The speed of the torpedo boat is world 2. Torpedo boats of World War II

Torpedo boats are fast small-sized and fast ships, whose main weapons are self-propelled warheads - torpedoes.

The progenitors of boats with torpedoes on board were the Russian mine ships Chesma and Sinop. Combat experience in military conflicts from 1878 to 1905 revealed a number of shortcomings. The desire to correct the disadvantages of boats has led to two directions in the development of ships:

1. Dimensions and displacement have been increased. This was done in order to equip the boats with more powerful torpedoes, strengthen artillery, and increase seaworthiness.
2. The ships were small in size, their design was lighter, so maneuverability and speed became an advantage and the main characteristics.

The first direction gave birth to such types of ships as. The second direction led to the appearance of the first torpedo boats.

Mine boat “Chamsa”

The first torpedo boats

One of the first torpedo boats were created by the British. They were called boats "40-pound" and "55-pound". They very successfully and actively participated in the hostilities in 1917.

The first models had a number of characteristics:

• Small displacement of water - from 17 to 300 tons;
• A small number of torpedoes on board - from 2 to 4;
• High speed from 30 to 50 knots;
• Light auxiliary weapon - machine gun from 12 to 40 - mm;
• unprotected design.

Torpedo boats of World War II

At the beginning of the war, boats of this class were not very popular among the participating countries. But during the war years, their number increased by 7-10 times. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, developed the construction of light ships, and by the beginning of hostilities, the fleet had approximately 270 torpedo-type boats in service.

Small ships were used in conjunction with aviation and other equipment. In addition to the main task - attacking ships, the boats had the functions of scouts and sentinels, guarded convoys off the coast, laid mines, and attacked submarines in coastal zones. Also used as vehicle for the transport of ammunition, the release of troops and played the role of minesweepers of bottom mines.

Here are the main representatives of torpedo boats in the war:

1. Boats of England MTV, the speed of which was 37 knots. Such boats were equipped with two single-tube devices for torpedoes, two machine guns and four depth mines.
2. German boats, the displacement of which was 115 thousand kilograms, a length of almost 35 meters and a speed of 40 knots. The armament of the German boat consisted of two devices for torpedo shells and two automatic anti-aircraft guns.
3. The Italian MAS boats of the Balletto design organization developed a speed of up to 43-45 knots. They were equipped with two 450-mm torpedo launchers, one 13-caliber machine-gun mount and six bombs.
4. A twenty-meter torpedo boat of the G-5 type, created in the USSR, had a number of characteristics: The displacement of water was about 17 thousand kilograms; Developed a stroke of up to 50 knots; It was equipped with two torpedoes and two small-caliber machine guns.
5. The PT 103 torpedo-class boats, in the service of the US Navy, displaced about 50 tons of water, were 24 meters long and developed a speed of 45 knots. Their armament consisted of four torpedo mounts, one 12.7 mm machine gun and 40 mm anti-aircraft automatic mounts.
6. Japanese fifteen meters torpedo boats Mitsubishi models had a small water displacement of up to fifteen tons. The boat type T-14 was equipped with a gasoline engine, which developed a speed of 33 knots. They were armed with one 25-caliber cannon or machine gun, two torpedo shells and bombers.

USSR 1935 - boat g 6

Mine boat MAS 1936

The torpedo-class ships had several advantages over other warships:

• Small dimensions;
• High speed abilities;
• High maneuverability;
• Small crew;
• Little need for supplies;
• The boats could quickly attack the enemy and also hide with lightning speed.

Schnellbots and their characteristics

Schnellbots are German torpedo boats from World War II. Its hull was a combination of wood and steel. This was dictated by the desire to increase speed, displacement and reduce financial and time resources for repairs. The cabin was made of light alloy, had a conical shape and was protected by armored steel.

The boat had seven compartments:

1. - there was a cabin for 6 people;
2. - radio post, commander's cabin and two fuel tanks;
3. – there are diesels;
4. – fuel tanks;
5. - dynamos;
6. - steering post, cockpit, ammunition depot;
7. - fuel tanks and steering gear.

The power plant by 1944 was upgraded to a diesel model MV-518. As a result, the speed increased to 43 knots.

The main weapons were torpedoes. As a rule, combined-cycle G7a were installed. The second effective weapon of the boats were mines. These were TMA, TMV, TMS, LMA, 1MV bottom shells or EMC, UMB, EMF, LMF anchor shells.

The boat was supplied with additional artillery weapons, including:

• One stern gun MGC/30;
• Two portable machine gun mounts MG 34;
• At the end of 1942, some boats were equipped with Bofors machine guns.

German boats were equipped with sophisticated technical equipment to detect the enemy. The FuMO-71 radar was a low power antenna. The system made it possible to detect targets only at close distances: from 2 to 6 km. Radar FuMO-72 with a rotating antenna, which was placed on the wheelhouse.

The Metox station, which could detect enemy radar exposure. Since 1944, boats have been equipped with the Naxos system.

Mini Schnellbots

Mini boats of the LS type were designed to be placed on cruisers and large ships. The boat had the following characteristics. The displacement is only 13 tons, and the length is 12.5 meters. The crew consisted of seven people. The boat was equipped with two Daimler Benz MB 507 diesel engines, which accelerated the boat to 25-30 knots. The boats were armed with two torpedo launchers and one 2 cm caliber gun.

The KM type boats were 3 meters larger than the LS. The boat displaced 18 tons of water. Two BMW petrol engines were installed on board. The floating apparatus had a speed of 30 knots. Of the weapons on the boat, there were two devices for firing and storing torpedo shells or four mines and one machine gun.

Ships of the post-war period

After the war, many countries abandoned the creation of torpedo boats. And they switched to the creation of more modern missile ships. Israel, Germany, China, the USSR and others continued to engage in construction. Boats in the post-war period changed their purpose and began to patrol coastal areas and fight enemy submarines.

The Soviet Union presented a project 206 torpedo boat with a displacement of 268 tons, a length of 38.6 meters. Its speed was 42 knots. The armament consisted of four 533-mm torpedo tubes and two twin AK-230 mounts.

Some countries have begun production of mixed-type boats, using both missiles and torpedoes:

1. Israel produced the boat "Dabur"
2. China has developed a combined boat "Hegu"
3. Norway built the Hauk
4. In Germany it was "Albatross"
5. Sweden was armed with "Nordköping"
6. Argentina had the boat "Intrepida".

Soviet torpedo-class boats are warships used during the Second World War. These light, maneuverable vehicles were indispensable in combat conditions, with their help they landed landing troops, transported weapons, carried out minesweeping and laying mines.

Torpedo boats model G-5, mass production which was carried out from 1933 to 1944. A total of 321 ships were produced. The displacement ranged from 15 to 20 tons. The length of such a boat was 19 meters. Two GAM-34B engines of 850 horsepower were installed on board, allowing speeds up to 58 knots. Crew - 6 people.

Of the weapons on board, a 7-62 mm DA machine gun and two 533-mm aft grooved torpedo tubes were installed.

Armament consisted of:

• Two twin machine guns
• Two tube torpedo devices
• Six M-1 bombs

Boats model D3 1 and 2 series were planing vessels. The dimensions and mass of displaced water practically did not differ. Length -21.6 m for each series, displacement - 31 and 32 tons, respectively.

The boat of the 1st series had three Gam-34VS gasoline engines and developed a speed of 32 knots. The crew included 9 people.

The Series 2 boat had a more powerful power plant. It consisted of three Packard gasoline engines with a capacity of 3600 horsepower. The crew consisted of 11 people.

The idea to use a torpedo boat in combat first appeared in the First World War. world war from the British command, but the British failed to achieve the desired effect. Further, the Soviet Union spoke on the use of small mobile ships in military attacks.

History reference

A torpedo boat is a small warship designed to destroy warships and transport ships with projectiles. During the Second World War, it was repeatedly used in hostilities with the enemy.

By that time, the naval forces of the major Western powers had a small number of such boats, but their construction increased rapidly by the time hostilities began. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War in there were almost 270 boats equipped with torpedoes. During the war, more than 30 models of torpedo boats were created and more than 150 were received from the allies.

The history of the creation of a torpedo ship

Back in 1927, the TsAGI team carried out the development of the project of the first Soviet torpedo ship, headed by A.N. Tupolev. The ship was given the name "Pervenets" (or "ANT-3"). It had the following parameters (unit of measurement - meter): length 17.33; width 3.33 and draft 0.9. The strength of the vessel was 1200 hp. s., tonnage - 8.91 tons, speed - as much as 54 knots.

The armament that was on board consisted of a 450 mm torpedo, two machine guns and two mines. Pilot production boat in mid-July 1927 became part of the Black Sea naval forces. They continued to work at the institute, improving the units, and in the first month of the autumn of 1928, the ANT-4 serial boat was ready. Until the end of 1931, dozens of ships were launched into the water, which they called "Sh-4". Soon, the first formations of torpedo boats arose in the Black Sea, Far Eastern and Baltic military districts. The Sh-4 ship was not ideal, and the fleet management ordered a new boat from TsAGI in 1928, which was later called the G-5. It was a completely new ship.

Torpedo ship model "G-5"

The G-5 planing vessel was tested in December 1933. The ship had a metal hull and was considered the best in the world as technical specifications, and in terms of armaments. Serial production of "G-5" refers to 1935. By the beginning of World War II, it was the basic type of boats in the USSR. The speed of the torpedo boat was 50 knots, the power was 1700 hp. with., and were armed with two machine guns, two 533 mm torpedoes and four mines. Over the course of ten years, more than 200 units of various modifications were produced.

During the Great Patriotic War, the G-5 boats hunted enemy ships, guarded ships, carried out torpedo attacks, landed troops, and escorted trains. The disadvantage of torpedo boats was the dependence of their work on weather conditions. They could not be at sea when its excitement reached more than three points. There were also inconveniences with the placement of paratroopers, as well as with the transportation of goods associated with the lack of a flat deck. In this regard, before the war itself, new models of boats were created. long range"D-3" with a wooden case and "SM-3" with a steel case.

Torpedo leader

Nekrasov, who was the head of the experimental design team for the development of gliders, and Tupolev in 1933 developed the design of the G-6 ship. He was the leader among the available boats. According to the documentation, the vessel had the following parameters:

• displacement 70 tons;
• six 533 mm torpedoes;
• eight motors of 830 hp With.;
• speed 42 knots.

Three torpedoes were fired from torpedo tubes located at the stern and having the shape of a chute, and the next three from a three-tube torpedo tube that could turn and was located on the deck of the ship. In addition, the boat had two cannons and several machine guns.

Gliding torpedo ship "D-3"

USSR torpedo boats of the D-3 brand were produced at the Leningrad plant and Sosnovsky, which was located in Kirov region. There were only two boats of this type in the Northern Fleet when the Great Patriotic War began. In 1941, another 5 ships were produced at the Leningrad plant. Only starting from 1943, domestic and allied models began to enter service.

The D-3 ships, unlike the previous G-5s, could operate at a farther (up to 550 miles) distance from the base. The speed of the torpedo boat of the new brand ranged from 32 to 48 knots, depending on the engine power. Another feature of the "D-3" was that they can make a volley while stationary, and from the "G-5" units - only at a speed of at least 18 knots, otherwise the fired missile could hit the ship. On board were:

• two torpedoes 533 mm sample of the thirty-ninth year:
• two DShK machine guns;
• gun "Oerlikon";
• coaxial machine gun "Colt Browning".

The hull of the ship "D-3" was divided by four partitions into five waterproof compartments. Unlike boats of the G-5 type, the D-3 was equipped with better navigation equipment, and a group of paratroopers could move freely on the deck. The boat could take on board up to 10 people who were accommodated in heated compartments.

Torpedo ship "Komsomolets"

On the eve of World War II, torpedo boats in the USSR were further developed. Designers continued to design new and improved models. So a new boat called "Komsomolets" appeared. Its tonnage was the same as that of the G-5, and the tube torpedo tubes were more advanced, and it could carry more powerful anti-aircraft anti-submarine weapons. For the construction of ships, voluntary donations from Soviet citizens were attracted, hence their names appeared, for example, "Leningrad Worker", and other similar names.

The hull of the ships, released in 1944, was made of duralumin. Inner part The boat included five compartments. On the sides on the underwater part, keels were installed to reduce pitching, the trough torpedo tubes were replaced with tube tubes. Seaworthiness increased to four points. Armament included:

• torpedoes in the amount of two pieces;
• four machine guns;
• depth bombs (six pieces);
• smoke equipment.

The cabin, which housed seven crew members, was made of an armored seven-millimeter sheet. World War II torpedo boats, especially Komsomolets, distinguished themselves in the spring battles of 1945, when Soviet troops approached Berlin.

The path of the USSR to create gliders

The Soviet Union was the only major maritime country that built ships of this type. Other powers switched to the creation of keel boats. During the calm, the speed of the red-lined vessels was significantly higher than that of the keel ones, with a wave of 3-4 points - on the contrary. In addition, keeled boats could carry more powerful weapons.

Mistakes made by engineer Tupolev

The float of a seaplane was taken as a basis in torpedo boats (Tupolev's project). Its top, which affected the strength of the device, was used by the designer on the boat. The upper deck of the vessel was replaced by a convex and steeply curved surface. It was impossible for a person to stay on deck even when the boat was at rest. When the ship was moving, it was completely impossible for the crew to leave the cockpit, everything that was on it was thrown off the surface. In wartime, when it was necessary to transport troops on the G-5, the servicemen were put into the gutters that the torpedo tubes have. Despite the good buoyancy of the vessel, it is impossible to transport any cargo on it, since there is no place to place it. The design of the torpedo tube, which was borrowed from the British, was unsuccessful. The lowest ship speed at which torpedoes were fired is 17 knots. At rest and at a lower speed, a salvo of a torpedo was impossible, since it would hit the boat.

Military German torpedo boats

During the First World War, in order to fight the British monitors in Flanders, the German fleet had to think about creating new means of fighting the enemy. They found a way out, and in 1917, in the month of April, the first small one with torpedo armament was built. The length of the wooden hull was a little over 11 m. The ship was set in motion with the help of two carburetor engines, which overheated already at a speed of 17 knots. When it was increased to 24 knots, strong splashes appeared. One 350 mm torpedo tube was installed in the bow, shots could be fired at a speed of no more than 24 knots, otherwise the boat hit the torpedo. Despite the shortcomings, the German torpedo ships entered mass production.

All ships had a wooden hull, the speed reached 30 knots in a wave of three points. The crew consisted of seven people, on board there was one 450 mm torpedo tube and a machine gun with a rifle caliber. By the time the armistice was signed, there were 21 boats in the Kaiser fleet.

Worldwide, after the end of the First World War, there was a decline in the production of torpedo ships. Only in 1929, in November, the German company "Fr. Lyursen accepted an order for the construction of a combat boat. Released vessels were improved several times. The German command was not satisfied with the use of gasoline engines on ships. While the designers were working to replace them with hydrodynamics, other designs were being finalized all the time.

German torpedo boats of World War II

Even before the outbreak of World War II, the naval leadership of Germany set a course for the production of combat boats with torpedoes. Requirements were developed for their shape, equipment and maneuverability. By 1945, it was decided to build 75 ships.

Germany was the third largest exporter of torpedo boats in the world. Before the start of the war, German shipbuilding was working on the implementation of Plan Z. Accordingly, the German fleet had to be solidly re-equipped and have a large number of ships carrying torpedo weapons. With the outbreak of hostilities in the fall of 1939, the planned plan was not fulfilled, and then the production of boats increased sharply, and by May 1945, almost 250 units of Schnellbotov-5 alone were put into operation.

Boats with a hundred-ton carrying capacity and improved seaworthiness were built in 1940. Warships were designated starting with "S38". It was the main weapon of the German fleet in the war. The armament of the boats was as follows:

• two torpedo tubes with two to four missiles;
• two thirty-millimeter anti-aircraft weapons.

The maximum speed of the vessel is 42 knots. 220 ships were involved in the battles of World War II. German boats on the battlefield behaved bravely, but not recklessly. In the last few weeks of the war, the ships were involved in the evacuation of refugees to their homeland.

Germans with a keel

In 1920, despite the economic crisis, a check was made in Germany on the work of keel and row ships. As a result of this work, the only conclusion was made - to build exclusively keel boats. At the meeting of Soviet and German boats, the latter won. During the fighting in the Black Sea in 1942-1944, not a single German boat with a keel was drowned.

Interesting and little-known historical facts

Not everyone knows that the Soviet torpedo boats that were used during the Second World War were huge floats from seaplanes.

In June 1929, aircraft designer A. Tupolev began the construction of a planing vessel of the ANT-5 brand, equipped with two torpedoes. The ongoing tests showed that the ships have such a speed that the ships of other countries could not develop. The military authorities were pleased with this fact.

In 1915, the British designed a small boat with great speed. Sometimes it was called a "floating torpedo tube".

Soviet military leaders could not afford to use Western experience in designing ships with torpedo launchers, believing that our boats were better.

The ships built by Tupolev had an aviation origin. This is reminiscent of the special configuration of the hull and the ship's plating, made of duralumin material.

Conclusion

Torpedo boats (photo below) had many advantages over other types of warships:

• small size;
• high speed;
• great maneuverability;
• a small number of people;
• minimum supply requirement.

The ships could go out, attack with torpedoes and quickly hide in sea ​​waters. Thanks to all these advantages, they were a formidable weapon for the enemy.

Small warships and boats were one of the most numerous and diverse components of the military fleets of the countries participating in the war. It included vessels, both for strictly designated purposes, and multifunctional, both small in size and reaching 100 m in length. Some ships and boats operated in coastal waters ah or rivers, others in seas with a cruising range of more than 1,000 miles. Some boats were delivered to the scene of action by road and rail, and others on the decks of large ships. A number of ships were built according to special military projects, while civilian design developments were adapted to others. The prevailing number of ships and boats had wooden hulls, but many were equipped with steel and even duralumin. Reservation of the deck, sides, deckhouse and towers was also used. were varied and power plants ships - from automobile to aircraft engines, which also provided different speeds - from 7-10 to 45-50 knots per hour. The armament of ships and boats entirely depended on their functional purpose.

The main types of ships in this category include: torpedo and patrol boats, boat minesweepers, armored boats, anti-submarine and artillery boats. Their combination was determined by the concept of "mosquito fleet", which emerged from the First World War and was intended for military operations at the same time. large groups. Operations with the participation of the "mosquito fleet", in particular, landing, were used by Great Britain, Germany, Italy and the USSR. Short description types of small warships and boats is as follows.

The most numerous ships among small warships were torpedo boats- high-speed small-sized warships, the main weapon of which is a torpedo. By the beginning of the war, the idea of ​​large artillery ships as the basis of the fleet still dominated. Torpedo boats were poorly represented in the main fleets of the maritime powers. Despite the very high speed (about 50 knots) and the relative cheapness of manufacture, the redan boats that prevailed in the pre-war period had very low seaworthiness and could not operate in waves of more than 3-4 points. The placement of torpedoes in the stern gutters did not provide sufficient accuracy in their guidance. In fact, the boat could hit a fairly large surface ship with a torpedo from a distance of no more than half a mile. Therefore, torpedo boats were considered weapons of weak states, intended only to protect coastal waters and closed water areas. For example, by the beginning of the war, the British fleet had 54 torpedo boats, the German fleet had 20 ships. With the outbreak of war, the construction of boats increased dramatically.

Estimated number of main types of own-built torpedo boats used in the war by countries (without captured and transferred / received)

Country	Total	Losses	Country	Total	Losses
Bulgaria	7	1	USA	782	69
Great Britain	315	49	Turkey	8	—
Germany	249	112	Thailand	12	—
Greece	2	2	Finland	37	11
Italy	136	100	Sweden	19	2
Netherlands	46	23	Yugoslavia	8	2
USSR	447	117	Japan	394	52

Some countries that do not have shipbuilding capacities or technologies ordered boats for their fleets at large shipyards in Great Britain (British Power Boats, Vosper, Thornycroft), Germany (F.Lurssen), Italy (SVAN), USA ( Elco, Higgins). So the UK sold 2 boats to Greece, Ireland - 6, Poland - 1, Romania - 3, Thailand - 17, "Philippines - 5, Finland and Sweden - 4 each, Yugoslavia - 2. Germany sold 6 boats to Spain, China - 1, Yugoslavia - 8. Italy sold Turkey - 3 boats, Sweden - 4, Finland - 11. USA - sold 13 boats to the Netherlands.

In addition, Great Britain and the United States transferred ships to their allies under Lend-Lease agreements. Similar ship transfers were made by Italy and Germany. So the UK transferred 4 boats to Canada, 11 to the Netherlands, 28 to Norway, 7 to Poland, 8 to France. The USA transferred 104 boats to the UK, 198 to the USSR, 8 to Yugoslavia. 6. Italy handed over to Germany - 7 boats, Spain - 3, Finland - 4.

The belligerents successfully used captured ships: surrendered; captured, both in full working order and subsequently restored; unfinished; raised after flooding by crews. So Great Britain used 2 boats, Germany - 47, Italy - 6, USSR - 16, Finland - 4, Japan - 39.

Features in the structure and equipment of torpedo boats of the leading builders can be characterized in this way.

In Germany, the main attention was paid to the seaworthiness, range and effectiveness of the weapons of torpedo boats. They were built of relatively large size and high range, with the possibility of long-range night raids and torpedo attacks from a long distance. The boats received the designation "Schnellboote" ( S— type) and were produced in 10 series, including the prototype and experimental samples. The first boat of the new type "S-1" was built in 1930, and mass production began in 1940 and continued until the end of the war (the last boat was "S-709"). Each subsequent series, as a rule, was more perfect than the previous one. A large radius of action with good seaworthiness made it possible to use boats practically as destroyers. Their functions were attacks on large ships, penetration into harbors and bases and strikes against forces located there, carrying out attacks on merchant ships following sea routes and raids on objects located along the coast. Along with these tasks, torpedo boats could be used for defensive operations - attacking submarines and escorting coastal convoys, conducting reconnaissance and clearing enemy minefields. During the war, they sank 109 enemy transports with a total capacity of 233,000 brt, as well as 11 destroyers, a Norwegian destroyer, a submarine, 5 minesweepers, 22 armed trawlers, 12 landing ships, 12 auxiliary ships and 35 various boats. The strength of these boats, providing high seaworthiness, turned out to be one of the reasons for their death. The keel shape of the hull and significant draft did not allow passage minefields, which did not pose a danger to small or red boats.

Britain's wartime torpedo boats had increased tonnage and strong hull plating, but due to the lack of the necessary engines, their speed remained low. In addition, the boats had unreliable steering devices and propellers with too thin blades. The effectiveness of torpedo attacks was 24%. At the same time, for the entire time of the war, each boat, on average, took part in 2 combat operations.

Italy tried to build its boats on the models of the German "Schnellboote" of the first series. However, the boats turned out to be slow and poorly armed. The rearmament of them with depth charges turned them into hunters who only appearance reminiscent of German. In addition to full-fledged torpedo boats, in Italy, the Baglietto company built about 200 auxiliary, small-sized boats that did not show tangible results from their use.

In the United States, by the beginning of the war, torpedo boat building was at the level of experimental development. On the basis of the 70-foot boat of the British company "British Power Boats", the company "ELCO", carrying out their constant refinement, produced ships in three series in a total of 385 units. Later, Higgins Industries and Huckins joined in their release. The boats were distinguished by maneuverability, autonomy and withstood a 6-point storm. At the same time, the yoke design of the torpedo tubes was unsuitable for use in the Arctic, and the propellers wore out quickly. For Great Britain and the USSR, 72-foot boats were built in the USA according to the project of the English company Vosper, but in terms of their characteristics they were significantly inferior to the prototype.

The basis of the torpedo boats of the USSR were two types of pre-war development: "G-5" - for coastal action and "D-3" - for medium distances. The G-5 planing boat, built, as a rule, with an duralumin hull, had high speed and maneuverability. However, poor seaworthiness and survivability, a short radius of action neutralized its best qualities. Thus, the boat could produce a torpedo salvo in waves up to 2 balls, and stay at sea up to 3 balls. At speeds above 30 knots, machine gun fire was useless, and torpedoes were launched at speeds of at least 17 knots. Corrosion "devoured" duralumin literally before our eyes, so the boats had to be immediately raised to the wall upon returning from the task. Despite this, the boats were built until the middle of 1944. Unlike the G-5, the D-3 cutter had a solid wooden hull structure. It was armed with side-drop torpedo tubes, which made it possible to launch a torpedo salvo even if the boat lost speed. On the deck it was possible to mark a platoon of paratroopers. The boats had sufficient survivability, maneuverability and withstood a storm of up to 6 balls. At the end of the war, in the development of the boat "G-5", the construction of boats of the "Komsomolets" type with improved seaworthiness began. He withstood a storm of 4 balls, had a semblance of a keel, an armored wheelhouse and tubular torpedo tubes. However, the survivability of the boat left much to be desired.

Type B torpedo boats were the backbone of Japan's mosquito fleet. They had low speed and weak weapons. In terms of technical characteristics, American boats were more than twice as superior. As a result, the effectiveness of their actions in the war was extremely low. For example, in the battles for the Philippines, Japanese boats managed to sink a single small transport ship.

The fighting of the "mosquito fleet" showed the high efficiency of universal, multipurpose boats. However, their special construction was carried out only by Great Britain and Germany. The rest of the countries, constantly modernizing and re-equipping existing ships (minesweepers, torpedo and patrol boats), brought them closer to universality. Multi-purpose boats had a wooden hull and were used, depending on the task and the situation, as artillery, torpedo, rescue ships, minelayers, hunters or minesweepers.

Great Britain built 587 boats on special projects, of which 79 were lost. Another 170 boats were built under licenses by other countries. Germany produced 610 boats based on the technical documentation of the fishing seiner, of which 199 died. The boat received the designation "KFK" (Kriegsfischkutter - "military fishing boat") and compares favorably with other vessels in terms of "cost / efficiency". It was built both by various enterprises in Germany and in other countries, incl. in neutral Sweden.

Artillery boats were intended to fight enemy boats and support the landing. Varieties of artillery boats were armored boats and boats armed with rocket launchers (mortar).

The appearance of special artillery boats in the UK was associated with the need to deal with the German "mosquito" fleet. In total, 289 ships were built during the war years. Other countries used patrol boats or patrol ships for these purposes.

armored boats in the war used by Hungary, the USSR and Romania. By the beginning of the war, Hungary had 11 river armored boats, 10 of which were built during the First World War. The USSR used 279 river armored boats, which were based on project 1124 and 1125 boats. They were armed with turrets from the T-34 tank with standard 76-mm guns. The USSR also built marine armored boats with powerful artillery weapons and medium range move. Despite the low speed, insufficient elevation angle of the tank guns, and the absence of fire control devices, they had increased survivability and provided reliable protection for the crew.

Romania was armed with 5 river armored boats, two of which during the First World War were used as minesweepers, two were rebuilt from Czechoslovak minelayers, one was a captured Soviet project 1124.

In the second half of the war in Germany, Great Britain, the USSR and the USA, jet engines were installed on boats. launchers as an additional weapon. In addition, 43 special mortar boats were built in the USSR. These boats were most used in the war with Japan during the landing.

Patrol boats occupy a prominent place among small warships. They were small-sized warships, as a rule, with artillery weapons and were designed to carry out patrol (patrol) service in the coastal zone, to fight enemy boats. Patrol boats were built by many countries that have access to the seas or have major rivers. At the same time, some countries (Germany, Italy, USA) used other types of vessels for these purposes.

Approximate number of the main types of own-built patrol boats used in the war by countries (excluding captured and transferred / received)

Country	Total	Losses	Country	Total	Losses
Bulgaria	4	—	USA	30	—
Great Britain	494	56	Romania	4	1
Iran	3	—	Turkey	13	2
Spain	19	—	Finland	20	5
Lithuania	4	1	Estonia	10	—
USSR	238	38	Japan	165	15

Leading countries in the field of shipbuilding actively sold patrol boats to customers. So, during the war, Great Britain delivered 42 boats to France, Greece - 23, Turkey - 16, Colombia - 4. Italy sold 4 boats to Albania, and Canada - 3 to Cuba. Republic - 10, Colombia - 2, Cuba - 7, Paraguay - 6. In the USSR, 15 captured patrol boats were used, in Finland - 1.

Characterizing the structural features of the most massive production of boats in the context of manufacturing countries, the following should be noted. The British boat of the HDML type was built at many shipyards and, depending on the intended place of service, received the appropriate equipment. It had reliable engines, good seaworthiness and maneuverability. The mass construction of Soviet boats was based on the adaptation of the development of crew and service boats. They were equipped with low-power, mainly automobile engines and, accordingly, had a low speed and, unlike the British boats, did not have artillery weapons. Japanese boats were built on the basis of torpedo boats, they had powerful engines, at least small-caliber guns, bombers. By the end of the war, many were equipped with torpedo tubes and were often reclassified as torpedo boats.

Anti-submarine boats built by Britain and Italy. Great Britain built 40 boats, of which 17 died, Italy - 138, 94 died. Both countries built boats in torpedo boat hulls, with powerful engines and a sufficient supply of depth charges. In addition, Italian boats were additionally equipped with torpedo tubes. In the USSR, anti-submarine boats were classified as small hunters, in the USA, France and Japan - as hunters.

Minesweeper boats(boat minesweepers) were massively used in all large fleets and were intended to search for and destroy mines and escort ships through mine-hazardous areas in harbors, raids, rivers and lakes. Minesweepers were equipped with various types of trawls (contact, acoustic, electromagnetic, etc.), had a shallow draft and a wooden hull for low magnetic resistance, and were equipped with defense weapons. The displacement of the boat, as a rule, did not exceed 150 tons, and the length - 50 m.

Approximate number of main types of boat minesweepers of own construction used in the war by countries (without captured and transferred / received)

Most countries did not build boat minesweepers, but if necessary, they equipped existing auxiliary vessels or combat boats with minesweepers, and also bought minesweeper boats.

During the war, Great Britain transferred one boat to Belgium and Greece, India - 5, the Netherlands - 14, Norway - 2, the USSR - 19, France - 7. Germany used 34 captured boats, the USSR - 24.

Among the features of boats of special construction, the following should be noted. Great Britain built boats of large displacement with a significant draft, which were used to neutralize acoustic and magnetic mines. The main number of German motor minesweepers, despite the fact that they were created to work in shallow areas, had high seaworthiness and could work with waves up to 6 balls. In addition, they could take on board depth charges or mines. These boats were also used as rescue boats. A small number of small boats were classified as river minesweepers. In the USSR, minesweepers were built on the basis of patrol, patrol and service boats. Their transformation consisted in the installation of minesweeping equipment and boom, and sometimes anti-aircraft machine guns.

Submarines dictate the rules in naval warfare and force everyone to meekly follow the established order.

Those stubborn ones who dare to neglect the rules of the game will face a quick and painful death in cold water, among floating debris and oil slicks. Boats, regardless of the flag, remain the most dangerous fighting vehicles capable of crushing any enemy.

I bring to your attention short story about the seven most successful submarine projects of the war years.

Boats type T (Triton-class), UK
The number of submarines built is 53.
Surface displacement - 1290 tons; underwater - 1560 tons.
Crew - 59 ... 61 people.
Operating immersion depth - 90 m (riveted hull), 106 m (welded hull).
Full speed on the surface - 15.5 knots; in the underwater - 9 knots.
A fuel reserve of 131 tons ensured a surface cruising range of 8,000 miles.
Armament:
- 11 torpedo tubes of caliber 533 mm (on boats of sub-series II and III), ammunition load - 17 torpedoes;
- 1 x 102 mm universal gun, 1 x 20 mm anti-aircraft "Oerlikon".

HMS Traveler

A British submarine Terminator capable of knocking the crap out of the head of any enemy with a bow-mounted 8-torpedo salvo. The T-type boats had no equal in destructive power among all the submarines of the WWII period - this explains their ferocious appearance with a bizarre bow superstructure, which housed additional torpedo tubes.

The notorious British conservatism is a thing of the past - the British were among the first to equip their boats with ASDIC sonar. Alas, despite its powerful weapons and modern facilities detection, boats high seas Type "T" did not become the most effective among the British submarines of World War II. Nevertheless, they went through an exciting battle path and achieved a number of remarkable victories. "Tritons" were actively used in the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean Sea, smashed Japanese communications in the Pacific Ocean, and were noted several times in the cold waters of the Arctic.

In August 1941, the Taigris and Trident submarines arrived in Murmansk. British submariners demonstrated a master class to their Soviet colleagues: 4 enemy ships were sunk in two campaigns, incl. "Baia Laura" and "Donau II" with thousands of soldiers of the 6th Mountain Division. Thus, the sailors prevented the third German attack on Murmansk.

Other famous T-boat trophies include the German light cruiser Karlsruhe and the Japanese heavy cruiser Ashigara. The samurai were “lucky” to get acquainted with the full 8-torpedo salvo of the Trenchent submarine - having received 4 torpedoes on board (+ one more from the stern TA), the cruiser quickly capsized and sank.

After the war, the powerful and perfect Tritons were in service with the Royal Navy for another quarter of a century.
It is noteworthy that Israel acquired three boats of this type in the late 1960s - one of them, INS Dakar (formerly HMS Totem), died in 1968 in the Mediterranean Sea under unclear circumstances.

Boats of the "Cruising" type of the XIV series, the Soviet Union
The number of submarines built is 11.
Surface displacement - 1500 tons; underwater - 2100 tons.
Crew - 62 ... 65 people.

Full speed on the surface - 22.5 knots; in the underwater - 10 knots.
Surface cruising range 16,500 miles (9 knots)
Submerged cruising range - 175 miles (3 knots)
Armament:

- 2 x 100 mm universal guns, 2 x 45 mm anti-aircraft semi-automatic;
- up to 20 minutes of barriers.

... On December 3, 1941, German hunters UJ-1708, UJ-1416 and UJ-1403 bombarded a Soviet boat that tried to attack a convoy near Bustad Sund.

Hans, do you hear that creature?
- Nine. After a series of explosions, the Russians sank to the bottom - I detected three hits on the ground ...
- Can you tell where they are now?
- Donnerwetter! They are blown. Surely they decided to surface and surrender.

The German sailors were wrong. From sea ​​depths MONSTER rose to the surface - a cruising submarine K-3 of the XIV series, which unleashed a barrage of artillery fire on the enemy. From the fifth salvo, the Soviet sailors managed to sink U-1708. The second hunter, having received two direct hits, smoked and turned aside - his 20 mm anti-aircraft guns could not compete with the “hundreds” of a secular submarine cruiser. Having scattered the Germans like puppies, K-3 quickly disappeared over the horizon at 20 knots.

The Soviet Katyusha was a phenomenal boat for its time. Welded hull, powerful artillery and mine-torpedo weapons, powerful diesel engines (2 x 4200 hp!), high surface speed of 22-23 knots. Huge autonomy in terms of fuel reserves. Remote control of ballast tank valves. A radio station capable of transmitting signals from the Baltic to Far East. Exceptional level of comfort: shower cabins, refrigerated tanks, two seawater desalters, an electric galley… Two boats (K-3 and K-22) were equipped with Lend-Lease ASDIC sonar.

But, oddly enough, high performance, nor the most powerful weapons made the Katyusha effective - in addition to the dark one with the K-21 attack on the Tirpitz, during the war years, boats of the XIV series accounted for only 5 successful torpedo attacks and 27 thousand br. reg. tons of sunk tonnage. Most of the victories were won with the help of exposed mines. Moreover, their own losses amounted to five cruiser boats.

K-21, Severomorsk, today

The reasons for the failures lie in the tactics of using the Katyushas - the mighty submarine cruisers, created for the expanses of the Pacific Ocean, had to "stomp" in the shallow Baltic "puddle". When operating at depths of 30-40 meters, a huge 97-meter boat could hit the ground with its bow, while its stern was still sticking out on the surface. It was a little easier for sailors from the North Sea - as practice has shown, the effectiveness of the combat use of Katyushas was complicated by poor training personnel and lack of leadership.

It's a pity. These boats were counting on more.

"Baby", Soviet Union
Series VI and VI bis - 50 built.
Series XII - 46 built.
Series XV - 57 built (4 took part in the fighting).

TTX boat type M series XII:
Surface displacement - 206 tons; underwater - 258 tons.
Autonomy - 10 days.
Working depth of immersion - 50 m, limit - 60 m.
Full speed on the surface - 14 knots; in the underwater - 8 knots.
Cruising range on the surface - 3380 miles (8.6 knots).
Submerged cruising range - 108 miles (3 knots).
Armament:
- 2 torpedo tubes of caliber 533 mm, ammunition - 2 torpedoes;
- 1 x 45 mm anti-aircraft semi-automatic.

Baby!

The project of mini-submarines for the rapid strengthening of the Pacific Fleet - main feature boats of type M became the possibility of transportation by rail in a fully assembled form.

In pursuit of compactness, many had to be sacrificed - service on the "Baby" turned into a grueling and dangerous event. Difficult living conditions, strong "chatter" - the waves ruthlessly threw a 200-ton "float", risking breaking it into pieces. Shallow immersion depth and weak weapon. But the main concern of the sailors was the reliability of the submarine - one shaft, one diesel engine, one electric motor - the tiny "Baby" left no chance for the careless crew, the slightest malfunction on board threatened the submarine with death.

The kids evolved quickly - the performance characteristics of each new series differed several times from the previous project: contours improved, electrical equipment and detection tools were updated, diving time decreased, autonomy increased. The "babies" of the XV series no longer resembled their predecessors of the VI and XII series: one and a half hull design - the ballast tanks were moved outside the pressure hull; The power plant received a standard twin-shaft layout with two diesel engines and electric motors for underwater travel. The number of torpedo tubes increased to four. Alas, the XV series appeared too late - the brunt of the war was borne by the "Babies" of the VI and XII series.

Despite their modest size and only 2 torpedoes on board, the tiny fish were simply terrifying "gluttony": in just the years of World War II, Soviet M-type submarines sank 61 enemy ships with a total tonnage of 135.5 thousand gross tons, destroyed 10 warships, and also damaged 8 transports.

The little ones, originally intended only for operations in the coastal zone, have learned to fight effectively in open sea areas. They, along with larger boats, cut enemy communications, patrolled at the exits of enemy bases and fjords, deftly overcame anti-submarine barriers and undermined transports right at the piers inside protected enemy harbors. It's just amazing how the Red Navy could fight on these flimsy boats! But they fought. And they won!

Boats of the "Medium" type of the IX-bis series, the Soviet Union
The number of submarines built is 41.
Surface displacement - 840 tons; underwater - 1070 tons.
Crew - 36 ... 46 people.
Working depth of immersion - 80 m, limit - 100 m.
Full speed on the surface - 19.5 knots; submerged - 8.8 knots.
Surface cruising range 8,000 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 148 miles (3 knots).

“Six torpedo tubes and the same number of spare torpedoes on racks convenient for reloading. Two cannons with a large ammunition load, machine guns, explosive equipment ... In a word, there is something to fight. And 20-knot surface speed! It allows you to overtake almost any convoy and attack it again. Technique is good…”
- opinion of the S-56 commander, Hero Soviet Union G.I. Shchedrin

The Eskis were distinguished by their rational layout and balanced design, powerful armament, and excellent running and seaworthiness. Originally a German design by Deshimag, modified to meet Soviet requirements. But do not rush to clap your hands and remember the Mistral. After the start of serial construction of the IX series at Soviet shipyards, the German project was revised with the aim of a complete transition to Soviet equipment: 1D diesel engines, weapons, radio stations, a noise direction finder, a gyrocompass ... - there was not a single one in the boats that received the designation "IX-bis series". bolts of foreign production!

The problems of the combat use of boats of the "Middle" type, in general, were similar to the cruising boats of the K type - locked in mine-infested shallow water, they could not realize their high combat qualities. Things were much better in the Northern Fleet - during the war years, the S-56 boat under the command of G.I. Shchedrina made the transition across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, moving from Vladivostok to the Polar, subsequently becoming the most productive boat of the Soviet Navy.

An equally fantastic story is connected with the S-101 "bomb catcher" - during the war years, over 1000 depth charges were dropped on the boat by the Germans and the Allies, but each time the S-101 returned safely to Polyarny.

Finally, it was on S-13 that he achieved his goals famous victories Alexander Marinesko.

Torpedo compartment S-56

“The brutal alterations that the ship got into, bombing and explosions, depths far exceeding the official limit. The boat protected us from everything ... "

- from the memoirs of G.I. Shchedrin

Boats like Gato, USA
The number of submarines built is 77.
Surface displacement - 1525 tons; underwater - 2420 tons.
Crew - 60 people.
Working depth of immersion - 90 m.
Full speed on the surface - 21 knots; in a submerged position - 9 knots.
Surface cruising range 11,000 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 96 miles (2 knots).
Armament:
- 10 torpedo tubes of caliber 533 mm, ammunition - 24 torpedoes;
- 1 x 76 mm universal gun, 1 x 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, 1 x 20 mm Oerlikon;
- one of the boats - USS Barb was equipped with a jet system salvo fire to shell the coast.

The Getow-class ocean-going submarines appeared at the height of the Pacific War and became one of the most effective tools of the US Navy. They tightly blocked all strategic straits and approaches to the atolls, cut off all supply lines, leaving the Japanese garrisons without reinforcements, and Japanese industry without raw materials and oil. In battles with "Getow" Imperial Navy lost two heavy aircraft carriers, lost four cruisers and a damn dozen destroyers.

High speed, lethal torpedo weapons, the most modern radio equipment for detecting the enemy - radar, direction finder, sonar. The cruising range that provides combat patrols off the coast of Japan when operating from a base in Hawaii. Increased comfort on board. But the main thing is the excellent training of the crews and the weakness of Japanese anti-submarine weapons. As a result, the Gatow ruthlessly destroyed everything in a row - it was they who brought victory in the Pacific Ocean from the blue depths of the sea.

... One of the main achievements of the Getow boats, which changed the whole world, is the event of September 2, 1944. On that day, the Finback submarine detected a distress signal from a falling plane and, after many hours of searching, found a frightened pilot in the ocean, and there was already a desperate pilot . The one who was saved was George Herbert Bush.

The cabin of the submarine "Flasher", a memorial in the city of Groton.

The list of Flasher trophies sounds like a fleet joke: 9 tankers, 10 transports, 2 patrol ships with a total tonnage of 100,231 gross tons! And for a snack, the boat grabbed a Japanese cruiser and a destroyer. Lucky damn!

Type XXI electric robots, Germany

By April 1945, the Germans managed to launch 118 submarines of the XXI series. However, only two of them were able to achieve operational readiness and go to sea in last days war.

Surface displacement - 1620 tons; underwater - 1820 tons.
Crew - 57 people.
Working depth of immersion - 135 m, maximum - 200+ meters.
Full speed on the surface - 15.6 knots, in the submerged position - 17 knots.
Surface cruising range 15,500 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 340 miles (5 knots).
Armament:
- 6 torpedo tubes of caliber 533 mm, ammunition - 17 torpedoes;
- 2 anti-aircraft guns "Flak" caliber 20 mm.

U-2540 "Wilhelm Bauer" at the eternal parking lot in Bremerhaven, today

Our allies were very lucky that all the forces of Germany were thrown into Eastern front- the Fritz did not have enough resources to release a flock of fantastic "Electroboats" into the sea. If they appeared a year earlier - and that's it, kaput! Another turning point in the battle for the Atlantic.

The Germans were the first to guess: everything that shipbuilders of other countries are proud of - a large ammunition load, powerful artillery, high surface speed of 20+ knots - is of little importance. The key parameters that determine the combat effectiveness of a submarine are its speed and power reserve in a submerged position.

Unlike its peers, "Eletrobot" was focused on being constantly under water: the most streamlined body without heavy artillery, fences and platforms - all for the sake of minimizing underwater resistance. Snorkel, six groups of batteries (3 times more than on conventional boats!), powerful el. full speed engines, quiet and economical el. creep engines.

Aft part of U-2511, flooded at a depth of 68 meters

The Germans calculated everything - the entire campaign "Electrobot" moved at periscope depth under the RDP, remaining difficult to detect for enemy anti-submarine weapons. At great depths, its advantage became even more shocking: 2-3 times the range, at twice the speed, than any of the submarines of the war years! High stealth and impressive underwater skills, homing torpedoes, a set of the most advanced means of detection ... "Electrobots" opened a new milestone in the history of the submarine fleet, defining the vector of development of submarines in the post-war years.

The Allies were not ready to face such a threat - as post-war tests showed, the Electrobots were several times superior in terms of mutual sonar detection range to the American and British destroyers guarding the convoys.

Type VII boats, Germany
The number of submarines built is 703.
Surface displacement - 769 tons; underwater - 871 tons.
Crew - 45 people.
Working depth of immersion - 100 m, limit - 220 meters
Full speed on the surface - 17.7 knots; in a submerged position - 7.6 knots.
Surface cruising range 8,500 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 80 miles (4 knots).
Armament:
- 5 torpedo tubes of caliber 533 mm, ammunition - 14 torpedoes;
- 1 x 88 mm universal gun (until 1942), eight options for add-ons with 20 and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns.

* the given performance characteristics correspond to boats of the VIIC sub-series

The most effective warships ever to sail the world's oceans.
A relatively simple, cheap, massive, but at the same time well-armed and deadly means for total underwater terror.

703 submarines. 10 MILLION tons of sunk tonnage! Battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers, enemy corvettes and submarines, oil tankers, transports with aircraft, tanks, cars, rubber, ore, machine tools, ammunition, uniforms and food ... The damage from the actions of German submariners exceeded all reasonable limits - if not the inexhaustible industrial potential of the United States, capable of compensating for any losses of the allies, the German U-bots had every chance to “strangle” Great Britain and change the course of world history.

U-995. Graceful underwater killer

Often the successes of the "sevens" are associated with the "prosperous time" of 1939-41. - allegedly when the Allies had the escort system and Asdik sonars, the successes of the German submariners ended. A completely populist claim based on a misinterpretation of "prosperous times".

The alignment was simple: at the beginning of the war, when there was one Allied anti-submarine ship for every German boat, the “sevens” felt like invulnerable masters of the Atlantic. It was then that the legendary aces appeared, sinking 40 enemy ships each. The Germans were already holding victory in their hands when the Allies suddenly put up 10 anti-submarine ships and 10 aircraft per Kriegsmarine boat in operation!

Beginning in the spring of 1943, the Yankees and the British began methodically bombarding the Kriegsmarine with anti-submarine warfare and soon achieved an excellent loss ratio of 1:1. So they fought until the end of the war. The Germans ran out of ships faster than their opponents.

The whole history of the German "sevens" is a formidable warning from the past: what kind of threat does the submarine pose and how big are the costs of creating an effective system to counter the underwater threat.

Funky American poster of those years. "Beat on pain points! Come serve on submarine fleet- on our account 77% of the sunk tonnage!" Comments, as they say, are unnecessary

The article uses materials from the book "Soviet submarine shipbuilding", V. I. Dmitriev, Military Publishing, 1990.

Few people know that the Soviet torpedo boats of World War II were giant seaplane floats.

On August 18, 1919, at 03:45, unidentified aircraft appeared over Kronstadt. The air raid alert was sounded on the ships. Actually, there was nothing new for our sailors - British and Finnish aircraft were based 20–40 km from Kronstadt on the Karelian Isthmus and almost all summer of 1919 raided ships and the city, although without much success.

But at 04:20, two speedboats were spotted from the destroyer Gavriil, and almost immediately there was an explosion at the harbor wall. This is a torpedo from a British boat, which passed by the Gabriel, exploded, hitting the pier.

In response, the sailors from the destroyer smashed the nearest boat to smithereens with the first shot from a 100-mm gun. In the meantime, two more boats, having entered the Middle Harbor, headed: one - to the training ship "Memory of Azov", the other - to the Rogatka Ust-Kanal (entrance to the dock of Peter I). With torpedoes fired, the first boat blew up the "Memory of Azov", the second one blew up the battleship "Andrew the First-Called". At the same time, the boats were machine-gunned at the ships near the harbor wall. When leaving the harbor, both boats were sunk by fire from the destroyer Gabriel at 04:25. Thus ended the raid of British torpedo boats, which entered into civil war called the Kronstadt wake-up call.

June 13, 1929 A.N. Tupolev started building a new planing boat ANT-5 with two 533-mm torpedoes. The tests delighted the authorities: boats of other countries could not even dream of such speeds.

floating torpedo tube

Note that this was not the first use of British torpedo boats in the Gulf of Finland. On June 17, 1919, the cruiser Oleg was anchored at the Tolbukhin lighthouse guarded by two destroyers and two patrol vessels. The boat approached almost point-blank to the cruiser and fired a torpedo. The cruiser sank. It is easy to understand how the service was carried out by the Red Naval Marines, if neither on the cruiser, nor on the ships guarding it, no one noticed a suitable boat during the day and with excellent visibility. After the explosion, indiscriminate fire was opened on the "English submarine", which the military men dreamed of.

Where did the British get the boats, moving at an incredible speed for that time of 37 knots (68.5 km / h)? English engineers managed to combine two inventions in the boat: a special ledge in the bottom - a redan and a powerful gasoline engine of 250 hp. Thanks to the redan, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bcontact of the bottom with water, and hence the resistance to the course of the ship, decreased. The extended boat no longer sailed - it seemed to crawl out of the water and glided along it at great speed, leaning on the water surface only with a stepped ledge and a flat aft end.

Thus, in 1915, the British designed a small high-speed torpedo boat, which was sometimes called a "floating torpedo tube".

Soviet admirals became victims of their own propaganda. The belief that our boats are the best did not allow us to take advantage of Western experience.

Shooting back

From the very beginning, the British command considered torpedo boats exclusively as sabotage boats. British admirals intended to use light cruisers as carriers of torpedo boats. The torpedo boats themselves were supposed to be used to attack enemy ships in their bases. Accordingly, the boats were very small: 12.2 m long and 4.25 tons displacement.

Putting a normal (tubular) torpedo tube on such a boat was unrealistic. Therefore, planing boats fired torpedoes ... backwards. Moreover, the torpedo was thrown out of the stern chute not with its nose, but with its tail. At the moment of ejection, the torpedo engine was turned on, and it began to catch up with the boat. The boat, which at the time of the volley had to go at a speed of about 20 knots (37 km / h), but not less than 17 knots (31.5 km / h), turned sharply to the side, and the torpedo retained its original direction, while simultaneously taking on a given depth and increasing the stroke to full. Needless to say, the accuracy of firing a torpedo from such an apparatus is significantly lower than from a tubular one.

In the boats created by Tupolev, a semi-aviation origin is visible. This is duralumin sheathing, and the shape of the hull, and resembling a float of a seaplane, and a small superstructure flattened from the sides.

Revolutionary boats

On September 17, 1919, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Baltic Fleet, on the basis of an inspection certificate of an English torpedo boat raised from the bottom in Kronstadt, turned to the Revolutionary Military Council with a request to issue an order for the urgent construction of English-type speedboats at our factories.

The issue was considered very quickly, and already on September 25, 1919, the GUK reported to the Revolutionary Military Council that "due to the lack of special-type mechanisms that have not yet been manufactured in Russia, the construction of a series of such boats is certainly not feasible at present." That was the end of the matter.

But in 1922 Bekauri's Ostekhbyuro also became interested in planing boats. At his insistence, on February 7, 1923, the Main Naval Technical and Economic Directorate of the People's Commissariat for Maritime Affairs sent a letter to TsAGI "in connection with the emerging need for the fleet in gliders, the tactical tasks of which are: coverage area 150 km, speed 100 km / h, armament one machine gun and two 45 cm Whitehead mines, length 5553 mm, weight 802 kg.

By the way, V.I. Bekauri, not really relying on TsAGI and Tupolev, secured himself and in 1924 ordered a planing torpedo boat from the French company Pikker. However, for a number of reasons, the construction of torpedo boats abroad did not take place.

Planing float

But Tupolev zealously set to work. The small radius of the new torpedo boat and its poor seaworthiness did not bother anyone at that time. It was assumed that the new gliders will be placed on the cruisers. On the "Profintern" and "Chervona Ukraine" it was supposed to make additional dumping davits for this.

The planing boat ANT-3 was based on a seaplane float. The top of this float, which actively affects the strength of the structure, was transferred to Tupolev's boats. Instead of an upper deck, they had a steeply curved convex surface, which is difficult for a person to hold on to even when the boat is stationary. When the boat was on the move, it was deadly dangerous to leave its conning tower - the wet, slippery surface threw off absolutely everything that fell on it (unfortunately, with the exception of ice, in winter conditions the boats froze over in the surface). When, during the war, troops had to be transported on torpedo boats of the G-5 type, people were put in single file in the chutes of torpedo tubes, they had nowhere else to be. With relatively large reserves of buoyancy, these boats could carry practically nothing, since there was no room for cargo in them.

The design of the torpedo tube borrowed from English torpedo boats was also unsuccessful. The minimum boat speed at which he could launch his torpedoes was 17 knots. At a slower speed and at a stop, the boat could not fire a torpedo salvo, as this would mean suicide for it - an imminent torpedo hit.

On March 6, 1927, the ANT-3 boat, later called the First-born, was sent by rail from Moscow to Sevastopol, where it was safely launched. From April 30 to July 16 of the same year, ANT-3 was tested.

On the basis of the ANT-3, the ANT-4 boat was created, which developed a speed of 47.3 knots (87.6 km / h) in tests. According to the ANT-4 type, serial production of torpedo boats, called Sh-4, was launched. They were built in Leningrad at the plant. Marty (former Admiralty Shipyard). The cost of the boat was 200 thousand rubles. The Sh-4 boats were equipped with two Wright-Typhoon gasoline engines supplied from the USA. The armament of the boat consisted of two groove-type torpedo tubes for 450-mm torpedoes of the 1912 model, one 7.62-mm machine gun and smoke-producing equipment. Total at the plant. Marty in Leningrad, 84 Sh-4 boats were built.

Torpedo boat D-3

Torpedo boat ELKO

Torpedo boat G-5

S-boat Schnellboot torpedo boat

Torpedo boat A-1 "Vosper"

The fastest in the world

In the meantime, on June 13, 1929, Tupolev at TsAGI began the construction of a new planing duralumin boat ANT-5, armed with two 533-mm torpedoes. From April to November 1933, the boat passed factory tests in Sevastopol, and from November 22 to December - state tests. The tests of the ANT-5 literally delighted the authorities - the boat with torpedoes developed a speed of 58 knots (107.3 km / h), and without torpedoes - 65.3 knots (120.3 km / h). Boats of other countries could not even dream of such speeds.

Plant them. Marty, starting from the V series (the first four series are the Sh-4 boats), switched to the production of the G-5 (that was the name of the ANT-5 serial boats). Later, G-5 began to be built at plant No. 532 in Kerch, and with the outbreak of war, plant No. 532 was evacuated to Tyumen, and there, at plant No. 639, they also began building boats of the G-5 type. A total of 321 serial boats G-5 of nine series were built (from VI to XII, including XI-bis).

Torpedo armament for all series was the same: two 533-mm torpedoes in groove tubes. But the machine gun armament was constantly changing. So, the boats of the VI-IX series had two 7.62-mm DA machine guns each. The next series had two 7.62-mm ShKAS aircraft machine guns, which were distinguished by a higher rate of fire. Since 1941, boats have been equipped with one or two 12.7 mm DShK machine guns.

Torpedo leader

Tupolev and Nekrasov (immediate leader of the experimental design team for gliders) # did not calm down on the G-5 and in 1933 proposed the project of the “leader of the G-6 torpedo boats”. According to the project, the displacement of the boat was to be 70 tons. Eight GAM-34 engines of 830 hp each. were supposed to provide a speed of up to 42 knots (77.7 km / h). The boat could fire a salvo of six 533-mm torpedoes, three of which were launched from aft groove-type torpedo tubes, and three more from a rotary three-tube torpedo tube located on the deck of the boat. Artillery armament consisted of a 45 mm 21K semi-automatic gun, a 20 mm "aircraft type" gun and several 7.62 mm machine guns. It should be noted that by the beginning of the construction of the boat (1934), both rotary torpedo tubes and 20-mm cannons of the "aviation type" existed only in the imagination of the designers.

suicide bombers

Tupolev boats could operate with torpedoes in waves up to 2 points, and stay at sea - up to 3 points. Poor seaworthiness manifested itself primarily in the flooding of the bridge of the boat even with the slightest wave and, in particular, in the strong splashing of a very low pilothouse open from above, which made it difficult for the boat crew to work. The autonomy of the Tupolev boats was also a derivative of seaworthiness - their design range could never be guaranteed, since it depended not so much on the fuel supply as on the weather. Stormy conditions in the sea are relatively rare, but a fresh wind, accompanied by waves of 3-4 points, is a normal phenomenon. Therefore, each exit of the Tupolev torpedo boats into the sea bordered on deadly risk out of any connection with the combat activities of the boats.

A rhetorical question: why then were hundreds of gliding torpedo boats built in the USSR? It's all about the Soviet admirals, for whom the British Grand Fleet was a constant headache. They seriously thought that the British Admiralty would operate in the 1920s and 1930s in the same way as in Sevastopol in 1854 or in Alexandria in 1882. That is, British battleships in calm and clear weather will approach Kronstadt or Sevastopol, and Japanese battleships will approach Vladivostok, anchor and start a battle according to the “Gost regulations”.

And then dozens of the world's fastest torpedo boats of the Sh-4 and G-5 types will fly into the enemy armada. At the same time, some of them will be radio-controlled. The equipment for such boats was created at Ostekhbyuro under the leadership of Bekauri.

In October 1937, a large exercise was conducted using radio-controlled boats. When a formation representing an enemy squadron appeared in the western part of the Gulf of Finland, more than 50 radio-controlled boats, breaking through smoke screens, rushed from three sides to enemy ships and attacked them with torpedoes. After the exercise, the division of radio-controlled boats was highly appreciated by the command.

We'll go our own way

Meanwhile, the USSR was the only leading maritime power that built redan-type torpedo boats. England, Germany, the USA and other countries moved on to the construction of seaworthy keel torpedo boats. Such boats were inferior to redans in speed in calm weather, but significantly surpassed them in seas of 3–4 points. Keel boats carried more powerful artillery and torpedo weapons.

The superiority of keel boats over redans became apparent during the war of 1921-1933 off the east coast of the United States, which was waged by the Yankee government with ... Mr. Bacchus. Bacchus, of course, won, and the government was forced to shamefully repeal the Prohibition. A significant role in the outcome of the war was played by the high-speed boats of the Elko company, which delivered whiskey from Cuba and the Bahamas. Another question is that the same company built boats for the Coast Guard.

The capabilities of keel boats can be judged at least by the fact that a Scott-Payne boat, 70 feet (21.3 m) long, armed with four 53-cm torpedo tubes and four 12.7-mm machine guns, passed from England in the United States under its own power and on September 5, 1939, was solemnly welcomed in New York. In his image, the Elko company began the mass construction of torpedo boats.

By the way, 60 boats of the Elko type were delivered under Lend-Lease to the USSR, where they received the A-3 index. On the basis of A-3 in the 1950s, we created the most common torpedo boat of the Soviet Navy - Project 183.

Germans with a keel

It is worth noting that in Germany, literally bound hand and foot by the Treaty of Versailles and engulfed by an economic crisis, they managed to test redan and keel boats in the 1920s. According to the test results, an unambiguous conclusion was made - to make only keel boats. The Lyursen firm became a monopoly in the production of torpedo boats.

During the war years, German boats operated freely in fresh weather throughout the North Sea. Based in Sevastopol and in Dvuyakornaya Bay (near Feodosia), German torpedo boats operated throughout the Black Sea. At first, our admirals did not even believe the reports that German torpedo boats were operating in the Poti region. Meetings between our and German torpedo boats invariably ended in favor of the latter. During the fighting Black Sea Fleet in 1942-1944 not a single German torpedo boat was sunk at sea.

Flying over the water

Let's dot the "i". Tupolev is a talented aircraft designer, but why did you have to take on other than your own business ?! In some ways, it can be understood - huge funds were allocated for torpedo boats, and in the 1930s there was a tough competition among aircraft designers. Let's pay attention to one more fact. The construction of boats was not classified in our country. The gliders flying over the water were used with might and main by Soviet propaganda. The population constantly saw Tupolev's torpedo boats in illustrated magazines, on numerous posters, in newsreels. Pioneers were voluntarily-compulsorily taught to make models of red torpedo boats.

As a result, our admirals became victims of their own propaganda. It was officially believed that Soviet boats were the best in the world and there was no point in paying attention to foreign experience. In the meantime, agents of the German company Lursen, starting in the 1920s, “sticking out their tongues” were looking for clients. Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Spain and even China became customers of their keel boats.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Germans easily shared secrets in the field of tank building, aviation, artillery, poisonous substances, etc. with their Soviet colleagues. But they did not lift a finger from us to buy at least one Lursen.