The Rise of the Empire

But now, with the use of 16-inch artillery and the increase in power and armor requirements, the increase in the tonnage of battleships is necessary, but it does not mean endless, and judging from the current choices of various countries, the tonnage of new battleships is also high. It will exceed 40,000 tons! Because the basic law of diminishing marginal benefits brought by continuing to increase the tonnage will become less and less. The higher the tonnage, the more complex the construction, and the fewer docks that can be built and maintained, and the more restrictions on deployment and use will be brought. many.

Therefore, in a short period of time, there may be no technical problems in the emergence of larger caliber artillery, but there must be problems in the use of equipment, and the cumulative result of these problems is that all countries are seeking to limit the tonnage of warships! Regarding this issue, the Germans actually agreed, and Su Xiong and Sims also found the first topic to reach a consensus tonight!

"I also think that for a long period of time, the tonnage of battleships should be kept below 40,000 tons. It is the best choice to position the artillery as 8 or 9 16-inch guns. The armor is designed to defend against 16-inch guns. Positioned at 25 knots or more, this design is the most cost-effective, and your country's newly remodeled South Dakota-class battleship should be the best among the battleships that are about to be completed." Su Xiong said. "If your country does not seek warships with larger tonnage and stronger firepower, this condition can be achieved."

"Then what about aircraft carriers? On the battlefield, the importance of aircraft carriers is close to that of battleships. With the development of technology, it is not impossible for aircraft carriers to replace battleships and become the overlord of the sea during the daytime when aircraft develop to a certain extent. Moreover, the use of aircraft carriers It is more flexible and can perform a variety of missions, and the tonnage of this warship also belongs to the type that must be limited." Sims said.

"Then what do you think is the best level to limit the tonnage of aircraft carriers?" Su Xiong asked.

"I personally think that the current aircraft carrier of just over 20,000 tons is still a bit small. Although the current aircraft carrier is enough to release a considerable fleet, the tonnage of the aircraft carrier will still increase with the increasing aircraft size in the future. Aircraft leave some margin. Another problem is the defense of the aircraft carrier, especially the defense against bombs. I think our current aircraft carrier is completely an egg with a hammer. The attack is strong, but the defense is poor." Sims Said.

"There is also the need for ocean operations. Both our navies need to fight on distant oceans, so we need to equip a large amount of fuel and ammunition, especially the latter. With the increase of aviation threats, we need to equip more warships. There are many anti-aircraft guns, and the ammunition consumption of anti-aircraft guns is astonishing. Therefore, I think that the tonnage of the current aircraft carrier is best limited to around 26,000 tons." Sims thought for a while and said.

"26,000 tons? Isn't this tonnage a little lower?" Su Xiong said thoughtfully. And the meaning of this sentence can also be interpreted in many ways! So much so that Sims couldn't figure out what the other party meant!

"Your Excellency, do you mean that the cost performance of this level of aircraft carrier is not high, or is it not suitable for the needs of future naval warfare?" Sims asked.

"I'm not a professional aircraft carrier officer, so I don't want to talk about technical matters, but I personally think it would be better to limit the tonnage of an aircraft carrier to about 30,000 tons." Su Xiong said.

"This issue can be discussed in the future." Sims' knowledge of aircraft carriers is also limited, so this issue will be mentioned soon.

"Then what do you think about cruiser-class warships?" Sims asked.

"Actually, I feel that the navy's cruiser competition is the most intense now. If this trend continues, it may lead to a series of adverse consequences. I personally think that from the perspective of Germany and the United States, the construction displacement is close to 20,000 tons. A warship equipped with 8 to 9 10-inch guns is not suitable because the cost performance of this kind of warship is too low." Su Xiong said.

Long before the outbreak of the war, Crown Prince Ruprecht mentioned in a meeting with high-level German navy officials that there might be vicious competition in large cruisers in the future. According to the principle that what others have, we should also have, the Germans will also join this race. And if the performance of the current large American armored cruisers is used as a benchmark, the cost of this warship is too high, and it is ineffective against battleships. High, 6-inch guns or 8-inch gun cruisers with the same cost may do better. Therefore, before coming, Scheer and the others told Su Xiong whether there could be a limit on warships of this level to prevent the two sides from entering a vicious competition mode.

"However, from the current point of view, our large cruisers are performing very well on the battlefield. Our cruisers perfectly suppressed the opponent's cruisers and destroyers. And we have equipped some large cruisers, and there are more on the berth The warships, economically speaking, it is too expensive for us to give up these warships," Sims said.

"The main reason for the outstanding performance of your country's large cruisers is that the Japanese Navy does not have a corresponding class of warships. If everyone is caught in the competition of large cruisers, then today, one side builds a warship equipped with 10-inch guns and a displacement of 20,000 tons, then tomorrow, The other party will build warships equipped with 12-inch guns and a displacement of more than 25,000 tons. Such warships are quite close to the tonnage of capital ships. If you consider the issue of changing guns, they will be capital ships. As a result, our two sides' restrictions on capital ships have become a dead letter. Do you understand what I mean?" Su Xiong said.

The trick of changing guns is not new in this plane. The German Navy replaced three 12-inch guns with two 14-inch guns during the Great War. If you do the first grade of junior high school today, you can do the fifteenth grade tomorrow. It can be foreseen that in order to improve the performance of the warship as much as possible, everyone will do something in this regard, as long as the tonnage and hardware allow.

In fact, warships of the 20,000-ton class have reached the marginal tonnage of capital ships. In wartime, if three 10-inch guns are used, there is no problem at all with dual 12-inch guns! That is a World War I class battlecruiser. And if a super cruiser with 12-inch artillery really appears, after changing the guns, the firepower is increased to a level of 14-inch artillery or even higher, then it will be a real capital ship. If this is the case, the restrictions on capital ships in the treaty will become a piece of waste paper!

Thanks to the book friend Yueshi Fat Niu for the reward of 80100 starting coins yesterday~~~! Well, this is almost the largest amount of rewards in a single day since I started writing the book, and I will add more from today~~~~~! Every 10,000 starting coins will add an update, the author looks at the calendar, it should be updated to next month soon~~~~!