Warships-German_Battleships_1897-1945.pdf

(11749 KB) Pobierz
77966761 UNPDF
77966761.002.png
fotofax
GERMAN
1897-1945
R. A. Burt
Front cover illustration:
The 'pocket battleship'
Deutschland in 1935; see plate
66.
Back cover illustrations:
Top: The battlecruiser Moltke
on trials; see plate 31.
Bottom: The battleship
Westfalen, 1909-10; see plate
21.
Warships
BATTLESHIPS
1. Kaiser Friedrich III. When
Kaiser Wilhelm II came to the
throne he brought with him the
desire for an adequate fleet
which would protect Germany's
coastline in the event of war.
Changes were made to existing
staff, and a naval cabinet was
formed in 1889. Proposals were
put forward to build eight
coastal defence battleships over
the next four years (Siegfried
class) followed by further
construction if necessary. Two
more vessels were added to the
1890 estimates (Worth class),
but when Rear-Admiral Tirpitz
was appointed Chief of Staff of
the Naval Command in 1892,
and then Secretary of State for
the Navy, he set about the
rebuilding of the German Fleet.
Five ships were laid down to
augment those just completed.
The Kaiser Friedrich III class
were perhaps the genesis of
modern German battleships.
77966761.003.png
R. A. Burt
ARMS AND
ARMOUR
77966761.004.png
• 2
2. Kaiser Friedrich III class at
sea, c. 1900. Their main
armament consisted of four
9.4in guns which, although
adequate for coastal defence,
could not match the more
powerful batteries of foreign
contemporaries. British
Intelligence thought that they
were very undergunned for their
displacement (10,700 tons), but
• 3
as the ships had been given a
powerful secondary battery of
fourteen 5.9in, all mounted in
protected positions, considered
them adequate for the purpose
for which they had been
constructed. With their high
freeboard forward, they were
dry, fair seaboats, but the high
and cumbersome superstructure
amidships gave them too much
topweight and they tended to
roll excessively.
completely vulnerable to even
medium-calibre gunfire from
any range. The bottom edge of
the belt reduced to 7in and was
approximately 3ft 6in below
water in the normal load, so
that when the ship rolled
slightly, or was in a lighter load
condition, the edge of the belt
was at waterline level. No upper
belt was fitted.
3. Kaiser Barbarossa.
Protection-wise, they were poor
even though the main belt was
12 inches thick. The belt was
extremely narrow over its entire
length and at deep, load was
completely submerged, leaving
the high freeboard hull
77966761.005.png 77966761.001.png

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin