Armadillos of the Democratic type ( French: Classe Démocratie ) are a series of French squadron battleships from the 1900s . Sometimes called armadillos of the Liberté type ( fr. Classe Liberté ). In total, from 1903 to 1908, four armadillos were built, the design of which formed the basis for subsequent Danton-class armadillos . Liberte died on 9/25/1911 as a result of an explosion of ammunition. 204 people were killed and 184 injured.
| Armadillos of the Liberte type | |
|---|---|
| Classe liberté | |
 The battleship Liberte | |
| Project | |
| A country |
|
| Preceding type | Armadillos of the "Republic" type |
| Subsequent type | Armadillos of the Danton type |
| Years of construction | 1903-1908 |
| Years in the ranks | 1908-1922 |
| Built | four |
| In the ranks | withdrawn from service |
| Scrapped | 3 |
| Losses | one |
| Main characteristics | |
| Displacement | 14 489 - 14 860 t normal |
| Length | 133.8 m |
| Width | 24.26 m |
| Draft | 8.41 m |
| Reservation | main belt: 180-280 mm upper belt: 180-240 mm deck: 60 mm casemates: 75 mm towers GK: 280-320 mm GK barbets: 255 mm conning tower: 300 mm |
| Engines | 24 Nikloss boilers or 22 Belleville boilers; 3 triple expansion steam engines |
| Power | 18 500 h.p. |
| Mover | 3 screws |
| Speed | 19 knots full |
| Sailing range | 8400 miles |
| Crew | 766-825 |
| Armament | |
| Artillery | 2 × 2 - 305 mm / 40 Mle. 1893/96 10 × 1 - 194 mm / 50 13 × 1 - 65 mm 10 × 1 —47 mm / 50 [1] |
| Mine torpedo armament | 2 × 450 mm TA |
The rest at the beginning of World War I were in service and were actively used in hostilities in the Mediterranean Sea, in particular, in the Dardanelles operation . Survived the war. "Democrats" and "Justis" in 1919 were in Sevastopol, participating in the intervention against Soviet Russia.
History
The 1902 program provided for the laying of four more Republican-class battleships. But even during the design, it was decided to revise the project in accordance with new trends to strengthen the auxiliary caliber, which appeared in almost all the main fleets of the world. The old-fashioned "quick-firing" artillery, with a caliber of 120-152 millimeters, everywhere gave way to heavier and more powerful guns.
Representatives
| Title | Shipyard | Bookmark | Launching | Commissioning | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| " Democrats " (Démocratie) | Fleet shipyard in Brest | May 1, 1903 | April 30, 1904 | January 1908 | sold for scrap in 1921 |
| Liberte (Liberté) | AC de la Loire, St-Nazair | November 1902 | April 19, 1905 | March 1908 | exploded 09/25/1911 |
| Justis (Justice) | FCM | April 1903 | October 27, 1904 | February 1908 | sold for scrap in 1922 |
| " Verite " (Verite) | C de la Gironde, Bordeaux | April 1903 | May 28, 1907 | June 1908 | sold for scrap in 1922 |
Design
Armadillos of the Democrat type almost did not differ in size from armadillos of the Republik type, being only 200 tons heavier. They kept the same multi-tube design, with two chimneys behind the bow combat mast and one chimney - in the stern in front of the aft signal mast. The upper weight was somewhat reduced by abandoning the feed superstructure.
Armament
Like the Republik type, the ships were armed with four 305-mm 40-caliber guns, model 1893 / 96M. The guns differed from the 1896 model in a shorter and wide chamber. The guns fired 349 kg of shells with an initial velocity of 865 m / s, had a practical rate of fire of one shot per minute, and a range of 12,500 m with a maximum elevation angle of 12 °. Each 305 mm turret gun served a calculation of 18 people.
Medium artillery has been changed. On the battleships of the Democrats series, the French replaced 164-mm guns (having a rate of fire of no more than 3-4 rounds per minute), with more powerful 194-mm guns of the 1902 model, which had a practical rate of 2 shots per minute and firing 88-kg shells at range up to 12,000 m. Ten guns were installed in two groups: six in single-armed rotating towers on the upper deck, and four in casemates.
Mine action weapons consisted of thirteen 65-mm (9-pound) and ten 47-mm (3-pound) guns.
The ship also carried two 450 mm torpedo tubes.
Booking
Repeated the type of "Republic." The basis of protection was the traditional for the French solid main belt along the waterline, with a maximum thickness in the middle of up to 280 millimeters. To the upper and lower edges, the belt thinned, respectively, to 240 mm and up to 100 mm. At the extremities, the belt was thinner: its maximum thickness was 180 millimeters, at the upper edge - 140 mm and at the lower - 81 mm. The belt consisted of two rows of plates, with normal displacement, the armor plates of the lower row towered 0.7 m above the waterline and went 1.5 m under water. The upper row had a height of 1.6 m.
An armored deck rested on the lower edge of the belt, the thickness of which reached 53 millimeters in the center of the hull, and 70 mm on bevels. Artillery of the main caliber was protected by 350 mm plates, the main towers - 250 mm. Auxiliary artillery (tower) was protected by 150 mm armor, the base of the towers - 280 mm armor, and casemates - 140 mm armor.
Powerplant
Three-shaft, 18 500 hp Speed - 19 knots. The coal reserve is 1825 tons, which was enough for 15700 km of economical 10-knot course. The layout of the power plant was identical in all six vessels. The engine room, divided into three parts by longitudinal watertight bulkheads, was in the middle of the ship, with corresponding capacitors immediately behind its engines. The bow boiler room was larger and was divided into three compartments, two transverse bulkheads, along the sides were coal pits, and the stern was smaller and consisted of one compartment. A dynamo and auxiliary equipment were on the platform, between the front boiler room and the engine room.
Project Evaluation
At the time of their laying, battleships of the Democracy type were rated as very successful. They belonged to the transitional type with an increased caliber of medium artillery. The emergence of this type was associated with the development of reservation technologies and the emergence of high-strength Krupp armor, which made it possible to effectively and reasonably protect the weight of a much larger part of the ship's board than earlier specimens allowed. Thus, the traditional rapid-fire artillery with a caliber of 100-150 mm was no longer considered capable of effectively hitting the freeboard of enemy ships.
On battleships of the Democracy type, rapid-firing guns were replaced by much more powerful 194-mm guns, capable of firing further and piercing the thin armor of the upper belts of enemy ships. In addition, the high-explosive action of the 194-mm shell was much stronger. The disadvantage was the mixed placement of the intermediate caliber in the towers and casemates (due to the increased range of artillery, the casemates no longer met the standards of naval combat). Significantly improved mine artillery; the new 65-mm guns were quite adequate to the task of mine defense at the time of laying the ships, but were again outdated during construction.
| King Edward VII [2] | Democrats [1] | The Republic [3] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bookmark Year | 1902 | 1903 | 1901 | ||||
| Year of commissioning | 1905 | 1908 | 1906 | ||||
| Normal displacement, t | 15 800 | 14,860 | 14,605 | ||||
| Full, t [com. one] | 16,650 | 15 834 | |||||
| PowerPM , l with. | 18,000 | 18 500 | 18,000 | ||||
| Maximum speed, knots | 18.5 | nineteen | nineteen | ||||
| Range, miles (on the go, knots.) | 5270 (10) | 7000 (10) | 7000 (10) | ||||
| Booking mm | |||||||
| Type of | The cop | The cop | The cop | ||||
| Belt | 229 | 280 | 280 | ||||
| Deck (bevels) | 25 (51) | 53 (70) | 53 (70) | ||||
| Towers | 305 | 320 | 320 | ||||
| Barbets | 305 | 255 | 255 | ||||
| Cutting | 305 | 330 | 330 | ||||
| Armament | 2 × 2 × 305/40 4 × 1 × 234/47 10 × 1 × 152 mm / 45 12 × 1 × 76.2 mm / 40 4 TA | 2 × 2 × 305/40 10 × 1 × 194/50 13 × 1 × 65 mm / 50 2 TA | 2 × 2 × 305/40 18 × 1 × 164/45 25 × 1 × 47 mm / 45 2 TA | ||||
Their counterparts in other fleets were Lord Nelson type battleships, such as Regina Elena , Connecticut type, Andrew the First Called type , Satsuma Japanese battleship: but due to the extremely protracted construction, the battleships were not operational until 1908. already being obsolete.
Comments
- ↑ For British and American ships in the sources, displacement is given in long tons , so it is converted to metric tons
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905. - P. 297.
- ↑ All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905 / R. Gardiner. - London: Conway Maritime Press, 1979.- P. 37.
- ↑ All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905 / R. Gardiner. - London: Conway Maritime Press, 1979.- P. 297.
Literature
- S.A. Balakin. French Navy 1914-1918. Handbook on the composition of the ship. - Moscow: Model Designer, 2000. - 32 p. - (Marine collection No. 3 (33) / 2000). - 5,000 copies.
- All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905 / R. Gardiner. - London: Conway Maritime Press, 1979.- 448 p. - ISBN 0-85177-133-5 .