The battleship Nelson is the lead ship of a two-unit series built for the British Navy after the First World War. The ship received a unique layout - three towers of the main caliber were installed in front of the superstructure. It owes its name to the legendary Admiral Nelson. Battleship participated in the Second World War. He happened to serve in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Today we will get acquainted with the history of the creation and service of the British battleship Nelson, and also briefly consider its technical characteristics.
Prerequisites for the creation
The reason for the creation of the battleship Nelson, whose photo is familiar to all lovers of military ships, was the Washington Treaty. According to him, the UK received permission to build two ships with a displacement of up to 35,000 tons and a caliber of up to 406 millimeters.
When the First World War ended, the British actively set about developing new battleships and cruisers, using the experience gained in battles with the German fleet. So the design of the G-3 ship with a displacement of 48,000 tons and a caliber of main guns of 406 mm appeared. In 1921, the project to build four of these ships was approved by the Admiralty, but the Washington Treaty made it impossible to implement it. Then the story of the battleship "Nelson" began.
Design
The designers were given a difficult task - to reduce the displacement by almost a third, to preserve the power of the guns. To create a ship with a smaller caliber simply did not make sense, since the United States and America (the main opponents of Great Britain in the naval arms race) already had battleships with a large caliber and a decent thickness of armor. In addition, the experience of the Battle of Jutland showed that it is impossible to save on ship protection.
Design began in November 1921 under the leadership of Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eincourt. So that the displacement restrictions did not affect the power of weapons and armor, the designers had to make a number of compromises: reduce the length of the armored belts, reduce the power of the power plant, reduce the number of auxiliary artillery, and also conduct optimization associated primarily with the introduction of new materials and solutions to reduce weight the ship. Design speed was reduced to 23 knots.
To reduce the length of the armored belts, the designers had to take non-standard measures that gave the vessel its unique appearance. In January 1922, a preliminary design was ready, and by October 16, the Admiralty approved all the drawings and related documents.
Construction and testing
On November 11, 1922, according to the results of the tender, the order for the construction of two battleships of the Nelson type was received by the Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd shipyard, which offered the minimum cost of construction. On December 28, a new ship was laid in Newcastle. The battleship Nelson was launched on September 3, 1925, and the second ship of the series three months later. The total cost of building the ship was 7.5 million pounds.
In the spring of 1927, the battleship Nelson was tested, and in August of that year, it was accepted by the customer and replenished the composition of the Atlantic fleet of the British Navy in flagship status.
Case and armor
Compared to the design of the G-3 vessel, the length of the battleship Nelson, whose photo looks relatively modest, was reduced by 35 meters. The hull turned out to be wide, high and smooth-deck, which negatively affected its speed, but improved durability. A characteristic feature of this vessel was an octagonal tower-like superstructure. To reduce the weight of the vessel wherever possible, lightweight materials were used.
The battleship reservation scheme was inherited from the original model, except that some structural elements had to be made thinner in order to meet the restrictions on tonnage. The main armored belt 3.95 meters high was located inside the hull at a distance (0.7-1.6 m) from the skin at an angle of 18 °. The thickness of the armor belt varied depending on which sector it protects, and amounted to a maximum of 356 mm. For the battleship of its time, the ship had excellent armor protection and exceeded many competitors.
Powerplant and running parameters
The ship’s power plant consisted of two Brown-Curtis turbines with a total capacity of 45,000 horsepower and eight water tube boilers. The reduction in displacement adversely affected the maximum speed of the vessel, which amounted to only 23 knots. As for the battleship of the time, the Nelson was too slow. It was perfect for bombing and escorting convoys, but to meet the enemy in an artillery battle, he needed to first lose his turn.
All who served on the ship rated its seaworthiness as good. With maneuverability, things were somewhat worse - with a circulation radius of 613 m, the ship, due to its high sides, had impressive sailing. This feature made it difficult not only to maneuver the ship, but also to keep it at a constant course in strong winds.
Armament
As the main caliber were used 406-mm guns of the Mk-I model, which were three in each installed in three towers. The guns became a further development of the 343 mm guns used in 1910. Ammunition initially included only armor-piercing shells, and in the 1940s there also appeared high-explosive shells.
Auxiliary armament of the battleship was represented by 152 mm BL Mk XXI guns, which were installed in pairs in six installations. Additionally, 120 mm anti-aircraft guns could be used.
In addition, the ship received:
- Four 47-mm guns QF Mk I.
- Eight single 40mm Vickers Mk II guns.
- Five MG machine guns.
- Eighteen Lewis Machine Guns.
The ship also had two 622 mm underwater torpedo tubes, each of which had a dozen ammunition of the Mk-I type.
Having examined the history of the creation of the battleship Nelson and its main characteristics, we turn to the history of the service of this ship.
Pre-war time
Until 1940, when the battleship King George the Fifth entered service, Nelson was the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet (Metropolitan Fleet since 1932) and represented the power of the British Navy. The ship regularly went to the Mediterranean Sea, sometimes crossed the Atlantic and entered the Caribbean. And once, he even went through the Panama Canal into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. In 1936, when a civil war broke out in Spain, Nelson participated in the evacuation of refugees from Gibraltar. In August 1939, the ships of the Metropolitan Fleet were ordered to concentrate in the wartime base in Scapa Flow.
The beginning of World War II
During the first month of the war, the heavy vessels of the Navy of the Metropolis were used for the naval blockade of Germany. By October 1939, a sentinel line was organized from the auxiliary cruisers in the North Sea, the ships of which were supposed to be detected by German raiders. Soon the battleship Nelson relocated to the west coast of Scotland. This saved him from the prospect of becoming a victim of the German U-47 submarine that sank the Royal Oak battleship at Scapa Flow.
On December 3, at the entrance to the harbor of Loch Yu, the Nelson was blown up by a mine, which was installed at the end of October by a German submarine. As a result, 73 crew members were injured, and the ship itself bowed more than 10 meters. Until the arrival of the minesweepers, the ship remained in the same place. In the process of clearing the harbor, the British fleet lost a couple of small ships. Only on January 4 of the following year, the command was confident that all mines were neutralized. The ship "Nelson" went to Portsmouth, where it was under repair until the end of June.
For some time after the restoration, the battleship mainly stayed in ports, carrying out rare combat sorties and participating in exercises. In February 1941, he participated in unsuccessful attempts to intercept the German ships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. In early March, he helped in the landing of the English paratroopers on the Lofoten Islands. Then the ship was sent to the Atlantic to escort convoys. In March, the ship joined the WS.7 caravan, which sailed around Africa to the Middle East. Having reached South Africa in April, the ship was sent back.
In the mediterranean
In June 1941, Nelson joined Compound H, which operated in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. On July 13, Operation Substens began, the purpose of which was to conduct a convoy to besieged Malta. The battleship Nelson, along with a number of other ships, was part of an escort of transports. Despite several Italian attacks, the ships remained intact.
A few days later, Compound N carried out Operation Style, the mission of which was to deliver soldiers to Malta. The operation was successful again. September 23 battleship took part in the posting of another convoy to Malta. This operation was called "Halberd." This time, in addition to the Nelson, two more ships took part in the escort of the convoy. To mislead the enemy, the British imitated sending a ship to England. The Italians believed this and withdrew their fleet to intercept the convoy. On September 27, the convoy was subjected to a massive attack by torpedo bombers. One of the torpedoes hit the side near the place where the torpedoes of the battleship Nelson are. As a result, he sat down with his nose and left to cover the transports in place. The Italian fleet managed to escape from the big battle. Soon, the damaged battleship went to Gibraltar to fix it. After a temporary repair, the ship went to England, where until April 21, 1942 it underwent a major overhaul.
On August 2, Nelson left Scapa Flow to take part in Compound W to escort another large convoy bound for Malta. On August 12, the convoy began to attack densely from the air. All means were used to combat aviation, including main-caliber guns. The 70-meter water columns formed by the explosions of 406-mm shells made a huge impression on the Italian pilots and forced them to retreat. The battleship Nelson, the description of which we are considering, was not damaged during that battle.
In November 1942, Nelson was instructed to cover the landing of Anglo-American troops in North Africa. The next few months, he stood in Algeria, only occasionally going out to sea. May 25, 1943 the ship went for maintenance to England, and a month later returned to Gibraltar.
On July 10, Operation Husky was carried out - landing the Allies in Sicily, in which, in addition to Nelson, another five English battleships took part. The operation was absolutely calm, contrary to the expectations of the military leadership. "Nelson" went to Malta, where on July 20 he happened to take part in protecting the port from German air raids. From August 27 to August 31, as part of Operation Hamer, the battleship attacked enemy coastal batteries based on the coast of Calabria.
On September 29, 1943, an official truce was signed in the Admiral's cabin of the ship between Italy and the Allies. Since a strong linear fleet was no longer needed in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the battleship went to England.
Landing in France
In the spring of 1944, Nelson again underwent repairs and began to intensively prepare for Operation Neptune, which was a naval part of Operation Overlord, which implies the landing of the Allies in Normandy. On June 11, the ship entered into business at the Gold site. In seven days, he fired 20 shells at the coast and fired about a thousand main-caliber shells towards the enemy.
Returning to England, the ship was blown up by two acoustic mines. The nasal tip of the hull was seriously damaged, but the cars and artillery remained intact. Since there was no longer any place in British shipyards due to significant losses, the battleship went for repairs in the United States. On June 5, the 44th, he arrived in Philadelphia, where he stayed for repairs until January 14, the 45th.
End of war
On January 28, 1945, after another modernization, the ship was poisoned in the Indian Ocean. From July 24 to 26, it took part in the cover of minesweepers who cleared minefields near the island of Phuket. In early autumn, two more official surrenders took place aboard the Nelson: the Penang garrison (September 2), and the Japanese Armed Forces in Southeast Asia and Singapore (September 8). On November 16, the battleship arrived in the British Isles.
The final stage of the service
In England, the ship was used for some time as a training ship. On February 1, 1947, he set off on his last voyage, escorting the battleship Vanguard, on which the royal family sailed to South Africa. Upon returning the ship to its homeland, all valuable equipment was removed from it. Thus ended the history of the service of the battleship Nelson. The hull began to be used as a target for testing aviation weapons. In March 1949, the ship was towed to the Inverkating cutting shipyard. In 1950, it was cut into metal.