship:

in a broad sense, a ship intended for combat operations as part of a squadron;
in the traditional sense (also abbreviated battleship), - a class of heavy armored artillery warships with a displacement of 20 to 70 thousand tons, a length of 150 to 280 m, with a main caliber of 280-460 mm, with a crew of 1500-2800 people.

Battleships were used in the 20th century to destroy enemy ships as part of a combat formation and artillery support for ground operations. They were the evolutionary development of the battleships of the second half of the nineteenth century.

Ship of the line (sailing)

Battleship- a class of sailing warships. Sailing battleships were characterized by the following features: full displacement from 500 to 5500 tons, armament, including from 30-50 to 135 guns in side ports (in 2-4 decks), the number of crews ranged from 300 to 800 people at full complement. Sailing battleships were built and used from the 17th century until the early 1860s for naval battles using linear tactics.

In 1907, a new class of armored artillery ships with a displacement of 20,000 to 64,000 tons was named battleships (abbreviated as battleships). Sailing battleships were not called battleships.