Indeed, the Americans had a navy that would cost the British a price, which made the British abandon their intervention in the Spanish-American War. However, the geopolitical situation in the United States is different from that of Germany, so there are some things that the British can tolerate the Americans doing, but they will never tolerate the Germans doing it. If the Germans had followed the American with the mentality of "the monk can touch it, but I can't touch it", the reaction of the British would have been very different.

However, Scrooge did not intend to explain this, on the contrary, he encouraged the Germans to challenge the British.

"Well, Mr. Admiral, there are some models of destroyers, cruisers, and the like, but there's nothing new about them. So I'm going to don't spend too much time on these things. Let's save some time to go to the slipway and see the battleship built for Brazil. Scrooge said.

"That's great, let's go check it out." Tirpitz said.

So the group left the exhibition hall and walked towards the slipway. At a place not far from the slipway, an engineer-like man greeted them, and he first handed them a few hard hats and a few earplugs. Because the noise on the site is just too loud. Although the high platform where they were located was still a little far from the slipway in order to have a panoramic view, the noise of cutting steel plates and riveting was still deafening.

Several people climbed the high platform and looked around, and saw two battleships under construction on the slipway, one of which Tirpitz recognized at a glance as the battleship with a week's battery that he had just seen in the model gallery, while the one a little further on the other side was less complete, and in some places it was covered with canvas, which seemed to be kept secret.

But the more this happened, the more it interested Tirpitz, although the ship was far away and many details were blocked and couldn't be seen clearly, but there were some basic things, and Tirpitz could still see a lot of things.

For example, the boat looks a little shorter than the one built for Brazil, but maybe a little wider. This means that the ship will have better stability, better sailability, better adaptability to high sea conditions, and the boat will also have a beautiful flying scissor bow. This kind of bow can effectively avoid the problem of burying the head of the warship in the strong wind and waves, but the manufacture of this kind of curved and floating bow requires the use of a large hydraulic press, which is difficult to manufacture and expensive, and once damaged, it will be more complicated and difficult to repair. The fact that this warship is equipped with such a bow only shows that the sea conditions in the area of its intended mission are quite complicated.

In addition, the ship had a much smaller turret, with only four turrets compared to the seven-turret battleship ordered by the Brazilians, and although the guns had not yet begun to be installed, it was clear that the turrets of the warship seemed to be larger than those of the one built for Brazil.

"This is supposed to be for the installation of larger artillery." Tirpitz thought. He knew that if a larger caliber gun was used, the firepower of such a battleship would actually be superior to that of the monster with seven turrets. Moreover, under the condition of shortening the length of the hull, the thickness of the armor can be greatly increased even if the weight of the armor is the same, so that the defense of this ship will far exceed that of the battleship built for Brazil.

"This should be a battleship built by the Americans for themselves, I don't know how it performs. Especially how fast. Tirpitz thought so, so he casually asked, "Is that ship a battleship built for the U.S. Navy?" ”

Tirpitz didn't expect any answer, but Scrooge didn't expect to answer seriously.

"No, this ship is custom-built for our U.S. Navy, but it's not a battleship, it's a battlecruiser, a new type of battleship with the firepower of a battleship and the speed of a cruiser. Mr. Mahan has proposed that such a warship can be used to perform tasks such as breaking diplomatic relations, escorting ships, and hunting and killing opponents' armored cruisers. So the Navy ordered such a warship. This warship has a great real nature, and it is difficult to say whether it is good or not. Some in the navy laughed at it as an egg with a hammer. In general, the Navy still prefers turtles with hammers to eggs with hammers. ”

The analogy made Tirpitz laugh, and he wondered how fast the boat really was, but he understood that the question was impossible to answer. Even if it is answered, it is unlikely to be a true number, because, for all countries, the maximum speed of a ship is actually the most important secret.

But Tirpitz felt that he had seen enough in the United States, and that it was enlightening enough. Especially in the destruction of ships and naval strategy, he has gained a lot. Tirpitz was quite satisfied with the visit. Before leaving, he told Sù Scrooge: "The Imperial Navy will soon have a plan to buy ships, and I hope that your company will also come to the bidding." ”

……

A month after Tirpitz's departure, the Reichstag passed a naval budget in which the Germans intended to purchase five battleships for their navy over the next four years. Immediately afterwards, representatives of the Germans came to the door and presented the Morgan-MacDonald shipyard with a tender for two types of battleships, including technology transfer.

……

"Let me see what the Germans are asking for." Morgan bowed his head and studied the essay carefully, and then said to Scrooge, "I have to say, Mr. MacDonald, you are such a good salesman. The Germans really made a technical request that would make the British very uncomfortable. ”

This text from the Germans is what it asks for these two types of battleships:

The first type of battleship has a displacement of about 28,000 tons, has 8 or more high-caliber guns of more than 11 inches, armor that can withstand the firing of 12-inch guns at a distance of 10,000 meters, and a speed of not less than 25 knots and excellent seaworthiness, with a range of not less than 80,000 nautical miles.

This design requirement is obviously interesting. First of all, a huge ship with a displacement of 28,000 tons is only required to be equipped with 11-inch small guns. Obviously, such firepower was not enough to deal with British battleships, so the question arises, who is such firepower used for?

Secondly, the ship actually required armor that could withstand the bombardment of the main guns of British battleships, as well as a speed of up to 25 knots and a range of more than 8,000 nautical miles. What exactly does such a request mean, the British are afraid that a little research will find the answer to this question. The answer is -- this is a warship designed for Britain and specifically designed to break diplomatic relations.

The speed of the British battleship was only about 21 knots, and the speed of 25 knots, coupled with the armor that could resist the attack of 12-inch guns, made the German warships run away directly when they unfortunately encountered British battleships, and the guns above 11 inches could easily deal with any cruiser in the hands of the British who could catch up with it. And the guns on the cruisers of the British were equipped with this armor enough to withstand the attack of 12-inch guns, and the defense was equivalent to that of a battleship, and I am afraid that it was no different from tickling. Coupled with the long range of such warships, in the event of war, it would be a nightmare for the British to use such warships to attack British trade routes.

As for the second type of battleship, it is a battleship that is used in a decisive battle of the fleet. The requirements of the Germans for it were as follows: a displacement of about 28,000 tons, a high-caliber main gun of more than 8 13-inch guns, armor that could withstand the firing of a 13-inch caliber gun at a distance of 10,000 meters, and a speed of not less than 20 knots and excellent seaworthiness, with a range of not less than 5,000 nautical miles.

In the eyes of the British, this design requirement would definitely feel that it was aimed at them. The displacement of the British battleships was only about 23,000 tons, the caliber of the guns was only 12 inches, and the level of defense was only against their own 12-inch main guns. It was almost impossible to penetrate the armor of such a battleship of the Germans at normal engagement distances. Although the British could rely on more warships and use siege to win, the appearance of such super battleships almost meant that the warships in the hands of the British immediately fell behind.

"The Germans are demanding a full technology transfer, and if we win the tender for one of these models, then the first warships will be built with us, and the subsequent warships will be built in Germany." Morgan shook his head, seemingly regretting that he couldn't build all the ships himself.

"Hehe," Scrooge laughed, "Mr. Morgan, I'm afraid the shipyard will be busy in the future." The British will certainly react violently, and then there is no reason why the United States should not follow. So, the warships of the US Navy alone are enough for us to build. How nice is that......"

……

Just as Scrooge and Morgan predicted, Britain, as the world's first naval power, announced that it would build 10 newly designed battleships for the Royal Navy in the next four years after the Germans launched their shipbuilding plan, and only half a month after the Germans launched their shipbuilding plan.

"At all times, the battleships of the British Empire must be more numerous and better than those of other countries! If the Germans can build one battleship, we will build two! Fisher, the Third Sea Secretary of the British Empire, summed up the attitude of the British on this issue in such a sentence.