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The long-awaited "Mackensen" class battlecruiser ships of the German and Austrian Navy have finally officially joined the naval sequence after several months of debugging and running-in.

As the only newly started first-class main battleship after the outbreak of war, the "Mackensen-class" battlecruiser integrates the latest German military technology and design ideas, and basically represents the highest achievement of German shipbuilding and industrial technology. Due to the British control of Gibraltar, the Austro-Hungarian navy was confined to the Mediterranean. Due to the excellent performance of the two "Radetzky" class battle cruisers in the early days of the war, and also to fight in the Atlantic, the Austro-Hungarian Navy also ordered two battle cruisers of the same class from the shipyard in Lübeck in early 1915.

The German Navy ordered 5 ships at one time, two of which were ordered by Blom. It was built at the Foss shipyard, with the remainder built by the Shuoxiao shipyard in Danzig, the Royal Shipyard Wilhelmshaven and the North Sea Shipyard. In fact, with the addition of two warships of the same class ordered by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Beihai Shipyard undertook the construction of a total of three capital ships of the same class.

Originally, the German Navy was designed with the same four twin 350 mm main gun turrets as the "King class", but due to the information obtained from some of the British "Hood" class battle cruiser construction plans, the German Admiralty finally decided to use the same 380 mm main gun of the "Istrian Grand Duke" class that the Austro-Hungarian Navy was trying at sea at that time, and the main turret also used the same front and rear knapsack 2-3 combined arrangement.

Due to the increased weight of the main turret and the strengthened armor, the standard design displacement of the "Mackensen" class reached 35,600 tons, and the full load displacement was 42,100 tons, surpassing the "Austrian" class battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy and becoming the only capital ship of the German-Austrian Navy with a displacement of more than 40,000 tons.

Due to the use of the battle cruiser type, the "Mackensen" class has a length of 230 meters, a width of 31 meters, and a power system of 32 oil-fired boilers, and the power system is four high-performance steam turbines, with a maximum power of 97,000 horsepower and a design speed of 28 knots.

In practical tests, each ship was able to run a top speed close to 29 knots, and the two Austro-Hungarian warships with Isleya turbine units were able to run a high speed of 29.2 knots.

Despite a good result at the Battle of Skagerrak, the Royal Navy did not suffer much damage and their home fleet remained intact. After the Battle of Skagerrak, most of the capital ships of the British and German fleets were repaired in the shipyard for more than half a year, and the capital ships of the damaged German battle cruiser fleet were repaired in the shipyard for eight months before they were restored.

During this period, Admiral Spee was promoted to Field Marshal and Minister of the Admiralty, Admiral Schell became Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, and Admiral Hipper became the new commander of the German High Seas Fleet. Admiral Sorochin was transferred home from Turkey to succeed Hipper as commander of the cruiser.

However, after Sorochin took office, although the German cruiser fleet had been restored, the main warships had been overhauled and renovated from the inside out. However, due to the entry of the United States into the war and the dispatch of an expeditionary fleet of eight battleships to protect the British mainland, there was no chance of showing any chance.

At present, in the North Sea, 70% of the world's battleships are concentrated here.

As the former commander-in-chief of the navy, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Helton personally rushed to Lübeck to attend the inauguration ceremony of two cutting-edge battle cruisers.

This wasn't the first time the Austro-Hungarian Emperor had seen his cutting-edge battlecruisers, but as the big boss behind the North Sea Shipyard, he was still proud of the fact that his shipyard had built one of the most powerful warships in the world. In contrast to the dark grey livery used by the German battleships, the two Austro-Hungarian cruisers were painted in wartime blue and white camouflage, which made people feel less majestic and dignified, but they were still a ruined sea killing weapon.

Admiral Willennik went around in circles and returned to Germany as commander of the Austro-Hungarian Atlantic Fleet, and he had more experience with the British than the commanders of other battle fleets, and was indeed the best candidate for commander.

Accompanied by Willennik, Helton boarded the battlecruiser "Archduke Friedrich", named after the first Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy under Empress Theresa of the Austrian Empire, and inspected the officers and men on board. Most of the naval officers and sailors serving on the two warships were experienced officers and sailors drawn from China, and only a small number of new recruits were able to skillfully operate the warships after more than three months of running-in training, and each of them was able to master the operation skills of two or three positions.

Behind this battle cruiser were the "Grand Duke Maximilian", "Radetzky" and "Grand Duke Franz", and in comparison, the "Radetzky", with a displacement of just over 23,000 tons, looked a whole circle smaller than the "Grand Duke Maximilian" in front.

According to the battle plan drawn up by Austria-Hungary and the German Navy, after the "Mackensen" class was put into service, the battle cruiser fleet would move to Saint-Nazaire, France, and use it as a base, which could enter the Atlantic Ocean at any time and threaten the safety of British shipping routes. Compared to the relatively narrow exit to the North Sea, the French coast was long, and at a time when the range and performance of aircraft were still very limited, the British could not have tried to blockade the Bay of Biscay.

With the signing of the Treaty of Brest, the fighting on land was now largely over, and although the German-Austrian and Turkish coalitions were still fighting the British in North Africa and the Middle East, the scale of the campaign had become small. The main British forces withdrew to India and Persia, leaving only a few divisions in the Middle East and North Africa, and all the German-Austrian forces had to do was to continue to advance and eliminate them.

The two new battlecruisers still need to make some final minor modifications, and it will take about two weeks to a month before they can actually embark on the journey of war.

After the end of the French campaign, Admiral Sorochin, commanding the battle cruisers, made several raids on the British coast and shipping routes, but the results were modest. The five 25-knot, Queen Elizabeth-class battleships of the British Rapid Fleet posed the greatest threat to the battlecruisers, and on two occasions Sorochin almost fell into Betty's trap, but was shrewdly escaped by Admiral Sorochin, who was more adept at guerrilla tactics.

The British battle cruisers are not terrible, but their new battleships are completely different from the Japanese, the "Queen Elizabeth" class can be said to be one of the best comprehensive performance battleships in the world, in comparison, the German Navy's "Bavaria" class battleships because of the speed of only about 23 knots, basically can not keep up with the pace of the battle cruisers.

Before the age of aviation, the battle cruiser was definitely a terrible weapon at sea. The problem was that the British did not rate its performance well in naval history due to its weak protection and fatal flaws in design, but as the speed of the battleships continued to increase, it seemed that the battlecruisers had no longer needed to survive.

Now that the British had relented, the Germans, Austria and Anglo-American representatives, with the mediation of the Americans, made preliminary contacts in Switzerland. However, the bottom line of the negotiations between the two sides is very different, and the German-Austrian side hopes to reach a cease-fire agreement within the current range of actual military control between the two sides, but the British demand that Germany and Austria retreat to the pre-war border.

This is by no means possible, the current focus is on the Suez Canal and Malta, two strategic points that Germany and Austria will not give up in any case. It seems that the British will not obediently sit down at the negotiating table without driving the British to the point of real despair. (The novel "Under the Double Eagles" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lottery gift for everyone!) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the official account "qdread" and follow, hurry up! )

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