The combat career of the light cruisers Leipzig and Nuremberg. Light cruisers of the Leipzig type Communication and detection equipment

During its relatively short combat service for a cruiser (just over 13 years), Leipzig was expelled from the fleet three times and already in the eighth year of service was transferred to the category of training ships. In fact, the cruiser turned out to be unnecessary during the Second World War, and the appearance of such ships in the German fleet can be explained by the inertia of thinking of the then naval commanders who went through the First World War

The light cruiser Leipzig, together with the cruiser Nuremberg, belonged to the series of German cruisers of the E type, which represented the next stage in the development of the K series cruisers - the standard warships of the mid-1920s. The cruiser, which received the letter designation Kreuzer “E” and the code name “Ersatz Amasone” (German - “replacement of the Amazon”), was determined by political goals (Germany tried to present the construction of a new ship as a replacement for the cruiser Amazon, which had remained in the fleet since World War I), was laid down on the slipway of the Naval Shipyard in Wilhelmshaven on April 16 (according to other sources - April 14), 1928. On October 18, 1929 (on the next anniversary of the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig), the cruiser was launched and named "Leipzig"

The launch of the cruiser Leipzig, October 18, 1929
Source:
vetrabotnik.narod.ru

Specifications

During its relatively short service, the cruiser was repeatedly modernized, which led to differences in data on its tactical and technical characteristics in various sources. Data on the geometric dimensions and operational characteristics of the cruiser given in various sources differ slightly:

The cruiser's power plant was significantly different from those installed on previous cruisers. The ship was designed with three shafts and had two power plants: the main one and an economical propulsion system. The main power plant consisted of two turbines with a total power of 60,000 hp. and six boilers. The economical propulsion installation was experimental in nature (for the first time in the history of German shipbuilding, diesel engines were used in its composition), and consisted of four MAN diesel engines with a total power of 12,600 hp. and was mounted on the middle shaft (when the turbines were connected, the middle shaft was disconnected from the diesel engines). The power plants provided the Leipzig with a maximum speed of 32 knots or an economical speed of 16.5 knots.

Data on the ship's cruising range and the size of its crew are quite contradictory. Most likely, the data provided relate to different periods of the ship’s service.

Scheme of the cruiser "Leipzig"
Source: “Directory of the naval personnel of the world’s navies. 1944" (Military Publishing House of the USSR)

The armor protection system of the cruiser Leipzig was significantly different from the protection systems of its predecessors. When designing the cruiser, the designers returned to the so-called “belt + bevel” system. The main armor belt had an angle of 18 degrees, with a noticeable decrease in the thickness of the armor from the middle of the belt to the stern and bow. The armored deck in the middle of the ship was flat, and rounded towards the sides and came into contact with the lower edge of the belt. The length of the armored citadel was about 70% of the total length of the ship, while improved Wh grade armor was used for the first time on the cruiser Leipzig. Data on armor thickness in modern sources and reference books from the Second World War also vary somewhat:

Wartime sources generally tended to overestimate the thickness of the armor of the main belt and underestimate the thickness of the armor of the towers and conning towers. It can be assumed that such a trend could be the result of misinformation on the part of German intelligence.

Artillery weapons

The artillery armament of large German surface ships built after Hitler came to power was organized in a progressive manner and consisted of main-caliber artillery located in the towers, universal medium-caliber artillery and anti-aircraft guns. Data on the composition of Leipzig’s artillery weapons in various sources are almost identical. The main caliber artillery consisted of nine 150 mm caliber guns (barrel length - 55 calibers, firing range - 120 cables, projectile weight - 45.3 kg, rate of fire - 10 rounds per minute), installed in three three-gun turrets, one of which was located on bow, and two at the stern of the ship, which made it possible to provide a simultaneous broadside with all guns. During operation, the composition of the Leipzig anti-aircraft artillery armament was changed several times. Initially, the cruiser was equipped with four single 88 mm anti-aircraft guns. However, the experience of their operation and the development of aviation required strengthening of air defense. In 1936, 88-mm guns of the C32 system were installed on the Leipzig - initially two were mounted, and then another two-gun installation was added. On the similar cruiser Nuremberg, four two-gun installations were installed, which leads to the erroneous indication by a number of sources of eight 88 mm guns as part of the Leipzig’s armament. As a result of modernization, the cruiser's anti-aircraft artillery began to consist of six universal guns of 88 mm caliber (barrel length - 76 calibers, firing range - 94 cable, projectile weight - 9 kg), eight anti-aircraft guns (four twin installations) of 37 mm caliber (barrel length - 83 caliber, firing range - 46.5 cables, projectile weight - 0.745 kg, rate of fire - 50 rounds per minute) and four 20 mm anti-aircraft guns (barrel length - 65 calibers, projectile weight - 0.15 kg, rate of fire - 150- 160 rounds per minute). Universal guns (located in a triangle at the stern) and anti-aircraft guns (located along the perimeter) provided an almost all-round crossfire, with the only vulnerable area being the bow of the ship, but an air attack from this area was considered unlikely. In the summer of 1943, the FuMO-22 radar station was installed on the cruiser.

Cruiser "Leipzig"
Source: wunderwaffe.narod.ru

Mine and torpedo weapons

Initially, Leipzig was armed with twelve 500-mm torpedo tubes (4 three-tube launchers, two on each side). After the German fleet switched to a new caliber of torpedo tubes, instead of 500 mm, the same number of 533 mm torpedo tubes were installed. However, subsequent combat experience of German ships showed that there was no urgent need for such weapons. In March 1941, two three-tube torpedo tubes were removed from the cruiser and installed on the battleship Gneisenau, and by 1944 the remaining two tubes were also dismantled. Light cruisers were initially considered by German admirals as universal ships, therefore, to use the Leipzig as a minelayer, the possibility of taking 120 mines on board was provided.

Aviation

In the 30s, there was a fashion for naval spotter aircraft in the navies of the leading countries of the world. This fashion did not escape Germany either: after the lifting of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, military aviation was intensively created in the country, so in December 1935, Leipzig received aviation weapons, which consisted of a catapult and a crane for lifting aircraft, located near the chimney. The ship's air group included two seaplanes. At first, the He-60S biplanes were based on the cruiser, and then the Ar-196 seaplanes entered service with the cruiser.

Cruiser Leipzig, 1936. A seaplane is already installed on the cruiser
Source: Sergey Patyanin “Kriegsmarine. Navy of the Third Reich"

Combat service

Tests of the Leipzig began on October 8, 1931 and were carried out in the North and Baltic Seas. In general, they were successful, and on December 18, the cruiser returned to her “native” shipyard to eliminate the comments of the selection committee. By February 12, 1932, the work was completed, the ship passed tests and began combat training. On August 18 of the same year, the cruiser was assigned to the fleet's reconnaissance forces. In peacetime, Leipzig, as a symbol of the resurgent German navy, participated in celebrations on the occasion of memorable dates and the launching of new ships, and also demonstrated the flag when visiting foreign ports.

The cruiser's participation in the Spanish Civil War is particularly noteworthy. During the war, the cruisers Leipzig and Cologne, replacing each other, carried out patrol duty off the coast of Spain, ensuring control of traffic flows, escorting ships heading to Franco ports, and also collecting information about ships heading to ports controlled by the Republicans. On June 15 and 18, 1937, the cruiser Leipzig was attacked by unknown submarines. Most historians believe that these attacks were carried out by a Spanish Republican submarine - possibly led by a Soviet specialist. There is no mention of this fact in Soviet sources, which confirms the likelihood of an accidental attack on the cruiser by a Franco or Italian submarine. As a result of this attack, the cruiser did not receive any damage. During the operation of the Leipzig, the Kriegsmarine command was faced with the impossibility of using it for its intended purpose. Using the cruiser as a scout for the squadron was impossible due to the absence of the squadron itself. Attacks on enemy ocean convoys, as the experience of the First World War showed, were not possible without the presence of naval bases abroad, so the use of a cruiser for attacks on ocean convoys was excluded. The cruiser's crew spent the entire 1938 year practicing skills in performing alternative combat missions, such as laying mines and using the ship as a base for destroyers (experiments were carried out on reloading fuel on the high seas).

Cruiser Leipzig, 1939
Source: Robert Jackson “Kriegsmarine. Navy of the Third Reich"

On March 23, 1939, Leipzig, as part of the squadron, took part in the annexation of the city of Memel (now Klaipeda) to Germany, during the Polish campaign it participated in the blockade of the coast of Poland, and on the night of September 19-20, 1939, it was the flagship of a mine-laying unit that established barrage “Martha-4” (part of the defensive minefield Westwall (“Western Wall”), which covered the approaches to the Heligoland Bight and the coast of Germany).

In the period from November 18 to December 13, 1939, the cruiser Leipzig was the flagship of the reconnaissance force, which first covered the departure of the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to the Atlantic, and from November 22 began searching for enemy and neutral ships with smuggling - first in the North Sea, and then in the Baltic Straits.

On December 13, 1939, at 11:25 a.m., the cruiser was torpedoed by the British submarine Salmon. The explosion occurred near the 89th frame, as a result of which the hull received a hole - 13 meters in length and 5-6 meters in height, which led to the flooding of boiler rooms No. 2 and No. 1. Both gyrocompasses and the range finder also failed, and the steering failed. "Leipzig" stood with a list of 8 degrees to the left side, its position was critical (the ship took on 1,700 tons of water), but not hopeless (due to the successful division of the hull into compartments). At 12:25 the ship's crew managed to start the diesel engine, and the damaged cruiser went to the Swinemünde base. On December 14, at 12:30 p.m., the Leipzig and its guards were attacked by the British submarine Ursula - a four-torpedo salvo was fired from the boat. The cruiser itself was not damaged, but one (and possibly two) torpedoes hit the F-9 patrol ship.

After repairs, due to the impossibility of using the Leipzig for its intended purpose, on February 27, 1940, it was excluded from the lists of the fleet, but almost immediately they decided to restore it to the Kriegsmarine as a training cruiser. 4 boilers were removed from the Leipzig (instead, crew quarters were installed), so the ship's speed dropped to 24 (according to other sources, to 14) knots. On December 1, 1940, Leipzig returned to the fleet and was assigned to the artillery and torpedo schools. In April 1941, he was involved in combat training of the battleship Bismarck: he participated in exercises and artillery firing.

The use of the cruiser in the Norwegian campaign was limited to its short-term participation in the transfer of second-echelon troops to the already captured Oslo in the period from June 11 to July 7, 1940.

In September 1941, the cruiser was included in the German Baltic Fleet, intended to prevent the breakthrough of Soviet ships into neutral Sweden. Given the ship's low speed, it was most likely intended to be used as a floating battery to cover minefields. Subsequently, Leipzig, together with the cruiser Emden, the 8th destroyer flotilla and the 2nd destroyer flotilla, was involved in artillery support for German troops fighting on the Moonsund Islands. The cruiser's participation in the battles for the Moonsund Islands came down to two episodes: on September 26 and 27, 1941, shelling of the positions of Soviet troops on the Sõrvesyaar (Svorbe) peninsula on the island of Saaremaa (Ezel). On September 26, at 6 a.m., German ships (cruisers Leipzig, Emden and 3 destroyers) first fired at the positions of Soviet troops and coastal battery No. 315. Due to poor visibility, the spotter aircraft was used only for anti-submarine patrols, which reduced shooting accuracy. The shelling continued until noon, after which the German ships retreated (the cruiser Leipzig spent 377 shells). There is no data on return fire from battery No. 315. The battle on September 27, which went down in Soviet history as the battle in Lyu Bay, turned out to be more dramatic and effective.

This battle, which did not have much significance for the Kriegsmarine, is one of the largest military clashes of the Soviet coastal defense with enemy warships in the entire history of its existence. Thanks to this, the course of the battle is described by very authoritative sources - in particular, such as:

• Y. Chernov “The war extinguished the lighthouses”;
• A. I. Matveev “In the battles for Moonsund”;
• S. I. Kabanov “On distant approaches.”

Despite the apparent abundance of information, the history of the battle in Luu Bay contains a number of mysteries.

Strengths of the parties

Germany

The first mystery of the battle is the composition of the German forces - oddly enough, all Soviet sources name the different composition of the German squadron that participated in the battle:

• Yu. Chernov (“The war extinguished the lighthouses”): a cruiser and 6 destroyers;
• A. I. Matveev (“In the battles for Moonsund”): “an auxiliary cruiser, a Hans Lüdemann-class destroyer, five Leberecht Maas-class destroyers and two large torpedo boats”;
• S.I. Kabanov (“On the Distant Approaches”): auxiliary cruiser and 6 destroyers.

The auxiliary cruiser mentioned in A.I. Matveev’s book “In the Battles for Moonsund” is definitely the Leipzig, which by that time had already officially become a training ship. As for the composition of the escort ships, the situation looks ambiguous. All Soviet sources speak of the presence of six destroyers (destroyers of the Leberecht Maas type in German nomenclature are designated as “destroyers of the 1934 type,” so Matveev has an obvious mistake), which completely contradicts German data. According to German data, the Baltic Fleet of the Kriegsmarine in September 1941 included: the 8th destroyer flotilla (destroyers Z-25, Z-26 and Z-27 of the 1936A type) and the 2nd destroyer flotilla (destroyers T-2, T -5, T-7, T-8 and T-11 type "1935"). Most likely, the cruiser Leipzig, one destroyer of the 1936A type with a displacement of 3079 tons, five destroyers (T-2, T-5, T-7, T-8 and T-11 of the 1935 type) took part in the battle on the German side. ) with a displacement of 844 tons and, possibly, two torpedo boats of the "S-26" type with a displacement of 112 tons.

USSR

The Soviet coastal defense in the Lyu Bay area consisted of the 315th battery (commander - Captain Stebel) and battery 25-A (commander - Senior Lieutenant Bukotkin). If the 315th battery was a permanent structure, armed with four 180-mm guns located in the towers, then the 25-A battery was a typical temporary structure, armed with one 130-mm gun located in an open area (in the future it was planned to install two more guns). In addition to artillery, the Soviet command had four torpedo boats (No. 67, No. 83, No. 111 and No. 164 under the command of lieutenants B. P. Ushchev, N. P. Kremensky, A. I. Afanasyev and V. D. Naletov) under the general leadership senior lieutenant V.P. Gumanenko.

Cruiser "Prince Wilhelm"
German ocean liner, used as an auxiliary cruiser during the First World War. Sank 11 enemy ships with a total tonnage of 33,423 GRT. Named in honor of Prince Wilhelm Eitel Friedrich Christian Karl of Prussia. Interned in the United States in 1915, converted into a troop transport in April 1917 and renamed USS DeKalb. After the war he returned to peaceful service under the name Mount Clay. Scrapped in 1934.

Cruiser "Manz"

Light cruiser Dresden
displacement 3800 t, steam turbine power 15000 l. With. speed 27 knots. Length between perpendiculars 111 m, width 13.5, average depth 4.85 m. Reservation: deck 51 mm. Armament: 10 - 105 mm, 4 - 57 mm guns, 2 torpedo tubes. In total, two were built: “Dresden” and “Emden”.

Cruiser "Cologne"
a German light cruiser that served before and during World War II, one of three K-class cruisers named after cities starting with the letter “K.” The ship is named after the city of Cologne. Other ships were Königsberg and Karlsruhe. K-class cruisers were designed in the 1920s, within the 6,000-ton displacement limit of the Versailles agreements. For this purpose, during construction, welded joints (85%) were widely used instead of rivets. This caused problems with joint fatigue in the long term, since the welded ones were not as strong as expected.

Light cruiser Karlsruhe
Displacement 4800 tons. Steam turbine power 26,000 liters. s., speed 27 knots. Length between perpendiculars 139 m, width 13.7, average recess 5.4 m. Reservation: belt 63 mm, deck 19 mm. Armament: 12 - 105 mm guns, 2 torpedo tubes. In total, two were built: “Karlsruhe” and “Rostock”.

Light cruiser "Rostok"

Light cruiser Leipzig

Battlecruiser Strasbourg

Light cruiser Frankfurt

Battlecruiser "Moltke"
Built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg 7.4.10/7.4.10/30.9.1911 scuttled 21/6/1919 at Scapa Flow
22979/25400 t, 186.5x29.5x8.77 m. steam turbines - 2, 24 steam boilers, 85720 hp. = 28.4 knots, 3100 tons of coal. Armor: belt up to 270 mm, turrets up to 230 mm, barbettes up to 265 mm, bow deck up to 350 mm, stern up to 200 mm, casemates 150 mm, decks 50 mm. Crew 1053 people. Armament: 10 - 280 mm/50, 12 - 150 mm/45, 12 - 88 mm/45, 4 - 88 mm/45 anti-aircraft guns, 4 torpedo tubes 500 mm underwater.

Battlecruiser "Goeben"
Built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg 28.8.09/28.3.11/2.7.1912 excl. 1964
22979/25400 t, 186.5x29.5x8.77 m. steam turbines - 2, 24 steam boilers, 85720 hp. = 28.4 knots, 3100 tons of coal. Armor: belt up to 270 mm, turrets up to 230 mm, barbettes up to 265 mm, bow deck up to 350 mm, stern up to 200 mm, casemates 150 mm, decks 50 mm. crew 1053 people Armament: 10 - 280 mm/50, 12 - 150 mm/45, 12 - 88 mm/45, 4 - 88 mm/45 anti-aircraft guns, 4 torpedo tubes 500 mm underwater. Soon after entering service, Goeben became part of the Mediterranean squadron, which it formed together with the light cruiser Breslau. With the outbreak of hostilities, he was forced to enter the Dardanelles. By agreement with the Turkish government, she became the flagship of the Turkish fleet, retaining a German crew. On November 2, 1918 he was interned by Turkey. In 1926-1930 - renovation in Saint-Nazaire, after which it was called “Yavuz Selim”. Since 1936 - “Yavuz”. Since 1948, resident in Izmir. Sold for scrap in 1973.

Armored cruiser Kaiserin

Armored cruiser "Blücher"
Built by Kaiserl. Werft, Hafen 1907/11.4.08/1. 10.1909 died 24.1.1915.
15842/17500 t, 161.8x24.5x8.84 m. steam engines - 3, 18 steam boilers, 38320 hp. = 25.4 knots, 2510 tons of coal. Armor: belt up to 180 mm, turrets up to 180 mm, casemates 140 mm, bow deck up to 250 mm, stern up to 140 mm, deck up to 70 mm. crew 853 people Armament: 12 - 210 mm/45, 8 - 150 mm/45, 16 - 88 mm/45, 4 - 450 mm torpedo tubes. The cruiser was a lightweight version of the German dreadnought Nassau, but armed with 210 mm guns. Due to the weakness of its weapons, it could not be considered a battle cruiser. Since 1911 it was used as a training artillery ship. Since 1914 it became part of the High Seas Fleet. Participated in raiding operations of German cruising forces on the coast of Great Britain. During one of these operations on January 24, 1915, she was sunk by artillery fire from British battle cruisers.

Battlecruiser Seydlitz
The battlecruiser was built according to the 1910-1911 program. at the Blom und Voss shipyard (Hamburg), which also manufactured its engine installation. On February 4, 1911, at the Blom und Voss shipyard, with the laying of the keel of the newly built battle cruiser "T", the biography of the ship, the most famous among all the large ships of the Kaiser's fleet, began. Its displacement was: normal 24,988 tons, full 28,550 tons, which is 2,000 tons more than that of the Moltke. Conway brings respectively 24,594 tons and 28,510 tons. Length of the ship: total 200.6 m, between perpendiculars 200 m (14 m longer than the Moltke). The width was 28.5 m (1 m narrower than that of the Moltke). The maximum width, taking into account the anti-torpedo net shots laid along the sides, is 28.8 m.
As an ordinary ship of the 1st Reconnaissance Group, Seydlitz took part in its subsequent exercises as part of the group, until on June 23, 1914, its commander, Rear Admiral Hipper, transferred his flag from the Moltke to it. Since then, for almost the entire period of the First World War, with the exception of short breaks, Seydlitz was the flagship until October 26, 1917, when the battlecruiser Hindenburg entered service (although the flagship in the Battle of Jutland was Lützow). In July 1914, Seydlitz took part in the High Seas Fleet's campaign to Norway, which had to be interrupted due to the danger of war. It was partially dismantled at Lyness in 1927, then towed to Rosyth in May 1928 and there it was finally dismantled for metal before 1930.

Gunboat "Blitz"

Sergey Borisovich Trubitsyn

Light cruisers of the Nuremberg class. 1928-1945

Leipzig and Nuremberg Unfulfilled projects

Warships of the world

St. Petersburg: Publisher R. R. Munirov, 2006. - 64 p.: ill.

Historical and cultural center of ANO "ISTFLOT" Samara 2006

ISBN 5-98830-010-3

The publisher expresses gratitude to V.V. Arbuzov, Yu.V. Apalkov and E.Yu. Kobchikov for the photographs and materials provided

on page 1 “Nuremberg”;

on pages 2, 3 and 4. "Leipzig"

Text: 1st page “Nuremberg”

Those. editor Yu.V. Rodionov

Lit. editor S.V. Smirnova

Proofreader V.S. Volkova

Light cruiser Leipzig

Design and modernization

In the early 1930s, the fleet of Weimar Germany had 4 light cruisers, of which the Emden, laid down in December 1921, was already obsolete, and three K types - Cologne, Karlsruhe and Königsberg "were a standard in the world shipbuilding of that time[* S.B. Trubitsyn Light cruisers of Germany. Part I. BKM. St. Petersburg 2003]. A number of new products appeared on them: three gun turrets, a combined main power plant consisting of steam turbines and diesel engines, and new technologies were used during construction: welding and lightweight aluminum superstructure structures.

In 1928, the German designer Bleschmidt received the task of designing another light cruiser for the Reichsmarine. The designers took the K-type cruisers as a basis, but made an internal rearrangement: the boiler chimneys were combined into one pipe, and the aft towers were placed in a more traditional way - in the center plane. This is how a new cruiser project appeared, which received the symbol “E” type.

The technical and tactical elements of the new cruiser project were as follows:

Standard displacement 6619 tons (according to other sources, 6614 tons), total displacement 8382 tons (according to other sources, 8427 tons).

Dimensions: hull length 177.1 m (maximum), 165.8 m (design waterline), beam 16.2 m, draft 5.69 m (maximum), 4.88 m (average).

The hull had a longitudinal framing system, was divided into 16 waterproof compartments, and the double bottom ran 75% of its length. From its predecessors, the new cruiser inherited ease of construction and insufficient strength. One of the reasons for this was that the superstructure was not part of the overall strength of the hull, which subsequently led to accidents. Welding was widely used to save weight.

Nickel steel from the Krupp plant was used to protect Leipzig. The belt along the waterline had 50 mm, in the aft part in the area of ​​the tiller compartment it was 25 mm, in the bow there was a 20 mm (according to other sources, 18 mm) plates. The armored deck, 20 mm thick, had a rounded 25 mm bevel to the lower edge of the belt.

Mine protection consisted of a 15-mm longitudinal bulkhead. The conning tower was protected by 100 mm (vertical) from 50 to 30 mm (horizontal) plates. A 50-mm inclined shaft with a staple ladder inside led from the conning tower to the central post. The foremast mars was armored with 20 mm (vertical), 15 mm (horizontal) plates. The bow rangefinder had 20 mm vertical and horizontal armor, a stabilized fire control post for 88 mm guns - 14 mm protection.

The main caliber turrets had frontal armor of 80 mm and side armor of 20 mm. the back part is made of 32 mm plates. The barbet turrets had 60 mm armor above the waterline, 32 mm below it. The upper deck in some of the most vital places reached a thickness of 20 to 32 mm. The shield armor of the 88 mm guns consisted of 12 mm front and 10 mm side plates.

The main power plant consisted of 6 low-pressure naval boilers (16 atmospheres), located in three boiler rooms. The boilers produced steam for 2 turbines of the Parsons system produced by the Kiel plant "Germany", each working through a turbo-gear unit on its own shaft. In addition, the ship had 4 MAN diesel engines operating on one (central) shaft. In total, the cruiser had three propellers. The turbine power was 60,000 hp, diesel power was 12,400 hp.

The speed when the turbines were running reached 32 knots, when only diesel engines were running 18 knots (cruising speed), the cruising range was 3,780 miles at a speed of 15 knots, 2,980 miles at 21 knots and 2,220 miles at a speed of 32 knots. The fuel supply was 1200 tons (oil) and 310 tons of fuel oil (diesel fuel). “Taking into account the fact that turbine and diesel installations differed significantly in power, a controllable pitch propeller (CPP) was installed on the middle shaft of the cruiser, which made it possible to rotate the blades to the position that is most effective for each specific mode of the diesel installation, taking into account the speed of the ship. In the event of a failure of the diesel unit, as well as when running only under the boiler-turbine unit, it was planned to deploy the control propeller into a “feathered” position along the axis of the propeller shaft. This made it possible to reduce the resistance of an idle propeller to a minimum.

Electricity for numerous consumers was generated by 3 turbo generators and 1 diesel generator with a capacity of 180 kilowatts each - a total of 720 kilowatts. The voltage in the network was 220 volts.

During testing, the Leipzig developed a power of 65,585 hp, 309 rpm, and reached a speed of 31.9 knots.

The main caliber of Leipzig's artillery consisted of 9 150-mm guns of the SKC-25 system. They were placed in the same way as on K-type cruisers, in three three-gun turrets - one in the bow, two in the stern. Unlike the previous series, the aft towers were located in the center plane. Each of the towers weighed 137 tons (of which the armor was 24.8 tons). The elevation angles of the guns reached 40°, the depression angles were 10". The maximum firing range was 25,000 m. These guns had high-explosive and armor-piercing shells weighing 45.5 kg. The ammunition included 1080 shells or 120 shells per barrel. During the war, the ammunition load was increased to 1,500 shells.

The fire control system for the main caliber artillery was based on three rangefinders with a base of 6 meters: one on the top of the foremast, the second on the bow superstructure, and the third on the stern superstructure.

Initially, it was planned to install 4 88-mm C25 guns on the cruisers, the same ones that were armed with the K-type cruisers. Due to their unavailability, the cruiser was armed with 2 and then 4 single-barreled 88-mm guns from the First World War. In 1936, 88-mm guns of the C32 system were installed on Leipzig. Initially, two double-barrel installations were installed, then another double-barrel installation was added. The main characteristics of the installation and guns were as follows: elevation angle 80", descent angle 10", gun rotation angle 360°, projectile weight 9 kg, charge weight 15 kg, firing range 19200 m (at a sea target), 12400 m (at an air target ). The ammunition load was: 800 shells for the old 88 mm guns, and from 1600 to 2400 shells for the new 88 mm guns.

Small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery included 8 37-mm guns of the SZO system (4 double-barreled installations had an elevation angle of 85", reduction of 10", firing range of 8500 m against a sea target, 5800-6800 against an air target) with a maximum rate of fire of 160 rounds per minute per barrel, practically 80 shots. The ammunition load of 37-mm shells consisted of 9,600 rounds.

8 20-mm single-barreled guns had an elevation angle of 85°, a descent angle of 11°, a firing range of 4900 m against a sea target, 3700 m against an air target, a maximum rate of fire of 280 rounds per minute per barrel, actual 120 rounds per minute.

Initially, Leipzig was armed with 12,500-mm torpedo tubes (4 three-tube, two per side). After the German fleet switched to a new caliber of torpedo tubes, instead of 500 mm, the same number of 533 mm torpedo tubes were installed. The ammunition load consisted of 24 torpedoes: 12 in the tubes, 12 near them. There was a centralized torpedo firing control system. If necessary, the cruiser could set up 120 mines of barrage.

British fleet: for the first time in more than 100 years, the English squadron was completely defeated in a naval battle. In general, the autumn of 14th turned out to be a shocking failure for the “mistress of the seas”. On September 20, in the port of Zanzibar, the German cruiser Königsberg shot and sank the English light cruiser Pegasus. On September 22, a German submarine easily and naturally sent three British armored cruisers to the bottom. On October 27, the newest battleship Odaisies hit a mine and sank, and four days later the German “South Seas Squadron” under the command of Admiral Maximilian von Spee in a battle near the Chilean port of Coronel dealt with the English flotilla of Admiral Christopher Cradock, sinking the armored cruisers Monmouth. and “Good Hope” (translated as “Good Hope”).
At the same time, none of the cruiser crews escaped; they died in full force, including Admiral Cradock himself, and the Germans did not lose a single sailor. The aura of invincibility and omnipotence of Royal Nevi noticeably faded and for the first time since Bonaparte, the British had a formidable rival at sea.

True, the margin of safety of the British naval forces, the largest in the world at that time, was still enormous. Having withstood a series of blows, a month later they took revenge for Coronel, destroying Spee's flotilla in the Battle of the Falkland Islands, but that is another story.
The screensaver shows a burning Good Hope a few minutes before its death.

The armored cruiser Good Hope is Admiral Cradock's flagship.

A group of Good Hope officers. All of them died exactly 101 years ago, and with them - 867 sailors of the cruiser.

The armored cruiser Monmouth, which survived Good Hope by an hour and a half. 735 people died on it.

Light cruiser Glasgow. In the battle at Coronel, he received six shell hits, but managed to escape thanks to his high speed and the onset of night.

Scheme of the Battle of the Port of Coronel.

German collage with photographs of the gallant Admiral von Spee and his ships "Südsee-Geschwader" - the cruisers "Scharnhorst", "Gneisenau", "Nuremberg", "Leipzig" and "Dresden". .