Most military fans know that the main gun of the "Dingyuan" class ironclad ship of the Beiyang Naval Division adopts a unique diagonal layout, that is, the two main gun turrets are one left and one right, and the front and rear are staggered in the middle of the first place. Although this layout method was later proved to be a failed design by history, it was very suitable for the bow against the enemy tactics that were popular at that time in the 70s and 80s of the 19th century, and many ironclad ships in history (such as the British ironclad ship "Inflecbla" class, the Italian "Durio" class) adopted this layout method. Even the newly commissioned ironclad ships in the 90s of the 19th century had a similar layout of main guns, which was the newly rising maritime power, the USS Maine, built by the United States.
The USS Maine ironclad looks like a miniature version of the Dingyuan-class ironclad, with a similar appearance, such as the superstructure, chimneys, masts, etc. The two main gun turrets are also one on the left and one on the right, but the difference is that the "Maine" ironclad ship has moved one of the main gun turrets to the vicinity of the stern, which has the advantage of better main gun firing range. The unprovoked sinking of the USS Maine ironclad was once the trigger of the Spanish-American War and is very famous in history, but the reason for the sinking of the ship is still an unsolved mystery to this day!
First, the development background.
The USS Maine was built to cope with the increasing naval power of the three South American countries (Brazil, Argentina, Chile). From the 70s of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile have been staging the "Three Kingdoms" of South America, and each of them wants to achieve military superiority. In order to build a strong navy, the three countries invested a lot of budget in the navy and purchased advanced ** from the European naval powers, Britain and France. For example, Chile had a total population of only 3 million at that time, but its naval scale was not much worse than that of the Beiyang Naval Division, and it still had obvious advantages in quality.
At the same time, in the mid-80s of the last century, due to the saturation of the domestic economy and the beginning of overseas business, the United States began to expand its overseas business, and in order to ensure the safety of the ocean-going merchant fleet, it attached great importance to naval construction, and the "Maine" ironclad ship was one of the first batch of newly built warships planned. At first, the "Maine" was positioned as an armored cruiser, but the ship was slower, and in addition the armor protection was stronger than the armored cruiser, and later it was classified as an ironclad ship.
2. Performance data.
Main performance of the ironclad ship "Maine": Captain 989 meters, width 174 meters, draft 69 meters, the frontal armor of the main turret is 203 mm thick, the conning tower armor is 254 mm thick, the broadside armor belt is 305 mm thick, the deck armor is 76 mm thick, the standard displacement is 6682 tons, the crew is 374 people. The power is 2 upright three-expansion reciprocating steam engines, 9000 horsepower, 2 axles, and a speed of 17 knots.
Equipped with 4 254 mm 35 times diameter main guns, 2 twin mounts, diagonally and symmetrically arranged along the central axis of the hull, see the structure of this paper. Six 152 mm 30x radial rapid-fire guns, one on each side of the bow, and the remaining four were mounted around the upper deck in the middle of the hull. 4 x 457 mm torpedo tubes, 2 on each side of the left and right sides. And can carry 2 ships 14The 8-ton steam-powered torpedo boat (the "Dingyuan" class ironclad ship is also equipped with 2 small steam-powered torpedo boats, but the actual combat significance is not great), only 1 was actually built, and the torpedo boat is equipped with 1 356-mm torpedo tube and 1 37-mm rapid-fire gun.
The main gun adopts the same gun cover design as the main gun of the "Dingyuan" class ironclad ship, and the gun cover design is to lay a circular track around the inside of the armor, and then put a steel cover on it. The purpose is to protect the enemy from small-caliber rapid-fire guns, and also to effectively reduce the risk of water ingress into the battery. However, the Sino-Japanese naval battle in 1894 proved that this design was wrong, firstly, the gun cover was too thin to withstand the continuous bombardment of the enemy's small-caliber rapid-fire guns, and secondly, if it was hit by the enemy's large-caliber artillery, the fragments of the gun cover would kill and injure a large number of members of their own artillery crew.
3. Service status.
The construction of the USS Maine began in October 1888 and was launched in November 1890, but it was not commissioned until September 1895, with a long construction period (due to lack of experience). In January 1898, as the Cuban Revolution intensified, the United States sent the USS Maine to the port of Havana, Cuba, to exert pressure on Spain under the pretext of protecting American citizens in Cuba. Strangely, at 21:40 on February 15, 1898, the ship suddenly occurred**, almost blowing up one-third of the front hull, and the rest of the wreckage quickly sank to the bottom of the sea. Although the United States accused Spain of using mines to sink the "Maine," according to investigations, the mines were not so powerful at all. As for the claim that the ammunition depot ** was caused by spontaneous combustion in the coal bunker next door, it is also not credible, because the "Maine" has complete anti-spontaneous combustion measures, and the coal has been stored for more than two months, so it is not easy to spontaneously combust.
But the reason for the sinking was not important, and it was fundamental to provoke a Spanish-American war for profit, and the United States soon declared war on Spain and completely defeated Spain in the ensuing war. The Treaty of Paris of 1898 clearly stipulated that Spain renounced all rights to its possessions of Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico and** to the United States. In addition, Spain transferred sovereignty over the Philippine Islands to the United States for $20 million**.