I want to be emperor

Chapter 1036 Demand determines equipment-small dreadnought

Luo Zhixue spent a lot of time inspecting Singapore. He inspected the military on the first day and several typical factories in urban Singapore on the second day.

In the following days, he will continue to summon local civil and military officials from various parts of Southeast Asia to listen to reports from these local civil and military officials on local affairs.

The reason why the inspection took a long time is mainly because the ships in the fleet will undergo a final complete overhaul here in Singapore.

After all, there is a Malacca Shipyard here in Singapore. Although the Malacca Shipyard is not a top shipyard, its technology and scale can be regarded as entering the second echelon, and it is responsible for the construction of certain small warships.

Many ships in the inspection fleet will undergo final inspections here to identify possible problems and resolve them.

After all, after leaving Singapore, it will be impossible to get this level of maintenance for a long time.

Because there are no large-scale shipyards in India, West Asia, Africa and even Europe that continue to move westward. Among them, there is a naval repair yard in Colombo on the island of Ceylon, and there is also a naval repair yard in South Africa, but they can only provide basic services. maintenance and emergency repairs.

Not to mention the so-called shipyards or ship repair yards in other places. Basically, they don’t even have a large dry dock, and they are basically unable to provide maintenance services for ships of more than 10,000 tons. After all, they usually only manufacture some small civilian ships. Or simple repairs or emergency repairs on ordinary boats.

Only after arriving at the Port of New York on the east coast of North America will there be the first shipyard in East America that can provide repair capabilities for large ships.

This means that during the long journey of 20,000 to 30,000 kilometers from Singapore to New York, it is difficult for the large ships in the fleet to receive real maintenance.

In order to avoid problems with these large ships during the voyage, detailed maintenance has been carried out on each ship before departure from the mainland to confirm that it is in good condition.

But this was still not enough. The team of engineers accompanying the inspection fleet still insisted on going to the Malacca Shipyard in Singapore to conduct overhauls on the large ships in the fleet with over 10,000 tons, mainly eight ocean-going luxury liners and four battleships. .

As for other ships below 10,000 tons, it is not necessary. On the one hand, the technical workers and equipment of the Malacca Shipyard are limited. It is not easy to carry out detailed maintenance on more than ten large ships in a short period of time. It is impossible. It is unrealistic to overhaul more than a hundred ships in the fleet!

In addition, the Ceylon-Colombo Naval Repair Yard, the South African Repair Yard, and the Cadiz Shipyard along the way can also repair these civilian ships of less than 10,000 tons, as well as cruisers of 3,000 tons, and frigates of 1,000 tons.

Under such circumstances, when Luo Zhixue inspected the Malacca Shipyard, he saw the Royal Princess and several other large passenger ships and battleships undergoing maintenance.

Among them, the Royal Princess directly entered the only ultra-large dry dock in the Malacca Shipyard for the most detailed inspection and maintenance.

The Royal Princess is Luo Zhixue's ship. At the same time, the accompanying officials, including the counselors and co-organizing ministers, except for a few ministers who are responsible for coordinating other affairs are on other ships, the rest basically live with Luo Zhixue in the royal palace. On board the Princess.

Therefore, the priority of this ship's overhaul and maintenance work is far higher than that of other ships. Even the two Tianjin-class battleships, the most beloved ships in the navy, can only be moved to the back.

Because the inspection and maintenance work is very intense, even if Luo Zhixue wants to inspect the shipyard, many tasks in the shipyard will not stop, and the workers are still working hard.

It is worth mentioning that most of the many shipyard workers working in these jobs are not actually employees of the Malacca Shipyard. Some of them, especially the senior engineers, are basically temporarily seconded from the Guangzhou Shipyard and Lee Shipyard. Came here.

Why transfer people? Why else? It is naturally for this inspection mission.

The remaining personnel are engineers and technicians on repair ships in the inspection fleet.

The several repair ships in the inspection fleet not only had a large amount of emergency equipment, raw materials and spare parts in stock, but also had engineers seconded from multiple government-run shipyards and machining companies.

Even if they are ordinary workers among these people, they are carefully selected backbone technical workers. Many of the key technical workers in shipyards or machinery processing plants can only do ordinary skills on the repair ships in the inspection fleet. Worker's job.

Because there are more awesome people above them!

The ship equipment repair team in the inspection fleet was headed by no ordinary person, but Quan Tianen, a second-grade imperial earl, chief designer of Tianjin-class battleships, and director of the Department of Naval Engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology.

In the field of shipbuilding, especially in the field of warship design and construction, he is the NO.1 in the contemporary Chu Empire!

His assistants are top engineers from various fields, and they are basically all department heads or deputy directors of the Royal Institute of Technology. They basically cover many fields such as ship design, steam engines, transmission systems, machine tool manufacturing, and material processing.

With such a team, coupled with the various complete equipment on multiple repair ships and the many raw materials they carry, they have enough ability to solve any ship failure problem... Of course, although the equipment on the ships is abundant and advanced, But after all, they don’t have the kind of super-large equipment found in large-scale shipbuilding, so if there is a big problem, they can’t do anything.

These repair team members are currently at the Malacca Shipyard, using various large-scale equipment and technical workers in the Malacca Shipyard to conduct the most detailed inspections of the Royal Princess.

After Luo Zhixue saw it, he specially met with Quan Tianen and asked him to take it easy and not to be like those young people who climbed around on the ship under the sun.

This Quan Tianen is actually an old man. He was born in the pre-Ming Dynasty. He was admitted to the Royal Institute of Technology when he was in his twenties. He first studied mechanical manufacturing, and later switched to studying shipbuilding. It didn't take long for him to design a The Linyang-class frigate with an iron-ribbed wooden hull has been highly recognized by the navy. This frigate was also one of the main frigates of the navy in the 1920s. It appeared in many sea areas and made great contributions to the overseas expansion of the Great Chu Empire.

Later, Quan Tianen couldn't stop and designed more than ten types of various warships, such as the Suzhou-class forward-loading rifled gun battleship and the Yingtian-class forward-loading battleship.

The reason why the Navy quickly launched front-loading rifled guns on a large scale at that time was because Quan Tianen's superior performance in the design of warships equipped with front-loading rifled guns played a huge role in promoting it.

Later, as the number one battleship designer in the Chu Empire, he designed an epoch-making design, the first high-side enclosed turret warship in the Chu Empire's navy, the Tianjin-class battleship.

It successfully integrated the respective advantages of previous low-freeboard turret-type battleships and high-freeboard open-air turret-type battleships, and discarded their respective shortcomings, and finally created the perfect warship: a high-freeboard enclosed turret battleship!

This thing had a specific name in the original time and space: pre-dreadnought battleship.

From the perspective of battleship design, this thing only needs to be equipped with multiple heavy guns of the same caliber and barrel, and then it can be transformed into a fearless battleship.

The design of the dreadnought battleship is almost the end of the artillery-type battleship... From then on, it will at most be a slight gradual evolution of the ship type, the evolution of the artillery layout, and other technological advancements.

But its core has basically remained unchanged.

The Tianjin-class battleships in the Da Chu Empire are actually only one step away from the dreadnought battleships, and that is the use of full heavy artillery design.

However, the current Da Chu Empire Navy has no pursuit of this thing for the time being... Because from a practical point of view, the main gun with a caliber of 300 mm is not of much use. For the navy, it is far inferior to the 150 mm gun. Medium-caliber main guns of ten millimeters and two hundred millimeters are practical.

Because the main gun with a caliber of 300 mm is too expensive, the shells are also expensive, and the battleships it carries are even more expensive. It seems to have high combat effectiveness, but the number is too small... It is basically impossible to use it in actual combat... Well, the Tianjin-class battleship is a typical example example.

If there is no big accident in this life, such as a civil war or something like that... these two Tianjin-class battleships are unlikely to participate in actual combat, and the Navy cannot give them this opportunity!

On weekdays, it is parked at the dock and acts as a mascot. Occasionally, it is practiced on the local coast for a walk. When it is really put to use, it is similar to Luo Zhixue's outing for inspection.

Those that frequently participate in actual combat or perform deterrence missions are actually frigates of more than 1,000 tons and cruisers of more than 3,000 tons. In the future, they may be inferior battleships of 7,000 to 8,000 tons.

As for the naval guns equipped on these ships, the frigates are equipped with 120 mm main guns, the cruisers are equipped with 150 mm main guns, and the seven or eight thousand ton class secondary battleships are equipped with 200 mm main guns.

No matter how large the caliber is, the Navy feels it is unnecessary: ​​a waste of money...

However, although the Tianjin-class battleship is unlikely to participate in actual combat, its significance to the development of the navy is still significant.

This means that in the future, the Navy will be able to mass-build medium-sized ships with high freeboard closed turrets to perform overseas deterrence and combat missions.

The high freeboard means that these warships can conduct ocean voyages and can be deployed around the world. The closed turret, coupled with the side armor, means that it has the same strong protective capabilities as offshore battleships and shallow water gunboats, and can directly approach enemy ports or even break into inland rivers for bombardment missions.

This kind of ship will be an important type of ship for the navy to use the sea to control the land.

The Navy is already preparing to develop several types of such armored ships, and Quan Tianen is the designer of this new type of armored ship.

Taking this opportunity, Quan Tianen also reported some of his ideas on new armored ships to Luo Zhixue, and wanted to design a small armored ship with a displacement of about 4,500 tons.

"This kind of battleship will use the same waterline armor belt as the battleship, instead of the dome armor belt of the previous cruiser. At the same time, it will use our latest carburized armor steel. Even if it adopts a comprehensive protection approach, it can still be effective. Control the thickness and total amount.”

"Considering that this kind of warship is mainly used for overseas deployment, the threat it faces is the potential attack by indigenous smoothbore guns. Therefore, except for the thicker middle part, the armor thickness of other parts is expected to be about 25 millimeters. This thickness The carburized armor is enough to resist the close range shelling of most indigenous smoothbore cannons!"

"The main gun uses a 150mm and 40 times caliber naval gun, and uses a double-mounted closed turret to enhance the protection of the gun crew members. If it is laid out front and rear along the central axis, a double-mounted cannon can be deployed at the front, rear, left and right. Coupled turret!”

"In this way, the new warship can have eight main guns, which are protected by a closed turret, and can maintain the firepower of six guns against enemies in any direction. This is useful for warships operating deep into enemy ports or even inland rivers. This is very necessary when you face maneuverability difficulties and the hull is difficult to turn!”

"Finally, install some 75mm secondary guns with gun shields and 40mm secondary guns to deal with the enemy's small and fast targets!"

"And using a main gun of the same caliber can also reduce logistical pressure, after all, the ammunition can be used universally!"

"In addition, because it is a main gun with the same caliber and barrel, it can also simplify the process of shooting Zhu Yuan when shooting, because the fire control officer can completely calculate that after shooting Zhu Yuan, the main guns in the four turrets will all be fired according to the This method of shooting Zhu Yuan cannons avoids the previous situation where each cannon was independent of each other and each fired separately, making it difficult to observe and aim effectively, and can effectively increase the hit rate."

While Quan Tianen was talking, he also took out several drafts of design drawings...

Luo Zhixue listened and watched, and then his expression changed slightly... The battleship built in this way would be a small dreadnought.

High freeboard, unified artillery, unified fire control, comprehensive armor coverage, closed turret, and by the way, the command tower on this design is also armored.

When these elements are brought together, it becomes a dreadnought!

Luo Zhixue looked at the design drawing, and then at Quan Tianen... Well, it seemed that he didn't need to remind him to build the dreadnought... he had already worked on it himself.

Although this design is just a seemingly nondescript "dreadnought" with a cruiser-level tonnage, it has everything a "dreadnought" should have!

According to this concept, there is no need to make major changes. If it is directly enlarged, a fearless battleship equipped with four twin mounts and eight 300 mm caliber main guns can be produced.

Of course... neither Quan Tianen nor other senior navy officials have any idea of ​​​​building a full-heavy artillery battleship for the time being... or that sentence is not necessary.

Things like battleships are based on demand and peripheral status... After all, weapons are for dealing with enemies, not for decoration, just for the sake of good.

Therefore, the idea of ​​​​the navy's top brass is to build a turret-type warship of about 4,000 to 5,000 tons with greatly enhanced protection capabilities, which can be used for overseas deployment to suppress any local dissatisfaction... and then the cost must be controlled, and the armor cannot be too expensive. It's fine if you have something, but it must not be hundreds of millimeters like a battleship... There's no need for it.

As for the speed, it just needs to be in the middle. It doesn’t have to be too high, but it can’t be too low. Twenty knots is enough, or even less, only eighteen knots, which is barely acceptable... After all, we are attacking the natives, and the planned combat areas are offshore. Even ports and river mouths don’t need to run too fast.

What the navy wants is actually an offshore gunboat that can travel around the world... to control the land with the sea!

In addition, the previous artillery layout method was to attack each gun separately. The grassroots generally reported that as the range of naval guns increased, it became more and more difficult to observe and aim each gun, and errors often occurred...the impact point of the shell fired from the gun position next door, Think of it as the impact point of your own cannonball, and then make corrections... As a result, the more you correct it, the worse your accuracy will be!

I also hope to change the artillery layout and implement unified fire control or something.

Based on this demand, Quan Tianen came up with the current battleship design of four dual-mounted main guns with unified caliber artillery.

Well, in the end, this thing is actually okay at first glance, and it quite meets the operational needs of the Da Chu Empire Navy.

But if you put it in the late 19th century in the original time and space, it would be a piece of junk that can't be beaten, and the speed is too slow to escape...

After all, you need comprehensive protection, a closed turret, high freeboard, and the speed cannot be too slow. And with limited basic technology... it can only mean poor protection, slow speed, and poor firepower.

However, it also has an advantage, it is very balanced... and this kind of balance is very disappointing to the indigenous people of various countries that the Da Chu Empire Navy faces.

There is no best weaponry, only the most suitable!

The thing Quan Tianen brought out is very suitable for the strategic needs of the contemporary Dachu Empire Navy in the context of using the sea to control the land.

Its degree of suitability is about the same as that of the Anton-class frigate, a low-cost, unprotected 15-section battleship built in the 1930s!

With a speed of fifteen knots, it was a light warship that was slower than a merchant ship. It also had no armor protection and could only rely on coal bunkers to resist.

On earth, even the Qing Dynasty in the 1980s and 1990s looked down upon this thing...

Because the speed was too slow, this thing was not even brought into the inspection fleet this time...

Although the daily cruising speed of the inspection fleet is only about eight or ten knots, as a frigate, it must be accelerated and moved forward frequently, to detect the situation in advance, and to report the situation back and forth.

If the speed is too slow, the frigate is ordered to go out for reconnaissance. After a few hours, the ship is still moving slowly about ten kilometers ahead, which is too late.

If it really runs, the Royal Princess, which can cruise at 20 knots, can make this kind of frigate invisible in just a few hours...

But even though the Anton-class frigate seems to have many flaws, in the Chu Empire Navy, this thing is cheap and easy to use, and it is seriously one of the main frigates of the contemporary Chu Navy.

The last one to be put into service was commissioned in the 43rd year of Chengshun. It has only been in service for four years. If you want to wait for it to be decommissioned, it will probably take at least fifteen years.

The Anton-class frigate is a typical example of suitability being the most important thing.

The new battleship built by Quan Tianen is also suitable for this path. It is completely based on the strategic and tactical needs of the navy. However, in the end, it turned into a smaller version of the dreadnought.

Actually... that's not correct. To be more precise, it should be more similar to the light armored cruiser that evolved from the armored cruiser in the original time and space, which is what people in later generations often call the light cruiser.

It's just that the ship design seems to be similar to that of later light cruisers, but the design concepts and even uses of the two are completely different... Later light cruisers are used for reconnaissance, secondary artillery battles, or air defense, torpedoes combat tasks.

The light armored battleship designed by Quan Tianen has always served the Chu Empire Navy's strategy of controlling the land from the sea. Its combat targets have never been opponents at sea... various warships, but indigenous countries' Coastal defense, river defense batteries and ground troops!

That's why it has a high freeboard, a comprehensive armor design, and a closed turret design that is rare in this tonnage class, not just a gun mantlet. And the reason why turrets are deployed on the front, rear, left and right is to carry out intensive bombardment in any direction without turning in narrow river mouths and ports.

They may seem similar, but in fact they are completely different from design concepts to uses!

This thing, just like the Navy said, is an offshore gunboat that can sail across the ocean and be deployed around the world.

If we really want to make an analogy, the Zumwalt-class destroyers built by Americans in the 21st century are actually the same type of thing... Although the times are different, the technology is different, and the battleships are also different, both are based on the sea The products, design concepts and operational uses of the land control strategy are highly consistent.

(End of this chapter)