Chapter 2437: Cruiser Planning II

Moreover, some of these countries have already started to engage in heavy cruisers, so at least they must ensure that you have and I have them. Once this precedent is set, it is impossible to completely stop it, because most maritime powers have this. idea! So, there is no doubt that all Germany can do is to join the competition. After all, can't use light cruisers to harden the other's heavy cruisers, right?

"If the tonnage of the warship is expanded to 20,000 tons, then the design of the warship will be very difficult, because we can hardly design a balanced warship. There must be a trade-off between speed, firepower and defense, especially firepower and defense. We It cannot be expected that the defensive power of 20,000-ton warships can block the firepower of warships of the same level!" Hipper said.

　　 "Well, that's right, it's a point!" the crown prince said in his heart. In the past, Germany paid attention to balance when designing capital ships. One of the very important points is that the armored defenses of capital ships can effectively counter its own firepower. For example, Bavaria. Bavaria’s 15-inch artillery wants to penetrate its own defense distance. Within 7 kilometers. But in fact, not to mention that Bavaria has dealt with its own defense, it is difficult to fight revenge.

By the time of World War II, the offense and defense of the real battleships were relatively balanced. For example, Veneto’s vertical defense could effectively resist attacks from other battleships except Yamato, while the horizontal defense of battleships such as Richelieu could actually respond. In most cases, the ultra-long-range lobes of American inch naval guns can only say that the American naval guns are too BT. In addition, Richelieu's horizontal defense design also has some problems. Therefore, as far as the 2 warfare technology is concerned, it is possible to create a fast battleship with balanced offense and defense.

　　 However, this is only limited to battleships with a tonnage of 38,000 tons or more. For warships with a tonnage of 20,000 tons, this is almost impossible! A large part of it is because the heavy cruiser has a closer engagement distance, and after this tonnage of the battleship maintains a higher speed than the battleship, there is really less tonnage left for defense.

　　 Taking history as an example, the treaty cruisers with the best integrated vertical defenses are Zara and Algiers. The vertical armor with a side string of 150mm is actually not enough to resist the attack of an 8-inch armor-piercing projectile. And for example, the defense level of the ammunition depot of Japan's top heavy cruiser is high enough, right? (Actually, the M of the Duke of Abruci, the Italian light cruiser, may have a higher level of sidestring protection.) But it is still very difficult to attack with 8-inch artillery.

And don’t forget that the premise of armor design for the purpose of defending 8-inch artillery is that everyone only equips this class of battleship with 8-inch artillery, and will not be equipped with larger guns such as 10-inch, 11-inch, and 12-inch.. ..... However, how is it possible that everyone will abide by the treaty when the treaty ends?

　　 On this plane, the German Empire set a very bad precedent. The Germans replaced the fearless triple-mounted 12-inch artillery with double-mounted 14-inch artillery... There are precedents, there is nothing to follow? Therefore, other countries can also learn from it. During the war, the 8-inch guns on the battleships were replaced with larger caliber guns! You know, this is how the top Japanese cruiser in history changed from a light cruiser to a heavy cruiser. And considering the triple-mounted 11-inch guns on the German-class pocket battleship! As for the increase in weight that may be caused by changing the gun? Let's put it this way, historically the weight of the triple 11-inch turret on the German pocket battleship was 600 tons. The weight of the triple 8-inch turret on the last American heavy cruiser Des Moines is 450 tons... So if you switch to a dual 12-inch, the weight change may be very small! Therefore, there is no problem with installing 12-inch basic artillery on a 20,000-ton battleship!

　　 Then the question is, how high is the standard of defense required to block the 12-inch armor-piercing projectile? Taking the inch artillery in American history as an example, the vertical penetration at 27 kilometers is about 231mm... Even considering the heading angle and the inclination of the main armor, want to block such a high penetration artillery from a normal engagement distance on a 20,000-ton warship? This difficulty is too great!

　　 So, the most disliked situation in the German navy design appeared, the firepower intensity is much higher than the defense intensity! A 20,000-ton warship is guaranteed to be immune to 8-inch guns in the core compartment at normal combat distances, and 10-inch guns can’t stop them. 12-inch guns can wash and sleep...

"If the emergence of heavy cruisers is inevitable, then I think we should strictly limit the tonnage of heavy cruisers, so that the cost of replacing heavy cruisers in the future is too high and not easy to achieve. For example, if we limit the tonnage of heavy cruisers in the future If it is between 12,000 tons and 15,000 tons, then if the opponent wants to use 12-inch guns, it will be very difficult. Using 10-inch guns requires a trade-off between the number of artillery and the power of ammunition. In this case, our defense Design is more effective.” Hipper said after thinking about it.

　　It is still relatively difficult for the 10,000-ton heavy cruiser to block the 8-inch gun. Zara and Algiers in history are only good defenses, but they may not be able to defend... The sidestring defense of the Duke of Abuqilu also depends on the situation~www.wuxiaspot.com~ After all, the crown prince vaguely remembers that in history, the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen can penetrate 9-inch armor at a distance of 10 kilometers. ...... Therefore, Hipper meant to forcibly limit the offense and defense between each other in a more balanced range. At the same time, the cost of the battleship is not particularly high!

　　 As for the 15,000-ton battleship, can you get a 10-inch gun? If you insist, you can definitely do it, but the performance will be reduced, such as defense and speed. You know, in history, the later heavy cruisers of the United States, such as Baltimore and Des Moines, were of this level or even higher, but they still chose 8-inch guns as their main guns. This is for a reason. After all, the later ones The heavy cruiser is not only a bombardment of the sea, but also an air defense mission... At this time, the weight of a large number of secondary artillery and ammunition must be considered.

"I think this suggestion is reasonable. The tonnage of heavy cruisers should be limited to less than 15,000 tons, and the artillery should be 8 inches. The offense and defense are relatively balanced. Most countries can accept it. And the cost is not too high." Marshal Scheer He agreed with Hipper's proposal.

Marshal Scheer saw that in the future, in terms of gunboats, all battleships below Bavaria should be retired. If the war breaks out 20 years later, some Bavarian-class battleships should also be decommissioned, and then maintain a large number of new first-line battleships. Naval guns of 16 inches or larger caliber. Although the German navy has moved toward the ocean, Scheer still adheres to the idea of ​​elite soldiers in terms of capital ships.

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