The War at Sea in 1855© John Barham
Dec 13, 2002
As we saw in our previous study, 1854 had not been a year of great success for the allied naval campaigns. A leading article in the Times had summed it up rather aptly: "We have to deal with shallow waters and granite walls, and find ourselves too gigantic for the petty warfare, and giants though we are, we are so far baffled." The then Commander of the Baltic Fleet, Sir Charles Napier, before the acrimony of his dismisssal, offered the experienced naval warrior's assessment of how to successfully assault a Russian seaward defence installation.:"The only successful manner of attacking...that I can see, is by fitting out a great number of gunboats carrying one gun of long range."
The advent of the hollow charge exploding shell had forced a dramatic rethink in the tactics of taking on well-fortified shore installations. The old solid shot could strike a ship of the line on or near the waterline, even below; it would either plug, or if it did pass through, the expanded fibres of the wood contracted again, leaving a much smaller hole which was easily dealt with. But a similar strike with shell would often prove fatal. Ships of the line were enormously expensive to build and to maintain, needing large crews. Their deep draught made it usually impossible to get within close enough range to guarantee the accuracy of strike necessary to penetrate a coast battery's defences. On the other hand, their size and high profile made them vulnerable to direct shellfire hits themselves. The concept of the floating battery was to exploit the advantages over shore batteries of mobility, manouevrability and ability to fire in any direction, reinforced with its virtual invulnerabilty even at close ranges.
The standard 1855 specification was a platform about 165 feet long with a low profile several feet above the waterline, sufficient to provide casemates for 12 gunports each side. The battery consisted of sixteen guns, eight each side with the facility to transfer four to the side in action. The hull was entirely covered to a depth of 32 inches below the waterline with iron plating four inches thick, sufficient to withstand any solid shot, or hollow of course, at 450 yards range. The only superstructure was the bridge, with sloping faces to deflect shot strikes, armoured like the hull with the facility to batten down the front viewing side. The vessel only drew about nine feet, allow it to get close under the shore batteries. It was steam powered and propellor driven.
Go To Page:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
The copyright of the article The War at Sea in 1855 in Crimean War is owned by . Permission to republish The War at Sea in 1855 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
