Dreadnought ship of the line. The meaning of the word dreadnought. Only big guns

The oldest surviving dreadnought, USS Texas (BB-35), launched in 1912

Exactly 110 years ago, on February 10, 1906, the British warship Dreadnought (English dreadnought - “fearless”) was launched in Portsmouth. By the end of that year, she was completed and commissioned into the Royal Navy.

At the same time, the Dreadnought was not unique - the revolutionary ship was the product of a long evolution of battleships. Its analogues were already going to be built in the USA and Japan; moreover, the Americans began to develop their own dreadnoughts even before the British.

But Britain came first.

The visiting card of the Dreadnought is artillery, which consisted of ten guns of the main caliber (305 millimeters). They were supplemented by many small 76-mm guns, but the intermediate caliber on the new ship was completely absent.

Such armament strikingly distinguished the Dreadnought from all previous battleships. Those, as a rule, carried only four 305 mm guns, but were supplied with a solid battery of medium caliber - usually 152 mm.

The habit of supplying armadillos with many - up to 12 and even 16 - medium-caliber guns was explained simply: 305-millimeter guns were reloaded for quite a long time, and at that time 152-millimeter guns had to shower the enemy with a hail of shells. This concept proved its worth during the war between the United States and Spain in 1898 - in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, American ships achieved a depressingly small number of hits with their main caliber, but literally riddled the enemy with medium-caliber "quick guns".

However, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 demonstrated something completely different. Russian battleships, which were much larger than the Spanish ships, withstood a lot of hits from 152-mm cannons - only the main caliber inflicted serious damage on them. In addition, Japanese sailors were simply more accurate than American ones.

12-inch guns on HMS Dreadnought © Library of Congress Bain collection

The Italian military engineer Vittorio Cuniberti is traditionally considered the author of the concept of a battleship equipped with exceptionally heavy artillery. He proposed to build for the Italian Navy an ironclad with 12,305 mm guns, a liquid fuel turbine power plant, and powerful armor. The Italian admirals refused to implement Cuniberti's idea, but allowed it to be published.

In the 1903 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships, there was a short - only three pages - article by Cuniberti "The Ideal Fighting Ship for the British Navy". In it, the Italian described a gigantic battleship with a displacement of 17 thousand tons, equipped with 12 305-millimeter guns and unusually powerful armor, and even capable of speeds of 24 knots (which made it a third faster than any battleship).

Just six of these "ideal ships" would be enough to defeat any enemy, Cuniberti believed. Due to its firepower, his battleship was supposed to sink an enemy battleship in one salvo, and due to its high speed, immediately move on to the next one.

The author considered rather an abstract concept, without doing exact calculations. In any case, it seems almost impossible to fit all Cuniberti's proposals into a ship with a displacement of 17 thousand tons. The total displacement of the real Dreadnought turned out to be much larger - about 21 thousand tons.

So, despite the similarity of Cuniberti's proposal with the Dreadnought, it is unlikely that the Italian had a great influence on the construction of the first ship of the new class. Cuniberti's article was published at a time when the "father" of the Dreadnought, Admiral John "Jackie" Fisher, had already reached similar conclusions, but in a very different way.

Cannons on the roof of the tower. HMS Dreadnought, 1906 © US Library of Congress Bain collection

"Father" of the Dreadnought

Admiral Fisher, pushing the Dreadnought project through the British Admiralty, was guided not by theoretical, but by practical considerations.

While commanding the British naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea, Fisher found by experience that firing from different-caliber guns made aiming extremely difficult. Artillerymen of that time, pointing the guns at the target, were guided by splashes from the fall of shells into the water. And at a long distance, splashes from 152 and 305 mm caliber shells are almost impossible to distinguish.

In addition, the rangefinders and fire control systems that existed then were extremely imperfect. They did not allow to realize all the capabilities of the guns - British battleships could shoot at 5.5 kilometers, but according to the results of real tests, the recommended range of aimed fire was only 2.7 kilometers.

Meanwhile, it was necessary to increase the effective distance of the battle: torpedoes became a serious enemy of the battleships, the range of which at that time reached about 2.5 kilometers. A logical conclusion was made: the best way to fight at long distances would be a ship with the maximum number of main battery guns.

Dreadnought cabin USS Texas, USA, © EPA/LARRY W. SMITH

At some point, as an alternative to the future Dreadnought, a ship equipped with many 234-millimeter guns, which were then already used by the British as medium artillery on battleships, was considered. Such a ship would have combined a rapid rate of fire with massive firepower, but Fisher needed some truly "big guns."

Fisher also insisted on equipping the Dreadnought with the latest steam turbines, which allowed the ship to develop over 21 knots, while 18 knots were considered sufficient for battleships. The admiral was well aware that the advantage in speed allows him to impose on the enemy a battle distance that is advantageous for himself. Given the Dreadnought's vast superiority in heavy artillery, this meant that a few of these ships were capable of destroying an enemy fleet while remaining virtually out of reach for most of its guns.

Without a single shot

The Dreadnought was built in record time. As a rule, they call an impressive year and one day: the ship was laid down on October 2, 1905, and on October 3, 1906, the battleship entered the first sea trials. This is not entirely correct - traditionally, the time of construction is counted from the laying to the inclusion in the combat composition of the fleet. The Dreadnought entered service on December 11, 1906, a year and two months after the start of construction.

The unprecedented speed of work had a downside. The photographs from Portsmouth do not always show the high-quality assembly of the hull - other armor plates are crooked, and the bolts that fasten them are of different sizes. No wonder - 3 thousand workers literally “burned” at the shipyard for 11 and a half hours a day and 6 days a week.

A number of shortcomings are associated with the ship's design itself. The operation showed the insufficient effectiveness of the latest Dreadnought fire control systems and its rangefinders - the largest at that time. Rangefinder posts even had to be moved so that they would not be damaged by the shock wave of a gun salvo.

The most powerful ship of the era never once fired at the enemy from its main caliber. The Dreadnought was not present at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 - the largest clash of fleets consisting of dreadnoughts - it was under repair.

But even if the Dreadnought were in service, he would have to remain in the second line - in just a few years he was hopelessly outdated. It was replaced both in Britain and in Germany by larger, faster and more powerful battleships.

February 10th. /TASS/. Exactly 110 years ago, on February 10, 1906, the British warship Dreadnought was launched in Portsmouth. By the end of that year, she was completed and commissioned into the Royal Navy.

The Dreadnought, which combined a number of innovative solutions, became the ancestor of a new class of warships, to which he gave his name. This was the last step towards the creation of battleships - the largest and most powerful artillery ships ever put to sea.
At the same time, the Dreadnought was not unique - the revolutionary ship was the product of a long evolution of battleships. Its analogues were already going to be built in the USA and Japan; moreover, the Americans began to develop their own dreadnoughts even before the British. But Britain came first.

The hallmark of the "Dreadnought" is artillery, which consisted of ten guns of the main caliber (305 millimeters). They were supplemented by many small 76-mm guns, but the intermediate caliber was completely absent on the new ship.

The habit of supplying armadillos with many - up to 12 and even 16 - medium-caliber guns was explained simply: 305-mm guns were reloaded for quite a long time, and at that time 152-mm guns had to shower the enemy with a hail of shells. This concept proved its worth during the war between the United States and Spain in 1898 - in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, American ships achieved a depressingly small number of hits with their main caliber, but literally riddled the enemy with medium-caliber "quick guns".

12-inch guns on HMS Dreadnought
© Library of Congress Bain collection

Idea authorship

Just six of these "ideal ships" would be enough to defeat any enemy, Cuniberti believed. Due to its firepower, his battleship had to sink an enemy battleship in one salvo, and due to its high speed, immediately move on to the next one.

The author considered rather an abstract concept, without doing exact calculations. In any case, it seems almost impossible to fit all Cuniberti's proposals into a ship with a displacement of 17 thousand tons. The total displacement of the real "Dreadnought" turned out to be much larger - about 21 thousand tons.

Cannons on the roof of the tower. HMS Dreadnought, 1906
© US Library of Congress Bain collection

"Father" of the Dreadnought

Admiral Fisher, pushing the Dreadnought project through the British Admiralty, was guided not by theoretical, but by practical considerations.

Dreadnought cabin USS Texas, USA
© EPA/LARRY W. SMITH

At some point, as an alternative to the future Dreadnought, a ship equipped with many 234-millimeter guns, which were then already used by the British as medium artillery on battleships, was considered. Such a ship would combine a rapid rate of fire with massive firepower, but Fisher needed some truly "big guns."

Fisher also insisted on equipping the Dreadnought with the latest steam turbines, which allowed the ship to develop over 21 knots per hour, while 18 knots were considered sufficient for battleships. The admiral was well aware that the advantage in speed allows him to impose on the enemy a battle distance that is advantageous for himself. Given the Dreadnought's vast superiority in heavy artillery, this meant that a few of these ships were capable of destroying an enemy fleet while remaining virtually out of reach for most of its guns.

Without a single shot

The Dreadnought was built in record time. As a rule, they call an impressive year and one day: the ship was laid down on October 2, 1905, and on October 3, 1906, the battleship entered the first sea trials. This is not entirely correct - traditionally, the time of construction is counted from the laying to the inclusion in the combat composition of the fleet. "Dreadnought" went into operation on December 11, 1906, a year and two months after the start of construction.

The unprecedented speed of work had a downside. The photographs from Portsmouth show not always a high-quality assembly of the hull - other armor plates are crooked, and the bolts that fasten them are of different sizes. No wonder - 3 thousand workers literally "burned" at the shipyard for 11 and a half hours a day and 6 days a week.

But even if the Dreadnought were in service, it would have to remain in the second line - in just a few years it was hopelessly outdated. It was replaced both in Britain and in Germany by larger, faster and more powerful battleships.

So, representatives of the Queen Elizabeth type, which entered service in 1914-1915, were already carrying guns of 381 mm caliber. The mass of a shell of this caliber was more than twice the weight of a Dreadnought shell, and these guns fired one and a half times as far.

Nevertheless, the Dreadnought was still able to achieve victory over the enemy ship, unlike many other representatives of its class. His victim was a German submarine. Ironically, the mighty dreadnought destroyed it not with artillery fire or even with a torpedo - it simply rammed the submarine, although the British shipbuilders did not begin to equip the Dreadnought with a special ram.

However, the submarine sunk by the Dreadnought was by no means ordinary, and its captain was a famous sea wolf. But this is completely different

Dreadnought (ship class)

The oldest surviving dreadnought, BB-35 "Texas", launched in 1912

Superdreadnought

Five years after the commissioning of the Dreadnought, a new generation of more powerful battleships was built. The first super-dreadnoughts are considered to be the British Orion-class battleships. The introduction of powerful 13.5-inch (343 mm) main battery artillery and increased side armor allowed them to be called "super". In the five years between Dreadnought and Orion, displacement increased by 25%, and the weight of a broadside doubled.

Notes

Literature

Taras A. E. Encyclopedia of battleships and battleships. - M .: Harvest, AST, 2002. - ISBN 985-13-1009-3
All the world's battleships. 1906 to the present. - London: Conway Maritime Press, 1996. - ISBN 0-85177-691-4
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921. - Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A.: Naval Institute Press, 1985. - ISBN 0-87021-907-3
Friedman N. U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History. - Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A.: Naval Institute Press, 1985. - ISBN 0-087021-715-1
Silverstone P.H. The New Navy. 1883-1922. - New York, USA: Routledge, 2006. - ISBN 978-0-415-97871-2
Gardiner R., Gray R. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. - New York, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1984. - ISBN 0-87021-907-3

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By the beginning of the 19th century, Great Britain had the most powerful battle fleet in history. Over the next century, the Industrial Revolution completely transformed the navy. From wood, canvas and primitive guns to armor, speed and firepower. In 1906, Great Britain disrupted the world order of forces by launching the most powerful battleship in the world, the Dreadnought.

What is a Dreadnought?

The appearance in 1906 of the English battleship Dreadnought changed the balance of power at sea. This ship alone was superior in power to a whole squadron of so-called "pre-dreadnoughts" (for example, battleships). It was equipped with ten 305 mm cannons for centralized fire, as well as several 76 mm anti-mine cannons. But large-caliber weapons were the main ones. Two things are innovative here: the main weapon is only a large caliber (the principle of “all big guns” has finally taken root), the fire was conducted centrally. The ships that preceded the Dreadnought had many guns of various calibers, and each gun fired independently.

Ancestor of the class of battleships. (wikipedia.org)

As epoch-making as its weaponry was the use of a steam turbine power plant on such a large ship, which for the first time in history allowed the Dreadnought to go at full speed for many hours on end. For ships with steam engines, 8 hours of constant full speed were considered the limit, and at the same time, their engine room “turned into a swamp” due to water sprayed for cooling and was filled with unbearable noise - for steam turbine ships, even at full speed, “the entire engine room was so clean and dry, as if the ship was at anchor, and not even a faint buzz was heard.

Each "Dreadnought" cost about twice as much as the squadron battleship of the type that preceded it, but at the same time it had a fundamental superiority over it in terms of tactical qualities - speed, protection, firing efficiency and the ability to concentrate artillery fire. In Russia, these new ships were called "battleships", since the only effective formation of the squadron when conducting volley fire was the formation of the line. The old squadron battleships were also included in this class, but after the advent of the Dreadnought, in any case, they could be considered no more than second-rate ships.

Orion in 1921 or 1922. (wikipedia.org)

Meanwhile, after five years, both the Dreadnought and its numerous followers turned out to be obsolete - they were replaced by the "superdreadnoughts" with their 13.5 ″ (343 mm) main caliber artillery, subsequently increased to 15 ″ (381 mm) and even 16″ (406 mm). The first superdreadnoughts are considered to be the British Orion-class battleships, which also had reinforced side armor. In the five years between Dreadnought and Orion, displacement increased by 25%, and the weight of a broadside doubled.

Battleship Iron Duke. (wikipedia.org)

Arms race

Such a familiar phrase in the context of relations between the United States and Russia can also be attributed to what happened in the fleets of Germany and England at the beginning of the 20th century. The appearance of the Dreadnought had to be answered. Following England, Germany hastily began to build dreadnoughts. Prior to this, the English fleet was twice as large as the German one in the number of ships of the line (39 versus 19).

Battleship Nassau. (wikipedia.org)

Now, Germany could compete with England in the pace of building a fleet on almost equal terms. After the adoption of the "Law on the Navy" by Germany in 1900, England, which previously adhered to the rule "to have the size of the fleet equal to the sum of the fleets of the two following maritime powers", and was extremely concerned about the growth of the German fleet, made a number of attempts to conclude an agreement with Germany, which provided for the ratio of the English and German battle fleets would be within 3: 2. Negotiations between Britain and Germany on the weakening of the naval arms race, which dragged on for several years, ended in vain. Then England announced that she would respond to the laying of each new German battleship with the laying of two dreadnoughts. By the beginning of the First World War, the ratio of English and German dreadnoughts, as well as battlecruisers commissioned and under construction, was 42:26, that is, it was close to that which England was seeking in the negotiation process.

Battleship "Rhineland" type "Nassau". (wikipedia.org)

The construction of the dreadnought fleet Germany began with the creation of a series of Nassau-class battleships, which consisted of four ships. They were launched in 1908. The next series of battleships of the Helgoland, Kaiser and König types also included four to five units (1909−1912).

Battleship Westfalen. (wikipedia.org)

The first series of German battleships was armed with traditional 280-mm main battery artillery and 150-mm rapid-fire cannons, which were also preserved on German battleships of subsequent series. On them, the caliber of the main artillery was increased to 305 mm. The rate of fire of the main caliber guns reached 1.2-1.5 rounds per minute. The preservation of the 280-mm caliber on the first four Nassau-type dreadnoughts was explained, on the one hand, by the good ballistic properties of these German guns with a barrel length of 40 and 45 calibers, and on the other hand, by the short range of visibility characteristic of the North Sea, which did not allow fighting on great distance.

Battleship Bayern. (wikipedia.org)

The English ships of the line were armed with guns of a larger caliber (305-343 versus 280-305 mm), but were inferior to the German ones in armor. Short and wide German dreadnoughts won in the mass of side armor, which made it possible to make the armor belt higher and thicker on them.

"Empress Maria" during the First World War. (wikipedia.org)

The differences between the German and English types of battleships were explained by the goals of their combat use. The German naval command assumed that the stronger English fleet would attack the German dreadnoughts directly off the coast of Germany. Therefore, such important tactical and technical characteristics as cruising range and speed were considered to some extent secondary, and armor was given paramount importance. In the English fleet, which sought to impose on the enemy the place, time and distance of the battle, on the contrary, they attached more importance to the cruising range, speed and caliber of the main artillery.

Battleship "Poltava" during the First World War. (wikipedia.org)

The rivalry between Britain and Germany in the naval arms race created favorable conditions for the political adventures of countries that were economically less developed. Having created a squadron of dreadnoughts and battlecruisers, they could count on strengthening their position on the world stage by joining their squadron to one or another of the warring parties. Tsarist Russia also adhered to this policy to some extent, building four dreadnoughts and laying down the same number of dreadnought-type battlecruisers.

BB-35 "Texas". (wikipedia.org)

The fleets of other states that participated in the First World War, in terms of the number of dreadnoughts, were many times inferior to England and Germany. The countries that built the dreadnoughts, to one degree or another, repeated the features of the German or English battleships, depending on tactical considerations for their intended combat use. The exception, in a sense, is the US Navy's Texas-class battleships. They had both powerful armor and a large caliber of the main artillery (356 mm).

battleship named " Dreadnought"(H.M.S. "Dreadnought") (English "fearless") was the only representative of the British ships with the most successful design among the ironclad era. He differed from his brothers in enviable speed and had excellent seaworthiness.

« Dreadnought”became the first ship to be equipped with ten main guns and several smaller caliber guns, against four large guns of earlier buildings. Triple expansion steam piston engines, outdated and brought to the limit of perfection, replaced direct-drive steam turbines, which gave greater speed. Its only drawback was the weak protection against forward attacks, which was eliminated much later.

building « Dreadnought» began in October 1905, at the shipyard " HM Dockyard" in the city of Portsmouth, and entered service in December 1906. After four months of work on the slipway, the ship's hull was ready for launching. On a gray windy day in February 1906, tens of thousands of spectators gathered at Portsmouth Dockyard. Having broken a bottle of Austrian wine, King Edward gave the surface ship the name " Dreadnought". Over the next eight months, 3,000 workers turned the empty hull into a floating fortress. Only then did the incredible firepower become evident." Dreadnought". Its armament was 10 twelve-inch guns, two and a half times more than its predecessors. According to the inventor, such a battleship with large-caliber guns will become a real embodiment of firepower. Dreadnought showed itself well during sea trials, which were attended by the leaders of the state. He was thoroughly studied by the naval departments. And in 1907, it was decided to appoint her as the flagship of the Royal Navy. For several weeks the newspapers were filled with reports of the exclusivity, size, secrecy of the new ship and its unheard of firepower.

"Dreadnought" photo

"Dreadnought" during the tests

the British Navy admired the dreadnought

dreadnought stem

dreadnought

Battleship " Dreadnought”became the first ship of the British Navy, on which the placement of the crew was completely changed. The decision was prompted by concerns about whether the crew would be able to quickly take up their posts during the combat alert. That is, the placements of officers were brought as close as possible to their main combat posts, on bridges and central posts, and sailors - to the engine and boiler rooms, where most of the personnel were involved.

battleship "Dreadnought" in combat campaign

Building idea dreadnought belonged to the first sea lord, Admiral John Fisher. The first ship was supposed to be the last embodiment of ideas in metallurgy and the design of power plants for weapons. " Armor is speed' Fisher said. It was the first battleship to feature the newly invented steam turbine. She allowed to reach speeds of up to 21 knots. Fisher wanted to build a surface ship with all medium caliber guns, this concept was called " all big gun". Moreover, they managed to place them in such a way that the standard displacement generally accepted on ships with four heavy guns did not change. These guns became the best of their caliber in the history of the British Navy, since further increases did not give positive success.

bow 305 mm dreadnought turret in the position of the maximum angle of horizontal fire

In 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War dreadnought became the flagship of the fourth combat squadron in the North Sea. His only significant battle was the sinking of the German U-29 on 18 March 1915. Like most obsolete battleships, her condition fell into disrepair due to frequent patrols in the seas, and was soon put into reserve, and in February 1919 she was sold for scrap to the company " TW Ward & Company for £44,000.

the caliber of the main gun of the battleship "Dreadnought" was 305 mm

Battleship " Dreadnought”in all respects turned out to be an outstanding ship. It combined so many innovations that it made its design qualitatively new. All subsequent battleships, built in accordance with the idea of this ship, immediately began to be called dreadnoughts . And Britain with one " Dreadnought far outperformed its competitors. But its creation led to the fact that all previously created battleships became obsolete, including the British ones. And almost immediately, the Dreadnought sparked an arms race. A dangerous game played has led the world to an incredible catastrophe, the greatest confrontation at sea, which the world has not yet seen.