Battleships and Large Crusiers
Design and developement volume 1 - first predreadnoughts

Table of Contents

1. Preface /5

2. Artillery and accuracy in second half of XIX century /7

Firing of sea /7

Range finding /8

Firing to moving target /9

Stability and accuracy /10

Guns and shells versus armour scheme /11

Material for armour /28

Fire control systems, shooting procedures, increasing the combat distance /32

3. Heavy ships from the end of the XIX and early XX centuries /36

First battleships - in some countries named ironclads /36

Central side battery battleship (ironclads) /37

Casemate battleships (Ironclads) /38

Turret battleships (ironclads) /39

Barbette battleships (ironclads) /43

Predreadnoughts and semidreadnoughts /45

Dreadnoughts /48

Armoured cruisers /51

Large armoured cruisers. Dreadnought cruisers. Battlecruisers /53

Super-dreadnoughts /62

4. American heavy ships at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries /64

5. Maine (ACR-1) and Texas /66

Maine / Texas and rest of the world /71

France: armoured cruiser Dupuy de Lome /73

Great Britain: Battleships Trafalgar class first class cruisers Blake class /78

Battleships Trafalgar class /78

First class cruisers Blake class /81

Spain: class Infanta Maria Teresa /86

6. First American armoured cruiser - USS New York (ACR-2) /96

New York and rest of the world /102

Russia: Rurik /103

Great Britain: First class cruisers of the Edgar class /106

Italy: armoured cruisers Marco Polo class /111

7. Cruisers Columbia class (C-12) /115

Columbia and rest of the world /118

France: armoured cruisers of the Amiral Charner class /119

Italy: armoured cruiser Vettor Pisani class /122

Austria-Hungary: armoured cruiser Kaiserin und Konigin Maria Teresa /124

8. First serial "coastline battleshios" USA: Indiana Class (B/BB-1) /126

Indiana and rest of the world /131

France: battleship Jaureguiberry /138

Germany: battleships of the Brandenburg class /145

Great Britain: battleships of the Royal Sovereign class, and HMS Hood /152

Russia: Battleshio Navarin /159

9. First "seagoing coastline battership" USS Iowa (B/BB-4) /166

Iowa and rest of the world /170

Russia: battleships of the Petropavlovsk /171

France: battleship Bouvet /175

Great Britain: battleshios of the Majestic class /179

10. Armoured cruiser Brooklyn (ACR-3) /191

Brookyn and rest of the world /193

Russia: Armoured cruiser Russia /195

France: Armoured cruiser Pothuau and protected cruiser D`Entrecasteaux /198

Spain: Armoured cruiser Calos V /202

Italy/Argentina: armoured cruisers Giuseppe Garibaldi /203

Great Britain: Cruisers of the Powerful and Diadem class /205

11. Battleships of the Kearsage class (B/BB-5) /222

Kearsage and rest of the world /229

Great Britain: battleships of theMajestic / Illustrious class /231

France: battleships of the Charlemagne class /235

Russia: battleships of the Peresvet class /239

Germany: Battleships of the Kaiser Friedrich III, armoured cruiser Furst Bismarck /242

12. Battleships of tthe Illinois class (B/BB-7) /249

Illinois and rest of the world /253

Great Britiain: Battleship of the Canopus class /254

Japan: battleship of the Shikishima class/260

France: battleship Henri IV /262

13. Appendices /268

Armament /268

Heavy artillery /270

Self defence artillery /290

Medium artillery /299

14. Indexes /305