afterglow

Chapter 452 Pretending to be a mother No. to change the plan to No. ; the consequences of being captured

Zhou Changfeng is not a professional, but based on the performance of aircraft carriers of various countries during historical wars, he also prefers armored aircraft carriers.

Naturally, he could not remember the actual combat examples, but considering that the Americans also turned to armored aircraft carriers after the Midway-class aircraft carriers, it must be reasonable.

After all, one can laugh at the Americans when it comes to tank design, and one can also question the Americans in many aspects, but only the aircraft carrier design is worthy of belief.

During the war, the most typical battle of armored aircraft carriers occurred in the Mediterranean.

四一年的超越行动中，光辉号装甲航母遭到了33架斯图卡的攻击，前后一共被命中了足足5枚500㎏重型航弹和2枚250㎏航弹。

As a result, the Glory was basically unharmed, and the unwilling Germans subsequently organized an air strike against her, codenamed "Blitz Glory".

This time, the Glorious was hit by four 4kg heavy-duty aerial bombs, but it still didn't happen much.

This is still the German 500kg armor-piercing aerial bomb, not the twenty-fifth (250kg) aerial bomb commonly used by the Japanese. If it were the latter, I am afraid that there would only be a few marks on the flight deck of the Glorious.

【Picture】

At this time, a naval captain asked: "Has the stability issue mentioned last time changed?"

He is the captain of the Taiwei Youyuan. Of course, such a seminar is indispensable without the opinions of the frontline unit chief officer.

As a special type of ship, aircraft carriers are larger in size, shallower in draft, and often have a higher center of gravity than battleships.

Armored aircraft carriers have solid armor on the upper layer, which makes the problem of a high center of gravity more significant, which means that the stability of the ship becomes worse.

For example, in the same situation where the ship is tilted 20° (damaged, flooded, or hit by typhoon waves), an ordinary aircraft carrier may be able to barely hold on, but an armored aircraft carrier is likely to capsize directly.

"It is difficult to optimize, but deleting the inner lining can save about 670 metric tons of weight." The civilian brigadier general named Ye replied.

What Zhou Changfeng didn't know was that this technical officer, who had the rank of Commodore of the Ming Dynasty, also had a considerable status in the original history - one of the founders of China's modern shipbuilding industry.

The Ziweiyuan-class armored aircraft carrier that Ming Dynasty completed and delivered a year ago was made by him.

Now he is in charge of the design of the improved armored aircraft carrier plan No. 3 to No. 2.7 (ZM-F), which has a standard displacement of tons and a bulbous bow.

For the purpose of anti-slip and heat insulation from sunlight, the flight deck is paved with a 48mm teak deck on the top and a 96mm thick strong deck below.

In fact, the design of this strong deck is more complicated. It is subdivided into two layers - the outer layer is 16mm thick Type A armor steel (carburized surface hardened steel), and the inner layer is 80mm thick Type B structural steel (high tension steel).

The purpose of this design is to use the high-hardness armor steel on the surface to crush the head of the incoming aerial bomb and weaken its penetration ability.

In addition, the 16mm mild steel lining below the deck in the original design has been deleted.

Because the deck armor was too heavy, the side armor had to be chosen, which was only 80mm thick; the hangar deck armor was 20.8mm thick.

The hangar design of this plan is different from the double-layer closed Ziweiyuan class. It is only single-layer to reduce the center of gravity. The bow of the ship is closed to enhance seakeeping.

Under normal circumstances, the number of aircraft carried by this design is quite limited, with a limit of only 60 aircraft.

However, the inspection after the capture of the Lexington was very fruitful for the Ming Navy - the Americans actually tied so many aircraft on the deck? And the spare carrier-based aircraft is still suspended by steel cables in the hangar?

By increasing the mooring density on the deck and suspending spare carrier-based aircraft in the hangar, this plan can roughly reach 70 to 72 aircraft.

Although it cannot be compared with the Essex class, which can carry hundreds of aircraft, it is already a good result for an armored aircraft carrier.

Because the heavily armored flight deck is inconvenient to make cuts to arrange elevators, the plan is still to use two large elevators, one in front and one in the back, with dimensions of 14.4m × 14.4m and 14.4m × 16m respectively.

It is worth noting that the elevator of the No. 48 to No. 250 plan also adopts an armor design, which is mm thick high-tensile steel and can theoretically withstand kg aerial bombs.

Both armored elevators weigh hundreds of tons, but because they are planned to be driven by new high-power three-phase motors, the actual operating speed is slightly faster.

The power configuration is eight high-temperature and high-pressure boilers, four steam turbines, and four-shaft propulsion. The normal maximum output is 13 horsepower, and the design top speed is 32 knots.

The power system of this plan is the same as that of the Longshuo battleship and Ziweiyuan class. Although it is not as good as the 18 horsepower set used by the Yongle class battleship, it is better in terms of mature technology and slightly lower cost.

Because the bottom section of an aircraft carrier is not nearly rectangular like a battleship, underwater protection design is very difficult and it is inconvenient to use effective multiple compartments.

The No. 3 to No. 6 plan finally adopted a castrated version of Hu's underwater protection system, with a total of three compartments.

The outer layer is filled with heavy oil, the middle layer is left empty, and the inner layer is filled with Daming characteristic expanded asphalt. The comprehensive defense capability can withstand 320kg of TNT-equivalent explosives.

The planned cost of this plan is 9820 million yuan. Because the length of the ship is 263m, those 240m or 244m slipways and dry docks cannot be built. Currently, only 7 of them in Daming can undertake the construction task.

Zhou Changfeng flipped through the files in front of him. The complex data and abstract cross-section diagrams were like a bible.

I couldn't understand it, but I was shocked.

He said with some curiosity: "Well...are there only two lifts, one in front and one in the back, enough? Why not add one more in the middle?"

A fat engineer diagonally ahead replied: "The strong deck is the main part of the hull structure. Too many large-sized openings will affect the overall structural strength. One at the front and one at the front is already the limit."

It involves a blind spot of knowledge. It’s embarrassing. I should have known better and kept quiet.

Feeling guilty, Zhou Changfeng coughed dryly, but still subconsciously muttered in a low voice: "We can also build a floating lift outside the side of the ship..."

At this moment, other people in the conference hall were still arguing about other trivial matters, but the fat engineer and Brigadier General Ye next to Zhou were inspired by this murmur.

The two looked at each other, their eyes locked.

Hiss... At first thought, it seems feasible to arrange a lift on the side?

"Everyone, wait a minute."

The discussion in the hall gradually died down, and everyone looked this way.

Next, a lot of professional terms jumped out of everyone's mouth like a waterfall.

For a full quarter of an hour, the entire Conference Hall No. 2 was filled with all kinds of jargon, which made Zhou feel confused and at a loss as to what to do.

It turns out that side lifts are still a new thing nowadays? He said silently in his mind.

The generals and experts murmured for a long time, and finally unanimously decided to postpone the finalization of the construction plan and make the seventh revision to the No. 3 to No. 6 design plan.

Although the design of the armored aircraft carrier itself needs to be revised again, the "Wartime Ship Additional Construction Method" was negotiated smoothly.

First, order five armored aircraft carriers of the No. 5 to No. 2 () plan. If necessary, two additional Yongle-class ships can be ordered after the reconstruction of the No. and No. Yongle-class ships is completed.

Second, order 12 medium-sized fleet aircraft carriers under the No. to No. plan.

Third, order 16 anti-aircraft cruisers of the No. to No. plan.

Fourth, order an additional 25 Lixia-class B-type ocean-going submarines. Fifth, order six additional Jieyang-class destroyers.

Sixth, order 72 frigates of the No. to No. plan.

Seventh, order 100 Sunda-shaped torpedo boats.

【Picture】

Because of the lessons learned from the Battle of Darwin and the Battle of Torres Strait, aircraft carriers using wooden flight decks have exposed the problem of insufficient protection capabilities and can easily be damaged and withdraw from combat.

Therefore, the Ming Navy has become more determined to focus on armored aircraft carriers in the future. The armored aircraft carrier school has become very popular recently.

However, the 2.5-ton armored aircraft carrier can only use a maximum of seven slipways or dry docks. In order to maximize the use of Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding capabilities, smaller ordinary aircraft carriers must also be included in the construction plan.

The medium-sized fleet aircraft carrier of the No. 4 to No. 2 plan can be regarded as an improved version of the Tianshiyuan class, and many choices have been made in order to speed up construction.

Its standard displacement is 1.83 tons, with an open single-story hangar and a closed bow.

Taking into account deck mooring and hangar suspension, the maximum aircraft capacity is about 72 to 75, with a total of three elevators at the front, middle and rear.

The protection capability is enhanced compared to the Tianshiyuan class. As a powerful deck, the hangar deck is equipped with 80mm thick armored steel. The hangar is divided into four sections from beginning to end to reduce collateral damage.

The power configuration is the same as that of the Asojiang-class light cruiser, with eight heavy oil boilers, four steam turbines, four-shaft propulsion, a maximum output of 10 horsepower, and a designed top speed of 31 knots.

Different from the series of pre-war designs that used a centralized arrangement of power systems, the No. 4 to No. 2 plan uncharacteristically chose to alternately arrange boilers and steam turbines, which greatly improved survivability.

This kind of existence also happens to Americans, and the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier also has the same shortcomings.

There are hidden dangers in the design of the Yorktown-class boiler room and wheel room. All nine boilers are concentrated in one cabin, and all four steam turbines are concentrated in another cabin.

As a result, it is very likely that being hit by a torpedo will cause water to enter, whether it is flooding the boiler room or the engine room, it will cause the loss of all power.

The planned cost of the No. 6980 to No. plan is million yuan, which is much cheaper than the expensive armored aircraft carrier.

Not only does it have a larger aircraft capacity and cheaper construction cost, but the construction cycle is also shorter, and it is estimated that it can be delivered into service as soon as 19 months.

"By the way, I almost forgot something!"

As the seminar was coming to an end, an official suddenly discovered that there was one item on the agenda that had not been discussed while flipping through the schedule.

Ouch! I had so much fun negotiating just now that I accidentally forgot about it.

"Zhou...Zhou Taizhao, this seems to have something to do with you. Twenty modified gunboats? Let's take a look."

Because the Battle of Guadalcanal serves as a lesson in history, Zhou Changfeng believes that the U.S. military will not passively defend in the future and is likely to try to launch an unexpected and bold counterattack.

The Solomon Islands are an important part of Ming Dynasty's strategy to cut off the connection between the United States and Australia. In order to ensure the safety of the route, occupying it is crucial for the US-Australia coalition forces.

In complex sea areas where large and small islands and reefs are densely distributed, small fast gunboats can undoubtedly play a great role and are very suitable for patrolling, harassing, and attacking missions.

Therefore, some time ago, someone Zhou submitted his opinion to the Ministry of War and Navy Administration - based on small and flexible torpedo boats, a batch of fast gunboats should be modified to have powerful automatic firepower.

The upper echelons of the navy felt that it made sense and issued modification design instructions.

The preliminary draft submitted by Jiangzhe Shipbuilding Group is based on the Xun-shaped torpedo boat, with the torpedo launch tubes removed and a large number of weapons installed on it.

标准排水量只有44吨的鱼雷艇在前部安装1座双联装20.8㎜高射炮、后部安装1门单装38.4㎜高射炮、艇身中部安装3座双联装12.8㎜高射机枪，另外还有1门80㎜迫击炮。

In this way, the small torpedo boat transformed into a fire hedgehog.

As long as advance reconnaissance is in place to avoid encountering enemy destroyers, several gunboats operating in groups can be said to be very scary.

For example, a group of gunboats quietly sneaked to the beach. The area near the US military landing point was full of landing craft, tents, trucks, and military supplies... If they encountered such a dreamy opportunity, the US military would most likely suffer a loss.

To be honest, this kind of little guy is very unworthy, no wonder he was almost ignored before.

The generals and experts present did not take it seriously. They casually expressed their opinions and unanimously approved it.

Therefore, this kind of gunboat was given the number of Xunzi Type A motor gunboat, and 32 of them were approved for production or modification.

When the Ming Dynasty court was making final negotiations for the shipbuilding plan, major events also happened in the United States on the other side of the ocean on the same day.

At first, no one believed that the Lexington would be captured until aerial reconnaissance photos were presented.

Didn't it mean that she was seriously damaged at that time? ! Didn't it mean that multiple torpedoes were fired at her before evacuating? !

The federal government originally planned to temporarily block the information and wait until the investigation was completed before announcing it, but it was obvious that the Ming court was not willing to miss the opportunity to dampen the morale of the enemy's people - radio broadcasts repeatedly broadcast the Lexington's condition.

President Franklin was furious, and Capitol Hill was furious.

Such a vicious incident would have such a huge impact on the morale of the military and civilians, and the public will question whether the military personnel are derelict in their duties - please! It was reasonable to sink the enemy, but how could he be captured?

Major General Frank Fletcher was immediately dismissed and ordered to go to Washington for investigation.

At that time, the destroyer USS Mustin, which was responsible for dealing with the lightning strike of the USS Lexington, was dealt with more strictly, and all officers and soldiers and the crew of the USS Lexington who rescued were put under control.

A dozen officers of the USS Mustin were escorted by heavily armed Marines and took three transport planes to Pearl Harbor, but then transferred to Washington.

General Hasband Kimmel has also been held accountable, but considering that the current war situation is urgent and it is not suitable to replace generals on the spot, the president has no plans to dismiss him for the time being.

December 12, Washington, D.C., Department of the Navy Building.

The weather today is bad and gloomy, which is how people feel.

"...According to a copy of the weapons supply file, your ship supplied Mk11 torpedoes on November 16. Are you sure?"

"I am sure."

Outside a sparsely decorated room on the west end of the first floor of the building, two Marines stood holding their guns, while questions and answers were heard from inside.

"At the last moment - I mean the attack on the Lexington, are you sure that the launcher you were on was in working order?"

"I am sure."

"Are you sure you have canceled the torpedo warhead insurance?"

"I am sure."

(End of this chapter)