Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelS
That is amazing. Did they actually go out in the ocean with no more freeboard (I am a lubber so have no idea if that is the right word) than that. What size in inches were the main guns?
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Ships in the early steam-navy period tended to have lower freeboard- partly due to turret technology limiting the range of elevation for the guns. In order to fire at targets close to the ship the guns needed to be mounted lower, which is why we see rows of defensive guns just above the waterline. Another consideration was the need to present a smaller silhouette for the enemy to fire at and to reduce the amount of armor needed in order to protect the ship. Some of the French and Russian pre-dreadnaught designs are particularly interesting (some would say funky looking
) with their attempts to solve the freeboard issues.
Up until 1910 or so, battleship main guns were 10-12" and cruisers were 6-8" (with some armored cruisers mounting 10"). By WWI, battleships and the new battlecruisers were mounting 13, 14 and 15" guns.