1855 United States Tycoon

Chapter 495, Tirpitz’s ambition (2)

“Your information is very well-informed.” Scrooge smiled and said, “This is a bit of a commercial secret, but the German government has always been our friend, and we have always had no secrets about our friends. The model of this ship is here. Over there, you can go and see this battleship under construction in a while.”

The relationship between the Macdonald Consortium and Germany has indeed been quite good, but even at the best time, it will not say that there is nothing to keep secret. Of course this is just a nice sentence. In addition, Tirpitz also knows that Scrooge’s words actually have an implicit meaning, that is, he does not regard the Germans as competitors in the shipbuilding industry. This meaning makes Tirpitz very uncomfortable, but he also knows that this is the current reality. In terms of exporting warships, Germany’s market share is now very small. Since the war between United States and Spain, the United States Navy defeated the Spanish Navy by an incredible advantage, the sales of United States warships have been greatly ascending. Although they are not comparable to the United Kingdom, they are no longer comparable to Germany. . In the past, the Germans were able to get some orders from the international market, but now they basically can’t get orders for battleships. Even the orders for armored cruisers are already pitifully small. As a result, almost none of the German shipyards can get orders for warships of more than 10,000 tons. Although the German shipbuilding industry can still be maintained by building civilian ships, the difference between civilian shipbuilding and warship building is still very obvious. In the long run, I am afraid that German shipbuilding technology will further lag behind.

Scrooge turned his face to an engineer who followed and said, “Mr. Brown, please take us to see the model of that ship.”

“Okay, Mr. MacDonald, please come with me.” Mr. Brown replied, and then he led a few people around the booths of several civilian ships in the front and came to the military exhibition area at the back.

Brown went all the way to the largest model and stood there, then turned around and said proudly to Scrooge and Tirpitz: “Look, everyone, this is the most advanced battleship in the world that we are building for the Brazilian Navy. .”It is not an exaggeration for Brown to say that this battleship is the most advanced in the world. This is a huge ship with a standard displacement of up to 27,000 tons, which is thousands of tons heavier than the largest battleship in the hands of the British. This battleship is equipped with seven two-piece 12-inch gun turrets. The firepower can be said to be heartbroken. At the front of the warship, there are two turrets placed in a backpack, three turrets with pyramid security at the rear, and two turrets placed back to back in the middle of the warship.

“This ship is equipped with so many naval guns. Isn’t it possible that the warship is stretched too long? This way, the thickness of the armor may not be guaranteed. And this aspect ratio, when sailing and shooting. Isn’t stability a problem? I even doubt that its 14 guns can fire at the same time.” After staring at the model for a long time, Tirpitz frowned and raised his question.

“You have some truth.” Scrooge replied, “But you have to understand that different countries have different requirements for warships. This ship has a relatively large aspect ratio, which naturally affects its seaworthiness. , But it also makes its speed ascending a lot. Its buyers are Brazilians, and Brazilians don’t need it to fight in the rough North Atlantic, especially in places like the North Sea, so the seaworthiness is not the most deadly. The problem is. Of course, if it is the United States Navy, it will definitely not order such a ship. As for the stability when firing the gun, it is actually not a problem. Because we have equipped this ship with large sway fins. , It’s definitely not a problem with all the artillery firing towards the same side. Regarding the defense, you guessed it right, the defense of this ship cannot withstand the attack of its own artillery, it can only defend against the attack of artillery such as armored cruisers. But this is not a defect for its buyers, and this ship has some great advantages, which makes the Brazilians willing to order such a warship.”

“What’s the advantage?” Tirpitz asked.

“Your Excellency Minister of the Navy, think about what kind of opponents the Brazilian Navy has to deal with. If it is the navies of other countries in South America, the defense of this ship is sufficient to deal with the old battleships or armored cruisers equipped by those countries. For some of the latest battleships purchased by which countries, because we equip this warship with the latest artillery aiming and control system, the gun’s long-range shooting accuracy is greatly ascending. Depending on the speed advantage, it can also pull Open a distance, and fight with the enemy at a safer distance to destroy the enemy. Well, your Lord of the Navy, you know, in fact, the defense of battleships exported by various countries is much worse than that of battleships used by the country. 12-inch artillery It is enough to destroy these targets at a long distance.

More importantly, this ship has the absolute initiative in battle, even if it is facing a cutting-edge battleship of naval powers, it can also use its outstanding speed to contend with it. Let’s make an analogy, the British; sending a fleet to expedition to Brazil, if head-to-head, the Brazilian navy has almost no chance. But with this ship, it is completely different. This ship can run at a speed of 27 to 28 knots. In the British Navy, all the ships that can beat it can’t run it, and can keep up with it. But none of them are its opponents. In this way, the Brazilians can use this ship to avoid the main force of the British and go to the British route to hunt down the British merchant fleet. The British can’t escort every merchant fleet with a battleship, right? In this way, the logistics of the British would be seriously affected, and the plan of the expedition would naturally not work. ”

Scrooge said these things, the main purpose is actually not to explain how the own shipyard built such a multi-turret god, but to instill a brand new kind to Tirpitz. The concept of warships was the battlecruiser that became very popular later.

Speaking of battlecruisers, in the original history, they were originally made by the British to hunt down cruisers that were used to break the mission. So the British designed it to be armored to withstand the shelling of cruisers, faster than cruisers, and firepower like battleships.

Originally, the British thought this thing should be a little cheaper than battleships. Who knows, in order to achieve high speed, this thing needs more power than battleships, and the price is higher than battleships. Then such an expensive thing was only used by the escort police, and the British felt it was not worth it, so they took it to the battleship’s guard and incorporated it into the battleship to carry the front. Then, there was no more.

After the British built the battlecruisers, the Germans also made some of these things. The usage was learned from the British, and they were also used to guard the battleships. To be honest, in Scrooge’s view, this is not the most suitable thing for battlecruisers. If you want to ask what battlecruisers are most suitable for, it must be used to break the relationship and bully the merchant fleet.

Of course, the British can also use this thing to protect the routes, but this thing is too expensive to be deployed all over the ocean. With so many British people and airlines, where can they be protected? Therefore, Scrooge deliberately fanned the ghostly fire at this time, in order to provoke the Germans to create such a raid ship. Then the British would naturally be Alexander, and then… everything is really wonderful.

Sure enough, Tirpitz stopped talking and seemed to be thinking about something seriously. After a while, he said to Scrooge: “Mr. MacDonald, the view you just mentioned is really interesting. This way. Even in the face of large naval powers, weaker countries can use such warships to contain them, thereby achieving their own strategic goals.”

“Yes,” Scrooge replied proudly, “In this way, the strong can’t just hit and bully the weak. The world is much more peaceful, so our company produces and sells weapons and always puts money in the second place. And put the realization of world peace in the first place.”

“Then Mr. MacDonald, can we in Germany also order one of these warships from you?” Tirpitz asked, “Of course this order must include the transfer of related technology.”

“The Germans are our friends, and they buy warships to maintain peace. Of course this is fine.” Scrooge said with a smile, “As for technology transfer, as long as the price is negotiated, there should be no big problem. It’s just this ship. To be honest, it is not suitable for use in Germany. The sailing performance of this ship in high sea conditions is really not good.”

“So we need to make some improvements to this ship.” Tirpitz said, “We need better sailing performance, greater range, and faster speed.”

Scrooge frowned upon hearing this, and thought for a while and replied, “Your Excellency, to fulfill your request is equivalent to redesigning a ship. On the basis of this ship, it is impossible to achieve it anyway. To such a request. This will naturally cause ascending costs, and we must also weaken the firepower, at least we can’t install it with the same turret as this ship for as long as a week.”

“We have great trust in McDonald’s ability in this area.” Tirpitz said, “I believe that our cooperation will definitely make the world a better place.”

After saying this, Tirpitz began to admire the other military products of the Morgan McDonald Shipyard again, so his eyes fell on a submarine placed next to the battleship.