The modern fleet knows many examples of how ships built ten or two years ago still remain quite relevant. For example, the famous American battleship "Iowa" refers to such. What is this type of vessel famous for? Until now, many historians and gunsmiths believe that these battleships were the perfect combination of armor, weapons and maneuverability. Designers actually managed to create ships with excellent cruising range, speed and security.
Development start
The beginning of work on ships dates back to 1938. The creators were immediately given the task - to create a fast and well-armed battleship that could follow the aircraft carriers and repel attacks directed at them. The main problem was the achievement of a speed of 30 knots. At the same time, the first problems with Japan began, so it was necessary to hurry: many understood that the descendants of the samurai would not fail to attack the US fleet.
Without further ado, they decided to use ships of the South Dakota type as the basis. As a result, the battleship "Iowa" received a displacement of 45 thousand tons, and the main artillery caliber became 406 mm guns. I must say that almost 70 meters were added to the length of the hull, but the width of the hull had to be left practically unchanged, as the Panama Canal dictated its own standards.
"Sea batons"
Designers also used the original technical solution: a new layout of the power plant. As a result, it was possible to tighten the nose much, providing excellent driving performance of the vessels. Because of this, the battleship "Iowa" was nicknamed the "baton." Of course, due to the increase in the length of the hull, the weight of its armor increased, but its characteristics remained exactly the same as on the South Dakota ships. So, the main armored belt had the same thickness of 310 mm.
In total, four ships of this class were built:
There were also designs for the Illinois and Kentucky ships, but they were never built. This happened for a banal reason - the war ended, and spending $ 100 million to build each ship in the light of this event was stupid. By the way, the bow of the Illinois was used to repair Wisconsin.
Where can I see the battleship "Iowa"? Model 1: 200, which can be bought on almost any ship-making resource, will give you this opportunity. In addition, in specialized publications there are a huge number of ship images. Of course, their photo is in our article.
General specifications
What characteristics did the battleship “Iowa” have? TTX were as follows:
Displacement was 57,450 tons.
The total length is 270.5 meters.
The width of the ship is 33 meters.
Draft - 11 meters.
They were driven by four diesel engines, each with a capacity of 212,000 horsepower.
The maximum speed is 33 knots, which roughly corresponds to 61 km / h.
Cruising range - at least 15 thousand nautical miles.
The armament was also very impressive:
Four installations "Volcano".
Four Harpoon anti-ship missile systems (after modernization).
Three 406-mm artillery mounts (three barrels each).
Six 125 mm installations (two barrels each).
In addition, battleships of the Iowa type after modernization received an additional 32 Tomahawks, which made them even more dangerous rivals.
New artillery systems
The length of the guns was left the same, in 50 calibers, increasing the barrel to 406 mm. New guns received the designation Mk-7. They far exceeded the 45-caliber Mk-6, which were installed on vessels of the type "South Dakota". Among other things, the weight of artillery systems was reduced, many technical solutions of the last century were replaced by modern ones. In general, the battleship "Iowa", the drawings of which are also in the article, for its time was really an advanced ship.
Increase in size
In general, this model of armament has a rather interesting history. So, 20 years before that, a lot of 406 mm artillery systems were produced, but subsequently their use was limited by law. Then this restriction was abandoned, which made it possible to solve two problems at once. Firstly, the battleship "Iowa" acquired a truly worthy weapon. Secondly, there appeared a “legitimate” justification for the increased displacement, due to which it was possible to “squeeze” many other technical innovations into the ship.
However, it soon became clear that it would be necessary to increase the displacement by another 2000 tons, which no longer fit into the framework of the technical task. A solution was found quickly - the guns were facilitated by using other alloys for production and abandoning some structural elements. In the same period, Americans began to widely use the method of barrel chrome plating, and the spraying thickness was 0.013 mm. The life of the gun was approximately 300 rounds.
Shutter - piston type, when fired, he reclined down. After firing, the barrel was forcibly blown with air under pressure. Without the shutter, the gun weighed 108 tons, with it the mass reached 121 tons.
Used shells
For shooting, monstrous shots were used, the powder charge of which alone weighed nearly three centners. He could launch a shell weighing 1225 kilograms over a distance of almost forty kilometers. The range of ammunition included both armor-piercing and high-explosive fragmentation varieties. But not only these shells were in the arsenal of the ship "Iowa". The battleship was armed with MK-5 shots, the weight of which was 1116 kilograms. Closer to 1940, the US Navy also received the MK-8 shell, which (like the old varieties) also weighed 1225 kilograms.
In general, shots of this weight and caliber became the basis of the firepower of American ships, starting with the North Carolina. It may seem unbelievable, but only 1.5% of the weight was directly the explosive charge. However, this was still enough to break through the armor of enemy ships. So, in the events in the Pacific Ocean during the war with the Japanese, it was Iowa that distinguished itself. The battleship, the photo of which is in the article, has repeatedly participated in clearing the waters from enemy ships.
Nuclear era
At the beginning of the 50s, the Mk-23 projectile came into service, which was equipped with a nuclear charge, the power of which was 1 kt. He weighed “only” 862 kilograms, had a length of just over one and a half meters, and in appearance was almost indistinguishable from the MK-13. According to the official version, special shells were in service with the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1961, but in reality they were kept in coastal arsenals all the time.
In the early 1980s, it turned out that battleships of the Iowa type possess rather mediocre results in firing range and that these characteristics would not hurt to seriously improve. To cope with this task, American engineers began developing a special projectile for 406-mm guns. Weighing only 654 kilograms, he had to fly at least 66 kilometers. But this development has not left the testing stage.
The rate of fire of the guns was two rounds per minute, and each barrel could conduct independent fire. One tower with 406 mm guns weighed about three thousand tons. For the shooting answered calculation of 94 people (for each gun). By the way, how many people were on board the Iowa? The battleship, whose photo is repeatedly found in the article, demanded 2800 sailors to fill all the vacancies.
Aiming systems, gun turrets
Horizontally, the tower could be induced at 300 degrees, vertically - from +45 and -5 degrees. The shells were stored in two tiers, vertically, while inside the gun mount barbette. Between the store and the turret of the tower there were two more platforms that could rotate independently of the tower itself. It was they who received shells from stores, after which they were delivered to the guns. Three lifts were responsible for this at once, the power of each of which was 75 horsepower.
Ammunition storage
Ammunition was stored on two tiers in the lower compartments. The supply to the towers was also carried out by an electric motor, but in this case its power was 100 hp. As in the case of the Dakotas, the ship’s design did not contain reloading compartments that could save the crew in the explosion of the ammunition.
Americans to solve this problem have provided a fairly sophisticated system of sealed doors. Experts often note that such a decision sharply increased the risk of death for the crew of the ship, but in practice the reliability of the battleship was confirmed. What catastrophe did the battleship Iowa survive? Explosion. It happened in 1989. Then the second gun turret of the 406 mm gun exploded, and as a result, 47 people died immediately, and the installation caught fire. Until now, the causes of the incident have not been precisely established.
Causes of PE
It is believed that one of the sailors made the explosion, but his motives are not clear. Another version is that one of the shells exploded due to some kind of manufacturing defect. In general, this whole story looks very bad: literally the next day the tower was completely cleaned, painted, and the debris was thrown into the sea.
Anyway, the sealed doors fulfilled their function: the ship remained afloat, there were no serious damages. And the fact that 47 sailors died with their total number of 2800, also indicates the reliability of the system. The second tower after this incident was sealed and was no longer used. In addition, because of this, the Iowa class battleship was unable to take part in the Nicaraguan events.
Combat use
All ships of this series participated in World War II, with the surrender of Japan signed on board one of them, the USS Missouri. In 1943, Iowa itself took part in tracking down the German Tirpitz, and in November of that year, President Roosevelt was brought to Tehran on board. But real clashes with the enemy began only in 1944, when the ship participated in the liquidation of the Japanese group on the Marshall Islands.
There is a known case when the battleship single-handedly sank a similar Japanese “Katori” class, and also actively participated in the attack on the Philippine Islands. The high driving performance of the ship was confirmed by the December storm of 1944, when the battleship not only passed the test with honor, but also did not receive any serious damage. After that, battleships of the Iowa type fired at Japanese territory in 1945. Soon after the atomic bombing of the country, Iowa and Missouri received the Japanese delegation.
Post-war state of affairs
Despite the fact that the crews were very fond of these ships for their maneuverability and excellent armament, high driving performance and survivability, their maintenance cost too much for the US military budget . And therefore, in the same 1945, the vessels were put on conservation, since the need for them actually disappeared.
But the battleship "Iowa", the characteristics of which were very impressive at that time, did not stay long in reserve: already at the beginning of the Korean incident they were again brought to the "front line", then there was Vietnam. By the way, the Vietnamese events showed that one such cruiser in some cases is able to replace at least 50 bomber aircraft due to the high density of fire over the areas. Since a large part of the hostilities took place on coastal bridgeheads, the Americans saved a lot of aircraft.
After Vietnam, the battleships were once again “canned”, but again sent to the forefront in the 70s, during the Cold War. Reagan wanted to show the USSR that America is a strong and powerful country, and several well-armed ships for this purpose were perfectly suited.
But everyone understood that this was simply stupid: the coastal missile systems that existed at that time could turn any ship into scrap metal long before it could use its weapons.
Ship modernization
As we have already mentioned, by 1980, the circumstance of the moral and technical obsolescence of ships became apparent. Something had to be done. At one time, fantastic ideas of transforming ships ... into aircraft carriers were floating in the air. The absurdity of the proposal was emphasized by the shape of the ships, the same “club”. It would be necessary to spend such money on perestroika that the commissioning of a new aircraft carrier would be slightly cheaper.
How was the Iowa class battleship converted? The Senate-approved modernization model included the installation of Tomahawk missiles, which dramatically increased the combat effectiveness of ships. In addition, Harpoon missile systems were mounted, and overhaul of engines and other equipment of ships was carried out .