Table of Contents 1. Preface /5 2. Artillery and accuracy in second half of XIX century /7 Firing of sea /7 Range finding /8 Firing to moving target /9 Stability and accuracy /10 Guns and shells versus armour scheme /11 Material for armour /28 Fire control systems, shooting procedures, increasing the combat distance /32 3. Heavy ships from the end of the XIX and early XX centuries /36 First battleships - in some countries named ironclads /36 Central side battery battleship (ironclads) /37 Casemate battleships (Ironclads) /38 Turret battleships (ironclads) /39 Barbette battleships (ironclads) /43 Predreadnoughts and semidreadnoughts /45 Dreadnoughts /48 Armoured cruisers /51 Large armoured cruisers. Dreadnought cruisers. Battlecruisers /53 Super-dreadnoughts /62 4. American heavy ships at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries /64 5. Maine (ACR-1) and Texas /66 Maine / Texas and rest of the world /71 France: armoured cruiser Dupuy de Lome /73 Great Britain: Battleships Trafalgar class first class cruisers Blake class /78 Battleships Trafalgar class /78 First class cruisers Blake class /81 Spain: class Infanta Maria Teresa /86 6. First American armoured cruiser - USS New York (ACR-2) /96 New York and rest of the world /102 Russia: Rurik /103 Great Britain: First class cruisers of the Edgar class /106 Italy: armoured cruisers Marco Polo class /111 7. Cruisers Columbia class (C-12) /115 Columbia and rest of the world /118 France: armoured cruisers of the Amiral Charner class /119 Italy: armoured cruiser Vettor Pisani class /122 Austria-Hungary: armoured cruiser Kaiserin und Konigin Maria Teresa /124 8. First serial "coastline battleshios" USA: Indiana Class (B/BB-1) /126 Indiana and rest of the world /131 France: battleship Jaureguiberry /138 Germany: battleships of the Brandenburg class /145 Great Britain: battleships of the Royal Sovereign class, and HMS Hood /152 Russia: Battleshio Navarin /159 9. First "seagoing coastline battership" USS Iowa (B/BB-4) /166 Iowa and rest of the world /170 Russia: battleships of the Petropavlovsk /171 France: battleship Bouvet /175 Great Britain: battleshios of the Majestic class /179 10. Armoured cruiser Brooklyn (ACR-3) /191 Brookyn and rest of the world /193 Russia: Armoured cruiser Russia /195 France: Armoured cruiser Pothuau and protected cruiser D`Entrecasteaux /198 Spain: Armoured cruiser Calos V /202 Italy/Argentina: armoured cruisers Giuseppe Garibaldi /203 Great Britain: Cruisers of the Powerful and Diadem class /205 11. Battleships of the Kearsage class (B/BB-5) /222 Kearsage and rest of the world /229 Great Britain: battleships of theMajestic / Illustrious class /231 France: battleships of the Charlemagne class /235 Russia: battleships of the Peresvet class /239 Germany: Battleships of the Kaiser Friedrich III, armoured cruiser Furst Bismarck /242 12. Battleships of tthe Illinois class (B/BB-7) /249 Illinois and rest of the world /253 Great Britiain: Battleship of the Canopus class /254 Japan: battleship of the Shikishima class/260 France: battleship Henri IV /262 13. Appendices /268 Armament /268 Heavy artillery /270 Self defence artillery /290 Medium artillery /299 14. Indexes /305