Landing support ships - ships and boats of special construction or (more often) representing the target modification of landing craft ( landing ships , boats [1] , self-propelled barges ), intended for direct fire support of naval landing weapons , typical of the ground forces and marine corps (large-caliber machine guns , modified field and tank guns , mortars , multiple launch rocket systems ) or amphibious assault air defense at the transition and in the landing area (for this last purpose special anti-aircraft landing support ships (LCF) were created, which were widely used and used in the navies of Western countries during the Second World War and in the first years after it (for example, during the Korean War of 1950-1953 ). Currently not applicable.
An alternative to this operational - tactical and technical concept (and an alternative that is much more long-lived) was the concept of an armed landing ship / boat / barge, first adopted by the Russian Imperial Navy during the First World War , and then adopted in 1940 (in preparation for the and the unsuccessful Seelöwe operation to invade the British Isles ) Kriegsmarine and (about a decade after the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people of 1941-1945 ) - also the Soviet Navy , in which she survived her prosperity and which adhered to it until the collapse of the Soviet Union .
Reasons for the concept
Landing fire support by naval artillery of the main classes of warships, created mainly to combat naval targets, is far from always the optimal solution for landing troops. Armed with heavy guns, battleships and cruisers are forced to stay relatively far from the coast - usually no closer than 50 cable (about 9 km ) from the water edge. To fire them, it takes time and, in addition, there is no guarantee that heavy shells will hit the target, if it is not an area target. In addition, the artillery spotters included in the landing (even if it is the marines ), do not always understand the capabilities and specifics of supporting heavy naval artillery. A completely anecdotal case is known when a spotter demanded that a British battleship providing fire support salvo after salvo, each time moving the aiming point 500 yards (450 meters ) inland. When the ship's commander finally wondered - what was the purpose that required such an original shooting style with a large consumption available in a limited number (and this quantity could be replenished only by returning the battleship to the base ) 15- inch (381 mm ) shells ?? - it turned out that the main caliber guns of the ship were chasing the enemy’s solitary (!!) equestrian courier [2] .
Of course, this only happened as a curiosity , but the "classic" warships really often remained too inflexible to effectively support the landing. Even destroyers with relatively little draft usually could not get closer to the coastline by 10 cable (1.85 km) - and even then not always. Also, the own landing artillery did not always come to the aid in a timely manner: usually it was able to open fire only 30-60 minutes after the start of the landing, and only if the enemy did not effectively counter its deployment on the coast [2] .
The simplest solution actually "lay on the surface": to install armament on the same landing craft and landing craft . A small draft would allow them to come close to the edge of the water, and if necessary, and to land ashore [2] . This is the path taken by the Russian Imperial Fleet , which included in the military shipbuilding program of 1915 an order for 20 armed landing ships of the Elpidifor type and Kriegsmarine in the 1940s , which ordered a massive series of Marinefährprahm (MFP - “sea landing barge”) - armed landing barges . But still - to many theorists and practitioners of naval affairs it seemed much more preferable to use specialized combat units to solve the problem, if only because then you would not have to sacrifice the landing capacity of the vessel (which was a significant factor for small landing craft ) in favor of weapons and ammunition to the latter [2] .
The first specialized landing fire support vessel
The first landing support boats were created in 1938 by the British . Since then it was generally accepted that chemical weapons would play an important role in the future “big European war” - the main armament of the boat was a 4-inch (101.6-mm) gas cannon with a firing range of only 600 m , located in the bow of the vessel. In addition to it were two 12.7 mm machine guns. The boat was classified as LCS (M) ( eng. Landing Craft Support (Medium) ) - "the average (although its displacement was only 11 tons ) landing support." Subsequently, 12.7 mm machine guns were placed in two armored turrets (similar to British small reconnaissance tanks of the early to mid -1930s ) located nearby on the conning tower of the boat. The main advantage of the LCS (M) was its small size , which allowed to lower and raise the boat with standard ship's boat winches. As for the gazeta, although it was almost never used in the World War II , it proved to be a rather useful tool, serving to place a smoke screen directly at the landing site of the forward landing forces [2] .
Landing force support vessels in the USSR Navy
The first specialized (but not specially built) fire support vessel for the Landing Workers 'and Peasants' Navy of the USSR was the former minesweeper of the Black Sea Fleet KATSCH-606 (before conversion to KATSCH - a fishing boat " Mackerel " with a displacement of 32 tons ), armed in early 1943 12 8-charge boat MLRS 8-M-8 and used in the area of Novorossiysk [3] .
Marine armored boats of project 161 (type “MBK” - “Marine Armored Boat”)
Built for the period 1943 - 1944 . 20 units (all included in the Red Banner Baltic Fleet of the Workers 'and Peasants' Navy of the USSR ). Boats of this series took part in the landing in Merekyula on February 14-17, 1944 , the Vyborg offensive operation on June 10-20, 1944 , the Moonsund landing operation on September 27 - November 24, 1944, and the Zemland offensive operation on April 13-25, 1945 [4] .
The performance characteristics [5] :
- Displacement - 157.8 tons ;
- Main dimensions ( length x width x draft ): 26.2 x 5.2 x 1.28 m ;
- Power plant capacity - 2400 l. with. ;
- Full speed - 13 knots ;
- Cruising range on an economic course - 450 nautical miles ;
- Armament: 2 x 1 x 76.2 mm tank guns in tank towers , 1 x 1 x 37 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun , 2 x 2 x 12.7 mm anti - aircraft machine guns ;
- The crew is 38 people.
Project 186 marine armored boats (type “MKL” - “Sea Gunboat” [6] )
Built in 1944 - 1945 8 units included (after the end of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people of 1941-1945 ) in the Red Banner Baltic Fleet [7] .
The performance characteristics [7] :
- Displacement - 156 tons ;
- The main measurements ( length x width x draft ): 36.2 x 5.2 x 1.5 m ;
- Power plant capacity - 1000 l. with. ;
- Full speed - 14 knots ;
- Cruising range on an economic course - 600 nautical miles ;
- Armament: 2 x 1 x 85 mm tank guns in tank towers , 1 x 1 x 37 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun , 2 x 2 x 12.7 mm anti - aircraft machine guns ;
- The crew is 42 people.
Project 1124 River Armored Boats
In addition, to support the naval landing operations during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people of 1941-1945. limited use was made of river armored boats of Project 1124, some of which (from a series of 97 units built in 1936 - 1944 ) were transferred to the Azov Military Flotilla of the Black Sea Fleet and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet [8] .
The performance characteristics [9] :
- Displacement - 52.2 tons ;
- Main dimensions ( length x width x draft ): 25.3 x 4.1 x 0.9 m ;
- Power plant capacity - 1800 liters. with. ;
- Full speed - 19.4 knots ;
- Cruising range by economic route (11.1 knots) - 325 nautical miles ;
- Armament: 2 x 1 x 76.2 mm tank guns in tank turrets , 1 x 2 x 12.7 mm anti - aircraft machine guns in an armored turret, 2 x 1 x 7.62 mm machine guns paired with 76.2 mm guns;
Project 1238 (Killer Whale) [10]
In 1982, in the USSR , the world's only specialized vessel for the fire support of an air cushion landing was built - a landing craft of Project 1238 Killer Whale . His fire support facilities were two 140- mm 22- barrel MLRS and two 30-mm automatic grenade launchers .
Notes
- ↑ British assault fire ships | Small fleet
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 BEST FRIENDS OF THE paratrooper
- ↑ Shirokorad, 2000 .
- ↑ Berezhnoy, 1988 , p. 94-95.
- ↑ Berezhnoy, 1988 , p. 95.
- ↑ Despite this type name, they were actually sea armored boats and, similarly to Project 161 armored boats, carried the BK airborne index - BroneKater.
- ↑ 1 2 Berezhnoy, 1988 , p. 96.
- ↑ Berezhnoy, 1988 , p. 96-105.
- ↑ Berezhnoy, 1988 , p. 105.
- ↑ He was considered a landing boat, but in fact he was not.
Literature
- Berezhnoy S. S. Ships and ships of the Navy of the USSR. 1928-1945: Reference book (neopr.) . - M., Military Publishing House. - 1988. - ISBN 5-203-00541-9 .
- Shirokorad A. B. Domestic mortars and rocket artillery (neopr.) . - Minsk, Harvest; Moscow, AST. - 2000. - S. 311-319 (Part Two. Tactical unguided missiles. Chapter 9. Jet installations in the Navy (1942-1945). - ISBN 985-13-0039 (Harvest), 5-17-001748-0 (AST).