Design and housing features
It must be said that the design of Bayern-class battleships posed an extremely difficult task for the German shipbuilders to link together the "horse and the quivering doe."
On the one hand, it was necessary, if possible, to adhere to the dimensions of the ships of the previous type, battleships of the "Koenig" type, and this requirement, oddly enough, was completely justified. The fact is that relatively recently the German fleet completed very expensive work on deepening and widening the fairways, anchorages, etc., including the Kiel Canal, but all this was designed for the battleships of the geometrical dimensions "König". Thus, a significant excess of these dimensions would lead to restrictions on the bases for new battleships. Let's not forget that for A. von Tirpitz it was extremely important not to inflate the cost of battleships beyond what was necessary - it was, I must say, impressive. Thus, the ideal would be to fit the new battleship into the dimensions of the "König" with a minimum increase in displacement.
But on the other hand, the two-gun turret of 380-mm guns in weight was about twice as large as the two-gun 305-mm, and the muzzle energy of a fifteen-inch gun was about 62% higher than that of a twelve-inch gun. Accordingly, the return was much more serious. In other words, replacing five 305-mm towers with four 380-mm ones required an increase in displacement, and in addition, the installation of significantly better reinforcements that would not allow the hull to deform from the firing of the main battery guns. And with all this, in no case could you sacrifice protection!
On the whole, perhaps, we can say that the German shipbuilders coped with their task, if not excellently, then with a solid four. The newest German superdreadnoughts turned out to be only slightly larger than battleships of the "Koenig" type: the hull of the "Bayern" was 4.7 m longer and 0.5 m wider, the depth exceeded that of the "Koenig" by 0.53 m. increased by 2,750 tons and amounted to 28,530 tons - and this was achieved due to the more complete contours of the Bayern, the coefficient of its overall completeness was 0.623, while the same indicator of the Koenig was 0.592.
As for the strength of the hull, it was reinforced by the installation of two longitudinal bulkheads that run throughout the citadel. At the ends, they were the supporting element of the turret structures, and in the middle of the hull they divided the engine and boiler rooms into compartments, and, together with two armored bulkheads, provided resistance to the bending of the hull on the wave. At the same time, they, together with the transverse bulkheads of the turret structures, represented a rigid basis for the perception of the recoil of the main battery guns. The rest of the hull design was created on the basis of typical solutions of the Kaiser fleet, but with the utmost lightening of the weights. The latter became the subject of criticism of later researchers - for example, the famous Kaiser shipbuilding specialist Erwin Strobush believed that the hulls of Bayern and Baden raise concerns about the strength of the main connections.
The anti-torpedo protection of the German superdreadnoughts was quite interesting. These ships had a double bottom only at the bottom level, but where it passed into the sides and to the lower edge of the armor belt, there was nothing like that - only the side plating. However, behind the skin, at a distance of 2.1 m (at the ends, this distance was less), there was a longitudinal bulkhead made of shipbuilding steel 8 mm thick. Its bottom rested on a double bottom, the top - closed with the bevel of the armored deck. The idea was that the torpedo, hitting the side, penetrated it quite easily, but then the energy of the expanding gases was spent on filling the empty compartment, which should have weakened the force of the explosion. Well, the main protection was located even further - at a distance of 1.85 m from the bulkhead described above, there was a second one, made of 50 mm armor. The space between them was used as coal bunkers, which created an additional "line of defense" - coal "slowed down" fragments of the skin and 8-mm bulkheads, if the latter is also destroyed by an explosion, reducing the chances of breakdown of the PTZ armor bulkheads. At the same time, the Germans believed that 0.9 m of coal provided the same protection as a steel bulkhead 25 mm thick. It was assumed that with fully filled coal pits and undamaged watertight bulkheads, a torpedo hit in the center of the Bayern's hull would result in a roll of only 1.5 degrees.
Thus, the anti-torpedo protection of Bayern-class battleships was very powerful, but it also had a "weak link" - these were the premises of traverse torpedo tubes of 600-mm caliber. There was no way for them to find a place in the citadel, so they were located outside it, representing large, weakly protected compartments. Underwater damage in these areas automatically led to extensive flooding, since, due to the design features of the torpedo tubes and the equipment serving them, it was not possible to separate these compartments with watertight bulkheads.
A good illustration of this weakness was the detonation of Russian mines on the battleships Bayern and Grosser Kurfürst during Operation Albion. "Grosser Kurfürst" got a hole in the middle of the hull, within the PTZ, which is why it took 300 tons of water, and that was the end of its troubles. At the same time, "Bayern" was blown up by an absolutely similar mine in the area of the bow compartment of traverse torpedo tubes - outside the citadel and its PTZ. The Russian mine contained 115 kg of TNT, which in itself is not so much, but its destructive energy initiated the explosion of 12 compressed air cylinders, as a result of which the bulkheads were destroyed and flooded not only the compartment of the traverse torpedo tubes, but also the compartment of the bow torpedo tube.
The battleship received 1,000 tons of water, and it had to be leveled by counter-flooding of the stern compartments - taking into account the latter, it received up to 1,500 tons of water. The main systems of the Bayern continued to function, and she could fire from main battery guns (which he immediately proved by suppressing the Russian battery No. 34 with fire), in this respect the ship remained combat-ready, but the damage it received led to a critical loss of speed.
After the detonation, the battleship went at the smallest speed to Tagalakht Bay, where she anchored in order to put a plaster on the hole, as well as reinforce the bulkheads, and all this was done, but subsequent attempts to pump out the water were unsuccessful. Then the battleships of the 3rd squadron, including Bayern and Grosser Kurfürst, went to sea - they followed to Puzig for bunkering, from where the "wounded" were supposed to go to Kiel.
The ships gave only 11 knots of speed, but it turned out that the Bayern could not withstand even this - after 1 hour and 20 minutes after the start of movement, they were forced to slow down on it. Water again entered the nasal compartments, and the main bulkhead, withstanding the water pressure, bent 20 mm. If she could not stand, then the spread of water inside the ship could take on a completely uncontrollable character.
However, the decrease in travel did not give any effect - soon it had to be reduced again, and then, three hours after the start of the campaign, the Bayern was forced to stop completely. In the end, it became clear to the command that they might not bring the superdreadnought to Puzig and it was decided to return it to Tagalakht Bay, and on the way back, Bayern could not go faster than 4 knots. A long renovation awaited him here. For two weeks, the crew was engaged in reinforcing the bulkheads - on top of all the seams, wooden bars were laid, with a gasket of elastic material, which were reinforced with numerous struts and wedges. The openings in the bulkheads were filled with wedges and filled with cement, etc. And only after that the battleship risked to be re-put out to sea, while at the transition the ship barely held 7-10 knots, the plaster was torn off, water again poured into the partially drained compartments, but the ship's commander still decided not to interrupt the cruise, since the reinforced bulkheads held on well, and even ventured to develop 13 knots on the final leg of the route.
All of the above does not inspire much optimism in terms of the strength of Bayern's hull structures. Of course, in Operation Albion, in the conditions of complete domination of the German fleet, they were able to provide the most "favorable" conditions for the elimination of damage, but there is no doubt that if the ship received such damage in a battle with the British fleet, this would become the reason his death.
Again, it is interesting to compare the state of the Bayern and the Lutzov, which received similar damage in the Battle of Jutland: as a result of two hits of 305-mm shells from the Invincible, or perhaps the Inflexible, all of its nasal compartments in front of the nasal the towers of the main caliber were flooded. The ship received about 2,000 tons of water, and had to briefly reduce the speed to 3 knots, but then recovered and could give 15 knots for a long time. In the end, it was this damage that led "Lutzov" to death, but, reading the descriptions, does not leave the thought that in such conditions, "Bayern" would have lasted even less.
Let us conclude the description of the design features of Bayern-class battleships with one very extravagant solution. The fact is that on the superdreadnoughts of the Second Reich, the Germans did not find the strength to abandon such "necessary" combat means as … the ram stem. This was done at the direct insistence of A. von Tirpitz, who believed that the presence of a battering ram would give the ship's crew a sense of confidence "in the dump." One can only wonder how such archaic views coexisted in one person, along with advanced views on the use of long-range naval artillery and other innovations.
Power plant
EI battleships of the "Bayern" was created according to the traditional for the German fleet three-shaft scheme, which the Germans widely used on their ships since the 90s of the 19th century. Initially, the use of three machines was dictated by the desire to reduce their height, in comparison with the "two-shaft" scheme, but later the Germans saw other advantages of the three shafts. Less vibration, better controllability, while, in the event of failure of one of the machines, the ship lost only a third, and not half of the power of its power plant. Interestingly, for a while the Germans hoped that moving under only a medium car would increase the cruising range, but they soon saw that this idea did not work. Nevertheless, the other advantages listed above made the three-shaft power plant traditional for German heavy ships.
It was originally planned that the “onboard” screws would be rotated by steam turbines, and the middle shaft would be driven by a powerful diesel engine. But this idea was abandoned at the design stage - the solution with a diesel engine was more expensive, and most importantly, the progress of its development moved much slower than initial expectations. As a result, Bayern and Baden received three steam turbine units each with Parsons turbines. Steam for them was produced by 14 boilers of the Schulz-Thornicroft system, while three of them worked on oil, and the rest had mixed heating, but could also work only on coal or oil. The power of the mechanisms was supposed to be 35,000 hp, while the speed was supposed to reach 21 knots.
Unfortunately, the sea trials of "Bayern" and "Baden" were carried out according to an abbreviated program - due to wartime. Both of these ships went out to a measured mile in displacement, more than normal, while they were forced to undergo tests on a shallow measured mile in the Belt, where the sea depth did not exceed 35 m. Nevertheless, Bayern developed a power of 37,430 during a six-hour run. hp, while the average speed was 21, 5 knots, and tests at the maximum speed showed 22 knots with a power of 55,970 hp. "Baden" demonstrated approximately the same performance, developing a power of 54,113 hp. and a speed of 22,086 knots, with a displacement of 30,780 tons, that is, 2,250 tons higher than normal.
The calculations of the German specialists showed that if both battleships were tested in their normal displacement and in deep water, their speed would be 22.8 knots. Noteworthy is the relatively small increase in speed, despite the fact that the power of the mechanisms turned out to be much higher than planned. Battleships of the Bayern type turned out to be slower than their 305-mm predecessors: the Kaisers developed a speed of up to 23.6 knots, the Koenigi were practically not inferior to them, and the Grosser Kurfürst seemed to have set a record for a short while developing a speed of 24 knots in the battle of Jutland. At the same time, the Bayerns did not even reach 23 knots, and the reason for this was the more complete hull contours, which the German shipbuilders had to resort to. The British subsequently studied the Bayerne-class battleships in great detail, came to the fair conclusion that their hulls were optimized for a speed of 21 knots, and exceeding this speed required a sharp increase in the power of the power plant.
What about the speed of the Bayerns? Without a doubt, the 21st node was chosen quite reasonably and deliberately, within the framework of the concept of dividing the main forces of the fleet into "main forces" and "high-speed wing". The Bayerns were classic battleships of the "main forces", for which additional speed would be superfluous, since it would require weakening of weapons or armor, but would not give anything tactically, since the Bayerns had to operate as part of a line of slower ships … And, again, the increase in body fullness was due to more than good reasons.
But alas, as is usually the case, reality has made the most significant adjustments to the excellently logical theoretical constructions. I must say that Bayern did not have time for the Battle of Jutland quite a bit: by that time, its crew had not yet completed full combat training, so the battleship was listed as a semi-combatant unit, which should have been sent into battle only in the event of a direct assault on the German coast by the battleships of the Grand Fleet. Then, after Jutland, the battleship gained full combat capability, and the German command began to look somewhat more optimistic about the possible outcome of the confrontation between the line forces of Germany and England in open battle, which is why the plan for a new large-scale operation was conceived. June, July and early August were spent on the restoration of the ships damaged in the Battle of Jutland, and then the Hochseeflotte went to sea, and the Bayern - on its first military campaign. But alas, it is not at all the quality to which its admirals and designers were intended.
19 August 1916the battleship Bayern went to sea … as part of the 1st reconnaissance group, that is, being assigned to the battleship squadron! It is usually mentioned that the main reason for such a strange decision was the absence of "Derflinger" and "Seidlitz", which, having received severe damage in Jutland, simply did not have time to return to service with the beginning of the operation. But it cannot be ruled out that the Germans, having faced the excellent Queen Elizabeth-class battleships that combined high speed and 381-mm guns on battlecruisers, did not want to repeat this experience at all and therefore included a battleship in the vanguard that could fight them equally. This latest version is also supported by the fact that, in addition to Bayern, the 1st reconnaissance group, which at that time had only two battle cruisers Von der Tann and Moltke, was also reinforced by the Margrave and Grosser Elector ", which, generally speaking, were faster than" Bayern ". And if speed had a priority value, then it would be quite possible to transfer to the 1st reconnaissance group "instead of the three above-mentioned battleships, three ships of the" Koenig "type or the" Kaiser "type - such a connection would turn out to be faster. Nevertheless, the Bayern was chosen - the slowest, but at the same time the most powerful of the last 3 series of German dreadnoughts. "Baden" did not participate in this campaign - at the very time when the Hochseeflotte went to sea, it was only presented for acceptance tests. However, “Bayern” did not get a chance to distinguish itself - there was no collision with the British fleet.
But back to the technical characteristics of this type of battleship. The total fuel supply was 3,560 tons of coal and 620 tons of oil. The range was calculated to be 5,000 miles at 12 knots, 4,485 at 15 knots, 3,740 (17 knots) and 2,390 miles at 21 knots. But here one important circumstance arose. As we said earlier, the Germans used coal as a constructive protection for the ship - they were filled with narrow (1.85 m) and long coal pits running along the entire citadel. As a result, about 1,200 tons of coal were placed not along the boiler rooms, from where it would be relatively easy to feed them to the boilers, but in the area of turbines and 380-mm towers of the main caliber. The use of these 1200 tons, of course, led to a certain weakening of the anti-torpedo protection, but the problem was not only and not so much in this, but in the fact that extracting these reserves from narrow bunkers was an extremely difficult task, completely impossible in battle and very difficult in the sea. It was necessary first to remove the coal from the bunkers, then drag them to the bunkers located next to the boiler rooms, and load them there - all this was very laborious and led to severe fatigue of the crew, hardly acceptable in combat conditions, when at any time it was possible would expect a collision with enemy ships. Thus, these 1,200 tons of coal became an inviolable reserve, which would be very difficult to use, and the above-mentioned cruising range was more theoretical in nature.
The size of the crew was different for peacetime and for wartime. According to the schedule, during wartime the crew of Bayern was 1,276 people, and of Baden - 1,393 people, the difference is explained by the fact that Baden was created as the flagship battleship of the Hochseeflotte, and as such, had additional premises to accommodate the command fleet and his headquarters. I must say that later, when the battleship was handed over to Great Britain, the British did not like either the officer's cabins or the crew quarters, and only the admiral's saloon with an area of 60 square meters was approved. on the "Baden".
That is where we end the description of Bayern and Baden and pass on to the American "standard" battleships.
