The battleship "Gangut" together with 3 ships of this series was laid down on 1909-16-06 at the Admir alty Shipyard. This was the beginning of the revival of the Russian fleet. Launching was carried out on 1911-24-09, its fine-tuning lasted 2 years. In 1913, he passed tests, acceptance, and in December 1914 entered the 1st brigade of battleships of the B altic Fleet.
Prerequisites for building new ships
The prerequisites for the construction of 4 battleships for the B altic, including the battleship "Gangut", was the complete defeat of the Russian Empire in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. The tragedy of Tsushima posed two major tasks for Nicholas II and the government of the Russian Empire that needed to be urgently addressed:
- Complete backwardness of the Russian fleet compared to other capitalist states.
- The absolute inconsistency of the management system with the needs and tasks of training personnel that were necessary to solve the problem of construction and formationfleet.
The fact is that at the head of the naval forces of the Russian Empire were not experienced admirals who knew firsthand the urgent needs of the fleet, not experienced strategists and tactics, but an admiral general, whom the emperor appointed from members of the imperial family. The admiral's assistant was the director 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 affairs, especially in the sea. The huge state did not have a military doctrine that would contain the development of shipbuilding programs and technical specifications for building ships and equipping the fleet.
It got to the point that Russia had no 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 it was planned to build new ships for the B altic and Black Sea fleets in a short time. For the B altic, it was necessary to construct 4 ships, including the battleship "Gangut", 3 submarines and a floating base for their maintenance.
For the Black Sea Fleet, 14 destroyers and 3 submarines were to be built. Turkey, seeing the situation in the Black Sea, decides to urgently buy 3 newest battleships in England and Brazil. Therefore, changes are being made and it is planned to urgently build three similar ships of the Empress Maria type, 9 destroyers and 6 Bars-class submarines.
By the World War of 1914, none of the programs was completed,moreover, not a single ship was launched.
Series of ships, including battleship Gangut
All four dreadnoughts for the B altic Fleet of the Gangut series were laid down on the same day, 1909-16-06, at the Admir alty Shipyard. Their construction was carried out under the guidance of experienced Russian engineers. The main suppliers were Russian enterprises. Armor came from Izhora, artillery from Obukhov, artillery towers from Putilov and Metal Plants.
In September they were launched, but the refinement and completion of the battleships was delayed. Reasons: Russian factories had to master new technologies, which they coped with with difficulty; foreign firms, where orders for equipment for ships were placed, deliberately disrupted and delayed deliveries. The result is deplorable. Ships with imperfections were delivered in December 1914 and spent almost the entire war in the roadstead without firing a single shot.
Description of ships
Battleship projects, in fact, were advanced for the beginning of the twentieth century, but there was neither time nor money to bring them to mind. Tests were not carried out before the delivery of the ships, which would allow correcting errors. They were already carried out 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 stood in the roadstead throughout the war.
These dreadnoughts were characterized by a simple silhouette: the upper deck had a straight line, there werethere are four main towers, two cabins and two pipes. The entire hull is divided into transverse compartments by thirteen watertight bulkheads. Three armored decks. Towers of the main caliber are installed at the same distance relative to each other.
In the middle part of the ship there was a boiler room and an engine plant. The living quarters of the team are located in the bow. In the stern - there were officer cabins, tiller rooms, a power station, a radio room.
The main features of the battleship "Gangut" were the composition and deployment of artillery. Here, the Obukhov Plant made its contribution, creating a new 52-caliber gun, and through the efforts of the Metal Plant, a three-gun turret installation was created. Twelve 305 mm rapid-fire guns with a range of over 23 km at 25 degrees elevation.
Tower installations weighed 773 tons and were equipped with ventilation and heating. Under the towers was an ammunition depot. Two-gun plutongs combined 120 mm anti-mine guns. The firing of the main and anti-mine caliber was controlled using the Geisler system and 2 optical rangefinders.
Pros and cons
The main advantage of the battleship "Gangut", of course, was the artillery, which in many respects surpassed foreign counterparts. Here is the undeniable merit of the developers and direct executors, two Russian factories - Obukhov and Metallic.
Otherwise, the simple truth was confirmed - the impossibility of combining the incompatible, notsacrificing something. We are talking about a combination of powerful weapons, impenetrable armor, high speed, long cruising range. All of this turned out to be impossible at 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. Only Japanese sailors lived worse.
Another significant drawback was the very low seaworthiness. It was impossible to take enough fuel to the ship due to the catastrophic overload. This was confirmed by the oceanic campaign of 1929.
Fighting
Nevertheless, the battleship "Gangut" took part in the hostilities of the First World War. In November 1915, the cruisers of the 1st brigade, under the cover of the battleships "Petropavlovsk" and "Gangut" in the area of the island of Gotland, held out for more than 550 minutes.
In 1918, the battleship was transferred from Helsingfors to Kronstadt. After the reconstruction of 1925, it is renamed into the "October Revolution". Takes part in the Soviet-Finnish war. Protects Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. This is a warship, which, despite the imperfections, thanks to Russian and Soviet sailors and officers, has passed a glorious battle path.
For 47 years of service to the fleet of Russia, and then - the Soviet Union, many commanders of the battleship "Gangut" have changed. For the most part, these 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.
Battleship "Gangut" (1890): historycreation
The battleship "Gangut" is not the only ship in the Russian fleet with this name. There were 4 in total. Naming ships with this glorious name has become a tradition. Each ship has its own destiny and purpose, but they are tied together by a common name and belonging to the glorious fleet of Russia. The name of the ships was given in honor of Cape Gangut, located near the Hanko Peninsula, Finland, where the first victory of the Russian fleet over the Swedish one took place.
The battleship Gangut (1890) was the third ship of that name. It was built as part of a 20-year shipbuilding program. According to experts, the design of the battleship was not entirely good, and the quality of construction was frankly poor, which subsequently led to the death of the ship. Its main drawback is a large overload, which, however, was a disaster not only for Russian shipbuilding. Other countries have also experienced this problem.
The battleship of the Russian Imperial Fleet "Gangut" was laid down in St. Petersburg at the Admir alty shipyard in 1888. Two years later, he was launched. Construction 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"
An almost mystical story happened to this ship, which led to its death. In the autumn of 1896, the battleship rammed the bottom of the ship on a shallow stone, which almost led to his death. He reached Kronstadt on his own, where he was docked for repairs, which was under the supervision of the legendary Admiral Makarov S. O. In JuneIn 1897, he takes part in a tactical exercise, returning from which he comes across an underwater rock not marked on the maps.
For six hours the crew heroically fought for the life of the ship. But all to no avail. It was not possible to save the ship due to a violation of the tightness of the partitions, which was allowed during construction. He went to the bottom and is still at the depth of the Vyborg Bay. Not a single person from the crew died. Ship captain Tikhotsky K. M. personally checked every available corner of the sinking ship and only after he was convinced that everyone was saved did he leave it.
Publishing house "Gangut". A series of monographs "Middle frame"
Ships, like people, have their own destiny. For some, this is a long life, full of victories and glory. The second are hard workers who conscientiously do their job. The third 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 Gangut publishing house publishes a series of monographs called "Middle Frame", each issue of which is dedicated to one or a series of ships with drawings for modeling. Including the issue prepared by the publishing house "Gangut" - "Middle frame", "Battleship "Empress Maria" - drawings".
The battlecruiser Gangut, unlike the battleship Empress Maria, is a well-deserved veteran who has gone through two world wars. About his interesting life, about the people who brought fame to the ship, in the publishing house "Gangut", in a series of monographs "Midelframe" has a number dedicated to the battleship "Gangut". The drawings will help specialists to independently complete the model and read interesting information about the ship and the lives of people for whom the ship was a home and place of service. Create a ship with your own hands - what could be more interesting? Presented model of the battleship "Gangut" in scale 1: 350.
Conclusion
The history of the Russian fleet is full of interesting facts. It would seem that the death of the battleship "Gangut" - well, what could be interesting here? Not a hero, like the "Varangian", did not die fighting the enemy. But it's not. This is a sad fact and, no matter how cynical it may sound, lessons have been learned from this, the requirements for the unsinkability of ships have been strengthened. At the suggestion of Admiral S. O. Makarov, the watertightness of bulkheads was now tested in a new way, which saved the lives of many sailors during wrecks. And the feat of captain 1st rank Tikhotsky K. M. and his crew, who for 6 hours, including at night by candlelight, did everything to save the ship, is worthy of veneration.
