The Battleships

Before the nuclear bomb , no weapon on earth had evoked so much fear, veneration and passion as th e battleship. In de structive power it had no equal. Accompanying a four-part Cha nnel 4 se ries of the sa me name , The Battleships unve ils the ep ic saga of power, inte rn ati ona l politics,'a nd one- upmanship that led to the tita nic wars of th e twent ieth century, It is a story involving rule rs, war lords and admirals who all became intoxica ted by the • grandeur, majesty and sheer power of these floating fortresses . Enr iched with eye-witness accounts and contributions from naval experts around the globe , The Battleships explores the rap id evolution of firepower and battleship desig n from canvas to steam , timbe r to steel, muzzleload ing ca nnon to l8- inch guns, a nd beyond , to rocket lau nchers and missil es . As the spearhead of colon ial expansion and in defence of the great empires the battleship re igned supreme, and in the wake of World War I Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the US competed in an arms race wh ich focused on building maritime muscle .

I

II was a re ign, however, that could not offset the technological advancements tak ing place in the way wa rs were fought. In the face of subma rines and air wa rfa re, the battleship wou ld have to fight to prove itself an effect ive weapon . Crippling defeats du ring World War II , such as the loss of the famous British ship Hood and all but three of its crew by the guns of the German ship Bismarck and the destruction wrought by a Japanese air attack on the US fleet in Pearl Harbor, were turning points for the battlesh ip. With the major powers rethinking their arsenals, only the four US Iowa Class battlesh ips would survive to play a signif icant role in the wars of the latt e r part of th e twentiet h century. Prob ing th e evolution, deployment and effectiveness of one of the most controve rs ial weapons ever created, The Battleships explores the momentous role they played in • shaping the modern world .

The

•

Batt es 1 s Ian Johnston and Rob McAuley

III A companion to the television series 'Th e Battleships',

pr oduced w ith the financial assistance of the Australian Film Finance Co rporatio n Ltd and the New So uth Wales Film and Television O ffice.

Dedicate d to Ad miral o f the Fleet Th e Lord Lewin KG GC B LVa DSC (b 1920 d 1999) and to the sa ilors o f all nati ons w ho served on batt leships

First published 2000 hy Cha n ne l . j Books imprint of ,\ b cm ill~m Publishers Ltd 2::; Ecclest on Pbn' Lond o n 5\,\' } \,\' 9:'\F }bsin~stokt.' and O xford www.macnullan .com A!\."'Cx:iated co mp ani es throughout the wo rld ISB~ 0 7:;22 IR. 7 6

~111

Copyrig ht

2000, The Battleships Pty Limited

rtglu of Ian Johnst on and Rob ,\ k Aulcy to IX" id e ntif ied :I." thc authors o f this work Ius l-ccn as se rted b y the m in accorda nce with the Cop vnglu . ()l' si~ns and Patents Act 19M .

"n I L'

'The Hatth-shipx ' is a Roh .\ k Aule y production for Cha nne l -I . Producer: Rob .\ !cAule y

All ri,g hts reserved. No pan of this publication ma y he re prod uced . sto red in o r introduced into :I retrieva l sysle m, o r transmit ted. in a n)' for m, or hy :lny means (elect ronic. mechanical . ph otocopying. recording o r otherwise) w ithout the p rior writte n pe rmission o f tbc publisher , Any pe rso n who does an y unauthorized ac t in relation to this publication ma y he liable 10 cri mina l prosecutio n a nd civil cla ims fo r d al11~I~L's . 9 H 7 6 S -, 5 2 I

A CII' catalog ue record for this book is avuilnble from the Britis h Li brary. Dvsigncd hy n~1I1 Newman -Perfect Bound Oesign Colour Reproduction hy Ayleshury Studi os L[(...1 Printed in England by Bath Press

Contents Acknowledge me nts

6

Foreword

8

Symbols of Supremacy

10

Sail to Steam - Wood to Steel

24

Sea Lanes to Power

36

Enter the Drea dnoug ht

52

Battleships Go Global

64

Empires in Collision

78

The Battle of Jutland

90

Th e Ultima te Battleships

108

The Supre me Challenge

124

From Bismarck to Pearl Harbor

136

Sea-powe r versu s Air-power

158

End of the Behemoths

172

Glossary

186

Ind ex

187

Further Read ing

191

Acknowledgements

D

urin g the research for ou r p revious seri es . n )('(.iuers. I was standing o n the ha llowed strip o f land

; 1(

Jo h n Brown'... yard o n th e River Clyd e wh er e the famous liners.

Q U('( ' II

Mw)' and Quee n Elimbetb w er e b uilt. w ith Glasgow- based Ian johnston . Ian reminded

me tha t the great figh ting ships . Barham. fr

~li d l;l d

Epkanha ns

Professor Kiyoshi Ikeda

Ger m~1I1

nava l histo rian and retired nava l ca ptain. Berlin

German naval historian. t Iamb urg Japanese naval hist ori an , Tokyo :'\;l\~1 1

Dr G :lTy \X'ei r

Hist ori an , US

Sir l lc nrv Leach GCn . III

Admi ral o f the F1c..'t:'I , UK

Historica l Cent re . \X'ashington DC

Jo hn Pau l Ellio t

Sailor. \'(brld \V.1f I. LJSS Tex as, Cali fornia

,\ Irs Pegg y G ihson

Eye witness at Scapa Flow. posl-\'(,\Vl

ll atsu hu Naito

japan ese

Te d Brigg s

Su rvivor. 1IJ\ IS lIood

11;1\';11 historian

&. author, Tokyo

Oll~ ) Th isson

1'ill Jilz cr c wmc mbcr. \Vililel ms ha "ell . Ge rman y

P;lI Ja ckson

Sword fish pilo t. 1-12.5 Sqdn . 11J\.I S \ 'tctnrk nts

North Dalrvm p le-llamilt on Mid shipm an.

1I ~I S K ill).: Gem'l-:e

l'

Ludovic- Kenn ed y

Ex-Royal Navy. nava l histo rian . a ut hor, re nowne d UK broadcaster

I>o u,gh' Tunic:

Ah le Sea man . J 1 ~I S K i np. G t'(Jf].W \'

O tto Peters

Engine room artificer, Bisnm rcl:

Richard Fiske

xtartnc bugler. t;SS 'n~1 nYRinia Ensign . Lieuten an t (J.G.>. USS Sontb Daleota

Erlin,g l lustvc dt Bo h :'\i,ghts

Flight-Lieut enant. 6 1i La nca ster Squadron

l lans .\ Hillcr

Ant i-a ircra ft gun ne ry o ffice r. Ttrp it z

vernon Sistrunk

Ensign. Torpedo 11-1 Squ adron. USS JIlln 1Jid

Be n StJo h n

Ensig n. To rpedo 11-1 Sq uad ro n. LJSS Intrep id

Sh iro Ilo so ya

lmpcrialj apan cxc Navy Seama n. J lu sasbi surv ivo r

IIn ward Skid more..

Lieut e nant ( J.G.) To rpedo 29 Squadron . USS Co hol

7

Foreword

B

anlcships

Weft:

(he stuff o f legend. pro ject ing might and po we r beyond belief. For over

~I ce n.t ll: ', they were [~lC iron fists that undcrlin~d diplomacy. \~'herc ~jplolll~ICY fa il~d .

they inflicted the maximu m amoun t o f d estructi on that hu man mgenutty co uld d ense.

They WCfC p:l wns in perha ps the gre ates t ga me of politica l o ne- up ma nship eve r played hv'twe e n rival nations - the pr od uct o f ego s. jealousy . greed . agg ression , and blind am bit ion of na tio ns seeking to exte nd their nati ona l bou nda ries . Befo re the nuclea r homh. no wcapo n o n earth ev ok ed so much fear. ven era tion and pa ssion as the ba ttleship. And yet there has probably ne ver been a class of warship that, round-for-round . in naval battles ag ainsr o p po nents o f a similar cla ss. fo ught less ba ttles. achieved less sun :ess . an ti had

~I S

lill ie

effect o n th e o utcome o f th e major wars of th e twentieth ce n tury as th e battleshi p . Ou r story ex amines th ese amazingly complex and aw es ome weapons of d estruction - from their evo lution from the ships-of-t he-line of Nelson's period

10

th e supe r-battles hips o f \'\'orld War II.

For we ll over a cent ury. d es igne rs. e ng ineers. scie ntists an d nava l a rchitects - sp urred o n hy the dema nd s of the ir po litical and milita ry musters - strived

10

p rod uce the ultim ate battleshi p -

the impreg nable floating big -gun fort ress that would eclipse all othe rs..\ Io nc y fro m th e public purse ap pe are d limitless: sh iphu ilding yards. naval dock yards. stee l and armament fact ori e s

beca me major expenditures in the econo mics o f mar itime nations. Traditi onal cross-cha n ne l rivals . Britain

~1I1t1

Fran ce . wr... re qui ck to apply new tech no logies in

th eir navies. but by th e end of th e n inetee nt h ce ntu ry. Ge rma ny. dri ven b y IhL' a mbitious Kaise r \,\'i1 hel m II. had eme rge d as the new na val power in Europe . 111e g rea t nava l arm.. r..IO..' between Great Britain and Ge rmany in th e lead -u p to 'cc o rkl War I saw th e creatio n of till" two greatest fleets o f battleshi ps e ve r assembled . Th e head -o n mee tin g o f these

two

!lcets in th e Battle o f

J utland was the largest battle betwe e n battles hips in history. La sting less than two hours. the result was inconclus ive w ith hoth sides clai ming victo ry. "l'he wa r to end all wa rs'

W :IS

finally resolved

without another major naval hatti e . And yet. immediately after \'\'orld \'\'ar I. so deepl y ing rain ed in th e minds o f polit icians anti nav al strat eg ists was the need for eve n bigger. faste r. and more powerful fl eers o f c apital sh ips that a new arms race threat ened. 111e 1922 \'\'ashi ngton Agreement - the world 's first internationa l arms limit ati on treaty - crea ted momentary internati onal sa n ity. limi ting th e s ize a nd future numhers o f battleships . BtU the re is little do ub t thi s confe re nce a lso so wed th e first .st.'cds o f discontent that eventually co ntrib uted to the o utbreak of the greatest war o f all - \'\'orld War II. A"i the ae ro pla ne developed as a ma jor weapo n. and aircraft carriers be cam e a practical rea lily. the writing was o n the wa ll fo r the lo ng-term future o f the batt leship . In spite o f th is. j apa n. the natio n th at wa s the most adva nced in naval avia tion. was plan ning th e

IWO

largest a nd mo st

powe rful bat tleships ever - the 7 1.000· lOn. 18·inch gu nn ed }"a ma (o and stusasbt. At the sa me time. Adolph Hitler. in defiance o f the Trea ty o f Versailles be ga n building 'poc ket battleships and later. (he two largest battl esh ips ever bu ilt for the Ge rman

:'\:1\)" -

Bismarck anti Tirpitz.

11)(,: fate o f these b ig-gun sh ips anti the evolution of wa r str.ltegies as th e aircraft currier took o ve r as the capi tal ship in th e world 's navies. pr esen ts a dramat ic a riel terrib le sto ry o f d eath a nd de...truction at unprecedented levels on the oceans of the world . It has been fascinating

[0

he a r fro m British. Ge rma n. japan ese . Fre nch . a nd American sailo rs.

.,.Ii'....

_ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ --->ili_ liil m. .

IiiiIII_~ 9

Even for the mightiest battleships, there is no escape from the power of the ocean waves. War at sea is a 24-hour, 7-day week operation in all weathers.

p ilo ts ami nava l hi storia ns . \Ve have been p rivi leged to speak wi th ma ny who

SCfVt:U

on

battleships o f o pposing navies and to share with them thei r first-ha nd ex periences of ex trao rdina ry survival in da ng e rous ci rc umst a nces o n the h igh seas. Th eir stories and co m me n ts pro vide a uni que insight into the story o f the battl eship. Attempting to un derst and and present th e technical co mp lexity o f these extraordi na ry fighting ships. and eve n

(0

scra tch the surfa ce of th e polit ic...ll manouevring behind thei r creat ion has been

a daunting task. \'\'c ho p e (hat o ur televis io n se rie s. a nd this hook in some wa y

Sl H-T C ed

in

p re senting a n in forma tive , exciting and as accu rate as p os sib le story o f th e se a wesome and

strangely charismatic weapo ns of war - the battleships. Rob J\ Iing bat tles hi ps.' By the e nd of the ce ntury. the batt les hip had go ne throug h so ma ny stages of de velopment that a sailo r fro m, say. Wflrrior - o nly fort y yea rs befo re - would have ha rdl y recog nized the se new and im me nsely mor e powe rful cap ita l sh ips. No r would this sa me sa ilo r ha ve kno w n o f the we a pons cap ab le of deslro ying th ese flew b reed o f wars hips: the mag ne tic mine . the self-

1_

propelled torpedo and 11lL' subma rine . The de velopme nt o f these dea d ly \H:apons happe ned in parallel wit h th e tran sformati on o f the fightin g s h ip from wood and sa il, to ste a m and steel. As eac h flew wea po n w as perfecte d. th e: a rmo ur a nd d efen ce o n fight ing s h ips were im p ro ved to thwa rt th e new w ea po n 's e ffective n ess. Thi s in tu rn c ha lle n ge d the sc ie ntists

The battle be tween USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (ex-Merrimac) on Hampton Roads on 9 March 1862 raged for hours with neither

an d t.'n ginl..'L'rs to invent eve n deadlier and more destructive..• weapo ns. It was a self-pe rpetua ting

vessel able to penetrate the

p rocess a nd , with eac h devel o p me n t. the e vol ut io n o f the battl esh ip re ached a no ther stage in

armour of the other.

th e pursu it o f

oCL'~In -go i ng

invi ncibi lity a nd ultimate power . •\I asts a nd rigg ing di sappeared as

giant steam-powered e ng ines. d riving tw in p rope lle rs, pushed th e hu g e steel juggernaut s. in ~my

weath er. at speeds o f J5 kn o ts an d mo re .

The she er wei g ht of armour plate: necessa ry to prot ect a ship e nt irely from s hells. torpedo . mine and. mu ch later. air att ack. posed e normous design pr oblems for the naval architects. Fro m the ea rliest days, the a nswer was to restrict a rmour p lating to the most vul nerable areas of th e hull a nd s uperstruct ure . Thi s localized p ro te ction re s ulted in the development of an 'armo ured 1JOs wrought-iro n arm o ur had reached a thickn ess 01'9 inches (22H mm ) o n ships ca rrying lQ..inch (2"'\ -mm) mu zzle-loading guns. By IH75 the turret ship (ea rly battleship} Derastation

fitted with an armo ured be lt 12 inches structure 10-1 2 Inches (254--305 rum ) thick. In lAAl the masted turret ship 1I1j le.\i hle c.'.arried a main ar mament of four J6-inch (406-mm) W :l S

ems nun ) thick. o n to p of w hich was an additio nal armo ured

guns mounted o n a citadel mad e up of 'co mpo und' iron rangi ng from 16 to 24 inche s (406 to 6 10 nun ), the latte r he:ing the thickest armo ur eve r fitted in a battlesh ip at any time . 'Co mpo und ' armo ur was the prod uct of a d ifficult a nd co m plex process in w hich a wrought -

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lighter, German ba ttlecru isers

mostly lITl"U isfacto ry with regard to the calibre and layout o f their main armame nt. which was

were b etter armoured and proved

p ro h ahl y be-cause o f a m ind -se t ca rried o ve r from the o rigin a l layout o f turrets in pr l.'-

more resilien t in battle than their

d read no ug ht lxntl cxhip x. where w ing tu rrets were common. A sim ilar anach ro n ism ex isted in

British equivalent.

the: early d read no ught...; re latio nshi p lx..'I Wt.'L'1l fun nels and tri pod mast s. 111L' so lut ion which emerged in the with

~I

)'~IrS

before 191-1- su pcrfm ng turrets fore and aft - end ured ,

flow ru It~lh lL' excep tio ns.

1In1i1

th e e nd of IhL' ba ttlesh ip e ra.

111L' British Qm..'e n Eliza beth Class bat tles hips and th e Germa n Dcrffl ing cr Class

HMS QUEEN ELIZ.ABETH DIMENSIONS,

b.mlccrue-cr-, embodied th e lx-st fighting characteristics in the developme nt of th e dreadnought u p unt il tha t lime . O n paper. the British r\a \y's Grand Fleet. as it beca me

known. hi lasled a in the

(")'1..':>0

\':1 .'1 eu pcrion ty

in the n um ber (If capital ships in ils hatti e fleet and.

of most inte rn atio nal nava l o bservers.

W ;IS

still the traditional do min ant

naval force in the world. Ge rma ny . o n the ot he r hand . h;IU built its h attie flee t almost

'S6,000 IHP

SPEED,

Z't KNOTS

ARMAMEIIIr,

8 Y IS-IN (38I-MM) WNS; '" Y 6-IN (I'SZS-MM); 't Y ZI-IN C'S33-MM} TORPEDO T\JBES

PROTECTION,

MAIN BELT 13 TO 6IN (330 TO ISZSMM); BARBETTES 10 TO 'tIN (Z'S't TO 100 MM); 13-IN C33O-MM} T\JRRET FACES

CREW,

'!'SO (APPROV

191·1. This new and powe rfu l Germa n fleet became known as the ' fl ig h Seas Fleet' - the culminatk 1Il of the dr eams a nd plans o f the Kaiser and his chi ef naval ad viser. Th e world wa iled fo r the d ay in h isto ry when these two fle..'t·ts would meet. fact.' 10

zsrr

DISPl..ACEMEIIIr, Z7,'S00 LOIUl TONS MACHINERY,

e ntirely fro m scra tch in It:ss th:m two deca de - leading up to th e outbreak of war in

Admiral von Tir pitz.

6'6FT 91N (OIi£RIUJ Y 91N 90FT 6IN Y (196.8 Y Z7.6 Y 8.8M)

face . in battle . Fo r ce nturies the fate o f e ntire empires had res ted o n the fo rtu nes

o f their 11:1\·ie..·., as tlle..·y faced the fire power o f their e nemi es . For Brita in and Ge rma ny. rh.u d ay wa s b st approach ing .

•

•

Em Ires In •

•

o isron Y

ears before the o utbreak of World War I the Ge rma n Chance llor, Otto vo n Bismarck , remark ed that the cause of the next Europea n war wo uld be 'so me damned fool thing in the Balkan s', He co uld

not ha ve mad e a more acc urate prediction, Th e 'damned fool th ing' th at

trigge red th e most horrific war in the h istory o f mank ind at tha t time occur red in the Bosnian ca p ital, Sara jevo - an incid en t tha t b rou gh t to a he ad ye a rs o f political a nd racial tens ions in perhaps the most vo latile regi o n in the w ho le of Europe , Politically, the nat ions of Europe had gon e through a reasonably peacefu l period s ince a ro u nd the turn o f th e ce ntu ry alth ough , th rough var io us a llia nces , co ntinenta l Europe wa s e ffec tive ly di vid ed in to tw o distin ct ca mps , As early as 1882, Ge rmany, Austria-Hungary and Italy had formed a Triple Allian ce in whi ch each co untry agreed to support the other in the eve nt of an attack b y e ithe r France o r Russia , As the Aust ro -Hungarian Empire slid into decline , power in ce ntral Euro pe shifted to the d ynami c new Ge rmany und er the Iron Cha ncellor, Otto von Bismarck , Iron ically, it

·, 16 1 UI MOld

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