The Warspite was hit twice. The first hit by an 11 in shell pierced the after 6in side armour 3ft above the flat part of the middle deck and about 4ft abaft `Y' barbette. It made a calibre size hole in the armour and burst 6ft from impact in a cabin. Considerable local damage was done not affecting fighting efficiency, and a water-tight bulkhead was buckled and leaked through rivet holes. The 21/21n middle deck was not damaged, and no injuries were visible on the main deck which was here 1'/4in.

The other hit was apparently through the fore funnel near the top, but details are lacking. The first hit must be credited to the Seydlitz, and probably the second was also from this ship. Both are believed to have occurred shortly after 1727

quote]The 13 hits were, in order from forward to aft:

1 Coming from aft, port side. Angle of descent 5-10°. This shell entered through the I'/4in upper deck, in the embrasure near the forward edge of `A' barbette. It made a hole oft x 5ft in the upper deck over the sick bay and passed across the ship being deflected down on to the 11/4in main deck and up again, and went out through the 5/8in starboard hull plating without exploding. Considerable damage was caused in passing through, and chemicals in the sick bay caused a fire.

2 There are no details of this shell which entered through the upper deck in the starboard embrasure.

3 From starboard side. Angle of descent 5-10°. This shell struck the 6in side armour, a little below the upper deck and just forward of the foremost 6in gun, at an angle of 10-12° to the plate normal. It pierced the armour, making a clean hole of cl2in diameter, though the framing held, and burst 6ft from impact with considerable damage to light structure. The 11/4in upper deck was holed in two places, and the 3/gin main deck riddled below the burst. One large fragment was driven down through the main deck, and another came to rest in the magazine flooding cabinet 30ft from the explosion. The effect of the burst and fragments went right across an athwartships gangway to the port side of the ship, wrecking the foremost magazine flooding cabinet ('/4in sides) and all ventilation trunks in the vicinity, as well as cutting voice pipes and fire-control cables.

4 Coming from aft, starboard side. Either a ricochet or deflected upwards off the edge of the shelter deck. This shell passed through plating totalling P/16in in the forward superstructure, and burst 40ft from impact in the night defence officer's station which was wrecked, and a hole 8ft x Oft blown in the S/16in deck above the shelter deck. Considerable damage was caused to light structure all along the path of

this shell as well as near the burst, and a fire started, in which molten lead from lead covered wiring caused some trouble.

5 Probably coming from aft, port side. Angle of descent 10-15°. This shell struck a

1/4in door in a store on the forecastle deck by the base of the after funnel, passed through a 1/2in screen and two thicknesses of funnel plating, was deflected upwards off the armour gratings, and burst 32ft from impact near the far walls of the funnel. Two of the gratings were knocked down, but the remainder stood a large amount of deformation without fracture, and though part of the funnel was blown away, the draught was not affected. Holes were also blown in the I in forecastle deck and I'/zin funnel screen by the burst, and fragments passing below the forecastle deck pierced the continuation of the funnel screen and entered the 6in battery through the 1/4in rear bulkhead.

6 Coming from aft, starboard side. Angle of descent 5- 10°. This shell first holed the '/,In plating of a store on the forecastle deck, and then passed through a 11/2in screen, four thicknesses of the after funnel plating, and a second 11/2in screen. It then struck the I in forecastle deck which was dented, passed through a boiler-room ventilator on the port side of the ship, being deflected up by the armour gratings, and then through the 1/4in vertical plating between the forecastle and shelter decks and finally out through the 1/2in shelter deck, in which a hole 8ft x 3ft was torn, without exploding after passing through about Sin of plating.

7 From port side. Angle of descent 15-20°. This shell hit the main derrick, holed the pinnace and burst on the starboard side of the 1 in forecastle deck inboard of the forecastle deck 6in gun. Most of the fragments went overboard, riddling and pitting the gun shield and gun. The burst blew a hole in the 1 in forecastle deck, and there was a hole 4ft xx 3ft in the 1/2in side plating abaft the battery bulkhead, and the armour door to the battery was jammed. The most serious effect was due to flash and probably hot fragments from the burst entering the after part of the 6in battery through a small hole in the deck, and igniting a number of cordite charges, but the fire did not spread along the battery as in the Malaya.

It appears that a shell fragment ignited a 6in charge which was being taken from its case for loading, and the other three charges in the case also ignited, as did those in four more cases. All the crew of the after starboard 6in-gun were very badly burnt and also some of the crew of the next gun.

8 From port side. Angle of descent 5-10°. This shell pierced the upper tapered part of the belt just below the main deck and about 23ft, forward of the mainmast. The hit was at the top after corner of a plate, the angle being 5-10° to the plate normal, and a piece 2ft x 11/2ft was broken off, and a large chip taken out of the next plate. The actual thickness was 6in at the top of the hole and 9in at the bottom. The shell burst 12ft from impact in the upper part of the port feed-water tank, and a large hole was blown in the 3/8in main deck above, while the light floor of the feed tank was shattered, and the 1in middle deck badly distorted at and near the top of the slope above the port side of the wing engine-room and adjacent oil fuel tank. The 5/,bin bulkhead forming the outer side of the feed tank was wrecked, and the forward and inboard bulkheads of the feed tank were holed, and the latter let the sea into the port wing engine-room fan flat and from there it poured into the port wing engine-room

through holes in the ventilating trunk, which were later plugged. The flow of water into the feed tank was eventually stopped by putting 400 hammocks into the tank, and shoring them down until they plugged the hole in the armour belt. Most of the fragments from this shell were large, and one passed through the 7/,,in inner bulkhead of the feed tank, and also 1-'/Bin and 2 other 7/,,in thicknesses of plating before coming to rest 40ft from the burst on the middle deck. The broken piece of the belt also went through the inner bulkhead of the feed tank, and lodged in the engine-room fan casing.

The results of this hit were a good illustration of the error in not carrying the 13in belt armour to the main deck in the Queen Elizabeth class.

9 Coming from starboard aft. Full details of this hit have not survived, but the shell went through the end of the after superstructure and then hit the after side of the

communication tube (4in walls) to the torpedo control tower, half severed it and turned it through 30 or 60° before bursting. The starboard side of the after superstructure was holed in many places by fragments.

10 Probably coming from forward, port side. Angle of descent 5-10°. This shell struck the 6in side armour at an angle of 15-20° to the plate normal, 4ft below the upper deck and about 5ft forward of `X' barbette. It pierced the armour making a l2in diameter hole and broke into two pieces without exploding. The larger part passed through 2-1/,In bulkheads and the ventilation trunk from the middle engine room and struck the 4in armour of `X' barbette, flaking off the surface to a maximum depth of 21/4in. It then holed the 3/8in main deck and came to rest well on the starboard side of the midships line in the engineer's workshop. The other piece passed through the 2-1/4in bulkheads and then through the main deck over the ventilation fan flat, also finishing in the engineers' workshop, where a disk of armour, supposed to be from the 6in side, was found. The main deck was badly damaged and as it was by then awash, the large hole over the ventilation fan flat allowed water to enter the flat and thence the middle engine-room.

Much damage was caused by this unexploded shell, which is sometimes considered to have caused the steering gear to jam, as the bulkhead to which the steering engines were attached is said to have been damaged, but the direction of the shell shows that it hit after the steering failure.

11 From port side. Angle of descent given as 15-20°. This shell struck the 11/4m upper deck on a line midway between `X' and `Y' barbettes, and about 20ft from the upper deck edge. It tore a hole 7ft6in x 1 ft 8in and burst l Oft from impact between the upper and main decks, causing severe damage to light steel work up to 16ft from the burst. This occurred near the 1/4in wall of the after main deck magazine flooding cabinet which was wrecked, and a 2in thick door was blown off its hinges in the tin longitudinal bulkhead which formed the far wall of the flooding cabinet. The explosion riddled the 5/8in main deck, and the base plug of the shell was driven through this and the I in middle deck and brought to a stop by `X' magazine cooler c20ft from the burst and c3'/2ft below the middle deck. The hydraulic exhaust main was holed in `X' cooler space, which was practically turned into part of the hydraulic tanks.

A large number of ventilation trunks were holed by this shell on the main deck and the fire-main broken. The fire-main pumps continued to pump water onto the main deck, and this found its way into `Y' cooler space until it rose high enough to burn out the pump starter. `X' fire-main pump starter was also burnt out by water from the hydraulic system.

12 Coming from forward, port side. Angle of descent 5--10°. This shell struck the /tin side plating just below the upper deck and in line with the after part of `Y' barbette. It entered the Captain's sleeping cabin, passed through 3 --1/4in bulkheads, and a 7in midships pillar, and burst 40ft from impact on the 11/4in main deck, in which a hole 4ft6in x 3 ft was blown. Severe damage was caused to light structure to 30ft or more from the burst, a 1/4in bulkhead beyond the burst being blown away, and in the Captain of the Fleet's day cabin on the starboard side, a 3/8in bulkhead was riddled and the %/Zin side plating blown out for c7ft x 3ft with the frames twisted and smashed. The escape trunk to the steering compartment was badly damaged,

Jutland

admitting water to the trunk, and this leaked past the sliding door at the bottom of the trunk so that the steering compartment flooded to a depth of 4ft.

13 From starboard side. This shell struck the 3/4in hull plating near the stern between the main and middle decks at about the deep load water line and below the Admiral's day cabin. It probably burst in the hull plating in which a hole 4ft x 3ft was blown, while considerable damage was caused to light structure and fittings. The plate edge was opened for a length of c20ft to the sternpost and compartments above, including the Admiral's cabin, partly flooded, while the 5/16in main deck was distorted over the burst. The nose of the shell apparently still capped, was found in an adjacent cabin having pierced 4-3/loin bulkheads, and it was considered that the shoulder of the shell had struck the ship's side.

Отредактированно gorizont (12.01.2011 11:36:39)