Five great Russian naval battles. Five naval battles that ended in the complete defeat of the enemy

History has never seen a more tragic and bloody naval battle than the Battle of Lepanto. Two fleets took part in it - the Ottoman and the Spanish-Venetian. The largest naval battle took place on October 7, 1571.

The battlefield was the Gulf of Prats (Cape Scrof), which is near the Peloponnese, a peninsula of Greece. In 1571, the Union of Catholic States was created, whose activities were aimed at uniting all peoples professing Catholicism, with the aim of repelling and weakening the Ottoman Empire. The Union lasted until 1573. Thus, the largest Spanish-Venetian fleet in Europe, numbering 300 ships, belonged to the coalition.

The clash between the warring parties occurred unexpectedly on the morning of October 7. The total number of ships was about 500. The Ottoman Empire suffered a crushing defeat inflicted by the fleet of the Union of Catholic States. More than 30 thousand people died, the Turks accounted for 20 thousand killed. This largest naval battle showed that the Ottomans were not invincible, as many believed at that time. Subsequently, the Ottoman Empire was unable to regain its position as the undivided master of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Battles of Trafalgar, Gravelines, Tsushima, Sinop and Chesma are also the largest naval battles in world history.

On October 21, 1805, the battle took place at Cape Trafalgar (Atlantic Ocean). The opponents are the British fleet and the combined fleet of France and Spain. This battle led to a series of events that sealed the fate of France. The most surprising thing was that the British did not lose a single ship, unlike France, which suffered twenty-two losses. It took the French more than 30 years after the above events to increase their shipping power to the level of 1805. The Battle of Trafalgar is the largest battle of the 19th century, which practically ended the long confrontation between France and Great Britain, which was called the Second Hundred Years' War. And it strengthened the latter’s naval superiority.

In 1588, another major naval battle took place - Gravelines. By custom, it was named after the area in which it occurred. This naval conflict is one of the most important events of the Italian War.

On June 27, 1588, the British fleet completely defeated the fleet of the Great Armada. It was considered as invincible as the Ottoman Empire would later be considered in the 19th century. The Spanish fleet consisted of 130 ships and 10 thousand soldiers, and the British fleet of 8,500 soldiers. The battle was desperate on both sides and the British forces pursued the Armada for a long time with the goal of completely defeating the enemy forces.

The Russo-Japanese War was also marked by a major naval battle. This time we are talking about the Battle of Tsushima, which took place on May 14-15, 1905. The battle was attended by a squadron of the Pacific Fleet from Russia under the command of Vice Admiral Rozhdestvensky and a squadron of the Imperial Japanese Navy, commanded by Admiral Togo. Russia suffered a crushing defeat in this naval duel. Of the entire Russian squadron, 4 ships reached their native shores. The prerequisites for this outcome were that Japanese guns and strategy significantly exceeded the enemy's resources. Russia was eventually forced to sign a peace agreement with Japan.

The Sinop naval battle was no less impressive and historically important. However, this time Russia showed itself from a more favorable side. A naval battle took place between Turkey and Russia on November 18, 1853. Admiral Nakhimov commanded the Russian fleet. It took him no more than a few hours to defeat the Turkish fleet. Moreover, Türkiye lost more than 4,000 soldiers. This victory brought the Russian fleet the opportunity to dominate the Black Sea.

In 1914, the British navy was, as it had been for two hundred years before, the largest in the world and dominated the waters surrounding the British archipelago. The fleet of the German Empire, which has been actively built over the last 15 years, has overtaken the fleets of other states in power and has become the second most powerful in the world.

The main type of warship in the First World War was a battleship, built on the model of a dreadnought. Naval aviation was just beginning its development. Submarines and sea mines played a major role.

The English fleet, maintaining a long-range naval blockade in the North Sea, conducted periodic surveillance of the southern region of the sea, and submarines reached the Heligoland Bight, conducting reconnaissance, looking for targets for attack and more than once causing alarm in the German guards. The British have not yet undertaken any major operations against the German fleet concentrated in the North Sea bases.

However, by the end of August, in connection with the retreat and failures on the land front, in order to raise the loss of spirit that arose in connection with this and, taking into account the voices that had already been expressed more than once about the possibility of attacks with light forces on the German guards of the Heligoland Bight, the British Admiralty decided carry out such a raid. The organization of the German guard, revealed by the submarines, apparently provided an easy opportunity for success.

According to the original plan, two flotillas of the best English fighters and 2 light cruisers from the Harwich naval forces were supposed to approach the Heligoland Bay in the morning and attack the German flotilla that was guarding it, cutting off its return path. In addition, 6 British submarines were supposed to occupy two lines to attack German ships if they went to sea to pursue the destroyers. To support the operation, 2 battle cruisers and 6 armored cruisers were assigned, which were supposed to stay to the sea and cover the retreat of the British light forces.

In this form, the plan was assigned to execution. After the light forces and submarines went to sea, the commander of the Grand Fleet, Jellicoe, sent a detachment of battle cruisers under the command of Admiral Beatty (3 battle cruisers) and one light cruising squadron (6 new city-class battle cruisers) to support them. under the command of adm. Goodenough.

The attack was scheduled for the morning. At this time of day, the tide was low in the Heligoland Bight, which meant that the heavy German ships located at the mouths of the Elbe and Jada could not go to sea during the morning. The day was calm, a very weak northwest wind was blowing and there was a fair amount of darkness. Visibility did not exceed 4 miles, and at times became less.

Because of this, the battle took the form of separate clashes and artillery duels, unrelated to each other. On the morning of August 28, 9 new German destroyers of the 1st flotilla (30-32 knots, two 88-mm guns) were on patrol 35 miles from the Elbe lightship. They were supported by 3 light cruisers - Hela, Stetin and Frauenlob. The 5th flotilla was located in the Heligoland Bight, consisting of 10 similar destroyers and 8 submarines, of which only 2 were in full readiness. At the mouth of the Weser River stood the old light cruiser Ariadne, and at the mouth of the Ems River stood the light cruiser Mainz. This was the balance of power.

At 7 a.m., the light cruisers Arethusa and Firles, accompanied by two flotillas of destroyers, attacked the German patrol ships and entered into a fierce firefight with them. The latter immediately turned and began to retreat. Rear Admiral Maas, who commanded the light forces in the Heligoland Bight, ordered the Stetin, Frauenlob, destroyers and submarines to come to their aid. At the coastal batteries of Helgoland and Wangeroog, having heard the roar of fire, people were called to the guns. Seydlitz, Moltke, Von der Tann and Blücher began to separate pairs, preparing to put to sea as soon as the tide allowed.

Meanwhile, the British ships continued to chase the German destroyers, firing at them from long distances on parallel courses. Soon the V-1 and S-13 were hit and began to quickly lose speed. A little more, and the British would have finished them off completely, but at 7.58 the Stetin entered the battle. His appearance saved the 5th destroyer flotilla, which managed to retreat under the cover of Helgoland's coastal batteries.

British ships came very close to Heligoland. Here they came across several old destroyers from the 3rd trawling division. The British inflicted serious damage to the D-8 and T-33 with their fire, but the Germans were again saved by the intervention of their light cruisers. "Frauenlob" entered into battle with "Arethusa", opening fire on it from a distance of 30 kb. (approx. 5.5 km). The Arethusa was undoubtedly a strong ship, completely new and armed with much more powerful artillery, but she had only been manned the day before, and this put her at a certain disadvantage. "Arethusa" received at least 25 hits and soon only one 152-mm cannon was operational on it out of all its guns. However, "Frauenlob" was forced to interrupt the battle, as it received one very heavy hit - right in the conning tower.

At this time, the light cruiser Firles and the destroyers of the 1st Flotilla attacked the V-187, which was heading towards Heligoland. Finding that the path to the island was cut off, the German destroyer began to move at full speed towards the mouth of the Yada and almost broke away from its pursuers when two four-tube cruisers emerged from the fog right in front of it. He mistook them for Strasbourg and Stralsund, but they turned out to be Nottingham and Lowestoft from Goodenough's squadron. From a distance of 20 cables. (3.6 km) their six-inch guns literally destroyed the V-187. He went down with the flag flying, still shooting. English ships stopped to pick up the drowning Germans. However, at that moment the cruiser Stetin intervened in the battle, and the British cruisers and destroyers disappeared in fog and smoke, abandoning two boats with prisoners, among whom were many wounded.

At 11.30 the German light cruiser Mainz, sailing from the mouth of the river. Ems, entered into battle with Arethusa, Firles and destroyers. Goodenough's cruisers quickly arrived at the scene of the battle, which immediately made the Mainz's position hopeless. After several hits, his steering wheel jammed and he began to describe one circulation after another. Then the Mainz was hit in the middle of the port side by a torpedo from one of the British destroyers. By 13 o'clock it sank. 348 people from his team were picked up and captured by the British.

However, by 12.30 the position of the British became critical. Six German light cruisers entered the battle at once: Stralsund, Stetin, Danzig, Ariadne, Strasbourg and Cologne. The Arethusa and 3 British destroyers were seriously damaged. A little more and they would have been finished. Thiruit urgently requested Beatty's help. Beatty had long sensed that a crisis was brewing in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

In conditions of poor visibility, it was too risky to introduce heavy ships into the space between Heligoland and the German coast, teeming with destroyers and submarines. A successful torpedo salvo from a destroyer emerging from the fog could lead to irreversible consequences. After much hesitation, Beatty, according to Chatfield, finally said: “Surely we must go.”

The first on the path of the battlecruisers was Cologne at 12.30. Lyon immediately fired two salvos after him and hit him twice, turning the Cologne literally into a pile of scrap metal. A few minutes later, the same fate befell the elderly Ariadne, which was caught up in a firefight with British destroyers. Lyon, walking at the head of the column, immediately fired two volleys into it. The result was disastrous: "Ariadne", engulfed in a fierce fire, completely helpless, began to slowly drift in a south-easterly direction. She stayed afloat until 15.25, then quietly sank under the water.

Having thus dealt with the German light ships, Beatty gave the order to immediately withdraw. At 13.25, on the way back from Heligoland Bay, the battlecruisers again came across the long-suffering Cologne, which was still afloat. Two salvoes of 13.5-inch guns instantly sent him to the bottom. Of the entire Cologne crew, only one fireman survived, whom German destroyers picked up two days after the battle.

Only in the afternoon, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, Friedrich von Ingenohl, received a report from Strasbourg that the First Squadron of English battlecruisers had broken into Heligoland Bay. At 13.25 he ordered his 14 dreadnoughts to urgently disengage and prepare to leave, but it was too late. The British withdrawal passed without incident, although the damage to the Arethusa and the destroyer Laurel was so serious that they were unable to move under their own power. The cruisers Hog and Amethyst had to take them in tow.

The battle in Heligoland Bight was over, and its results for the light forces of the German fleet were disastrous. The German command made the mistake of sending light cruisers into battle one after another in foggy weather against an enemy of unknown strength. As a result, a destroyer and 3 light cruisers (2 of which were excellent new ships) were lost.

Personnel losses totaled 1,238 people, of whom 712 were killed and 145 wounded; 381 were captured. Among those killed was Rear Admiral Maas (he became the first admiral to die in this war), and among the prisoners was one of Tirpitz’s sons.

The British lost 75 people: 32 killed and 53 wounded. Thiruit's flagship, the light cruiser Arethusa, received the most serious damage, but it was safely towed to Harwich. This was the first convincing success of the British fleet in metropolitan waters.

In 1914, the strongest German ship in the Indian Ocean was the light cruiser Königsberg. After a propulsion failure, the Königsberg was forced to take refuge in the Rufiji Delta with the supply ship Somalia, waiting there until the damaged parts were transported overland to Dar es Salaam for repairs.

At the end of October 1914, the Königsberg was discovered by the British cruiser Chatham. On November 5, the cruisers Dartmouth and Weymouth arrived in the area, and the German cruiser was blocked in the river delta. In early November, the Chatham opened fire from a long distance and set the Somalia on fire, but failed to hit the Koenigsberg, which quickly went up the river.

The British made several attempts to sink the Königsberg, including an attempt by a shallow-draft torpedo boat to slip (with an escort) into attack range, but all were easily repulsed by German forces entrenched in the delta. The Newbridge fireship was sunk in one of the arms of the delta to prevent the Germans from escaping the blockade, but the British later discovered another arm suitable for their escape. The British dotted some of the sleeves with mock-up mines.

Attempts to sink the cruiser using the 12-inch guns of the old battleship Goliath were also unsuccessful due to the impossibility of approaching within firing range through shallow water.

By March 1915, food shortages began on the Königsberg, and many members of the German crew died from malaria and other tropical diseases. Due to being cut off from the outside world, the morale of German sailors began to decline.

However, a way was soon found to correct the situation with provisions and, possibly, break through the blockade. The merchant ship Rubens, captured by Germany, was renamed the Kronberg, the Danish flag was flown, documents were falsified, and a crew of Danish-speaking Germans was recruited. After this, the ship was loaded with coal, field guns, ammunition, fresh water and food. After successfully penetrating the waters of East Africa, the ship was in danger of being discovered by the English Hyacinth, which drove it into Manza Bay. The ship was set on fire by the crew who abandoned it. Later, most of the cargo was rescued by the Germans, who used it in ground defense; part of the cargo was transferred to the Königsberg.

Two British shallow-draft Humber-class monitors, the Severn and the Mersey, were specially towed from Malta via the Red Sea and arrived at the Rufiji River on 15 June. Minor parts were removed, protection was added, and under the cover of the rest of the fleet, they headed for the delta.

These ships engaged in a duel with the Königsberg from long range with the help of ground spotters. Soon their 6-inch guns overwhelmed the cruiser's weapons, severely damaged and sank it.

The victory of the British fleet allowed it to strengthen its position throughout the Indian Ocean.

In October 1914, the German East Asia Cruiser Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral Spee, moved to the South Pacific. Spee's squadron could disrupt the supply of Chilean saltpeter, used for the production of explosives, to Great Britain.

The British Admiralty, concerned about the appearance of German raiders in these waters, began to gather forces there. Back on September 14, Rear Admiral Cradock, commander of British ships off the east coast of South America, received orders to concentrate sufficient forces to meet the armored cruisers of Spee. Cradock decided to collect them at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands.

Initially, Admiralty Headquarters attempted to strengthen Cradock's squadron by sending the new armored cruiser Defense with a well-trained crew to the area. But on October 14, Defense received an order to arrive not to the Falkland Islands, but to Montevideo, where the formation of the second squadron under the command of Admiral Stoddart began. At the same time, the headquarters approved Cradock's idea of ​​​​gathering forces in the Falkland Islands. Cradock interpreted the general tone of the headquarters orders as an order to meet Spee halfway.

On the morning of November 1, Spee received a report that the Glasgow was in the Coronel area, and went there with all his ships to cut off the British cruiser from Cradock's squadron.

At 14:00 British time, Cradock's squadron met with the Glasgow. The captain of the Glasgow, John Luce, conveyed to Cradock information that a single German cruiser, Leipzig, was in the area. Therefore, Cradock went northwest in the hope of intercepting the raider. The British ships sailed in bearing formation - from northeast to southwest, respectively, "Glasgow", "Otranto", "Monmouth" and "Good Hope".

Meanwhile, the German squadron was also approaching Coronel. Nuremberg was far to the northeast, and Dresden was 12 miles behind the armored cruisers. At 16:30, Leipzig noticed smoke on the right side and turned towards them, finding Glasgow. The meeting of the two squadrons was a surprise for both admirals, who expected to meet a single enemy cruiser.

Spee was waiting for sunset, since before sunset his ships were well illuminated by the sun, and the conditions for observing the British ships were difficult. After sunset, conditions changed, and the British ships would have been silhouetted against the still bright horizon, while the German ships would have been virtually invisible against the background of the coast. It also played into the hands of the Germans that the British could not use part of their artillery, located in the lower casemates too close to the water, since it was flooded by waves

By 19:00 the squadrons had converged on the battle distance, and at 19:03 the German squadron opened fire. The Germans “split the targets on the left,” that is, the leading Scharnhorst fired at Good Hope, and the Gneisenau fired at Monmouth. Leipzig and Dresden were far behind, and Nuremberg was out of sight. True, light cruisers would still be of little use, because they rocked heavily and could not fire effectively. German armored cruisers had the ability to fire on their entire side - from six 210 mm and three 150 mm guns. British cruisers could not use the guns located on the main deck in flooded casemates - four 152-mm guns on the Good Hope and three 152-mm guns on the Monmouth.

Glasgow opened fire on Leipzig at 19:10, but it was ineffective due to heavy seas. First Leipzig and then Dresden returned fire on the Glasgow. "Otranto" (whose combat value was negligible, and its large size made it a vulnerable target) at the very beginning of the battle, without orders, broke ranks to the west and disappeared. In fact, the outcome of the battle was predetermined in the first 10 minutes. Hit every 15 seconds by German shells, the Good Hope and Monmouth could no longer effectively fire back at the practically invisible German ships, turning into targets.

Good Hope was still afloat, and Scharnhorst continued moving, firing several salvos from a distance of 25 cables. At 19:56 Cradock's flagship disappeared into darkness and the glow of the fires disappeared. Spee turned aside, fearing a torpedo attack, although in reality the Good Hope sank, taking with it Admiral Cradock and about a thousand crew.

The Monmouth was quickly engulfed in fires, although before the battle everything that could catch fire was thrown overboard. At 19:40 she fell out of formation to starboard, with a huge fire on the forecastle. At about 19:50 he ceased fire and disappeared into the darkness, and Gneisenau transferred its fire to Good Hope.

"Glasgow" by this time had received six hits, only one of them caused severe damage, the rest hit the waterline in the coal pits. When the Good Hope disappeared from sight, the captain of the Glasgow, Luce, decided to disengage from the battle at 20:00 and went west. On the way, he met the agonizing Monmouth, which signaled that it would go stern first due to a leak in the bow. Luce wisely decided to go ahead and leave the Monmouth to its fate.

At about 21:00, the Monmouth, listing to port, was accidentally found by the Nuremberg, which had lagged behind the German squadron. The German cruiser approached from the port side and, after offering to surrender, opened fire, reducing the distance to 33 cables. Nuremberg interrupted its fire, giving Monmouth time to lower its flag and surrender, but the British cruiser continued to fight. The torpedo fired by the Nuremberg missed, and the Monmouth attempted to turn around to engage its starboard guns. But German shells turned its side, and at 21:28 the Monmouth capsized and sank. Believing that the battle was continuing, the Germans moved on without taking any measures to save the British crew, and all the British sailors died in the cold water. Despite the victory, Spee was unable to consolidate the success, allowing Glasgow and Otranto to leave. The loss of British ships caused significant damage to the prestige of the British fleet. However, the German triumph did not last long.

4Battle of Jutland, May 31 - June 1, 1916

The British and German fleets took part in the battle. The names of the battle came from the place where the opponents clashed. The scene for this centuries-old event was the North Sea, namely the Skagerrak Strait, near the Jutland Peninsula. As in all naval battles of the First World War, the essence was the German fleet trying to break the blockade, and the British fleet trying to prevent this by all means.

The Germans' plans in May 1916 included deceptively defeating the British by luring out some of the battleships of the British fleet and directing them towards the main German forces. Thereby significantly undermining the enemy’s naval power.

The first clash of the warring parties occurred on May 31 at 14:48, when squadrons of armored cruisers, which stood at the head of the main forces of battleships, met in battle. They opened fire at a distance of fourteen and a half kilometers.

During the Battle of Jutland, the first examples of interaction between aviation and navy were demonstrated. During the search operation, the English Admiral Beatty ordered the aircraft carrier Egandina to send reconnaissance aircraft, but only one took off, and he soon had to land directly on the water due to an accident. It was from this aircraft that information was received that the German fleet had changed its course.

By order of the German Admiral Scheer, German aerial reconnaissance was also carried out. The seaplane noticed Beatty's vessel, which he reported to his commander, but Scheer, as follows from his further actions, simply did not believe the information received. Thus, the large-scale battle was based only on guesswork.

Pursuing Beatty's formation retreating to the north, the German High Seas Fleet came into combat contact with the main forces of the English fleet at 18:20. The British opened intense fire. They fired mainly at the end ships, concentrating their fire on the battlecruisers at the head of the German fleet. Finding himself under fire from the Grand Fleet, Admiral Scheer realized that he had entered into battle with the main enemy forces.

The British, noticing the approach of the German ships, opened fire on them at 19:10. Within eight minutes, the German battleships and cruisers at the head of the column received ten or more hits from large-caliber shells each.

Finding himself under concentrated fire from the entire English fleet and having suffered serious damage to the lead ships, Admiral Scheer decided to withdraw from the battle as soon as possible. For this purpose, the German fleet made a 180-degree turn at 19:18. To cover this maneuver, destroyers supported by cruisers from a distance of 50 cabs. carried out a torpedo attack and laid a smoke screen. The destroyer attack was unorganized. The destroyers continued to use the ineffective method of firing single torpedoes, which could not produce positive results at long ranges. The English fleet easily dodged the torpedoes, turning four points to the side.

Admiral Jellicoe, fearing the mines that German ships could drop on the escape route and enemy submarines, did not pursue the German fleet, but turned first to the southeast and then to the south to cut off the German fleet's path to the base. However, Admiral Jellicoe failed to achieve this goal. Without properly organizing tactical reconnaissance in battle, the British soon lost visibility of the German fleet. At this point, the day's battle of the main forces of the fleets temporarily ceased.

As a result of the daytime battle of the main forces, the British lost a battle cruiser and two armored cruisers, and several ships received various damage. The Germans lost only one light cruiser, but their battlecruisers were so seriously damaged that they were unable to continue the battle.

Knowing that the German fleet was located to the west of the English fleet, Admiral Jellicoe hoped to cut off the enemy from his bases by moving south and force him to fight at dawn. As darkness fell, the English fleet formed into three wake columns, with battlecruisers in front and a flotilla of destroyers five miles behind.

The German fleet was built in one wake column with cruisers pushed forward. Scheer sent destroyers to search for the English fleet, the location of which he knew nothing about. Thus, Scheer deprived himself of the opportunity to use destroyers to launch a torpedo strike on the enemy if they met him at night.

At 21:00 the German fleet set a course southeast in order to reach its bases by the shortest route. At this time, the English fleet was heading south, and the enemy's courses were slowly converging. The first combat contact of the opponents occurred at 22:00, when the British light cruisers discovered the German light cruisers sailing ahead of their battleships and entered into battle with them. In a short battle, the British sank the German light cruiser Frauenlob. Several English cruisers were damaged, of which the Southampton was seriously damaged.

At about 23:00 the German fleet, passing astern of the Grand Fleet, came into combat contact with the British destroyers, which were kept five miles behind their battleships. During a night meeting with English destroyers, the marching order of the German fleet was disrupted.

Several ships were out of action. One of them, the battleship Posen, rammed and sank its cruiser Elbing when it failed. The head of the German column was in complete disarray. An exceptionally favorable situation was created for its attack by destroyers. However, the British did not take advantage of this opportunity. They lost a lot of time identifying the enemy and acted very indecisively. Of the six destroyer flotillas that were part of the Grand Fleet, only one launched an attack, and even then unsuccessfully. As a result of this attack, the British sank the German light cruiser Rostock, losing four destroyers.

The total losses of the parties were colossal. Germany lost 11 ships and 2,500 people, Britain - 14 ships and 6,100 people. In fact, the largest naval battle in the entire history of mankind did not solve any of the assigned tasks for both some and others. The English fleet was not destroyed, and the balance of power at sea did not change radically; the Germans also managed to preserve their entire fleet and prevent its destruction, which would inevitably affect the actions of the Reich submarine fleet.

Admiral Graf Spee became the third German “pocket battleship” built after the cruisers Deutschland (Lützow) and Admiral Scheer. In the early months of World War II, she sank British merchant ships with impunity, becoming the most famous ship of her type. And the results of his first and last battle provide rich material for analyzing the effectiveness of artillery weapons and armor protection of German heavy cruisers.Why is the Battle of La Plata and its results still causing such heated debate?

At the outbreak of World War II, the heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, under the command of Captain Zur See Hans Langsdorff, was in the Central Atlantic. He received the order to open the cruising war only on September 25, 1939 - until that moment, Hitler still hoped to peacefully resolve the conflict with Great Britain. The war was to be fought strictly according to prize rules, so there was no question of unexpected artillery or torpedo attacks.

For almost two and a half months, the Spee and the Deutschland, together with several supply ships, operated with impunity in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To search for them, the British and French had to allocate 3 battle cruisers, 3 aircraft carriers, 9 heavy and 5 light cruisers. Eventually, Commodore Henry Harewood's Group G (heavy cruiser Exeter, light cruisers Ajax and Achilles) intercepted the Spee off the coast of South America, near the mouth of the La Plata River.

This battle became one of the few classic artillery naval battles of World War II, providing a clear illustration of the old debate about what is more effective - the caliber of the guns or the weight of the salvo?

"Admiral Graf Spee" passes through the Kiel Canal, 1939
Source – johannes-heyen.de

In terms of total displacement, the three British cruisers were approximately twice as large as the Spee, and more than one and a half times greater in weight per minute salvo. To extol the achievements of their side, some British researchers compared the weight of a single salvo of ships without taking into account the rate of fire - these figures reached the Soviet press and for some time disoriented lovers of naval history. According to these data, a ship with a standard displacement of 12,540 tons was twice as powerful as three cruisers with a total standard displacement of 22,400 tons.

Diagram of the heavy cruiser "Admiral Graf Spee", 1939
Source – A. V. Platonov, Yu. V. Apalkov. German warships, 1939–1945. St. Petersburg, 1995

“Spee” carried only six guns, but 283-mm caliber, firing 4,500 kg of metal per minute. In addition, it had eight 150-mm guns in light mounts, placed four per side (another 2,540 kg of metal per minute, 1,270 kg per side).

Aft tower of "Admiral Count Spee"
Source – commons.wikimedia.org

The Exeter also carried six guns, but only 203 mm, as it was originally considered a B-class scout rather than an A-class. The weight of its one-minute salvo was only 2780 kg - more than two times less than that of the enemy. The same type "Ajax" (Harewood's flag) and "Achilles" each had eight 152-mm guns in two-gun turrets and at the maximum rate of fire (8 rounds per minute) could fire 3,260 kg of metal per minute (more than the flagship). Thus, the total broadside salvo of the British squadron was 9300 kg, that is, it exceeded the salvo of the Spee, if not two, then at least one and a half times (taking into account the fact that the average caliber of the “German” could fire on board only half of the guns) . Undoubtedly, the Spee was much better protected, but had a speed of 5 knots less. Thus, there was a classic example of an “asymmetrical” battle in which each side had its own advantages.

One against three

The opponents discovered each other on the morning of December 13, 1939, almost simultaneously (about 5:50 GMT), but the Germans quickly realized that in front of them were warships. True, they mistook the light cruisers for destroyers, so the raider willingly moved to approach. In the first minutes, no one opened fire, although the distance was a little more than a hundred cables.

At 6:14, Commodore Harewood gave the order to split up to capture the enemy in a pincer movement. The heavy Exeter moved straight towards the German, passing to his left, while both light cruisers moved in a wide arc, bypassing the enemy on the right and keeping a great distance from him. This maneuver looks strange: keeping a distance of a hundred cables, the British had little chance of hitting the enemy, while the enemy 283-mm cannons remained very dangerous for them. On the contrary, the most effective tactic for them was to quickly close the distance and approach to such a distance that 152-mm shells could penetrate the side of the Spee. In addition, this would allow the British to use torpedo tubes - the Germans were afraid of such a possibility (evidence of this is the behavior of “Luttsov” and “Hipper” in the “New Year’s Battle” on December 31, 1942). Exeter actually fired torpedoes at the beginning of the battle, but Ajax used them only at the end of the battle (about 7:30), when the distance was reduced to 50 cabs; a little earlier, Spee fired one torpedo. Even if the torpedoes had not hit the German cruiser, dodging them would, one way or another, reduce the accuracy of its shooting.

English cruisers Ajax and Exeter (in the background). Montevideo, November 1939

In turn, Exeter, with its longer-range guns, had no need to reduce the distance. The only explanation for his maneuver is that the British exaggerated the defense of the Admiral Graf Spee and tried to get closer to him. However, this in no way justifies the division of forces: alone, the heavy cruiser was significantly inferior to the “pocket battleship”. In addition, by approaching from different directions, the British allowed the enemy to bring into action all eight 150-mm guns instead of four.

First phase of the battle: a crushing blow to Exeter

At 6:18, the Spee opened fire on the Exeter from the main caliber bow turret from a distance of approximately 90 kb. Exeter responded at 6:20 - first from two bow turrets, then, turning slightly to the left, brought the stern turret into operation. At 6:21, Ajax began firing, at 6:23, Achilles. All British ships fired semi-armor-piercing shells (“common”) - for 203 mm guns this was quite justified, but 152 mm shells had no chance of penetrating the “German’s” armor. It would have been more logical to use high-explosive shells, which had a greater damaging effect, but at the beginning of the war the British simply did not have enough of them.

The Germans fired in a “ladder” pattern - they fired the next salvo without waiting for the previous one to fall - but for greater accuracy, they first fired from the towers one by one, and switched to full six-gun salvoes only after they achieved the first coverage. At first, the Spee fired semi-armor-piercing shells, but after the first hits it switched to high-explosive instantaneous shells: the chief gunner of the German cruiser, Paul Ascher, hoped to achieve maximum damage, considering the Exeter’s defense weak and incomplete.

Heavy cruiser Exeter in 1941

The Exeter was hit by the third salvo, receiving significant shrapnel damage to unprotected equipment (in particular, the plane on the catapult was destroyed). The fourth salvo gave one hit in the bow, but the semi-armor-piercing 283-mm shell pierced the hull without having time to explode. The next hit was equally ineffective - perhaps the Germans noticed this and therefore switched to firing high-explosive shells.

The first 283-mm high-explosive shell that hit the Exeter (at 6:25) exploded, hitting the second turret - its light 25-mm armor was not penetrated, but the turret was still out of action until the end of the battle. The shrapnel killed the people on the bridge (the ship's commander, Captain Frederick Bell, miraculously survived), and the cruiser lost control for some time, and most importantly, the artillery fire control system failed. It is unlikely that even an armor-piercing shell could have caused more damage.

After this, the Spee divided the fire, redirecting the bow turret towards the light cruisers - especially since after 6:30 the Exeter was covered with a smoke screen. The distance to the new target at this moment was about 65 cabs. At 6:40 a.m., a 283-mm shell exploded at the Achilles's stem, damaging the command and rangefinder post and wounding the ship's commander, Edward Perry (some sources write about the injury of an artillery officer), as well as disabling the radio station, which disrupted communication with the spotter aircraft . Soon after this, the Exeter was hit by two more shells: one of them disabled the first turret (and the charge in the breaker caught fire, and in order to avoid an explosion the British had to flood its cellars), and the second pierced the hull above the belt, destroyed the radio room and exploded under deck on the port side. The second hit disabled the 102 mm gun and caused a fire in the fenders of the first shots.

Battle of La Plata December 13, 1939
Source – S. Roskill. Fleet and war. Volume 1. M.: Voenizdat, 1967

At 6:42, the last shell hit the Exeter - the location of the hit is unknown, but, apparently, it was in the bow near the waterline, since by the end of the battle the cruiser had a meter trim on the bow and a list to the left side, and its the speed dropped to 17 knots, although the vehicles remained undamaged. Finally, at 7:30, the water shorted the power cables of the aft tower and put it out of action - the cruiser lost all of its artillery.

In response, Spee received only two 203-mm shells from Exeter. One of them pierced through the high tower-like superstructure and did not explode. But the second, from a distance of about 65 cabs, entered the side almost at a right angle (at that moment the Spee turned sharply to the left, from 6:22 to 6:25 changing course by almost 90°), pierced 100 mm of the armor of the upper part of the belt above the armor deck, then pierced the 40-mm upper longitudinal bulkhead and at a very acute angle came into contact with the 20-mm armored deck, where it exploded in the food storeroom. The main fire line was cut off and a local fire broke out, but overall the German ship was lucky: the damage was minor. The “spaced” reservation system worked - it can be argued that it provided protection from 203-mm armor-piercing shells at a distance of at least 65 kb and when hit at angles close to 90°.

Second phase of the battle: "Spee" against light cruisers

At approximately 6:45, the Spee transferred all its fire to the light cruisers, which had already been firing at it for a long time and scored several hits (though causing virtually no damage). At that moment there were about 90 cabs before them, and this distance increased as the Spee left the British exactly abeam. Seeing this, Harewood, who was on the Ajax, ordered his ships to turn around and catch up with the enemy, still keeping to his right.

At 06:55, Harewood's ships swung 30° to port to engage all of their turrets. At this point, the distance between the opponents was 85–90 cab. According to the British, after this the second salvo produced hits, but the German ship began to maneuver, knocking down the sight. After 7:10, “Spee” again fired for some time at the “Exeter” that appeared from the smoke from a distance of 70 cabs, but did not achieve any hits.

The actions of the German commander were extremely unsuccessful - by maneuvering, Langsdorff prevented not only the enemy from shooting, but also his own gunners. At the same time, Harewood, taking advantage of his speed advantage, was steadily closing the distance, and this brought more benefits to the light cruisers, all of whose 152 mm guns were now in action.

Light cruiser Ajax in 1939
Source – S. Patyanin, A. Dashyan, K. Balakin. All cruisers of World War II. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012

Thanks to the high rate of fire and the presence of a spotter aircraft, the British began to achieve an increasing number of hits from a distance of 80 cabs. By 7:10, the Spee was hit by 4 to 6 shells. One hit the 150-mm installation No. 3, destroying it along with the crew, the other hit the stern behind the armored citadel, killed two people, but did not explode (according to English data, it was a training blank). Two more shells hit the tower-like superstructure: one exploded above the upper director of the main caliber (three people were killed, but the damage was again minimal), the other destroyed the right rangefinder and caused damage to the directors of the anti-aircraft and main calibers (the connection of the latter with the towers was disrupted for some time) . The explosion disabled the poorly protected system for supplying shells to the bow group of 150-mm guns.

To get closer to the enemy, after 7:10 Harewood changed course, and now only the bow turrets could fire at his cruisers. At this time, the German ship was also strictly stern to the British. As a result, despite the reduction in distance, the hits stopped. However, at 7:16, Spee began to maneuver, bringing both turrets into action and achieving coverage. The distance between the opponents began to quickly decrease.

The British took aim again: one of their shells hit the rear of the Spee and disabled the remote control equipment for the torpedo tubes, another disabled the 105-mm universal installation, and the third exploded at the base of the catapult, destroying the aircraft standing on it. Two more shells hit the rear turret without causing any damage. Finally, it is known that one of the 152-mm shells hit the surface part of the armor belt (thickness - 100 mm) in the area of ​​the aft turret, but did not penetrate it.

At 7:25, a German 283-mm shell from a distance of about 50 cabs pierced the barbette of the third Ajax turret and hit the barbette of the fourth turret, disabling both (it is not clear whether an explosion occurred). At the same time, the supply to one of the guns in the second turret failed. There were only three intact guns left on the cruiser, but Harewood did not leave the battle.

Mutual maneuvers again disrupted aiming for both sides for a while, but at 7:34 from a distance of 40 cabs, Spee again achieved coverage: fragments from a close explosion demolished the top of the mast along with the antennas on the Ajax (S. Roskill describes this as a hit and dates to 7:38).

"Admiral Graf Spee" enters the Montevideo roadstead after the battle
Source – V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012

During this period of the battle, the Spee received three hits at once in the superstructure, which destroyed the galley, but again did not cause serious damage. Another shell hit the bow turret, not penetrating its armor, but, according to some sources, jamming the middle gun - perhaps temporarily.

The ships of both sides began to run out of ammunition, they fired more slowly and more carefully, so no one else scored any hits. On the Ajax there were 7 killed and 5 wounded, on the Achilles there were 4 killed and 7 wounded. At 7:42, Harewood laid a smoke screen, and under its cover the British ships described a zigzag to sharply increase the distance to the enemy. The British tried not to let the German ship out of sight, but at the same time keep a distance of one and a half hundred cables from it, and as a result, they “guided” the enemy almost to Montevideo.

Results of the battle

During the entire battle, “Spee” was hit by two 203 mm and up to eighteen 152 mm shells. The latter is explained by the large number and high rate of fire of six-inch guns: in a minute the British cruisers could fire over a hundred shells and by the end of the battle they had almost exhausted their ammunition. But the Exeter could fire only two dozen 203-mm shells per minute, and it did not participate in the fire battle until the end of the collision.

Not all 152-mm shells had any effect on the Spee. Some of them did not explode, and some simply passed through the high superstructure without much harm to the ship.

Damage received by "Admiral Graf Spee" during the battle of La Plata
Source – V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012

The locations and consequences of hits from 14 out of 18 shells are known (they are described above). At least one shell (possibly more) hit the main belt without penetrating it. Three shells hit the main caliber turrets, which had a 140-mm front (one in the bow, two in the stern), also without penetrating the armor and only temporarily disabling one 283-mm gun. Only two 152-mm shells had a more or less serious effect: one of them destroyed the 150-mm gun, the other disabled the supply of 150-mm shells and for some time disrupted the fire control of the main caliber. It is known that the Spee had two holes with an area of ​​about 0.5 m2 each (above the waterline and at its level), which were completely removable at sea. Thus, the main impact of six-inch shells affected only the deck and superstructures of the German ship.

The impact of the 203rd shells turned out to be even less significant. One of them also went right through the superstructure, as the British used semi-armor-piercing shells. Another (most likely not a “common”, but a purely armor-piercing one) hit the “Spee” at a very favorable angle, pierced the belt and the internal bulkhead, but exploded on the 20-mm armored deck.

152-mm shells also accounted for most of the German casualties: 36 people were killed (including one officer), another 58 were wounded (albeit, most of them lightly). However, the damage to the ship itself practically did not reduce its survivability and had very little effect on its combat effectiveness. At the same time, the fact that the armor was almost completely penetrated suggests that only 203 mm shells posed a real danger to the survivability of the “pocket battleship” (at least in theory).

The impact of German 283 mm shells on British ships was much more noticeable. Although the Spee, even firing on its entire side, could fire no more than twelve main-caliber shells per minute, the Exeter was hit by six such shells (although two of them pierced the ends and did not explode). As a result, the British heavy cruiser lost all its artillery, slowed down and took on a significant amount of water, and its flow could not be stopped for quite some time. 61 people died on the ship (including 5 officers), and another 34 sailors were injured. If Langsdorff had acted more decisively, had not “pulled” his ship from side to side and had not constantly changed targets, it would not have been difficult for him to overtake and sink the “wounded man” (at least with torpedoes).

Exploded and burning "Spee"
Source – Illustrated London News, Dec. 30, 1939

The Spee's shooting at the light cruisers turned out to be much less successful - in fact, the Germans achieved only one hit with the main caliber on the Ajax and two very close falls, mainly causing damage to the control and communication systems of both cruisers (in particular, it was disrupted for some time communication with the spotter). But just one successfully hit 283-mm shell disabled half of the artillery of the flagship Ajax, forcing Harewood to actually stop the artillery battle. It is noteworthy that the 150-mm Spee guns did not make a single hit - partly because their fire control system worked much worse (largely due to the fact that they had limited aiming angles and were forced to constantly change when maneuvering the ship goals).

In general, the Spee spent the second half of the battle (the battle with light cruisers) noticeably worse than the first. The British achieved twice the percentage of direct hits - and this despite the fact that at a distance of 70–80 cabs, German 283 mm guns should have been significantly superior in accuracy to the enemy’s 152 mm guns. Such poor shooting is partly due to unsuccessful and ill-conceived maneuvering. On the other hand, the only German 283-mm shell that hit the target directly caused more damage to the enemy than two dozen British 152-mm shells did to the Spee itself.

The sunken Spee. Photo taken by the British in 1940
Source – V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012

Langsdorff's mistaken decision to go to Montevideo, which became a deliberate trap, was made not because of losses and damage, but after the Spee commander received a message that 60% of the shells had been spent. Perhaps the psychological effect of the unsuccessful course of the second phase of the battle, which began so promisingly for the Germans, also played a role. On the evening of December 17, 1939, the Spee was blown up and scuttled by its own crew in neutral waters four kilometers from the Uruguayan coast. The ship's commander, Langsdorf, shot himself. This also indicates the emotional instability of the German commander, which prevented him from adequately leading the battle and achieving victory.

Bibliography:

1. V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eskmo, 2012
2. S. Roskill. Fleet and war. Volume 1. M.: Voenizdat, 1967
3. http://www.navweaps.com

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