The rise of great powers: starting from military industry

The Anshan Iron and Steel Plant is the one that specifically provides steel for the Dalian Shipyard.

Speaking of Anshan Iron and Steel Plant, we have to talk about its predecessor, Anshan Iron and Steel and Showa Steel Works during the Japanese puppet period.

In 1943, Showa Steel Works produced 1.3 million tons of iron, 843,000 tons of steel, and 495,000 tons of steel products annually. From 1935 to 1945, Showa Steel Works and Anshan Iron and Steel produced a total of 9.056 million tons of pig iron, 5.474 million tons of steel, and 3.278 million tons of steel products.

In 1948, Anshan Iron and Steel Company was established. On July 9 of the following year, it started construction on the ruins, quickly resumed production, and carried out large-scale technical transformation and basic construction.

Anshan Iron and Steel is also the first large-scale steel joint enterprise and the earliest steel production base to be restored in New China. It is known as the "cradle of China's steel industry" and the "eldest son of the Republic's steel industry."

For more than 30 years, Anshan Iron and Steel has made great contributions to the country's economic construction.

Before, China could not produce high-strength steel that was sufficient for advanced warships.

Yield strength is an important indicator for measuring steel. Yield strength is the yield limit of metal materials when yielding occurs, that is, the stress that resists micro plastic deformation.

To explain it in simple terms, it is the strength of the material. For example, the yield limit of low-carbon steel is 207 MPa. When the pressure applied by the outside world is greater than this value, the parts made of this low-carbon steel will produce permanent deformation. If the pressure is less than this, the parts will return to their original state after the external force is removed.

The greater the yield strength, the greater the ability of the material to resist external forces and the higher the strength.

For ordinary civilian ships, two or three hundred MPa of marine steel is enough, but warships must be stronger.

Back then, when China and the polar bear had a close relationship, the big brother exported special military marine steel. After the relationship broke down, it was naturally impossible to export such military marine steel to China.

Faced with this dilemma, China can only grit its teeth and conduct research and development on its own. First, it imitated the marine steel of the polar bear and developed a batch of steels such as 907/921.

However, these steels imitated the composition of the polar bear and contained a large amount of nickel and chromium.

The Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union are rich in nickel and chromium ores, but there are few in China, so China has to develop nickel-chromium-free or low-nickel-chromium steels.

In addition, the material formula is unknown, which makes the performance of the imitated steel unsatisfactory.

It was not until Liu Tao developed the 022 missile boat that this dilemma was broken.

The yield strength of the steel used in the 022 missile boat reached 500 MPa.

When the first 054 frigate was built, the yield strength of the steel used reached 590 MPa.

Similarly, the yield strength of the steel used in the construction of the 052 destroyer also reached 590 MPa.

At present, the two steels can be produced in the country, namely Shaoguan Iron and Steel Plant in Guangdong Province and Anshan Iron and Steel in Liaoning Province.

In the dark night, Liu Tao was thinking while watching the workers still working on the construction.

"Is it a nuclear submarine? Or a conventional submarine?" Liu Tao was thinking about the weapons to be developed next.

Now Panshan Group has gradually got on the right track and does not need him to invest too much energy.

Although there are many other things, Liu Tao has always believed that only with a strong national defense force can the outside jackals and tigers be deterred from coveting.

Otherwise, no matter how great the achievements in economic construction are, it will only attract the covetousness of jackals and tigers.

The weapons on the ground are almost enough.

The weapons and equipment on the water include Type 022 missile boats, Type 022A torpedo boats, Type 83 minesweepers, Type 84 minesweepers, Type 054 frigates, and Type 052 destroyers.

As for the air, in addition to the aircraft developed by China itself, the main purchases are fighter jets and helicopters from the United States. Liu Tao will repair the defects of the aircraft after the aircraft arrives and is delivered to China.

At least there is not so much shortage of air weapons and equipment at present.

So Liu Tao has been thinking about developing underwater submarines these days.

Underwater submarines are a huge threat to surface ships. Since their birth, they have been known as the "ghosts in the sea".

The most vivid manifestation of submarine combat effectiveness is the wolf pack tactics of the German Navy submarine force during World War II.

The wolf pack tactics can be said to have caused huge losses to the Allied forces and caused great headaches for the Allied forces.

Tigers are afraid of wolves.

The bloodthirsty wolf packs make all the giants in nature shudder. Under their repeated sieges, even the king of beasts can hardly survive.

Similarly, submarines can use "wolf pack tactics" to deal a fatal blow to sea transportation routes and hunt surface warships.

There are many types of submarines with different shapes, ranging from small private submersible detectors operated by one or two people and operating for several hours, to Soviet Typhoon-class nuclear submarines that can carry hundreds of people and dive continuously for 3-6 months.

In the world, submarines are divided into different categories according to size and power.

According to the size, they can be divided into large, medium, small and underwater automatic mechanical devices.

According to the power, they can be divided into conventional power and nuclear power.

What Liu Tao is considering is whether to choose conventional submarines or nuclear submarines as the next weapon development.

Conventional submarines use diesel engines as their power source, and drive the engine to charge the battery while sailing. Since diesel engines require a lot of oxygen to work, they can only be charged when sailing on the surface, semi-submerged, and in the snorkel state.

Conventional power units are mainly composed of diesel engines, batteries, and main electric motors. Diesel engines are the main power unit for conventional submarines to sail on the surface, which can make the submarine's surface speed reach 10-15 knots. The main electric motor is the main power unit for conventional submarines to sail underwater, which can make the submarine's underwater speed reach 15-20 knots; it is also equipped with an economic motor with an underwater speed of 2-4 knots.

Submarines are limited by the battery power when sailing underwater, and often need to surface or sail at a certain depth underwater, use diesel engines, and drive the main electric motor to charge the battery to replenish the power.

Conventional submarines are exposed when charging, so they are generally charged at night or in low-threat sea areas. In combat situations, they dive underwater during the day and float to charge at night.

There are four main types of conventional submarine combat methods, namely, position ambush, regional hunting, guided interception and escort alert.

Nuclear submarines are submarines powered by nuclear reactors. The nuclear power plant is mainly composed of nuclear reactors, steam generators, main circulation pumps and steam turbines.

Nuclear submarines are divided into attack nuclear submarines, ballistic missile nuclear submarines, cruise missile nuclear submarines and experimental nuclear submarines according to their missions and weapons and equipment.

Attack nuclear submarines use torpedoes as their main weapons to attack enemy surface ships and underwater submarines; ballistic missiles use ballistic missiles as their main weapons and are also equipped with self-defense torpedoes to attack strategic targets; cruise missile nuclear submarines use cruise missiles as their main weapons to carry out campaign and tactical attacks; experimental nuclear submarines are used as platforms for special operations and instrument and equipment experiments.

It can be said that although conventional submarines and nuclear-powered submarines are both submarines, there is a huge difference between the two.