Armadillos of the Majestic type

The results of a large-scale naval construction program, known as the Naval Defense Act of 1889, were far from what the British expected. The goal of the program - which included the construction of ten armadillos, forty-two cruisers and eighteen torpedo gunboats - the British government saw to impress opponents with the idea that it was impossible to compete with Britain in the number of warships, and, accordingly, to delay a new naval arms race. However, the result was just the opposite: France and Russia, the traditional opponents of Great Britain, accepted the challenge, and launched even larger-scale naval programs.

By 1893, it became clear that the new naval arms race was in full swing. The admiralty was worried by the fact that Russia and France jointly built twelve armadillos, against ten British. The only way to keep the British “bipartite standard” postulated — the situation where the British fleet was to be equal in strength to the two following fleets combined — was to build new ships at an even faster pace.

In 1893, at the initiative of the First Sea Lord, John Spencer, the British government approved a new naval program, which included, among other things, the construction of a new series of large armadillos. The concept of such has been developed since 1891 at the initiative of Vice Admiral John Arbuthnot Fisher, as a development of the Royal Sovereigns project with improved main-caliber artillery and the latest steel armor hardened by the Harvey method. Delays in the design of new heavy guns to replace obsolete 343-mm guns led to the fact that the laying of new armadillos was postponed several times. In 1893, under the pressure of public opinion, the British Parliament approved the laying of first two, and then seven more new battleships in 1893-1895.

Corps

Being the lead ship, the HMS Majestic was launched in 1895 and had a 128m long smooth-deck hull and a total displacement of 16,000 tons. It was the largest of the 19th century battleships. This type of ship was the last British armadillo to have chimneys onboard; subsequent types of armadillos had chimneys located in the diametrical plane.

Its main design was based on the design of the previous battleship of the 2nd rank "Rinaun".

Armament

The main caliber consisted of four new 12 "wire-fastened guns with a barrel length of 35 calibers and weighing 46 tons each, mounted in two indoor barbade installations . The guns launched 390-kg shells with an initial velocity of 716-732 m / s. Armor-piercing projectile weighing 386 kg possessed an estimated armor penetration of 840 mm forged iron at a distance of 900 m or 300 mm steel at a distance of 2830 meters.

The disadvantage of these guns was the low rate of fire by the standards of the time. On almost all Majestics, with the exception of Illastries and Caesar, the guns were mounted in obsolete small-diameter barbets that had a pear-shaped shape. Hydraulic reloading mechanisms were installed motionless in a narrow part of the barbet. Thus, reloading could be carried out only at a zero angle of rotation of the guns, and at a fixed angle of vertical elevation equal to 13.5 °. Due to this, the rate of fire of the “Majestics” was about 1 shot in 70 seconds when delivering shells from a pre-prepared combat station, and then fell to one shot in 100 seconds when feeding shells from the cellars ^[2] .

More advanced large-diameter installations with round barbets were installed at Caesar and Illastries. The reloading mechanisms now rotated with the guns and loading was carried out at any horizontal angle of rotation of the installation (the vertical angle during reloading was still 13.5 °). The rate of fire for these two ships was one shot in 80 seconds.

The Majestic-type armadillo barbeta installations were a significant advance over previous ones. Unlike open barbet installations, protected only by light armored caps, Majestic installations acquired all the basic features of modern armored towers. An immovable barbet, extending all the way to the armored deck, protected the servants, the mechanisms and the elevators for the supply of ammunition. From above, a heavy armored dome, rotating with guns, rested on it. Thus, the barbette installation was now protected from projectiles falling from above, which corresponded to increased sea battle distances ^[3] .

Auxiliary weapons were extremely powerful and well thought out. The battleship carried twelve 152 mm / 40 guns (QF 6 inch / 40) - six on each side - in individual casemates, protected from splinters and small-caliber shells. Four guns from each side stood on the main deck, and two more - at the corners of the superstructure. The guns had a rate of fire of 5-7 rounds per minute. The range was up to 10,000 meters. The doctrine of that time paid special attention to these guns: it was assumed that in battle he would be able to effectively destroy superstructures and unarmored parts of enemy ships with HE shells, provoking fires and flooding.

Mine artillery included sixteen 76-mm quick-fire guns and twelve 47-mm Hotchkiss guns located on the roof of the superstructure and in unarmored casemates on the main deck.

In the framework of the ideas of the time about the distance of naval combat, the battleships had torpedo armament - designed either to defeat the enemy with a missile attack miss, or to protect against an enemy ramming attempt. Torpedo armament consisted of four underwater and one surface torpedo tubes .

Booking

The Majestic reservation scheme was a development of the traditional British idea of ​​a "citadel" reservation. The armor belt protected only the center of the ship's hull between the bases of the gun barbets. The extremities were covered only by a horizontal armored deck. It was assumed that if the citadel was not broken, then the destruction and flooding of the surface compartments in the extremities would not lead to the loss of the ship's buoyancy.

But regarding the thickness and area of ​​the reservation, significant changes have been made. Under the influence of the Battle of Yalu , shipbuilders around the world began to attach special importance to protection against high-speed medium-caliber artillery - 120-152-mm guns with unitary loading. Such guns were not able to penetrate armor, but extremely effectively destroyed a barrage of high-explosive shells on an unarmored freeboard, which created a threat of waves being swept over the pierced compartments and the ship losing stability.

To solve this problem, British engineers radically increased the height of the armor belt on the Majestics. Extending the entire length of the armored citadel, the belt covered the freeboard above and below the waterline, right down to the base of the casemates of the fast-firing artillery on the middle deck. Thus, the engineers ensured that the rapid-firing guns were not able to leave holes in the citadel, through which the ship could be swamped. The height of the belt was 4.5 meters, of which 1.5 were located above the waterline. In the end, the belt was closed by traverse bulkheads with a thickness of 356 millimeters (front) and 305 millimeters (rear), connected to the bases of the barbets.

The payback for increasing the reservation area was its small thickness. The Majestic armor belt had a thickness of not more than 229 mm, and did not provide complete protection against heavy guns. To compensate for this drawback, immediately behind the belt was a 102-mm bevel of the armored deck - so that a projectile piercing the belt met additional protection on its way and could not get to the engine rooms. All armor was Garveyevsky , superior in characteristics to compound or steel-nickel.

The main caliber guns were installed in barbet installations - fixed armored fences, inside of which a platform with guns revolved. The thickness of the armor plates of the barbets reached 229 millimeters. An important innovation was the covering of barbets from above with armored domes rotating with the gun - this was the first step to the modern-style gun turret. The auxiliary artillery was very well protected. Each six-inch was occupied by a casemate (its own kind of “pillbox”), surrounded by 152 mm armor from the sides and 51 mm from the back, top and bottom. As a result, auxiliary artillery became completely invulnerable to rapid-firing guns, and the hit of a large-caliber projectile could disable only one casemate.

The armored deck was convex. Its edges were connected with the lower edge of the armor belt, forming 102 mm thick bevels. The central, flat part of the deck passed below the waterline, its thickness was 64 millimeters.

The chosen protection scheme was optimal for the late 1880s - when the heavy guns of the main guns had a low rate of fire and could not effectively ridicule a thin armor belt with single hits. The ship was perfectly protected from light shells. But in the 1890s, the rate of fire and the effectiveness of heavy artillery increased dramatically. So, the French heavy guns of the mid-1890s could fire from 1 to 3 shells per minute, and with many hits could break the Majestic’s armor belt, after which the ship would be threatened with death .

Powerplant

The ships were propelled by two three-cylinder triple expansion steam engines. Their full power was 10,000 hp. Steam was provided by 8 cylindrical boilers. The maximum speed per measured mile was 16 knots; however, when forced, cars could briefly give out 12,000 hp. and 17 knots. Forced operation was not considered normal and could easily lead to burnout of boilers.

Initially, the fire chambers of all the ships were coal-fired, but in 1905–1906 the HMS Mars became the first battleship to be upgraded to oil supply. The remaining ships were similarly converted to petroleum fuel in 1907-1908.

HMS Caesar (Caesar)

HMS Caesar was part of the Canal Fleet in 1898, the Mediterranean Fleet in 1898-1903, the Atlantic Fleet in 1904-1907, and the metropolitan fleet in 1907-1914. At the beginning of the First World War, he was in the Canal Fleet from August to December 1914, after which he was a ship sailing in Gibraltar from December 1914 to July 1915, as well as in Bermuda in 1915−1918, then a floating base in the Mediterranean in 1918− 1919 and in the Black Sea in 1919−1920, where the Royal Navy fought against the Bolsheviks in the Civil War . He was the last British pre-dreadnought to serve as the flagship , and the last armadillo to serve in the ocean. It was sold for scrap in 1921

HMS Hannibal (Hannibal)

HMS Hannibal was in the Canal fleet and the Atlantic Fleet in 1898-1905 and 1907, respectively, in the metropolitan fleet in 1907-1914.

HMS Illustrious (Illastries)

HMS Illustrious was in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1898-1904, in the Canal Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet in 1904-1908, in the Metropolitan Fleet in 1908-1914.

HMS Jupiter (Jupiter)

HMS Jupiter was a member of the Canal Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet in 1897-1908, and in the Metropolitan Fleet in 1908-1914.

HMS Magnificent

HMS Magnificent was in the Canal fleet and the Atlantic Fleet in 1895-1906, then in the metropolitan fleet in 1907-1914.

HMS Majestic (Majestic)

HMS Majestic was in the Canal fleet and the Atlantic fleet in 1895−1907, in the metropolitan fleet in 1907−1914.

HMS Mars (Mars)

HMS Mars was in the Canal fleet and the Atlantic Fleet in 1897-1907 (becoming the first battleship modernized for oil in 1905-1906), in the metropolitan fleet in 1907-1914. In 1902, as a result of an emergency operation of the ignition tube (the ray of fire did not reach the cap too far away, it began to smolder and flashed only after the shutter was opened), 2 officers and 6 lower ranks died during training firing ^[4] .

HMS Prince George

HMS Prince George was in the Fleet of the Canal and the Atlantic Fleet in 1896−1907, in the fleet of the metropolis in 1907−1914.

HMS Victorious

HMS Victorious was in the Mediterranean fleet in 1897-1898 and 1900-1903, in the Chinese station in 1898-1900, in the Canal fleet and the Atlantic fleet in 1904-1906, in the metropolitan fleet in 1907-1914. Served as a firewall off the British coast in 1914 and early 1915. Then, disarmed, he served as a floating workshop in Scapa Flow on the Orkney Islands in 1916-1920, after which it was renamed Indus II and decommissioned in 1923.

Armadillos of the Majestic type were the undoubted success of British shipbuilding. They combined excellent seaworthiness, high speed, extremely powerful weapons and rational armor protection in an almost optimal configuration. It was in these ships that the "classic" squadron battleship of the late XIX - early XX centuries was formed , which became the standard for the entire world shipbuilding until the advent of the Dreadnought.

Armadillos of the Majestic type were powerful, well-designed ships, deservedly claiming the status of the strongest in the world at the end of the 19th century. Their design features in many respects predetermined the further development of shipbuilding.

• All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905 / R. Gardiner. - London: Conway Maritime Press, 1979.- 448 p. - ISBN 0-85177-133-5 .