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This title is the 26th volume containing the usual diverse range of major feature articles devoted to the design, development and service of the world's fighting ships.
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75% found this document useful (4 votes)
1K views211 pagesWarship 2004
This title is the 26th volume containing the usual diverse range of major feature articles devoted to the design, development and service of the world's fighting ships.
Uploaded by
SaskJackCopyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
/ 211
EDITOR
Antony Preston was the frst editor of Warship an re
his duties in 1996, He has writen numerous books on naval
technology and history and was a major contributor to the
‘Conway's All The Worlds Fighting Ships series. Antony's most
recent book, The Worl’ Worst Warships, sa conteoversial
‘examination of why some warship designs fail,
MAIN CONTRIBUTORS
thas always been the policy of Warship co publish the work
of the world finest warship historians. Consequently, the
constibutions to this volume are by established and
recognised expents
Tain McCallum worked forthe British Council in various
parts ofthe world, before returning to England to pursue his
research in military and naval history. In addition to 2
number of articles, he has published Blood Brothers, a double
Biography ofthe inventors Hiram and Hudson Maxie
John Jordan has written widely on the development of fast
French battleships, the post-Soviet Russian Navy andl the
modern navies of Western Europe, His current major interest
isin the French Marine Nationale of the inter-var period.
Kathrin Milanovich has been researching the history of the
Imperial Japanese Navy for many years. This is her fist
contribution to Warship.
Peter Brook was a retired psychiatrist who began writing on
warships thirty years ago itn Werships Intemational This is his
sixth contribution to Warship; he also recently published
Warships for Export: Anmstongs Warships 1867-1927 for the
World Ship Society,
Enrico Cernuschi and Vincent O'Hara are first time
contributors to Warship. Cernuschi has published more than
150 articles on maritime subjects, and is the co-author of the
Aefincive Le Navi da Guerm ltaiane 1940-1945. O'F
researched naval history for 25 years, and his book
battles of the German navy is forthcoming from the Naval
Institute Press.
Daniel G. Harris turned his hand to maritime history in
1985, specialising in Swedish naval procurement. In 1991 he
was awarded the Silver Medal of Merit by the Swedish Royal
Society of Naval Sciences. He now resides in Canada
Stephen McLaughlin is a librarian with the San ranciseo
public library. He specialises in the construction programmes of|
Russia and the former Soviet Union and is the author of
Russian ae Soviet Baleshps (Naval Institute Press, 2003).
George Moore is researching the warship building ro:
grammes ofthe Royal Navy which evolved in the Second
‘World War, He has contributed numerous articles to Warship
fon wartime cruiser projects and steam gunboats.
Colin Jones isa rela Warship author and as also
contributed to The Age of Sai. He isthe author of several
books on a number of subjects apart from the navy, including
radio, trams and fery boats. WARSHIP 2004 ‘WARSHIP 2004
Warship Editor: Antony Preston
Warship 2004 compiled by:
Martin Robson & Stephen Dent
CONWAY MARITIME PRESS Frontispiece
‘The cruiser USS Charleston. Stern view showing her temporary al 6in armament. The ship is fea
tured in Peter Brook's antile ‘Armstrongs’ Conaribution to the New United States Navy’ inthis ed-
tion, (Library of Congress Print & Photographic Department, Detroit Publishing Co.)
© Conway Maritime Press 2004
Fi published in Great Britain in 2004 by
‘Consvay Maritime Press
‘An imprint of Chrysais Books Group pl
‘The Chrysalis Building,
Bramley Road,
London W10 68P
“wev:conwaymaritime.com
AllLrights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,
stored in 2 retieval system, of rransmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
‘otherwise, without the prior written permission of che publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
‘Acrecord ofthis til is available on request fom the British Library.
ISBN 085177 9484
‘Warship editor: Antony Preston.
Warship 2004 compiled by Marin Robson and Stephen Dent
Frined in Spain| CONTENTS
Editorial
FEATURE ARTICLES
The Riddle of the Shells, 1914-18: The Test of Battle, Heligoland to the Dardanelles
by Tain McCallum
The Minelaying Cruiser Pluton by John Jordan
Naniwa and Takachiho: Elswick-buile Protected Cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy
by Kathrin Milanovich
Armstrongs’ Contribution to the New United States Navy by Peter Brook
‘A Century-Long Dream: Single Purpose Engine Submarines of the Italian Navy
by Enrico Cemuschi and Vincent O’ Hara
Minelayer Clas Fleming: an early Gas Turbine Ship by Daniel G Harris
Project 69: The Kronshtadt Class Battlecruisers by Stephen McLaughlin
The Dawn of the Salisbury, Leopard and Whitby Class Frigates by George Moore
The Ships Named Anzac by Colin Jones
REVIEW SECTION
Navies In Review 2003-2004
Warship Notes
The World's Worst Warships
Reviews
Warship Gallery
Index
21
29
57
76
92
99
118
138
149
163
175
187
200
206 EDITORIAL
VX J ctcome to Warship 2004, the 26th issue of the
prestigious annual. It has undoubtedly been
noticed that the previous issue, Warship 2002-2008, was
late. This has resulted in a decision to permanently move
the publication of the annual from autumn/winter to the
spring, Regular readers will already have noticed the slight
change in title of the annual, removing the two-year
spread from its name. This was causing some confusion,
among readers. We feel that renaming the title to contain,
just one year (thus this years annual is Warship 2004) will
Femove any grounds for confusion as to when the annual
is wo be published.
Regular contributors and readers may already know
that Antony Preston, the regular and esteemed Editor of
Warship, has recently been unwell, All at Conway
Maritime Press send Antony our very best wishes, and we
hope to have him back at the helm next year for what
will be an important issue, coming as it does in the
Trafalgar bi-centennial year. In the meantime the
Conway team have stepped up into the breach to do our
best to try to fill Antony’ admittedly considerable
Editorial shoes for this issue of Warship. Many individuals
have also rallied to the cause providing assistance and
hrlp. It is evidence indeed of the high standing in which
Warship is held that all calls for assistance have been
answered in the affirmative. Firstly, special mention must
be made of Conrad Waters, who kindly submitted this
year's ‘Navies in Review’ section in a style and with the
comprehensive coverage Warship readers expect and
demand. Help also came from DK Brown, Lawrie
Phillips, Ralph Dunn of the DPA Press Office, Mike
Dent, Andy Field, Wyn Davies, Monika Majlinder, John
Bowen, Ian Sturton, David Evans and of course Stuart
Robertson in the Conway office
Although we were delighted at the helpful response
from all areas, this was tempered a great deal by the sad
news of the passing of Peter Brook. As many of you know,
Peter was a regular and valued contributor not only to
Warship but also other journals including the Mariner's
Mirror. He was the author of Warships for Export:
Armstrong Warships, 1867-1927 (World Ship Society,
Gravesend, 1999). Peter's contributions to the annual
were always lucid, informative and a joy to read. He will
be sadly missed. Peters article for this year, “Armstrongs’
Contribution to the New United States Navy’, can be
found on p.57 with an obituary from lan Sturton on p.75.
In this article he demonstrates his unrivalled knowledge
of the ships designed and” buile by Armstrongs.
Interestingly, the company did not build any vessels
directly for the USN. OF the seven Armstrong:designed
ships that found their way into USN service, three were
builtin the US, while four were actually built by the firm
but for other navies, two for Brazil and two for Spain. The
design, construction and service careers of each of the
seven vessels remind us that while many countries aspire
to a clear programme of warship constriction, in reality
‘opportunistic procurement can be a more attractive alter-
This year the running onder commences with the sec-
cond part of lain McCallum’ trilogy examining the shell
problems of the Royal Navy during the First World War.
Ships are designed to fight, but to do so they require suit
able ammunition, and even the heaviest-armed vessels
can be rendered impotent by faulty firepower. Here the
‘emphasis is on the test of action, in particular the action,
off Heligoland and the controversial naval bombardment
of the Dardanelles. Concems about the effectiveness of
British projectiles were raised after Heligoland and at the
Falkland Islands, where shells had failed to burst suffi
ciently to cause maximum damage. Churchill, worried
that such revelations might impact on naval morale,
shouted down these concerns, The disect result (in strik-
ing similarity to Admiral Duckworth’s expedition of
1807) was the navy’ failure to mount an effective purely
naval bombardment at the Dardanelles, due to shell short-
ages and design problems. This led to the controversial,
costly and ultimately unsuccessful deployment of land
forces, proving Corbett’s dictum that naval forces are not
1 panacea for all ills in order to be effective, naval force
rust be able to project power ashore by working closely
with land forces in order to have a decisive influence,
Steve McLaughlin has continued to amaze Warship
readers with his breadth of knowledge and his ability t0
pick out fascinating episodes in Russian and Soviet war-
ship development that serve to broaden our understand
ing of history. This year he tackles one of the hardest of
subjects: ships that were never actually completed. In
‘Project 69: The Kronshtadt Class Battlecruisers’ he exam-
ines the Soviets’ ambitious plans for capital ship design
luring the 1930s, His understanding of the political fac-
tors influencing ship design and the bureaucracy that goes
with it should be recommended reading forall those with
a vested interest in warship history. Readers who feel suit-
ably inspired to tackle che intricacies of research in mod-
crn day Russia might also like to consult his Warship Note
on p.171, which provides invaluable advice.
‘After the big gun ships, ewo contributions ftom Warship
regulars provide readers with an examination of two solu-
tions to littoral minelaying in different decades. In
chronological order, Dan Harris examines the Swedish,
Clas Fleming minelayer, built specifically for offensive
rminelaying in the Baltic. Meanwhile, John Jordan looks
at the Marine National's inter-war efforts to restrict future
German naval movements by extensive minelaying, The WARSHIP 2004
result was Platon, a cruiser design which was (apart from
HMS Adventioe) quite unique. It is interesting that both
‘of these ships had chequered histories. The pre-First
‘World War Clas Fleming saw some aetion in both World
‘Wars and underwent several reconstructions before being
scrapped in 1960. Despite this she spent the majority of
her time under dockyard control. The ill-fated Pluon last-
ced only a few days into the Second World War when on.
15 September 1939 she was blown to bits by an explosion,
while unloading mines in Casablanca,
Another regular contributor to Warship is George
Moore, whose work on the post-1945 Royal Navy has
enlightened many readers. This year his subject is the
first-class Salisbury, Leopard and Whitby frigates construct
ced against the backdrop of the hard won experience
gained during the Second World War. The desigas also
encompassed the important technical developments that
evolved in the immediate post war era when the future
international situation was uncleat. The Salisburys and
Lepoards were complex classes of ships, dogged by engine
problems. But the later Whitbys benefited from the expe-
rience of building the earlier ships, and provided the basic
hull design forthe famous Leander class - a clear example
of lessons being leamed and then implemented by naval
‘Afier encompassing the Baltic, Mediterranean and
Atlantic, Colin Jones takes us to warmer climes in his
article examining the histories of the four warships that
have been named Anzac. The name is one of the most
revered in che Royal Australian Navy, stemming as it does
from the Gallipoli landings of 1915. The RN first used the
iname in 1916 fora hired ex-trawler. A subsequent Anzac
was built as a destroyer leader. The RAN’s first Anzac was
a destroyer launched in 1948, and the current Anzac, a
frigate, was commissioned in 1998, All of these vessels
hhave had interesting careers, which Colin details in an
engaging styl.
One important factor in the continued success of
‘Warship over the past 26 years has been the influx of new
contributors. This issue is no different with two contribu
tions from authors new to the annual, Kathrin
Milanovich has been researching the warship construc-
tion history of the Japanese Navy for several years, and it
is hoped that her article ‘Naniua and Takachiko: Elswick:
Built Protected Cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy’
will be the first of many. The ships were purchased from,
‘Acmstrongs in response to Chinese naval aggrandizement
at the turn of the century and fitted into a wider Japanese
plan to build up naval forces, Both saw action at Tsushima
in 1905, but this was the highlight of their careers,
Naniwa running aground and sinking in 1912 and
Takachiho sunk by the German torpedo boat 5-90 off
‘Tsingtao in late 1914. Las, but certainly not least, Enrico
CCernuschi and Vincent O'Hara have managed to com-
press a century’ worth of history into a lucid and inform-
tive examination of the Italian Navy's lengehy attempts
to build a true single-engine purpose-built submarine, a
dream eventually achieved in 2003 with the launch of the
new U2I2A.type submarine, Salatore Toro.
Finally, special mention must be made of D K Brown's
‘Slippery Ships’, which, although a little too short to be
run as a main article, has been included in the Warship
Notes section. This contribution has kept up bis amazing
record of contributing to every single year of Warship, and
wll continue next year when he will be looking at Steam,
‘Torpedo boats of the Royal Navy. In a break from tradi-
tion this year Warship Notes is followed by a number of
contributions in response to Antony Preston's recent
‘book, World's Worst Warships. Readers will be delighted
(and possibly enraged at the same time) a the stimulating
debate Antony's controversial book has provoked.
Readers who wish to follow Rowland Wylde, Andreas
Liidke, Philip Sims, Stephen Dent and D K Brown and
contribute to the debate, in response to the book or the
correspondence in this issue of Warship, can write to the
Managing Editor at the Conway office.
The continued success of Warship is driven by the qual-
ity of the contributions, and we always welcome submis-
sions of full length articles, shorter pieces to be included
in Warship Notes, reviews and images for the Gallery
‘Submissions can be on any subject to do with naval his-
tory from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, and
should preferably be supplied as double spaced typescript
on single sides of paper, accompanied by an electronic
version on disk, in text only format. Ideally submissions
should be accompanied by illustrations, either hard copy -
photographs, print outs ete. - or digital images on disk. To,
assist those readers who wish co supply images in this lat-
ter form, either scans or from a digital eamera, then what
is required is as follows:
1. Pictures should be either at 300 dpi resolution, to
sive a width of approximately 16cm, or if at T2dpi resolu
tion, then the width will have to be approximately 60cm
in order to allow for a four times reduction to obtain an
acceptable image for reproduction. Smaller sizes will
result in images that can only be used across one column,
as opposed to full page with,
2. Images should be saved either as EPS, TIFE, or JPEG
format.
3. In addition, we would prefer hard copies of the
images to be included, to give a fallback should the digi-
tal images nor prove adequate.
Questions on this matter, and with submissions gener-
ally, should be addressed to the Managing Editor at the
Conway office. THE RIDDLE OF THE
SHELLS, 1914-18
Part Two: The Test of Battle, Heligoland
to the Dardanelles
In the second part of his trilogy, Iain McCallum reviews the nature of the heavy shell
supplied to the Royal Navy's capital ships during the early phases of the First World War.
With the notable exception of the attack at the Dardanelles, actions at sea were generally
successful. Nevertheless in the light of experience the Fleet’s gunnery officers were
increasingly inclined to question the effectiveness of their projectiles.
1 the years before 1914 relations between the British
naval officer and his counterpart in the German High,
Seas fleet were cordial enough on the personal and pro-
fessional level, each eyeing the other with wary respect.
‘When in 1908 Margot Asquith travelled to Devonport «0
launch the dreadnought HMS Collingwood, she asked
‘Admiral Fawkes in her blunt way if he or any of his sea
friends were afraid of the German fleet. He said he
thought the navy that was copied and did not copy was
likely to remain the most powerful, and he added that
they knew all about the German fleet except its record of
target practice at sea. It was a significant proviso. The
Germans were careful to withhold details of firing exer-