The Rise of the Empire

Ruprecht admitted that in the current environment, armor-piercing projectiles without caps and stable delay fuzes are not easy to use, but at the same time you must also see that if World War I still breaks out, the cash-strapped German fleet would like to To supplement combat power, it is necessary to rely on some former dreadnought battleships,

When the war started in history, the High Seas Fleet had a total of 3 battleship detachments, of which the second battleship detachment was composed of 8 former dreadnoughts, and the commander of this fleet was later Admiral Scheer, the boss of the High Seas Fleet! In the Battle of Jutland, Scheer also insisted on taking the former dreadnought up, there was no way, he was reluctant to part with those dozens of 11-inch guns!

Compared with the rich and powerful British fleet, the German fleet is a poor ghost. As a poor ghost, you must have the consciousness of a poor ghost, and you must use as little money as possible to make a fleet as powerful as possible. Do you want to continue to increase military spending? That must be within the range that Germany can afford! If it is still the same as in history, more than 20 dreadnoughts are equipped with 11-inch and 12-inch artillery, then what a shame!

Therefore, the prince can tolerate the German Navy's experimental construction of 2 to 3 Brandenburg-class battleships to deal with the current capital ship vacuum period. But it is absolutely intolerable that the former dreadnought battleships of the German Navy continue to use 11-inch guns or even 240MM guns! And the cruiser's 210MM gun must also disappear from history!

Therefore, the prince's standard for future German battleships and armored cruisers is this. Battleships must use 12-inch L40 naval guns, while armored cruisers have naval guns with a caliber of about 10 inches! This is also the original intention of the cooperation between Prince and Skoda. If Krupp cannot provide it, the newly established heavy artillery production plant will directly squeeze out Krupp's market share! For the current traversers, as long as the newly established artillery factory can develop artillery of the corresponding caliber, then they are 90% sure that they can convince the future Kaiser!

In addition to ensuring the caliber of the artillery, the number of the artillery must also be guaranteed. Historically, the minimum number of artillery of the same caliber on the same side of a warship is six, which is the minimum requirement for long-range artillery warfare. The prestige and counterattacks that the British later engaged in also guaranteed the minimum quota of 6 main guns.

As for the old dreadnought ship with 4 main guns, even if the Russians came up with a wonderful three-ship joint shooting method, it had no effect, and the Goeben did not do anything in actual combat... Therefore, the 6-gun Brandenburg-class battleship is a representative of advanced combat effectiveness, the layout needs to be retained, and the caliber needs to be increased!

According to the technical level of the fearless era before the start of construction in 1900, the power-to-weight ratio of the power system was too low, and when the size of the battleship was limited, the tonnage limit of the battleship was generally around 15,000 tons. The speed is below 20 knots. In theory, it is feasible to install six 12-inch guns while ensuring a certain number of secondary guns. If you can get an early steam turbine by opening a hang, or optimize the line shape of the ship, it is also possible to reach 20 knots. Battleships of this level can already be used in the Dreadnought Era.

In history, the tonnage of large armored cruisers is also more than 12,000 tons. The later Minotaurs were directly 15,000 tons. Judging from the technical level after 1900, theoretically, this tonnage is not a big problem to fit eight 10-inch artillery pieces while ensuring a speed of more than 20 knots. After all, the famous PISA in history is only less than 10,000 tons, with four 10-inch guns and eight 8-inch guns. Using the steam engine, it ran a high speed of 23.6 knots.

Even if they serve later, Ruprecht will try to see if he can use the steam turbine earlier, and then repair the line shape, so that an armored cruiser of about 12,000 tons can run out of 21 knots. There is still hope.

According to the prince's plan, in the absence of war threats in Germany, the Munich-type armored cruiser and the improved Brandenburg-class battleship are sufficient to meet the existing challenges. If you want to build a 15,000-ton battleship and a 12,000-ton battleship For the armored cruiser, it is better to start construction around 1898.

This is not just nonsense. If history does not change, Bismarck can live at least until 1898. As long as he is in power, there will be resistance to large-scale naval construction. Moreover, the technology before 1898 is really difficult to guarantee the level required by the traversers. At this time, the value preservation of the fleet is very poor, and the meaning is limited.

From the perspective of the naval budget, before 1894, the German Navy first built 6 to 7 Munich-class armored cruisers. After the beginning of 1894, the Imperial Parliament could pass the plan of the Brandenburg-class battleship. You know, Even after Bismarck stepped down, the budget for building the original 4 Brandenburg-class battleships in history has been wasted for a long time. Now that the new Brandenburg-class battleships are more powerful and cost more, I am afraid that there will not be many built.

After 1898, the prime minister changed, the resistance dropped by more than half, the technology also accumulated a part, and the shipyards were also proficient. William II may also come to power, and then the construction is expected to begin! The traveler couldn't help but like his plan! This schedule and arrangement is simply amazing!

The battleship directly uses 6 guns on the center axis, and the design of 2 and 3 two turrets is acceptable. So what about cruisers? Eight 10-inch guns adopt the classic central axis layout and then guard the back design? This method is very good, but it is still limited by the length of the battleship and the deck area when it is implemented.

The level of the power system is low in this era, and it must take up a lot of space. If you squeeze all 4 turrets in the middle, the length of the hull must be very impressive. After all, cruisers still have to be deployed overseas. The reason why the British dared to do so In 1898, the Qiangsheng-class cruiser with a length of more than 160 meters was built. In addition to stabilizing Rurik, another reason was that the British overseas bases were very sound. The British can, but the Germans can't. At least not now.

It is also possible to use the layout of Scharnhorst. There are 4 cannons on the central axis, and the other 4 cannons are arranged in a single installation at the four corners. It is very symmetrical and beautiful, and it also meets the minimum requirements of 6 main cannons on one side. But in the eyes of those who pursue perfection, any layout that theoretically cannot exert all firepower on the same side is heresy! They should all be tied to a cross and burned! Both Scharnhorst and the later Lützow layout should be thrown into the garbage dump of history, and then stepped on a few feet, never turning over!

In addition to the central axis layout, the only one that exerts full firepower is the quadrilateral artillery layout of von der Tann in history. Although the artillery on both sides of this layout has a small reverse angle of fire in history, at least theoretically there is This possibility, if the design is good, the reverse 60-degree firing angle can still be achieved. In the eyes of the prince, the new armored cruiser should just be a miniature version of Von der Tann using a steam engine!

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