The Rise of the Empire

If only coal-fired boilers and steam engines are used, 23 knots is the limit for large cruisers, and 20 knots is generally the limit for battleships. No way, the weight and volume of coal-fired boilers and steam engines are too large and the efficiency is too low. If you want to achieve a higher speed, you must upgrade the boiler or the main engine. Both can be upgraded together or separately. Early dreadnoughts can continue to use coal-fired boilers and steam engines to make do. But early battlecruisers had to improve boilers and steam turbines.

For Ruprecht, it is not difficult for a cruiser to have the firepower of a battleship. What is difficult is that it has a speed much higher than that of a conventional battleship. The Japanese like to call the pommel horse the world's first battle cruiser. The basis is that the pommel horse is equipped with a 12-inch heavy gun and has a speed of 20 knots.

But if you want to follow this standard, the Italian Queen Margarita is the earliest battle cruiser. It has been in service since 1904, with four 12-inch guns, four 8-inch guns and a speed of more than 20 knots. When the Queen Margaret was commissioned, work on the Pommel Horse had just begun! What is the difference between the two sides? Why is it called BB in Italy and ACR or BC in Japan with similar performance? This unscientific.

Of course, some people say that these two battleships have the same speed as cruisers at the same time. The traverser can only say that this sentence was true when the Queen Margaret was in service, but after the Pommel Horse was in service, this The speed is a bit worse than that of the large cruisers of the same era. The Pommel Horse entered service in 1907, but at a speed of 20.5 knots, while the speed of British first-class armored cruisers at the same time was generally 23 knots! The speed difference was 2.5 knots. Of course, you can also use slow ships like Rurik 2 as an example.

Adding some private goods, Ruprecht believes that a real battle cruiser must at least have the same speed as the large cruisers of the same period, and have a speed advantage of at least 3 knots over the battleships of the same period. Only in this way can the battle cruiser be fully utilized. The role of cruisers. In other words, in the current situation where slow battleships generally have a speed of about 18 knots, the real battle cruiser should have a speed of about 21 knots. Most of the first-class cruisers of the same period were no more than this speed

What is the purpose of battle patrol? Fisher's definition is that it is faster than a battleship, more capable of fighting than a cruiser, and can suppress the opponent's cruiser with a battle cruiser. It was not originally intended to be used in line battles. The definition of the Germans is that at least they must be able to beat the British battle cruisers of the same period. So what is the definition of Prince Ruprecht?

This definition is rather complicated, partly because it is really troublesome, and partly because His Royal Highness hasn't figured out how to say it yet!

To put it simply, the firepower is enough to pose a serious threat to battleships of the same level, and the speed is faster than that of battleships. The specific standard is that if luck is not very bad, you can get out of the opponent's range before the superior opponent seriously injures you.

This sentence seems very simple, but the amount of information contained in it is still very large. First of all, the first sentence is that the firepower can threaten battleships of the same level. Battlecruiser is not acceptable, and it is still possible to knock a lion with imperfect fire protection with chocolate, but try to fight with an American iron turtle? I can't kill you!

The firepower of a battlecruiser can be slightly inferior to that of a battleship, but it must not be too far behind. For example, the opponent has 10 14-inch guns, while the BC has only 8 14-inch guns. This is acceptable, but 6 guns are not acceptable. As for If there are 8 12-inch guns, it will be a direct pass, and the designer can be pulled out and shot!

The second sentence is more complicated.

The latter was able to make it out before the battleship crippled the battlecruiser. A battlecruiser of the same level will definitely not be able to beat a battleship. This can be tolerated, after all, the tonnage is limited. Strengthening one aspect will weaken the other aspect, but at least in terms of defense, it must not be instantly killed or slowed down easily. Of course, if you encounter such a thing as a water bomb directly piercing the ammunition depot, there is no way, it is God who let you die, no wonder others.

Therefore, in order to achieve this goal, there must be strong protection and a certain speed. The protection must be to ensure that the core area can avoid being instantly killed by the artillery of battleships of the same level, and the non-core area has a certain degree of damage redundancy. Before this redundancy reaches its limit, the battlecruiser can rely on speed to run out of the effective range of the battleship.

The idea of ​​simply relying on speed to escape from the enemy is sometimes unreliable. There are many such examples. For example, the battlecruiser Invincible in the Battle of Jutland. This buddy is backed by the British fleet. The backstage was terrible, but because you rushed too far, you were shot in a second. The Germans didn't give you a chance to escape! Is it useful to have speed but no protection?

Also in the Battle of Jutland, facing the huge German High Seas Fleet, Thomas's four Queen Elizabeth-class battleships performed much better. Their speed was indeed not as fast as that of the Battle Cruiser, and even the rudders were damaged. In the event of inoperability, what is the outcome? The queens braved the bullets of the German BB and BC to successfully turn in, not only escaped from birth, but also cleaned up the German fleet.

Therefore, it is not advisable to pursue the speed too much. In the view of the prince of the Rupre system, it is possible to build a few BC ships with a speed of 27 knots or more for reconnaissance as an avant-garde. But it must not be the core of the fleet. Because in the case of a certain tonnage, this kind of warship will always have various shortcomings. The British lion tiger is not good at defense, and the German chocolate is not good at firepower.

The result of the former's insufficient defense is that he was fired with firecrackers. The latter is helpless in the face of battleships. The real thinking is correct or the British Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, with moderate speed and good protection. If the quality of shells is not considered, the firepower level is the highest. Can escape from a large number of BBs, and can beat high-speed BCs violently. More importantly, if you change it, you can use it for 2 battles....

Therefore, in His Royal Highness's future fleet plan, the number of pure-blooded BCs and pure-blooded BBs will not be large, and the former will be a separate investigation force. The latter is a substitute when the power technology is not complete. The largest number should be fast battleships similar to Queen Elizabeth with a speed of about 25 knots.

Of course, this is only a future plan. At present, what the prince needs to do is to promote the use of kerosene-fired boilers and the research and development of steam turbines. The former is not difficult. The latter can currently only be used on smaller ships such as torpedo boats and destroyers.

Thanks for the 588 reward from the first guard tank brigade~~~, and the reward from my book friends, my name is You Ran, bighill1982~~~, and book friends Harvard Street, saly2005, V Aohuang V, Yipin Huangshan Smoking is harmful to health , Monthly ticket support for travelers in the south~~~! Ask for a subscription and a reward~~~!