In one of the first articles on cruisers, we examined in detail what the Washington Agreement is and how well it fought the evolution of warships in general and cruisers in particular.
But it was this agreement that drew the line between light and heavy cruisers. Yes, it was the British, who stubbornly did not want to scrapped the expensive Hawkins, who initiated the introduction of a maximum displacement of 10,000 tons and a 203-mm main caliber.
The states didn’t mind, and the rest didn’t seem to ask much. The other half of the restrictions was to prevent the Japanese from building as many ships as they wanted. Therefore, the tonnage of ships under construction was limited, and then the number was also limited.
The USA could have no more than 18 heavy cruisers, Great Britain and its dominions - no more than 15, Japan - 12. The total displacement of heavy cruisers in the fleets of individual countries participating in the treaty should not exceed: for the USA - 180 thousand tons, for Great Britain - 146.8 thousand tons, for Japan - 108.4 thousand tons.
France and Italy refused to sign the treaty, and the United States and Great Britain had to press them separately. As a result, the French and Italians had to be content with 7 heavy cruisers per fleet.
This is, in a nutshell, what the stages of the Washington Agreement of 1930 and 1932 brought.
But then interesting miracles began, since the Japanese in 1936 defiantly did not give a damn about the agreements and refused to sign and implement anything. That is why Japan entered the war with 18 heavy cruisers. As much as the United States and Great Britain had separately.
Moreover, taking into account that the Japanese leaned on the conventions of the treaty even earlier, when they began building a new fleet and realized that it was unrealistic to accommodate everything they wanted in 10,000 tons.
This is probably why the Japanese heavy cruisers turned out to be just fine ships. Perhaps someone will dispute this, but my opinion is that it was the Japanese heavy cruisers that were the best ships of the Second World War in this class. Both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Of course, we will have Baltimors, Hippers, Londons and Suffrens ahead of us. And of course, we will compare them with each other. But now let's start talking about Japanese heavy cruisers, especially since the "Myoko" have already been reviewed.
Therefore, we will return to the beginning. And the beginning of the heavy cruisers of the Japanese fleet were the Furutaka-class cruisers.
With the name in general, it turned out to be an interesting and even mystical case. In general, heavy cruisers were supposed to be named after the mountains, of which there are plenty in Japan. But the lead ship of the series was named "Kako" after a river in Hyogo Prefecture. And the series was to be named after the first ship, as is generally known. And to be the first Japanese heavy cruisers of the "Kako" class, but the gods intervened, not otherwise.
In general, it turned out that a strong earthquake happened in Japan. This is a common and normal thing, they were shaking there from the creation of the world. But on "Kako" a huge portal crane fell, which interrupted the construction for three months. Thus, the first was completed "Furutaka" and everything fell into place. Tradition remained intact, and both ships were completed without incident.
The fact that the ships succeeded became clear during the very first sea trials, when the Furutaka showed a speed of 35.2 knots. The contract included 34.5 knots. Everyone exhaled, the time has come for reflection on the topic “what did we do”.
But it turned out very well. Somehow, it suddenly dawned on everyone that the Furutaka was a ship that would be stronger than the Hawkins, which was sort of the benchmark of that time.
Six 200-mm guns in single-gun turrets, arranged in pyramids one above the other, three at the bow and stern, fired 660 kg of metal and explosives in a salvo at 544 kg from six guns at Hawkins. Yes, the Hawkins had more barrels, seven, but at best, only six could fire. Plus the caliber was smaller, 190 mm.
But the Japanese shipbuilders did not stop there and all the unrealized Wishlist were embodied in the Aoba-class cruisers, having invented modern two-gun turrets for them. The story about "Aobach" is ahead, the cruisers were generally successful, new turrets with new guns gave a rate of fire of three rounds per minute. The weight of the salvo was 1980 kg.
Why am I painting another ship like this? Everything is elementary. Seeing what could be done even better, the Japanese upgraded the Furutaki to the Aoba, replacing the single-gun turrets with new ones with two barrels.
And thus, the two types of cruisers actually merged into one. Yes, they never became full-fledged Washington heavy cruisers, yielding to the Pensacols and Londons that appeared later, for example, but the ships came out quite decent for themselves.
So what did the Japanese shipbuilders do?
Displacement. Initially: 7,500 tons (standard), after upgrades: 8,561 tons (standard), 11,273 (full).
Length: 183, 46 m (waterline).
Width: 16, 93 m.
Draft: 5, 61 m.
Reservation.
Armor belt: 76 mm;
Deck: 32-35mm;
Towers: 25-19 mm;
Bridge: 35 mm;
Barbettes: 57mm.
In general, the booking did not go very far from the light cruisers of the same Britain, but: the Japanese deliberately sacrificed booking for speed and cruising range.
Engines: 4 TZA "Mitsubishi-Parsons", 10 "Campon Ro Go", 109 340 hp. with.
Travel speed 35, 22 knots under test, with full load 32, 95 knots.
The actual cruising range was 7,900 nautical miles at 14 knots.
The crew is 639 people.
Armament.
The main caliber originally consisted of 6 200 mm Type 3 guns, which were replaced by 3 towers with 2 barrels each 203 mm Type 3 No. 2. There was a displacement towards the bow, there were now 4 barrels and 2 at the stern.
Flak. 4 universal guns 120 mm, 4 double-barreled anti-aircraft machine guns 25 mm, 2 coaxial machine guns 13, 2 mm.
Torpedo armament. 8 (2 × 4) torpedo tubes 610 mm Type 92 with ammunition load of 16 torpedoes.
Aircraft weapons. Catapult (it was not immediately, installed in 1933), 2 seaplanes.
In general, we have before us such a progressive cruiser-raider, capable of performing a fairly wide range of tasks. Yes, frankly weak anti-aircraft weapons, but the Japanese have always had problems with this.
In general, both cruisers became a kind of test platforms on which the very concept of Japanese heavy cruisers was tested. And today we can say with confidence that without the rather small "Furutak" the handsome "Mogami", "Tone" and "Takao" would not have taken place.
In the process of improvements, the ships received longer chimneys, the bridge was booked. Seaplane take-off platforms were replaced with a steam catapult. Next to the catapult, four-tube torpedo tubes were installed (instead of two-tube ones). From the new torpedo tubes, it was possible to launch Type 90 steam-gas torpedoes, and Type 93 oxygen torpedoes.
The cruisers received anti-torpedo bullets and wider and longer zygomatic keels.
We worked very radically on the guidance and fire control system. We replaced the fire control devices, installed a Type 92 target course and speed computer, a Type 92 low-angle calculator and three Type 14 6-meter rangefinders (on the bridge and on towers No. 2 and No. 3).
The fire control system for 120-mm guns received two rangefinders Type 94 and PUAZO Type 91. 25-mm assault rifles were guided with the help of two Type 95 directors.
The air observers on the bridge were armed with 80mm and 120mm binoculars.
The torpedo fire control system eventually consisted of two Type 91 directors, a Type 93 target heading and speed calculator, and a Type 93 counting machine.
We can say that all the processes of controlling the cruiser's fire were maximally mechanized for that time.
But the main modernization consisted in the almost complete replacement of the propulsion system. Instead of 12 coal-fired boilers, 10 oil-fired boilers were supplied.
To increase the fuel supply, all available volumes were used: coal bunkers were replaced with oil tanks, tanks were equipped in boules and empty boiler rooms No. 1 and No. 7. Thus, the amount of fuel was increased to 1852 tons. The cruising range increased to 7900 nautical miles, which was a very good indicator. The maximum speed decreased slightly at full load, but the autonomy had to be paid for.
Before the war, both cruisers also received a demagnetizing winding designed to protect against magnetic sea mines.
After such work (you must admit, the volumes are impressive), the ships of the Furutaka type began to differ little from the Aoba type, therefore they (Furutaka, Kako, Aoba, Kinugasa) were recognized as in fact of the same type.
There was one more nuance, first tested in the construction of Japanese warships. It was on the Furutaks that such a bow superstructure, combined with the foremast, was first used. The number of open areas was minimized, trying to protect the crew from shrapnel whenever possible.
The 26-meter-high superstructure included a combat, navigational and radio room, a navigational bridge and fire control devices. Plus, in the same superstructure, below, the cabins of the ship's senior officers were located, which was useful when quick action was needed.
The armor plates of the belt and middle deck were included in the hull power set, increasing its longitudinal strength and significantly saving weight. This was useful, but in fact it did not help much, the cruisers turned out to be overloaded.
Damage control system was, but it was expressed in the usual set of compartments and bulkheads. The main problem was the engine room, which was very difficult to separate with anything other than a central bulkhead. This could lead to flooding and overturning of the ship in the event of a torpedo hitting the area of the engine room.
Because of the bulkhead, there was a long debate, since the designers were afraid of capsizing and the death of the ship, and the General Staff of the Japanese fleet feared that the entire engine room would be flooded and the subsequent loss of progress from one projectile. In general, everyone had their own truth, as a result, the bulkhead was nevertheless installed and a counter-flooding system was developed to level the roll.
This system later became standard for all large ships of the Imperial Navy.
The only thing that was not on these worthy ships was the human conditions for the crew. They didn't mean officers, of course. There were only 45 of them on the ship, but the lower ranks - 559. And these five hundred people were accommodated not very well.
For one person on ships of the "Furutaka" type (on the "Aobach" it was exactly the same) there was about 1.5 square meters. meters of living space. The practice of application has shown that there were still negative aspects that the designers could not take into account when designing. The portholes of the crew quarters were located too low and on the move, even with slight waves, were flooded with water, so it was forbidden to open them.
Ventilation turned out to be frankly weak, especially for the tropical and subtropical zones.
In general, many innovations in one bottle do not always bring success. In the case of Furutaki, it cannot be said that everything turned out as intended. Therefore, numerous upgrades were needed.
However, it was precisely by modernizing these ships that the Japanese shipbuilders got their hands on and did not repeat such mistakes in the future.
Of course, there were some shortcomings that could not be corrected by upgrades. Let me criticize.
For example, the frankly low rate of fire of the main caliber guns in comparison with the ships of a real enemy. Or a very modest air defense. By the way, torpedo armament, which the Japanese naval forces have relied on, can also be attributed to the disadvantages. Yes, Long Lances were a formidable weapon capable of destroying ships easily and naturally. However, the lack of space on the ships led to the fact that torpedoes were stored on the upper deck, where they represented a very dangerous option in the event of being hit by bombs and fragments.
By the way, it was these oxygen torpedoes that brought the Furutaku to the bottom.
Combat service.
All four cruisers of the same type, which were now considered not without reason, were reduced to the 6th division of heavy cruisers. Aoba was the flagship of the Kinugasa, Furutaka and Kako.
But since we are interested in the original "Furutaki", we will appreciate their combat path.
At the beginning of World War II, both cruisers participated in the capture of Guam, Wake, Rabaul and Lae. In principle, while the Japanese blitzkrieg was going on in the Pacific Ocean, everything was fine.
The battle in the Coral Sea, where both cruisers also took part, did not bring them special laurels, since aircraft carriers and aircraft crews fought in that battle.
Then there was a night battle at Savo Island, or, as Japanese historians call it, the First Battle at Savo Island. There the Japanese inflicted a serious tactical defeat on the American fleet, drowning four American heavy cruisers in a night battle.
On the night of August 9, 1942, "Kako" and "Furutaka" fired a total of 345 shells of 203 mm and 16 oxygen torpedoes Type 93. "Kako" was precisely noted in the destruction of the cruiser "Vincent", which three Japanese heavy cruisers simply shot at point-blank range.
But the music did not last long, and revenge from the Americans overtook the Japanese cruiser. On returning to base "Kako" was hit by three torpedoes from the submarine S-44 and sank within 5 minutes, killing 70 people.
Furutaka briefly outlived its brother. The cruiser took the last battle during the battle at Cape Esperance on the night of October 12, 1942, during which she received up to 90 hits from American cruisers, lost speed and after a two-hour struggle for survivability was abandoned by the team.
Of course, in that night battle, the Americans had a huge advantage in the form of radars, but the defeated would have to complain, the Americans paid off for the first battle near Savo Island. Well, almost paid off.
It should be noted that the shells hitting the Furutaka did not cause as much damage as the one that hit the torpedo tube and caused the detonation of the torpedo and the ensuing fire. The fire spread throughout the ship, disabled many systems, and therefore the crew could not continue the fight for survivability and left the ship.
About how well the ship was protected by armor, one can draw a conclusion from the following figures: more than 90 shells of various calibers that hit the Furutaka killed only 33 people. Meanwhile, the cruiser was, as they say, like a sieve.
Summing up the project of the Furutaka-class cruisers, we can say that this pancake, even though the first one came out lumpy, was actually fixed. And it turned out to be a completely viable and combat ship, albeit not devoid of flaws.
Let's be honest, though, the Washington agreements could not have produced anything harmonious. Therefore, what the Japanese did with "Furutakami" is a great merit and a very successful experiment. But the best practices that they applied to the creation of other ships - that was the most valuable thing.
But more on that in the following materials.
