Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 685 Red River Valley-class battleship

  August 1894

  Dream Castle

  Xianju Temple

  Li Fushou is reviewing the Metropolitan-class steam iron-clad battleship officially developed by the Admiralty. The first ship is the "Red River Valley". Therefore, this powerful iron-clad battleship is named the "Red River Valley"-class battleship.

  The first ship "Red River Valley", the first steel plate was cut on June 19, 1894, the construction period was one year and one month, and the water outfitting was five and a half months. It is expected to be officially commissioned in early 1896.

This class of ship is based on the "Canopus" class battleship planned by the British Imperial Navy as a template. It basically adopts the same design and the only improved design. It only adds an additional 440 tons of bulletproof armor belt in the ammunition depot. The standard displacement of the ship is 13243. Tons, with a full load displacement of 14,860 tons.

  Main dimensions; length 132.5 meters, width 22.7 meters, draft 7.9 meters.

  Maximum speed; 18.5 knots, range 4600 nautical miles/10 knots.

  Power: vertical three-expansion engine, 15,400 horsepower, 2 shafts and 2 propellers;

   Armament: artillery 305mm double-mounted × 2, 152mm × 12, 95mm × 10; torpedo 457mm × 2;

  Armor: side belt 557mm, deck 103mm, turret 532mm;

  Crew: 680 people.

   Cost; 1.376 million gold yuan (688,000 pounds)

Judging from the current vision, the design of the "Red River Valley" class battleship is quite balanced. It does not pursue a particular indicator in particular. Its defense, firepower and speed have reached the current high level, and at the same time, it can reduce the cost of the steam armored battleship. Repression at a certain level is conducive to the formation of a construction scale.

  This is the characteristic of the British Empire's battle fleet. It does not pursue a particular aspect of its capabilities, so as to maintain a reasonable cost, it can form a large fleet and maintain global maritime hegemony.

Judging from the firepower of the main guns, the Red River Valley-class battleship with a full displacement of close to 15,000 tons is only equipped with two twin 305mm main ship guns in front and one rear, which seems to be the same as the "Zhenyuan" class iron-clad battleship with a displacement of 7,600 tons. Similarly, for such a huge warship, the firepower is quite weak.

actually not

The British "Indomitable" class battleship, which is the same generation as the Zhenyuan ironclad ship, is equipped with four 406 mm Armstrong breech loading artillery pieces. One projectile weighs more than 730 pounds. It is hard to say that it is more powerful than the Red River Valley class battleship. It is only more than 10 years apart, but it is not a technical level product.

The former uses black powder, and the latter uses more powerful yellow granular powder. The improved barrel can withstand greater instantaneous pressure. The new type of gunpowder pack has greater power, higher muzzle velocity and better armor-breaking ability. Strong, and therefore more lethal.

Whether it’s Dingyuan or Zhenyuan ships, the Indomitable class battleships built earlier by the British, the Majesty class battleships, or the Ocean Kingdom’s Qinglong class heavy cruisers, although they have only been built for more than ten years, they have already belonged to the previous one in today’s rapidly changing technology. The product of the times.

The "Red River Valley" class battleship is equipped with 305mm main guns and 12 152mm barrel recoil rapid-fire guns. The ship is covered with reinforced steel armor and equipped with a new coal-fired steam engine. It is equipped with armor protection, maneuverability and firepower. Form a comprehensive crush on the iron armored ship.

  First of all, in terms of armor protection, take the "Red River Valley" class battleship as an example. The standard displacement has reached 13,243 tons. The increase in tonnage means an increase in the thickness of bulletproof armor and a great increase in defense.

The main armor belt of the "Red River Valley" class battleship is 557 mm thick at its thickest point and 132 mm at its thinnest point, 532 mm thick at the front of the main turret, 202 mm at the front of the secondary turret, 294 mm thick around the conning tower, and 103 mm thick on the deck.

  This kind of protection is far beyond the iron armored ship.

Take the first-class iron-clad ship Dingyuan, which is known as the “largest ship in Asia,” as an example. Dingyuan’s iron-clad fort is 355mm thick on the waterline, 305mm under the waterline, 305mm armor is 304mm thick, and the gun shield is thick. 15mm, the armor thickness of the commanding tower is 203mm. This armor protection data is quasi-first among the first-class iron-clad ships, but it is quite different from the "Red River Valley"-class battleship.

If lined up on the battle line, Dingyuan’s main gun cannot penetrate the heavy bullet-proof armor of the Honghegu battleship, while the latter can easily tear the former defense. This is because the Honghegu battleship is equipped with a cap shell. New types of ammunition, such as, armor-piercing shells, have greatly improved the armor-piercing capability of the main gun.

Secondly, in terms of maneuvering, the 13,000-ton Red River Valley battleship with new coal-fired boilers can run at a high speed of 18.5 knots, while the first-class iron-clad ships such as Zhenyuan and Dingyuan have a tonnage that is several thousand tons less than the former. , And can only run at a speed of 15 knots at most.

The "Yoshino" fast cruiser customized by the Fuso Kingdom can run to a high speed of 23 knots, but the ship is weak due to only more than 4,000 tons of displacement. This is an incurable fetal problem. It can only participate in low-level rookies. , In front of Zhenyuan and Dingyuan iron-clad ships.

  If it is opposite to the "Red River Valley" class battleship, it will only be smashed in minutes.

  The main gun of the "Yoshino" fast cruiser hits the "Red River Valley"-class battleship with ten rounds or 20 rounds, which will not cause much damage, while the latter can be shot into the soul with one shot. This is the gap.

  According to the words of General He Fang;

  The Red River Valley battleship is a huge iron lump with unprecedented armor protection capabilities. It is an unprecedented test for the enemy’s main gun firepower. With the current state-of-the-art 305mm main gun technology, it is difficult to break his defense.

  The implication is that only the 343mm caliber main gun or the 381mm caliber main gun can cause fatal damage to its heavy carburized bulletproof armor.

  Finally, in terms of firepower configuration, the firepower of the "Red River Valley" class battleship is several times stronger than the iron armored ship.

It is equipped with the powerful firepower of 12 latest 152mm barrel recoil rapid-fire guns, 10 95mm Miss Australia rapid-fire guns, and 12 37mm five-barrel Haqikes cannons, which can form an extremely dense barrage. The enemy ships on the alignment were baptized in blood.

  Although it cannot cause damage to the heavy armored main turret, the damage to the enemy’s secondary turret and all exposed equipment is fatal, enough to affect the progress of a naval battle.

Compare the two Krupp 150mm breech secondary guns (one at the end and one at the end), four 75mm Krupp cannons, and eight 37mm five-barrel Haqikais machine guns on the Zhenyuan. It is 8 to 10 times or more, which is not the same at all.

The two Krupp 150mm breech secondary guns on the Zhenyuan and the four 75mm artillery guns are all old retreat guns. Their rate of fire is far lower than that of the new rapid-fire guns commonly equipped by the Fusang National Navy. This is a fatal flaw. .

Different from the firepower of the main guns of the ironclad ships, the 305mm main turrets of the battleship "Red River Valley" are arranged along the central axis. This arrangement allows the main turrets to adjust the firing angle more freely and allows all The main guns fired in the same direction, which in turn increased the intensity of the warship’s firepower.

  So, judging from the current point of view, this class of steam ironclad battleship is still very advanced. It brings together many advanced technologies developed by the world's navy, reaching the mainstream level of the world's naval powers, and can still be majestic for more than 10 years.

   "What a waste!"

  Li Fushou gritted his teeth and sighed, then put the file on the desk, pinching his eyebrows with some headaches, which made him feel better.

His sigh is not without reason. With the gradual deepening of the second industrial revolution, the development trend of naval main battleships in the world today is changing with each passing day. There are constantly revolutionary new technologies and new inventions that have completely changed naval equipment. The status quo.

   Therefore, a costly iron-clad battleship has a lifespan of only a dozen years or less than 20 years, and then it was quickly eliminated by new equipment and reduced to a marginal role that does not hurt grandma and uncle.

  The Admiralty eagerly arranged the battleship "Red River Valley" to hold the first steel plate cutting ceremony, which showed its urgency, and it was also reflected in the construction arrangements for the second battleship "Brisbane".

The Red River Valley Shipyard has two 20,000-ton-class docks, which are mainly used to build 20,000-ton free ships and can also be used to build steam iron armored battleships over 10,000 tons. After receiving the order for the "Red River Valley"-class battleships, it plans to start construction of two A 30,000-ton shipyard to meet the increasingly prosperous world shipping market and possible armament construction needs.

After the 20,000 tons of the Cape of Good Hope-class Liberty ship in the current dock is launched, the battleship "Brisbane" will enter the dock early next year and will be ready for outfitting at the end of next year. The construction progress is only 6 different from the first ship "Red River Valley". Months.

  This also shows

  In the next year, at the end of 1896, the Ocean Kingdom’s Admiralty will have two main steam ironclad battleships, which is unparalleled in the entire Asia and Oceania region.

  Think carefully for a while

  Li Fushou still did not approve the construction of the 3rd ship "Songjiang" and the 4th ship "Melbourne", but made the following instructions;

  The Admiralty is now studying the next-generation 4,000-ton cruiser plan, requiring attention to ocean navigation capabilities, sea trials and crew living comfort, in order to meet the kingdom’s long coastline patrol and security needs, and **** economic stability and prosperity.

  The Admiralty is now studying the plan for the next-generation 2000-ton ocean-going destroyer. This type of destroyer, as the backbone of daily tasks, has high frequency of use and high demand, and it needs to form a certain scale effect.

  This type of ocean-going destroyer requires low construction cost, good ocean-going navigation performance, and can appropriately weaken the requirements of firepower and armor defense to meet the navigation performance to the greatest extent.

   Putting down the pen, Li Fushou nodded in satisfaction.

With the money to build a "Red River Valley" class steam battleship, he can build 15-20 cheap ocean-going destroyers, which are widely used to guard the kingdom’s long sea frontiers, and can also transport personnel, weapons and supplies. This cheap The destroyer can be used for 60 years, as long as it does not rot, it can be used all the time, and the price/performance ratio is too high.

This kind of second-line or even third-line battleship is not demanding. The 36 seagull frigates of various types belonging to the Ocean Kingdom have all removed 210 mm main guns and 95 mm secondary guns, and replaced them with a new type of single turret 120 mm rapid fire. The gun is equipped with two 37mm five-barreled Haqikes machine guns and two Maxim heavy machine guns.

  In this way, the power of the main gun and the secondary guns is greatly reduced, but the firepower density is unprecedentedly increased, which is sufficient to deal with general low-intensity patrols.

  Before carrying such a big gun, it was used as a capital ship for decisive battles. It was a no-brainer.

  After a naval battle was fought, the thin steel deck around the 210mm main turret was torn apart by the shock, showing violent undulations, and even the steel plate of the lower compartment of the main turret was distorted and deformed, showing an unbearable limit.

  In this case, the quasi-head of the 210mm main gun is not to mention. After several naval battles, basically no results have been achieved, and most of the victories won by the 95mm secondary guns.

  Now it’s the correct posture to return to what it is.

  (End of this chapter)