Daming 1805

Chapter 402 Naming Rules for New Warships

Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Zhongliang's grandfather and grandson, after visiting the supporting factories of warships including the artillery factory, turbine factory, and armored steel factory, went directly to the Jiangnan Shipyard in Suzhou.

Zhu Jingyuan saw the complete large-scale model of the [-]-ton warship here, and also re-examined the performance overview of the entire ship.

The full no-load displacement is basically [-] tons.

If you calculate the standard displacement stipulated in the naval treaty of the previous life, it should be between 5 tons and [-] tons.

The full load displacement is 6 tons.

The full load displacement is the displacement of all weapons, equipment personnel, and all normal fuel tanks. There is actually another space on the ship.

So the battleship also has a maximum displacement.

After being fully loaded, it can continue to be overloaded, and it can sail and fight at a maximum of [-] tons.

The length of the waterline is 250 meters, the total length of the hull is 260 meters, and the maximum width of the hull is 36 meters.

The normal displacement draft is 11 meters, and the full load displacement draft is [-] meters.

The thickness of the main side armor belt is 420 mm, and it is installed at an angle of [-] degrees.

The horizontal armor thickness of the main deck is two hundred millimeters.

The power of the power system is 20 horsepower, and the maximum speed is 32 knots under full load.

The fuel capacity is [-] tons under full load, and the maximum fuel capacity is [-] tons.

At a speed of [-] knots, the maximum range is [-] nautical miles, which is equivalent to [-] kilometers.

At a speed of 8000 knots, the battery life is [-] nautical miles, which is equivalent to [-] kilometers.

The main weapon is three triple-mounted 420mm fifty-caliber artillery.

The secondary weapons are four triple-mounted 160mm fifty times caliber secondary guns.

Anti-aircraft weapons include sixteen 120mm dual-purpose guns.

32 [-]mm dual-purpose guns.

64 [-]mm anti-aircraft guns.

Equipped with four seaplanes for calibration and reconnaissance.

The size of the hull of this ship is between the historical Iowa and Yamato.

The length of the hull is basically the same as that of Yamato, but the width is three meters narrower.

It is seven meters shorter than Iowa, but three meters wider.

Just looking at the size and image, it looks a bit like Iowa who has gained weight, or Yamato who has lost weight.

However, the firepower performance of a 6-ton ship is basically the same as that of the 7-ton Yamato.

The speed is also four to five knots higher than that of Yamato.

When the design indicators were gradually determined, Zhu Jingyuan tried to get the designers to reduce the main armor to 360 mm.

Because Zhu Jingyuan felt that in future naval battles, the main armor of battleships would be useless at all.

It is better to leave more weight and space to enhance the overall structural strength of the hull.

But then I soon realized that the main armor was 420 mm or 360 mm, and the weight was only about a thousand tons, but the defense level of the side was one level lower.

One thousand tons is certainly not a small number in terms of design, but now there is no one and no rules that can limit the weight of Daming not to add one thousand tons more when designing warships.

Besides, if it's just to improve the armor, it doesn't need to be overweight by a thousand tons at all.

Within the range of 420 tons, [-]mm armor can be achieved, but other functions will be affected to some extent.

Zhu Jingyuan's consistent habit of thinking is to relax the restrictions on tonnage.

This time, another [-] tons was simply added to the tonnage limit of the new warship.

In the end, the designers made some adjustments to the design of the battleship, keeping the thickness of the main armor at 420 mm, and at the same time increasing the fuel capacity from [-] tons to [-] tons.

It really squeezed out the increased quota of [-] tons.

Zhu Jingyuan took the finalized design line drawing and report of the warship, followed Zhu Zhongliang, and accompanied by Wang Lai, to the shipyard where the ship was built, and presided over the keel laying ceremony of the new warship.

Zhu Zhongliang presided over the ceremony of cutting steel plates for the battleship last year, and this year the keel laying was handed over to Zhu Jingyuan.

When the salute sounded and the workers entered the dock to work, Zhu Jingyuan, his grandfather and grandson, and Wang Lai returned to the lounge.

While drinking tea and chatting, Zhu Jingyuan asked about other conditions of the battleship:
"I didn't say it when I watched the ceremony, so the ship hasn't been named yet?"

Wang Lai said directly:
"Not yet. If Your Highness has any ideas, you can discuss it with the two His Majesties."

After hearing this, Zhu Zhongliang asked back:

"Jing Yuan, what do you think? Do you still use your name without the initials?

"In the past few years, a batch of [-]-ton warships have been built, and the better words without prefixes have long been used up.

"Then I changed the brand name of Yuan, Zhenyuan, Dingyuan, etc. I chose a few, and almost used up the useful ones.

"Now this first warship of a new class can be changed to a new set of naming rules."

Zhu Jingyuan shook his head subconsciously:

"I'm actually not good at picking names, I asked if there was a name, I just wanted to know the name.

"And I think that the naming of Ming's warships is a bit arbitrary now, so it's better to formulate a set of naming rules.

"Make a selection range in advance, and at the same time determine the time point for naming, and then just follow the steps in the future.

"Every time you think about your name, it should be inconvenient to manage and register, right?"

Wang Lai nodded in agreement:
"really……"

Zhu Zhongliang laughed and asked back:

"If you are not good at naming, you are probably good at making rules. What do you think about this naming rule?"

It has been seven years since Zhu Jingyuan recovered his memory, and his life experience has increased by another seven years.

Zhu Jingyuan's mentality has changed a little compared to a few years ago.

Zhu Jingyuan looked at the factory area outside the window, and then at the brochure explaining the battleship in his hand:
"Instead of searching for a good word every time, why not just name all the place names.

"Most of the previous cruisers and destroyers were named after places.

"In the future, battleships and aircraft carriers can also be named after places.

"Associate the names of the warships with the various places in Ming Dynasty, and it will also facilitate the work of supporting troops in various places.

"If you are a commoner in a certain place in Ming Dynasty, you should have a natural sense of closeness to the warship named after your hometown, right?

"At the same time, the corresponding rules are stipulated. Warships of different levels adopt the names of the administrative regions of the corresponding levels.

"Cruisers used to use prefectural names the most, while destroyers mostly used guard and county names.

"It can be clarified in the future that fleet cruisers will use the official prefecture name, and secondary cruisers that patrol and escort will use the state name.

"The high-speed destroyers in the fleet use the county names, and the escort destroyers use the guard names.

"Then battleships and aircraft carriers can directly use the name of the province.

"In the future, battleships and aircraft carriers will get bigger and bigger, and now they have reached [-] tons.

"The total number of warships of this size will not be many, more than 30 is the limit.

"Even if you add [-] tons of warships, all the local provinces plus the names of overseas provinces are definitely enough.

"Old warships are decommissioned, and new warships can inherit the name of the warship, just recycle it.

"In order to distinguish different types of ships, inland provinces can be used to name battleships, and coastal provinces can be used to name aircraft carriers.

"Now the name of the first [-]-ton battleship can be used in the Hebei Province established on the basis of Beizhili.

"The name of this most special new province, a super battleship, is a form of publicity for both the battleship and the province and navy.

"The time of naming the battleship was too early in the design.

"It can be named when the official order is placed, so that the shipyard can directly use the name of the ship as the project code."

Zhu Zhongliang couldn't help nodding:
"Yes, the logic of this rule is clear, and it is convenient for both the navy and the local government.

"Hebei is also good. The first [-]-ton warship is named after the province of Beizhili, which is very appropriate."

Most of the officials and craftsmen at the scene nodded silently.

If Zhu Jingyuan's set of rules is finalized, it will be a good thing for those who are actually in charge of related work.

Otherwise, I don't know when to apply for a naming every time, and I don't know what kind of naming will be in the future.

For the management items of shipyard design and construction, in fact, a new internal number is required.

For example, the number of this new ship is directly [-].

But there are also a few craftsmen with weird expressions, and some are even holding back their laughter.

In the end, Li Rui, who had the highest status among craftsmen and had a more straightforward personality, said:

"This... Your Majesty, Your Highness... that Beizhili, Hebei Province is actually a coastal province..."

Many people reacted immediately.

Zhu Jingyuan said that the coastal provinces were used to name the aircraft carriers, and the inland provinces were used to name the battleships.

Then it was immediately proposed to use Hebei to name the first [-]-ton battleship.

The key is to win the approval of the Supreme Emperor and most officials and craftsmen.

They didn't mean to agree, but most people didn't realize that Hebei is actually a coastal province.

Zhu Zhongliang was suddenly a little dazed:
"What? Hebei is also a coastal province?"

Wang Lai went on to say:
"Tianjin Port in Hebei Province is the largest seaport in the north of our Ming Dynasty..."

Zhu Jingyuan almost asked back: What, Tianjin belongs to Hebei?

Zhu Jingyuan's mind has come to recall.

Today I performed a live performance of the joke that Hebei is also a coastal province...

Zhu Jingyuan almost put his hand on his forehead:
"I didn't even realize that Hebei is a coastal province.

"That can only be used on aircraft carriers, or reverse the naming rules for aircraft carriers and battleships.

"So, which province should I use for the first [-]-ton battleship?"

Zhu Zhongliang, the oldest in the grade, finally understood, and couldn't help laughing:
"Hebei...haha...

"I think it is good to name aircraft carriers along the coast and battleships in the inland, and the rule does not need to be reversed.

"However, Hebei is really useless, and neither is South Zhili.

"Everyone think about it, which inland province is suitable?"

Zhu Zhongliang and Zhu Jingyuan led a group of officials and craftsmen to discuss for a long time.

In the end, the name of the first [-]-ton battleship was locked on Huguang.

The scope of Huguang Province in Ming Dynasty, which is the sum of Hunan and Hubei in later generations, has always been relatively rich among the inland provinces.

Before the Renwu Dynasty, there was a reputation that if Huguang is cooked, the world will be full.

At the same time, the local Xianghu School is also a well-known regional traditional Confucian school.

After finalizing the name of the new battleship, Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Zhongliang chatted with the craftsmen for a while, and had lunch at the factory at noon.

After the lunch break, the ordinary craftsmen went to work separately.

Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Zhongliang's grandfather and grandson took Wang Lai and Li Rui, two officials from the Ministry of Industry, to the office of the shopkeeper of the shipyard.

Briefly discuss and confirm Ming Dynasty's future shipbuilding plan.

Although the Emperor Ming was not around, Zhu Jingyuan, a special prince, could decide on the shipbuilding plan.

Wang Lai first asked Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Zhongliang:
"Your Highness, after the mass production of the [-]-ton battleship starts, will the [-]-ton battleship still have to be built?"

Zhu Zhongliang looked at Zhu Jingyuan noncommittally, Zhu Zhongliang basically did not participate in such specific matters.

Zhu Jingyuan nodded decisively:

"Of course we must continue to build, the [-]-ton battleship should always be the backbone of the battleship fleet.

"The cost of a [-]-ton battleship is too high, and it will not be built in large quantities in the future.

"My plan for battleships is that all high-speed battleships in the future, including 32-ton, [-]-ton, and possibly [-]-ton battleships in the future, will have no more than [-] ships in total.

"Under normal circumstances, more than half of them should be [-]-ton high-speed battleships."

Wang Lai was a little surprised and asked:
"But...after the mass production of [-]-ton warships, the [-]-ton warships themselves have been set to fall into the 'medium-sized ship trap' in His Highness's theory?"

The term medium ship trap was proposed by Zhu Jingyuan.

Relevant designers actually already have relevant knowledge.

It's just that Zhu Jingyuan clarified this concept based on his previous life experience.

Due to Zhu Jingyuan's high prestige, the artisans took this concept for granted.

The content of this theory is probably small battleships and light battleships with a compromise in tonnage, and various aspects and parameters may look good.

However, when the cost-effectiveness ratio of construction and use is actually converted, this kind of warship is usually the least cost-effective.

Because among the construction costs of warships, the most expensive thing is actually the power system.

At the same time, according to the theory of fluid dynamics, the larger and longer the hull of a battleship, the easier it is to obtain a higher speed.

A 20-ton battleship needs 32 horsepower to run to [-] knots.

A 32-ton cruiser also needs [-] horsepower to run to [-] knots.

The various frames and steel structures that determine the final weight of a battleship are the cheapest part of the entire ship.

The final result is that the greater the overall displacement weight of the warship, the more proportional the cost and cost tend to be.

The marginal cost of increasing tonnage is decreasing within a certain range.

Therefore, the bigger the capital ship, the more cost-effective it is. As long as there are no mutually agreed restrictions, it will definitely become bigger and bigger before the opponent can't keep up with the competition.

Conversely, the smaller the overall displacement weight of a warship, the higher the cost per unit weight.

Therefore, in the main fleet, the ships with the highest average cost per ton are not large battleships, but high-speed destroyers and small high-speed cruisers that must move with the fleet.

However, all kinds of small and medium-sized cruisers and destroyers had to be built because of actual functional needs.

At the same time, their overall tonnage is small, and the actual cost per ship is not obvious.

Therefore, the larger the capital ship, the more cost-effective it is, and the smaller ships have to be built due to demand problems.

But between the cruiser and the capital ship, there is obviously a huge pit in terms of cost-effectiveness.

The [-]-ton ship and the [-]-ton ship need very similar power systems, so the cost difference is not obvious.

However, the firepower and defense capabilities of a [-]-ton ship are not at the same level as those of a [-]-ton ship.

This pit that appears on the cost and cost-effectiveness ratio curve is the so-called medium-sized ship trap.

In history, large cruisers such as Alaska basically jumped into the big pit of medium-sized ship traps perfectly.

Des Moines, Prince Eugen and other nearly [-]-ton heavy cruisers are basically in this pit.

For the cost of two [-]-ton Des Moines-class ships, one can buy a [-]-ton Iowa, and two Prinz Eugens can also buy a battleship Bismarck.

The cost of the Alaska-class large cruiser is almost [-]% of the Iowa-class.

But two Alaskas are definitely no match for one Iowa.

Iowa is absolutely crushing against Alaska in terms of defense and firepower.

Now the 420-ton battleship of Ming Dynasty uses 420mm super-heavy guns and [-]mm super-heavy armor.

Facing the 360mm naval gun and [-]mm armor of a [-]-ton battleship, it is absolutely crushing.

Zhu Jingyuan also nodded directly at this time:
"If you look at the cost alone, [-] tons compared to [-] tons is indeed a direct fall into the trap of a medium-sized ship.

"But just like small ships have to be built, shipbuilding should not only be based on cost, but also on actual needs.

"Why spend more money building [-]-ton ships if [-]-ton ships can meet all needs?"

(End of this chapter)