I must say right away that we will be talking about the times, not so far away, but about those when the radar was a miracle of the sea and, rather, an additional gadget for bangers from large and not very large calibers. That is, about the times of the Second World War.
The fact that in that war the plane showed itself in all its glory and completely changed the tactics of combat, whether on land or on water, is yes. Indisputably. However, at sea, until the very end of the war, ships were regularly thrown at each other with steel and cast-iron blanks of various weights and fillings, and - importantly - they fell.
Yes, torpedoes were no less interesting component of that time, but we'll talk about them sometime later.
Now, when the maps are electronic, with an accuracy of 1-2 meters, radars detect anything, computers control fire, launch missiles and torpedoes, you start to wonder more and more: how did they (sailors) get along without it?
After all, they got along, and how! "Glories", "Bismarck", "Hood", "Scharnhorst" - the list of ships sunk without significant participation of aviation can be continued for quite a long time. They drowned and drowned quite successfully.
Moreover, in history there is a case when one shell hit decided the outcome of an entire battle. This is when the Worspite guys got into Giulio Cesare from 13 miles. And this, excuse me, is 24 kilometers. For a projectile, the distance with a capital letter.
Of course, hitting a moving target at such a distance with an artillery shell is more like a fantasy in half with insane luck. But the fact is: they could and did.
One of the regular readers once asked an interesting question: why are naval battles so well described and described, but with land battles everything is not so detailed and luxurious?
As you know, winners often write the chronicle of the battle. Air combat is generally a very fleeting thing, sometimes you read the memoirs of a participant and you realize that everything was so concentrated during the battle that then five minutes in a battle can be turned into an hour of presentation. And that's okay.
Combined arms combat is also a peculiar thing, it is like a mosaic, made up of pieces. Somewhere the infantry, somewhere the same artillery (one in the front line, another in the rear), tanks, self-propelled guns, each has its own battle.
But the sea battle is, as it were, more unhurried in itself, and there was someone to describe, since there were plenty of eyes looking at the overall picture of the battle at all times.
But what is most interesting here? Indeed, the opportunity to consider a sea battle in all its stages and not in a hurry at the same time. Even a WWII naval consumable - a destroyer - lived much longer in combat than the same tank or aircraft.
What's so hard about sinking a ship?
From the point of view of physics, nothing. You just need to make holes in the hull so that water can enter them, and the ship has lost its buoyancy. Or set it on fire, preferably so that the fire gets to the fuel tanks or powder magazines.
The main thing is to make sure that the shell or torpedo hits the ship's hull. And here sheer miracles begin. Mathematical.
Usually in films, the process of firing a shot is shown from its end. That is, from the moment the projectile and the propellant charge are delivered to the tower and the command "Fire!" In fact, the work begins long before this lovely moment.
And not in the command room, but in a completely different place.
Let's try to hit the enemy?
Then our path does not lie down to the ammunition, but to the very top. Moreover, it will be very high on any ship. KDP, command and rangefinder post. The workplace of the strongest stomach on the ship, because it is necessary to aim the guns in any excitement, and where the control tower is located can be seen in the photo.
The rangefinder command post was a large platform, armored, on a rotating pedestal. This was necessary, because the KDP had to have a view in all directions. That is, circular. It is very simple to find the KDP in any photo, the rangefinder horns stick out from it.
Indeed, "I sit high, I look far away." I can imagine how it swayed there in case of rough seas …
On cruisers and destroyers, everything was exactly the same, naturally, in scale. Only there it swayed and hurled more mercilessly than on the battleship. Due to the size.
Here in this structure rotating around its axis there were those who really were the eyes and brains of the ship in terms of shooting. The rest are purely order executors.
Who was in the KDP?
The main man inside was the senior artilleryman. The position in different countries was called differently, the essence remained the same. Responsible for shooting data.
Senior Observer Officer and Observers. These are those who scanned the horizon with their eyes, looked for targets, received target designation from the same reconnaissance aircraft, submarines, radio interception services, and so on. But this gang worked with their eyes. The observer officer was responsible for accurately determining the parameters of the target's movement.
Rangefinder (rangefinders) plus vertical and horizontal gunners of the KDP. These people were subordinate to the senior artilleryman and, in fact, they were directing the guns and firing from them.
And to be precise, the vertical gunner of the KDP was pressing the release button, firing a volley. At the command of the senior artilleryman.
There, somewhere below, under the armor of the hull, all these gun crews were scurrying about, which brought, rolled up, loaded, turned to the desired angle along the horizon and raised the barrels in a vertical plane according to the data transmitted from the control room.
But these guns, sitting in the KDP, were pointing. On large ships (battleships), the KDP usually had a stern backup, which in case of anything could replace the main KDP. Or control the aft towers to remove one additional correction. But we'll talk about the amendments a little later.
Somewhat later, radar operators were added to the KDP, when radars appeared. This added accuracy, but made an additional adjustment to the battle. The KDP became just a tasty morsel for enemy artillerymen, because planting a shell in the bridge (or even in the KDP itself) was a very useful thing.
Here, as an example, we can cite the battle at the North Cape, where exactly in this way, having blinded the Scharnhorst, the British turned it into a floating target and, without particularly straining, sank it.
Yes, we are now talking not just about a virtual ship, but about a ship that is equipped with a central aiming system according to the control room data. Before World War II (and even during it), each tower usually had its own sights. And theoretically, each tower could independently fire at the enemy.
In theory. Because it was the central aiming system that made it possible to forget about the shortcomings, when the calculation of each gun independently determined the elevation angle (vertical guidance) and the lead angle (horizontal guidance). In a real battle, the tower gunners experienced a lot of problems, since the target was often just poorly visible. The towers were much lower than the KDP. Splashes, smoke, rolling, weather conditions - and as a result, the human factor played, that is, each gunner introduced his own personal inaccuracy. Even if it was very small, as a result, the volley shells scattered over a large area, instead of covering the target heap.
Therefore, the use of the KDP sight became, if not a panacea, then a very significant help. At least the mistakes made during the tip were much easier to track down and fix.
When observers spotted the enemy, the entire control tower turned in this direction. This turn was transmitted by repeaters to the guns, which repeated it, and the data was also sent to the central artillery post.
So, we found the enemy, got preliminary data and started … Well, yes, everyone ran, talked, began the aiming procedure.
Everyone, in general, knows that the guns must be aimed not at the enemy's ship, but at some hypothetical point, at which it will be in the time that the shells will need to fly. And then everything will be beautiful from our point of view and completely disgusting from the point of view of the enemy.
In the Central Artillery Post (DAC) for this there was a mechanical calculator, which was called the Admiralty fire control dial, to which all data from the KDP was transmitted.
The main problem that this calculator solved was to determine where to aim the barrels of the guns so that the shells of a ship moving at a speed of 25 knots would land on a target moving at a speed of 20 knots in the opposite direction.
The course and speed of the enemy is given by the observer officer, the course and speed of his ship are entered automatically.
But here the fun begins. Amendments. In order for the projectile to actually fly where it is needed, in addition to the speeds of the ships and directions, you need to consider the following:
- take into account the height of the implement above the waterline;
- take into account the wear of the barrels after each shot, as it affects the initial velocity of the shells;
- take into account the amendment, which will ensure the convergence of all barrels at one point of aiming;
- take into account the direction and strength of the wind;
- take into account the possible change in atmospheric pressure;
- take into account the derivation, that is, the deflection of the projectile under the influence of its own rotation;
- take into account the different weight of the projectiles, the temperature of the charge and the projectile.
There is such a thing as "preliminary preparation". It consists of two parts: ballistic training and meteorological training.
Ballistic training includes:
- calculation of the correction for the wear of the barrel of the gun;
- determination of the temperature in the cellars and the calculation of corrections for the deviation of the temperature of charges and projectiles from normal (+ 15C);
- sorting shells by weight;
- coordination of instruments and sights.
All these measures are aimed at minimizing the inconsistency of guns, when firing from guns according to one data, the average trajectories of the flight of projectiles pass at different ranges.
Accordingly, in order to minimize the inconsistency of the guns, it is necessary to coordinate the sights, fire projectiles and charges selected by weight from the same batch, and calculate corrections for the wear of the gun barrels.
Meteorological training includes:
- wind;
- deviation of air density from normal.
Thus, on the basis of the data on preparations, the "Correction of the day" is formed, which includes:
- correction for tool wear;
- correction for the deviation of the charge temperature from the normal;
- correction for deviation of air density from normal;
- correction for the retreat of the mass of shells.
The day correction is calculated every two hours for different projectile flight ranges.
So the target has been found. The range to the target, its speed and position angle in relation to our ship, the so-called heading angle, are determined.
If you read our "Manual of the deck gunner" about 177 pages, published in 1947, then to your surprise you can read that all these parameters were determined by eye. Speed - according to the breaker, depending on the class of the ship, which was also determined visually from the manual, the heading angle using binoculars with a reticle.
Everything is very accurate, isn't it?
And when all this information is ready, it is entered into the "dial" and at the output the device gives only two digits. The first is the adjusted distance to the enemy, recalculated by the gun elevation angle. The second is deviation. Both values are transmitted to each gun and the calculation guides the gun in accordance with this data.
In the control center and digital-to-analog coder there are “guns ready” bulbs. When the gun is loaded and ready to fire, the lamp lights up. When all the lights in the DAC light up, the operator presses the button of the artillery gong, which sounds in the control room and at the guns. After that, the vertical gunner of the KDP, who keeps the KDP pointed at the target, presses his trigger.
The shells flew.
Then, observers again come into play, who must, by the bursts around the enemy ship, determine how the shells fell, with an undershoot or flight. Or, if there was a cover, then which one.
Another correction follows, a change in aiming data and everything is repeated again. Until the complete destruction of the enemy or any other events, for example, just the end of the battle or the onset of night.
To be honest, one thing surprises: how with mechanical calculators, which were terribly called calculators, devices for obtaining data such as "binoculars" and "rangefinder", the sailors of the two world wars generally managed to get somewhere …
But the fact is - they got it …
