Yes, our today's story is about them, about the forerunners of the class of heavy cruisers and the first Washington cruisers. Well, and how it all turned out in general.
It all started during the First World War. If you look like this, then the entire Royal Navy was engaged in this kind of game of catch-up. Because it was during the First World War (in August 1914) that Britain really came to the brink of collapse, faced with a naval blockade. For a country that imported everything from wheat to ore, this is very serious.
And throughout the war, British ships were chasing someone. Either behind the German submarines, who arranged a uniform chaos, then for the raiders who almost paralyzed the Indian Ocean, then they fought with the squadron of Count Spee, who drank so much British blood that Dracula would have envied.
An unpleasant surprise for the British command was that in the entire Royal Navy there was no ship, for example, capable of catching up with the German cruiser Karlsruhe with its 27 knots.
And intelligence reported that the Germans were working on new light cruisers capable of going at an even greater speed, from 28 knots and armed with 150-mm cannons.
In general, it was necessary to do something.
The British, as pragmatic people, have created two projects. The first one is the D-class cruisers, which, being inferior to the German ships in armament (6 x 152-mm versus 8 x 150-mm for the Germans), surpassed them in speed by 1, 5-2 knots.
In general, scouts turned out that could catch up with a German ship and tie it up in battle. And then someone else had to come up to finally finish off the German ship.
To create this ship, a project of Birmingham-class cruisers was taken. The cruisers were so-so, so it was necessary to increase everything for the new conditions: speed, range, weapon power.
With weapons, good choice was anywhere: from 234 mm to 152 mm. By the way, the choice was stopped on the time-tested, reliable and rapid-fire BL 7, 5 inch Mark VI, 190-mm naval guns.
Well, to squeeze "a little more" out of the power plant - for British engineers it was child's play.
The lead ship of this type was laid down in December 1915 and initially all five cruisers received the designation "Raleigh type", but after the frankly stupid death of the lead ship in 1922 they were renamed into "Hawkins type".
In total, 5 cruisers were built, and the planned sixth ship of the series, which did not even receive a name, was never laid down.
It's not about finances, as many might think, but about changing priorities. The main enemy of the British Empire was German submarines.
So the cruisers were built slowly, with feeling, with sense. And they built it only closer to the end of the First World War, and some even after.
Only two ships of this type, Raleigh and Hawkins, were built in full accordance with the original design. The rest were converted to oil as fuel during construction.
The cruisers were named in honor of the British admirals of the Elizabeth era, which is why they were nicknamed "Elizabethan" in the navy. At the time of entry into service, the Hawkins became the most powerful cruisers in the world, although the official classification was originally listed as light cruisers.
And it was thanks to them that such an upper limit in terms of tonnage and main caliber, established by the Washington Maritime Conference of 1922, was obtained. Hawkins then became the benchmark for constraints.
It is clear that the British did their best to push their ships through, since it would be unpleasant to cut completely new cruisers. And besides, they also turned out to be insanely expensive. The cost of the Hawkins was comparable to the cost of the Dreadnought, mainly due to the long-term construction.
And so it happened that the Hawkins, by their appearance and inclusion in the naval agreement, caused the end of the dreadnought race and began the cruising race, which I already wrote about. In general, the insane cruising race of the 30s was laid down in 1915.
As a result, restrictions on tonnage and quantity were introduced for cruisers in 1930. And for the Hawkins and their followers, the Washington cruisers, which had 10 thousand tons of displacement and 203-mm guns, they introduced a new class - heavy cruisers.
At the same time, the 1930 conference almost condemned the Hawkins, because according to the decisions of 1936, the British had to either withdraw the Hawkins from the fleet and cut them into metal for the sake of building new ships, or re-equip them with 152-mm guns and transfer them to light cruisers …
But the outbreak of the war canceled all plans and restrictions with all the ensuing consequences.
So four of the five built ships went to fight in the glory of His Majesty King George VI.
Except for Raleigh.
HMS "Raleigh", which was laid down on October 4, 1916, launched on September 28, 1919, entered service on April 15, 1921. Named after Sir Walter Raleigh. He was run aground on August 8, 1922 by a blockhead commander. Sold for scrap in December 1926.
The rest went to fight … We will talk about how the Hawkins, Cavendish, Frobisher and Effingham did it a little later, and first, a short wipe of three and one ships.
I'll start with one. Who got the most in terms of restructuring.
Cavendish. Named after the navigator Thomas Cavendish. It was laid down on June 29, 1916, launched on January 17, 1918, entered service on September 21, 1918. Everything is fine here, but from June 1918 it began …
To begin with, the cruiser was renamed "Vindictive", in honor of the cruiser that carried out a raid operation on the German base in Ostend. And he received from the Germans "damage that is not compatible …"
Further, the cruiser was converted into an aircraft carrier. The bow towers were removed, in their place they equipped a runway deck, and under it a hangar for aircraft.
The hangar could accommodate 4 "Short" seaplanes and 6 deck airplanes Sopwith "Pap". Or 2 Dad fighters and 4 Griffin scouts.
The stern armament was not touched, it consisted of 4 x 190-mm, 6 x 102-mm and 4 76-mm anti-aircraft guns. Plus 4 torpedo tubes.
Then the cruiser-aircraft carrier was converted into a completely aircraft carrier, following the example of "Furies". The aft towers were removed and a landing deck was made there. Instead of the main caliber, 10 140-mm guns were placed on the sides, the number of aircraft increased to 20 pieces.
It didn’t work. Rolling aircraft from stern to bow took a long time, in addition, imperfect landing systems constantly threatened to hit the aircraft in the superstructure. In general, "Furies" and "Vindictive" were unambiguously a bold experiment, but it cannot be said that they were successful.
In general, having experimented a lot, having tested new catapults on the Vindictive, the British decided to return everything back. After spending two years, from 1923 to 1925, the aircraft carrier was nevertheless turned into a cruiser.
During the restructuring work on the ship, both flight decks were dismantled and the artillery armament was reinforced, the main caliber gun mounts No. 5 and No. 6 were returned to their regular places, however, due to the preservation of the aircraft hangar, the gun No. 2 was not installed.
In general, it turned out to be so-so, the displacement increased to 12,000 tons, the speed, accordingly, dropped to 25 knots.
However, the Vindictive did not have to fight, after 1935 it was used in secondary roles as a training ship or transport.
For this, the old weapons were dismantled, two new 120-mm guns were installed, the aircraft hangar was converted into classrooms, and a superstructure with living quarters for 200 cadets was built in the middle of the building.
Boiler room No. 3 was liquidated, the aft chimney was dismantled. The power plant was reduced to 25,000 hp, the speed - to 23 knots.
In 1938, the ship was converted into a floating workshop and, as a result, in 1945 she was scrapped.
Exhausted.
In general, if we estimate the amount of alterations - cruiser - cruiser-air transport - aircraft carrier - cruiser - training ship - floating workshop, then we can say with confidence that it would be worth just building three ships of this class and not fooling yourself.
However, cutting the budget is such a thing, there is no need for advisers.
As for the other three cruisers who managed not to get altered, it was still sadder with them. At the London Conference of 1930, they were simply sentenced to death as cruisers with over 155mm weapons exceeding the British limit.
The first to get hit by the distribution was "Frobisher". The cruiser was laid down on August 2, 1916, launched on March 20, 1920, and commissioned on September 20, 1924. It was named after the navigator Martin Frobisher.
"Frobisher" did not even have time to serve as a warship, however, was marked by an action to sink junks off the coast of China. Already in 1932 it was converted into a training ship. To begin with, two (and then two more) 190-mm main guns were dismantled and surface torpedo tubes were removed. In 1937, the cruiser was withdrawn to the reserve, and only with the beginning of the war it was decided to make it a cruiser again.
They did not modernize, they simply returned the old weapons and in 1942 they sent them to Asia. There, the cruiser carried out an escort and patrol service for two years, after which he returned to Britain. Took part in the landing of troops in Normandy. First got hit by a bomb, and then by air torpedoes. After repairs, it again became a training ship and served until 1947.
Hawkins. Laid down on June 3, 1916, launched on October 1, 1917, entered service on July 23, 1919. Named after Admiral John Hawkins.
In 1919 he was sent to the Far East to join the forces of the Chinese station as the flagship of the 5th squadron of light cruisers. Visited Japan and unwittingly became the reason for working on "Furutaka", because the Japanese were impressed by the cruiser, and they wanted something better.
He served at various times in the Atlantic, then in the Indian Ocean, then since 1935 he was in reserve, they also wanted to make a training ship out of it, but the war began.
With the beginning of the war, the cruiser was busy for its intended purpose: hunting for German raiders in the South Atlantic. In 1944 he took part in the landing in Normandy. Then it was a training ship, a target ship, and in 1947 it was finally disposed of.
Effingham. Laid down on April 6, 1917, launched on June 8, 1921, entered service on July 2, 1925. Named after Charles Howard, Lord Effingham.
He began military service in the Indian Ocean as the flagship of the 4th cruiser squadron. He served until 1932, when he handed over his "post" to Hawkins and left for the metropolis. She ended up in the reserve, where he was until 1937, when she was converted into a light cruiser by replacing 190 mm guns with 152 mm.
From the beginning of the war, he carried out a naval blockade of Germany, as part of the Northern Patrol. The patrol included the old cruisers of the 7th and 12th cruising squadrons. Their task included patrolling in the waters between the Shetland and Faroe Islands and between the Faroe Islands and Iceland, countering the attempts of German raiders to break into the Atlantic and intercepting German merchant ships returning to Germany.
It was pretty intense work. During the first three weeks of the war, the patrol cruisers were stopped for inspection of 108 vessels, of which 28 were sent to Kirkwall for more detailed inspection.
Further "Effingham" participated in escorting convoys in the North Atlantic from Jamaica to Scapa Flow. Chased in the South Atlantic (fortunately, the range was more than allowed) for the raiders, including the "Admiral Earl Spee". After the Atlantic, he was sent to the waters of Norway, where the Germans had just begun their invasion. There the cruiser came to the end.
On May 17, 1940, together with the cruisers Cairo and Coverntree and the destroyers Matabele and Echo, taking on board a battalion of the 24th Guards Brigade with equipment, weapons and brigade headquarters, Effingham headed for Bodeu.
The British were very much afraid of the Luftwaffe raids, which had sunk the Chrobry transport the day before, so they sent the ships along the inland, poorly studied fairway, which ran between the numerous islets.
At 23.00 on May 18, 12 miles from the target of the campaign, already having Bodeau within sight, the Effingham, going at a 20-knot speed, ran into an underwater rock not marked on the maps. After him the Matabele jumped out onto the sandbank. The destroyer was soon pulled into deep water, but the cruiser, due to the inability to remove it from the cliff in combat conditions, was doomed.
The ships of the detachment removed the crew and the soldiers on board from him, and then was finished off by torpedoes from the same "Matabele".
Not the most worthy ending.
What were the cruisers.
Displacement:
- normal: 9800 t, - full: 12 190 t.
Length: 172, 2/184, 4 m.
Width: 17.7 m.
Draft: 6, 3 m.
Reservation:
- belt: 76 mm;
- traverse: 25 mm;
- deck: 37 mm;
- cellars: 25 mm;
- main guns shields: 51 mm.
Engines: 4 TZA Parsons or Brown Curtis, 60,000 - 65,000 hp with.
Travel speed: 29.5 - 30.5 knots.
Cruising range 5400 nautical miles at 14 knots.
The crew is 690 people.
Armament:
Main caliber: 7 × 1 - 190 mm / 50.
Secondary caliber: 6 × 1 - 102 mm / 45.
Flak:
4 × 1 - 76 mm / 45, 4 × 1 - 40 mm / 40.
Torpedo armament: four single-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes.
Armament data are given at the time of commissioning. During the service of the cruiser, modernizations took place, during which the weapons were changed.
"Frobisher" in March 1942 received another, fifth, 102-mm gun on the quarterdeck between the stern guns of the main caliber. The ship was equipped with four four-barreled MkVIII / MkVII "pom-pom" installations. Plus the cruiser had seven more single-barreled 20mm Oerlikon 0.787 "/ L70 Mkll guns. The Hawkins received the same number of" Erlikons "in May 1942.
In general, the British in the second half of the war clearly traced such a tendency as reducing the barrels of conventional weapons in order to increase air defense. They were the first to understand with whom to fight in the first place.
By the way, having tested such a system on the Hawkins, where the Frobisher had fewer main guns, but much more air defense barrels than the Hawkins, the British naval leadership began to remove one tower with 203-mm guns in the County-class cruisers in order to accommodate anti-aircraft weapons.
They also installed radars. Frobisher received a Type 286 airborne radar, a Type 271 surface detection radar, and Type 285 artillery radar antennas and a Type 282 anti-aircraft radar. A little later, Hawkins received the same equipment.
The torpedo tubes were also dismantled, and the Hawkins lost only the surface ones, and the Frobisher lost both surface and submarine ones.
By September 1944, when they were simultaneously withdrawn to the reserve, and their conversion into training ships began, the number of Erlikons on the Hawkins cruiser reached nine, and on the Frobisher - 19.
Reservations were reliable enough for the time, though by light cruiser standards. The freeboard was protected by armor practically along the entire length of the hull, and below the waterline, the lower edge of the armor belt reached the level of the constructive underwater protection, which covered the engine-boiler rooms, - boules. Only insignificant sections of the side at the extremities remained unprotected, where the upper edge of the booking ledged down to the level of the main deck.
The appearance of the Hawkins-class cruisers had a less significant effect in the naval community than the birth of the Dreadnought, but it mattered no less in terms of effect, because it also led to the creation of a whole class of ships. Maybe less spectacular than dreadnoughts, but no less (and in many cases more) effective.
A heavy (in armament) cruiser as a raider hunter was a pretty good idea. Which was developed precisely because it was good from the beginning. And heavy cruisers were liked by all countries, especially those who could build, because some made very good money on this.
So the Hawkins can be safely called both the first and the founders, but in terms of service, they were not very lucky. Although they caught the initial period of World War II, unfortunately, they could not boast of any military achievements. Due to the fact that they have already become obsolete.
Moreover, one ship was constantly in experimental alterations, and two stupidly died on the rocks. It was definitely not lucky with the managers.
However, for the beginning of the 20s, and even in the 30s of the last century, these were just masterpiece ships. With very good armament, with good speed, excellent range, and most importantly, with a mixed power plant, where it was possible to burn everything from oil to parquet from the captain's cabin. That is, for hunters for raiders, where the supply is so-so - the very thing.
Another question is that before the war, progress rushed so that these generally good ships did not find a place in the forefront - well, that happens.
But in history, even without winning any laurels in battles, the Hawkins will still remain as the first heavy cruisers. What was, what was.
