Torpedo boats of the “Whale” type ( killer whale or Vigilant type) - destroyer type of the Russian Imperial Navy . In total, from 1898 to 1900, 4 destroyers of this type were built. The construction of all ships was carried out abroad, at the shipyard of Friedrich Schiechau in Elbing . The cost of building each destroyer averaged 472,000 rubles, or 1,020,000 German marks .
| Destroyer destroyers of the "Whale" type ("Killer Whale") | |
|---|---|
 Torpedo boat in Port Arthur | |
| Project | |
| A country |
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| Manufacturers |
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| Operators |
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| Years of construction | February 26, 1899 |
| Scheduled | four |
| Built | four |
| Losses | one |
| Main characteristics | |
| Displacement | 354 tons (full) |
| Length | 61 m (between perpendiculars) |
| Width | 7 m (the greatest on frames ) |
| Draft | 1.8 m |
| Engines | 2 triple expansion steam engines, 4 Shihau water tube boilers |
| Power | 6000 indicator liters with. |
| Speed | 27.4 knots full |
| Sailing range | 1,500 miles in 15 knots |
| Crew | 62 people (including 4 officers) |
| Armament | |
| Artillery | 1 × 1 75 mm Kane gun , 5 × 1 47-mm gun Hotchkiss |
| Mine torpedo armament | 3 rotary 381 mm TA (6 Lessner torpedoes) |
All 4 destroyers took part in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 . One of the four destroyers, the Vigilant, was blown up at the surrender of Port Arthur . The remaining three destroyers later took part in the First World War . In November 1925, the last destroyers of the type were excluded from the combat strength of the fleet and cut into scrap metal.
Content
Design
The Kita project was developed on the basis of the drawings of the Lampo fighter (destroyer) ordered by Italy, which, in turn, was created on the basis of the German destroyer S-90 . The ratio of length to width of the casing was 8.7 factors. The hull of the ship was divided into compartments by 12 waterproof bulkheads running from the keel to the upper deck. The thickness of the outer skin was 4 mm at the extremities, 5 mm for the shirtrack and 4.5 mm for all other belts. At a height of 100 mm from the cargo waterline, the outer skin was galvanized. The thickness of the deck sheathing sheets increased from 3 mm in the extremities to 4.5 mm in the middle. The crew consisted of four officers and 58 other ranks. Two cubicles were allotted for the team, the officers' premises consisted of a commander’s cabin, three single and one double cabins, a company cabin and a sideboard, and a separate cabin was provided for conductors.
The destroyers of the "Whale" type had ram rams. During the construction of fighters for their fleet, the Germans, the French and the British refused this constructive "rudiment", but the MTK continued to insist on their preservation for the possible "ramming of enemy destroyers."
Power plant
The power plant consisted of two vertical triple expansion machines with a design capacity of 3,000 liters. with. each and four water-tube steam boilers. The machines were located in the central part of the hull, between the bow and stern group of boilers.
Armament
All artillery for destroyers was made at Russian plants. The destroyer artillery armament included a 75-mm gun and five 47-mm guns, the ammunition for the 75-mm guns was 160 rounds, and for 47-mm guns - 1350 rounds for all guns. Mine armament consisted of three 381 mm caliber mine vehicles and six torpedoes. A 75-mm gun with a barrel length of 50 calibers was mounted on a lightweight machine of the Meller system and the gunner turned his shoulder in the horizontal plane. The ammunition consisted only of armor-piercing shells weighing 4.9 kg, with an initial speed of 823 m / s. The supply of ammunition from the cellar was mechanical. The gun did not have a shield, as it blocked the view of the helmsman on the bridge.
The 47-mm Hotchkiss gun with a barrel length of 43.5 caliber had ammunition steel and cast iron grenades weighing 1.5 kg, with an initial speed of 701 m / s. The supply of cartridges is manual. A light anti-shatter shield was mounted on the guns.
Development
The project documentation developed on the basis of destroyers of the Kasatka type - Mechanical Engineer Zverev — design documentation for a steam yacht with a displacement of 570 tons — destroyer destroyer with increased displacement and enhanced artillery weapons (four Finn ships).
Project Representatives
| Title | Pledged | Launched | Went into operation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vigilant | 02/26/1899 | 11/18/1899 | June 1900 | December 20, 1904 blown up in Port Arthur |
| Fearless | 03/29/1899 | 08/12/1899 | 08/31/1900 | June 24, 1924 is excluded from the lists, transferred to the state funds for implementation |
| Merciless | 03/29/1899 | 10/10/1899 | 07/30/1900 | November 21, 1925 removed from the lists, transferred to the State Collective Funds for implementation |
| Silent | 03/29/1899 | 03/03/1900 | 07/12/1900 | June 24, 1924 is excluded from the lists, transferred to the state funds for implementation |
Project Evaluation
The Russian destroyers were armed with one 75 mm and five 47 mm guns, while the Japanese with two 76 mm and four 57 mm. It should be borne in mind that the Russian 75 mm shell weighed 4.9 kg, 47 mm - 1.5 kg, the Japanese 76 mm - 5.7 kg, 57 mm - 2.7 kg. So the Japanese admirals turned out to be far-sighted, arming the destroyers with a second 76-mm gun. As a result, weak artillery became the most serious shortcoming of Russian destroyers. The ammunition of the Kane gun looked pitiable - a 50-gram charge of steel armor-piercing 75-mm shells was barely enough to break the shell into two parts or tear out this tube, and there were no high-explosive guns in the nomenclature. Armor-piercing shells of Russian destroyers with insignificant filling produced an effect often even less than the cast-iron core of smooth-bore guns, as often because of a tight fuse (designed to break through armor) they pierced the destroyer’s board and flew further without exploding. Only war could fully identify this feature. Russian 381-mm torpedoes of the 1898 L-type (Project of the Lessner Plant) 5.18 meters long weighing 430 kg (explosive charge - 64 kg) had two modes of 600 m at 30 knots and 900 m at 25 [1] . Designed by the Lessner plant on the basis of fium samples , they have been in serial production for several years at Russian plants. They were also inferior to the copies of the English 45-cm Whitehead torpedoes used by the Japanese fleet: Type 37 (1904) 4.95 m long, 541 kg mass (BB 90 kg), also having two modes of travel: 1000 m at 28 knots and 3000 m at 15. For the rest, these destroyers were not tired of the Japanese destroyers.
Notes
Literature
- Afonin N.N. Squadron destroyers of the "Killer Whale" type (1898-1925). Series "Warships of the world." - Samara: ANO "Eastflot", 2005. - 88 pp., Ill. ISBN 5-98830-011-1