Amiral Baudin type armadillos are a series of two large naval armadillos built for the French Navy in the 1880s. They were the development of the previous Amiral Duperré project with enhanced main-caliber artillery. They served in the operating fleet until the 1900s, after which they were decommissioned.
| Armadillos of the Admiral Boden type | |
|---|---|
| Classe amiral baudin | |
 Formidable (picture) | |
| Service | |
 France | |
| Organization | French naval forces |
| Manufacturer | La seyne-sur-mer |
| Status | written off to metal |
| Main characteristics | |
| Displacement | 12 150 tons |
| Length | 98 m |
| Width | 21,2 |
| Draft | 7.9 m |
| Reservation | main belt - 560 ÷ 350 mm; barbets - 420 mm; gun shields and battery - 241 mm; deck - 80 mm |
| Engines | 2-cylinder compound steam engine |
| Power | 9700 and. l with. |
| Mover | 2 screws |
| Speed | 16 knots (design); |
| Crew | 650 people |
| Armament | |
| Artillery | 3 × 370 mm / 28 rifled breech-loading guns [1] 10 × 138 mm rifled guns; 4 × 163 mm rifled guns [1] |
| Mine torpedo armament | 6 × 450 mm torpedo tubes |
History
Even during the construction of the battleship "Amiral Duperré", its design was subjected to considerable criticism due to the relatively weak weapons. Compared to the British and Italian counterparts carrying 406-450 mm rifled guns, the French battleship was armed with only 340 mm. Although the French breech-loading guns were faster than the muzzle-loading guns of potential opponents, their breakdown power was much less.
The naval doctrine of the 1870s paid considerable attention to the individual superiority of the warship over the enemy. Therefore, the weakness of the main armament of the French battleships made them the object of serious criticism. As an adequate response, the French admirals decided to create a project for the ship, which developed the concept of "Amiral Duperré" but with more powerful artillery.
Design
The new battleships were close in design to the Amiral Duperré. They were slightly larger (total displacement increased to 12,000 tons), had a high freeboard characteristic of French shipbuilding and a characteristic obstruction of the sides inward at the top. Unlike the prototype, two ships of the “Amiral Baudin” type were built from the very beginning without the use of a sail mast and for the first time received heavy combat masts with numerous Mars, which later became characteristic of French shipbuilding.
Armament
The main difference between the Amiral Baudin armadillos and the prototype was their armament. The 340-millimeter guns were replaced by much more powerful 370-millimeter guns with a barrel length of 28 calibers, more long-range, and with greater penetrative power. The weight of the projectile was 550 kg. The guns were located in individual barbet installations, which had - due to the considerable length of the new guns - an elongated pear-shaped shape.
Unlike the Amiral Duperré, all three main-caliber guns on the Amiral Baudin class battleships were located along the hull center line. One barbette stood in the bow of the hull, one in the center immediately behind the superstructure, and one in the stern. The bow fire was somewhat weakened, which characterized the next stage of the “throwing” of French shipbuilders between the idea of fighting in the wake line (where the airborne salvo was of primary importance) and the idea of battle in the frontal structure (where the bow and stern volley were the most important).
Like other French ships, the battleship received a very powerful auxiliary artillery. Four 163-millimeter and ten 140-millimeter guns stood in a battery on the main deck: two 163-millimeter and four 140-millimeter guns were fired on each side, and another 140-millimeter gun was in the fore and aft ends. The battery of medium-caliber guns was not protected by armor and was vulnerable to any hits, however, the auxiliary weapons of the French ships were much more powerful than those of the British and Italian counterparts.
Six 450-mm torpedo tubes were located in the underwater hull: four in the bow and two in the stern.
Booking
Reservation of ships repeated the scheme " Amiral Duperré ". The ships had a narrow armor belt running along the entire length of the hull along the waterline. The thickness of the wrought iron plates reached 560 millimeters in the center of the hull, decreasing to the extremities to 400 (in the bow) - 350 (in the stern) millimeters. Although the height of the belt was slightly increased, he still left most of the freeboard unprotected, and when fully loaded, he practically hid under water.
An 80-mm armored deck rested on the armored belt, which covered the underwater parts of the ship from hits.
The main caliber barbets were protected with 420 mm compound armor plates. Barbets provided reliable protection to gun mechanisms and servants, but as in the previous project, they stood on the upper deck and under them there was a large unprotected space, completely open for projectile hits. As a result, the explosion of a large-caliber projectile under the barbet could put the unit out of action without even breaking through its armor.
Upgrade
From the very beginning of the combat service, Amiral Baudin class ships underwent repeated upgrades. Basically, they consisted in strengthening (with the development of mine-torpedo forces) small-caliber artillery: back in the 1880s, armadillos received five 47-mm guns of Hotchkiss and 11 37-mm revolver guns. Light artillery was installed on superstructures and on mast masts.
In 1898, the French tried to overhaul these already clearly aging armadillos, adapting them to the changing conditions of the war at sea. On each armadillo, a central 370-mm gun was dismantled along with a barbette, and replaced with an armored casemate with four 164-mm quick-firing guns of a modern type. Aft torpedo tubes were removed: the obsolete 37-mm guns were also dismantled, replacing them with more powerful light artillery. Nevertheless, no modernization could turn the old ships into anything more than an auxiliary force, at best suitable for deployment in minor sectors or for cruising operations in the ocean.
Project Evaluation
The Amiral Baudin armadillos were essentially a development of the Amiral Duperré project . The main caliber weapons were significantly strengthened on them and a number of structural elements were changed. Some features of these ships - a narrow armor belt, the absence of a mast, high and heavy combat masts - later became a characteristic feature of all French battleships. Ships of this type were distinguished by good seaworthiness and powerful and effective weapons.
However, the main drawback of the prototype - not too rational booking scheme - could not be fixed. Most of the freeboard of the ships remained completely unprotected, including the bases of the barbets. The armor belt that protected the waterline was so narrow that in any wave the waves would overwhelm the holes left by artillery above the edge of the belt. Although the ship's hull was divided by 11 transverse and one longitudinal bulkheads into watertight compartments, in the absence of armor protection in the surface part of the hull it would be very difficult to ensure its survivability in the open sea. In addition, the admirals noted the poor maneuverability of ships [2] , which were distinguished by their prowess and were not able to directly keep heading.
These flaws were partially corrected in the next French battleship Osh .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 At construction
- ↑ International Youth School - Books. Real time unspecified (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment April 30, 2013. Archived on March 8, 2019.