African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1179 Eagle Strike Aircraft Carrier

1915 5 Month 25 Day.

Ernst rarely leaves his "old nest" Rhine City. This time, Ernst will go to the Pemba Bay Shipyard in East Africa.

Unlike Ernst's other trips, this time Ernst's inspection of the Pemba Bay Shipyard was relatively low-key, with no media or grand welcome ceremony.

May 1915, 5, ten o'clock in the morning.

Ernst arrived in the city of Pemba.

Aaron, chief designer of the Pemba Bay Shipyard, who had already received the news, personally led the way to where the aircraft carrier was docked.

At ten forty, Ernst's convoy arrived at the East African military port in Pemba Bay, and the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier was lying quietly in its berth.

Looking at this sea behemoth anchored in the East African military port, Ernst was quite excited, although this domestically-made aircraft carrier did not seem to fit in with his impression of an aircraft carrier.

However, Ernst also understood that this was not the 21st century after all, and it was already very difficult for East African researchers to create this sea behemoth without any reference.

Aaron introduced Ernst: "Your Majesty, this is the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier we named according to your request."

Ernst was very satisfied with the word "eagle strike". Eagles soar in the sky, fish swim in the shallows, and all creatures compete for freedom in the frosty sky.

In the previous life, the Far Eastern Empire named a series of missiles "Eagle Strike", so this does not conflict with East Africa naming the aircraft carrier "Eagle Strike".

Moreover, an aircraft carrier itself uses carrier-based aircraft as a means of attack, so the term Eagle Strike is more appropriate. Combined with the previous sentence "fish swim in the shallow water", Ernst believes that it is necessary to give East Africa a place for the name of the East African submarine in the future.

Aaron went on to say, "It took us six years of continuous experimentation and demonstration to finally build the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier. Its full load displacement is over 14,000 tons, its standard displacement is over 12,000 tons, it is 183 meters long, 24 meters wide, has a speed of 22 knots, and uses fuel as its power source."

"Very good!" Ernst commented. At least from the appearance, it is much more attractive than those aircraft carriers converted from cargo ships. Otherwise, it would not have taken East African researchers six years to build this steel behemoth.

Of course, it is not very appropriate to describe East Africa’s first aircraft carrier as a steel behemoth. Instead, this adjective is more suitable for East Africa’s battleship.

It can be seen from the displacement of the Eagle Strike that it is still somewhat small compared with those aircraft carriers in the past that weigh tens of thousands of tons or even more than 100,000 tons.

Most of the battleships in East Africa have a displacement larger than that of the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier. After all, there is no reference, so the design tends to be conservative.

However, thanks to Ernst's suggestion, the appearance of this aircraft carrier is above the passing line, such as the island located on the right side of the deck.

"Let's go up and take a look!" said Ernst.

Aaron and other scientific researchers naturally completed their mission fortunately, and soon Ernst came to the deck under their guidance.

At first glance, Ernst noticed the aircraft on the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier, or the carrier-based aircraft. In Ernst's mind, the more carrier-based aircraft an aircraft carrier has, the stronger its combat effectiveness will naturally be.

So he asked, "How many carrier-based aircraft can the Eagle Strike carry?" Aaron replied, "Your Majesty, the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier can carry up to 24 carrier-based aircraft. It is equivalent to a mobile landing pad on the sea. With the help of these carrier-based aircraft, aircraft can quickly take off and land, thereby achieving uninterrupted and long-range strikes on enemy ships."

At this time, Ernst suddenly noticed one thing, that is, the deck seemed to be made of wood. Although he knew in his previous life that early aircraft carriers used wooden decks, the use of wooden decks on the first aircraft carrier in East Africa still made him feel a little abrupt.

He said to Aaron, "Why does the Eagle Strike have wooden decks instead of steel or other materials?"

Aaron said: "Wooden decks have many advantages such as anti-slip, moisture-proof and heat-insulating, which are especially important for humid and hot waters. Most of our East African territories, whether offshore or overseas, are concentrated in tropical waters. The Indian Ocean, South Ocean, Central Pacific Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean all meet this characteristic."

"So according to the activity area of ​​our navy, it is reasonable to use wooden decks. Of course, we have also tried to use other materials, but due to time constraints, we are not able to satisfy people for the time being."

"For example, according to our experiments and calculations, if an aircraft carrier with a steel flight deck is carrying out missions in most of my country's waters, the deck surface may quickly rise to over 60 degrees in a relatively short period of time. After all, steel absorbs heat very quickly, and the sea surface is more prone to humidity and stuffiness. If the steel is not specially treated, it is easy to slip. High temperatures will also greatly reduce the service life of aircraft tires and may cause the risk of tire blowouts. In contrast, wooden decks are more conducive to aircraft takeoff and landing safety."

"Steel decks are not without advantages, such as excellent protection, but they are easy to deform once attacked. According to the current technology, they must return to the port for a long time to repair. After being attacked, wooden decks can be repaired quickly, and a series of repair work can be completed on the aircraft carrier."

"At the same time, the use of wooden decks can effectively reduce weight and improve the stability and seaworthiness of warships. my country's first-generation aircraft carriers obviously still have many deficiencies in experience and design, so for the sake of safety, the use of wooden decks naturally makes sense."

Ernst probably understood some of the tricks, after all, he had more experience, but some East African officials did not understand.

At this time, an East African naval officer asked: "Mr. Aaron, if this kind of wooden deck is attacked by artillery, it will easily ignite and collapse, right?"

Aaron said calmly, "This is related to the combat mode of the aircraft carrier. From the beginning, we did not intend to let it go head-on with battleships and other attack ships. The positioning of the aircraft carrier is a long-range strike mode where the combat distance exceeds the range of the ship's guns."

"With aircraft carriers as the core, carrier-based aircraft are responsible for attacking enemy ships. Obviously, carrier-based aircraft are small targets and fly in the sky. Just imagine, if faced with these small carrier-based aircraft flying in the sky and carrying bombs, which battleship would not have a headache!"

The navy officer asked without giving up: "What if the enemy ships get close?"

Aaron said: "Aircraft carriers never fight alone, but form a powerful combat system. According to our concept, frigates, destroyers and other ships are also needed to escort aircraft carriers, so as to effectively avoid direct conflicts between aircraft carriers and hostile ships."

Of course, as Aaron said, if an aircraft carrier wants to form a combat system, investment is inevitable. Apart from other things, the research and development of related supporting ships alone requires a lot of effort.

At present, it is obvious that the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier has no other supporting ships except itself and its carrier-based aircraft, which means that the Eagle Strike has not formed a complete combat system.

Of course, it is not impossible for the Eagle Strike to fight alone, but it is not safe and it is not easy to achieve results.

The navy obviously cannot fully accept aircraft carriers. After all, the emergence of aircraft carriers itself is a break from convention. It is a completely new combat system, the core of which is the aircraft carrier. All naval activities are centered around aircraft carriers to achieve ideal results.

Of course, no matter what the navy thinks, Ernst is generally satisfied with the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier, and Ernst knows that aircraft carriers will become important battleships at sea in the future, so East Africa cannot give up the research and development of aircraft carriers.

However, the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier obviously has many problems, such as its wooden deck. Although Aaron said that wooden decks have many advantages, with the development of the times and technology, wooden decks will eventually be eliminated. Therefore, the East African aircraft carrier has only taken the first step now, and there is still a long way to go for the future East African aircraft carrier.

(End of this chapter)