Halina Stawowy-Dombrowska

HMS Venus is a British battleship of the Eclipse type, built for the Royal Navy in the late nineteenth century. From 1897 he served in strategic areas for the then British Empire: the Mediterranean, the British Isles, the Red Sea, India and the Far East. He participated in the First World War. His achievements in combat included the acquisition in October 1914 of two German merchant ships. In 1919, the ship ended its service, and in 1921 it was sold for scrap.

Design and tactical-technical data A separate article: Eclipse armored cruisers.

HMS "Venus" was one of nine Eclipse armored cruisers, built between 1893 and 1898, which were the successors to the Astraea cruisers. They were larger in size and displacement (more than 1200 ts), higher freeboard, larger carbon footprint (and therefore wider range), stronger main armament (three 152 mm more) and armor with a similar speed. / p> General characteristics "Venus" had a displacement of 5690 t (5600 long tones) at a total length of 113.7 m (106.7 m between verticals), a width of 16.3 m and a draft of 6.25 m. It had an elevated bow deck behind which fighting platform; There was no continuous superstructure in the midships, only a small navigation platform was in the aft part. The stem was a form of taran, slightly forward. The silhouette featured two narrow, broadly spaced and slightly inclined back chimneys and two also inclined pile masts. The coal was placed on the side, which was a makeshift counter-attack. The crew consisted of 450 officers and sailors. Propulsion systems

The ship was powered by two three-cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines, each of which moved one propeller. The pair supplied 8 carbon-fired cylindrical boilers. The machines achieved a total power of 8,000 hp, which allowed for a maximum speed of 18.5 knots (19,25 knots at 8290 hp and 20.18 knots at 9774 hp). The normal stock of coal was 550 tons, and the maximum was 1075 tons. Armor and armor

The cruiser was originally armed with five single-armored 152mm (6 inch) QF L / 40 armored guards (one on the raised deck, two on the aft deck and two on the midships), six Also included are QF L / 40 120 mm (4.7 inch) QF L / 40 armored personnel guns, seven seven-pounder QF L / 40 three-pound (47 mm) guns. , three torpedo boats (two underwater submarines and one stern above the waterline), 450 mm (18 inches) and four Maxim 7.7 mm machine guns. Onboard the ship was also equipped with a 12-gun steamboat steamer. At the beginning of XX. The main armament of the ship was changed, removing all old 152 and 120 mm cannons. Eleven 152mm BL Mk VIII L / 45, 450 mm and four machine guns of 7.7 mm. At the beginning of World War I, the cruiser was armed with eleven 152 mm guns, eight 76 mm guns, one 47 mm gun, three 450 mm torpedo launchers and seven 7.7 mm machine guns. During the First World War, the armament was limited to nine 152 mm guns, four 76 mm guns and one 47 mm gun, leaving torpedo and light armament

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