Having received the message about the torpedo hit, the commander of the cruiser "Kenya" nodded curtly. Everyone on the bridge immediately took out their service weapons and shot themselves. Hundreds of sailors gazed at them from the deck. Realizing the futility of further resistance, they pulled the grates out of the cauldrons, tied them to their feet and threw themselves overboard. Not forgetting to prudently raise the white flag on the gafel. The unguided cruiser gradually filled with water and sank nose forward a couple of hours later.
… For the next two days they led the convoy, repelling countless attacks from the sea and air. Maritime history did not know this - the British fought to the last for every transport with the equipment necessary to continue the defense of Malta. The escort held on to the last. Half of the allocated forces died in the transition. Another third was damaged. All who could go on their own, with the fearlessness of the doomed, went ahead. Until the victory, until the very end. "Kenya" with a disfigured nasal end was holding a 25-node passage. She stayed with the convoy and completed a combat mission as part of Operation Pedestal. Then there was a return trip to Gibraltar. The damaged cruiser got there on its own, got up for a short repair and three days later went to sea again, in the direction of Scapa Flow.
HMS Keniya protects the convoy
Stories of those who have won victories, putting in even more effort at the last moment than before
I am often asked the same question: what is the point in increasing the protection of ships, if the unfinished "wounded" still ceases to be a combat unit? He is unable to continue the mission and is forced to return to base.
Preserving the damaged ship and its crew, where there are many highly qualified specialists, is beneficial both from a military and economic point of view. Only the unused ammunition load of a modern destroyer can cost up to half a billion dollars! It is a crime to drown hundreds of guided missiles and other high-tech equipment just for nothing. Finally, I would see what the skeptics would say if their own son was on the crew. This is by the way about minimizing human losses.
For all the absurdity of the thesis about "useless wounded" (let them die as soon as the mast is scratched), I believe it is necessary to enter into a discussion and prove the opposite. Maritime history is full of examples where damaged ships fought successfully and won victories on their wounded decks.
… Icy wind and scraps of foam flying in the darkness. December 1941, Feodosia raid. The "Red Caucasus" is going into battle!
The cruiser moored at the pier for the landing. Everything that could shoot from the shore fired at him.
Chronicle of combat damage:
5.08 - two mortar mines.
5.15 - the first shell.
5.21 - a six-inch shell pierced the frontal armor of the 2nd main battery turret and exploded inside. Despite the outbreak of fire and the death of the entire crew, after 1, 5 hours, the tower was returned to service.
5.35 - two mines and a shell exploded on the bridge. Most of the people who were there died.
5.45 - gap in the area of 83 frames.
7.07 - the next shell, port side, 50 shp.
7.30 - new blow, 60 shp.
7.31 - hitting the wheelhouse, without breaking through the armor.
7.35 - 42 broads.
7.39 - within one minute to the tank superstructure in the area of 43-46 shp. three shells hit. 27 people were killed, 66 were injured.
… Having finished the landing, the "Red Caucasus" cuts off the ends and retreats into the sea. For the next 15 hours, he repels attacks from Luftwaffe aircraft. It returns under its own power to Novorossiysk, takes on board an air defense brigade and … goes back to Feodosia!
During unloading on January 4, 1942, the cruiser received severe damage from close explosions of aerial bombs. The right screw was torn off. The feed is broken. A strong trim has occurred. The deck up to the fourth tower of the main battery disappeared under water. Despite all the vicissitudes, the ship reached Poti on its own, where repairs awaited it. By the fall, he again joined the ranks of the operating ships of the Black Sea Fleet.
I wonder if there is at least one modern ship capable of accomplishing the impossible?
The American "Nashville" did not leave its position, continuing to shoot from the surviving guns at Japanese aircraft. The kamikaze attack claimed the lives of 133 members of its crew, but the cruiser did not withdraw from the battle, covering the aircraft carriers with fire.
Away from the enemy "Kumano" with a torn off nose. Despite the damage received, the Japanese TKR remained with its detachment, repelling the strikes of an air group of five hundred aircraft. Escaping from hellfire, the cruiser broke into Manila. A week later, while escorting a convoy to Taiwan, he was finally incapacitated by a torpedo of an American submarine.
Cruiser "Kumano". Attack from all points!
Those who have never opened a book on military history in their lives argued right off the bat that "damaged ships lose their combat capability." They are useless. They cannot fight. They have no combat value.
Gentlemen, are you not funny about yourself?
"Ships (cruisers and smaller) cannot continue the battle after being hit by a torpedo!" (Quoted from a comment that has garnered a flurry of endorsements.)
Here is a combat chronicle of the Second World War, which unequivocally proves that the damaged ships had a high chance to maintain their combat potential and continue the battle. Thanks to their neat design and the courage of the crews, they led convoys, covered the AUG and landed troops. Ignoring the injuries and tears throughout the body.
Only real ships and historical precedents. Without any excuses or hidden meaning.
Yes, history knows examples of the opposite. When an unsuccessful hit quickly put the ship out of action. I will deliberately not cite them here - let my opponents rummage in books themselves and look for “compromising evidence”. Most importantly, this does not in any way negate the fact that there were always those who fought to the end.
These are still the smallest and most imperfect cruisers. Laid down before the start of the First World "Red Caucasus" with a total displacement of 9000 tons.
“Kenya” is a contractual “freak” of the “Crown Colony” type with artificially low characteristics.
The same contractual “Kumano” (of the “Mogami” type) is an attempt to “cram the uncrowded” into the limited volume enshrined in the London Maritime Agreement.
“Nashville” is a modification of the “Brooklyn” type KRL, which also did not differ in special protection and survivability.
On the deck of the Nashville, the wreckage is being taken apart after the battle.
What tremendous combat resilience the ships, designed to survive in the most critical situations and “keep the line” under enemy fire, possessed. To pass where no one else would pass. Diverting entire squadrons and enemy air armies to themselves.
A striking example is the combat path of two "sisters" - "Maryland" and "Colorado". Some of the most active participants in the war in the Pacific theater of operations. They sneezed on small “scratches” and quickly returned to formation after severe injuries. As a result, the whole war went on - from Pearl Harbor to Sagami Bay, from where a majestic view of Mount Fuji opened.
According to Japanese reports, Maryland was sunk at least three times. But, every time, “Battle Mary” appeared out of nowhere and continued to “plow” the enemy's fortified areas from its monstrous cannons.
In April 1945, the battleship (not for the first time!) Was hit by a kamikaze.
The plane with a 250-kg bomb suspended on the roof of tower No. 3 - right into the 20-mm machine guns. A powerful explosion scattered the servants of the anti-aircraft guns and completely destroyed the installations themselves. The fire began to explode 20-mm ammunition, shrapnel hit the combat posts on the quarterdeck and the mainmast like a hail. In total, 53 people were injured: 10 died, 6 were missing, 37 were injured of varying severity.
In general, the attack did not produce the desired effect. Despite the injury, the battleship remained at Okinawa for another week, continuing to bombard Japanese positions and covering the landing ships with anti-aircraft fire.
At dusk on June 22, 1943, the Japanese treated the Maryland with a torpedo while it was parked at Saipan. Damage was limited to the bulkhead on the 18th frame. Even the anchor drive has been preserved. After 15 minutes, the course was given and the battleship left for Pearl Harbor. The renovation took less than a month.
In November 1944, a kamikaze crashed into his forecastle. “Maryland” stuck in the combat zone for three more days and went to its native shores. It didn't make much sense for the Yankees to keep him in the DB zone in the presence of dozens of other ships of his class. Renovated at Pearl Harbor and returned to service that winter.
His partner, “Colorado”, was just as calm about the combat damage. In the summer of 1944, while providing fire support at Tinian, the battleship came under fire from the coastal battery. In total - 22 hits with 152 mm projectiles. To make it clearer for a wider audience, our “St. John's Hunters” tore off the towers of the German “Tigers” with shells of this caliber. One hit to the house was enough for the collapse of the ceilings and the death of the entire enemy squad. And our infantry then complained about the hail of fragments from broken windows, within a radius of hundreds of meters. 152 mm - fierce death.
Wounded Colorado
In general, the Japanese treated Colorado to a non-acidic portion of hot metal. And what happened to the battleship? Nothing, he continued bombing Tinian. And he, of course, rubbed that battery into powder.
The next military campaign "Colorado" took place in a particularly tough regime. In November 1944, he received a kamikaze in Leyte Gulf. Month bombarded Mindoro. I went to Manus atoll for a couple of days for ersatz repairs, and then rushed to Lingaen Bay. There he suffered from "friendly fire". After reviewing the combat wounds, the command of the Navy recognized the battleship as fit for further service. Already on March 21, Colorado began counting thousands of tons of explosives that had to be unloaded to Okinawa in order to break the resistance of the Japanese.
As a result, in spite of everything, the battleship was in the combat zone from November 1944 to May 22, 1945.
Epilogue
What is the value of these historical data from the point of view of the modern Navy? The answer is obvious: modern ships are in much more favorable conditions compared to the heroes of the past.
Modern ships are not so afraid of damage to the hull plating. The era of artillery duels is over. Reducing the speed will not be able to deprive the ship of combat effectiveness. Its missiles will continue to reach their targets many hundreds of kilometers away.
Lack of combat posts on the upper deck. Compact means of detection and fire control, assembled into a single radar with three or four fixed antennas, oriented in their sectors (they cannot be destroyed by an explosion from one direction). No additional radar for transmitting radio commands and target illumination. Microcircuits instead of precision mechanics, extremely resistant to explosions and strong vibrations. Secure and redundant communications: satellite pocket telephones and numerous miniature dishes. All weapons are safely hidden inside the case. No launchers on the upper deck and no rotating turrets that could be jammed tightly by a nearby explosion.
The main thing is to prevent the penetration of warheads containing hundreds of kg of explosives into the hull. But this is exactly the problem.
As for the argument “why do something if the damaged ship is useless anyway,” this argument (like all the others) is not serious and is easily refuted by the chronicle of the war years.
