Torpedoes, in fact, are not considered new weapons. The predecessor of the torpedo is a kind of "pole mine" born in the early 19th century, the pole mine is fixed to the bow of the dinghy with a long pole, and the boat rushes to the enemy ship during naval warfare, and the pole mine is used to hit and explode the enemy ship. It's just that this kind of "pole mine" is not of much use in actual combat. Often before approaching the enemy ship, it is already sunk.

The torpedoes of the Imperial Navy were thermodynamic torpedoes, also known as "steam gas fish". Fuel and water enter the combustion chamber at the same time, and after combustion, steam is generated, which pushes the sender, drives the propeller to rotate and propulsion, and the steam after work is directly discharged into the seawater, resulting in a wake.

Torpedoes currently being developed by the Imperial Navy are mainly small 320 mm torpedoes. After launch, the maximum rate of fire can reach 20 knots, and the maximum range is two kilometers. The warhead was loaded with twenty kilograms of high explosives. If you hit an enemy ship at the waterline, you can easily tear through the armor near the enemy ship's waterline. The British Navy, the main rival of the Imperial Navy, did not yet have any warships capable of competing with the torpedoes of the Imperial Navy.

This weapon is also the secret weapon of the Imperial Navy. After the successful development, it was only a test in the South China Sea. At that time, Emperor Long Yufei, Admiral Niu Meng, chief of the General Staff, Admiral Zhao Yi, deputy chief of the General Staff and director of logistics and equipment, Vice Admiral Sun Hao, director of operations, and Rear Admiral Lu Haipeng, commander of the Navy's Fifth Fleet, observed the test.

During the test, two torpedoes rushed at a target ship located one kilometer away at high speed, hitting the middle and tail of the target ship respectively. After the fish exploded, the light yì tore the target ship to pieces. Of course. This is because the target ship is a wooden merchant ship, and its defense power cannot be compared to that of a warship. But even if the battleship is hit, it is estimated that it will be blown out of a large hole underwater. Even if it won't be blown in two. But it will also sink due to too much water.

However, the emperor Long Yufei was still not satisfied with this torpedo. In Long Yufei's words, this kind of torpedo has too close range, too slow rate of fire, and too little power. For light warships in general. can form lethality. However, for huge warships, such as the 'Qin-class' battleships that the Imperial Navy was about to start construction. The threat is much smaller. The armor of the 'Qin-class' battleships near the waterline was up to 300 millimeters thick, which could effectively resist the attack of such torpedoes. Even if it is torpedoed through, the huge battleship will not be silent lightly. Other than that. Secondary guns on the sides of the battleship. It is possible to sink the enemy ship before it enters a thousand meters.

After all, the Reich's torpedoes had a maximum range of two thousand meters. But if you want to hit the opponent, you have to at least shorten the launch distance to a thousand meters or even closer. Otherwise, you won't be able to hit the target at all.

The appearance of torpedoes at the moment is nothing more than a solution to the question of whether there is a problem or not. In the future, if we want to really form combat effectiveness, we will have to develop more powerful torpedoes. Of course, the torpedoes developed by the Reich are not without combat effectiveness. If it's in a night battle. The small and medium-sized warships of the Imperial Navy can fully take advantage of the cover of night. Rush to the front of the enemy ship and release torpedoes. When the time comes, it will be enough to inflict a devastating blow on the enemy.

The torpedoes developed by the Imperial Navy have not yet been equipped on the 'Qin-class' battleships, and will not be equipped until the 'Han-class' battleships of the next level. At present, the warships to be equipped with torpedoes are mainly small and medium-sized warships to be built by the Imperial Navy next. These two types of warships will replace the 'Xia-class' cruisers and the 'Shang-class' cruisers as the main surface light ships of the Imperial Navy.

At the request of Emperor Long Yufei, the engineers of the Navy successively completed the design of these two small and medium-sized warships.

The 'Temperance-class' cruiser will be the future main cruiser of the Imperial Navy. The 'Trottle-class' cruiser, with a displacement of 3,300 tons, is 85 meters long, with a twin 155-mm main gun mounted in the bow and stern, and six 105-mm secondary guns and four 75-mm naval guns on either side. The ship was powered by six high-rise coal-fired boilers driving two large steam engines, using a two-shaft propulsion method, with a maximum rate of fire of 20 knots and a cruising range of 6,000 nautical miles. Such a speed is far beyond any warship in the world now. Compared to the cruisers of the 'Shang class', the displacement of the 'Trottle-class' cruisers increased by eight hundred tons, however, the firepower did not increase. This is mainly due to the installation of large boilers and steam engines, which take up a lot of space and displacement. However, the armor of the 'Temperance-class' cruiser was thicker than that of the 'Shang-class' cruiser, and the turret, bridge and power compartment were reinforced, which improved the ship's defense a lot. More importantly, in the bow of the 'Trotto-class' cruiser, six torpedo tubes were installed, which could fire six torpedoes at the target at once. Torpedoes fired in a fan-shaped manner, leaving enemy ships with nowhere to escape. This allowed the 'Trotto-class' cruisers, under certain conditions, to pose a lethal threat to the enemy's large warships.

In addition, the cost of the 'Temperary-class' cruiser is also very cheap, but only 1.2 million yuan per cruiser. Such a low price made it possible for the Imperial Navy to build equipment on a large scale.

Emperor Long Yufei was very satisfied with the performance of the 'Solar Force-class' cruiser. Plus the excellent price-performance ratio of the 'throttle-class' cruisers. Therefore, Long Yufei directly allowed the construction of 12 'throttle-class' cruisers at one time, and the 1st Fleet and the 5th Fleet will be divided into six ships each.

These 12 'Solar Terms-class' cruisers were named 'Lichun', 'Rain', 'Shocking', 'Spring Equinox', 'Qingming', 'Guyu', 'Lixia', 'Xiaoman', 'Mangzhong', 'Summer Solstice', 'Xiaoxia' and 'Da Xia'. The first six ships belong to the 1st Fleet of the Navy, and the last 6 ships belong to the 5th Fleet of the Navy!

In addition to the 'Temperance-class' cruisers, the Imperial Navy will also build a small type of warship to perform tasks that accompany capital ships in combat, as well as patrol vigilance and reconnaissance, or to provide escort for merchant ships.

The 'Tiangang-class' destroyer is exactly this kind of warship. The Tiangang-class destroyer has a length of 62 meters, a displacement of 1,600 tons, a maximum speed of 22 knots, and a cruising range of 4,000 nautical miles. It is armed with a 155 mm gun in the bow and one in the stern. In addition, there were four 105-mm naval guns and two 75-mm naval guns on the sides of the battleship. The firepower of the 'Tiangang-class' destroyers is much smaller than that of the 'Trotto-class' cruisers. However, the speed is a bit higher. In addition, like the 'Temperable-class' cruisers, the 'Tiangang-class' destroyers are also equipped with four torpedo tubes in the bow, which can launch torpedo attacks on enemy ships, thus achieving the purpose of fighting big with a small one. The 'Tiangang-class' destroyers are cheap to build, and the cost of each destroyer is only 800,000 yuan. Equivalent to two-thirds of the 'throttle-class' cruisers.

The Imperial Navy will build 18 destroyers of the Tiangang class at one time, and the 1st and 5th fleets of the Imperial Navy will each allocate 9 destroyers. The 18 'Tiangang-class' destroyers were named 'Tiangang', 'Tiankui', 'Tianji', 'Tianxian', 'Tianyong', 'Tianxiong', 'Tianmeng', 'Tianwei', 'Tianying', 'Tiangui', 'Tianfu', 'Tianman', 'Tianhu', 'Tianshu', 'Tianli', 'Tianjie', 'Tiandian' and 'Tianyou'. The nine ships in front are owned by the 1st Fleet of the Imperial Navy, and the nine ships in the back are owned by the 5th Fleet of the Navy.

In addition, whether it is a 'throttle-class' cruiser or a 'Tiangang-class' destroyer, this is just the original model. The Imperial Navy will also make subsequent improvements to these two types of ships to improve the performance of both ships. The design of the subsequent improved warships will also be completed one after another, and then the construction will begin. When the time comes, these two small and medium-sized warships of the Imperial Navy will be equipped with even more.

This time, the Imperial Navy can be regarded as a big deal, and will build 8 'Qin-class' battleships, 12 'Solar Terms-class' cruisers, and 18 'Tiangang-class' destroyers at one time, bringing the total number to 38. You must know that the Imperial Navy's current capital ships in the 1st and 5th fleets are only exactly 38. The Imperial Navy is completely going to build a navy again!

After these warships are commissioned, even if the 'Xia-class' cruisers and 'Shang-class' cruisers are withdrawn from the main fleet, the strength of the Imperial Navy will increase considerably. Even in numbers, it may not be comparable to the British Navy. However, in terms of quality, the Imperial Navy was definitely far superior to the British Navy!

Of course, the huge military expenditure required to build these warships is also a big headache for the cabinet. Chancellor of the Exchequer Liu Mingde was even more bitter for several days, as if others owed him money and did not pay it back.

The Imperial Navy's 8 'Qin-class' battleships cost 48 million Huayuan, 12 'Temperary-class' cruisers cost 14.4 million Huayuan, and 18 'Tiangang-class' destroyers also cost 14.4 million Huayuan. The total cost of these warships has been as high as 76.8 million yuan. Such a large expenditure is undoubtedly a huge pressure on the finances of the empire. I finally got a large amount of reparations from the Russians, and I spent it so lightly.

However, in order to improve the military strength of the empire and ensure the security of the empire, even if it is worth spending so much money.

The Imperial Navy's large-scale shipbuilding program has always been kept in a high degree of secrecy in order to paralyze the British. In particular, the 'Qin-class' battleships, as well as the torpedoes used on the 'Temperary-class' cruisers and the 'Tiangang-class' destroyers, are even more high-class. The later the British learned about it, the more beneficial this would be for the Imperial Navy, which would allow the Imperial Navy to have more advantages in future naval battles! (To be continued......)

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