Destroyers: technical characteristics. The emergence of a class of destroyers and their types

The history of the navies of leading powers and significant naval battles since the XIX century is inseparably linked with destroyers. Today, these are no longer those brisk speed boats with a small displacement, a vivid example of which is Zamvolt, a type of US destroyers, which, at the very end of 2015, went on the sea trials.

What destroyers are

A destroyer, and, in short, a destroyer, is a class of warships. Multipurpose high-speed manoeuvrable vessels were originally intended for interception and destruction by artillery fire of enemy ships while guarding a squadron of heavy slow-moving ships. By the beginning of the First World War the main purpose of destroyers was torpedo attacks by large enemy ships. The war has expanded the range of missions of destroyers, they are already serving for anti-submarine and anti-aircraft defense, landings of landings. Their importance in the navy began to grow, the displacement and firepower significantly increased.

Today they also serve to combat submarines, ships and aircraft (aircraft, missiles) of the enemy.

The destroyers carry sentinel services, can be used for reconnaissance, provide artillery support during the landing, and put mine barriers.

First there was a class of light ships, their seaworthiness was low, they could not operate autonomously. Their main weapon was mines. To fight them in many fleets appeared so-called fighters - small high-speed ships, for which torpedoes of the beginning of XX century did not present a special danger. Later, these ships and received the name of a destroyer.

The destroyer - because the torpedoes before the revolution were called self-propelled mines in Russia. Squadron - because they guarded the squadrons and acted in their composition in the sea and ocean zone.

The prerequisites for creating a class of destroyers

Torpedo weapons in the arsenal of the British navy appeared around the last quarter of the XIX century. And the first destroyers were the destroyers "Lightning" (Great Britain) and "Vzryv" (Russia) built in 1877. Small fast and cheap in production, they could sink a large battleship.

Two years later, the British fleet built eleven more powerful destroyers, for France - twelve, for Austria-Hungary and Denmark - one at a time.

Successful actions of Russian minesweepers during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. And the development of torpedo weapons led to the creation of the concept of a destroyer fleet, according to which large costly battleships are not needed for the defense of coastal waters, many small short-range destroyers with small displacement can solve this problem. In the eighties of the XIX century, a real "minon" boom began. Only the leading maritime powers - Britain, Russia and France - had 325 destroyers in their fleets. Replenished with such vessels and fleets of the United States, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy and other European countries.

The same sea powers at about the same time began to create ships for the destruction of destroyers and minesweepers. These "destroyer destroyers" were to be equally fast, in addition to torpedoes, to have artillery in their armament and have the same range of moves as other large ships of the main fleet.

The displacement of the "fighters" was already much larger than that of the destroyers.

The prototypes of the destroyers are the British torpedo battering ramp "Polyphemus" built in 1892, the deficit of which was weak artillery armament, cruisers Archer and Scout, gunboats of the types Dryad (Khaltsion) and Sharpshooter, Jason (" Alarm "), a large destroyer" Swift "built in 1894 with removable weapons, sufficient to destroy destroyers of the enemy.

The British also built for Japan an armored destroyer of the first class Kotak of great displacement with a powerful power unit and good armament, but with unsatisfactory seaworthiness, and after it a ship for fighting destroyers Destructor ordered by Spain, where it was classified as a torpedo gunboat .

First destroyers

In the age-old confrontation between the British and French navies, the British first built six ships for themselves, which differed somewhat in appearance, but had similar running characteristics and replaceable weapons in order to alternately solve the tasks of torpedo bombers or destroyer destroyers. Their displacement was about 270 tons, speed - 26 knots. They armed these ships with one 76-mm, three 57-mm guns and three torpedo tubes. Tests have shown that even the simultaneous installation of all weapons for maneuverability and speed does not affect. The bow of the ship was covered with a carass ("tortoise shell"), which protected the battle deck and the main caliber platform installed above it. The barrier-breakwaters on the sides of the felling were protected by the remaining guns.

The first French destroyer was built in the last year of the XIX, and the American - at the very beginning of the next century. In the United States for four years, 16 destroyers were built.

In Russia at the turn of the century, they did not have names, so-called numbered destroyers. With a displacement of 90-150 tons, they developed a speed of up to 25 knots, were armed with one fixed, two moving torpedo tubes and a light cannon.

The independent class of destroyers were after the war of 1904-1905. With Japan.

Destroyers of the beginning of XX century

At the turn of the century, steam turbines are coming into the design of the power plant of destroyers. This change allows dramatically increase the speed of ships. The first destroyer with a new power plant on tests was able to develop a speed of 36 knots.

Then England began to build destroyers, working on oil, not coal. Following it, the fleets of other countries began to transfer to liquid fuel. In Russia it was the "Novik" project, built in 1910.

The Russian-Japanese war with the defense of Port Arthur and the Battle of Tsushima, in which nine Russian and twenty-one Japanese destroyers came together, showed the shortcomings of this type of ships and the weakness of their weapons.

By 1914 the displacement of destroyers had grown to 1,000 tons. Their bodies were made of thin steel, stationary and single-tube mobile torpedo tubes were replaced by multi-tubulars on a rotating platform with optical sight fixed to it. The torpedoes became large, their speed and range significantly increased.

The conditions for the rest of the sailors and the officers of the crew of the destroyers have changed. Officers received separate cabins for the first time on the British destroyer "River" in 1902.

During the war, destroyers with a displacement of up to 1,500 tons, a speed of 37 knots, steam boilers with oil nozzles, four three-tube torpedo tubes and five guns, caliber of 88 or 102 mm, actively participated in patrolling, raiding operations, setting up minefields, transporting troops. In the biggest naval battle of this war - the Jutland battle - over 80 British and 60 German destroyers took part.

In this war, the destroyers began to carry out another task - to protect the fleet from the attacks of submarines, attacking them with artillery fire or a ram. This led to the strengthening of the hulls of destroyers, equipping them with hydrophones to detect submarines and deep-sea bombs. The first time the submarine was sunk by a deep-seated bomb destroyer "Llewellyn" in December 1916.

The UK created during the war a new subclass - a "destroyer leader", with greater characteristics and weapons than a conventional destroyer. It was intended to launch its destroyers, fight with enemy forces, control destroyer groups and reconnaissance with the squadron.

Destroyers in the period between wars

The experience of the First World War showed that torpedo armament of destroyers is not sufficient for combat operations. To increase the number of volleys in the building apparatus, six pipes were installed.

A new stage in the construction of this type of ship can be considered Japanese destroyers of the "Fubuki" type. Their armament consisted of six powerful five-inch guns with a large angle of elevation, which could be used as anti-aircraft guns, and three three-tube torpedo tubes with type 93 "Long Lance" oxygen torpedoes. In the following Japanese destroyers, spare torpedoes were placed in the deck superstructure to speed up the recharging of the vehicles.

US destroyers of the projects "Porter", "Mahen" and "Gridley" were equipped with coupled five-inch guns, and then increased the number of torpedo tubes to 12 and 16, respectively.

French destroyers of the Jaguar type already had a displacement of 2,000 tons and 130 mm guns. The leader of the destroyers "Le Fantasque" built in 1935 had a record speed of 45 knots for that time and was armed with five 138-mm guns and nine torpedo tubes. Almost as fast were Italian destroyers.

In accordance with the Hitler program of rearmament, large destroyers and Germany were building, ships of the 1934 type had a displacement of 3,000 tons, but weak armament. The destroyers of type 1936 were already armed with heavy 150-mm guns.

The Germans in the destroyers used a steam-turbine plant with high-pressure steam. The solution was innovative, but it led to serious problems in mechanics.

In contrast to the Japanese and German programs for the construction of large destroyers, the British and Americans began to create light, but more numerous ships. English destroyers of types A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H with a displacement of 1,400 tons had eight torpedo tubes and four 120-mm guns. True, at the same time destroyers of the "Tribal" type with a displacement of more than 1.8 thousand tons were built with four gun turrets, in which eight coupled guns of caliber of 4.7 inches were installed.

Then, destroyers of types J with 10 torpedo tubes were launched and in three towers with six coupled guns, and L, on which six paired new universal guns and eight torpedo tubes were installed.

US destroyers of the Benson type, with a displacement of 1.6 thousand tons, were armed with ten torpedo tubes and five 127-mm (5-inch) guns.

The Soviet Union before the Great Patriotic War was building destroyers for Project 7 and for the finalized 7y, in which the echeloned arrangement of the propulsion system made it possible to improve the survivability of the ships. They developed a speed of 38 knots with a displacement of about 1.9 thousand tons.

According to the draft 1/38, six destroyer leaders were built (the main one was Leningrad) with a displacement of almost 3,000 tons, with a speed of 43 knots and a reserve of 2,100 miles.

In Italy, the leader of the destroyers "Tashkent" with a displacement of 4,200 tons was built for the Black Sea fleet, with a maximum speed of 44 knots and a cruising range of more than 5 thousand miles at 25 knots of speed.

Experience of the Second World War

In the Second World War, aviation took an active part, including in combat operations at sea. Destroyers began to mount anti-aircraft guns and radars. The fight against the more advanced submarines began to use bombs.

The destroyers were the "expendable material" of the fleets of all belligerent countries. They were the most massive ships, participated in all battles in all theaters of military operations at sea. German destroyers of that period had only airborne numbers.

By the middle of the XX century some destroyers of the war times, in order not to build expensive new ships, were upgraded specifically to combat submarines.

Also, a number of large-sized, armed with automatic guns of the main caliber, bombs, radar, sonar of ships were built: the Soviet destroyers of the project 30 bis and 56, the British destroyers Dering and the American Forrest Sherman.

Missile era of destroyers

Since the sixties of the last century, with the advent of ground-to-ground and ground-to-air missiles, major naval powers began to build destroyers with guided missiles (the Russian abbreviation is URO, the English abbreviation is DDG). They were the Soviet ships of Project 61, the English - of the type "County", the American ones - of the type "Charles F. Adams".

By the end of the twentieth century, the boundaries between the actual destroyers, heavily armed frigates and cruisers are blurring.

In the Soviet Union since 1981, began to build destroyers of Project 956 (type "Sarych" or "Modern"). These are the only Soviet ships that were originally classified as destroyers. They were intended to combat surface forces and support troops, and then for anti-submarine and anti-aircraft defense.

On 956 the project was built and the destroyer "Persevere", the current flagship of the Baltic Fleet. It was launched in January 1991. Its full displacement is 8,000 tons, its length is 156.5 meters, its maximum speed is 33.4 knots, its cruising range is 1.35 thousand miles at a speed of 33 knots and 3,9 thousand miles at 19 knots. Two boiler-turbine units give a capacity of 100 thousand liters. from.

The destroyer is armed with launchers of anti-ship cruise missiles Moskit (two quadruples), the Shtil anti-aircraft missile system (2 units), RBU-1000 six-barreled bombs (2 units), two 130 mm twin artillery guns, six AK 630 Installations), two twin torpedo tubes with a caliber of 533 mm. On board the ship is a Ka-27 helicopter.

Of the ones that had been built by the newest until recently were the destroyers of the Indian fleet. Ships of the Delhi type have anti-ship missiles with a range of 130 km, Shtil (Russia) and Barak (Israel) for anti-aircraft defense, Russian anti-submarine missile systems RBU-6000 for anti-submarine defense and five torpedo tubes for torpedoes. 533 mm. The helicopter landing site is designed for two Sea King helicopters. It is expected to shortly replace these ships with the destroyers of the Kolkata project.

Today, the destroyer DDG-1000 Zumwalt US Navy intercepted the palm tree championship.

Destroyers in the 21st century

In all the main fleets, there have been general trends in the construction of new destroyers. The main application is the use of combat management systems similar to the American Aegis (AEGIS), which is designed to destroy not only aircraft, but also missiles of the ship-ship and air-ship classes.

When creating new ships, Stealth technology should be used: radio-absorbing materials and coatings should be used, special geometric shapes should be developed, for example, what distinguishes a USS Zumwalt destroyer.

In new destroyers, the speed of travel should also increase, due to which the habitation and seaworthiness will increase.

In modern ships, a high level of automation, but it should increase, and, therefore, the specific weight of auxiliary power plants should grow.

It is clear that all these processes lead to an increase in the cost of building ships, so a qualitative increase in their capabilities should occur due to a reduction in the number.

The destroyers of the new century must surpass in size and displacement all the ships of this kind that existed until today. The new destroyer DDG-1000 Zumwalt is considered the record for displacement, it is 14 thousand tons. This type of ships was planned to be introduced into the US Navy already in 2016, the first of which was already on the sea trials.

By the way, the domestic destroyers of project 23560, which, as promised, will begin to build by 2020, will already displacement of 18 thousand tons.

The Russian project of a new destroyer

According to the project 23560, which, according to the media, is in the draft planning stage, 12 ships are planned to be built. The destroyer "Leader" with a length of 200 meters and a width of 23 meters should have an unlimited range of navigation, in autonomous navigation, stay 90 days, develop a maximum speed of 32 knots. It is supposed to be a classic ship layout using Stealth technologies.

A promising destroyer of the "Leader" project (surface ship of the ocean zone) will most likely be built with an atomic power plant and must carry 60 or 70 cruise missiles of hidden basing. It is planned to hide in the mines and anti-aircraft guided missiles, which should be only 128, including the Polimen-Redut SAM. Antisubmarine weapons should consist of 16-24 guided missiles (PLRM). The destroyers will receive a universal gun mount of 130 mm caliber A-192 "Armat" and a landing pad for two multipurpose helicopters.

All data are still of a hypothetical nature and can be refined later on.

Navy representatives believe that destroyers of the "Leader" type will be universal ships, performing the functions of destroyers, anti-submarine ships and, perhaps, missile cruisers of the "Orlan" type.

The destroyer "Zamvolt"

Destroyers of the Zumwalt type are a key element of the US Navy's program for surface ships of the 21st century (Surface Combatant SC-21).

A Russian destroyer of the "Leader" type is a question, perhaps, of the near, but future.

But the first destroyer of the new type DDG-1000 Zumwalt has already been launched, and in early December 2015, its factory tests were started. The peculiar appearance of this destroyer is called futuristic, its hull and superstructure are covered with radio absorbing materials with a thickness of almost three centimeters (1 inch), the number of protruding antennas is reduced to a minimum. A series of destroyers like Zumwalt is limited to only 3 ships, two of which are still at different stages of construction.

Destroyers of "Zamvolt" type, 183 m long, displacement up to 15 thousand tons and combined capacity of the main power plant of 106 thousand liters. from. Can develop a speed of up to 30 knots. They have a powerful radar potential and are able to detect at great distances not only low-flying missiles, but also terrorist boats.

Armament of destroyers consists of 20 vertical MK 57 VLS launchers designed for 80 Tomahawk, ASROC or ESSM, two quick-fire Mk 110 guns of 57 mm caliber of closed type, two 155 mm AGS guns with a range of 370 km, two tubular guns 324-mm torpedo tubes.

On the ships can be based 2 helicopters SH-60 Sea Hawk or 3 unmanned aerial vehicles MQ-8 Fire Scout.

"Zamvolt" is a type of destroyers, the main task of which is to destroy enemy coastal targets. Also, ships of this type can effectively deal with the surface, underwater and air targets of the enemy and support their artillery fire.

"Zamvolt" is the embodiment of the latest technology, this is the latest destroyer to destroy the destroyer. The projects of India and Russia have not yet been implemented, and this kind of ships, it seems, has not yet outlived itself.