Warship annual 2005 edition

[agentorange]

I picked up the 2005 edition of the Warship annual a short while ago. There's a couple of articles that would probably interest people here. Firstly an article directly relating to the RJW called " Aboard the Orel at Tshushima " by Stephen McLaughlin. It's based on a detailed account by a young Russian naval constructor named Vladimir Kostenko who was on the Orel during the battle, about 27 pages long, very interesting with a number of photographs that show just how heavily damaged some of the Russian ships were.

The other article is bit more general and is titled: " The underside of warship design: A preliminary history of pumping and drainage Part 1: The pre - dreadnought era" Also by Stephen McLaughlin. It sounds a bit dry but has interesting stuff about flood control etc etc.

Two other articles related to the era are: " Steam torpedo boats of the Royal Navy " ( victorian era ) and " Lord Nelson and Agamemnon " ( about the Royal Navies last two pre - dreadnought battleships )

Along with a lot of other warship goodness it's worth checking out if you've got the money

[mbv]

I usually pick these up secondhand on ebay if I can. Sounds like a good volume so I will look out for this one. Thanks for the heads-up :thumup:

[NormKoger]

" The underside of warship design: A preliminary history of pumping and drainage Part 1: The pre - dreadnought era" Also by Stephen McLaughlin. It sounds a bit dry but has interesting stuff about flood control etc etc.


I can't resist: How could an article on "...pumping and drainage..." possibly be dry?

Actually, it does sound interesting. I may look into this.

[agentorange]

It was only after I'd made the post that I realised the pun.....:laugh:

[mbv]

Just got a half price copy from an Amazon marketplace seller. For RJW fans it is definately worth the cash for the Orel at Tsushima article alone.

Some interesting points emerge concerning the Russian preparations for the battle which are relevant to earlier discussions in this area regarding fire hazards in particular.

On Orel and at least two other Russian warships they did attempt to remove all extraneous flammable materials before the battle including wood and fabrics/textiles. There is no mention of loose coal or coal dust on the decks at all and it is clear the danger from coal igniting was fully understood. All coal was loaded and stored in sacks in bunkers next to the boilers. They did use some sacks of coal to create temporary protective bulkheads on some decks, mainly to stop shell splinters, but these were fully doused in water prior to the battle to prevent ignition. The decks were generally awash with water as they paid out hoses before the battle and had these running during the battle. The ships also took on a lot of water in any case due to the fact that they were overloaded with supplies and ammo. Damage at and above the water line further allowed water ingress which doused flames. Even so, major fires did break out on Orel, but were considered never to have been a serious threat to the ship and all were put out.

Other points of interest:

Unarmoured side areas of Russian battleships were in the order of 52-56% unlike the Japanese battleships which had 33% unarmoured.

The 6" shells in particular of both sides did far more damage than was previously anticipated. The Japanese shells had a greater incendiary capability and this triggered many of the larger fires which raged on some of the Russian ships.

The Russian conning towers were a poor design which actually helped to funnel shell splinters into the crew area knocking out vital fire control and command systems.

The withering rapid fire of 6" and 3" shells by the Japanese killed many of the Russian damage control teams or sent them below for shelter and this allowed fires to spread and caused vital systems to gradually break down. The fact that many Russians were sheltering below decks from the Japanese fire contributed to the high death toll when ships sank.