This article is a tribute to the debate about the need to arm the extremities of cruisers and battleships of the first half of the 20th century.
How dangerous was the damage to the bow of the ships? What are the consequences of multiple shrapnel holes in the stem area? Extensive flooding and dangerous nose trim, speed drop? How critical were these consequences for the ship?
Why were the hulls of some warships (German TKR "Hipper" and "Scharnhorst") were protected by armor (20 … 70 mm) up to the stem, while their mighty rivals on the other side of the ocean (American TKR type "Baltimore" or LK type "Iowa") actually had no protection outside the armored citadel?
Whose approach was right? Was it worth it to "smear" the armor on the ship, covering it with a chain box and storage rooms in the bow? Whose experience could be useful in creating promising ships in the 21st century?
As a small study, we will consider a couple of limiting cases, when opened leaks led to TOTAL flooding of all compartments in the bow, or when the ship, due to catastrophic destruction of the hull, completely lost the bow. However, the results of these terrible incidents were exactly the opposite of the tragic expectations of the public.
Hurry to see!
Return of "Seydlitz"
… The battle flared up with renewed vigor. Queen Mary fired her gigantic cannons at the German battle cruiser Seydlitz, inflicting terrible damage over and over again. A hit to the side ahead of the foremast caused severe damage to light structures in the bow of the hull. Water poured down the main deck, flowing like a waterfall into the cellars and posts on the lower decks of the ship.
New hit - charges ignited in the left side turret of the main battery. The Germans manage to flood the cellar, avoiding disaster.
Heavy splash from a 343 mm projectile falling on the port side. The underwater explosion ripped open the outer hull plating, leaving a wound 11 meters long.
The fourth hit of the Queen Mary shell - 150 mm gun # 6 on the left side is broken.
The Germans also did not remain "in debt", responding with powerful volleys of their magnificent 280 mm cannons. Mars Seydlitz and Derflinger saw the fired German shells hit the armor and went deep into the Queen Mary's hull. In the next second, nothing happened, "Queen Mary" responded with another volley. And then suddenly it exploded and disappeared in flames of flames and a cloud of thick smoke. Hail from various debris and parts of the deceased ship rained down on the Tiger, which was moving in the wake of the LKR.
The sailors of the Kriegsmarine looked in shock at the results of their own actions, still not believing that a huge ship with a crew of 1200 people. could just disappear like that - in one second …
But they were not destined to rejoice in victory for a long time. Just a couple of minutes later, the Seydlitz shuddered from another explosion. The breakthrough British destroyer "Petard" (according to another version - "Turbulent") struck the starboard side of the battle cruiser, in the area of 123 shp. under the armor belt. The warhead of a torpedo weighing 232 kg broke a hole in the underwater part with an area of 15 sq. m. The bow power plant and 150-mm gun No. 1 on the starboard side were out of order. As a result of extensive flooding, "Seydlitz" received 2000 tons of water, which increased its bow draft by 1.8 m (at the same time raising its stern from the water by 0.5 m).
On this, luck finally left the Germans. On the horizon appeared the 5th Squadron of British ships of the line - four of the most modern superdreadnoughts of the Queen Elizabeth class. Over the next hour, "Seydlitz" received seven direct hits with 381-mm shells, its decks turned into rubble of twisted steel. The greatest problems were caused by a shell that pierced the side 20 meters from the stem and formed in this place a huge hole 3 x 4 m. It was this hole that would later become one of the main reasons for the extensive flooding in the bow of the Seydlitz.
By six in the evening the British Queens were out of action, and the battered Seydlitz engaged the Grand Fleet battlecruisers again. Before nightfall, he managed to get eleven more "splashes", incl. eight - 305 mm shells, two - 343 mm, and one 381-mm shell fired by the Royal Oak battleship.
One of the 305-mm shells exploded on the laying of the anti-torpedo net, forming a 12 m gap between the outer skin sheets, and water began to flow in the middle of the hull.
A 343-mm projectile from the Princess Royal destroyed the bridge: both gyrocompasses were out of order from the concussion, and the maps in the navigator's room were splattered with the blood of the people who were there to such an extent that they could not make out anything on them.
But the hit of a 305-mm projectile from the Saint Vincent LKR had especially grave consequences, which caused a massive fire in the aft main turret, as a result of which its entire crew perished, and the turret itself was completely out of order until the end of the battle.
Damaged Seidlitz gun barrel
Total: 22 large-caliber shells and one torpedo hit the German battle cruiser Seydlitz per day, not counting a pair of 102 and 152 mm shells. Losses among the crew were 98 killed and 55 wounded. The battle cruiser continued to follow its fleet, gradually sinking into the water with the bow and reducing the speed - to 19, then to 15, 10, 7 knots … By the morning of the next day, the battle cruiser was barely crawling stern forward at 3-5 knots, with a roll of 8 ° on the port side. An unstoppable stream of water rushed across the decks, penetrating through numerous large holes in the sides of the ship. The shattered bulkheads could not withstand, the tightness of the watertight compartments was broken … By 17:00 on June 1, 1916, the estimated amount of water entering the Seydlitz hull was an incredible 5329 tons, or 21, 2% of the standard displacement of a battle cruiser! Record.
In blue, the compartments that have received water for leveling the roll and trim are highlighted.
How did “Seydlitz” manage to perform a miracle and, in such a state, return on his own to the base? In spite of all the vicissitudes, damage, 8-point wind and two shallows, on which I had to sit, due to the abnormal draft of the bow (14 meters) and the lack of serviceable navigation aids!..
Thanks to the professionalism of the cruiser commander - 1st rank captain von Egidi and the competent actions of the survivability division under the command of the corvette captain Alvelsleben. Thanks to the courage and resilience of the sailors, they did not sleep for four days after a hard battle, continuously keeping their ship afloat. Thanks to the selfless actions of the members of the machine crew, who worked and died standing up to their waist in boiling water.
SMS Seydliz has become a legend, and its incredible comeback will forever go down in history as a model of survivability.
The stub of the cruiser "New Orleans"
The night battle at Tassafarong was the third in the number of casualties among the US Navy sailors after Pearl Harbor and the defeat at about. Savo. The Yankees, as usual, honestly "lost" the battle, having on their side quantitative and technical superiority over the enemy.
The plot was as follows: in view of the appearance of the Henderson Field airfield and the transition of air supremacy into the hands of the Americans, the Japanese were left with nothing but the transition to the "Tokyo express" tactics. Formations of high-speed destroyers that could deliver cargo to the fighting units on the island in one night. Guadalcanal and leave the area of American aviation before dawn.
November 30, 1942 "Tokyo Express" of eight destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral R. Tanaka in the dark "ran into" the American squadron (TKR "Minneapolis", "New Orleans", "Pensacola" and "Nothampton" under the cover of a light cruiser " Honolulu "and four destroyers).
Despite the lack of radars, the Japanese were the first to understand the situation and deliver a powerful blow to the US Navy compound, taking advantage of tactical errors and the sheer stupidity of American ship commanders.
While the Yankees were desperately trying to hit the only detected enemy destroyer, the cruisers Minneapolis and New Orleans, one after another, were hit by "long spears" - Japanese oxygen torpedoes of 610 mm caliber. The cruiser Pensacola, moving behind them, found nothing better than to pass between the damaged ships and the enemy. The Japanese did not miss the chance and immediately released a "long spear" into the dark silhouette that appeared in front of them, tore off the Pensacola's left propeller and turned the cruiser engine room into a fiery hell. The burning fuel oil burned 125 sailors.
Surprisingly, after all this, the fourth cruiser, "Nothampton", continued to move as if on parade, without changing course or even trying to evade the torpedoes fired by the Japanese. The outcome is obvious - having received a couple of "long spears" in the area of the engine room, the cruiser was completely out of order, lost energy, communication and helplessly whirled in place on a single working propeller. By morning his roll had reached 35 ° and he sank 4 miles off the coast of Guadalcanal.
The Japanese lost in the night battle 1 destroyer ("Takanami") and 197 people.
The Americans lost a heavy cruiser, and the three survivors "wounded" went down in history forever as outstanding examples of the struggle for the survivability of ships. Irrecoverable losses among personnel amounted to 395 people.
The cruiser "New Orleans" looked the most creepy after the battle.
The Japanese "spear" struck the area of the bow turrets of the main battery. The explosion of the 490-kg warhead, coupled with the detonation of the ammunition, completely tore off the "New Orleans" nose - up to the main turret # 2. The cruiser's troubles did not end there. The torn off piece of the hull was brought to the side and hit with force against the side of the moving cruiser, forming a series of holes along the entire length of its hull. Going under the water, the 1800-ton "fragment" touched the propellers, while the blades of the inner propeller on the left side were bent.
I had to see it. I was moving tightly along the silent second tower and was stopped by a lifeline stretched between the port rail and the tower. Thank God he was here, one more step, and I would fly headfirst into the dark water from thirty feet. The nose is "gone". One hundred twenty-five feet of the ship and the first bow artillery tower with three eight-inch cannons were gone. Eighteen hundred tons of the ship "left". Oh my God, all the guys I went through boot camp with all died.
Herbert Brown, sailor from the cruiser "New Orleans"
Despite the extensive destruction, the loss of a quarter of the length of the hull and the death of 183 sailors, the "stub" of the cruiser cautiously moved in a 2-knot course to Tulagi, where the American forward base was located. The 35-mile trek was completed by the next morning. After operational repairs and construction of a temporary "nose" made of coconut logs, the New Orleans returned to sea 12 days later and headed to Australia, where it arrived safely on December 24, 1942.
The final renovation of the "New Orleans" was completed by the summer of 1943 at the shipyard in Puget Sound (Washington state). The cruiser returned to service and later took part in many major campaigns and naval battles of the Pacific theater of operations - Wake, Marshall Islands, Kwajalein, Mazuro, raid on Truk, Iwo Jima, Philippines, Saipan and Tinian … 17 battle stars! One of the most honored cruisers of the US Navy.
USS Minneapolis (CA-36)
As for its "colleague" - the heavy cruiser "Minneapolis", which was torpedoed in the same battle at Tassafaronga, survived the detonation of the BC and also lost its bow. It is curious that, unlike New Orleans, the severed bow of the Minneapolis did not sink, but, having broken, was wound up at an angle of 70 ° under the bottom of the ship. Despite the troubles (including the severed nose and the destroyed engine room), this ship also managed to reach the coast, and after repairs returned to service.
Epilogue
The main reasons for the death of ships in battle are severe fires, violation of stability and detonation of ammunition.
As you can see from the above examples, damage to the bow is not included in this list. Even after extensive flooding and destruction in the bow, ships, as a rule, retain the lion's share of their combat effectiveness and do not even try to go to the bottom.
What can we say about small fragmentation holes and explosions of land mines of medium / universal caliber! The damage caused by them is categorically incapable of delivering significant trouble and causing the loss of progress and combat effectiveness of a large warship.
The "German scheme" with the "smearing" of anti-splinter armor over a large side area was a mistake. This reserve was worth spending on strengthening the protection of the armored citadel, the truly important compartments and mechanisms of the ship.
Finally, regardless of the severity of the damage, a well-tailored ship with a professional and dedicated crew is able to demonstrate miracles of survivability.
P. S. The title illustration for the article shows the battleship Wisconsin after a collision with the destroyer Eaton.
Heavy cruiser Pittsburgh returns to base after encountering tropical storm
