The ship is linear. Linear ships of the Russian Imperial Navy

A linear ship is a sailing war ship made of wood with displacement up to 6 thousand tons. They had up to 135 guns on the sides, arranged in several rows, and up to 800 crew members. These ships were used in battles at sea with the use of the so-called linear battle tactics in the 17-19th centuries.

The appearance of battleships

The name "ship linear" is known since the time of the sailing fleet. During the naval battle, the deckers were lined up in order to give a volley of all weapons to the enemy. It was simultaneous fire from all airborne guns that caused the enemy considerable damage. Soon such tactics of combat began to be called linear. The construction of a line of ships during sea battles was first used by English and Spanish fleets in the early 17th century.

The ancestors of battleships are galleons with heavy weapons, carraks. The first mention of them appeared in Europe at the beginning of the 17th century. These models of battleships were much lighter and shorter than the galleons. Such qualities allowed them to maneuver faster, that is, to line up against the enemy. To build it was necessary in such a way that the nose of the next ship was necessarily sent to the stern of the previous one. Why were not afraid to expose the ships' boards under enemy attacks? Because the laminated wooden sides were a reliable protection of the ship from the enemy's cores.

The process of formation of battleships

Soon there appeared a multi-deck battleship sailing, which for more than 250 years became the main means of conducting war on the sea. Progress did not stand still, thanks to the latest methods for calculating the hulls, it became possible to cut cannon ports into several tiers at the very beginning of the structure. Thus, it was possible to calculate the strength of the ship even before it was launched. In the middle of the 17th century, a clear distinction was made between classes:

1. The old two-decked. These are ships, in which the decks are located one above the other. They are driven by 50 guns firing at the enemy through the windows in the sides of the ship. These vessels did not have enough power to conduct a linear battle and were mainly used as escort convoys.
2. Two-deck battleships with the number of guns from 64 to 90 represented the bulk of the fleet.
3. Three- or four-decked ships, with 98-144 combat weapons, played the role of flagships. A fleet containing 10-25 such ships could control trade lines and, in the event of military operations, block them for the enemy.

Distinctions of battleships from others

Sailing equipment for frigates and battleships is the same - three-masted. On each one there were direct sails. But still the frigate and the ship are somewhat different. The first has only one closed battery, and the battleships are several. In addition, the latter have a much larger number of guns, as well as the heights of the sides. But frigates are more maneuverable and can act even in shallow water.

From the galleon, a linear ship is distinguished by straight sails. In addition, the latter does not have a rectangular tower at the stern and a bottle on the nose. The linear ship surpasses the galleon in both speed and maneuverability, also in artillery combat. The latter is more suitable for boarding combat. Among other things, they were very often used to transport troops and cargo.

The appearance of battleships in Russia

Before the reign of Peter I in Russia, there were no such constructions. The first Russian spacecraft was called "Goto Predestination". By the twenties of the 18th century, the Russian Imperial Navy included 36 such vessels. In the beginning, these were full copies of Western models, but by the end of the reign of Peter I, the linear Russian ships began to have their own distinctive features. They were much shorter, had less shrinkage, which had a negative effect on seaworthiness. These ships are very well suited to the conditions of the Azov and then the Baltic Sea. The emperor himself took direct part in the design and construction. Its name - the Russian Imperial Navy wore the Russian navy from October 22, 1721 to April 16, 1917. Only natives of the nobility could serve as naval officers, and sailors on ships were recruits from the common people. The service life in the Navy was for them lifelong.

Linear ship "Twelve Apostles"

"12 apostles" was laid in 1838 and launched in 1841 in the city of Nikolaev. It's a ship with 120 guns on board. In total there were 3 vessels of this type in the Russian Navy. These ships differed not only in their grace and beauty of forms, they did not have equal in battle among sailboats. The line ship "12 Apostles" was the first in the Russian Imperial Navy, which had in service with new bombs.

The ship's fate developed in such a way that it failed to participate in any battle of the Black Sea Fleet. His body remained intact and did not receive a single hole. But this ship became an exemplary training center, it provided defense of Russian forts and fortresses in the west of the Caucasus. In addition, the ship was engaged in the transportation of land forces and went on long voyages for 3-4 months. Subsequently, the ship was flooded.

The reasons why the battleships lost their importance

The position of wooden battleships as the main force on the sea was shaken due to the development of artillery. Heavy bombs easily penetrated the wooden board with bombs filled with gunpowder, thereby causing the ship serious damage and causing fires. If before the artillery did not pose a great threat to the hulls of ships, the bombs could have let down the Russian battleships just a few dozen hits. From this time, the question arose about the protection of structures of armor from metal.

In 1848, a screw propeller and relatively powerful steam engines were invented, so the wooden sailboats slowly began to leave the stage. Some of the ships were converted and equipped with steam units. Also, several large ships with sails were produced, they were called linear by habit.

Linear ships of the Russian Imperial Navy

In 1907 a new class of ships appeared, in Russia they were called linear, or abbreviated - battleships. These are armored artillery warships. Their displacement was from 20 to 65 thousand tons. If you compare the 18th century battleships and battleships, the latter have a length of 150 to 250 m. They are armed with a caliber gun from 280 to 460 mm. The crew of the battleship - from 1500 to 2800 people. A ship was used to destroy the enemy as part of a combat formation and artillery support for land operations. Its name was given to ships not so much in memory of the linear ships, but because they needed to revive the tactics of the linear battle.