O'Higgins III - The heavy armored cruiser

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O’Higgins III

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History:

Built at Armstrong, Withworth & Co. Ltd shipyards, Newcastle upon Tyne, Elswick, England and designed by Philip Watts. The Chilean Government ordered its construction in March 1896 at a cost of £700,000 an immensely large sum of money and it was launched in April 1896. Since the cost of its production was so high, this ship had all the technological advances of its time and had the peculiarity of having a greater weight than other armored cruisers of the time, it weighed 8,500 tons; As this ship was the precursor of technology in its time, these innovations would later be used in the large ships of the dreadnought generation. It was called O’Higgins in honor of one of the fathers of the Chilean homeland. Since it was received, it spent several years as the flagship of the Chilean Navy until the dreadnought Latorre arrived in 1921, considered the most powerful ship in the history of Chile and one of the most powerful in the world at the time. It was armed with four 203 mm guns, ten 152 mm, four 120 mm, ten 76 mm, ten 57 mm and three 457 mm torpedo tubes.

O’Higgins with his original configuration

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The 2 most powerful ships of the Chilean squadron, the O’Higgins armored cruiser and the Latorre battleship

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76 mm gun of the armored cruiser O’Higgins III

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Some historical facts of the O’Higgins Armored Cruiser

In 1899, off the coast of Punta Arenas, the so-called “Embrace of the Strait” took place in the Armored Cruiser O’Higgins III, between the Chilean president and the Argentine president, symbolizing the desire to improve relations between these countries. , since at that time the borders were not yet well defined for what could trigger a war.

Chilean and Argentine president aboard the O’Higgins III

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In 1903 he went to observe and impose a presence on the coast of Panama during the conflict between the United States and Colombia where Colombia would finally lose the territory that is now known as Panama. That same year the O’Higgins III was sent to Chañaral to dissolve a revolt. of workers and to arrest their leaders. In 1910 he was sent along with the Esmeralda cruise ship to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Argentine Republic.

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One of the most remembered and important episodes in the history of this ship occurred in 1931, when the episode known as the Uprising of the Squad occurred, where Chilean sailors would mutiny due to the reduction in their salaries as a result of the Great Depression. That would lead to the occupation of the O’Higgins III along with other ships and this would be bombed by the Chilean air force to stop this uprising, surprisingly this ship was not hit by the bombs, so after that episode it continued to be the flagship until finally decommissioned in 1933, then alienated in 1958.

Explosion of a bomb, on the right the O’Higgins III

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The modernization of 1919-1920

At the time when it was decided to modernize it, it was still the most powerful ship in the Chilean navy, thus four 120 mm and ten 57 mm cannons were eliminated, one of the torpedo launchers was also disabled, and it was equipped with anti-aircraft weapons, these being four anti-aircraft machine guns of 40 mm known as “PomPom”, anti-aircraft protection which the O’Higgins lacked and was a very important addition for more modern conflicts. He was also assigned a Sopwith Baby seaplane that would also assist him in aerial surveillance and spotting being its first flight during 1919 (At that time, the Chilean insignia was not yet used on the planes, they were implemented from 1920, so the Sopwith Baby seaplanes were still seen with the RAF insignia).

Sopwith Baby N-2103 next to the O’Hiiggins Armored Cruiser

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The O’Higgins after its modernization

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Specifications:

1920

  • Crew:
    • 700
  • Armament:
    • Primary: 4 x 1 - 203/40 Armstrong Mark T cannon
      • Max elevation angle: +15°
      • Shooting range: 11 km
      • Fire rate: 2 shots/minute
Name Type Projectile mass Velocity Explosive mass Penetration
203,2mm AP 95.3 kg 785 m/s - 303 mm
203,2mm HE 95.3 kg 785 m/s - –
203,2mm AP 113.4 kg 744 m/s - 317 mm
  • Secondary armament:
    • 10 x 1 - 152/40 Armstrong Mark Z4 cannon
      • Max elevation angle: +20°
      • Projectile mass: 45.4 kg
      • Muzzle Velocity: 762 m/s
      • Shooting range: 9.8 km
      • Fire rate: 7 shots/minute
    • 10 x 1 - 76/40 Armstrong Mark B cannon
      • Max elevation angle: +20°
      • Projectile mass: 5.9 kg
      • Muzzle Velocity: 674 m/s
      • Shooting range: 7.3 km
      • Fire rate: 15 shots/minute
  • Anti-aircraft armament: 4 x 1 - (40mm)/39 QF Mk II “PomPom” AA
    • Vertical guidance: +80º
    • Fire rate: 75 shots/minute
  • Torpedo launcher: 2 x 457 mm RGF Mark VII torpedoes
  • Scout plane: 1 x Sopwith Baby seaplane
  • Dimensions:
    • Length: 125.5 m (pp) 135.2 m (oa)
    • Beam: 19.1 m
    • Draft: 6.70 m
    • Standard and full displacement: 7,800 to 9,000 long tons
  • Maneuverability :
    • Propulsion: 2 Vertical triple expanse H-T engines, 30 Belleville boilers, 16000 hp
    • Max. speed: 21,5 knots (40 km/h)
    • Endurance: 4580 nm (8 kts)
  • Armour (front / side / back): Harvey nickel
    • Citadel: 76 / 178 / 38 mm
    • Main fire tower: 191 / 127 / 127 mm
    • Conning tower: 229 / 229 / 229 mm

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Photos:

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Sources:

Special thanks to @COLDOWN who helped me a lot by sharing all the necessary information to make this publication as complete as possible.

2 Likes
2

We need more ships like this. Pre-dreadnought era ahoy! +1

1 Like
3

I think the same, I think that the old ships from before the great war should be integrated even as a premium/event, there are many that are powerful and interesting

1 Like