1855 United States Tycoon

Indeed, the United States had a navy that allowed the British to pay a certain price, so that the British gave up their intervention in the Spanish-American War. However, the geopolitical situation of United States is different from that of Germany. Therefore, there are certain things that the British can tolerate the United States, but they will never tolerate the Germans. If the Germans have the mentality of "the monk can touch it, I can't touch it" and learn from the United States, then the British reaction will definitely be very different.

But Scrooge did not intend to explain this, on the contrary, he still encouraged the Germans to challenge the British.

"Well, Mr. Secretary of the Navy, there are some models of destroyers, cruisers and other small boats, but there is nothing new on these things. So I suggest that we don’t spend too much time on these things. Let's save some time to go to the slipway to see the battleship built for Brazil." Scrooge said.

"That's great, let's go and take a look." Tirpitz said.

So the group left the exhibition hall and walked towards the slipway. Arriving at a place not far from the slipway, an engineer-like person greeted him. First, he handed everyone a few safety helmets and a few earplugs. Because the noise at the scene is too loud. Although in order to be able to see the panoramic view, the high platform they were on was still a little away from the berth, but the noise of cutting steel plates and rivets was still deafening.

A few people boarded the high platform and looked around and saw that there were two battleships under construction on the slipway over there. One of them, Tirpitz, recognized at a glance that it was the one he had seen in the model exhibition hall just now. The battleship with a one-week turret, and the battleship on the other side a little farther away, has a lower degree of completion, and some places are covered with canvas, which seems to be kept secret.

But the more this is the case, the more interesting Tirpitz is. Although the ship is far away and many details are blocked and can’t be seen clearly, there are some basic things that Tirpitz can still see. of.

For example, the boat looks shorter than the one built for Brazil, but it may be a bit wider. This also means that the ship will have better stability, better sailing performance, and better adapt to the environment of high sea conditions, and the ship will also have a beautiful flying shear bow. This type of bow can effectively avoid the problem of warships burying their heads in heavy storms, but this curved and floating bow requires the use of a large hydraulic press, which is difficult to manufacture and expensive, and once it is damaged, it will be more complicated to repair. More difficult. This warship is equipped with such a bow, just to explain one point, that is, the sea conditions in its preset mission area are quite complicated.

In addition, the ship’s turrets are much less. Compared with the battleship with seven turrets ordered by the Brazilians, this battleship has only four turrets. Although the artillery has not yet been installed, it is obvious that , The turret of this warship seems to be a bit larger than that of the warship built for Brazil.

"This should be for the installation of larger artillery." Tirpitz thought. He knew that if a larger caliber artillery was used, the firepower of this warship might actually be better than that of the monster with seven turrets. And under the condition of shortening the length of the hull, even if the armor weight is the same, the thickness of the armor can be greatly increased, so that the defensive power of this ship will far exceed that of the warship built for Brazil.

"This should be a battleship built by the United States people. I don't know the specific performance. Especially the speed." Tirpitz thought this way, so he asked in passing: "That ship is for the United States. A battleship built by the navy?"

Originally, Tirpitz didn't expect any answer, but he didn't expect Scrooge to answer seriously.

"No, this ship is customized by our United States Navy, but it is not a battleship, but a battlecruiser, that is, a new type of battleship with the firepower of a battleship and the speed of a cruiser. Mr. Mahan proposed to use this A kind of warship can perform tasks such as breaking ties, escorting, and hunting down opponents' armored cruisers. So the Navy ordered such a warship. This warship has a very experimental nature, and it is hard to say whether it will work well or not. Some of them laughed at it as an egg with a hammer. In general, the Navy prefers a tortoise with a hammer to an egg with a hammer."

This metaphor made Tirpitz laugh. He wanted to know how fast the ship was, but he understood that it was impossible to answer this question. Even if you get an answer, it cannot be a true number, because the top speed of a ship is actually the most important secret for all countries.

However, Tirpitz felt that he had seen enough in United States and inspiring enough. In particular, he is very rewarding in terms of breaking the ship and naval strategy. Tirpitz was quite satisfied with this visit. Before leaving, he told Scrooge: "The Imperial Navy will soon have a ship purchase plan, and I hope your company can also participate in the bidding."

...

One month after Tirpitz left, the Reichstag passed a naval budget, and the Germans planned to purchase five battleships for the own navy in the next four years. Immediately afterwards, representatives of the Germans approached the door and proposed a bidding request for two battleships, including technology transfer, to the Morgan McDonald Shipyard.

...

"Let me take a look at the requirements of the Germans." Morgan lowered his head to study the document carefully, and then said to Scrooge, "I have to say, Mr. MacDonald, you are such a good salesman. The Germans really proposed. A technology requirement that can make the British extremely uncomfortable."

This German document required these two battleships as follows:

The first type of battleship has a displacement of about 28,000 tons, has 8 or more high-caliber main guns of 11 inches or more, can withstand the armor of 12-inch guns fired at a distance of 10,000 meters, and has a speed of no less than 25 knots and excellent The airworthiness of the aircraft is no less than 80,000 nautical miles.

This design requirement is obviously very interesting. First of all, a huge ship with a displacement of 28,000 tons actually only requires an 11-inch cannon. Obviously, this kind of firepower is not enough to deal with the British battleships, so the question is, who is this kind of firepower used to fight?

Secondly, this ship actually requires armor that can withstand the bombardment of the British battleship’s main artillery, as well as a speed of up to 25 knots and a range of more than 8,000 nautical miles. What is the meaning of such a request? The British people will find the answer to this question only after a little research. The answer is-this is a broken warship designed for Britain and specifically used to break diplomatic ties.

The speed of the British battleship is only about 21 knots, and the speed of 25 knots, coupled with the armor that can withstand the attack of 12-inch caliber guns, allows the German warship to run away when it unfortunately encounters a British battleship. , 11-inch or more artillery can easily deal with any cruiser in the hands of the British that can catch up with it. While the artillery on the British cruiser had enough armor to withstand the attack of the 12-inch gun, the defense was equivalent to that of a battleship, and it was probably no different from scratching. Coupled with the long voyage of this kind of warship, if there is a war, if the Germans use this kind of warship to attack British trade routes, it will be like a nightmare for the British.

As for the second type of battleship, it is the battleship used for fleet decisive battles. The German requirements for it are as follows: displacement of about 28,000 tons, with more than 8 13-inch high-caliber main guns, armor that can withstand the firing of 13-inch guns at a distance of 10,000 meters, and no less than 20 Speed ​​of knots and excellent seaworthiness, no less than 5000 nautical miles range.

In the eyes of the British, this design requirement will definitely feel that this is aimed at them. The displacement of the British battleship was only about 23,000 tons, the caliber of the gun was only 12 inches, and the defense level was only for the own 12-inch main gun. It is almost impossible to penetrate the armor of this German battleship at a normal engagement distance. Although the British can rely on more warships to achieve victory by siege, but the emergence of such super battleships almost means that the warships in the hands of the British are immediately behind.

"The Germans demand a comprehensive technology transfer. If we win the bid for one of these models, then the first battleship will be built here, and the subsequent battleships will be built in Germany." Morgan shook his head and said, seemingly very unreasonable. It's a pity that I can't put all the warships on my own.

"Hehe," Scrooge laughed, "Mr. Morgan, I'm afraid the shipyard will be busy in the future. The British will definitely react fiercely, and then the United States has no reason not to keep up. So, just The warships of the United States Navy are enough for us to build. How wonderful..."

...

Just as Scrooge and Morgan predicted, Britain, as the world’s largest naval power, passed a new corresponding additional shipbuilding plan in Parliament only half a month after the Germans launched their shipbuilding plan. As planned, the British announced that they would build 10 newly designed battleships for the Royal Navy in the next four years.

"At any time, the British Empire must have more battleships than other countries, and better! The Germans can build one battleship, we will build two!" Fisher, the third maritime minister of the British Empire, used this sentence The words sum up the attitude of the British on this issue.

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