USS Brooklyn (ACR-3)

Unlike previous projects, the Brooklyn armored cruiser was built under the strong influence of the French shipbuilding school. Its characteristic features included a strong blockage of sides in the upper part, the rhombic arrangement of artillery of the main caliber, heavy combat masts with many Mars. However, the chosen reservation scheme was borrowed from British experience.

Corps

The cruiser had a total displacement of about 10,000 tons. Its length (along the waterline) was 122.1 meters, the ram protruding forward increased the total length to 122.7 meters. The width of the ship was 19.7 meters: in accordance with the traditions of French shipbuilding, the freeboard was heavily littered inside in the upper part, so the width of the ship along the upper deck was almost half the width of the waterline. This design solution made it possible to position heavy artillery high (providing it with the ability to shoot in bad weather), while reducing the upper weight of the hull structures and improving stability. In addition, the obstruction of the sides inside gave the onboard casemated artillery the best angles of fire.

The cruiser hull had a raised forecastle to improve seaworthiness, smoothly turning into a low rectangular superstructure. In the front part, behind the bow tower of the main caliber, there was a tower-like bridge topped by a bow combat mast. The wings of the bridge ^[1] were very wide and protruded far to the sides. In the aft part of the superstructure there was a second combat mast with massive observational Mars. The ship had three tall and thin pipes, characteristic of the American school of shipbuilding.

Armament

The main armament of the cruiser was eight 203-mm 35-caliber guns Mark-3, mounted in pairs in four armored towers. The initial flight speed of the 118-kg projectile was 640 meters per second, which ensured a range of about 14,000 meters. These guns fired slowly burning smoky ("brown") gunpowder, and although they were powerful enough, they suffered from low reliability and technical defects due to the lack of experience in producing heavy artillery at American plants. Another significant problem was the low rate of fire: due to archaic reloading procedures adopted at that time in the US Navy, the rate of fire at first was one shot in two minutes. Only by 1900 this problem was solved by simplifying the procedures and better training of the gunners, after which the rate of fire reached 2-3 rounds per minute.

For guns of the main caliber, the French "rhombic" layout was adopted. One tower stood in the bow of the cruiser, two on the sides in the center of the hull, on sponsons, and one in the stern. The bow tower was located on the forecastle, the rest of the tower - the deck below. Such an arrangement provided six guns in linear fire, six in a retractable fire and six on each side: due to a strong obstruction of the sides, the side towers could shoot at the bow or stern without fear of damaging the hull with powder gases.

Auxiliary weapons of the cruiser were twelve very successful 127-mm quick-firing 40-caliber guns. These guns had unitary loading and a rate of fire of up to 12 rounds per minute, but they were intended to fire high-explosive shells on unarmored parts of the enemy’s side. The entire quick-firing artillery was located in individual casemates, protected by anti-splinter armor: two guns were installed on the forecastle, two more - in the aft part of the superstructure, and eight - on the main deck below. Up to six guns could be pointed on each side, and due to their location on different tiers, four could carry linear and retirement fire.

Mine artillery consisted of eight six-pound guns in individual unarmored casemates, and two 1-pound Driggs-Schröder machine guns on Mars.

As submarine weapons, the ships had a ram and five 457-mm surface torpedo tubes. The bow TA was located directly above the stem and was used to shoot torpedoes right on the course: the remaining four vehicles were located in pairs along the sides.

Booking

An armor belt of 76 mm steel - nickel armor 2.6 m high covered the entire side along the waterline. The basis of the protection of Brooklyn, as in previous projects, was a convex armored deck with powerful bevels at the sides. The thickness of the horizontal part of the deck was 76 millimeters: the thickness of the bevels was 152 millimeters. Thus, in order to hit the engine rooms, the enemy projectile had to overcome the armor belt first, and then the bevels of the deck.

Between the side lining of the cruiser and the bevel of the armored deck along the entire length of the ship passed the rubber dam divided into many compartments. This structural element was supposed to localize the effect of shell ruptures at the waterline. The compartments of the cofferdam were filled with cellulose, which, according to the designers, was supposed to swell when it entered the water, and plug the hole. This solution turned out to be ineffective and, in addition, fire hazardous, therefore, during the modernization, pulp was removed from the compartments.

The main caliber artillery was protected by 140 mm plates of guar armor on the towers, and 203 mm on barbets. The auxiliary artillery casemates were reserved with thin 76-mm plates to protect against fragments and small-caliber shells.

In general, the ship’s armor protection seemed insufficient - especially in comparison with very powerful weapons - and more focused on confronting heavy, slowly firing main caliber guns than rapid-firing artillery.

Powerplant

The ship had four reciprocating steam engines with a capacity of 18,750 liters. with. working on two screws. Steam was provided by twelve Bellville boilers.

The maximum speed of the cruiser was 20 knots (although 21.97 knots were reached during testing). A 900 tonne coal reserve was enough for 6,000 nautical miles of an economical 10-knot course.

In 1909-1911, the cruiser was put on modernization, the purpose of which was to bring the characteristics of a rather old ship to the requirements of the time. During the modernization were:

• Belleville boilers replaced by five double and two single cylinder boilers
• For guns of the main caliber, a two-stage system for supplying shells and charges was introduced
• Fire control system installed
• Dismantled all torpedo tubes and half a 6-pound anti-mine artillery ^[2]

During the Spanish-American War, Brooklyn was originally assigned to the “flying squadron” - a detachment of cruisers designed to protect shipping off the US east coast from possible attacks by Spanish cruisers. However, after it became clear that the Spanish fleet was not showing any military initiative, the armored cruisers of the “flying squadron” were sent to block Spanish ships in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba.

During the battle of Santiago de Cuba, the Brooklyn was the flagship of Commodore Schlei (who took command in connection with the delayed arrival of Admiral Sampson). "Brooklyn" was given a special role in the blockade of the Spanish fleet, since it was theoretically the only ship capable of catching up with the Spanish cruisers, in practice, due to the poor condition of the Server fleet, the speed of its ships was even lower than the speed of the American battleships. Admiral Server, who commanded the Spanish squadron, paid great attention to this cruiser and believed that for a successful breakthrough the Spaniards needed to neutralize the Brooklyn at least at the cost of losing one of the Spanish ships.

At the very beginning of the battle, Admiral Server sent his flagship cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa to Brooklyn, intending to engage in close combat with him and allow other Spanish ships to escape. The Brooklyn moved towards the Spaniards: when the distance between the ships was reduced to a mile, the Brooklyn shifted the steering wheels and, turning around, brought down on Infanta Maria Theresa the entire weight of its airborne volley. Unable to withstand the deadly shelling from a short distance, the Spanish cruiser turned away and took to flight. The Brooklyn, describing the full circulation and nearly colliding with the Texas battleship, led the pursuit.

After the American fire knocked out the cruisers Infanta Maria Teresa and Admiral Oquendo, Brooklyn attacked the two remaining Spanish cruisers, trying to push them to the shore and limit them in maneuver. The Biscay cruiser made a desperate attempt to ram the American flagship, but the Brooklyn dodged and, firing from a short distance, made the Spaniard throw himself on the rocks.

At the end of the battle, the Brooklyn caught up with the retreating Spanish cruiser Cristobal Colon and started a short-range shootout with him. The ships exchanged volleys: at the same time, the Brooklyn hit four 127 mm shells at its enemy, but it also received three hits (one sailor was killed). Both ships retained combat effectiveness and could continue the battle, but in connection with the Oregon approach, the Spanish cruiser was in a hopeless position and threw himself on the rocks, lowering the flag.

In general, the Brooklyn participated in the battle most intensively of all American ships, due to its high speed, and received the most hits (twenty).

In general, for its time, the Brooklyn was an impressive ship, primarily due to its extremely powerful and rationally located weapons. None of the armored cruisers contemporary to him carried eight turret 203-mm guns: due to their rhombic location, the cruiser could fire and retire fire with six guns of the main caliber, which gave it invaluable advantages when pursuing a retreating enemy or moving away from the strongest pursuer.

The auxiliary weaponry of the ship was also powerful and effective. The 127-mm guns located in individual casemates were well protected and had good firing angles.

The main drawback of the ship was the weakness of the armor protection, which in general was oriented more at the confrontation of the heavy, slowly firing artillery of the 1880s than with modern rapid-firing guns. The combination of a thin armored belt and a convex armored deck with thick bevels reliably protected the cruiser’s engine rooms even from heavy shells: however, vertical armor protected less than half of the ship’s waterline. Unitary-loading rapid-firing guns (or heavy guns with a high rate of fire and high-explosive shells that appeared in the 1890s) could destroy an unarmored cruiser board, causing the ship to die from flooding and loss of stability even without a single armor break.

In general, the Brooklyn was an example of an armored cruiser, standing closer to armadillos of the 2nd rank than to armored cruisers, and designed primarily for conducting a squadron battle. However, due to the large-scale program for the construction of ocean armadillos initiated by the US Navy, this type of cruiser seemed unnecessary and did not receive development.

• Nenakhov Yu. Yu. Encyclopedia of the Cruisers 1860-1910. - Minsk: Harvest, 2006. - ISBN 5-17-030194-4 .
• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. - London: Conway Maritime Press, 1980 .-- ISBN 0-85177-133-5 .