Production history of Russian aircraft carriers

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The aircraft carrier is one of the symbols of America. But, like many other things in America, this symbol has Russian roots. Moreover, the Americans themselves recognize our priority (which is rare for them), but we do not really know about our priorities and are not very proud of them.

In December 1913, the commander of the Baltic Sea Naval Forces, Admiral N. O. Essen instructed the Admiralty Plant to manufacture naval equipment for the cruiser Pallada, and P. A. Shishkov - to develop a project for a light cruiser, armed with four seaplanes and equipped with devices for their launch and reception on the ship. In addition, the General Naval Headquarters proposed to re-equip the Argun transport "for basing airplanes, which could even take off from its deck."

But the outbreak of the war made its own adjustments. Already in September 1914, on the Black Sea, the mobilized liners of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (ROPIT) "Emperor Alexander III" and "Emperor Nicholas I" began to be converted into "hydro-cruisers" armed with 6-8 aircraft. The need for such ships was acutely felt in the Baltic: six months of the war showed that the coastal "aviation stations" of the Baltic Sea communications service, whose aircraft carried out reconnaissance and patrolling the coast, were clearly insufficient.

On January 9, 1915, Admiral N. O. Essen received permission from the Ministry of the Sea "from the ships located in the ports of the Baltic Sea, to select the most convenient for re-equipment with the least expenditure of time and money." The choice fell on the cargo-passenger steamer "Empress Alexandra" of the Riga shipping company "Helmsing and Grimm". The steamer was built in England in 1903, before the war worked on the Windawa - London line, and on December 27, 1914, she was mobilized "under the temporary order of the Maritime Department on the basis of the Maritime Duty Act."

However, the visionary admiral N. O. Essen was not satisfied with the "temporary use" - the ship had to have a "purely military purpose, carry a military flag and be serviced by a military command", its re-equipment required high costs, and bringing the ship back to its original form, if returned to its owners after the war, would have caused " useless expenditure "of funds. In addition, a "special aircraft vessel" would not lose its significance in peacetime, being used for the education and training of sailors and pilots. BUT. Essen offered to buy the steamer into the full ownership of the naval department and enroll it in rank II in the category of auxiliary cruisers with the name "Eagle". The re-equipment was based on the development of P. A. Shishkova.

On January 15, 1915, the naval minister I. K. Grigorovich signed the corresponding order, distributing the work to the Admiralty, Putilov and Nevsky plants, as well as the Petrograd port. On April 20, "Orlitsa" was officially enlisted in the Baltic Fleet, and on May 15, her service began (although minor construction work continued until November, even during the period of the ship's participation in battles). To disguise the true purpose of the "Orlitsa" was listed as a training ship, and in the documents it was called "aircraft", "aircraft wagon", "air transport" and even … "aircraft barge"!

This is how the first "specially built" aircraft carrier appeared in the Russian navy. It had a displacement of 3800 tons, a length of 92 meters, developed a stroke of up to 12 knots and was armed with four 75-mm cannons and 2 machine guns. There was no reservation, but a special "bomb-catching net" was installed over the hangars, engine and boiler rooms. On the deck, two collapsible hangars for seaplanes were installed, storage facilities for aviation fuels and lubricants and bombs were equipped in the holds, and for repairing aircraft in the stern there were workshops - an engine, metalwork and assembly, woodworking and covering. The planes were raised and lowered into the water with mast booms powered by electric motors. The Eagles' regular air wing consisted of four F. B. A. seaplanes. French-made in hangars, and the fifth was stored disassembled in the hold.

Descent of the seaplane carrier "Almaz"

The summer of 1915 passed for the pilots of the "Orlitsa" in relatively calm reconnaissance and patrol flights, but in the second half of September of the same year the Germans began to widely use seaplane bombers, and the "Orlitsa" was able to demonstrate its capabilities …

September 25 captain of the 2nd rank B. P. Dudorov brought his ship to Cape Ragoce in the Gulf of Riga. There were powerful German fortifications and large-caliber coastal batteries. Russian troops hoped for help from the sea, but it also came from the air. For several days the seaplanes "Eagles" not only adjusted the fire of the ships, but they themselves did not miss the opportunity to bomb the German fortifications.

Through joint efforts, two coastal batteries - 152-mm and 305-mm - were “taken out of the game” for a long time. German aviation could not help their own: thanks to the pilots of the "Eagle", not a single attempt to attack the Russian squadron was crowned with success.

Moreover, at Cape Tserel, an enemy submarine of the UA type also got a minelayer, apparently trying to lay mines in the area of maneuvering of Russian ships.

Aviators observed close explosions of their bombs and believed that the boat had received hull damage from their water hammer. This was indirectly confirmed by the fact that the minesweepers who "combed" the UA detection area did not find mines - the submarine left without completing the combat mission.

On October 9, 1915, the "aircraft ship" took part in a daring landing operation in the Riga region. On the German-occupied Kurland coast, a few kilometers from Domesnes, 490 people were landed with three machine guns. The paratroopers, supported by fire from destroyers and bombs from seaplanes, caused a complete disorganization of the German rear, defeated

local "sonnderkommandu", destroyed the trenches and fortifications and successfully returned to the ships. The command noted that "the naval air group carried out excellent reconnaissance and provided air defense during the landing in the area of Domesnes."

At the end of May 1916, the "Eagle" was sent to Petrograd for re-equipment - now it was supposed to be based on M-9 flying boats designed by D. P. Grigorovich. At that time, the M-9 was one of the best seaplanes in the world with high speed, excellent maneuverability in the air and seaworthiness on the water. The simplicity of its control is evidenced by the fact that the naval pilot A. N. Prokofiev-Seversky with a prosthesis instead of a severed leg, and senior lieutenant A. E. Gruzinov in a nine with the engine turned off made a circle, tightly circling the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral, and sat on the water across the Neva. But, the main thing was that, in addition to the main machine gun, the M-9 seaplane had the ability to take 100 kg of bombs (very solid for those times) and even a third crew member with an additional light machine gun.

Equipped with these aircraft "Orlitsa" under the command of Captain 2nd Rank N. N. Romashova took part in the July battles of 1916, which became her "finest hour". And again it happened at Cape Ragoz. Again, Russian ships fired at the German fortifications, and the ship's pilots covered them. Then they did not yet know that a new invisible adversary had entered the game - the German aircraft "Glinder" - the Germans took into account last year's lesson.

On July 2, 1916, the Eagles' nines were almost continuously patrolling over their squadron - enemy raids followed one after another (probably, in addition to Glinder, the Germans also used aircraft from coastal hydro bases). Several fierce air battles took place, during which three Germans were shot down at the cost of losing one M-9.

In the period from 1913 to 1917, in just 5 years, Nicholas II commissioned 12 aircraft carriers equipped with M-5 and M-9 flying boats, also of domestic production.

Very dramatic events also took place on July 4th. In the morning, the crew of Lieutenant Petrov and Warrant Officer Savinov went to the German positions. Having reconnoitered the battery, the pilots dropped bombs and signal smokes on it, causing the battleship Slava and two destroyers to fire at the enemy. At about 9 am, returning to the Orlitsa, “at an altitude of 1500 m, Lieutenant Petrov and the observer, Midshipman Savinov, found a German apparatus. Having approached the enemy by 15 meters, Petrov went behind him and opened fire, damaging the radiator. " It took five minutes from the beginning of the battle to the fall of the German plane into the water. At this time, three other M-9s from the Eagle were fighting three German planes, as a result of which the second enemy plane was shot down, but fell in the enemy's position. " As for the seaplane shot down by Petrov, he skapoted during the fall and both enemy pilots were in the water. Two M-9s splashed down next to the downed vehicle, and, despite the fire of German 152-mm coastal guns, picked up the prisoners from the water. After the ships "covered" the battery, a destroyer approached the half-sunken aircraft, removed a machine gun and some instruments from it. Interrogation of the prisoners revealed that their seaplane was one of four German aircraft sent to destroy the Eagle. As a result, the Glinder air group itself was practically destroyed …

No less passions were in full swing in the Black Sea, where the "auxiliary hydro-cruisers" "Emperor Alexander III" and "Emperor Nicholas I" operated. Unlike Orlitsa, these ships were re-equipped to a minimum, with the expectation of returning to commercial lines after the war, but were larger and faster, carrying more aircraft and more powerful artillery.

The first major operation of "Nicholas I" was his actions on March 14-17, 1915 as part of a Russian squadron against Turkish fortifications on the Bosphorus. The seaplanes conducted a detailed reconnaissance of the targets, and one of them bombed a Turkish destroyer to no avail. In the future, the "emperors" showed themselves to be universal ships: their planes conducted reconnaissance, bombed enemy ships and coastal targets, provided anti-submarine defense of icon voyages, and adjusted ship artillery fire.

Over time, the Russian naval command became convinced that shelling from the sea was ineffective and decided to conduct a "purely air operation" against the Turkish port of Zonguldak. The planes were to strike at the structures of coal mines, a power station and a port, which were closed from the sea by mountains. On January 24, 1916, the Russian squadron appeared 25 miles from Zonguldak….

From the report of the commander of the 1st naval squadron ("Emperor Alexander III") Lieutenant R. F. Essen: “Out of the seven available devices, six participated in the raid … Only 10 pounds and 16 ten-pound bombs were dropped, which fell … into the pier in front of the bow of the steamer, aft among the fishing laibs, setting one of them on fire, … a large white building of the railway junction … During the raid on Zonguldak, the vehicles were subjected to brutal artillery fire, the shells exploded very close and several at a time, from which it can be assumed that they were firing from specially installed airplane cannons. One vehicle was towed due to damage in the engine."

What followed was categorized as “obvious-improbable”. The commander of the German submarine UB-7, Senior Lieutenant Luthiehann, later reported that he fired a torpedo at Alexander III, which “went well, but there was no explosion. In the periscope I watched as the seaplane rose into the air and flew in our direction. I was forced to abandon further attacks and leave, changing course and depth.."

Lieutenant R. F. Essen described this case with apparatus No. 37 dryly: “At 11 hours 12 minutes.returned from bombing, sat down on the water and went to the side for lifting. He was not taken to the ship, since the "Alexander", being attacked by a submarine, gave full speed ahead of the machines. When the device was two fathoms from the stern of the ship, an underwater mine hit the boat of the device, which stopped after the impact and soon sank. At 11 hours 18 minutes. the device took off for the second time and began to protect the ships leaving for the north from submarines.

Later it became known that after the raid the Turkish transport "Irmingard" sank in the port. The operation against Zonguldak became a new word in world naval tactics. For the first time it was shown that naval aviation, capable of acting on targets inaccessible to artillery, became the striking force, and powerful warships now became only a means of combat support. The use of new tactics by the Russian fleet led to the fact that by 1917 the delivery of coal from Zonguldak by sea was practically paralyzed. In addition, the Russian pilots laid the foundation for a system of anti-submarine air defense, effective enough so that even the "Turkish coast" would not save the enemy.

On December 31, 1915, German submariners received a "New Year's gift" when a plane from "Nicholas I" discovered a UC-13 submarine that had run aground at the mouth of the Melen-Su River. The destroyers "Piercing" and "Happy" directed by the seaplane shot her. And with the submarine UВ-7, "torpedoing" the "apparatus No. 37" of Lieutenant R. Essen, the naval pilots "figured out" on their own, sinking it at Cape Tarkhankut on October 1, 1916.

The first case in history … of the capture of an enemy ship for boarding is connected with the Black Sea pilots! March 13, 1917 M-9 Lieutenant M. M. Sergeev discovered a Turkish schooner and fired at her with a machine gun, forcing the crew to lie down on the deck. The hydroplane splashed down nearby. While the navigator kept the schooner at gunpoint, Sergeev climbed aboard, and waving a revolver, drove the Turkish sailors into the hold, locking them there. Then the seaplane flew to the nearest Russian destroyer, which "finally captured" the schooner.

The successful actions of the first "aircraft carriers" led to the fact that during the First World War on the Black Sea, the transports "Romania", "Dacia", "King Karl" were converted into seaplanes, the steamships "Saratov" were planned to be converted into "aircraft ships", "Athos" and "Jerusalem", but the subsequent revolutionary events soon practically destroyed the entire Russian fleet. "Emperor Alexander III" and "Emperor Nicholas I" were taken by the whites to France and sold in 1921, the rest of the Black Sea "aircraft ships" were plundered, blown up or flooded during the occupation of Sevastopol.

The fate of the "Eagle" was happier. On July 13, 1917, she ran into an underwater rock near Nygrund and nearly sank. Lengthy repairs followed at the dock. Then - the revolution, the "ice march" from Gelsengfors (Helsinki) to Kronstadt. On July 28, 1918 "Orlitsa" was disarmed and transferred to the Main Directorate of Water Transport of the People's Commissariat of Railways.

Under the new name "Sovet", the steamer carried out cargo and passenger transportation as part of the Baltic Shipping Company. In 1930, the "Soviet" was transferred to the Far East, where he made flights from Vladivostok to Aleksandrovsk, Sovgavan, Nagaevo and Petropavlovsk, was involved in the operation to rescue the Chelyuskinites. In July 1938, "Soviet" took part in the transportation of military supplies to the battle zone near Lake Khasan, and during the war years worked on coastal lines. The first Russian aircraft carrier went for scrap metal only in 1964 …

“Comparing the use of the naval aviation of the Russian fleet with the English (because only in it are the undertakings in this area visible), it becomes quite obvious the primacy of the Russian fleet, in which the foundations of the combat activities of naval aviation were laid. And the actions of the British throughout the First World War did not rise above the level of imitation of the actions of the Russians " … - This assessment by US naval experts from the USNaval Institute Proceedings "is now beneficial for many" not to remember "…

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