Naval arms race

Stubborn rivalry in building up naval power unfolded before the First World War between Germany and England. England, which owned vast colonies on all continents, ranked first in the world in naval power and merchant fleet. The German navy was significantly inferior to the English, as can be seen from the table.

Despite its naval superiority, England continued to build up its naval forces. In 1889, Parliament passed a law that increased loans for the construction of the fleet. This law was based on the principle that the fleet of England was to surpass the two fleets of the most powerful other countries (137).

Table. The composition of the fleets of England and Germany by 1897*

Ship types	Quantity (including those under construction)		Ratio
	England	Germany
Battleships I, II, III classes
Coastal defense battleships
Armored cruisers
Cruisers I, II, III classes
Mine cruisers
destroyer destroyers
destroyers

* "Comparative tables of the navies of England, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, the USA and the republics of South America." SPb., 1897, pp. 66 - 71. The table includes only ships that had combat value in 1897.

German imperialists, who became in the last quarter of the XIX century. on the path of colonial conquest, they decided to intensively develop their navy. Adopted in March 1898 by the Reichstag, a special "Law on the Navy" provided for a sharp increase in it. Within six years (1898 - 1903) it was planned to build 11 squadron battleships, 5 large armored cruisers, 17 cruisers with an armored deck and 63 destroyers (138). German shipbuilding programs steadily expanded in 1900, 1906, 1908 and 1912. According to the law of 1912, the size of the German fleet was supposed to be increased to 41 battleships, 20 armored cruisers, 40 light cruisers, 144 destroyers and 72 submarines (139). The pace of construction was especially accelerated battleships. From 1908 to 1912, 4 battleships were laid down in Germany annually (instead of 2 in the previous period) and a corresponding number of cruisers and destroyers (140).

The British bourgeoisie understood that the decisions of the German government in the field of development navy jeopardized the naval power of England. Not wanting to lose her superiority on the seas, England also intensified the naval arms race. She set a goal of having 60% more battleships than there were in the German fleet (141). In addition, in 1905 the British government began building battleships of a new type - "dreadnoughts", which had a significant advantage over previous ships. By building dreadnoughts, England intended to make a major leap in the development of her naval power and force Germany to admit that she was powerless to shake England's naval hegemony.
However, Germany sought not only to catch up with England in the number of ships, but also not to be inferior to her in their quality and "to build ships so that in the event of a conflict they would be at least equivalent in combat power to the ships of the enemy" (142). Therefore, as soon as the first dreadnought was built in England, she began construction similar ships and Germany. Already in 1908, England had 8 dreadnoughts (some of them were under construction), and Germany - 7. The ratio of the old type of battleships was as follows: 51 for England and 24 for Germany (143).

In view of the growing threat to British naval power from Germany, England in 1909 decided to build two ships for every newly laid down German ship (144). Adopted in March 1909, the naval budget for 1909/10 allowed the government to build up to eight dreadnoughts, not counting a large number of smaller ships. In fact, nine dreadnoughts were laid - one ship of this type was built at the expense of New Zealand (145).
England also sought to preserve its naval power through diplomacy. After the adoption in Germany of the Naval Law of 1906, the British government came up with a proposal to limit the scale of construction of new warships. At the Hague Peace Conference in 1907, British diplomacy came up with a proposal to limit naval armaments (146). But this diplomatic step of England was rejected by Germany. German diplomacy spoke out extremely sharply and rudely against any kind of arms limitation.
The competition in the construction of the navy between Germany and England continued until the outbreak of the First World War. By 1914, the German fleet firmly took second place among the fleets of the largest maritime powers.

The frenzied arms race that engulfed England and Germany marked the approach of war. V. I. Lenin, noting this in 1911 in the article “Congress of the British Social Democratic Party”, wrote: “It is known that in last years and England and Germany are arming themselves extremely vigorously. The competition of these countries in the world market is becoming more and more aggravated. The military clash is approaching more and more menacingly” (147). This scientific prediction of V. I. Lenin came true only three years later.
Other states (France, Russia, Italy, Austria-Hungary) also sought to increase their fleets by building new, more modern ships. However, the financial and economic capabilities of these countries did not allow the full implementation of the adopted shipbuilding programs. Russia can serve as a typical example in this respect.
The tsarist government, which lost during the Russian Japanese war 1904-1905 almost the entire Pacific squadron and best ships The Baltic Fleet, sent to the Far East, directed its efforts towards the restoration and further development of the navy. To this end, in the period from 1905 to 1914, several shipbuilding programs were developed, which included the completion of the previously laid down 4 squadron battleships, 4 armored cruisers, 4 gunboats and 2 submarines, 2 minelayers and the construction of new 8 battleships, 4 battleships and 10 light cruisers, 67 destroyers and 36 submarines. However, by the beginning of the war, none of these programs had been completed (148).

Ship classes, combat assets and weapons

The experience of the first wars of the era of imperialism, especially the Russo-Japanese war, presented new requirements for various classes of ships, weapons and military equipment of the navies.

For battleships, it became necessary to strengthen the artillery of the main caliber of 305 - 381 mm to 8 - 12 guns and the anti-mine caliber of 120-150 mm to 14-18 guns by abandoning the medium caliber, strengthening the armor of the main belt to 305 - 350 mm and expanding the armor area in order to increase the survivability of the ship in battle, increase the displacement to 25 - 27 thousand tons and speed to 23-25 ​​knots.
The first battleship of a new type called the Dreadnought was built in England (commissioned in 1907) and, in terms of its tactical and technical data, differed sharply from the squadron battleships of the period of the Russo-Japanese War. Table 10 provides a visual representation of this.

Table 10. The performance data of the Russian squadron battleship "Borodino" and the English battleship "Dreadnought" *

	"Borodino"	"Dreadnought"
Year of commissioning
Displacement, t
Machine power, l. With.
Cruising range, miles
Travel speed, knots
Armament:
artillery (number/caliber of guns, mm)
torpedo (number/caliber of torpedo tubes, mm)
Booking, mm
onboard
tower
deck

* A. P. Shershov. The history of military shipbuilding from ancient times to the present day. M. - L., 1940, pp. 144, 241-242, 346 - 347; S. P. Moiseev. List of ships of the Russian steam and armored fleet (from 1861 to 1917). M., 1948, pp. 58 - 59.

The table shows that the English ship was significantly superior to the Russian battleship in terms of machine power, speed, main caliber artillery and armor.
Following England, other major maritime powers began building battleships of the "dreadnought" type.
It should be noted that two trends were observed in the development of the class of battleships, which were most clearly manifested in the English and German fleets. They were explained by different operational and tactical considerations. The Germans, expecting an attack by a stronger, English fleet near their coasts, paid their main attention to strengthening the armor and increasing the number of guns, neglecting to a certain extent even the speed of movement. The British, on the other hand, attached paramount importance to the speed and caliber of the guns, so that they could deprive the enemy of the initiative in choosing the time and place of the battle. These trends can be traced by comparing the performance data of the English battleship Queen Elizabeth and the German battleship Koenig (Table 11), which were built at the same time (1911-1914).

Table 11 Tactical and technical data of the battleships "Queen Elizabeth" and "Koenig"*

* F. Jane. Fighting Ships, 1915; AT. Weger. Taschenbuch der Kriegsflotten, 1914; x.wilson. Battleships in battle. Per from English. M., 1936, pp. 414, 422; "Operational-tactical views of the German Navy". Digest of articles. M. - L., 1941, p. 16.

French and Italian battleships of pre-war construction also had quite good tactical and technical elements. A characteristic feature of the Italian battleships was the advantage in speed with the same power equipment and armor. The battleships of the Austro-Hungarian fleet were somewhat inferior to the French and Italian ones.
The idea of ​​creating a new type of battleship was first developed by Russian sailors and shipbuilders S. O. Makarov, A. N. Krylov, I. G. Bubnov. But due to the economic backwardness of tsarist Russia and the inertia of its ruling circles, this idea was not implemented in a timely manner. The construction of new battleships in Russia began with a great delay and was carried out at a slow pace.
The first Russian dreadnought ships ("Sevastopol", "Gangut", "Petropavlovsk" and "Poltava") were laid down in the summer of 1909 at the Baltic and Admiralty plants in St. Petersburg in accordance with the shipbuilding program of 1908. Their construction was delayed, and they entered into operation only in November - December 1914, that is, after the start of the world war (149). The battleships of the Sevastopol type, designed taking into account the experience of the Russo-Japanese war and the achievements of advanced Russian shipbuilding science, surpassed not only the first dreadnoughts of England, Germany and other states, but also the battleships of foreign fleets built simultaneously with them or even later.
On the eve of the war, a new type was born heavy cruiser- a battle cruiser that had a high speed for that time (almost 30 knots), strong artillery (up to 12,356 mm main caliber guns) and powerful armor (up to 300 mm). Cruisers of this type had turbine engines and took a large amount of liquid fuel. In terms of their combat qualities, they left the old armored cruisers far behind.
In Russia, the battlecruisers ("Izmail", "Borodino", "Navarin" and "Kinburn"), intended for the Baltic Fleet (laid down in December 1912), were the most powerful in the world in terms of artillery weapons. But by the beginning of the war they remained unfinished (150).
In all fleets, great attention was paid to the development of light cruisers and destroyers. An increase in the speed and anti-mine artillery of battleships and cruisers required a significant increase in speed (up to 30 knots and more) and the strengthening of artillery and torpedo weapons of light cruisers and destroyers. The old types of these ships could no longer perform their tasks in squadron combat.
In 1910, the construction of new destroyers of the Novik type began at the Putilov Plant, and in 1913 - light cruisers of the Svetlana type. The first destroyer entered service in 1913, but the cruisers could not be completed during the war (151) .
The experience of using mine weapons in the Russo-Japanese War revealed the need to create special ships for setting and sweeping minefields - minelayers and minesweepers

However, in all fleets, with the exception of the Russian fleet, no attention was paid to the construction of such ships. It was believed that with the outbreak of war, merchant ships could be equipped for such ships. In Russia, after the war with Japan, two special minelayers "Amur" and "Yenisei" were built, and in 1910 the world's first underwater minelayer "Crab" was laid. The construction of special minesweepers of the Zapal type also began.
Not enough attention in the Western European fleets in prewar years devoted to the construction of submarines. This was due to two reasons. Firstly, the then dominant naval doctrine of "ownership of the sea" assigned the submarine one of the last places in the struggle at sea, since victory was achieved, as she believed, by linear forces in a pitched battle. Secondly, in previous wars, the submarine has not yet revealed its combat capabilities. This happened already during the First World War. As a result, by the beginning of the war, its main participants had a small number of submarines in their fleets. France had 38 of them, Germany - 28, Russia - 23. And only England had 76 boats, but among them there were many obsolete ones. One of the best submarines of pre-war projects was considered to be Russian submarines of the Bars type, laid down in 1912.

In the prewar years, work began on the creation of seaplanes in the largest imperialist states. Several types of such machines were designed and built, but almost all of them did not leave the stage of experimental testing before the start of the war. Only in the course of the war did the fleets begin to receive aircraft suitable for solving combat missions, among them the Avro (England), Borel (France), Flugbot (Germany) (154).
The situation was different in Russia. Russian aircraft designer D. P. Grigorovich in 1912-1913. created several models of the M-type seaplane (M-1, M-2, M-4, M-5), which immediately found practical application in the fleet. The M-5 aircraft turned out to be especially successful. He had high tactical flight qualities (flight weight - 660 kg, payload - 300 kg, ceiling - 4450 m, speed - 128 km / h). In 1914, he was accepted into service with the fleet as a naval reconnaissance officer. It remained in the hydroaviation until 1921. The M-9 aircraft, created by Grigorovich in 1916, had higher tactical flight data.

Russian engineers also took care of special ships - carriers of seaplanes. In 1913, engineer Shishkov designed a high-speed air transport that could take up to seven aircraft. Since the beginning of the war, the Black Sea Fleet was equipped with several such aircraft, the aircraft of which conducted aerial reconnaissance and covered the ships of the squadron from the air in remote areas of the sea.
The development of various classes of ships, the increase in the number of submarines in the fleet and their combat capabilities, as well as the emergence of naval aviation, required further improvement of all types of weapons and the creation of new means of combat. Particular attention was paid to improving the tactical and technical data of naval artillery, since it continued to be the main weapon of the fleet. By the beginning of the First World War, the caliber of heavy guns had increased to 356 - 381 mm, mine artillery - up to 152 mm; anti-aircraft guns with a caliber of up to 76 mm appeared. The initial speed of the shells also increased - up to 950 m / s, the rate of fire of large guns - up to two rounds per minute, the firing range - up to 120 cables (156).
At the same time, the relative weight of the shells increased, their penetrating and high-explosive actions increased, as the shells began to be filled with stronger explosives; improved methods of controlling artillery fire. The art of fire control has always been the most important factor in the battle of surface ships.

Speaking of this, it should be noted that the English fleet entered the First World War less prepared for artillery combat than the German fleet. In terms of range, the British and German guns of the main calibers were approximately the same. But the high-explosive shells of the British, which had sensitive fuses, did not penetrate the armor of the German ships, and in the event of penetration they did not cause major damage. The German shells, on the other hand, pierced the weaker armor of the English ships and caused severe damage. The British were also unable to develop their own artillery fire control system before the war. Already in the course of the war, they realized that they were lagging behind in this matter, and used many of the Russian methods of controlling fire (157).
A major contribution to the development of artillery weapons was made by Russian engineers and gunners-sailors. Before the war, Russian factories mastered the production of improved models of naval guns of caliber 356, 305, 130 and 100 mm (158). The production of three-gun ship turrets also began. In 1914, the engineer of the Putilov factory F.F. Lender and the artilleryman V.V. Tarnovsky were pioneers in the creation of a special anti-aircraft gun with a caliber of 76 mm (159).

The development of torpedo and mine weapons was especially influenced by Russo-Japanese War. The improvement of the torpedo went along the line of increasing its destructive power, firing range and speed. The most common in all fleets was the 450-mm torpedo, which had a range of 16 cables (about 3000 m) at a speed of 29 knots. In some fleets during the war, ships were armed with torpedoes of larger calibers (500, 530 and 550 mm), with a speed of 45 knots at a distance of 15 cables.
In Russia, in the prewar period, three new models of torpedoes were developed (1908, 1910 and 1912), which surpassed the same type of torpedoes of foreign fleets in speed and range, despite the fact that they had a slightly lower total weight and charge weight (160) .
Before the war, multi-tube torpedo tubes appeared. The first such (three-pipe) apparatus was produced in 1913 at the Putilov plant in St. Petersburg. He provided volley fire with a fan, the methods of which were developed and mastered by Russian torpedoists before the start of the war.
The development of mine weapons was characterized by an increase in the mine charge to 150 kg, which consisted of a stronger explosive (tol), improved fuses, and an increase in speed and depth of setting. On the eve of the war, the fleets were armed with shock and galvanic impact mines. During the war, antenna mines appeared, and at the very end of it, magnetic mines.

The first place in the development of mine weapons was occupied by the Russian fleet. Before the World War, the Russian fleet developed galvanic and shock-mechanical mines of the 1908 model and the 1912 model. According to the tactical and technical data, these mines were much superior to foreign ones, especially in the reliability of action. In 1913, a floating mine "P-13" was designed, which was kept under water at a certain depth due to the action of an electric navigation device. Mines of old samples of this type were kept under water with the help of buoys that did not ensure the stability of the mine, especially in stormy weather. "P-13" had an electric shock fuse, a charge of 100 kg of tol and could stay at a given recess for three days. None of the foreign fleets had a similar mine. Russian miners created the world's first river mine "R" ("Rybka").
At the beginning of the war, Russian designers of mine weapons and practical miners provided great assistance to the allied English fleet in organizing the production of mines and training personnel methods of using mine weapons, since the British were far behind in this matter. At the request of the British Admiralty, a group of miners was sent to England with a supply of mines in 1000 pieces.

The Russian fleet went ahead of foreign fleets also in the creation of more advanced models of minesweeping weapons. In 1911, undercutting kite and boat trawls entered service. The use of these trawls significantly reduced the time of minesweeper work, since mines that were cut and floated to the surface were immediately destroyed. Previously, mines had to be towed to a shallow place and destroyed there, which took a lot of time.
The Russian fleet was the cradle of radio. Radio has become a common means of communication in the navy in general, and in particular it has found wide application in command and control of forces in battle. Before the war, Russian radio engineers created radio direction finders, which made it possible to use radio as a means of reconnaissance.

Organization and management

The navies of the major imperialist states (Britain, Germany, France, Russia, and others) consisted of fleets (flotillas) deployed in different maritime theaters. The fleet (naval forces of the theater) was the highest operational formation, which, depending on the composition of its forces, goals and the nature of the war, could solve not only operational, but also strategic tasks.

The squadron was the main operational formation of battle forces (battleships, battleships and armored cruisers) in all fleets, with the exception of the Turkish one. Squadrons could be homogeneous, consisting of ships of the same class (for example, battleships or cruisers), and mixed, which included ships of different classes (battleships, cruisers, destroyers). If there were several squadrons in one theater, they were reduced to large operational formations (for example, the British 1st, 2nd and 3rd fleets). From light surface forces (light cruisers, destroyers, destroyers), submarines and ships special purpose(minelayers, minesweepers, patrol ships, gunboats, etc.) created homogeneous or mixed (again, depending on the availability of ships of these classes) operational and tactical formations - flotillas, divisions, brigades, divisions, detachments. At the same time, it should be noted that the same type of formations in different fleets had different names. For example, formations of destroyers and destroyers in the English, German, French and Austro-Hungarian fleets were called flotillas, in Russian - divisions, and in Italian - brigades, regardless of the number of ships that were part of them. The numerical composition of associations and formations was the most diverse.

Naval command organization different countries was also different. In England, the main governing body of the fleet was the Admiralty, which in the fall of 1911 was headed by W. Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty (Minister of the Navy). The Admiralty was engaged in planning the construction of the fleet and its combat training, developing plans of operations and managing combat operations on an operational-strategic scale. In the English naval forces there was still the post of the first sea lord, that is, the commander in chief of all fleets. This post was held by Admiral Lord Fisher from October 1914. In 1912, the Naval General Staff was created, but before the start of the war it did not find its place in the fleet management system. The Chief of the Naval General Staff at the beginning of the war was Vice Admiral Sturdy, and from November 1, 1914, Rear Admiral Oliver (163). The rights and obligations of the commanders of individual fleets were limited to the development and conduct of combat operations on an operational-tactical scale, the combat training of the personnel of ships and formations and their maintenance in a combat-ready state.

The supreme command of the naval forces in Germany belonged undividedly to the Kaiser, who was subordinate to: the Naval Ministry (State Secretariat of the Imperial Naval Administration), headed by Grand Admiral Tirpitz, the Kaiser's Naval Cabinet, headed by Admiral Müller, and the Admiral Staff (Naval General Staff) , led by Admiral Pohl. The Naval Ministry was in charge of the organization, management and material support of the fleet. It had no direct influence on the management of the combat activities of the fleet during the war. The Naval Cabinet dealt mainly with the recruitment and service of officers. The Admiral Staff, as an organ of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (Kaiser), carried out the development of plans for operations, the distribution of forces among naval theaters in accordance with the tasks assigned to the fleet. The commanders of forces in the North and Baltic Seas were directly subordinate to the Kaiser. They were responsible for combat training, manning, the technical condition of the ship's composition, and in wartime, for the conduct of hostilities of their fleets (164). As can be seen from the above structure of the fleet control bodies and the functions they performed, in Germany, in fact, there was no high naval command that would be fully responsible for waging war at sea. This circumstance had an extremely unfavorable effect on the combat activity of the fleet.

At the head of the management of the naval forces of France was the Minister of Marine with his operational body - the Naval General Staff. He was directly subordinate to the commander of the fleet of the Mediterranean Sea and the commander of the naval forces of the Channel. The General Staff developed plans for operations and supervised their implementation.

The commander-in-chief of the Italian fleet (he is also the commander of the first squadron), the Duke of Abrutsky, was subordinate to the chief of the Naval General Staff, Admiral di Rivel, who was in charge of the combat activities of the fleet. The Naval Ministry, with its directorates and departments, was in charge of shipbuilding, manning and mobilization, all types of weapons, the development of coastal defense, as well as the equipment of naval bases and ports and the logistics of the fleet, i.e., everything related to general preparation of the fleet for war (166).
In Austria-Hungary, the fleet was subordinate to the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces. The Maritime Ministry did not exist. Its functions were performed by the Naval Department of the War Ministry. The head of this department had great independence and could personally report to the emperor on all the most important issues of building, maintaining and managing the fleet.

In Turkey, the fleet management system was violated before the start of hostilities in the Black Sea. You are welcome German cruisers"Goeben" and "Breslau" the commander of the naval forces was the German Admiral Souchon, who often gave orders over the head of the Minister of the Navy Ahmet Dzhemal.
The Naval Ministry, which since 1911 was headed by Admiral I.K. Grigorovich, was the governing body of the naval forces of Russia as a whole. The Naval Ministry included: the Admiralty Council, chaired directly by the Minister of Marine, the Main Naval Headquarters, the Main Naval Court, the Main Naval Ship Administration, the Main Directorate of Shipbuilding, the Main Hydrographic Directorate, the Main Marine Economic Directorate and other departments, departments and divisions (169).

In 1906, the Naval General Staff was created, which was entrusted with solving strategic problems, planning the construction of the fleet, conducting its mobilization, and directing the general preparation of naval forces for war. The establishment of the Naval General Staff was a positive factor in the restoration of the Russian naval forces. With its creation, the functions of the Main Naval Staff changed significantly, which now was in charge of the personnel of the fleet, the combatant, administrative and military training units, as well as the legislative part of the naval department (170).
In addition to naval formations and formations, the naval command in England, Germany and Italy was completely subordinate to the coastal defense of the country, including sea fortresses, naval bases and military ports with their garrisons.

This had a positive effect on the organization and conduct of coastal defense in these countries. This was not the case in other states. In France, for example, there was a dual system of subordination of coastal defense. The entire coast of the country was divided into maritime districts, each of which was divided into several sectors. At the head of the district was the naval chief, but in relation to the command of the ground forces of his district, he reported directly to the Minister of War. Naval or army officers were appointed as heads of sectors, depending on which forces prevailed there. In Austria-Hungary, coastal defense was the responsibility of the War Ministry. As for Russia, before the start of the war, there was no unified system of coastal defense on a national scale. The land defense of most naval fortresses and naval bases and ports was under the jurisdiction of the War Ministry. The commanders of naval bases (ports) and the heads of their garrisons (commandants) were independent of each other. Only in one Sevastopol the commandant of the fortress was subordinate to the chief commander of the port (171).
Picking system
There was no unified system for manning fleets with rank and file. In some countries, it was carried out by free hiring (recruitment), in others - by military service, and in others - by a mixed system, partly by recruitment, partly by military service.
In England, the rank and file of the fleet was completed by free hiring. Those who wanted to serve in the Navy signed a contract for 5 or 12 years, with subsequent continuation of service with a positive certification for another 6 years for the first and 10 years for the second. Those who signed a contract for 5 years were immediately sent to the ships as sailors of the 2nd article, and those who had a contract for 12 years entered junior schools, after which they were sent to ships and continued to serve as sailors there, receiving a promotion in the articles. The best of them were promoted to non-commissioned officers. For the training of junior specialists in artillery and mine specialties, there were schools for foremen, where cadets who graduated from schools were accepted. In other specialties, there were no schools for either foremen or for officers. Personnel on them were prepared in a practical way, right on the ships. After passing the relevant exams, non-commissioned officers were promoted to officers. To improve the skills of artillerymen, miners and navigators, there were special classes. In England there was a Naval Academy, but with a very short training period - only 4 months. Senior officers and admirals were accepted into it.

The fleet manning system adopted in England had that positive side that as a result of a long service, the personnel received extensive experience and good maritime training. But this system did not ensure the accumulation of the reserve. That is why, already during the war, the British were forced to partially introduce military service.
The German fleet was recruited for military service, as well as at the expense of the Jung and volunteers. The term of service in the Navy was set at three years, after which enrollment in the reserve of various degrees followed until the age of 40. Jr command staff and fleet specialists were recruited from cadets who graduated from school and volunteers after appropriate training. Mechanical engineers for the fleet were trained from persons who had graduated from secondary technical schools and had experience in practical work at shipbuilding plants. They were sent to serve on ships, and then, after a year of training in the class of marine engineers, they were promoted to the exam in the mechanical engineer of the fleet. The German Naval Academy had a two-year term of study.

The officers of the English and German fleets were recruited according to the class principle - from the nobility and the bourgeoisie. Only mechanical engineers of the German Navy could come from other classes.
In France, the fleet manning system was quite complicated. The rank and file of the fleet was completed on the basis of the so-called naval record, the recruitment of "hunters" and general military service. The “marine record” consisted in the fact that the entire male population of the coastal strip of France aged 18 to 50 years was assigned to the fleet in relation to military service. However, in practice, the "recorded" served in the Navy for no more than 45 months, and then they could, if desired, either continue their service or be transferred to the reserve. The "recorded" enjoyed a number of privileges in receiving pensions, awards and sea fishing. In 1912, the period of compulsory service for them was reduced to 2 years. Those who remained to serve further had the right of their choice to enter the schools of naval specialists and advance in the service up to the officer rank.
When recruiting "hunters", a contract was concluded for 5 years according to the naval specialty chosen by them. The missing number of recruits after the admission of "recorded" and "hunters" was replenished through military service with a mandatory service period of 2 years. In the French fleet, as in other fleets, there was a junior school, which provided the main contingent for schools of junior fleet specialists.

The Austro-Hungarian and Italian fleets were recruited for military service from the population of coastal districts or persons who, before being drafted, had something to do with the sea (merchant sailors, fishermen) or the fleet (shipbuilders). In the Italian Navy, in addition, there was a cabin boy school. Terms of service: in the Austro-Hungarian fleet - 12 years, of which 4 years in active service, 5 years in the reserve and 3 years in the militia; in Italian, 4 years in active service and 8 years in reserve. For the training of junior specialists and officer cadres, there were appropriate schools and colleges (175).
The officer corps of the Austro-Hungarian fleet was formed taking into account not only the class, but also the national principle. The vast majority were Austrian Germans.

The rank and file, in addition to the Germans, was made up of Hungarians, Italians and representatives of the Slavic peoples.
The recruitment system of the Russian fleet was almost entirely based on conscription. According to the regulation approved in 1912, upon reaching military age and fit for health reasons, all persons who had navigational ranks and the ranks of ship mechanics, as well as those who sailed on merchant ships as sailors, helmsmen and stokers, were necessarily involved in the service in the navy upon reaching military age and fit for health reasons. Further, preference was given to recruits from factory workers who had specialties in metalwork and assembly, turning, boiler and blacksmithing, minders, electricians, telegraph operators and other specialists.

Therefore, among the rank and file of the fleet there was always a significant layer of factory workers, which created favorable conditions for the development of the revolutionary movement in the fleet. The missing part of the rank and file was recruited from the inhabitants of the coastal and riverine regions of the country.
The total service life for the ratings of the fleet was set at 10 years, of which 5 years in active service and 5 years in reserve (177).
In the prewar years, a Jung school was opened for the Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt. By creating it, the Naval Ministry not only had in mind the improvement of the quality of training of the fleet personnel, but also pursued political goals. Through the Jung school, it hoped to train servicemen devoted to the tsarist autocracy, who could be used in the fight against the revolutionary movement in the navy. However, the calculations of the tsarist authorities did not come true in this case either. Despite the brutal repressions and attempts to create a certain layer of trustworthy among the personnel, the revolutionary movement in the navy grew more and more.

For the training of non-commissioned officer rank specialists in the Baltic and Black Seas, there were training detachments, which included artillery and mine schools. In addition, various schools, classes and training teams were created that were not part of the training detachments: engine schools and schools of helmsmen and signalmen of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets, a diving school (common for both fleets), a diving school of the Baltic Fleet, paramedic schools in Kronstadt and Nikolaev, training teams of non-commissioned officers of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets, etc.

The officers of the fleet were recruited from the children of the nobility, the bourgeoisie, and officials. AT engineering schools people from other strata of the population were also accepted. Training of officers was carried out in the Naval Corps, special classes and the Naval Academy.
During the First World War, in many countries the system of manning the fleets with privates and officers underwent significant changes. The war caused a large expenditure of naval personnel. Recruitment and training of replacements could not be carried out according to pre-war norms and principles. The terms of training were reduced, some qualification restrictions were abolished in the service of officers, and admission to the officer corps was expanded for people from petty-bourgeois strata.

combat training

In the British and German fleets, combat training was carried out practically all year round. It usually began with a single preparation of the ship, then tactical exercises of homogeneous and heterogeneous formations followed, and as a result, final maneuvers of large formations and formations were carried out. In England, the maneuvers were predominantly operational in nature; Germany conducted bilateral tactical and operational maneuvers.
In the German Navy, much attention was paid to artillery firing, which was carried out at long distances against shields equal in area to ships. In terms of the level of artillery training, the British fleet was significantly inferior to the German one. The well-known English naval historian X. Wilson later admitted that “in the first period of the war british ships... discovered in this respect a significant and very dangerous weakness compared to the Germans.

In both fleets, the destroyers carried out salvo torpedo firing, and the German destroyers, in addition, practiced daytime torpedo attacks. The Germans set up training minefields, and then they were cleared out by minesweepers equipped with obsolete destroyers.
In the English and German fleets great importance was attached to the naval training of personnel and the training of formations in joint navigation. A major shortcoming in the combat training of both fleets was that they did not prepare for joint action with ground forces. If we talk about the level of combat training in general, then in the German fleet it was somewhat higher than in the English, especially in the field of tactics and the use of weapons. In other Western European fleets, combat training did not have any significant differences, except that it was carried out at a lower level compared to the fleets of Germany and England.

The Turkish fleet occupied a special position in terms of combat training. The rank and file of the fleet was recruited mainly at the expense of peasants of the Muslim faith. Cadres of junior specialists of the fleet and non-commissioned officers were not being trained. States officers on ships and in parts were incredibly inflated. By the beginning of the war, there were 8 for 10 sailors.
According to German officer Herman Lorey, who served in the Turkish Navy during the war years, warships Turkey was “mainly “floating barracks”, and life on them was reduced to food, uniforms and theoretical training ... Only a small part of the personnel was on ships, but even that did not swim, but spent time idle in sheltered harbors” (180) . After the war with Russia 1877-1878. Turkish ships did not leave the Bosporus for the Black Sea until the Balkan Wars (1912-1913). “... Therefore,” Lorey continues, “the personnel were not used to the sea and had no maritime experience” (181).

He goes on to point out major shortcomings in the organization certain types combat training (artillery and torpedo firing, ensuring the survivability of a ship in battle, navigation, etc.), poor provision of the fleet with combat stock, fuel and other types of supplies. Finishing the characterization of the Turkish fleet by the beginning of the war, Lorey writes that “by the time the German ships arrived, mobilization was in full swing, but neither the ships nor the shipyards showed any preparations for hostilities” (182). In many ways, Lorey was, of course, right. However, one cannot ignore the fact that Lorey and other Germans, who arrived in the Turkish fleet along with the Goeben and Breslau or later, tried in every possible way to inflate their role in the “transformation” of the Turkish fleet after the war. The fighting in the Black Sea during the war showed that if we exclude German ships, which became part of the Turkish fleet, the latter made very little progress in its combat capability.
A little more detail should be given to the combat training of the Russian fleet, since it had some characteristic features. The advanced officers of the Russian fleet had a hard time experiencing the tragedy of Tsushima. They paid attention primarily to the combat training of personnel. And, I must say, we have achieved considerable results in this direction, especially in the Baltic Fleet.

In the Baltic Sea, the combat training of the fleet was led by Vice Admiral N. O. Essen, who largely adhered to the views of S. O. Makarov. Since 1906, he commanded the 1st mine division of the fleet, based on the ice-free port of Libau. The division's ships sailed all year round, regardless of meteorological conditions, which contributed to the development of endurance, courage, initiative and perseverance in the personnel in achieving the goal, that is, those combat qualities that were required in the war. 1st mine division became a school of combat training, many commanders of ships and fleet formations passed through it in the prewar years (183). In November 1908, N. O. Essen was appointed head of the united detachments of the Baltic Sea. The first important event that he carried out on a fleet scale was to bring together previously disparate ships and detachments into formations capable of solving operational and tactical tasks.

A major shortcoming in the combat training of the Russian fleet over a long period was the practice of predominantly raid exercises. Due to the saving of material resources, ships went to sea, as a rule, only in the summer, and even then not for long. Now fundamental changes were made to the organization of combat training. A stage-by-stage training system was introduced: first, a single ship was trained, then a tactical formation (a division, a brigade of ships), then a large formation (a division of ships) and, finally, at the end of the campaign, maneuvers of the entire operating fleet.
Much attention in the Baltic Fleet was paid to artillery preparation. The Russian ships of the pre-war period, in terms of the power of their artillery weapons, were somewhat inferior to the ships of the same type of the German fleet (184). Therefore, equality or superiority over the enemy could only be achieved through the art of artillery shooting. The number of practical shootings was significantly increased, and the provision of their ammunition was improved. In 1910, special devices were introduced for training gunners to control the fire of a single ship and devices for quick loading of guns.

An important place in terms of the war on the Baltic Sea was given to defensive minelaying. Their implementation required advance and thorough preparation, especially since Baltic Fleet did not have a sufficient number of special minelayers. In the autumn of 1909, a detachment of minelayers was formed, which, in the spring of the following year, began intensive combat training aimed at carrying out minelaying, determined by the war plan. The ships of the detachment and destroyers of the 1st mine division practiced laying training mines in the areas of future defensive minefields.
No less seriously was organized in the fleet training for use in future war torpedo weapons. New types of torpedoes (1908, 1910, 1912) were put into service, which required a comprehensive test. The carriers of torpedo weapons - destroyers and submarines - also became others. It was necessary to develop more advanced methods of torpedo firing. The center for combat training in the use of torpedo weapons was the 1st mine division of the fleet. Here, new torpedoes were tested and a method was developed for salvo fire on the area from three destroyers armed with three single-tube devices. Since 1910, combat training in the use of torpedo weapons has also been developed in the submarine brigade of the Baltic Fleet.

The decade preceding the World War can be marked in the development of naval forces by three facts: the growth of the German military fleet, the restoration of the Russian fleet after its catastrophic defeat during the Japanese war, and the development of the submarine fleet.

Naval preparations for war in Germany were carried out in the direction of building a fleet of large warships (7.5 billion marks in gold were spent on this in a few years), which caused strong political excitement, especially in England.

Russia developed its fleet exclusively with active defensive tasks in the Baltic and Black Seas.

On the submarine fleet the greatest attention was paid in England and France; Germany transferred the center of gravity of the naval struggle to it already during the conduct of the war itself.

Comparative strength of the navies of the warring powers

The comparative strength of the warring powers' fleets is given in the table. Vessels of old construction that have served for 10 years or more are not included in the table.

To these naval forces, in favor of the Triple Alliance, the Turkish fleet should be added, which, however, consisted, however, in addition to several old battleships bought from the Germans, from 3 cruisers and 12 destroyers, which were in good condition.

The distribution of the naval forces of both sides before the start of the war

In the overall balance of the naval forces of the belligerent states, the British and German fleets dominated in terms of their power, a combat meeting of which was expected with special alarm throughout the world from the first day of the war. Their clash could immediately have very serious consequences for one of the parties. On the eve of the declaration of war, there was a moment when, according to some assumptions, such a meeting was included in the calculations of the British Admiralty. Starting from 1905, the British naval forces, until then scattered along the most important sea routes, began to be drawn to the coast of England as part of three "home" fleets, i.e. for the defense of the British Isles. During mobilization, these three fleets were combined into one "Big" fleet, which in July 1914 totaled 8 squadrons of battleships and 11 cruiser squadrons - in total, together with small vessels, 460 pennants. On July 15, 1914, an experimental mobilization was announced for this fleet, which ended with maneuvers and a royal review on July 20 at the Spitgad roadstead. In connection with Austrian ultimatum the demobilization of the fleet was suspended, and then on 28 July the fleet was ordered to sail from Portland to Scapa Flow near Orkney off the northern coast of Scotland.

At the same time, the German High Seas Fleet was cruising in Norwegian waters, from where it was returned on July 27-28 to the coast of Germany. The English fleet went from Portland to the north of Scotland not along the usual route - west of the island, but along the east coast of England. Both fleets passed in the North Sea in opposite directions.

By the beginning of the war, the English Grand Fleet was located in two groups: in the far north of Scotland and in the English Channel near Portland.

In the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Anglo-French agreement, Entente naval dominance was entrusted to the French fleet, which, as part of its best units, was concentrated near Toulon. His responsibility was to provide communications with North Africa. Off the island of Malta was an English cruiser squadron.

British cruisers also carried the security service sea ​​routes in Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Australia, and, in addition, significant cruising forces were in the western Pacific Ocean.

In the English Channel, in addition to the second English fleet, a light squadron of French cruisers was concentrated near Cherbourg; it consisted of armored cruisers supported by a flotilla of minecraft and submarines. This squadron guarded the southwestern approaches to the English Channel. In the Pacific Ocean off Indochina there were 3 light French cruisers.

The Russian fleet was divided into three parts.

The Baltic Fleet, immensely inferior in strength to the enemy, was forced to take an exclusively defensive course of action, trying at the Revel-Porkallaud line to delay, as far as possible, the advance of the enemy fleet and landing deep into the Gulf of Finland. In order to strengthen themselves and even out the chances of a battle, the equipment in this area of ​​\u200b\u200ba fortified mine position was planned, by the time the war began, far from being completed (or rather, had just begun). On the flanks of this so-called central position, on both sides of the bay, on the islands of Makilota and Nargen, batteries of large-caliber long-range guns were installed, and minefields were placed in several lines throughout the entire position.

Black Sea Fleet remained on the Sevastopol roadstead and did nothing, not even being able to properly lay minefields at the entrance to the Bosphorus. However, one cannot fail to take into account the entire difficulty of the position of the Black Sea Fleet, not only in relation to the insufficiency of combat forces, but also in the sense of the absence of other operational bases, except for Sevastopol. It was very difficult to base on Sevastopol to observe the Bosphorus, and operations to block the enemy's entry into the Black Sea under these conditions were completely unsecured.

The Far Eastern squadron - from its composition 2 light cruisers ("Askold" and "Zhemchug") tried to cruise off the southeastern coast of Asia.

The German High Seas Fleet consisted of 3 squadrons of battleships, a cruiser squadron and a fighter flotilla. After cruising off the coast of Norway, this fleet returned to its shores, with 1 linear and cruising squadrons stationed at Wilhelmshafen in the roadstead, under the cover of the batteries of the island of Helgoland, and 2 other linear squadrons and a flotilla of fighters - near Kiel in the Baltic Sea. By this time, the Kiel Canal had been deepened for the passage of dreadnoughts, and thus the squadrons from Kiel could join the squadrons of the North Sea if necessary. In addition to the aforementioned High Seas Fleet, along the coast of Germany there was a defensive fleet of large strength, but from already obsolete ships. The German cruisers "Goeben" and "Breslau" skillfully slipped past the English and French cruisers into the Black Sea, which later caused enough trouble to the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the coast. In the Pacific, German ships were part of their base - Qingdao, near Kiao-chao, and Admiral Spee's light squadron of 6 new cruisers was cruising near the Caroline Islands.

The Austro-Hungarian fleet was concentrated on the raids of Paul and Catarro in the Adriatic Sea and was hiding behind the coastal batteries from the cruisers and minecraft of the Entente.

Comparing the naval forces of both coalitions, the following can be noted:

1. The forces of England alone outnumbered the strength of the entire fleet of the Central Powers.

2. Most of the naval forces were concentrated in the European seas.

3. The English and French fleets had every opportunity to act together.

4. The German fleet could get freedom of action only after a successful battle in the North Sea, which it would have to give in the most unfavorable balance of forces, i.e. in fact, the German surface fleet was locked in its territorial waters, having the opportunity to undertake offensive operations only against the Russian Baltic Fleet.

5. The naval forces of the Entente were the actual masters of all water areas, with the exception of the Baltic and Black Seas, where the Central Powers had a chance of success - in the Baltic Sea in the struggle of the German fleet with the Russian and in the Black - in the struggle of the Turkish fleet with the Russian.

 The table is taken from Wilson's book "Ships of the Line in Battle"

August 11, 1914 Turkey let the German cruisers "Goeben" and "Breslau" through the straits to Constantinople, which were soon bought by the Turks. The receipt by the Turkish fleet of this reinforcement from Germany changed the entire strategic situation in the Black Sea: the presence of the Goeben more than doubled the strength of the Turkish fleet. "Goeben" was one of the newest battlecruisers, having no rivals among the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Due to its high speed (27 knots), it was practically invulnerable to obsolete battleships (which had a speed of 16 knots); the power of his artillery exceeded that of the two Evstafievs (the battleship of the Black Sea Fleet). Only the entry into service of dreadnoughts restored the situation, but the new ships of the Black Sea Fleet could enter service only a year later.

Indefatigable

The battlecruiser Indefatigable became the first English ship to die in the Battle of Jutland. During a duel of battlecruisers, the ship was hit by heavy shells from the German battlecruiser Von der Tann, causing an explosion of ammunition. Out of a team of 1019 people, only two survived, picked up by a German ship.

Queen Mary

The second British battlecruiser to die in the Battle of Jutland was the Queen Mary, which was lost just over 20 minutes after the Indefatigable. The ship received a combined salvo from the battlecruisers Derflinger and Seydlitz, which also caused an explosion in the artillery cellars. Of the team of 1275 people, 9 were saved.

Invincible

This battlecruiser was Admiral Hood's flagship at the Battle of Jutland. When Beatty's formation, which had already lost two battlecruisers in battle with the Germans, retreated to the main forces of the British fleet, Hood's detachment was the first to come to his aid. The fire of the Invincible severely damaged the German light cruiser Wiesbaden, which later sank. But then the lighting changed, and the ship became clearly visible to the gunners of the German battlecruisers. At 18.31, the ship received a hit in the main battery turret, which caused the explosion of the cellars. From the explosion, the ship broke in half, and since it sank at a depth of less than 30 meters, each half rested on the bottom, and the stern and bow remained sticking out above the water. For several years after the war, fishermen could see this terrible monument, until a storm overturned both parts of the skeleton. Admiral Hood, Captain 1st Rank E. L. Clay and more than 1000 people were killed; 6 survivors from the cruiser were picked up by the destroyer Badger.

The German cruiser Blucher was a transitional ship between armored and battlecruisers. Due to a shortage of ships, she often took part in operations alongside newer battlecruisers. During the Dogger Bank on January 24, 1915 with the English battlecruisers, the Blucher, which was the last in the German detachment, received several heavy hits and lost speed. The British preferred to finish off the lagging German ship and let the rest leave. After receiving from 70 to 100 shell hits, and then several torpedoes, the cruiser capsized and sank. The loss of the crew amounted to 792 people, 281 sailors were picked up by British ships.

The French battleship was part of the Allied squadron, which was trying to break through the Turkish fortifications in the Dardanelles on March 18, 1915. The duel of coastal batteries and ships proved fatal for the latter. Bouvet received several hits that destroyed her forward gun turret and one of the masts. Then the battleship stumbled upon a mine, the explosion of which caused the detonation of ammunition. The ship sank within two minutes. Out of a team of 710 people, only about 50 were saved.

clothes
One of four ships of the King George V class. The first dreadnought in history to die in action. October 27, 1914, "Odeyshes", following for training artillery firing, at 08:05 ran into a mine, installed by the German auxiliary mine layer "Berlin". The captain tried to bring the sinking ship to the shore and throw it aground, but at 10:50 the engine room was flooded and the Odeishes lost speed. At 21:00, the Odeishes capsized, exploded and sank. A foreman on the Liverpool cruiser, located at a distance of more than 700 meters from the explosion site, was killed by shrapnel. This is the only human casualty in the sinking of the Odeishes.

Irresistable

The battleship Irresistable (Irresistible) was part of a series of eight British battleships built at the beginning of the 20th century. Participating in the attack by the allied squadron of the Dardanelles on March 18, 1915, the ship hit a mine and lost its course. The current carried him to the Turkish batteries, which finished him off and after three hours the ship went to the bottom. The loss of the team amounted to about 150 people. In total, from this series of battleships, in addition to the Irresistable, two more ships died in the First World War.

The battlecruiser Inflexible picks up the crew of the cruiser Gneisenau

The armored cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were the core of the German East Asia Squadron based in Qingdao, China. With the outbreak of the First World War, the German squadron went to sea so as not to be destroyed by superior enemy forces in the port. Off the coast of Chile, she defeated the English squadron of Admiral Craddock sent to search for her, sinking two old armored cruisers, but off the Falkland Islands she stumbled upon a much stronger enemy - Strady's squadron, consisting of an armadillo, 2 linear, 3 armored and 2 light cruisers. In an unequal battle, both German armored and 2 light cruisers were destroyed. The Scharnhost perished along with the entire crew and Admiral Count Spee, while 680 of the Gneisenau crew died and 187 people were rescued.

Saint Stephen

The battleship "Saint-Istvan" (Saint Stephen) was part of a series of four dreadnoughts of Austria-Hungary of the Viribus Unitis type. He spent most of his service at the base of the Austrian fleet in Pole. On June 15, 1918, the main forces of the Austrian fleet went to sea to attack the Allied anti-submarine forces in the Otranto area. The operation failed, and at 3.25 the Szent Istvan received two torpedoes from the Italian torpedo boat MAS-15. The ship received a strong roll to starboard. Attempts to take her ashore and put her aground were unsuccessful, and at 0605 the ship capsized and sank. Of the 1094 crew members, 89 drowned along with the dreadnought, the rest were picked up by escort ships. After the war, the Italians put the MAS-15 boat on public display in Rome's Museo di Risorgimento, where it remains to this day.

Viribus Unitis

On October 31, 1918, during the collapse of Austria-Hungary as a single state, flags were lowered on the decks of the ships of the former Austro-Hungarian fleet, after which the fleet came under the jurisdiction of the Yugoslav National Council. On the same day, the flagship of the former fleet, the Viribus Unitis, sank in the harbor of Pola as a result of sabotage by the Italian combat swimmers R. Rosetti and R. Paolucci, who laid mines on board the battleship. Janko Vukovich Podkapelsky, captain 1st rank, part-time commander of the new Yugoslav fleet, refused to leave the ship and died with him, sharing the fate of almost 400 crew members. The question of whether the Italians knew that they were going to blow up, in fact, not an enemy battleship, but a ship of a completely different fleet, remains open to this day.

Although the exact date of Italy's entry into the country remained a mystery, its intentions did not go unnoticed by the Austrian side.

As early as May 19, the cruisers Admiral Spaun and Helgoland, accompanied by destroyers, began patrolling the central part of the Adriatic.

And on the evening of May 23, two hours before the official declaration of war, the main forces Austrian Navy launched a long-planned operation to attack the Italian coast.

Since the old battleships of the Habsburg type had the smallest draft and could come close to the enemy coast, Admiral Gaus transferred his flag from the dreadnought Viribus Unitis to the Habsburg.

On May 24, at four in the morning, from a distance of 35 cable, the Austrian dreadnoughts, together with the battleship "Archduke Ferdinand Max", began to fight with coastal batteries, coal depots and ships in the harbor of Ancona.

The rest of the battleships of the "Archduke" and "Habsburg" types got auxiliary targets.

"Archduke Ferdinand Max" began firing at the semaphore station with the main caliber, and at the local oil storage with the middle caliber.

"Archduke Kart" fired at the local shipyard and city fortifications, "Archduke Friedrich" fired at the Enrico Cialdini battery at the entrance to the harbor and at the barracks.

"Habsburg" fired at the coastal battery, the monastery of St. Stephen and the station, "Arpad" - the barracks and shipyard "Cantieri Ligurie Anconiati", "Babenberg" fired at the power plant.

The shooting lasted forty minutes - until five in the morning, after which the Austrians withdrew. At the same time, six battleships of the "Archduke" and "Habsburg" types fired over one and a half hundred shells.

The raid took the Italians by surprise, they simply could not answer. As a result, 63 people died, but more importantly, the coastal Railway was seriously damaged, and traffic in many places stopped.

This seriously affected the timing of the deployment of the Italian army ...

Austrian fleet at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries.

The accession of Italy to the dual alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary was at one time the most important diplomatic victory for Austrian politicians.

The country no longer needed to pay attention to the fleet, and it became possible to focus on the land army.

The fleet of this period could only solve purely defensive tasks to protect its coast.

But, starting from the end of the 19th century, information began to flow through numerous intelligence channels that in the case new war Italy is likely to remain neutral or take a clear anti-Austrian stance.

This circumstance forced a rather sharp change in naval policy. Now the Austrian sailors were simultaneously working out two plans of military operations: against Italy and together with Italy against a third country.

In any case, the fleet needed seaworthy battleships, which were urgently needed to be created.

Photo 1. "Arpad" in the sea

Soon after the construction of the Monarchs, the shipbuilding department, under the leadership of the naval engineer Siegfried Popper, began designing the next three ships of this class.

Unlike previous types, which were designed with a clear eye on coastal defense, these battleships were created in accordance with the new program, which provided for the construction of no less than twelve battleships (four divisions of three pennants), very ambitiously called the "high seas fleet".

In addition to its main power, the program also included an order for twelve cruisers, the same number of destroyers, 24 large and 48 small destroyers, and twelve monitors for the Danube.

However, even after the adoption of the program, the "soldiers" were able to achieve a redistribution of financial flows in their favor, which made it difficult to implement the program.

In protest, Admiral Shpaun even resigned ...

Although the pace of rearmament of the Austrian fleet turned out to be not as fast as the sailors wanted, in the period from 1899 to 1904 Art. all three of the first "battleships of the high seas" were nevertheless built.

Photo 2. "Babenberg" shortly after commissioning

All three battleships were built in Trieste by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) factory, and all three were named after the ruling Austrian or Hungarian dynasties: Arpad, the first Christian monarch of Hungary, the founder of the dynasty, who was on the throne from 890 to 1301; Babenberg, the founder of the Austrian Empire, whose descendants ruled from 976 to 1246, and the Habsburgs, who at that time had been on the throne of Austria-Hungary since 1745.

As with the previous type, the shipbuilders were faced with the task of minimizing the volume and displacement of the new ship in order to make the ships as cheap as possible.

At the same time, the experience of the Japanese-Chinese and Spanish-American wars showed the dominance of medium-caliber rapid-fire artillery in naval battles.

Even without sinking the enemy, it could be easily disabled by a hail of shells on superstructures and unprotected extremities.

Compared to the "Monarchs" on the designed units, the number of medium artillery doubled.

Since the designers were in severe restrictions within the selected displacement, they had to pay with the main artillery, the number of barrels of which decreased to three, like that of the Crown Prince Archduke Rudolf.

A spoon of honey in this barrel of tar was the fact that the 240-mm guns, chosen as the main caliber, became rapid-fire for the first time in the Austrian fleet.

From type to type, the Austrian battleships had an increase in displacement.

Outwardly, this was reflected in the fact that there was only one pipe on the Monarchs, there were already two on the Habsburgs, and three on the third series (Archduke).

Design features of Austrian ships

As for the hull design, the shipbuilders took the path of least resistance.

Taking Monarch's contours as a basis, they simply shortened the bow ram a little and added another deck, thereby killing several birds with one stone: increasing seaworthiness and giving space to accommodate twice as strong medium artillery.

As a result, the estimated displacement of the new battleships was 8,340 tons (the Arpad turned out to be slightly larger - 8,360 tons), and the total displacement was 8,780 tons.

Later, in the process of restructuring, the displacement of the Habsburg and Arpad was reduced to 8,250 tons.

Despite the obvious increase in size and displacement, the Austrian opponents in the Adriatic still far outnumbered them.

The displacement of the Italian "Regina Margherita" under the project amounted to 13,215 tons, during operation it came close to 14 thousand.

The dimensions of the Habsburg hull were: length -113.1 m, width - 21.2 m, maximum draft - 7.2 m.

In the middle part of the hull there was a high superstructure, which housed the casemates of medium artillery.

It was she who predetermined one of the most significant shortcomings of the new ship.

Photo 3. "Habsburg"

In battle, a large area of ​​​​the sides increased the likelihood of being hit by an enemy projectile. She also gave a quite tangible minus in everyday service - the stability of the new battleship was beyond criticism.

Therefore, in 1911-1912. the height of the superstructures was reduced. Initially, the battleships were equipped with two combat masts, equipped with combat mars and crane beams, in the fashion of that time.

But this "decoration" also fell under the reduction during the mentioned struggle with the upper weights in 1911-1912. So the ships entered the world war with light signal masts.

The greatest bewilderment of the sailors was caused by the dismantling of the usual teak deck and its replacement with a lighter, but inconvenient linoleum in everyday life.

According to the project, two four-cylinder triple-expansion machines with a capacity of 11,900 hp were installed on battleships. With. had to create a speed of up to 19 knots. But all ships exceeded this value.

Even the worst “walker” “Habsburg” showed 15,063 hp during tests. With. and 19.62 knots, and the Babenberg cars came close to 16,000 hp. s., giving 19.85 knots.

As on the Monarchs, the designers chose Belleville water-tube boilers to generate steam, which were installed in 16 pieces.

Regular coal pits could take up to 811 tons of coal, and in overload it was possible to place another 388 tons in the space between decks.

As a result, the maximum range at 12 knots was up to 3,600 miles.

Since the Habsburgs received armor made using Krupp technology, it became possible to make it thinner compared to the Harvey of the Monarchs.

This made it possible to extend the main belt to the bow and stern. As a result, at the waterline, its thickness ranged from 180 to 220 mm, decreasing towards the extremities to 80 mm.

Photo 4. "Habsburg", 1918

The armored deck in the central part had a thickness of 66 mm, decreasing towards the stern to 40 mm.

The gun turrets are the most heavily armored -280 mm in the front, decreasing to 210 mm towards the rear.

The commander's cabin had an armor thickness of 200 mm.

The casemates of medium artillery were armored with 135 mm plates, and the space between the casemates and the belt was 100 mm.

Significant progress in Austrian industry was associated with ironclad artillery.

If the first two ships, like the Monarchs, received imported 240-mm guns, however, the L40 K / 97 models (barrel length 40 calibers, Krupp gun model 1897), then the Babenberg for the first time in the Austrian fleet received a domestic rapid-fire 240-mm cannon manufactured by Skoda K / 01 (Krupp model of 1901).

The bow turrets of all battleships were two-gun, and the stern turrets were single-gun.

But one should not think that the Austrians received underarmed ships, obviously worse than their opponents in the Adriatic.

On the contrary, in a battle with lightly armored Italians, a heavy Austrian projectile weighing 215 kg could become a very serious argument.

An armor-piercing projectile of this caliber had a contact fuse, which, when its moving part was compressed, sharply increased the temperature inside itself, which turned out to be sufficient to ignite the powder charge.

In addition to extreme reliability, the Austrian projectile exploded almost instantly, unlike foreign ones, with a delay of only a few microseconds, that is, it was more similar to foreign high-explosive ammunition, with the only difference that this slowdown was quite enough to hit the armored space of the Italian battleship.

Austrian designers clearly looked to the future.

A 45-kilogram charge with gunpowder grade K / 97 provided a muzzle velocity of up to 765 m / s and a maximum range of up to 16,000 m at an elevation angle of 15 °. And gun mounts could provide those angles!

Since such a range was considered excessive, firing tables for the Austrian gunners were compiled only for angles up to 12.85 °.

The next important feature of the Austrian guns was that 240-mm systems were on most of the Austrian battleships and cruisers.

Model C186 - on cruisers: armored type "Franz Joseph" and armored "Maria Theresa", C / 94 - on battleships of the "Monarch" type, C / 97 - on the "Habsburg", "Arpad" and the cruiser "Karl VI", finally , K / 01 - on the "Babemberg", the subsequent battleships of the "Archduke" type and the cruiser "St. Georg".

Despite such diversity, all ammunition was quite interchangeable, and each new model shells were designed to suit all guns.

Photo 5. "Archduke Karl"

In 1905, the Austrian Navy began the development of a new armor-piercing ammunition, eventually, according to some naval historians, reaching a leading position in the world.

It was during this period that the Austrian projectile acquired a ballistic cap, increasing the mass of an already heavy ammunition to 229 kg.

Despite the increase in the propellant charge to 46.15 kg, the muzzle velocity decreased to 705 m/s. But the main "know-how" was the alloying of steel for the cap (primarily with bronze), which made it very effective in punching the newly appeared plates with surface hardening.

Finally, obviously under the impression of Tsushima and Japanese explosive shells, in 1908 a new 215-kg shell with a large charge of trinitrotoluene entered service.

The muzzle velocity when firing this projectile was 765 m/s.

But the most unpleasant surprise awaited the Allies during the World War.

If in the prewar period shells of these types were indicated only on ships with guns of the K / 01 brand, then after the start of hostilities it turned out that they could just as successfully be used by older 240-mm guns!

So the Austrian old men could snap very painfully even at the Italian dreadnoughts.

In general, in 1901 the Austrians began their own production of shells. Of course, initially it was the same Krupp C / 80 model.

This was the case when the students were able to surpass their teachers!

The Italians, who also borrowed the technology for the production of ammunition (only in England), until the end of the Second World War, could not solve a number of very important points.

For example, shells fit together only if they have the same mass, but there are always dimensional tolerances in manufacturing technology, and therefore all shells, even in the same batch, will turn out to be of different mass.

And the Italian guns have always been distinguished by an unusually large dispersion, while the Austrian ones are at the level of the world's leading manufacturers, in some ways even ahead of them.

The medium artillery of the Habsburg-class ironclads consisted of twelve 150 mm guns (model L40 Krupp C/96) and had to be placed on two floors to avoid crowding.

To fight the destroyers, the battleships received ten 66-mm (L45), six 47-mm (L44) and two 47-mm (1.33) guns manufactured by Skoda.

Initially, it was supposed to purchase twelve 37-mm Vickers guns, but already in the process of completion they were quite prudently replaced by domestic ones that were practically in no way inferior to them.

The armament was supplemented by two 8-mm machine guns, which gained unexpected popularity during the war for shooting floating mines and fighting aircraft.

In the fashion of that time, each battleship was equipped with two 66-mm landing guns on a gun carriage.

The war made its own adjustments: all landing guns, due to their rather problematic value, were transferred to the shore, and in return the ships received two more needed anti-aircraft guns of the same caliber.

Concluding the review of armaments, we should mention the weapon that never came in handy: two 450-mm torpedo tubes and 20 anchor mines of the barrier.

All ship systems and weapons were served by a crew of 638 people, including 32 officers.

Combat operations involving Austrian ships

Since in the Austrian fleet the most powerful battleships were traditionally assigned to the First Division, after their acquisition of the Habsburgs from it, the Monarchs automatically transferred to the Second Division.

In 1904-1905. all three units took part in numerous maneuvers as part of the fleet, during which the crew got to know the capabilities and shortcomings of their materiel better.

The result of this preparation was a great voyage of the First Division, accompanied by the latest cruiser St. Georg and the destroyer Hussar, to the eastern Mediterranean, after which maneuvers took place in the presence of the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand himself.

In 1908, after the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austrian politicians, who predicted a powerful political crisis, demanded the mobilization of the entire fleet.

In this regard, long-distance cruises of ships this year were postponed, and all ships remained in the Adriatic.

However, everything went extremely calmly, and soon the fleet was able to return to its usual routine.

By 1911, the Austrian fleet was replenished with a significant number of newer ships, which raised the question of the future fate of the Habsburg-class battleships.

Photo 6. "Archduke Friedrich"

To give them greater combat value "Habsburg" and "Arpad" in 1911-1912. underwent a serious restructuring, due to which, at the end, they were again introduced into the core of the active ships of the fleet, after which they were transferred to the reserve.

At the same time, "Arpad" in 1913-1914. used as a floating barracks for non-commissioned officers.

With the outbreak of World War II, all three ships re-commissioned as the Fourth Division of the Second Squadron.

The flagship of the division of Rear Admiral Karl Seidensacher was the battleship Habsburg, commanded by the then captain of the 1st rank Nikolaus (or in Hungarian Miklós) Horthy, who was transferred in 1915 to command the cruiser Novara and made a fairly quick career, rising to the rank a couple of years before the commander-in-chief of the fleet.

Unlike Horthy, the career of the battleships was by no means rich in bright episodes.

Initially, the commander-in-chief of the Austrian fleet, Anton Gaus, concentrated battleships in Pol in anticipation of a war with Italy.

Finally, with the entry of Italy into the war, on May 23, 1915, he decided to launch a long-planned operation against the Italian coast, which turned out to be the only one in the entire war when the Habsburgs were able to open fire on the enemy.

As the brunt of the war fell on the more modern and fast units, the older ironclads spent the remainder of the war in the armed reserve at Pola.

At the same time, "Arpad" again returned to the role of training for non-commissioned officers.

And after the sinking of the battleship Vien, to replace it in support of the coastal flank of the army, the Arpad was transferred to Trieste along with the remaining Budapest.

The leadership soon considered this step inappropriate, and on December 21, 1917, the Arpad returned to Polu.

After the uprising of Austrian sailors in Cattaro in February 1918, the leadership decided to exclude all old ships from the lists of the fleet.

As a result, the Habsburg turned into a training ship. The Arpad became a blockhouse-prison, imprisoning the participants of the uprising in Cattaro on its board.

Unlike them, Babemberg, which hosted the headquarters of the flotilla, nevertheless took part in another action.

On April 4, 1918, he was recruited to participate in the unsuccessful operation of the Austrian sabotage forces aimed at destroying torpedo boats in Ancona.

Photo 7. "Archduke Friedrich"

The only one of all its twins, the Babenberg received quite real combat damage.

On July 17, 1918, an Italian pilot dropped several bombs on the Babenberg moored at the side, but hit the battleship.

In the autumn of 1918, all three battleships came under Allied control.

Under the terms of the distribution of the Austrian fleet, all three twins fell into the UK, but she refused such a very dubious acquisition, eventually selling them in 1920 to an Italian company.

Until 1922, "Habsburg" and "Arpad" were in the Field, after which they were taken to Italy for scrapping.

Unlike them, it was decided to use the Babenberg for the needs of the local naval arsenal.

Renamed the Oliva, the ship was seriously rebuilt, turning it into a wreck.

The old ship successfully survived another world war, this time becoming the Yugoslav Ulyanik.

As a result, in 1964 it was handed over to the Technical Museum of Zagreb, and it was scrapped only in the 1980s, after an examination that showed that the technical condition of the vessel was emergency, beyond repair and restoration.

Austrian flotilla during World War I

The first years of the twentieth century became a period of intensive construction of battleships in the leading maritime powers.

The austerity policy in the fleet has already borne fruit.

Even an amateur, comparing the characteristics of the latest battleships of the Monarch and Habsburg types with similar foreign ships, could not help but note the frank weakness of the former.

This was especially clearly seen against the background of the Italian fleet. If the battleships of the "Saint Bon" type outperformed the Austrians extremely slightly, then when they met with the latest Italian battleships of the "Regina Margherita" type, the Austrians no longer had any chances: they simply could not win or run away.

As a result, the chief designer of the Austrian fleet, Popper, got to design a ship capable of withstanding the Italian counterpart.

Realizing that the country could not yet afford the same large ship, the bet was made on an extremely strong medium artillery, consisting of twelve 190-mm guns (against four 203-mm from the Regina Margherita).

A similar composition of medium artillery did not become an Austrian innovation; rather, it was a global trend.

If at the end of the nineteenth century. The “standard” battleship carried four 305-mm and ten to twelve 152-mm guns, then the British King Edward VII, which appeared at the turn of the century, carried four 234-mm guns, while maintaining a battery of ten 152-mm guns.

Similar ships were built by France, Russia and Japan.

Photo 8. "Archduke Ferdinand Max" at sea

And neighboring Italy went even further: on the latest battleships of the Regina Elena type, although the number of main battery guns was reduced to two, the intermediate battery included no less than twelve 203-mm guns in six twin-gun turrets.

Therefore, on the designed Austrian battleships, the 240-mm caliber was still left as the main one, increasing, as already mentioned, the intermediate one to 190-mm (four in the towers and eight in the casemates).

The financing of these battleships was again managed to break through only after long discussions in both parliaments - the Austrian in Vienna and the Hungarian-Croatian in Budapest.

Despite protests from some parliamentarians, the 120-million budget for new battleships was nevertheless approved.

Although a year later, faced with the problem of a radical reduction in the expenditure side of the budget, both parliaments again cut the fleet, which, by the way, was the reason for the removal of Admiral Spaun.

Three ships of the "Archduke Karl" type were also built in Trieste by STT.

Their construction took place between 1902 and 1907, and they entered service already hopelessly outdated, since all the world's naval leaders had already joined the dreadnought arms race.

In the literature, these ships are also referred to as the type "Archduke" due to the fact that they all received names in honor of the most prominent archdukes of the Habsburg dynasty.

Archduke Karl, brother of Emperor Franz I, served as Minister of the Navy since 1801, but he went down in history as a field marshal of the Austrian army, the winner of Napoleon at Aspern.

His son, Archduke Frederick, commanded the frigate Guerrier during the campaign against the rebellious viceroy of Egypt, Mehmed Ali.

Under the overall command of the British admiral Stopford, he, among other things, participated in the capture of the Lebanese fortress of Sayda.

3and his Friedrich received the rank of vice-admiral, but on October 6, 1847, he died suddenly in Venice. At this point, the vice admiral was only 26 years old!

Finally, Archduke Ferdinand Max, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph, also vice-admiral and commander-in-chief of the Austrian fleet, in 1864 accepted the offer to take the Mexican throne.

But after being defeated in the ensuing civil war, he was executed by the soldiers of Mexican President Juarez in Querétaro on May 15, 1867.

At the time of construction, the Archdukes, with their 10,600 tons of displacement, became the largest Austrian battleships.

The increased power of the machines required a corresponding increase in the number of boilers, due to which the number of pipes increased to three.

The length of the underwater ram was further reduced to improve seaworthiness and increase speed.

According to the fashion of that time, the masts were equipped with combat tops with the placement of quick-firing guns on them.

At the end of the World War, these sites turned out to be the most suitable for placing the latest rangefinders there.

In the front part there were two anchors and one more reserve, in the stern there were two more anchors of smaller sizes.

The steam generated in twelve water-tube boilers of the Yarrow system was supplied to two vertical four-cylinder triple-expansion machines with a design capacity of 18,000 hp. With.

According to the project, the ships were supposed to reach a speed of 19.5 knots, but, like on the Habsburg, this bar turned out to be easily overcome during sea trials.

"Archduke Karl" and "Archduke Ferdinand Max", although they did not reach their design capacity, developing only 17,962 hp. sec., however, accelerated to a speed of 20.36 knots.

Only the "Archduke Friedrich" exceeded the contractual figures, giving out 18,130 hp. With. and a speed of 20.57 knots.

The battleships were driven by two propellers and had a semi-balanced steering wheel.

Regular pits could take up to 550 tons of coal, bringing this figure to 1,315 tons when taken into overload. And Ferdinand Max, in addition, also took 35 tons of fuel oil to intensify combustion in the boilers.

The autonomy of the ships at a 10-knot speed was up to 4,000 miles.

The main 210 mm armor belt extended from the front to the rear turret, beyond which it was only 50 mm thick.

Above it was a second belt 150 mm thick and 170 mm casemates.

In the bow and stern, the main belt ended with a 200 mm transverse bulkhead.

The armor deck was from 40 to 55 mm and had a maximum thickness above the powder magazines, engine and boiler rooms.

The main caliber turrets were 240 mm thick, the commander's turrets were 220 mm thick, and the medium caliber turrets were 150 mm thick.

Although the naval handbooks indicated that all the armor of the battleships was Krupp, this is not entirely true.

In fact, it was already the next generation of armor - cemented and alloyed with nickel.

To increase survivability, the Archduke had a double bottom in the middle part of the hull, approximately for 73 m.

In addition, the entire hull was subdivided by 14 watertight bulkheads into 15 compartments.

As on the Babenberg, the main caliber was a 240-mm gun manufactured by the Skoda company, model 1901.

But, unlike him, the guns were located in two twin-gun turrets.

The medium caliber was also produced by Skoda and was a 190-mm gun with a barrel length of 42 calibers.

Photo 9. At the main caliber "Archduke Ferdinand Max"

Four of the guns, located in the towers, were high enough above the water to be all-weather, but the eight others, located in the casemates, could take part in the battle only when the sea was calm.

For the first time in the Austrian Navy, all guns were electrically powered.

The anti-mine artillery also consisted of Skoda guns: twelve 66-mm 45-caliber and six 47-mm (four 44-caliber and two 33-caliber) guns, which complemented four 37-mm Vickers guns and two 8-mm machine guns Schwarupose.

During the war, it was necessary to create anti-aircraft weapons on ships, and two 66-mm guns were replaced by the same number of 7-mm anti-aircraft guns of the 1909 model.

Directly under the front barbette were 450-mm torpedo tubes, one from each side.

The crew of battleships ranged from 700 to 740 people, including officers, during the war the number increased to 748 people.

The Erzherzog-class ironclads began the campaign in 1908 with a long-distance voyage, cruising the Mediterranean, visiting Malta, Barcelona, ​​Gibraltar, Tangier and Corfu.

And the next year they were put on full alert in connection with the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For the first time in Austrian history, her high seas fleet consisted of six homogeneous new ironclads.

Practical voyages revealed a number of defects that could only be eliminated in the shipyard.

Therefore, in 1909, when political tension subsided, the whole trinity went for revision.

They were equipped with new rangefinders, personally for 190-mm guns, since it was not always possible to correct their firing at rangefinders for the main caliber.

The ventilation system has also been substantially rebuilt. Training swimming in the autumn of 1909 showed the effectiveness of the work carried out.

The following year, the ships again undertook long-distance voyages, visiting a number of Greek and Turkish ports.

In 1912, due to the outbreak Balkan War The Archdukes were once again put on high alert.

This time, the core of the Austrian fleet included, in addition to them, a couple of the latest battleships of the Radetzky type.

At the end of the war, all the "Archdukes" went to the reserve. At the beginning of the First World War, the Third Division of the Second Squadron was formed from the battleships of the "Archduke" type.

But their first and last combat use was the shelling of Ancona on May 24, 1915. But for the most part, the battleships were anchored in the Field.

In February 1918, the division of the "Archdukes" in full force was sent to the Bay of Qatar to help suppress the uprising of the sailors.

Although they returned to Pola at the end, they were soon attached as a support division for the cruiser detachment, replacing even older ironclads and armored cruisers in this role.

In June 1918, the division in full force was supposed to launch an attack on the Otranto barrage, along with the light forces of the fleet and dreadnoughts, but after the sinking of the Sent Istvan dreadnought, the operation was curtailed.

At the end of the war, like other ships in Cattaro, the Archdukes raised the Croatian flag until the French occupied the bay.

In accordance with the post-war division of the Austrian fleet, "Archduke Ferdinand Max" went to Great Britain, and the rest - to France.

As with the Habsburgs, the British abandoned such a very dubious acquisition and also sold it for scrap to Italy.

The French did the same with their "Archduke Friedrich".

As for the Archduke Charles, it was supposed to be towed to Toulon. But during this voyage, the caravan made a stop in Bizerte, where the old battleship anchored in the bay of Sidi Abdalah.

Here, during a storm in 1920, the Archduke Karl sank in shallow water. It was deemed inexpedient to raise it, and the ship was dismantled on the spot in 1921.

warships of the world

Edition of the almanac “Ships and Battles”

St. Petersburg 1997

warships of the world

On pages 1-4 of the cover there are photographs of light cruisers: “Munich” (1st page), “Bremen” 1906 (2nd page), “Magdeburg” (3rd page) and “Hamburg” (4- i p).

Scientific - popular publication

Those. editor S. N. Rednikov

Lit. editor E. V. Vladimirova

Proofreader S. V. Subbotina

Development of German light cruisers of the First World War period

At the end of the 19th century, Germany challenged England, which had been the strongest maritime power for two hundred years. To counter the British fleet, a powerful battle fleet was needed. But the battle fleet without reconnaissance is blind, and therefore the need arose for high-speed reconnaissance cruisers. In addition, Germany had already managed to acquire remote colonies, and cruisers were also needed to serve in them. But Germany did not have suitable ships for these purposes. There were either giant armored cruisers of the Hertha type, or weakly armed and poorly protected avisos.

Thus, a new difficult task arose before the creators of the German fleet. Unlike Britain, where two types of cruisers developed in parallel

- cruisers for servicing the squadron

- Scouts and cruisers for service in the colonies in Germany decided to follow the path of creating a universal cruiser. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, it turned out to be economically profitable to focus efforts on the development of cruisers of one type, and secondly, German officers and designers were well aware of the shortcomings of reconnaissance cruisers.

Light cruiser "Kenigsberg"

The ancestor of the Scouts was considered the Russian cruiser Novik, which was built in Germany. German experts considered this ship to be weak in combat, which was not compensated even by high speed. The first series of German universal cruisers were the Gazelle-class cruisers. They were followed by several more constantly improving series. Very soon, water-tube boilers and turbines appeared on cruisers. The improvement of turbines, the reduction in steam and fuel consumption made it possible to achieve a long cruising range and high speed, which increased over the period 1908-1912. from 25 to 28 knots.

Another major technical improvement that was introduced on these ships is the transition to liquid fuel. Initially, oil was used as an additional fuel for coal-fired boilers, as well as for the operation of auxiliary boilers. Thanks to the use of liquid fuels, huge savings in weight and, as a result, an increase in interior space have been achieved.

The armoring of ships also gradually improved. On cruisers of the "Magdeburg" type, an onboard belt appeared for the first time. True, in this respect the German cruisers were inferior to the British, but at the same time they had better horizontal protection.

By the beginning of the First World War, the German cruisers had the only weakness- artillery caliber, which was 105 mm, while British cruisers were armed with 152 mm guns. The German admirals hoped that the smaller caliber could be compensated by better combat training of personnel, due to which it would be possible to achieve more hits and higher rate of fire. The experience of the war showed that these calculations were not justified.

For example, "Emden" in the battle near the Cocos Islands was the first to hit, but the multiple superiority of the cruiser "Sydney" in artillery did its job (side salvo "Sydney" - 295 kg, and "Emden" - 72 kg). The British retained an advantage in artillery on the newer cruisers as well. Thus, the weight of the Bristol volley, built in 1910, was 161 kg, and the Karlsruhe, built in 1912, was only 95 kg.

After the first battles in Germany, they immediately developed a program for re-equipping cruisers with 150-mm guns. During the war, part of the obsolete German cruisers were withdrawn from the fleet, and by 1917, Admiral R. Scheer noted with satisfaction: "Both reconnaissance groups of light cruisers now consisted of approximately equivalent high-speed and modern ships." But it was already too late. Well-armed light cruisers did not have time to do anything remarkable.

After the war, the famous German specialist Professor Evers assessed the experience of using German light cruisers in combat as follows: “Obsolete ships of this type, armored only in the underwater part, turned out to be little protected even from medium and small artillery shells. In many cases, the surface part of the ship turned out to be completely destroyed by the explosion of shells, shrapnel impacts. Fires partially disabled the guns, making it impossible to maintain them. Often, the fire destroyed the shells lying ready for firing near the guns. The underwater part of the ships, on the contrary, thanks to the armor, was well protected from shells.

Thus, the light cruiser Leipzig, during a five-hour battle near the Falkland Islands, received, in addition to countless hits from 102-mm guns, at least 40 hits from 152-mm guns from the armored cruisers Cornwell and Kent. The shells caused heavy destruction and fires in the surface of the ship, but probably penetrated the armored deck only once. While the heavily armored (100 mm) conning towers proved to be quite reliable, the armored shields of the guns could not protect the servants from heavy losses, mainly due to the action of shrapnel. The newer cruisers, whose waterline and surface were covered with 50-75 mm armor, showed greater endurance, withstanding heavy fire from medium-caliber guns at close range, as was the case during the night phase of the Battle of Jutland.