Light cruisers of the Linder type. Light cruisers of the Linder type Cruisers of the Linder type

The Australian cruisers have been modified and are classified as a separate project, the Improved Linder or Perth class. Developed on the basis of the heavy cruiser Exeter.

The first British cruisers of the new generation. All ships of this type were named after heroes of ancient Greek mythology.

History of creation

In 1928, work began on a project for a 6,000-ton cruiser designed to replace the decommissioned Town class ships. An analysis of the use of cruisers of the Chatham, Arethusa, Caledon and Danae types showed that to ensure a 27-knot speed at seas of 4-5 points, a displacement of at least 6000 tons is needed. At the “6-inch cruiser conference” on January 30, 1929, five preliminary designs with 152 mm and 140 mm artillery were considered. All of them had a displacement of 6000 tons, a waterline length of 157 m, a width of 15.85 m, and a power plant power of 60,000 hp. s., maximum speed of 31.25 knots (30 knots fully loaded) and cruising range of 6,000 miles at 16 knots. The main differences were in armament and armor. The conference concluded that the armor should provide protection against 152 mm projectiles at distances from 50 to 80 kbt. and from 120 mm - at distances over 35 kbt. A 76 mm belt and a 51 mm armored deck met these requirements. The displacement of all projects was recalculated to these thicknesses.

Since the new cruiser is intended for operations not only as part of the fleet, but also on ocean communications, after the keel of the lead ship was laid down, it was decided to include a second aircraft and a 53-foot catapult (instead of 46-foot), which allowed the use of the heaviest onboard one. The reconnaissance aircraft of that time was the Fairy IMF float biplane. In addition, it was decided to install a second HACS anti-aircraft rangefinder on the aft superstructure and protect the bridge with 12.7 mm armor. As a result, the design displacement increased to 7184 dl. T.

Design

The Linder-class cruisers were designed on the basis of the York-class cruisers, with a similar armor scheme, but smaller in size and with a less powerful propulsion system. The hull was assembled according to a longitudinal design and was divided into 15 compartments.

Power plant

The main power plant consisted of four Parsons turbo-gear units and four Admiralty-type three-collector steam boilers. All boilers had forced blast, fuel and air heaters, and in the bow boiler room they were equipped with steam superheaters for use in economical mode. Boilers and turbines were located in pairs in three boiler rooms and two engine rooms. The Linders were the last British cruisers to have a traditional linear power plant layout. The operating steam pressure in the boilers is 21.28 kg/cm² (21 atm), temperature - 315°C.

Electricity was generated by two 300 kW turbogenerators, one in each engine room. The DC network fed two 300 kW diesel generators.

The cruising range was 5,730 miles at 13 knots, 5,100 miles at 20 knots, and at a speed of 30 knots the cruisers could travel 1,910 miles. There are data on the fuel consumption of the main turbines on the Akilez, according to which at 12 knots it burned 3.6 tons of fuel oil per hour, at 20 knots - 7 t/h, at 30 knots - 26 t/h. Data on fuel consumption for cruising turbines are unknown. Some reference books give the cruising range of the series cruisers as 10,300 miles at 12 knots.

Booking

All armor is homogeneous, uncemented. The armoring scheme of the “linders” was generally similar in design to the Exeter. The armor belt covered the compartments of the power plant and was made of 76.2 mm plates of homogeneous uncemented steel “NC” on a 25.4 mm lining of medium carbon steel Ducolle “D”. It sank below the waterline by ?, and in height reached the main deck (in the area of ​​​​the engine and boiler rooms - up to the upper deck). Transverse beams of the same thickness - 25.4 mm, armored deck - 31.8 mm (25.4 mm “NC” on a 6.4 mm lining), which continued at the tip, in the area of ​​the stern gearbox compartment it had 37 mm bevels. In addition, all bulkheads between the boiler rooms and engine rooms were made of 6.3 mm armor steel. The steering gear was protected by 37 mm deck armor and 31 mm bevels, closed by 25 mm traverses. The towers had a thickness of 25/25/25 mm - front/side/roof. Barbettes and supply pipes had a thickness of 25 mm. The cellars of the main caliber towers were protected on the sides by 89 mm armor, on top by a 51 mm deck, and in front and behind by 76 mm traverses. There was no constructive anti-torpedo protection.

The total armor weight of the lead Linder was 871 tons (11.7% of displacement), for subsequent ships it increased to 882 tons,

Representatives

Linder Series

• "Linder" ( HMS Leander, HMNZS Leander) - laid down on September 8, 1930, launched on September 24, 1931, commissioned on March 24, 1933.
• "Achilles" ( HMS Achilles, HMNZS Achilles, HMIS Delhi, INS Delhi) - laid down on July 11, 1931, launched on September 1, 1932, commissioned on October 6, 1933.
• "Neptune" ( HMS Neptune) - laid down on September 24, 1931, launched on January 31, 1933, commissioned on February 12, 1934.
• "Orion" ( HMS Orion) - laid down on September 26, 1931, launched on November 24, 1932, commissioned on January 18, 1934.
• Ajax ( HMS Ajax) - laid down on February 7, 1933, launched on March 1, 1934, commissioned on April 12, 1935.

Improved Linder Series

Three Linder-class cruisers were transferred to Australia, where they were renamed after Australian cities. Their main difference from the prototype was the transition to an echelon arrangement of the power plant. Due to the slightly increased length of the armor belt covering the power plant, it was necessary to increase the width of the hull to maintain stability. Thanks to the widespread use of welding, the actual displacement of all three ships of the improved design turned out to be less than the design one.

• HMS Amphion → HMAS Perth
• HMS Apollo → HMAS Hobart
• HMS Phaeton → HMAS Sydney

Project evaluation

There are few foreign analogues of Linder. The French cruisers of the Duguay-Trouin type and the Italian Condottieri of the early series, while equal in main caliber artillery, were significantly inferior in armor, air defense artillery, cruising range and seaworthiness, although “on paper” they had superiority in speed (not easily realized in practice, as "Colleoni" showed a sad example). German light cruisers, from the K class to the Nuremberg, were less well protected, had less effective long-range anti-aircraft artillery and a shorter cruising range. Of course there were some disadvantages. “Linders” turned out to be not as universal as expected. For squadron service, they turned out to be large (in order to save money, they created the Arethusa type), moreover, the cruisers did not have sufficient maneuverability to lead destroyers and did not meet the mandatory requirement of a minimum silhouette. For operations in the ocean, a larger cruising range was needed (the problem was solved with “improved Linders”). The experience of the war showed that the Linders did not have enough displacement reserve to strengthen anti-aircraft weapons and install new equipment. “Linders” had a linear arrangement of the power plant, “improved “Linders”” had an echelon arrangement. However, the experience of the war did not provide an answer to which layout of the power plant is better: linear or echelon.

We left the leadership of the “Mistress of the Seas” fleet at the border of the 20s and 30s of the 20th century in deep thought about the future of the cruising fleet. It was clearly not possible to completely replace the old cruisers with the maximum 10,000-ton “Washington” ones armed with eight-inch guns. England needed 50, in the worst case - 40 cruisers, while the number of built "County" and "cut down" "Exeter" ships did not exceed one and a half dozen. The rest of the “park” was made up of “veterans” from the First World War, armed with six-inch guns, still quite suitable for fighting auxiliary cruisers, but no longer able to withstand the modern “colleagues” of potential opponents in a duel situation. And, worst of all, at least from the point of view of the Lords of the Admiralty, they were not suitable for joint actions with the fleet, since the cruisers, which in their best years developed 29 knots, and now are hardly capable of exceeding 26 - 27 for a long time, could not lead in attack by fast destroyers. There was an urgent need to find a solution to a problem that had become traditional for an empire spread over half the world: to cover all its trade routes and sweep away enemy raiders from them. At the same time, one should not forget about the battle fleet, for the direct escort of which at least two dozen cruisers were required. And all this with very limited funds.

The only solution seemed quite obvious: we needed to reduce the size. But there was no point in getting carried away here, since the too small new ships could turn out to be no better than the old ones, especially in terms of operations in the open ocean. Therefore, the main requirement for the new cruiser, work on which began in 1928, was to ensure good seaworthiness and long range - for working on ocean communications, as well as high maneuverability - for operating together with destroyers as part of the main forces. Purely combat qualities, such as weapons and speed, remained in the background. True, as for defense, it became clearly inappropriate for the British to “rivet” one after another “naked” cruisers: after all, the number of stronger opponents multiplied every year. So they decided to equip the new station wagons with a three-inch side belt. Since the displacement from the very beginning was limited to six thousand tons, as a result, the armament was automatically rolled back to the proven and familiar six-inch guns for this class. The maximum “Washington” 203 mm could no longer fit into such a small ship.

British designers managed to create a more than acceptable project within the specified limits. "Linder" and its sisterships each received eight 152-mm guns in the turrets, an extensive armor belt in the area of ​​the mechanical installation and decent protection for the magazines in the form of traditional "armor boxes". The hull was created on the basis of the “small Washingtonians” - “Exeter” and “York” - and had a fairly high side, which made it possible to maintain a high speed in rough seas when operating in the ocean. And the top speed of 32.5 knots looked quite decent for its time. Moreover, in accordance with the new practice, it was achieved without any boost to the turbines: the British finally completely abandoned squeezing out extra units during testing, unless they disorientated the enemy, but were hardly achievable in service.

All this would look absolutely great if we managed to keep within the planned displacement. But in fact, during the design process, the “six-thousanders” “gained weight” by exactly a thousand tons, which also affected the cost, which reached 600 thousand pounds sterling. So once again the battle for savings was lost. Nevertheless, the modest (albeit relatively) universal cruisers appealed to both the sailors and the leadership of the Admiralty. The Linder could become the new standard for the British Navy, with 14 units initially expected to be ordered. But here the already mentioned London Maritime Treaty of 1930 intervened, limiting the total tonnage in all categories of military ships. As a result, England had to save literally every ton of displacement. In category “B”, which included cruisers with 6-inch guns, she had a reserve of 91,000 tons, which only accommodated 13 “seven-thousanders”. After a long study of “Trishka’s caftan,” the lords of the Admiralty decided to limit themselves to only nine units. True, the second series of “linders” was supposed to be improved. All tactical and technical characteristics have been preserved, but the layout of the mechanical installation has changed. Instead of the traditional linear one (in which three boiler compartments were placed one after the other closer to the bow, followed by two turbine compartments), the designers used an echelon design, according to which the boiler and turbine compartments alternated. In this way, it was possible to achieve higher survivability: now the ship did not lose speed after any single hit, even a torpedo - at least theoretically. To implement the idea, it was necessary to use more powerful boilers, the number of which was now limited to only four (two in each compartment). Visually, the cruisers lost the beautiful wide pipe that adorned the first five: it was replaced by two widely spaced narrow ones. Ironically, all the laid down ships of the second series ended up with the “younger brothers” - the Australians. “Phaeton” was handed over while still on the slipway (it entered service as “Sydney”), and “Apollo” and “Amphion” became the Australian “Perth” and “Hobart” after they had sailed with Royal Navy for two or three years.

After all these exercises, the British had a very small reserve of displacement left, and there was already a chronic shortage of new cruisers. The main forces were left without modern cover, and the destroyer flotillas did not have worthy leaders. Meanwhile, the designers worked hard at the drawing boards. Back in 1929, the Lords of the Admiralty received from them five projects for study, which were distinguished by a complete diversity of sizes, layout and weapons. Displacement varied from 3000 tons to 5800 tons, speed - from the traditional 31.5 knots. to the pretentious 38s. But the weapons looked most varied. Six and even eight six-inch guns were offered in two-gun turrets, as well as five of the same guns or six 140-mm guns in old-fashioned deck-mounted shield mounts. The latest options, in fact, reduced the new cruisers to repeating the old “C” type in a technologically more modern version, which, of course, did not correspond to the dictates of the time. But the biggest objections were caused by the defense: only the largest, 5800-ton, had armor cover, and even then only along the mechanical installation, and the smaller ones had practically no armor at all. This situation did not suit the sailors at all. The designers were required to create a well-protected cruiser, based on the middle version with a displacement of 4,200 tons and an armament of six 152-mm guns in three turrets, and even with an echelon arrangement of vehicles and boilers. At the same time, it was allowed to increase the displacement only to 5 thousand tons.

Naturally, another attempt to pour a liter of “fire water” into one half-liter bottle again failed. The engineers already accomplished a real feat, creating a small, neat ship, both well armed and relatively well protected - the thickness of the armor belt was 70 mm, and the thickness of the “box” cellars was 76 mm. It is curious that the cost decreased almost exactly in proportion to the number of towers: Arethusa cost about 1200 thousand pounds, just a quarter less than Linder. But the six-inch guns on the little ones were adequately “compacted” with a 102-mm anti-aircraft caliber in the amount of four paired installations, which gave a total of eight barrels - twice as many as on the ocean-going “station wagons”. It must be said that such weapons established themselves as standard, and some “linders” managed to rearm in a similar way even before the start of World War II.

As a result, the British were quite successful in creating truly “light” cruisers, which was demonstrated by the course of hostilities in the outbreak of the war. Even the smallest “Arethuses” showed themselves to be very worthy. All of them fought mainly in the Mediterranean Sea, where submarines and aircraft remained the main trouble. The lead ship of the series in 1942 “caught” an aircraft torpedo in the area of ​​the bow towers. Although almost half of the crew, over 200 people, were injured, the cruiser reached the port and underwent repairs, which lasted a year and a half. Less fortunate was the Galatea, which was hit by three torpedoes from the German submarine I-557. The small cruiser, of course, could not withstand such a test and sank in three minutes, taking with it most of the crew - 430 people. Almost the same number died on the Penelope, which also became a victim of the German submarine I-557, which successfully used a new weapon - a homing acoustic torpedo. It must be said that the “babies” managed to greatly harm the enemy before this. “Penelope” and “Aurora” formed the core of the famous Compound K, based on Malta, blockaded by the Italians and Germans. In November 1941, they sunk all seven ships of the Italian convoy Duisburg, as well as the destroyer Fulmine that was covering them. A few days later, the transports of Italy’s ally, the German Prosida and Maritza, were added to the piles of iron, and on December 1 they were followed by two tankers, valued by the Germans and Italians at their weight in gold, and the escort destroyer Alvise da Mosto.

The last of the surviving minicruisers, the Aurora, in addition to its successes as part of Force K, achieved several other victories, both jointly with its “senior comrades”, sinking the German tanker Belchen in early 1941 and the training artillery ship Bremse in October, and and personal. During the Allied landings in North Africa, the cruiser demonstrated that it was quite suitable for fighting the largest destroyers. On 8 November 1942, she fought three Vichy government destroyers, forcing two of them ashore. And the next day his six-inch guns were completely disabled by the big leader of the Epervier. Almost a year later he had a difficult ordeal: the ship was hit by a German aerial bomb with a caliber of half a ton. In principle, such a hit could well have “finished off” a larger cruiser, but the Aurora was able to reach the saving port. The carefully repaired cruiser still had a long life ahead of it. In 1948, England handed it over to the Kuomintang government of China. The former "British", renamed "Chongqing", became the largest ship of the then Chinese fleet. In March 1949, she passed into the hands of the communist People's Liberation Army, but eventually sank in the Taku roadstead. Having lain at the bottom for two years, the long-suffering cruiser was raised and put into operation by Soviet specialists. It changed names several times and ended its “life journey” at the cutting plant in 1966.

178.Light cruiser "Penelope" (England, 1936)

Built at the Chatham Naval Shipyard. Standard displacement - 5270 t; full - 6665 tons; maximum length - 154.33 m; width - 15.56 m; draft - 5.1 m. Power of the four-shaft steam turbine unit - 64,000 hp, speed - 32.25 knots. Armor: belt - 57 mm, cellar protection 51 - 76 mm, deck - 25.4 mm, turrets - 25.4 mm. Armament: three 152/50 mm guns, eight 102/45 mm guns, two anti-aircraft machine guns, two three-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes. In 1935 - 1937 Four units were built: Arethusa, Aurora, Penelope and Galatea. Modernized at the beginning of the war with the installation of eight 40-mm anti-aircraft guns. "Galatea" died in December 1941, "Penelope" - in February 1944, "Aurora" was transferred to China in 1948, "Arethusa" was scrapped in 1950.

179.Light cruiser "Linder" (England, 1933)

Built at the Devonport Naval Dockyard. Standard displacement - 7100 tons; full - 9200 t; maximum length - 169.01 m; width - 16.81 m; draft - 6.22 m. Power of the four-shaft steam turbine unit - 72,000 hp, speed - 32.5 knots. Armor: belt 102 mm, cellar protection - 88 - 25 mm, deck 32 mm, turrets 25 mm. Armament: eight 152/50 mm guns, four 102/45 mm anti-aircraft guns, two four-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes. In 1933 - 1935 Five units were built: Linder, Ajax, Achilles, Orion and Neptune. They were modernized during the war - additional anti-aircraft guns were installed. On the Achilles in 1944, one of the rear turrets was removed and replaced with four 4-barrel 40 mm pom-pom. By the end of the war, the surviving units carried 12 - 21 40 mm and up to 18 20 mm machine guns. "Neptune" was destroyed by mines in December 1941, "Achilles" was transferred to India in 1948, the rest were scrapped in 1949.

180.Light cruiser "Hobart" (Australia, 1936)

Built at the Devonport Naval Dockyard. Standard displacement - 6900 tons; full - 8950 t; maximum length - 171.1 m; width - 17.27 m; draft - 5.97 m. Power of the four-shaft steam turbine unit - 72,000 hp, speed - 32.5 knots. Armor: belt 102 mm, cellar protection 88 - 25 mm, deck 32 mm, turrets 25 mm. Armament: eight 152/50 mm guns, four 102/45 mm anti-aircraft guns, two four-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes. In 1935 - 1936 Three units were built: Sydney, Perth and Hobart. Before the war, single 102-mm installations were replaced with twin ones. The Hobart was modernized during the war with the installation of fourteen 40 mm and ten 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. Sydney was lost in December 1941, Perth in March 1942. Hobart was scrapped in 1962.

The senior comrades “aretuz” and “linders” distinguished themselves no less. And both in successes and in damages. Perhaps the most famous in this regard was “Sydney”. He began his military career in June 1940, when he sank the Italian destroyer Espero as part of the squadron. And the next month there was a real triumph. Sydney, with five destroyers, famously attacked two Italian light cruisers, each of which had the same weapons as herself. As a result of the pursuit, the “Bartolomeo Colleoni” was sunk, but the “Australian” itself did not suffer much, limiting itself to getting into the chimney. But the return to native waters turned out to be fatal. In November 1941, on a long voyage to guard trade routes off the west coast, he encountered the German auxiliary cruiser Cormoran. The protracted monotonous service affected vigilance: the British allowed the suspicious transport too close. The Germans suddenly raised the battle flag and opened hurricane fire from all guns. "Sydney" received a torpedo and a dozen shells even before it could open fire. He had only two guns left in service, firing from which the cruiser with the smallest speed moved away from the insidious enemy, who now exceeded him in firepower. As a result, Kormoran was still punished. He received significant damage and was abandoned by the crew. But the Sydney itself, which seemed to have safely escaped from the enemy, disappeared with its entire crew, leaving behind no traces or messages. Only today, after a long search, having searched many miles of the ocean day, divers discovered the remains of a cruiser, literally riddled with shells. (More than a hundred hits were counted in it!)

As for the rest of the Australians, as we already know, the Perth died in an unequal battle with Japanese heavy cruisers while trying to break out of a trap in the Java Sea. But the Hobart made it through the entire war safely, although it was hit by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. But he still did not escape death at the hands of the Japanese: in 1962, the veteran, who had served to the maximum, was sold to Japan for cutting.

The “linders” of the first series were no less active. Ajax and Achilles, together with Exeter, took part in a battle with the German “pocket battleship” Admiral Graf Spee off the coast of Uruguay and scored approximately 20 hits on their formidable enemy after Exeter was out of action. Appearing in the Mediterranean Sea, Ajax sank a couple of Italian destroyers and damaged another in one battle in October 1940. She took part in almost all the major battles in this theater, at times playing a role completely unusual for a light cruiser, being under fire from enemy battleships and heavy cruisers.

His partner "Achilles" ended up in the Pacific Ocean, where he "faithfully" served as a target for Japanese aircraft. His military career ended in the manner of the British Aurora: in the same 1948, the cruiser was transferred to independent India. Renamed "Delhi", she served for a long time as the flagship of the Indian fleet and, back in 1961, fired live shells at Portuguese troops unsuccessfully trying to defend their small enclave colonies of Goa and Diu. The service of a veteran of two navies ended only in 1979.

"Neptune" was also part of Compound K and became a victim of Italian mines, blowing up four at once. Although he sank slowly, he was alone, and almost his entire crew died along with the cruiser.

The Orion also suffered huge losses in personnel, being heavily damaged by German bombers during the evacuation of troops from the island of Crete. Two direct hits killed and injured 560 people, including soldiers who crowded the cruiser's quarters. Nevertheless, the ship survived, just as Linder survived after being hit by a devastating 610-mm Japanese torpedo containing over 400 kg of explosives.

Britain's successes in creating a more or less "economical" type of cruiser did not go unnoticed by potential consumers in other countries. In 1934, the Argentine government adopted a special program, ordering a training ship of the Arethusa type. Persistent Latin Americans decided to follow the path already known to us, believing that the ship could be “rubber.” They demanded to strengthen the weapons, replacing the two-gun turrets with three-gun ones, and at the same time ensure the reception of at least 60 cadets. The famous Vickers-Armstrong company, of course, fulfilled the wishes, but at the cost of increasing the displacement to 6,500 tons. The speed also suffered slightly, dropping to 30 knots. But still, in the end, Argentina received a very worthy ship, well armed and protected, and at a price lower than the British “babies” - only about 1,175 thousand pounds sterling. True, this sum with a minus sign included some “export little tricks”, such as a reduced number of waterproof bulkheads, a lighter structure and the widespread use of welding (the British preferred to assemble the hulls of their cruisers using more expensive riveting in the most critical places) . Nevertheless, “La Argentina” served well for a very long time, making a lot of long-distance voyages and retiring only in 1945.

By the way, this was not Argentina’s first experience with an economical version of the most modern cruiser. The story of mastering the latest achievements in shipbuilding began in 1926, when the government of a distant country began a decisive renewal of its cruising fleet, represented only by “antiques” no less than a quarter century old. The Argentines wanted nothing more than real heavy cruisers, but... cheap ones. They announced an international competition, which was won by the Italian company OTO. The project was “Trento”, reduced in all respects. There were only three towers left, and the guns in them had the original 190 mm caliber. It is clear that neither the customer nor the manufacturer wanted to pay for the development of a new gun, so the Italians used the old British version, used on armored cruisers of the San Marco and Pisa types. Nevertheless, such an impromptu turned out to be quite successful: an almost 91-kg projectile, fired with a decent initial speed (due to a more powerful charge), could penetrate the armor of any ship of this class in the world! So the Italians received very decent ships of small displacement, high-speed, quite well armed and protected, moreover, costing only 1225 thousand pounds sterling apiece - the same as the British "Arethuses", which, by the way, had the same number of guns, but with shells of half the mass. This “economic option,” intermediate between light and heavy cruisers, caused a certain stupor in the world of shipbuilding. He sharply violated the traditions that had developed by that time in the main maritime countries to build 10,000-ton “maximum” heavy cruisers. Just in case, the “Argentine Brown” and “25 May” were accused of the usual shortcomings, such as too light a design, unreliable mechanisms, general overload, which did not prevent the Argentine couple from sailing safely for 30 years. Their service proceeded quite serenely. The only emergency occurred during maneuvers in October 1941, when the Brown rammed its own destroyer in the fog, and the stem of the battleship Rivadavia crashed into its stern. The Italian “lightweight design” passed the test, although the ship had to be repaired for three months. Without other serious incidents, the cruisers served until 1960, when they were finally withdrawn from the fleet. Before their end, they had the opportunity to return to their distant homeland, crossing the Atlantic Ocean for the last time: they were sold for scrap to an Italian company.

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The British "Washington" cruisers (County class) had powerful weapons, high speed and a significant cruising range, but had weak protection and, most importantly, were too expensive. Meanwhile, the Admiralty believed that to ensure the interests of the empire they needed at least 100 cruisers. Subsequently, appetites had to be tempered to 75 units: 45 of them were supposed to guard trade routes in the ocean, 15 - to serve as part of the Metropolitan Fleet and 15 - in the Far Eastern waters. The first step aimed at eliminating the contradiction between the required number of combat units and their cost was the launch of the York series. Gradually, the British admirals became stronger in their intention to restore the type of small cruiser with artillery with a caliber of no more than 6 inches, since such ships could be built in large quantities with the same amount of capital investment. In 1928, work began on a project for a 6,000-ton cruiser

At the beginning of 1928, the Naval Planning Committee, under the leadership of the First Sea Lord, Admiral Charles Madden, began to develop the so-called “cruising policy”. At a meeting of the “6-inch cruiser conference” on January 30, 1929, five preliminary designs with 152 mm and 140 mm artillery were considered. All of them had a displacement of 6000 tons, a waterline length of 157 m, a beam of 15.85 m, a power plant power of 60,000 hp, and a maximum speed of 31.25 knots. (30 knots fully loaded) and a cruising range of 6,000 miles at 16 knots. The main differences concerned weapons and armor. Further development of the projects was reduced to bringing these parameters to a single denominator.

Artillery placement options had both pros and cons. The advantages of open installations included a higher rate of fire in the initial period of battle, reliability, a smaller target area represented by a shield, in addition, the cost of two single installations was lower than one twin tower; the disadvantages are the impossibility of long-term maintaining a high rate of fire due to the fatigue of the loaders, less effective shooting at night, since the servants were blinded by the flashes of their own guns, poor protection from shrapnel and bad weather, and finally, open installations required 10 people per gun, and the twin turret was serviced only 15 artillerymen. It was noted that the 140 mm caliber was preferable for open hand-loading mounts, while for power-driven turrets the advantage went to the 152 mm guns with their heavier projectile. Tests of the 152-mm turret mount gave good results, which determined the final choice of Project 3, which provided the greatest firepower.

Possibilities Air defense Air defense special provisions were made for the new ship. In the initial project, anti-aircraft weapons corresponded to heavy cruisers and consisted of four 102-mm universal guns and two promising quad 12.7-mm machine guns. To control anti-aircraft fire, a specialized director was provided - the so-called “High Angle Control System - HACS”. Since the new cruiser was intended for service as part of the fleet and was supposed to strengthen Air defense Air defense formations of battleships, the First Sea Lord ordered the installation of two additional anti-aircraft machine guns and giving the main caliber guns elevation angles of at least 50° to ensure the possibility of conducting barrage fire on aircraft.

Specialists from the Admiralty design department, led by William Barry, first of all set about improving the power plant. In the original design, it occupied three compartments and included four boilers and four turbo-gear units, and the power of the TPA operating on the external shafts was 20,000 hp, and that of the internal ones was half that. Taking the design of the heavy cruiser York as a basis, the designers completely reconfigured the power plant.

The modified project was approved by the Admiralty Council on January 9, 1930. However, by that time, the operating experience of the power plants of the County-class cruisers had been studied, which showed good results, which made it possible to increase the operating steam pressure from 18 to 21 atm. As a result, the power of the power plant was increased to 72,000 hp, and the speed increased by more than a knot and amounted to 32.5 knots. Attempts were made to introduce into the project a novelty of that time - a bulbous tip. Running the model in the experimental pool in Haslar showed that in the speed range from 25 to 32 knots. The bulb reduces drag by 1.75% and gives an increase in speed by 1/8 knots. But in the final version it was abandoned.

Since the new cruiser was supposed to operate not only as part of the fleet, but also on ocean communications, after the laying of the lead ship, the head of the aviation department of the Admiralty insisted on including a second aircraft and a 53-foot catapult (instead of 46-foot) in the armament, which would allow use the heaviest airborne reconnaissance aircraft of that time - the Fairy IMF float biplane. At the same time, the Controller of the Admiralty, Admiral A. Chatfield, demanded that the cruisers be equipped for use as flagships. In addition, it was decided to install a second HACS anti-aircraft rangefinder on the aft superstructure and protect the bridge with 12.7 mm armor. As a result, the design displacement increased to 7184 tons. The final changes were approved by the Admiralty Council on June 4, 1931, when work was already in full swing at the shipyards.

Light cruisers of the Linder class are a type of light cruiser of the Royal Navy of Great Britain during the Second World War. A total of eight units were built: five for the UK and three for Australia.

Later, two of them were transferred to New Zealand, of which one then entered the Indian Navy. The Australian cruisers have been modified and are designated as a separate project, the Improved Linder or Perth class. Developed on the basis of the heavy cruiser Exeter.
The first British cruisers of the new generation.

Main characteristics:

Displacement Standard: 6985 - 7270 tons, full: 8904 - 9189 tons.
Length 159.1/169 m.
Width 16.8 - 17 m.
Draft 5.8 - 6 m.
Reservation Belt - 76 mm;
traverses - 32 mm;
deck - 32 mm;
cellars - up to 89 mm;
towers - 25 mm; barbettes - 25 mm.
Engines 4 TZA Parsons.
Power 72,000 l. With.
Speed ​​32.5 knots.
Cruising range 5730 nautical miles at 13 knots.
Crew 570 people.

Weapons:

Artillery 4 × 2 - 152 mm/50 Mk XXIII, 4 × 2 (“Achilles” - 4 × 1) - 102 mm/45.
Anti-aircraft artillery 3 × 4 12.7 mm Vickers-12.7 machine guns.
Mine and torpedo armament 2 × 4 533 mm TA.
Aviation group 1 catapult, 1 seaplane.

Quadruple 12.7 mm Vickers Mk. anti-aircraft machine guns. III was another innovation first introduced on these cruisers. It was assumed that 4-inch anti-aircraft guns would repel attacks from torpedo bombers and horizontal bombers, and machine guns would fight dive bombers and attack aircraft.

Representatives

Linder Series

"Linder" (HMS Leander, HMNZS Leander) - laid down on September 8, 1930, launched on September 24, 1931, commissioned on March 24, 1933.

"Achilles" (HMS Achilles, HMNZS Achilles, HMIS Delhi, INS Delhi) - laid down on July 11, 1931, launched on September 1, 1932, commissioned on October 6, 1933.

"Neptune" (HMS Neptune) - laid down on September 24, 1931, launched on January 31, 1933, commissioned on February 12, 1934.

"Orion" (HMS Orion) - laid down on September 26, 1931, launched on November 24, 1932, commissioned on January 18, 1934.

Ajax (HMS Ajax) - laid down on February 7, 1933, launched on March 1, 1934, commissioned on April 12, 1935.

Improved Linder Series

Three Linder-class cruisers were transferred to Australia, where they were renamed after Australian cities. Their main difference from the prototype was the transition to an echelon arrangement of the power plant.
Due to the slightly increased length of the armor belt covering the power plant, it was necessary to increase the width of the hull to maintain stability. Thanks to the widespread use of welding, the actual displacement of all three ships of the improved design turned out to be less than the design one.

HMS Amphion → HMAS Perth

HMS Apollo → HMAS Hobart

HMS Phaeton → HMAS Sydney