Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 784

Winston came to southern Africa for the four-engine bomber that Nyasaland had just successfully developed and the aircraft carrier that was being tested.

Compared with the previous bomber, the four-engine bomber that has just been replaced with a new engine has a longer range and greater bomb-carrying capacity. At the same time, six machine guns are installed on the plane for self-defense. Now the bomber can carry a ton of bombs to attack [-] bombers. Kilometers away from the target, the absolute giant in the air.

As for the aircraft carrier, this is not the first of its kind in southern Africa. Eugene Ely has not only successfully piloted an aircraft to take off and land on a warship, but also successfully piloted an aircraft to take off from a moving warship. The Navy is also conducting research in this area.

Just earlier this year, the British Navy converted the soon-to-be-retired HMS Hermes cruiser into a warship capable of carrying seaplanes, and later requisitioned three ferries used for operations in the English Channel and converted them all into seaplanes mothership.

The seaplane carrier of the British Navy is not the same as the aircraft carrier that Edward Dockyard is researching. The seaplane carrier of the British Navy has no flight deck, and can only carry the seaplane to the designated location, and then put the seaplane on the water first. Then the task can be performed.

The aircraft carrier being built by the Edward Shipyard is a real aircraft carrier. It not only has a full flight deck, but also has a closed bow and an independent island. The aircraft are not stacked on the deck, but stored in the hangar below the deck. To carry as many planes as possible, the Nyasaland Aeronautical Research Institute has also modified the "Strong Wind" fighter to have foldable wings.

No matter from which aspect, the aircraft carrier being built by Edward Shipyard is the most advanced aircraft carrier of this era, and it is at least ten years ahead of this era.

In another time and space, it was not until 1923 that Britain had these characteristics in another "Hermes", which was the world's first real aircraft carrier at that time.

As for why Winston knew that the Edward Shipyard was building an aircraft carrier, Rock was not surprised at all, but he still had to have the attitude he should have.

"The new type of warship being built by the Edwardian shipyard doesn't even have a name yet. How do you know?" Rock is sometimes helpless. There are indeed many benefits to staying in the Commonwealth of southern Africa, but at the same time some disadvantages are inevitable. Aircraft carrier is a good example.

"Locke, southern Africa is still the southern Africa of the British Empire." Winston didn't respond positively, and Britain was familiar with these small tricks.

At least in southern Africa, there are still many people who have deep feelings for the UK. Needless to say, even Prime Minister Adelaide insists on the status of the UK as the suzerain, and Rock can't change this in a short time.

"Well, you are right. Southern Africa is indeed building aircraft carriers." Rock admitted openly that such things as aircraft carriers are actually useless to southern Africa. Only a country like the United Kingdom that emphasizes sea power can maximize the use of aircraft carriers. role.

"Aircraft carrier—this name is really vulgar!" Winston was very arrogant, and his first reaction was that the name didn't sound good.

It really doesn't sound good. If translated literally, an aircraft carrier is an "aircraft rack".

It seems that the translation into "aircraft handler" is more appropriate.

"Call it whatever you want." Rock didn't want authorship.

"Then tell me about your aircraft carrier." Winston just complained habitually, but Winston didn't care what it was called.

"Is there anything to introduce, don't you know all about it?" Roque was not in a good mood. Southern Africa was infiltrated by the British government, and Roque was also speechless. Brad and the Fourth Department of the Ministry of Defense in charge of homeland security are expected to rectify .

Winston remained silent, waiting for Roque to introduce him.

Rock simply led Winston directly to the study, where there was a model of an aircraft carrier.

"Is this an aircraft carrier? Does it have no artillery?" The majestic Minister of the Navy actually asked this kind of question——

It was normal, after all, this was the first time Winston had seen the model of an aircraft carrier.

"The armor and firepower of the aircraft carrier are not enough, so they must not act alone, and must be protected by the fleet." Rock also wanted to popularize the development trend of the future navy to Winston.

"Then the survivability is very problematic." Winston's eyes immediately filled with regret.

The naval thinking of this era is stronger armor and larger caliber, so there is a saying that dreadnoughts can only be sunk by dreadnoughts.

Relatively speaking, the survivability of aircraft carriers is indeed a bit poor, and there is no need for dreadnoughts. As long as any destroyer is close to an aircraft carrier of this era, it is basically a hit.

During World War II, in order to sink the battleship Yamato of the Japanese Navy, the U.S. Navy used hundreds of aircraft to attack in turn. The Yamato was hit by 27 torpedoes and finally sank.

"Why?" Rock asked concisely.

Winston was so clever that he understood Roque's meaning at once.

"The aircraft carrier under construction at the Edward Shipyard can carry [-] aircraft, and the range of the aircraft has exceeded [-] kilometers. Compared with the main gun of the battleship, which attack distance is longer?" Rock did not expect Winston to accept it immediately. The aircraft carrier and the aircraft carrier Like airplanes, they are subversive weapons for warfare, and it will definitely take a process to accept these new weapons.

"Eighty?" Winston couldn't believe that so many planes could fit in the small model in front of him.

The British cruiser "Hermes" can only carry two poor seaplanes. In 1918, the first real aircraft carrier built by the UK, which is another "Hermes", can only carry 20. The plane, so Winston was taken aback when he heard the number "eighty", thinking he had heard it wrong.

Don't even say eighty, eight is too much in Winston's opinion.

"Yes, eighty!" Rock's pronunciation is still very standard, and the difference between eighty and eight sounds obvious.

"Why?" Winston asked an idiotic question, and then responded immediately: "I mean how?"

"Airplanes can be parked on the full access deck, and more can be parked in the cabin. In order to carry as many aircraft as possible, we deliberately changed the strong wind wings into a foldable style, even if it sacrifices some performance." Rock affirmed The more the better, otherwise who will pay for the painstaking efforts to reform.

"Can the bomber carry horses?" Winston thought a little too much.

"Four-engined ones won't work, but single-engined torpedo planes can." Rock also wanted to stuff the bomber into the aircraft carrier, but it was a pity that he didn't show it.

The performance of aircraft in this period is still amazing. When Eugene Ely landed a Curtiss biplane on the Pennsylvania, which was in a parked state, the landing platform was only 31 meters long and 10 meters wide, and it was still made of wood. .

The four-engine bomber studied by Nyasaland needs a taxiing distance of 650 meters when it takes off. It is impossible to get on an aircraft carrier in this life.

"Eighty torpedo bombers—" Winston couldn't help thinking about it.

Don't forget that basically no anti-aircraft weapons were installed on warships in this era, so Winston felt his liver tremble just thinking about a warship without anti-aircraft weapons encountering a huge torpedo fleet on the sea.

So don't say that only dreadnoughts can sink dreadnoughts. No matter how powerful a dreadnought is, it can't escape the fate of being buried in the belly of a fish when it encounters an aircraft carrier on the sea.

"If you think it's not enough, you can also use a dual aircraft carrier formation, and there will be 160 ships." Rock added fuel to the fire, and the generals of the British Admiralty did not shed tears when they saw the coffin.

"Locke, I need the specific parameters of the aircraft carrier." As the Minister of the Navy, Winston could not ignore the value of the aircraft carrier.

Rock casually picked up a pamphlet and handed it to Winston.

Winston took it over and looked at it carefully, without even thinking about why there was such a thing in Rock's office.

"160 million? This is too expensive!" Winston exclaimed, almost equivalent to the cost of a dreadnought.

However, dreadnoughts have proven their value in countless wars. Although the aircraft carrier seems to have a bright future, the world's first ship is still not built on the berth. Rock dared to ask for so much money. Winston couldn't take it.

No matter how rich the British Admiralty is, it cannot afford such spending.

"This still doesn't include the price of the plane." Rock sharpened his knife, thinking that he might not buy it if he thought it was too expensive.

"I've known for a long time that you are a profiteer." Winston felt his teeth itch.

Rock smiled, as long as the money is earned, it doesn't matter if he is a profiteer or not.

Compared with battleships, the profits of aircraft carriers must be much higher. After all, aircraft carriers do not need as thick armor as battleships, and do not need expensive artillery. Southern Africa is now building the first aircraft carrier, and the cost is indeed a bit high, but This cost can be amortized, the more you build, the lower the cost.

"When will the ship at Edward's Shipyard be built?" Winston also didn't see any rabbits and didn't let go of eagles. He always wanted Edward's Shipyard to build the aircraft carrier first, and whether it was a mule or a horse to be brought out for a walk first.

"In another two months, or three months." Rock is not in a hurry. If it is a small order, such as a destroyer, a light cruiser, etc., then Winston will buy it if he buys it. The Secretary of the Navy still has this power.

Winston also had to report a business involving millions of pounds, and it might have to be approved by Congress. There are actually many variables in a set of procedures.

"Can you speed up?" Winston felt a little dizzy again at the moment. Southern Africa was too far away from London, and it was not easy for Winston to come here.

"It's the fastest speed now. As you know, the aircraft carrier is a brand new warship. The technology is not yet mature. The engineers are actually making changes and building it. Two or three months is fast enough." Rock also has bad intentions. Determined to use the British Navy as guinea pigs.

(End of this chapter)