Armored cruiser Gromoboy 1904 Gromoboy - armored cruiser of the Imperial Navy

Seven years - exactly how much time Nicholas II planned to allocate for the construction of brand new armored cruisers, which were to compete with British warships. In 1895, a cruiser project was signed by the emperor. « Thunderbolt » , which was based on the project of the cruiser "Russia" already available by that time.

The construction was entrusted to the shipbuilders K. Ya. Averin and F. Kh. Offenberg, they developed their own special project, approved by the emperor personally, according to which it was planned to install three steam engines on the cruiser, as well as to increase the thickness of the reservation to 20 centimeters, while using it in the construction Krupp steel. The displacement of the "Gromoboy" was planned to be increased to 15 thousand tons.

The construction of the ship began in the summer of 1897 and dragged on for several years, largely due to the fact that there were big problems with the supply of Krupp steel. The Izhora plant, which was planned to be entrusted with the manufacture of steel, was at that time under reconstruction and could not supply the proper amount of Krupp steel for the workers. The builders had to use partly old Harvey steel and partly Krupp steel, which is several tens of percent stronger, for facing the sides.

Launching the cruiser "Gromoboy"

In addition, the builders had to change the length of the armor belt, as well as the thickness of the armor traverses and the living deck, which was only 5 centimeters. At the same time, the armor of the casemates was strengthened, because of which the ship lost its stability, and the builders were forced to significantly reduce the thickness of the armor. The guns located at the stern had to be completely deprived of protective armor, replacing it with special shields, while the guns located on the bow of the ship were protected only by longitudinal partitions.

The Thunderbolt was capable of speeds up to 19 knots per hour, it was armed with four 203-mm, sixteen 152-mm and the same number of 37-mm, twenty-four 75-mm and eight 47-mm guns. Also, two additional Baranovsky cannons and underwater torpedo tubes of a modern model were installed on the cruiser, there was also mine artillery on the ship.

For a long and safe voyage, the Gromoboy, whose displacement was reduced from 15 to 12.359 thousand tons, had to load at least 1,700 tons of coal into the hold.

The first trial tests in the conditions of the plant were carried out in 1900, revealing a lot of violations, primarily in an incorrectly calculated trim, even with the full operation of the machines, the ship could not be afloat and several times the bow was buried in the ground, while through the upper bulkheads decks, water entered the holds. The hull of the Thunderbolt vibrated so strongly that it was unpleasant to be not only in the engine room, but also in the cabins. By the end of the year, all identified defects were eliminated, and repeated tests showed that the cruiser was able to reach speeds of over 20 knots per hour, while the generated power of the machines was brought up to 15,000 horsepower.

In late autumn, the Gromoboi left Libava on its maiden voyage and headed for the Far East. Almost immediately, the sailors again found a significant trim on the bow, because of which they had to move part of the cargo and the anchor chain to other parts of the ship. The detected malfunction was eliminated, and the ship continued sailing.
In the spring of 1901, Thunderbolt took part in the celebrations of the adoption of the Australian Constitution. Russian sailors who happened to wander on the deck of the Gromoboy considered it a ship quite suitable for long-distance voyages, possessing excellent seaworthiness, including high-speed qualities.

One of the photos of "Gromoboy" during his visit to Australia

With a water supply of 1,000 tons, a cruiser with a crew on board was able to travel at least 5,000 nautical miles without entering the port for more than 100 days. The only negative, not to pay attention to, the presence of which even the most loyal commander could not, was the Spartan conditions for the existence of sailors, who practically did not have free space.

"Gromoboy", unlike other cruisers of this class and type that Russia had, posed a serious threat to the British, because the latter were alarmed and started building their own ships, because by the time the Russian-Japanese war began, they had ships that were in many ways superior to the Russian warship .

During the war, the Japanese inflicted several significant damage on the Thunderbolt, due to which the cruiser went into long-term repairs until 1906. After the repair, the cruiser managed to take part not only in training exits, but also in the naval battles of the First World War, at the end of which and the beginning of the Revolutionary events in Russia, the cruiser stood in the dock and never left, sold for scrap to a private company. In obedience to the political situation, one of the best ships of the Russian fleet was destroyed, although it could well have served for more than a dozen years.

"Gromoboi" was the last cruiser in the history of the Russian Navy, built in accordance with the ideas of the cruising doctrine. This sonorous name fully corresponded to the appearance of the ship: a four-pipe high-breasted giant 140 meters long with strong artillery and armor. He was the third and most advanced in a series of highly autonomous raiders.

The ancestor of the series, with its appearance, caused a stir in the naval circles of England - a long-standing enemy of the Russian Empire. In response, the "mistress of the seas" was forced to start building the monstrously expensive cruisers "Powerfull" and "Terrible" with a displacement of more than 14,000 tons (in the British fleet itself they would be called "white elephants"). At the celebrations dedicated to the opening of the Kiel Canal in 1895, "Rurik" will be in the spotlight, journalists will call it "the pearl of the Kiel squadron" construction of "Gromoboy" - the best ship of the series. "Gromoboy" will be part of the Russian Navy for more than 20 years and will adequately endure the trials of these two wars. One can only regret that so far the history of the creation and long service of this wonderful ship has not become the subject of a separate historical study. True, it cannot be said that "Gromoboy" was completely deprived of the attention of historians. V.E. Egoriev, in his monograph devoted to the actions of the Vladivostok cruiser detachment, pays much attention to "Gromoboy"2. Until now, this work is the best study of the operations of a separate detachment of cruisers ("Rurik", "Rossiya", "Gromoboy" and) in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

Moreover, the value of V.E. Egorieva is also due to the fact that the author himself, being a midshipman of the Russian Navy during the period of the events described, personally participated in all combat outputs of the Vladivostok cruiser detachment and therefore describes their actions not only as a researcher, but also as an eyewitness. However, the work of V.E. Egorieva has long become a bibliographic rarity.
An outstanding domestic historian of the Navy P.M. wrote in sufficient detail about the construction and service of the Thunderbolt. Melnikov in his book
The same author briefly describes the construction of the "Gromoboy" in his.
It should also be noted an excellent article dedicated to this cruiser, written by L.A. Kuznetsov and published in the journal "Shipbuilding" No. 12 for 1989.

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION (1895-1900)

EVOLUTION OF THE ARMORED CRUISER IN THE RUSSIAN FLEET AT THE END OF THE XIX CENTURY

"RURIK" - "RUSSIA" - "CRUISER No. 3"

ON THE STAPEL

LAUNCHING, FITTING AND TESTING

Chapter II. IN THE PACIFIC (1900-1905)

TRANSITION TO THE FAR EAST

SERVICE IN THE FAR EAST

IN THE WAR WITH JAPAN

Chapter III. IN THE BALTIC (1905-1922)

RETURN

REPAIR AND MODERNIZATION

APPENDIX

HOW THE "GROMOBOY" WAS ARRANGED

LITERATURE AND SOURCES

Description of the old photo: Laid down on July 14, 1897 at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg.
Launched April 26, 1889. Entered service in October 1900
During the Russo-Japanese War, he was part of the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers.
Acted on enemy communications between Japan and Korea. June 15, 1904 sank Japanese transports
"Izumo-Maru" and "Hitachi-Maru" and together with other cruisers April 25, 1904
transport "Haginura-Maru", April 26 - "Kinshu-Maru".
In the period from July 17 to August 2, 1904, destroyed 6 Japanese schooners, the British steamer "Night Commander"
and the German steamer Thea. From May 8 to May 11, 1905 - 4 more Japanese ships.
On August 14, 1904, he fought with Japanese cruisers in the Korea Strait.
It underwent a major overhaul in 1907-1911. at the Kronstadt steamship plant.
New boilers, casemates for 8 152-mm and bow 203-mm guns were installed,
2 underwater 457-mm torpedo tubes of the Metal Plant and all 203-mm guns were equipped with new Vickers closures.
Aft 203-mm guns were protected by a common casemate, 2 152-mm guns were transferred from the extremities to the admiral's saloon.
Armored cabins for rangefinders were installed in the bow and stern, and the protection of additional casemates on the upper deck was strengthened.
The main mast was moved closer to the stern, and a repaired mizzen mast was installed in place of the foremast, placing on each
including searchlights and observation platforms. According to the mechanisms of work, the Franco-Russian plant performed.
Participated in the First World War (patrol service at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, in the summer of 1916, raiding operations
on enemy communications, cover for mine-blocking, reconnaissance and raiding operations of the light forces of the fleet).
In June 1915, the cruiser was rearmed, later new elevators and two 63-mm and 47-mm anti-aircraft guns were installed.
Participated in the February Revolution. November 7, 1917 became part of the Red Baltic Fleet.
From December 9 to 10, 1917 he made the transition from Helsingfors (Helsinki) to Kronstadt.
From May 1918 it was in the Kronstadt military port for long-term storage.
In 1919, the cruiser's 152-mm guns were removed and transferred to the Soviet Latvian fleet for the defense of Riga.
On July 1, 1922, it was sold to the joint Soviet-German enterprise "Derumetal" and on October 12, 1922, it was handed over to "Rudmetalltorg" for disassembly.
On October 30, 1922, while towing to Germany, in the Liepaja region (Latvia), he got into a strong storm and was thrown out by the waves.
on the fence of the outport and broken by the surf. Subsequently, in parts, it was raised by private firms and dismantled for metal.

Displacement 12455 tons. Dimensions 146.6/144.2/140.6x20.9x7.9 m
Armament initial - 4 - 203/45, 16 - 152/45, 24 - 75/50, 12 - 47 mm, 18 - 37 mm, 2 - 64 mm dec., 4 PTA
Reservation: Harvey armor - board 152 mm, traverses 152/102 mm, casemates 51-121 mm, deck 37-64 mm, wheelhouse 305 mm
Mechanisms 3 vertical triple expansion machines with a capacity of 15496 h.p. 32 Belleville water tube boilers, 3 screws
Speed ​​20.1 knots Cruising range 8100 miles. Crew 28 officers and 846 sailors

L. A. Kuznetsov
Shipbuilding. L: "Shipbuilding", 1989. No. 12

Material prepared: Georgy Shishov

The enthusiasm of the Naval Ministry in the second half of the last century for the construction of cruisers for combat operations, primarily on sea lanes, culminated in the creation of the highly autonomous ocean cruisers Rurik and Rossiya. The second of them was still on the slipway, when the Naval Department, after considering the plan for further shipbuilding in the report of the Admiral General of July 3, 1895, received the highest order to continue building cruisers of the Rossiya type; and after 12 days the construction of the third such ship was approved.

The desire to have a more advanced cruiser than the "Russia" led to the development of a completely new project, in which its future builders took part - the senior assistants of the shipbuilder K. Ya. Averin and V. X. Offenberg. Fulfilling the order of the Admiral General, MTK June 18, 1896. gave the order to the manager of the Baltic Shipyard, senior shipbuilder S.K. it was required to take the same hull as a basis, to install under the armored deck instead of two main and one auxiliary three main steam engines of the same power, to improve the protection of artillery with the help of "separate casemates or otherwise", using the weight of the abolished double machine casemate [Z].

On August 12, the ITC considered four variants of the ship with a displacement of 12336, 13100, 14000 and 15385 tons presented by the Baltic Shipyard, the latter being an enlarged battleship "Peresvet" (length 156.9, width 21.9, draft 8.15 m, speed 20 knots, four 254- and thirteen 152-mm guns). Of all the projects, preference was given to the first as the one that most fully met the conditions presented. Rear Admiral P. N. Vulf, acting chairman of the ITC, proposed, in the case of using Krupp armor, to reduce the thickness of the side belt from 203 to 152 mm, and with the saved 132 tons, protect not only all four 203-mm, but also twelve (instead of eight project) of sixteen 152-mm guns. The processing of the drawings, taking into account the changes made to the composition of small-caliber artillery, armor and other elements, was completed by November 30, 1896, and on March 11 of the following year, the project was approved by the ITC; however, according to S. K. Ratnik, he had nothing to do with "Russia", moreover, due to the modified design of the underwater wooden plating and a slightly increased displacement, the other steels and the ship's contours [З].

According to the specification, the cruiser had a length along the cargo waterline of 144.17 m (the largest with a ram 146.6 m), a width with wooden underwater sheathing of 20.88, a deepening in a full load with a keel and a false keel of 7.9 m, a displacement of 12359 tons. consisted of the mass of the hull with steel flooring for deck armor and practical items (4757 tons), armor (2169.46), artillery with ammunition (832.5), mine weapons, dynamos, 50 spherical mines and a net barrier (166, 28), mechanisms, boilers with 145 tons of boiler water (1988.15), a normal supply of coal (1756), two mines (length 17 m, speed 14 knots) and the same number of steam (length 12.2 m, speed 9 and 9 .5 knots) boats and rowing boats (respectively, two 20-oared longboats, 6-oared yalas and a whaleboat, 14 light boats, one 16- and 12-oared working boat) (57.77), 35 officers and 750 people . crew, supplies, provisions for four months, fresh water (85.3 tons) for 14 days, skipper supplies, three steel masts, two admiralty masts with stocks (each about 5.9 tons) and two spares (Martin 7 tons each) anchors, a stop anchor, three verps, two anchor chains (319.5 m each) and one spare (213) anchor chains with a caliber of 66.6 mm (617.8 tons); displacement reserve was 14 tons.

The construction of the ship in the new stone shed of the Baltic Shipyard began on June 14, 1897, and on December 7 of the same year, a new cruiser called "Gromoboy" was included in the fleet's records; the official bookmark took place on May 7 next year.

Fore and sternpost, ruder post, steering frame with ruderpiece, outer casings of propeller shafts and brackets were cast from bronze; a vertical inner keel 990.6 mm high was assembled from steel sheets 15.9 mm thick in the middle part of the hull, and 14.3 mm thick at the ends; horizontal - consisted of an outer 15.9 mm along the entire length and an inner 19 mm in the middle part, 14.3 mm in the bow and stern. Throughout the double bottom (plating thickness 7.9-14.3 mm) between 28 and 102 sp. four stringers or inner side keels were placed on each side; within the same limits, the spacing of frames made of angle steel and 2-shaped strips was 1219, and further to the ends - 914 mm. From the inner "part of the armor belt along its height, the spacing was 610 mm. sheathing (thickness from 11.1 to 19) to the armored deck (residential) and reinforced with vertical corner posts on one side and T-shaped horizontal stripes on the other.Longitudinal bulkheads formed side corridors, deck beams were made of box steel, and tubular pillers - from iron. The flooring of the upper deck was planned to be made of 76 mm square pine bars or 57 mm teak boards (linoleum on all other decks). 609.6 mm high bilge keels (length 60.96 m) were attached in the middle part of the hull; 4148855 rub.

Booking (688 thousand rubles) - 152-mm side belt (length 72.2, height 2.3 m) between 36 and 95 sp. from Harvey's armor (Krupp's domestic Obukhov and Izhora plants had not yet had time to master), decreasing towards the lower edge to 101.6 mm (1.44 m below the waterline) and installed on a 76.2 mm larch lining; it was limited to 152-mm traverses that went over the armored deck (the thickness of the chrome-nickel sheets laid on the 12.7-mm steel deck was 25.4 mm in the horizontal part and from 50.8 to 63.5 mm on the bevels to the sides and extremities), but not reaching the diametrical plane. The remaining traverses for 32, 36. 40 and 95 sp. on the battery, residential (armor) decks, as well as between the upper and forecastle, they had a thickness of 50.8 mm. Casemates from the outer, inner sides and from above, the conning tower (as in "Russia") were protected by 120.6-, 50.8-, 25.4- and 305-mm, respectively, and four boiler hatches and elevator feed casings - 38, 1 mm armor. Large hatches on the armored deck had gratings made of iron (203x15.8 mm) strips, and the rest were equipped with armored covers. Due to limited armor, the stern 203 mm guns had to be made on open deck mounts with shields, and the bow ones were placed in a common bow casemate with a 50.8 mm longitudinal bulkhead.

Machine installation worth 3 million 100 thousand rubles. included three four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines with a total indicated power of 14,500 liters. with. at 120 rpm, designed to achieve a 19-knot cruiser speed; three-bladed propellers were made of "cannon metal", with two onboard propellers (diameter about 4870 mm) located 762 mm above the average (4570), and their shafting had a slope of 2 ° forward. The forward engine room, where the onboard vehicles were located, was separated by a 9.5-mm longitudinal bulkhead. Three centrifugal circulation pumps (feeding each about 600 t/h) with separate drives could be used as drainage pumps. The steam was produced by 32 Belleville water-tube boilers (operating pressure 17 kg/cm2) model 1894 installed in four compartments. Coal consumption at full power was 100, and in afterburner mode - 125 kg / h (indicative power 16500 hp at 125 rpm); in the engine and boiler rooms there were two Worthington fire pumps, in each boiler room there were four Friedman ejectors.

The supply of drinking and boiler water was replenished by two distillers and three evaporators of the Krug system; the indicated power of all 70 auxiliary mechanisms reached 2270 hp. with. , and most of them (8 drainage turbines of 550 and 2 of 250 t / h, three capstans, fans, winches and other equipment) had electric drives. There were two 75 cm searchlights on each mast; the cruiser was illuminated by 1316 incandescent lamps. All consumers were supplied with electricity from six dynamos (105 V, two 1000 A each and four 640 A each) manufactured by Union and Simmens and Halske. In-ship communication - bells, loud ringing bells, speaking pipes and 46 telephones of the system of Lieutenant E.V. Kolbasyev. In the steering wheel control points, which had manual, steam and electric drives, electric rudder position indicators were installed in the central post and conning tower.

Artillery armament consisted of four 203-mm (440), sixteen 152-mm (2880) Kane systems (barrel length 45 calibers), twenty-four 75-mm (7200), eight 47- mm (6480) on the machines of Captain Meller. sixteen 37-mm (9720) guns (eight of them on the combat top of the foremast) and two 63.5-mm Baranovsky landing guns. The guns were supplied by the Obukhov plant, the elevator feed was supplied by the Metallic plant, the winches were supplied by the Duflon company, and the artillery fire control devices were supplied by the N. K. Geisler and Co. plant. The mine armament (Putilov Plant) included four onboard underwater 380-mm vehicles for Whitehead mines (stock 12 units) 5.18 m long "and spheroconic mines - 16 in the bow, 34 in the aft cellars; they were placed using longboats and steam boats, each of which was armed with a throwing apparatus.On the mine boats, there were two folding 380-mm Whitehead mine launchers 4.57 m long, all four boats had one 47-mm Hotchkiss gun and a machine gun.

The plant managed to make up for the backlog associated with the manufacture of machines and boilers, and by the time the ship was launched (May 8, 1899), all 32 boilers and a significant part of the auxiliary mechanisms were in place. True, due to the hasty assembly of the boilers during the first voyage, various problems had to be constantly eliminated; the machines were mounted at a high rate - for example, the onboard ones were tested in the workshop of the plant in September, the middle one - in October 1899, their mooring tests were carried out respectively on October 26 and November 9, i.e. after only 38 days, that the commander of the ship captain 1st rank K P. Jessen defined [3] as a brilliant result. On November 12, tugboats took the Gromoboi for completion to Kronstadt, but in the Sea Canal the caravan stumbled upon solid ice and the cruiser went on its own; on the Peterhof meridian, a fresh northwest wind and ice pressed him to the southern edge of the canal, and then carried him across it. The help of the approaching ships turned out to be in vain, and only after a change in the wind and an increase in the water level, the ship went aground on its own (November 15). All these days, the main machines and boilers worked, according to the commander, flawlessly. An inspection conducted on April 19, 1900 in the dock revealed damage to 980 sheets of copper plating, while the hull itself, as determined by the commission, could serve another 30 years.

Conducted in September 1900 factory tests were unsuccessful. Due to the large trim on the bow, the cruiser developed only 18 knots, although the machines were running at full speed; during the course, the ship burrowed deeply with its bow, and water flooded not only the copper plating, which reached a height of 9.75 m from the keel, but also the hawse with part of the bow decoration; on the stern, the load line (8.2 m from the keel) [З] was clearly visible, while the hull shook strongly.

After the trim was removed, the official six-hour tests (October 5, 1900) were successfully passed. By deepening the bow 7.67, the stern 8.18 m and the displacement of 123^ t, the Thunderbolt easily reached an average speed of 20.1 knots; separately, the left, middle and right cars developed, without afterburner, respectively, the indicated power of 5165, 5274.45 and 5056.59 liters. with. (total 15496 hp) at 123.7, 117.5 and 124.2 rpm. Particularly noted was the complete absence of an overload of the cruiser, even with all the ship's stores, the first use on a domestic ship on a large scale of isolating rooms and cellars with layers of pressed cork; “Moreover, at the suggestion of S. K. Warrior, the MTK recognized it as possible to sheathe the upper deck from below with iron sheets in order to avoid fire when shells burst inside the ship.

After all the tests, "Gromoboy" on November 28, 1900 left Libau for a foreign voyage, in order to later join the Pacific squadron. With the reception of all stocks, a trim on the bow (0.7 m) reappeared; during heavy seas, water splashes often reached the upper bridge, and due to a single tear, all windows leaked. It was possible to get rid of the trim by moving six bows of a spare anchor chain (12 tons), grate bars (40) to the extreme aft rooms and additionally laying 46 tons of cast-iron ballast and 120 tons of coal in briquettes. Taking into account the fourteen tower-like shields for 203- and 152-mm guns installed in the casemates by decision of the ITC, the displacement increased by 216 tons. he arrived at his final destination on July 17, 1901 [3].

The experience of the first campaigns, according to K. P. Jessen, showed that the cruiser has excellent seaworthiness, and excellent contours and machines make it possible to develop up to 20.3 knots and go against the wind and waves at a fairly significant speed. With smooth rolling (5.5-6 strokes per minute) and a roll of up to 9 °, the keel was distinguished by swiftness, especially on a large wave, but this did not prevent the use of artillery. With full coal pits (2324 tons) and a sufficient supply of fresh water (up to 1000 tons), the cruising range reached 5000-5500 miles at an economic speed, and the supply of provisions made it possible to stay at sea for 100 days. Among the shortcomings, the unsatisfactory work of all three steering gears, ventilation, and capstans was noted. uneconomical boilers and refrigeration machines, as well as insufficient performance of evaporators. The absence of coal necks on the upper deck also caused criticism, since normal loading of fuel through the side ports (between the battery and residential decks) could only be carried out in the harbor or in calm weather. Having visited the cruiser in October 1900, Vice-Admiral S. O. Makarov noted that in the presence of luxurious officer quarters, he "was struck by the lack of any amenities for the life of sailors on our new ships" [Z].

During the Russo-Japanese War, Gromoboi, as part of the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers, took part in hostilities on enemy sea lanes. Possessing better armor protection than the Rossiya, the ship, nevertheless, on August 1, 1904, suffered significant losses in personnel in a battle with Japanese cruisers (94 people died, 182 were wounded). This was explained by the order of the cruiser command to constantly keep servants at small-caliber guns, although they could not participate in the battle because of the long firing distances [I]. It took almost two months to repair the damage received; however, at the first exit to the sea (September 30, 1904), the Thunderbolt ran into Klykov's bank in Posyet Bay and severely damaged the bottom from the port side (about 50 sp.). Dry deck repairs, from which the Bogatyr cruiser had to be temporarily withdrawn, were completed only by February 9 of the following year [I]. During this time, six 152-mm cannons were additionally installed on the upper deck (three each from the side), and in April 31.7-mm tower-like shields and separate armored casemates were installed (the thickness of the sheets from the sides and the roof was 12.7, the traverses were 9 .5 mm). At the stern 203 mm guns, 38.1 mm traverses were installed. By moving the stern to the bow, and moving the bow 152-mm gun to the forecastle, they increased the angles of fire. All this significantly strengthened the broadside salvo and improved the protection of artillery, the quality of which was improved due to the use of Barr and Strood horizontal-basic rangefinders. The number of 75-mm guns was reduced to nineteen, and 37-mm to two. On May 11, 1905, the cruiser had to endure another test. Having gone out to sea to check the range of the new Telefunken system radiotelegraph (115 miles), he was blown up by a mine (port side, under the first stoker). The ship was able to independently return to Vladivostok, but did not participate in hostilities due to repairs [I].

Returning to the Baltic, "Gromoboy" on July 7, 1906 was put on a major overhaul. The mechanisms "pulled" during the war turned out to be in a particularly bad condition; so, the boilers, according to the boiler master of the Baltic Plant G.N. Revenko, were a "perfect ruin" against the backdrop of a decent appearance of the "Russia" boilers, made in France and operated much longer. Repairs were undertaken by the Baltic, Franco-Russian and Kronstadt steamship plants. In place of the aft mine vehicles, two 320 A dynamo machines were installed, and the bow ones were replaced with 457 mm vehicles. The aft 203-mm guns were finally protected by a common casemate made of Krupp armor (walls 76.2, roof 25.4 mm), and in the aft part of the admiral's saloon, also in an armored casemate (50.8 and 19.5 mm), they installed two 152-mm guns transferred from the extremities; from the rest of the artillery, four 75- and 47-mm guns remained. Armored cabins for rangefinders Barra and Stroud were installed in the bow and stern, and the protection of additional casemates (roof 19 mm) on the upper deck was strengthened to 50.8 mm. There were two masts. - the main mast was moved closer to the stern, and a repaired mizzen mast was installed in place of the foremast, placing one 90-cm searchlight and an observation platform on each of the vortexes. The tests carried out on September 29, 1910 revealed the poor quality of the repair of mechanisms - having developed a power of only 9979 hp. s., the machines began to get very hot. The mechanisms were tested again on July 14 of the following year, everything went well: at partial speed, the average speed of the ship (displacement 12643 tons, deepening bow 8, stern 8.2 m, total indicated power of the machines 13337.2 hp) was 18.5 uz. According to the classification of 1907, the Gromoboy was classified as an armored cruiser, and since 1915 - as a cruiser.

During the First World War, "Gromoboy" was part of the second brigade of cruisers; at the suggestion of the flagship artillery officer, senior lieutenant G.N. Pell, it was rearmed (June 1915) with two 203-mm guns (on the forecastle and poop), removing both 152-mm bow and all 75- and 47-mm guns; reinforcements under them were carried out by the Sandvik ship dock and the mechanical plant in Helsingfors. The elevation angle of the 203- and 152-mm guns was 17.55° and 17°, and the total ammunition capacity was 750 and 5000 rounds, respectively. With the new weapons, "Gromoboy" could already provide worthy resistance to the German cruiser of the "Roon" type; later, new elevators and two 63.5- and 47-mm anti-aircraft guns were installed. The ship had two radio stations (2 and 8 kW), took on board 200 mines; at the beginning of 1917, its full displacement reached 13,200 tons. In November of the same year, Gromoboy moved to Kronstadt and on February 1, 1918 ended the campaign; from May until it was sold for scrap in 1922, it was in long-term storage. When towing to Germany, the cruiser was thrown by a storm to an outport in the Liepaja area; it was subsequently taken apart by private firms.

Thus ended the history of the most advanced cruiser in the series started by Rurik and Rossiya. And it is not the fault of its creators that the Thunderbolt, intended for operations in the ocean, carried out military operations in a limited maritime theater, and participation in the battle with Japanese ships on August 1, 1904 only confirmed its inconsistency with the assigned tasks.

LITERATURE

1. Egoriev V.E. Operations of the Vladivostok cruisers in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905. L.-M., Military Publishing House, 1939, p. 7.232, 263.
2. Shipbuilding, 1979, No. 12, p. 57-60; 1980. No. 1, p. 63-65.
3. TsGAVMF, f. 401, op. 1, d. 1024; f. 417, op. 1, d. 2181, 2182, 2214, 2282; f. 418, op. 1, file 1686; f. 421, op. 1, file 1277, op. 3, file 669, op. 4, d. 545, 766, op. 8, d. 57, 58; f. 425, op. 1, d. 30; 427. op. 1, d. 224; f. 479, op. 3. d. 171, 228; f. 719, op. 1, d. 1, 24, 31, 35; f. 930, op. 25, 195, 227, 228, 240.
4. Reports on the Maritime Department 1897-1906, St. Petersburg.
5. Ships and auxiliary vessels of the Soviet Navy (1917-1927). M., Military Publishing, 1981, p. 20, 21.

One of the most impressive photos of "Gromoboy" during his visit to Australia.

Good day, colleagues. There was a slight delay in the publication of posts on the "Eagles of the Fatherland" - plans have changed, there was not enough free time for posting (and this is a lot of time, for those who do not know), and the materials were not yet fully ready. Today I will interrupt the publication of battleships for the Pacific Ocean with a completely different topic - the only series of armored cruisers for the Pacific Fleet, which will be built in my alternative. Their prototype was "Gromoboy", although you will recognize some features of "Peresvetov" in them, and maybe even British "classmates". All of this is true to a certain extent. The ship itself is now one of my favorites, so get ready for "multi-books" - a fan of the "shushpanzers" who ruined the site (according to one of my colleagues) has seized.

Introduction

A lot has happened since I published Victory. The development of RIF artillery began from the 1860s until the end of the 20th century, the ship called "Poltava" went under the name "Evstafiy", and another battleship familiar to our eyes became "Poltava" (but still not the real "Poltava"), wanderings began about the number of dreadnoughts (oh, how reluctant to go too far) ... Plus, I discovered a very, very unpleasant feature of the domestic 356/52-mm gun - because of the initial speed, 100 m / s lower than that of foreign even 45-caliber analogues of the same caliber, its range was probably the worst among all 14-inch guns, which somehow drove me into universal sadness and thoughts, but is this topic worth a separate post or not.

But all this pales before the fact that I still finished drinking "Gromoboy".

This drank was asking for a long time, even though it did not work out with him in the FAN. This one was already cut for Phoenix Purpura - but everything turned out not so beautifully there. Actually, I really like the real "Gromoboy" - an elegant hull, a powerful SC battery, impressive dimensions ... It is beautiful in everything, including the speed characteristics of the hull (according to my calculations, it has a very high Admiralty coefficient - which means that overclocking at certain speeds, it consumes a minimum of power), but in combat terms, it, alas, is hopelessly outdated due to its onboard artillery location. And therefore, the first thing that suggests itself, and for very many, is to "cloak" the ship by placing 203-mm guns in two twin-gun turrets.

But this seemed not enough - whatever one may say, but the ship is very large. Therefore, he decided to "play to the maximum" and brought the cruiser's displacement to the level of squadron battleships, equipped it with powerful boilers and, most importantly, with 254-mm caliber main guns. This required some modifications. In addition, I decided to increase the speed of travel - fortunately, my boilers are meant for ships not of Belleville, but of Norman-MacPherson (a hybrid of the gloomy French and Russian-Scottish genius), and within the resulting displacement, I did not seek to get the Novik, and therefore the speed limited to 22.5 knots. You can say that this is a lot - but with the indicated displacement, moderate armor protection and sensible boilers, this, IMHO, is quite possible. The British Drakes look like analogues here, which, although they were smaller in displacement and had lighter weapons, accelerated to 23 knots with 43 Belleville boilers (forty-three, Karl!), Which, although they were terribly reliable and easy to use repairs, but they weighed a lot, and gave little power (in, EMNIP, some marine reference book of 1902 on specific power, Belleville boilers surpassed only the old cylindrical fire-tube boilers in specific power, and Norman's boilers were 4-6 times inferior). Actually, it is possible to replace this horror with normal boilers, and the cruiser should turn out. Another thing is that the cruisers will turn out to be expensive, comparable in price to an armadillo - but I didn’t plan to build a lot of them, three pieces will be enough.

In general, it turned out what happened - a kind of "Rurik" second, only earlier and a little more modest (although this is from which side to look). The ship has become three-pipe and turret, but the "Thunderbolt" is still guessed in it. And in the REV, a trio of such ships can potentially do more. than all the battleships of the RIF combined ...

I also decided to arrange a little "witchcraft" over the naval ministers. It took a "father of the fleet" - a minister who would manage the fleet for a long time, train a successor and develop a new approach to service and military affairs among naval officers, so that Russia would not only repeat and improve foreign experience, but also create something of its own no less successful ("Ruriks" I still consider a waste of money, even though the idea is primordially Russian). Well, as a development of this topic, I wanted Russia to become the birthplace of the elephants of the concept of battlecruisers. "Thunderbolts" in this case turn out to be a much more logical candidate for the position of ships of the fast wing battle line than "Asamoids", "Bayans" or British defenders of trade. Returning to the beginning, a figure like Tirpitz or Fischer was needed, who would preserve the old and strengthen the new. And Nikolai Matveyevich Chikhachev will be such a figure, and his comrade (deputy), student, right hand and heir - Fedor Karlovich Avelan. And after Avelan there will be Grigorovich. And everyone will be intensively engaged in strengthening and developing the beloved brainchild of Emperor Peter the Great before, during and after the REV and WWI.

And yes, jambs are possible in the article itself. The provider decided to give a really bad internet for Christmas, so the article was published with the help of such and such a mother, with several attempts and in the hope of a better outcome.

"Avelan's little cruising war", or how the admiral defended the new cruisers

F. K. Avelan - Deputy Minister of the Navy in 1897-1905, Minister of the Marine in 1905-1913

Becoming in 1897 a comrade of the naval minister Chikhachev, Fedor Karlovich Avelan developed a stormy activity. It concerned primarily Russian cruisers. Prior to this, their construction was carried out sluggishly, as needed and without a special system, preference was given to definitely large armored cruisers. There were also active defenders of the idea of ​​armored cruisers for raider operations, the construction of which was interrupted after the Admiral Nakhimov, albeit for economic reasons. Avelan, with the support of Chikhachev, began to bring all this into a single system. Cruisers began to be built much more actively, while he actively defended (and still defended by 1899) the division of armored cruisers of rank II into II and III proper, i.e. large combat and small reconnaissance cruisers with an armored deck. At the same time, the former III rank was transferred to IV (all armorless and auxiliary cruisers), and I remained unchanged (belt armored cruisers). The very theory of cruising war from now on changed its essence - the active use of all available cruisers on enemy communications was no longer envisaged. Avelan justified this by the fact that special-built cruisers are too expensive ships to be actually excluded from combat squadrons, and therefore it is better to use obsolete ships for raiding in the ocean ( implied Severomorskaya squadron) and auxiliary. cruisers converted from civilian fast transports. The new armored cruisers from now on were intended to serve in the squadron as patrol, reconnaissance and auxiliary warships. This "normalization" led to the fact that instead of 10 armored cruisers in 1898, by the beginning of the REV, there were already 21 ships of II and III rank cruisers in the fleets of the Russian Empire.

N. M. Chikhachev, Minister of Marine of the Russian Empire in 1888-1905. Even after his resignation after the Russo-Japanese War, he retained sufficient influence on the fleet to be considered the "father of the Russian fleet" until his death in 1917.

After that, Avelan took up rank I cruisers. At the same time, he actually became the successor to the work of Chikhachev, who was initially an opponent of armored cruisers-raiders (the construction of which ceased with the beginning of his ministry). But if the minister did not see any point in building such ships at all, preferring to protect full-fledged battleships with belt armor, then Avelan had his own thoughts on this matter. Since 1898, he began to actively push the idea of ​​​​combat armored cruisers, which, due to superiority in speed over conventional battleships, could take advantageous positions for firing at the end ships of the enemy. Together with the "Ushakov" tactics popular at that time - to try to disable the enemy flagship first of all - these ships were supposed to become a "trump card", a high-speed wing of the battle fleet, which, in addition to actions against the end ships of the enemy formation, could also perform the functions of reconnaissance in battle due to its high survivability and speed. At the same time, they had to have both serious armament and armor protection, and high speed - which led to the main problem of the concept itself: the cost of such a ship was very close to the cost of battleships.

It was precisely because of the high cost that Avelan's idea did not receive support even from the naval minister Chikhachev, who still did not believe that something sensible could be obtained from a rank I cruiser. Attempts to interest royal people in this project also failed - both Emperor Alexander III, and Tsarevich Nikolai, and even Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, an ardent flotophile, did not show interest in such a ship. In the end, Avelan had to seek support from the lower ranks in order to initiate an initiative from below, which was only welcomed under Chikhachev. He received support from Admiral Makarov, who at that time had recently taken command of the Baltic Fleet. During the summer exercises of 1899, which took place in the presence of the Minister of Marine, the armored cruisers Admiral Kornilov, Admiral Istomin and Svetlana were assigned as the fast wing of the fleet. During the "battle" between two columns of battleships, this "winged detachment" twice covered the head of the "enemy" column - however, after that it was conditionally destroyed by enemy armored cruisers. Avelan focused on the fact that if the "winged detachment" had well-protected, high-speed and powerfully armed armored cruisers, then the enemy flagship would very quickly fail (at least), and the armored cruisers would not even risk contacting enemy ships armed with heavy cannons. At the same time, there was no need to build a large number of such ships - after all, they, in fact, played the role of heavy cavalry attacking the enemy on the flank while the infantry (battleships) was fighting the main enemy forces. These arguments, as well as the visual result of the maneuvers, forced Chikhachev to agree with the need to build "a small series of battle armored cruisers of the 1st rank." The project was approved, and the process of creating a new type of armored cruisers began.

Design and construction

According to the tradition that had developed since the beginning of the 1890s, a competition was announced for the design of a new armored cruiser of the 1st rank, and the process was controlled not only by Avelan, but also by Chikhachev, who, after recognizing the prospects of the concept, began to show great interest in his fate. 18 contestants presented their projects, including foreign firms "Armstrong", "Vulkan" and "Krump". However, only two projects interested the customer and were recognized by the ITC - one of them belonged to the Baltic Shipyard and was a development of the Admiral Nakhimov-class cruisers adjusted for 15 years, and the other belonged to the young Putilov shipyards, who were eager to get military orders, which would significantly raise the prestige of the new enterprise. The second project was actually a lightweight seaworthy battleship with a moderate battery of 10 152 mm guns and 4 254 mm guns in two turrets. At the same time, its speed was only 20 knots, while the Baltic Shipyard promised to give 23. In the end, it was decided to combine both projects into one, for which two formally competing enterprises had to unite for a while. At that time, such a move was not something new for the Putilov shipyards - a year earlier they had already had to join forces with the engineers of the ITC and the Baltic Shipyard to rework the French project of a turret battleship to Russian requirements and standards , and the Putilovites went for it without hesitation - the prospect of constant military orders, which were already gradually expanding, forced private traders to forget about competition and work for the good of a common cause. The development of the final project of the ship was delayed, and only by May 1900 was it finally possible to bring this process to an end. The normal displacement of the cruisers exceeded 15,000 tons with a full VL belt up to 178 mm thick, armed with 4,254 mm and 16,152 mm guns, and a speed of 22.5 knots. The officials of the Naval Ministry, seeing the cost of each individual ship, were shocked, but the will of Chikhachev and Avelan allowed the construction of three ships to be approved. They managed to "catch" money for them both by increasing the naval budget and by saving on other expenses - in particular, funding for the construction of Black Sea ships was "stretched", and the laying of four large armored cruisers in Nikolaev was completely canceled. Orders were received by the Baltic Shipyard, the Putilov shipyard and the Solombala shipyard, which, for the sake of an important order, postponed the construction of one of the large icebreakers. The ships were named "Gromoboy", "Peresvet" and "Rurik".

"Victory". The article is not about her, but conventionally the alt-"Gromoboy" can be called a hybrid of several ships, including the "Victory".

The construction was carried out at an accelerated pace - in the light of the active build-up of naval weapons by Japan, it was necessary to get three newest ships in the Pacific Ocean as soon as possible. As a temporary measure to increase the size of the fleet, it was decided to transfer three "Sisoya the Great" to the Pacific Ocean and modernize six old battleships. Realizing the importance of putting the Gromoboevs into operation, the Naval Ministry increased funding for the construction as early as the end of 1900. Construction companies also understood this. From the very beginning, the Putilov shipyard took a high pace of building the ship and ordered all the components for its ship in advance, two other enterprises followed this example. By permission of the Naval Ministry, part of the armor plates was ordered abroad - domestic factories, loaded with orders, could not provide the full volume of the order. Difficulties also arose with armament - to save time, it was decided to take 152-mm guns from among those already ready for three battleships of the Borodino type. The result was impressive - "Gromoboy" and "Rurik" completed the tests already in March 1903, and "Rurik" during the tests was constantly served by an icebreaker assigned to the Solombala shipyards. "Peresvet", being built at the Putilov shipyards, completely broke all records - a huge ship with a displacement of 15 thousand tons was put into operation 29 months after the laying. Thus, by the middle of 1903, all three ships entered service and, as part of a single squadron, went to the Far East, where they arrived at the end of August 1903.

"Peresvet" during the tests, the end of 1902

Thunderbolt (TF), Baltic Shipyard, St. Petersburg - 06/20/1900 / 09/19/1901 / 04/28/1903

"Peresvet" (TF), Putilov shipyard, St. Petersburg - 06/20/1900/04/29/1901/11/09/1902

"Rurik" (TF), Solombala Shipyard, Arkhangelsk - 06/29/1900 / 08/23/1901 / 04/13/1903

Displacement: normal 15 150 tons, full 15 900 tons

Dimensions: 156.9×22.5×8.1 m

Mechanisms: 2 shafts, 2 PM VTR, 24 Norman-MacPherson boilers, 24,000 hp = 22 nodes

Fuel supply: 800/1500 tons of coal

Range: 5000 miles (10 knots)

Armor (krupp): belt 76-178 mm, casemates 51-102 mm, towers 178 mm, roofs of towers 51 mm, barbettes 178 mm, communication pipe 76 mm, supply and casing KO 38 mm, wheelhouse 203 mm, deck 38-76 mm

Armament: 4 254/45 mm, 16 152/45 mm, 20 87/45 mm, 8 57/50 mm guns, 8 12.7 mm machine guns, 4 381 mm torpedo tubes

Crew: 887 people

Armor scheme

In 1915, 4 87/45 mm guns were removed and replaced with 4 87/30 mm anti-aircraft guns, all 57/50 mm guns were removed, and more modern 3rd rangefinders were installed.

Under the flag of Rear Admiral Baranov

"Rurik" during the transition to the Far East, mid-1903

Three Thunderbolts were assigned to a special 2nd combat detachment of the 1st Pacific Squadron based in Port Arthur. Back in the Baltic, Rear Admiral G.K. Baranov took command. Since all three ships were "newbies", and a premonition of war was in the air, the 1st squadron abandoned the planned "winter voyage" to foreign ports and began to conduct enhanced combat training. Admiral Baranov "driven" his ships mercilessly - in the shortest possible time it was necessary to improve combat training from "none" to "satisfactory", or better, "excellent" level. Fortunately, the Thunderbolts managed to avoid problems with machinery - they were assigned experienced machine engineers from the Black Sea and Baltic ships who knew how to handle Norman-MacPherson water-tube boilers. Just a few years earlier, all three battleships of the "Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky" type experienced problems with new boilers, and the first three battleships with such a "heart" - "Sisoy the Great", "Ingermanland" and "Svyatoslav" - due to the novelty of their machinery and In the absence of experience, the teams “got away” so much that five years after they entered service without a major overhaul, they could not develop more than 13-14 knots instead of passport 17.

Thunderbolt in olive war paint, mid-1904

In the event of war, the Thunderbolts were planned to be used as a simple continuation of the battle line of the 1st squadron, but already in the first battle, Rear Admiral Baranov's three ships proved to be the brightest, having managed to shoot at Japanese battleships and severely damage the enemy armored cruiser. As a result, these three cruisers became the most active capital ships of the Russian fleet of that war, and more than once went on independent voyages, whether it was a raid on enemy patrols, supply lines at Chemulpo, or reconnaissance in a particularly dangerous area. Their impressive speed allowed them to catch up with most Japanese cruisers, including armored ones, and deal with them without much effort. Of course, all this did not go unpunished - the ships were often damaged by Japanese fire, and only one flagship "Gromoboy" was not blown up by mines during the entire war. Fortunately, all these damages did not become fatal, and the trio of Russian cruisers of the 1st rank had a chance to play their important role in the decisive battles at sea as a "fast wing". After the war, "Gromoboy", "Peresvet" and "Rurik", together with their teams, commanders and Rear Admiral Baranov, became heroes, and surpassed even the flagship battleship of Admirals Makarov and Vorontsov "Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky" in popularity.

New people, new war

After the war, the Thunderbolts remained one of the main forces of the fleet for a very long time. After the defeat of the Japanese, the situation in the region stabilized, and Russia began to build up its fleets in Europe, and therefore, until 1912, cruisers of this type were also the newest of the large ships of the Pacific Ocean. In 1911-1912, the trinity underwent a major overhaul, and the flag of Rear Admiral N. M. Bukhvostov, a descendant of the "first Russian soldier", was raised on the Gromoboy. Under his leadership, "Gromoboi", "Peresvet" and "Rurik" were noted in the large-scale events of that time, protecting Russian interests. These ships also participated in the First World War, becoming the main hunters for the squadron of Admiral von Spee in the Pacific Ocean. They failed to save the British ships at Coronel from defeat, however, the Spee squadron was overtaken near Picton Island and defeated in the course of a long battle - the prize-winners of the Kaiser's fleet could not stand the battle with the prize-winners of the Pacific Fleet ("Gromoboy", "Rurik" and "Peresvet" regularly entered in the top five ships according to the results of firing). This was followed by repairs at Port Stanley and temporary relocation to the Mediterranean Sea, where a Russian squadron was formed to help the allies during the Dardannel operation. Cruisers also had a chance to shoot at the enemy there, including at enemy aircraft - for this, in 1915, 87 / 30-mm anti-aircraft guns, converted from conventional anti-mine guns, were installed on all ships.

"Rurik" in the Mediterranean Sea, 1915