"This is a submarine?" In slipway 9 at the Brom-Forss shipyard, a round barcut-like thing is being maintained. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info and accompanied by the shipyard staff, Prince Ruprecht and Prince Heinrich visited the most advanced submarine of the German Navy so far. Note that this is not the first submarine, because before that, German shipyards had already started construction of 3 small submarines for Russia, one of which had even been delivered, of course, these submarines were small cargo of less than 200 tons. Nothing big deal.

"That's right, it's a submarine." The prince nodded and said.

"But compared to the submarines built by other countries, this ship is a bit big." Prince Heinrich roughly visually inspected the size of the submarine and said: "Does this submarine have any advantages over the previous products?" I've come all the way here, so you're not just going to show me a simple enlarged version, are you? ”

"Don't say it, it's basically an enlarged version ......." The prince complained in his heart. "We use a new diesel engine as a power on this submarine, gasoline is volatile, easy to explode, and our country's diesel engine oil level is very high, as a submarine power is more suitable, at the same time the ship type has been modified, so that it has a higher surface speed, and this ship is larger and equipped with more weapons, if the previous submarine is only suitable for offshore operations, then this submarine can already fight on the west coast of the British." The prince said.

"You seem to be interested in this little thing?" Prince Heinrich looked at the submarine being maintained, and then at His Royal Highness the Prince, and said seriously.

"That's right, what would you think if I said that in the future, it will be these little guys who will really decide the outcome at sea, and not the battleships of the High Seas Fleet?" The prince asked rhetorically.

"If someone else had said it, I would have thought he was a madman. And if it's what you say, I'll think about it seriously and listen to your opinion. Prince Heinrich said with a slight smile. Because I don't think you're going to make a lot of money every day, and you're going to make a joke from Munich in your busy schedule. ”

"Well, imagine if we had dozens of submarines of this or larger, which were cruising in the vast oceans. When encountering unprotected transports, they are sunk with naval guns or torpedoes. A submarine of less than 1,000 tons may sink 2 to 5 ships in a single sortie, and the registered tonnage may be nearly 20,000 tons, and a ship of less than 1,000 tons can be exchanged for an opponent's 20,000 tons of ship, I think there are few countries in the world that can afford such losses, right? ”

"And if you encounter danger, you can dive into the water, and at present there are no reliable anti-submarine weapons in the navies of various countries, and you can also lay mines near the enemy's military ports, or pull out an anti-submarine net at sea as a warning force of the high seas fleet, right? You've already mentioned these things to me in your letter, and I'd like to hear more about them. In addition, I don't think that a few dozen tons of fuel alone will be enough for these little guys to travel the Atlantic. The prince said.

"Although the current submarine sails at a speed of 8 knots on the surface of the water is only 7,000 nautical miles, but it is enough to maneuver in the waters around the United Kingdom, no matter which route the British ship takes, they will eventually appear near the British Isles, and the surface limit speed of this submarine is as high as more than 17 knots, and it can catch up with more than 9 percent of merchant ships!"

"Just imagine, if we had 100 such submarines, 30 of which could cruise off the coast of England, what would this turn out like? And each of these submarines consumes only a few dozen tons of fuel. Our cost is very low, and if we can destroy a merchant ship, the cost of the submarine will be recovered! ”

"This tactic itself is a tonnage exchange, exchanging the tonnage of submarines for the tonnage of the opposing carrier, and more importantly, submarines can be mass-produced during the war to constantly make up for war losses, unlike capital ships that require a long construction cycle!" The prince said.

"But such a submarine can't even hit a light cruiser, and even some torpedo boats can't beat it, what if the other side deploys gunboats in the nearby waters, or arranges escorts? The advantage of the submarine lies only in the concealment of navigation, and if it is underwater, the normal speed is only 5 knots, and the maximum speed is only 10 knots, and the submarine cannot even keep up with the transport fleet, so how can it calmly launch an attack? ”

"Now it is true that the countries do not have the weapons to effectively deal with submarines, but it seems to me that as long as the submarines cannot effectively destroy the lines of communication, then the purpose of the British has been achieved. The killing efficiency of submarines may not be very high. Do you say? Prince Heinleich thought for a moment and said.

"You are indeed right, there are still many problems with submarines now, but the premise is bright, escort can indeed effectively reduce the probability of submarine attacks on the merchant fleet, but the premise is that the British need to invest a lot of manpower and money in the construction of the escort fleet, and if we have enough submarines, we can even go on safaris in the open sea, and the British's sea lines of communication will be smashed in front of our submarines. The veins of the empire will bleed incessantly. The prince said.

"So you want my support? Then why didn't you discuss this matter with Admiral Tirpitz? Prince Heinrich asked.

"Because this matter is still in its infancy, in fact, to be honest, not everyone is very far-sighted, Tirpitz is relatively conservative, and the main role of the submarine is to attack the transport, its strength is not like a battleship, how can it be measured by tonnage, artillery, armor and speed. And the last defeat of Admiral Moltke Jr. made me feel that it is not easy to follow a simple path. The prince said helplessly.

"I understand this, if necessary, you can say hello to me, and I will say to His Majesty the Emperor, it would be better if I could show the role of submarines through an exercise. In fact, the empire considered converting some ships as sea attack ships during the war, and the role of submarines was very similar to that of sea camouflage attack ships. Prince Heinrich said.

"In addition, if you want to build large submarines, you can also have other ideas, such as if we start a war and our sea transportation is cut off by the British, then we can use large submarines to deliver strategic materials to the country. In this case, the underwater fleet of the High Seas Fleet may develop significantly. Prince Heinrich said.

"Transport submarines? It's a nice excuse, it's realistic, and it's really needed! The prince said silently in his heart.

The second is more ~~~! Ask for subscription and support~~~! (To be continued.) )