The Rise of the Empire

Did Hayao Shimamura tell the truth to Betty? He must have told the truth. He admitted very frankly that the Japanese Navy had indeed ordered an aircraft carrier from France. But Hayao Shimamura still has a lot of reservations about Betty! At least in all the details of this plan called Plan 7, Shimamura Hayao did not reveal a single bit to Betty! There is a reason why Plan No. 7 is kept so tightly confidential, because this plan can be seen as the Japanese Navy’s exploration and attempt at the development of future aircraft carriers!

The Japanese did order a large number of aircraft carriers from the British, and the British's level of aircraft carrier operations was indeed much better than the Japanese. It can be said that the Japanese benefited a lot from the exchange. But at the same time, the Japanese know very well that everything the British know is already past experience. Because of the defeat and German restrictions, it will be very difficult for the British to build new large aircraft carriers in the future, and they will not even think about it for at least ten years!

Maybe someone has said, aren't the British helping Japan build aircraft carriers now? And the tonnage is not small. This is true, but in fact, these ships are basically civilian ships in terms of structure, and the design is very unreasonable. They can be used to operate current small aircraft, but if you want to equip larger aircraft If so, it would be very difficult. To put it bluntly, the aircraft carriers Japan has ordered from the UK are only for emergency use. In fact, the same is true for the German aircraft carriers. They can be used during the war. After the war, everyone is hurriedly preparing to decommission the old aircraft carriers, and then set aside tonnage and money to build new aircraft carriers...

Therefore, for Japan, a country with an extreme desire for maritime power, it is necessary to keep up with the trend and pace of world development. But who leads the trends in this world? The first one is naturally Germany, but Germany will not share relevant designs and technologies with Japan. Followed closely by the United Kingdom and the United States, let alone the United States, it always wants to completely beat Japan to death! As for the UK? This is a model that will soon be beaten to death on the beach by the back wave. Japan and the United Kingdom also have plans to cooperate in the production of armored aircraft carriers, but based on the principle that eggs cannot be put in one basket, the Japanese have to find another partner for cooperation.

Therefore, Japan can only choose other cooperation partners. Austro-Hungarian Empire? Technically speaking, it is actually enough. After all, the hostess of the Bavarian Ship Design Bureau, which has the highest level of German ship design, is the future empress of Austria-Hungary. But the Austro-Hungarian Empire would also not provide technology and support to the Japanese. Not to mention Russia. This poor country has no need to have a navy in the future. Russia only has a corner of the Gulf of Finland left. The Black Sea has been isolated from Russia. As for the Far East? Haha, the Japanese have no intention of returning Vladivostok!

Therefore, in the end, there are only two partners that Japan can choose to cooperate with, one is called Italy, the other is called France... Which company has the largest shipbuilding tonnage? France, of course. But when it comes to which company is better at designing battleships, Italy seems to be stronger in this dimension. Faced with these two partners, the Japanese hesitated, and then conducted in-depth comparison and analysis. After some extremely confidential internal research and discussions, the Japanese chose France instead of Italy.

The Japanese still hope that such an aircraft carrier can eventually catch up with this war.

On the one hand, it is because of the situation, and on the other hand, it is also because war can be used to test whether this design is reliable. If you are in a hurry, it depends on who has the remaining available materials and the construction period of the warship.

First of all, in order to create a truly leading first-class aircraft carrier, all ships built with the civilian ship designation will not be considered. Whoever uses the standards for civilian ships and military ships will know. So I can only look at the large unfinished battleships from various countries. The Italians have such battleships, such as the Calagiono-class battleships, but the battleships with the most complete hulls have been ordered by the Japanese. , the remaining hull was too poorly finished and was therefore not considered.

And do the French have unfinished warships in this dimension? Of course there is, this is the battleship known as the Normandy class in history. However, the Normandy-class battleships in this dimension are a little different from those in history. The design plan of the Normandy-class battleships in this dimension is bigger and stronger! After all, the Bavarian-class battleships had already been launched before the war began, and as the mortal enemy of the Germans, the French could not lag behind, at least not on the drawings.

So, after layers of additions, this class of battleship became a fast battleship with 3 quad-mounted guns, a maximum speed of more than 25 knots, and 13-inch armor. Yes, you read that right, this class of battleship The firepower of battleships is similar to that in history, but the defense and speed have been strengthened. After all, the 12-inch 340MM cannon is not weak. At that time, many countries chose this level of firepower when building battleships, such as the American Iron Turtle. , such as the Russian Borodino-class battleship. The increase in defense and speed was also to deal with the Germans.

After the war began, the Normandy-class battleship was suspended for a period of time. However, as the war situation in the Mediterranean worsened and the British Grand Fleet became increasingly resource-constrained, the French resumed work on the battleship. Of course, due to the consumption of the war, the so-called The resumption of work was still progressing slowly, and until the end of the war, the hull had not yet been launched... It's still drying on the slipway.

Originally, it stands to reason that after the war, the French would consider dismantling this unfinished battleship immediately and building other ships. However, when the Japanese saw this huge hull, they had their own ideas. To be honest, the Normandy-class battleship The foundation is really good, the maximum width of the battleship is 30 meters, and the hull length is 227 meters! Even with this size, it can be converted into a high-speed aircraft carrier. It is really difficult to find such a huge military hull now. It would be a waste to dismantle it!

As for the French Navy, if it can exchange this hot potato for a good price and accumulate relevant experience, it will naturally be a very good choice. After all, the Japanese are willing to pay, and they also have combat experience to some extent, which is also very beneficial to the construction of the French Navy's next-generation aircraft carrier. As for political considerations? Please, France has already fallen out with the Americans for providing army weapons to Japan, and because of France's post-war situation, it is impossible for the French to get closer to the United States, and the Germans are also willing to let the French and the United States The distance between them is larger, so they turn a blind eye to this matter. So the French are naturally willing to cooperate with the Japanese.

Here comes the second update~~~! Please subscribe and reward~~!