The Rise of the Empire

"Has the second batch of shipbuilding plans been finalized?" Ruprecht murmured to himself, looking at the documents from the Admiralty sent from Berlin. For this batch of transitional battleships, the prince has no special requirements. They all use 350MM naval guns. The overload speed of the battleships is at least 25 knots. The construction funds for submarines and light cruisers can allow the prince to share in the construction of at least 3 ships. Then for the rest, whether you use a 2*4 layout or a 3*3 layout, whether to build 7 ships or 8 ships, that's up to you.

From the perspective of the number of constructions, the second batch of construction plans is still very smooth. 2 ships were started in 1905, 3 ships were started in 1906, and the other 2 warships were started in the first half of 1907. Originally, it was impossible to complete this number of constructions, but because of the support of US dollars, the German Navy with a bulging wallet made this construction plan even larger than the previous one. The total number of super dreadnoughts with 350MM artillery in this batch totaled 7 ship. There are two classes in total, of which 4 fast battleships will be built, and these 4 ships will be named Helgeland-class battleships, while 3 pure-blooded battlecruisers will be built.

"We now have 1 Nassau equipped with 10 12-inch guns, 2 Posen-class battleships equipped with 12 12-inch guns, and the pure-blood battlecruiser Blücher equipped with 9 12-inch guns and Von der Tann, and the fast battleship Rheinland equipped with 12 doors and 12-inch guns."

"If you add this batch, 4 Helgeland-class battleships and 3 battlecruisers, then we have 13 capital ships. The time of the battle should be around 1912, and construction began in 1907. The completion time of the warships in China should be in 1910. According to the construction speed of 2 to 3 warships per year, then there are still 5 years, and we should be able to start construction of about 10 more capital ships before the war.

"But if the construction started in 1912, it might not be able to be completed during the war. Therefore, the number of warships that can be used must not be calculated in this way." The prince thought in his mind. Historically, the war started in 1914. In 1913, the Germans started construction on two capital ships, the battleship Baden and the Hindenburg-class battlecruiser. These two warships were in service from 1916 to 1917 respectively. The only battleship that started construction in 1914 was the Bavaria, and the Saxony-class battleship was not completed. As for the Mackensen-class battlecruiser that started construction in 1915, there was no shadow of it.

Therefore, in this plane, the warships started in 1912 cannot be counted in the number of available warships, because it is impossible to complete the construction according to common sense. The battleships that started construction in 1911 should also be discussed on a case-by-case basis. On the one hand, the battleships that started construction at this time may not be able to keep up with the war. Another reason is that the closer the war is, the more the army will compete for military resources! Historically, in 1913, the German Navy could only start construction on two capital ships, which illustrates this problem. The German Navy’s funding was about 458 million marks, while the German Army’s funding was 1.806 billion marks! Although the Kaiser likes the navy very much, he is still unambiguous on the issue of right and wrong....

If the outbreak of the First World War in history had a certain chance, then this time, if the Kaiser was ready to go to war in 1912, he would definitely do his best to develop the army and accumulate raw materials in the last two years. Under such circumstances, it is unknown how many warships can be started in 1911 and 1912, and how many warships can be put into service. Therefore, the warships started in 1908, 1909 and 1910 are the ones that can really be relied on.

In this case, if three warships are started each year, there will be more than 22 warships that can be used during the war. Although this number is a little less than in history, but in terms of combat effectiveness, it is the largest high seas fleet in history.

If you ask whether the construction speed of the German High Seas Fleet can be further accelerated, theoretically it can be increased. After all, when the Germans were the best in history, they started construction of 5 capital ships a year. For example, in 1911, the Germans started construction of 1 Kaiser class. 3 König-class battleships and 1 Seidlitz-class battleship-cruiser.

But in fact, the cost of these warships is cheaper than the warships built on this plane. Think about it, the horizontal armor and underwater defense of the new warships are better than in history, the artillery caliber is larger, the speed is faster, and the tonnage is also larger. , so the cost is also higher, especially for the 15-inch artillery ship behind! So, don't look at the small quantity, but it costs a lot of money. If it weren't for a large amount of loans from the United States, it would be really difficult for Germany to build such a fleet!

The standard displacement of the Helgeland-class fast battleship is as high as 27,000 tons. The weapon is four 2-mounted 350MM main guns. There are 14 150MM secondary guns, 12 88MM anti-lightning and anti-aircraft dual-purpose guns and a certain number of 2-pound guns, which are specially requested by the prince for air defense operations....

The main armor belt has a height of 4.5 meters and an inclination of 18 degrees. It consists of two layers, the outer layer is 60MM ordinary homogeneous steel armor, which is used to strip the cap of the shell. In theory, even the 15-inch shells in World War II have a high probability of being successfully stripped, and the inner layer is hardened steel armor with a thickness of 250MM. In terms of defense mode, not to mention resisting the British World War I shells in history, even if it is used to resist the new British shells of World War II, it is not a big problem. The super-large inclination and the defense mode of peeling off the cap are basically at the same level as the top warships of later generations.

Below the main armor belt is a lightning-resistant high-elastic steel plate extending to the bottom of the ship, with a thickness ranging from 80MM to 50MM, which serves as the last layer of underwater defense, and there are 4 defensive compartments in front, the outermost one of which is empty. , the two compartments inside are the liquid tank and the coal bunker, and the innermost layer is another empty bunker. The overall defense model refers to the classic five-layer defense system of the Americans. In terms of compartment division, it is natural to adopt the subdivided compartments that the Germans are proud of, as well as the three-layer defense system of the boiler warehouse.

The horizontal armor thickness of the battleship is between 3 inches and 4 inches. There is a light armor belt with a thickness of 100MM on the upper part of the battleship, which is used to defend the secondary guns. There is a 6-inch to 8-inch bow and stern armor belt at the bow and stern, and there is also a dome to reduce water ingress. The frontal thickness of the turret armor reaches 350MM. The side is 250MM. The sides are 200MM and the top of the turret is 150MM.

The length of the entire battleship is 196 meters, and the maximum width is 28 meters. The standard displacement is 27,000 tons, the power system is a combination of 15 small water tube boilers and 4 steam turbines, the maximum output power is about 65,000 horsepower, and the theoretical speed is at least 24.5 knots! And the speed in the deep water area is expected to reach more than 26 knots!

From the perspective of the performance of the battleship, the new Helgeland-class battleship can already be used in the second battle in terms of performance, except for the poor caliber of the artillery! Of course, if it is necessary to use it in the second battle, the power system needs to be replaced to increase the speed. And the new warship still can't just face it....

The second one is here~~~! Ask for a subscription and a reward~~~!