In mid-October 1892, after the Imperial Prince's fleet docked at Cam Ranh Bay for replenishment, a fleet of up to thirteen ships set sail again for the last time they resupplied in the Imperial ports, and the rest of the journey would call at the ports of other countries for replenishment.

Since most of the fleet is full of warships, what ports to call at are communicated in advance, but although most of the ships in this fleet are warships, and even include two battleships, this visit was invited in advance, so Britain, France and other countries along the way have agreed to provide port calls in advance.

It's just that when this fleet docks at these ports, it will inevitably attract the close attention of other countries, and all countries are very interested in the imperial navy, especially in this visiting fleet, there are two battleships that look a little different from others.

This is the Yandi and the Yellow Emperor of the Yandi-class battleships.

During the decade from 1875 to 1885, the Empire, like other nations, was plagued by technical hurdles, which led to the stagnation of warship design.

At that time, the technology of the three-expansion steam engine was immature, which meant that the power system could not be improved much.

The development of the 300-mm 35-caliber gun was delayed, which led to the Navy not being able to get the new generation of capital naval guns that were not scheduled.

In addition, all the potential of the steel-faced ironclad armor at that time has been squeezed out, and many domestic iron and steel companies such as Jiangnan Mining Company and North Coal and Iron Company have invested heavily in the research and development of new armor, and nickel steel armor was also developed in the early eighties, but the protective efficiency of this pure nickel steel armor is not much higher than that of steel-faced ironclad, and the cost is relatively high.

The stagnation of many technologies led to the fact that after the empire started building the Shaohao-class battleships in 1875, it did not come up with a battleship design that had obvious advantages over the Shaohao-class battleships for nine years, or that there was a design, but it could not be built.

This embarrassment also affected the navy's shipbuilding plan, originally only three Shaohao-class battleships were planned to be built, respectively in 1875 and 1876 successively, but in 1878 it was forced to add two Shaohao-class improvements, so that the number of Shaohao-class battleships built reached as many as five.

At that time, the navy was originally going to build only three Shaohao-class battleships, and then start construction of a new generation of battleships, and put forward specific performance requirements for the new battleships, such as carrying 300 mm 35 caliber main guns, the number of at least four, 150 mm rapid-fire guns no less than 12, protection requirements with the equivalent of 550 mm wrought iron side armor, the same 400 mm wrought iron thickness of turret armor, the speed of not less than 16 knots, the endurance at 10 knots to reach 5,000 nautical miles and other major strict requirements.

Because the design of the Shaohao-class battleship has basically reached the threshold of the former dreadnought-class battleship, if you want to surpass the Shaohao-class battleship in combat effectiveness, it can only be a real pre-dreadnought-class battleship.

These requests were made in 1877, but after the calculations of the designers of the Navy Ship Department, it was impossible to meet them with the technical conditions at that time.

Therefore, at that time, the navy could only follow these technical conditions, and then increase the support for technology, so that some domestic defense manufacturers carried out research and development.

At the same time, in order to maintain the size of the fleet, the navy's shipbuilding could not be stopped, so it could only be modified on a small scale, and two Shaohao-class battleships were added, although there were modifications, but the core performance did not change much, so it was still a battleship of the same class.

After the construction of these two battleships began in 1878 and 1879, the Navy suspended the construction of new battleships and transferred the funds for the construction of ships to armored cruisers, cruisers, frigates, torpedo ships, minelayers and other non-capital ships.

To this end, in 1879, the Navy also formulated a special plan for the expansion of non-capital ships, to greatly increase the scale of non-capital ships.

From 1880 to 1884, the empire suspended the construction of battleships for four years.

In 1884, after ten years of technology research and development, various technologies have made certain breakthroughs, although many technologies still need several years of research and development, but the navy can't wait to directly design and start a new generation of battleships.

This is the Yandi-class battleship.

This Yandi-class battleship is very different from the battleships in service in the empire in the past, and it is also very different from the top capital ships of more than 10,000 tons such as ironclad ships and first-class ironclad ships of other countries.

What's the difference? First of all, the tonnage of this class of ships has been greatly increased, and the design tonnage of this class is as high as 14,000 tons, and the full load displacement has reached more than 15,000 tons.

Although the firepower is similar to the previous class ship Shaohao class, but the gun on the ship is the most advanced 300 mm 35 times the caliber gun, the interesting thing is that when the Yandi started construction, this gun was only a sample gun, and it was not until two years later that the final shape was completed and then the construction began, and it was overtime to be put into service on the Yandi in the final time.

The number of its 150 mm secondary guns is as high as 12, this 150 mm 40 times the caliber of rapid fire guns, in terms of power and rate of fire are far more than other old naval guns of the same level, this 150 mm secondary gun, its rate of fire reached six to seven rounds per minute.

Compared with other medium-caliber fleets that still stay at one or two rounds a minute, the rate of fire of this secondary gun is that of a machine gun!

In terms of protection, the hull of the ship is made of the most advanced surface carburized nickel steel, which is commonly known as Harvey armor, and because the protection ability of Harvey armor is greatly improved than that of steel surface iron armor or steel armor, the thickness can also be slightly reduced, and the protection area can be expanded.

At the same time, considering that the rapid-fire guns of various countries have appeared one after another, the rate of fire of the five-inch and six-inch guns is too fierce, and the combat distance is relatively close, so it is necessary to expand the area of protection to avoid being hit by the enemy's secondary artillery and causing losses, which also causes the protection of the Yandi-class battleships to be fully protected.

The thickness of the side armor of this class is about 230 mm at its thickest, the front of the turret is 200 mm, the conning tower is 200 mm, and there is also a horizontal protective deck of 75 mm, which is only about half of the thickness of the armor that used to be more than 300 or even more than 400 mm, but the actual protection efficiency is more than that of those old battleships.

In terms of power, the most advanced three-expansion steam engine and water-tube boiler are used, which combine to bring more power to the new warship, and at the same time, it also greatly saves coal, thereby increasing the cruising range.

The power system of the ship is enough to provide 9,000 horsepower under normal pressure and 11,000 horsepower under strong pressure, and during the sea trial, the power output of the ship reached the limit of 13,000 horsepower, but it is very unsafe in the limit state, so the navy strictly limits the power output of the ship to less than 11,500 horsepower, and cannot exceed this data.

The surging power allows the ship to run at a speed of 16 knots under normal pressure, and it can reach a terrifying speed of 18 knots under strong pressure, and the No. 2 ship Yellow Emperor is in the last sea trial, the power output under strong pressure ventilation reached 13,600 horses, and the speed at that time reached a terrifying 18.8 knots.

Whether it is firepower, protection, or speed, the Yandi-class battleships are far more than the previous countries, including the empire itself, many battleships, set off a huge impact that after the Yandi-class battleships were launched into service, the battleships of other countries were all obsolete overnight.

It even directly led to the British quickly following suit and building Sovereign-class battleships, which in turn ushered in the era of pre-dreadnought battleships.

Since the advent of the Yandi-class battleships of the Empire, it has attracted the close attention of various countries, although the Empire has also carried out military secrecy, but a batch of four ships have been built, and in 1888 the lead ship, that is, when the Yandi was launched at the Baoshan Branch of the Shanghai Shipyard, I don't know how many spies hid in the Yangtze River on the ships that came and went, taking pictures with cameras.

So much so that at the beginning of the launch of the Yandi class, it spread all over the world's navies, and there was no secrecy at all.

This situation is also the initial navy began to choose more cautiously to build in Shanghai, Guangzhou and other major ports, docking the main warships.

To this end, the navy has vigorously promoted the development of military bases in Hong Kong, and supported the establishment of the Hong Kong Naval Shipyard by the Imperial Assets Office, in an attempt to build Hong Kong into a second Qingdao, a complex of naval bases and shipbuilding bases.

More of the main warships also began to move out of the big city ports of Guangzhou and Shanghai, and the local side, from south to north, Zhanjiang, Hong Kong, Keelung Port, Zhoushan, Qingdao, Lushun, Vladivostok, Bihai Port and so on.

Overseas, there are two types, one is the concession with sovereignty or jurisdiction, such as Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam, Busan in North Korea, Yokosuka in the East Ying Kingdom, Pearl Harbor in the Kingdom of Hawaii, and Wakkanai Harbor in the Hokkai.

In addition, there is also a port with military access, including all the ports of the dependent countries, such as the Kingdom of Korea, the Kingdom of Vietnam, the Kingdom of the Ryukyus, the Rangang State, etc., the ports of these countries The warships of the empire can dock, and then there are special treaties signed with some countries to have military access, such as the three countries of Japan, and the empire has many major ports, such as Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Osaka in the Kingdom of Japan, Edo, Nagoya in the Toei Kingdom, and Hakodate in the Hokkai Kingdom.

At present, for the sake of military secrecy and other factors, the Imperial Navy is fully inclined to purely military ports such as Cam Ranh Bay, Hong Kong, Zhoushan, Qingdao, Lushun, Yokosuka, and Pusan.

As for Shanghai and Guangzhou, which are mixed with military and civilian use, and the ports that do not have the conditions for military secrecy, will be reduced to a second-rate status.

But now these reforms have been disguised that the Yandi-class battleships have become an open secret, and when the Yandi was in service, its recruitment was basically one of the generals of the navies of various countries.

This has had a great impact, but looking at the photos, only looking at some text descriptions, how can I not directly watch the Yandi-class battleship intuitively.

When the fleet of the prince's delegation passed through Malacca, it was followed by a large number of warships from various countries, including British, French, Spanish, Dutch, and even a small warship of the Germans that appeared out of nowhere.

These warships of various countries that followed behind followed only one or two kilometers next to them in an open manner, and then unceremoniously posed their cameras to take pictures.

By the time the fleet crossed the Suez Canal and entered the Mediterranean, many of the fleet were frightened by the number of ships in front of them.

At the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea in the Suez Canal, there are as many as 20 ships, most of which are British ships flying British flags, but also a large number of European naval vessels such as Ottoman Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.

On this day, the European countries that could basically shout out sent ships to the Mediterranean to meet the fleet of the Imperial Prince's visiting delegation. (To be continued.) )