Chapter 1431: After all, it is a veteran naval power...

Political Commissar Li Wanbing did not express any objection to the captain's seemingly impulsive reaction.

On the one hand, the main tone of friendly cooperation is not inconsistent with the moderate competitiveness among soldiers. Moreover, it was the British next to them who took the initiative, and they were just passively responding.

On the other hand, although the Xingzhou is a new ship that has only been in service for a few months, the power system on the 052C is already well-tested.

Since last year, superiors have successively dispatched two ships of the same type, Jincheng and Xingzhou, to participate in the first two batches of ocean escort missions, with the idea of ​​further verifying the adaptability of the equipment.

After all, the Chinese Navy's previous ocean voyages were mostly in the central and northern Pacific Ocean, and it was relatively unfamiliar with the tropical water environment near the equator.

Before building a true blue-water navy, it is necessary to ensure that one's ships can cope with the marine environment anywhere in the world.

As for anti-piracy...

It can only be considered as something that happens conveniently.

"Power output switched to gas turbine, ready to accelerate!"

Following the order from Captain Lin Xi, the power room below the deck became busy.

In fact, thanks to the development of automated control systems, the engine room departments on modern ships usually no longer have to perform manual operations based on instructions from the bridge, and the personnel on duty only play a monitoring and backup role.

However, based on the previous experience given by the Jincheng, the optimal startup parameters corresponding to the high temperature environment will change to a certain extent. Therefore, in order to ensure the success rate and to provide sufficient and reliable data for subsequent ships, the Xingzhou specifically switched to manual intervention mode.

According to the parameters after the preliminary modification, the two QC300 gas turbines gradually accelerated their rotation driven by the starting motors, and at the same time the nozzles began to fill the atomized fuel into the annular combustion chamber.

When the relative speed reaches 70%, the igniter releases energy, and the high-temperature fireball formed quickly rushes into the reflow zone and ignites the entire combustion chamber.

"Om-"

The whistling sound of the turbine spinning at high speed rang out in the engine room.

Then, after the system confirms that the turbine has entered a stable operating state, the reduction gearbox starts working, engaging the automatic synchronous clutch with the turbine drive shaft and disengaging it from the diesel engine after about 0.75 seconds.

The QC300 was designed with its working characteristics as a high-speed main engine in mind, and a special startup speed adaptive technology was adopted to make the entire power switching process only about half that of similar CODOG systems.

However, even so, when the Xingzhou finally switched to gas turbine power and began to accelerate, it was still about 7-8 chains behind...

Inside the bridge of the Courageous, Captain Balam came to the observation window at the right rear, staring at the Yingzhou, which was gradually shrinking in his field of vision due to the distance between them, with a rare gentle smile on his face.

It seemed as if he was trying to comfort himself who was so scared 12 years ago that he forgot to aim the weapon.

But soon, the colonel's thoughts were interrupted by Essen not far behind him:

"Captain, we have captured a set of characteristic sound patterns of a 3S clutch disengaging. We judge that the other party will soon speed up and catch up."

This news instantly froze the smile on Balam's face.

He subconsciously raised his hand and looked at his watch:

"It's only been about five minutes... Are you sure you made the right judgment?"

This question was so outrageous that the colonel immediately waved his hand to indicate that there was no need to answer it.

The Royal Navy's training has indeed been a bit slack over the years, but it's not to the point where they can't even judge the movement of the transmission system.

According to Baram's experience, before the fully electrically controlled Type 45 destroyer, it would take at least 10 minutes to complete the power switch from diesel engine/cruise engine to high-speed engine.

unless……

"Were their gas turbines idling?"

The Colonel confirmed.

But Eisen shook his head helplessly:

"Our own engine has been in operation, which has caused some interference to the hull sonar. It is impossible to release the towed sonar now, so it is difficult to determine..."

Balam's expression gradually became serious.

When he turned his gaze back to the porthole, he didn't know whether it was due to psychological effects, but he always felt that during the conversation between the two, the Xingzhou, which had been left behind, was gradually catching up.

Finally, the colonel, who could no longer sit still, returned to the command desk.

But before he could pick up the communicator, a report from the radar department further confirmed his visual perception:

"The enemy's speed has exceeded 33 knots, and they are closing the distance between us again..."

Faced with this number, Baram and Eisen exclaimed almost at the same time:

"33 knots?"

It’s not that I’m shocked by the speed itself—

The 052C adopts an ultra-high length-to-width ratio of nearly 9, which achieves lower sailing resistance at the expense of hull space and a slight loss of seaworthiness. Combined with the QC300 gas engine's already higher maximum output power than the WR-21, it does have the potential to achieve ultra-high speeds.

There are even bolder estimates that the opponent's model may be able to reach a maximum speed of 36-37 knots, which is the level of a World War II destroyer.

The problem is time.

It only took a few minutes from the time the gearbox switched to gas turbine output to now.

To complete such violent acceleration in such a short time, the power and transmission systems have to bear enormous pressure.

Therefore, most mechanically driven ships, even if they have strong power parameters on paper, can only approach their maximum speed very slowly after exceeding 30 knots.

At least in their impression, there is no other ship that uses diesel-electric alternating or diesel-electric alternating power that can reach or even approach the level of the Xingzhou.

"It's unbelievable..."

Essen looked at the data chart on the screen in front of him and subconsciously loosened the tie around his neck.

But Balam had recovered from his initial shock.

"No matter how sophisticated the design of a mechanical device is, it can never compare to an electronic control system..."

After muttering to himself, the captain turned on the ship's communication channel and called the engine department:

“Let the diesel auxiliary engine also participate in the work and adjust the power output to the highest level!”

This order made the deputy captain Essen look up suddenly and look at Colonel Balam, whose eyes seemed a little red.

"But……"

For a ship that uses an integrated power system, adjusting the power output to the highest level means that the power supply to other systems on the ship can only be maintained at the lowest point.

Of course, the Xingzhou was not a hostile target, and it was unlikely that any blind pirates would take the initiative to provoke the two destroyers, so this was not a big problem.

What worries the lieutenant colonel even more is that, because the Courageous was in a hurry to enter service, it had only been tested at full power output near the North Sea, and lacked relevant parameters in the Indian Ocean region.

Even if you want to continue competing with the Chinese, there are smarter ways.

For example, making a tight turn.

In addition to quick starts, another advantage of electric propulsion is that the power level delivered to each propeller can be precisely distributed, thereby minimizing the loss of speed during turns.

This is a unique feat that a gearbox could never accomplish.

However, Essen swallowed his concerns in the end.

Firstly, he was the one who first proposed this race, and it would seem clownish to stop it now.

Secondly, neither Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems nor the Admiralty had actually said that maximum power could not be used on this voyage.

……

In this way, the two most advanced destroyers, one after the other, started a ruthless racing battle in the North Indian Ocean.

Although the Xingzhou had the advantage in maximum speed on paper, as both Baram and Essen knew, it was actually difficult to reach this speed in a short period of time due to the limitations of transmission efficiency.

Instead, the Courageous, which was running at full power with its gas turbine and diesel auxiliary engines, regained the advantage.

It was not until about 20 minutes later that the two warships began to approach again.

However, at this moment, the Brave, which was located in the front left, suddenly began to slow down sharply. In just a few breaths, it was caught up and overtaken by the Xingzhou.

In Lin Xi's opinion, this extremely abnormal action should also be part of the navigation plan.

After all, ships don't have brakes, and being able to decelerate rapidly is also part of the maneuverability metric.

"After all, they are a long-established naval power... their mobility is truly amazing."

Looking at the Brave, which was decelerating rapidly, Lin Xi's tone was full of admiration:

"I'm afraid our ship can only reduce its speed so quickly in emergency braking mode, but then the gearbox will basically be useless..."

The political commissar Li Wanbing, who had been silent all along, also shook his head:

"We can't help it. The Courageous should have directly cut off the power supply to the propeller... and I estimate that the other party will soon start to reverse the propeller after the propeller stops, and the deceleration efficiency should be higher at that time."

He worked in the engine room department for a period of time in his early years. Although he later transferred to a political work position, he never fell behind in terms of technology.

After staring out the window for a while, Li Wanbing sighed with envy:

"Only ships with integrated electric propulsion systems dare to do this... If the mechanical transmission system running at full power suddenly loses its load, the speed of everything from the turbine to the reducer will take off. At that time, not only the gearbox, but the entire power system will probably explode, and the entire ship will basically be scrapped..."