I want to be emperor

The Bangkok-class frigate, which has good speed, firepower and protection, is naturally not cheap. A single ship costs 320,000 Chu yuan, which is more expensive than the 1,800-ton Longchuan class.

Moreover, the ship shape is more slender, so its seaworthiness is poorer, and it will be more bumpy when encountering wind and waves.

Not many of these Bangkok-class frigates have been built and are currently in service. After all, this is a relatively extreme fleet-type frigate. There is no need to build too many small cruisers... There are only six ships in total at present. This time they go to sea. Bring it all!

Behind the large number of warships in front were a large number of personnel transport fleets composed of ocean liners and troop carriers.

Luo Zhixue's Royal Princess is in the middle.

On the left and right sides of the personnel transport fleet, there are also many cruisers and frigates patrolling the periphery.

Behind the personnel transport fleet are two battleships... They are currently the top battleships in the Dachu Empire's navy, and they are the real cards.

These two are Tianjin-class battleships, namely Tianjin and Yingtian.

The Tianjin-class battleship has a full load displacement of more than 16,000 tons. It is a huge behemoth. It is equipped with two-seat twin-mounted 300 mm 40-caliber naval guns, and is also equipped with twelve single-mounted One hundred and fifty millimeters and forty times the caliber of secondary guns, as well as a bunch of 75mm and 40mm secondary guns.

Its firepower can be said to be quite fierce...especially the Type 44 300mm 40x caliber naval gun it is equipped with. This thing is the product of Da Chu Empire's steel smelting and large parts processing technology.

Just to manufacture the barrels of this giant naval gun, Jiangnan Weapons Company invested in the construction of a large-scale new gun factory.

Because the barrel materials used in new naval guns also require higher requirements, and because the barrels are larger and longer, and the barrels are also ultra-large parts, the technical requirements for smelting and subsequent processing are very high.

The high technology mentioned here does not refer to the process or the like, but refers to the many large-scale equipment required to process giant gun barrels.

The molten iron from steelmaking alone to forge a gun barrel can weigh dozens of tons, and the subsequent processing after forming can also weigh dozens of tons... The gun barrel is a serious super-large component. , its construction and subsequent processing are actually very difficult.

When it comes to industrial parts, the more extreme you go, the more difficult it becomes... Whether you're going small or large, it's very difficult.

A simple example is that for humans, manufacturing a nanoscale chip is about the same difficulty as manufacturing a single component of hundreds of tons!

Both of them will be important weapons of great powers in later generations. Only truly great powers can produce such super-heavy equipment with one blow. Ordinary countries would never even think about it.

In order to build this new gun factory, Dangtu Steel Company, which provided support, provided the latest steelmaking technology.

Dangtu Heavy Industry Company, Shandong Heavy Machinery Company, Zhenjiang Heavy Machinery Company and other related domestic heavy equipment companies have provided a large number of various large-scale equipment, such as ten-ton, twenty-five-ton or even thirty-five-ton refining equipment. The steel furnace adopts the latest steelmaking technology of Dangtu Steel Company, and its furnace temperature can reach an astonishing 1,700 degrees!

At the same time, there are a lot of heavy equipment, such as 100-ton cranes, various hydraulic presses of hundreds or even 1,000 tons, edge crushing machines of hundreds of millimeters, and steel rolling mills.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Royal Institute of Technology even took the lead in organizing technical junctures, and dozens of companies provided assistance to build the largest hydraulic press in the Chu Empire, a 5,000-ton hydraulic press, specifically for this gun factory!

With these heavy equipment, it is possible to build this kind of 200 mm forty caliber giant gun... Of course, it is also possible to build a series of other new naval guns, such as the 150 mm forty caliber naval gun, the 120 mm forty caliber gun Double caliber naval gun, mm forty-five times caliber naval gun.

In fact, regardless of their caliber, these naval guns represent the highest level of gun manufacturing in the Chu Empire... or the level of steel smelting and large parts processing.

In this way, there are a lot of new-style naval guns on the Tianjin class... Well, each one is more expensive than the last one!

In addition to its excellent firepower, its power system is also excellent.

The power system uses an advanced three-expansion four-cylinder steam engine developed by the Naval Steam Engine Factory, which integrates various new technologies from the three major steam engine companies, and uses a new water tube boiler. The output power can reach a terrifying twelve thousand horsepower. Shaft propulsion can reach a speed of 16.5 knots...

Well, when you see this speed, you will know why you know that the Longchuan-class frigate is a handyman. A thousand-ton ocean-going frigate, its speed is only one and a half knots faster than a battleship... In the original time and space of the late 19th century, it would not be possible I had the nerve to go out and say hello to a group of thousand-ton battleships.

The Tianjin-class battleship's firepower and power are top-notch, but this is still within the normal range.

The reason why this battleship is so unique is that its tonnage has reached a huge 16,000 tons, even though the main gun still only retains four 300mm naval guns.

Mainly because of the adoption of a high-freeboard turret design and a comprehensive armor belt design... while ensuring ocean trial and combat capabilities, sufficient protection capabilities are obtained.

The most unique thing about this class of ships is the high-freeboard enclosed turret design with comprehensive protection!

Turret warships are no stranger to the Chu Empire Navy. The Chu Empire has long started to build various types of turrets, from the earliest apron-type open-air internal rotating turrets to the apron-type semi-open turrets. seats, and these are all armor fixed around the turret... which is equivalent to building an armored wall around the rotating turret.

The above-mentioned open-air rotating turret mode battleships are still the main firepower layout mode of the navy to this day. The Navy's South Africa-class battleships adopt this mode.

However, starting in the 1930s, the Imperial Navy also began to stack armor directly on the rotating turret, creating a semi-open turret, and finally developed a closed turret. However, this turret is very heavy and will cause an unstable center of gravity after installation. , so all the warships produced are low-freeboard warships, and these warships are not suitable for ocean navigation and combat, so most of them appear on offshore battleships and inland river gunboats, such as the Guards offshore battleships often seen along the mainland coast. , a large number of shallow-water heavy gunships that frequently appear overseas and are often seen by indigenous people, basically belong to this low-freeboard closed turret design.

The protective capabilities of this kind of battleship are quite impressive. At the same time, because it does not consider seaworthiness or endurance, the large-caliber naval guns equipped with it are also very powerful. For example, the latest Luzon-class offshore battleship has a full load of only 7,000 tons, a total of four 300mm and 30x caliber naval guns are installed in a two-seat twin-mounted gun... This is very exaggerated.

The only thing I am sure of is that the speed is rubbish, only 14 knots, and the seaworthiness is not very good. It is easy to capsize when encountering strong waves when going out to sea, and it is difficult to fight in high sea conditions because the sea water will continue to flow. Swarming onto the deck... hindering targeted bombardment.

But when fighting in the imperial coastal waters, these 7,000-ton Luzon-class offshore battleships of the Guards Fleet can beat the shit out of the 8,000-ton South Africa-class battleships in the Navy...

There is no way. Although offshore battleships are very fast, they have high attack and defense. Your South Africa-class battleship seems to have very fierce secondary gun firepower, and it is very refreshing to clean the deck, but this kind of secondary gun is nothing for an iron turtle like an offshore battleship. Great use, limited damage capabilities, and at the same time, the South Africa-class battleship's own protection capabilities are too poor...

Therefore, if the two fight in the offshore, the South Africa-class battleship may not be able to defeat the Luzon-class... As for the distant sea, the Luzon-class offshore battleship does not go out to the distant sea at all...

The Navy is also very keen on the closed turrets of these offshore battleships... Over the years, they have been thinking about how to build a closed turret battleship. Finally, they have been working on it and finally came up with such a high-freeboard turret battleship!

From the perspective of tonnage, firepower and protection, it seems to be less cost-effective... With the same tonnage for offshore battleships, people can make real iron turtles, and they can also carry more main guns, such as six 300-caliber guns. The naval gun goes up.

The protective capabilities are even better.

But the same cannot be said for the Navy's ocean-going battleships. We must consider the balance of firepower, speed, and protection... We cannot pile up armor or firepower desperately.

After this series of balancing results, the final product is the Tianjin-class battleship. Currently, only two have been built, namely the Tianjin and the Yingtian.

There are only two construction plans, and there are no subsequent construction plans!

This shit is too expensive. The Navy used a lot of new technology on this battleship... and even built a gun factory specifically for it.

Various additional costs are rising rapidly, which also makes the construction cost of this kind of warship significantly exceed the construction cost of ordinary warships... It is somewhat similar to the construction of Zumwalt-class destroyers in the United States in later generations. All kinds of new gadgets are going up all at once. Stack it up, and then take a look and see, good guy, a Ford-class first ship costing 4 to 5 billion US dollars, which is also super cheating, only cost more than 13 billion US dollars.

The development and construction process of the Tianjin-class battleships of the Dachu Empire is very similar to that of the Zumwalt-class destroyers... Due to the extensive use of advanced technology, the project was delayed and the cost was seriously overrun.

The original budget for the two ships totaled 5 million, but in the end it cost more than 7 million yuan to complete it. At this point, the Navy worked hard to lower the price, and spread part of the research and development costs to other warship projects in various ways. On... Otherwise, this number will have to be several million more. After the entire project is completed, it is possible to reach tens of millions of dollars.

Of course, a considerable part of the funds are actually scientific research funds and the purchase or construction funds for new factories and new equipment. Strictly speaking, they cannot be counted in the construction funds of warships.

But warships are also commercial products, and other manufacturers also have to share the research funds equally... If you only purchase two ships or purchase 20 ships, the equipment depreciation costs and R&D funds will be completely different!

So not counting research and development funds, but only counting pure construction funds is a rogue thing...especially for military equipment.

This also caused the Navy to feel that this thing was too expensive and did not want to purchase so many. It would not even place an order for new large battleships in the short term. This in turn further pushed up the price of these two Tianjin-class battleships. Cost... The large amount of R&D expenses and fixed investment in the early stage must be recovered...

Under such circumstances, the Tianjin-class battleship has become a real sky-high price... After all, a single ship costs four to five million, and the Navy said it can't afford it... Four to five million, what should I buy? , buy this piece of crap...it's so expensive, even if it has top-notch performance!

How much does a South Africa-class ship cost now? It’s only 1.5 million Chu Yuan!

For the price of one Tianjin-class battleship, you can buy three South Africa-class battleships. If you bargain, you can also get a Yangzhou-class cruiser as a gift from the manufacturer.

So in the end, after the Navy got two ships to serve as cards, it had no choice but to suspend its construction plan to continue building top-level battleships.

Nominally, they plan to design and build better and more advanced next-generation battleships, but in fact, they want to delay it for a few years so that the navy's funds can take a breather...

Although the Navy does not seem to be short of these millions... But the Navy also spends a lot of money... Not to mention anything else, just to maintain the size of the fleet and replace old warships normally, it costs a lot every year Funds to build new ships!

Today's Imperial Navy has dozens of warships in service almost every year. In many years, there are even hundreds of various warships!

Hundreds of ships are put into service a year. This is not an exaggeration, but a fact.

Why are so many new warships built and put into service every year?

Because the Da Chu Empire Navy maintains a very large fleet... the ships in the fleet need to be replaced normally.

Generally speaking, a warship has been in service for about twenty years. If it does not want to be decommissioned, it generally needs to undergo large-scale modifications to extend the life of the hull, and at the same time improve the power and firepower systems to enhance performance.

Otherwise, it will be difficult to continue to use it forcefully. This has nothing to do with performance, but the hull cannot withstand it!

The shipbuilding technology of this year cannot be compared with that of later generations, and the durability of the warships produced is not as good as...it can be used for twenty years, which is already a careful maintenance by the navy officers. It is impossible to be like the warships of later generations, which can be used three or four times at a time. Ten years or even half a century.

But...the cost of upgrading and refitting such a major surgery is very high. In the end, it may not be as cost-effective as directly decommissioning the ship and replacing it with a new one...This is also a problem faced by the Dachu Empire Navy, refitting old ships. If you continue to use it later, it is more cost-effective than just using a new ship.

In addition to hard costs such as modification fees and construction costs, there are also daily maintenance and use costs, which are ultimately converted into full life costs and average annual costs.

The Imperial Navy of the Da Chu Empire made a comparison based on the average annual cost and combat effectiveness, and finally concluded that old is not as good as new, and modification is not as good as new...

Twenty years of ship age is a hurdle. If the hull condition is not good after that, it will not be refitted or overhauled. It will be decommissioned and sealed. It will be too lazy to overhaul, let alone upgrade and refit.

Under such circumstances, the Dachu Empire Navy had to replace a thousand warships based on the average service time of a warship of twenty years. If it wanted to replace it normally, it would have to replace an average of fifty warships every year!

The various warships maintained by the Da Chu Empire Navy are far more than a thousand...

There are more than a thousand combat warships in the oceans, offshore, and rivers and lakes alone. This is just combat warships, warships in the traditional sense.

But the navy actually includes a large number of auxiliary warships, such as transport ships, supply ships, troop carriers, communication ships, repair ships, engineering ships, etc., which add up to hundreds of ships... among which only The total number of fast ocean supply ships exceeds fifty!

The total number of warships in the Imperial Navy of the Chu Empire totaled about 1918, which is roughly equivalent to two British Royal Navys in 1918. However, the number of battleships and other large-tonnage warships in the Imperial Navy of the Chu Empire was far less than in . In the British Royal Navy during the s, the British Royal Navy had more than seventy battleships alone, as well as a large number of cruisers of several thousand tons or tens of thousands of tons.

As for the Da Chu Empire Navy, although there are more, there are actually not many large battleships. There are only seven battleships over 10,000 tons... that is, four Jinling class, two Tianjin class, and one front-loaded rifled ship. The 9,000-ton battleship Jinan in the artillery era was upgraded and refitted in the mid-1930s, and its tonnage was expanded to a full load of 10,000 tons.

Then there are more than twenty second-class battleships or offshore battleships in the 6,000 to 10,000-ton class.

In addition to these, the rest are a large number of cruisers of two to three thousand tons and frigates of more than one thousand tons, as well as offshore patrol ships of several hundred to one thousand tons, shallow water gunboats, and river and lake gunboats.

The number of these small and medium-sized warships is very large. For example, the number of cruisers has reached more than 100, and the number of frigates has reached an astonishing more than 300.

At the same time, the number of heavily protected shallow-water heavy gunboats is increasing day by day. The number has reached more than two hundred, and they exist in large numbers in India, West Asia, Africa, and Europe.

At this time, the external enemies faced by the Chu Imperial Navy were all small indigenous countries, while the British Royal Navy faced challengers from a group of industrial powers such as Britain, France, the United States, Japan, and Russia. The external enemies of the two were different, resulting in different creations. Ship strategy.

In the original time and space, in the mid-to-late 19th century, the navies of various countries were mainly used to blockade powerful countries, fleets fight decisively, and break blockades... The main strategic role of the Dachu Empire's navy was to use the sea to control the land... This is very similar to that of later generations in the 1990s. line of Americans in the 1960s.

That’s why the Chu Empire Navy built a lot of shallow-water heavy gunships with excellent protection capabilities... This thing is very useful for controlling the land from the sea... Well, the function of this thing is actually the same as the frequent sea battleships built by the Americans. Actually, it's pretty much the same.

To use the outdated military terminology of later generations, it is: forward presence, forward deployment, and forward operations!

It sounds very noble...and then he was slapped in the face by a certain big country.

But the Chu Empire is different from the United States... The Chu Empire Navy really has no real competitors, not even potential competitors!

Those indigenous vassal states don't even have steam engines yet, and they are still playing with sailing battleships... You can't really regard them as challengers, no matter how shameless the Chu Navy is, they have no shame in doing so.

Therefore, there is nothing wrong with the Chu Navy's use of the sea to control the land. If it had not used the sea to control the land, to be honest, the navy would not have enough excuses to occupy such a huge military expenditure every year.

As a result, the number of ships in the Dachu Imperial Navy was more than twice that of the British Royal Navy in 1918, but the total tonnage was only about half of the British Royal Navy in 1918.

Much of this tonnage is accumulated by auxiliary ships. After all, many auxiliary ships are several thousand or even tens of thousands of tons in size. For example, those supply ships, transport ships, and troop carriers are actually quite large.

Under such circumstances, just normal replacement would require the replacement of at least dozens or as many as hundreds of warships every year!

The Navy is also under great pressure for annual replacement funds. How can it have the spare money to buy a Tianjin-class battleship that costs more than 3 million, but actually costs more than 400, or even 5 million.

If we can get two ships to serve as the Navy's card for the next ten years, that would be enough.

As for the construction of new battleships, that needs to be 'researched' slowly!

Judging from the current internal and external situation and naval funding pressure, there is no hope of starting construction of new battleships in at least the next five years.

Only the four sister ships of the South Africa-class battleships can continue to be constructed, and there are also new models of new sub-class battleships that have been upgraded and modified based on a series of technical achievements of the Tianjin-class battleships.

Nowadays, the names of these two naval ships, Tianjin and Yingtian, appear in the inspection fleet... Their main role is not actually to perform escort missions... There are no indigenous countries on this earth, and there are not even any Internal rebel forces are worthy of the empire using these two super battleships to perform escort missions.

The most important role of these two battleships in the inspection fleet is to serve as flags and cards... used to demonstrate the power of the empire and deter potential rebel forces in indigenous countries and overseas territories.

The basic meaning is to swing the 16,000-ton battleship to the port, raise the barrel of the 300-millimeter cannon, and ask you if you are afraid...

Well, that's probably how it is used.

This overseas inspection was also the first time that the 10,000-ton or above battleships in the Chu Empire left their home coastal waters, that is, the Western Pacific waters, and embarked on a true ocean voyage.

Speaking of which, the Dachu Imperial Navy had previously built four Jinling-class 10,000-ton battleships, but had never sent them overseas.

There are four Jinling-class battleships, and the first ship has been in service for almost ten years, but it has never left the coastal waters of the mainland... The farthest voyage was to Malacca and Singapore in the Southeast Asia.

Therefore, this trip with two Tianjin-class battleships is also the first time that the 10,000-ton battleships of the Chu Empire have left the coastal waters of the mainland.

Its significance is quite significant!