Battleship Gangut: description, history, commanders and interesting facts

The battleship Gangut together with three ships of this series was laid down on 16.06.1909 at the Admiralty Plant. This was the beginning of the revival of the Russian fleet. The launch was carried out on September 24, 1911, and its development lasted 2 years. In 1913 he passed tests, acceptance and in December 1914 he joined the 1st brigade of the Baltic Fleet's battleships.

Prerequisites for the construction of new ships

The prerequisites for the construction of four battleships for the Baltic, including the battleship Gangut, was the complete defeat of the Russian Empire in the Russian-Japanese war of 1905. Tsushima's tragedy confronted Nicholas II and the government of the Russian Empire with two major tasks that needed to be addressed urgently:

• The total backwardness of the Russian fleet in comparison with other capitalist states.
• Absolute discrepancy of the management system with the needs and tasks of training the personnel that were necessary to solve the problem of building and forming the fleet.

The point is that at the head of the naval forces of the Russian Empire there were not experienced admirals, who were familiar with the vital needs of the fleet, not experienced by the fleet, not experienced strategists and tactics, but the general-admiral whom the emperor appointed from the members of the imperial family. The assistant to the general-admiral was the manager of the naval department.

All the most important decisions and orders for the fleet were given personally by the emperor, who understood little in military matters, especially in the naval. The huge state had no military doctrine that would have included the development of shipbuilding programs and technical assignments for the construction of ships and the equipping of the fleet.

It came to the point that Russia did not have ships not only to go to sea - there was practically nothing to defend the borders.

Shipbuilding programs

Two small programs were developed, according to which in a short time, it was planned to build new ships for the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. For the Baltic, it was necessary to design 4 ships, including the battleship Gangut, 3 submarines and a shipping base for their servicing.

The Black Sea Fleet was to build 14 destroyers and 3 submarines. Turkey, seeing the situation on the Black Sea, decides to urgently buy the 3 newest battleships in England and Brazil. Therefore, changes are made and it is planned to build urgently three similar vessels of the "Empress Maria" type, 9 destroyers and 6 "Bars" submarines.

To the world war of 1914, none of the programs were carried out, moreover, not one ship was launched.

A series of ships, including the battleship Gangut

All four dreadnoughts for the Baltic fleet of the Gangut series were laid in one day, June 16, 1909, at the Admiralty Plant. Their construction was conducted under the guidance of experienced Russian engineers. The main suppliers were Russian enterprises. Armor was from Izhora, artillery - from Obukhovsky, artillery towers - from Putilov and Metal factories.

In September, they were launched into water, but the completion and completion of the battleships dragged on. Reasons: Russian factories had to learn new technologies, with which they coped with difficulty; Foreign firms, where orders for equipment for ships were placed, deliberately tore off and delayed deliveries. The result is lamentable. Ships with underdevelopments were commissioned in December 1914 and almost all the war stood in the roadstead without making a single shot.

Description of the ships

Projects battleships, in fact, were advanced for the beginning of the twentieth century, but there was not enough time or money to bring them to mind. The tests were not conducted before the delivery of the ships, which would allow to correct the errors. They were conducted by the sailors themselves, when it was impossible to fix anything. The results were depressing to such an extent that they were immediately classified, and the ships stayed on the roads throughout the war.

For these dreadnoughts there was a simple silhouette: the upper deck had a straight line, in one level there were four towers of the Civil Code, two chutes and two pipes. The whole body is divided into transverse compartments by thirteen watertight bulkheads. Three armored decks. The towers of the main caliber are installed at the same distance relative to each other.

In the middle of the ship there was a boiler room and a machine installation. The team accommodations were located in the bow. In the stern - were officers' cabins, tillers, power station, radio room.

The main features of the battleship Gangut were the composition and location of artillery. Here, the contribution of the Obukhov plant, creating a new cannon of 52 caliber, and the efforts of the Metal Plant created a three-turret tower installation. Twelve 305 mm quick-firing guns, the firing range of which at an angular elevation of 25 degrees exceeded 23 km.

Tower systems had a weight of 773 tons and were equipped with ventilation and heating. Under the towers was a storage of ammunition. Dvuhrudidnye plutongi united 120-millimeter mine guns. The shooting of the main and anti-mine caliber was controlled by the Geisler system and 2 optical range finders.

Advantages and disadvantages

The main advantage of the battleship "Gangut" was undoubtedly artillery, which in many ways surpassed foreign counterparts. Here the undeniable merit of the developers and direct executors, two Russian factories - Obukhovsky and Metallic.

The rest was confirmed by a simple truth - the inability to combine the incompatible without sacrificing anything. It's about combining powerful weapons, impenetrable armor, high speed, long range of navigation. It all turned out to be impossible for this time. It was necessary to sacrifice something in order to get closer to the desired result. This was done at the expense of the armor and the living conditions of the team members. Worse lived only Japanese sailors.

Another significant drawback was the very low seaworthiness. It was impossible to take enough fuel to the ship because of a catastrophic overload. This was confirmed by the oceanic expedition of 1929.

Fighting

Nevertheless, the battleship "Gangut" participated in the fighting of the First World War. In November 1915, cruisers of the 1st Brigade, under the cover of the battleship "Petropavlovsk" and "Gangut" in the area of the island of Gotland, were more than 550 minutes.

In 1918, the transfer of the battleship from Helsingfors to Kronstadt was made. After the reconstruction in 1925, it is renamed the "October Revolution". He takes part in the Soviet-Finnish war. In the Great Patriotic War Leningrad defends. This is a battle ship, which, despite the shortcomings, thanks to Russian and Soviet sailors and officers, went through a glorious battle path.

During 47 years of service, the fleet of Russia, and then the Soviet Union, was replaced by many commanders of the battleship Gangut. Most of them are glorious officers, brought up in the traditions of the Russian fleet. For service, in 1944, the battleship was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

The battleship "Gangut" (1890): the history of creation

Linear ship "Gangut" is not the only ship in the Russian fleet with this name. There were four in all. Calling ships with this glorious name became a tradition. Each ship has its own destiny and purpose, but they are linked together by a common name and belonging to the glorious Russian fleet. The name of the ships is given in honor of Cape Gangut, located near the peninsula of Hanko, Finland, where the first victory of the Russian fleet over the Swedish flew.

The battleship Gangut (1890) was the third vessel of this name. It was built within the framework of the 20-year shipbuilding program. As experts note, the design of the battleship was not very good, and the quality of construction was frankly bad, which led to the death of the ship in the future. Its main drawback is a large overload, which, incidentally, was not only a disaster for Russian shipbuilding. This problem was also faced by other countries.

The battleship of the Russian Imperial Fleet "Gangut" was laid in St. Petersburg at the Admiralty Shipyard in 1888. Two years later his descent to the water took place. The construction was completed in 1894. During the work, an overload of 600 tons was allowed, which led to an increase in draft and a decrease in speed.

The death of the battleship "Gangut"

With this ship there was an almost mystical story that led to his death. In the autumn of 1896, the battleship rammed the bottom of the ship about the rocky ground, which almost led to his death. He made his way to Kronstadt, where he was put in a dock for repairs, which was under the supervision of the legendary Admiral Makarov SO. In June 1897, he took part in tactical exercises, returning from which, he encounters an undersea rock not marked on the maps.

Six hours the crew fought heroically for the life of the ship. But all is ineffectual. To save the ship failed because of a breach of the tightness of the partitions, which was allowed during the construction. He went to the bottom and is still at the depth of the Vyborg Gulf. No one died from the crew. The captain of the ship is Tikhotsky K.М. Personally checked every available corner of the sinking ship and only after he was convinced that everyone was saved, left him.

Publishing house "Gangut". A series of monographs "Midel frame"

Ships, like people, have their own destiny. Some people have a long life, full of victories and glory. The second - hard workers, conscientiously doing their job. Still others are those who have a short but bright life. For those who are interested in the history of the fleet, ships, their fate and features, the publishing house "Gangut" publishes a series of monographs called "Midley Frame", each issue of which is dedicated to one or a series of ships with the attachment of drawings for modeling. Including prepared by the publishing house "Gangut" - "Midel shpangout", "Battleship" Empress Maria "- drawings."

The linear cruiser "Gangut", unlike the battleship "Empress Maria", is a veteran veteran who passed two world wars. About his interesting life, about the people who brought glory to the ship, in the publishing house "Gangut", in a series of monographs "Midley frame" there is a number dedicated to the battleship "Gangut". Drawings will help specialists to execute the model on their own and to read interesting information about the ship and the lives of people for whom the ship was a house and a place of service. Create a ship yourself - what could be more interesting? The model of the battleship Gangut is presented in scale 1: 350.

Conclusion

The history of the Russian fleet is full of interesting facts. It would seem, the death of the battleship "Gangut" - well, what could be interesting? Not a hero, like the Varangian, did not perish, fighting with the enemy. But this is not so. This is a sad fact and, no matter how cynical it may sound, lessons have been learned from this, the requirements to the unsinkability of ships have been strengthened. At the suggestion of Admiral Makarov SO, the watertightness of the bulkheads was tested now in a new way, which saved the lives of many sailors during the wreck. A feat of Captain 1 rank Tikhotsky KM. And his team, who 6 hours, including at night with candles, did everything to save the ship, worthy of veneration.