August 1894

Castle of Dreams

Immortal Residence Hall

Li Fushou was reviewing the Metropolis-class ironclad battleships officially developed by the Admiralty, and the first ship was the "Red River Valley", so this powerful ironclad battleship was named the "Red River Valley" class battleship.

The first ship, the "Red River Valley", cut the first steel plate on June 19, 1894, with a construction period of one year and one month, and five and a half months of launching and outfitting, and was expected to officially enter service in early 1896.

This class of ships is based on the British Imperial Navy's planning and construction of the "Old Manstar" class battleships as a template, basically using the same design, the only improved design, only in the ammunition depot to add an additional 440 tons of bulletproof armor belt, the ship's standard displacement of 13,243 tons, full load displacement of 14,860 tons.

Main Dimensions; It is 132.5 meters long, 22.7 meters wide, and has a draft of 7.9 meters.

maximum speed; 18.5 knots, range 4600 nautical miles / 10 knots.

Power: vertical three-expansion engine, 15,400 horsepower, 2 shafts and 2 propellers;

Armament: artillery 305mm twin ×2,152mm× 12,96mm×10, torpedo 457mm×2;

Armor: broadside strap 557mm, deck 103mm, turret 532mm;

Personnel: 680 people.

Cost; 1,376,000 gold dollars (£688,000)

Judging from the current point of view, the design of the "Red River Valley" class battleships is quite balanced, and it does not pursue special prominence in a certain index, and its defensive power, firepower, and speed have reached a high level in the current period, and at the same time, the cost of the steam ironclad battleships can be suppressed at a certain level, which is conducive to the formation of a construction scale.

This is the characteristic of the British Empire's battlefleet, which does not pursue a particular aspect of its capabilities, so that it can form a large fleet and maintain global maritime supremacy by maintaining a reasonable cost.

Judging from the firepower of the main guns, the Red River Valley-class battleships with a full load displacement of nearly 15,000 tons are only equipped with two twin-mounted 305-mm main ship guns in front and one behind, which seems to be the same as the "Zhenyuan" class ironclad battleships with a displacement of 7,600 tons.

Not really

The British "Indomitable" class battleship, which was the same era as the Zhenyuan ironclad ship, was equipped with four 406 mm Armstrong breech loading guns, and one projectile weighed more than 730 pounds, and it was not dared to say that it was more powerful than the Red River Valley-class battleship, because although the two were only separated by more than 10 years, they were not a product of the same technical level.

The former uses black powder, the latter uses the more powerful yellow particle gunpowder, the improved barrel can withstand greater instantaneous pressure, the new gunpowder pack explosion produces more power, higher muzzle velocity, stronger armor-piercing ability, and therefore greater lethality.

Whether it is the Dingyuan or Zhenyuan ships, the British Indomitable class battleships, the Majesty-class battleships, or the Qinglong-class heavy cruisers of the Ocean Kingdom, although they have only been built for more than ten years, they already belong to the products of the previous era in today's rapidly changing technology.

Armed with 305 mm guns and 12 152 mm re-entry rapid-fire guns, the Red River Valley class battleships are covered with reinforced steel armor and equipped with a new coal-fired steam engine.

First of all, in terms of armor protection, taking the "Red River Valley" class battleships as an example, the standard displacement has reached 13,243 tons, and the increase in tonnage means an increase in the thickness of bulletproof armor and a great increase in defense.

The main armor belt of the battleships of the "Red Valley" class was 557 mm at its thickest point and 132 mm at its thinnest point, the frontal thickness of the main turret was 532 mm, the frontal thickness of the secondary turret was 202 mm, the thickness of the conning tower was 294 mm around the perimeter and the thickness of the deck was 103 mm.

This kind of protection is far beyond that of ironclad ships.

Taking the Dingyuan ship, a first-class ironclad ship known as "Asia's No. 1 Giant Ship", as an example, the armor thickness of the Dingyuan ironclad fort is 355mm on the waterline, 305mm under the waterline, 304mm thick armor for the 305 gun mount, 15mm thick for the gun shield, and 203mm thick for the command tower.

If the main gun of the Dingyuan ship cannot penetrate the heavy bulletproof armor of the battleship Red River Valley, but the latter can easily tear through the defense of the former, this is because the battleship of the Red River Valley is equipped with new types of ammunition such as cap shells and armor-piercing shells, which greatly improves the armor-piercing ability of the main gun.

Secondly, in terms of maneuvering, the 13,000-ton Red River Valley battleship using a new coal-fired boiler can run at a high speed of 18.5 knots, while the first-class ironclad ships such as the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan can only run at a speed of up to 15 knots when the tonnage is several thousand tons less than the former.

The "Yoshino" fast cruiser customized by Fuso can run at a high speed of 23 knots, but because it only has a displacement of more than 4,000 tons, the hull is weak, which is an incurable fetal problem, and can only participate in low-level rookie pecking each other, showing majesty in front of the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan ironclad ships.

If it is opposite the battleship of the "Red River Valley" class, it will only be abused into scum in minutes.

The main guns of the fast cruiser "Yoshino" hit the battleships of the "Red River Valley" class with ten or 20 rounds, and the latter could hit the soul with one shot, and this is the difference.

According to Admiral Ho Fang;

The battleship of the Red River Valley is a huge iron mound, with unprecedented armor protection capabilities, and it is an unprecedented test of the enemy's main gun firepower, and with the current level of the latest 305 mm caliber main gun technology, it is difficult to break his defenses.

Implication; Only a 343 mm gun or a 381 mm gun can cause fatal damage to its heavy carburized bulletproof armor.

Finally, in terms of firepower configuration, the firepower of the "Red River Valley" class battleships is several times stronger than that of ironclad ships.

It is equipped with 12 latest 152 mm body-barreled re-entry rapid-fire guns, 10 95mm Miss Australia rapid-fire guns, and 12 37mm five-barreled Habekaith machine guns.

Although it cannot cause damage to the main turret protected by heavy armor, the damage to the enemy's secondary turret and all exposed equipment is fatal enough to affect the course of a naval battle.

Compared with the 2 Krupp 150mm breech secondary guns (one at the end and one at the end), 4 75mm Krupp guns, and 8 37mm five-barreled Habekas machine guns equipped on the Zhenyuan, the former has more than 8~10 times the firepower per unit time of the latter, which is not the same at all.

Different from the starboard and port side of the main gun fire of the ironclad ship, the twin 305 mm main turret of the battleship "Red River Valley" is arranged along the central axis, which allows the main gun turret to adjust the firing angle more freely, and allows all the main guns to fire in the same direction, thereby increasing the density of the battleship's firepower.

Therefore, from the current point of view, this class of steam ironclad battleships is still very advanced, bringing together many advanced technologies in the current development of the world's navies, reaching the mainstream level of the world's naval powers, and can be majestic for more than 10 years.

"What a waste!"

Li Fushou gritted his teeth and sighed, then put the documents on the desk, and pinched his eyebrows with a headache, only then did he feel better.

With the gradual deepening of the second industrial revolution, the development trend of the main combat ships of the navy in the world is changing with each passing day, and revolutionary new technologies and new inventions are constantly emerging, completely changing the status quo of naval equipment.

Therefore, a costly ironclad battleship has a lifespan of only a dozen years and less than 20 years, and then it is quickly eliminated by new equipment and reduced to a marginal role that does not hurt grandma and uncle.

The Admiralty's eagerness to arrange for the battleship "Red River Valley" to hold a ceremony to cut the first steel plate was a sign of its urgency, and it was also reflected in the arrangements for the construction of the second battleship "Brisbane".

The Red River Valley Shipyard has two 20,000-ton docks, mainly used for the construction of 20,000-ton free ships, and can also be used for the construction of more than 10,000 tons of steam ironclad battleships.

After the launch of the 20,000-ton Cape-class freeship in the current dock, the battleship "Brisbane" will enter the dock early next year and will be launched and outfitted by the end of next year, and the construction progress is only six months behind the first ship "Red River Valley".

This also indicates

By the end of 1896, the Admiralty of the Ocean Kingdom would have two main steam ironclad battleships, a strength unmatched in the whole of Asia and Oceania.

I thought about it for a while

Li Fushou still did not approve the construction of the No. 3 ship "Songjiang" and the No. 4 ship "Melbourne", but made the following instructions;

The Admiralty immediately studied the next generation of 4,000-ton cruiser plans, requiring attention to ocean-going navigation capabilities, sea trials and crew living comfort, so as to meet the needs of the kingdom's long coastline patrol and escort economic stability and prosperity.

The Admiralty immediately studied the plan for the next generation of 2,000-ton ocean-going destroyers, which are the backbone of daily tasks, are frequently used and in high demand, and need to form a certain scale effect.

This type of ocean-going destroyer requires low construction cost and good ocean-going performance, which can appropriately reduce the requirements of firepower and armor defense to meet the navigation performance to the greatest extent.

Putting down the pen, Li Fushou nodded with satisfaction.

With the money to build a "Red River Valley" class steam battleship, he can build 15 cheap ocean-going destroyers, which are widely used to defend the kingdom's long sea frontiers, and can also transport personnel, weapons and supplies, this cheap destroyer can be used for 60 years, as long as it does not rot, it can be used forever, and the cost performance is too high.

The 36 Seagull cruisers of various types belonging to the Ocean Kingdom all dismantled the 210 mm main guns and the 95 mm secondary guns, and changed to the firepower configuration of a new single-turret 120 mm rapid-fire gun with two 37 mm five-barreled Haqikes machine guns and two Makqin heavy machine guns.

In this way, the power of the main and secondary guns is greatly reduced, but the density of fire is unprecedentedly increased, which is enough to deal with ordinary low-intensity patrols.

In the past, carrying such a large cannon was used for the decisive battle of the capital ship, and it was a helpless way.

After a naval battle, the thin steel deck around the 210 mm main turret was torn apart by the shock, showing a violent undulating ripple shape, and even the steel plate of the lower compartment of the main turret was twisted and deformed, showing an unbearable limit, not to mention the 210 mm main gun target, which basically did not achieve any results in several naval battles, and most of them were won by the 95 mm secondary gun.

Now returning to the original face is the correct posture.