"As far as I know, the tonnage of the Nagato-class battleships being built by the island nation has exceeded 40,000 tons, why is the tonnage of our warships still stuck at about 30,000 tons?" Arthur looked at the chief designer of the warship with a little curiosity and asked the question in his mind.

"Your Majesty, because of the impact of naval restrictions on us and to avoid the forced dismantling of warships under construction, the tonnage of the R107 battleship is designed to be about 33,000 tons. But we also have a backup plan. Richard Harding-Davis, chief designer of the R107 battleship, explained that he had already prepared a spare design.

Arthur nodded, took over the design, and was immediately attracted by the data marked out in the design drawing.

It is said that it is a spare design, in fact, it is not so much the design of a new battleship.

This is the 108th design draft, and its code name is naturally the R108 battleship.

Compared to the R107 battleship, which only had a standard displacement of 330000 tons, the R108 was like a big fat man, and the tonnage increased to 45300 tons.

The standard displacement is 45,300 tons, and the full load displacement is 53,500 tons, which is definitely huge in terms of the design of the main warships of all countries in the world.

The R108 battleship has a total length of 245 meters, a width of 31.1 meters, and a draft of more than 10 meters.

For such a big guy, the biggest improvement is the protection ability of the battleship.

Compared to the R107 battleship, the R108 battleship had 381 mm thick side armor, and even the deck armor was up to 203 mm thick.

You must know that the deck armor thickness of the British capital battleship during World War I was less than 100 mm, which almost tripled the armor protection capacity, which is also the real reason why the standard displacement of the R108 battleship is as high as 45,300 tons.

The protection capability of the R108 battleship is not limited to a single place, but the entire battleship has been perfected and strengthened.

The frontal armor of the turret and turret was thick from 387 mm to 408 mm, and the thinnest part of the junction was also 305 mm.

Although the armor of the conning tower was slightly thinner, it was also 356 mm thick on the sides and 305 mm on the front.

What makes people feel even more exaggerated is the fire system of this battleship.

The British knew about the 18-inch capital naval guns, and even Australasia was part of the research.

And on this big guy, it is also expected to be equipped with three triple seat 18-inch 45-caliber guns (457 mm).

You must know that even the Nagato-class battleships of the island country that have been exposed are only equipped with a 16-inch naval gun (410 mm).

If the R108 battleship was really equipped with 18-inch guns, in terms of firepower alone, there was no doubt that it would be qualitatively crushing for the battleships of other countries.

In addition to the main guns, the caliber of the secondary guns and the number of anti-aircraft fires were greatly strengthened.

If such a huge battleship touches the aircraft carriers of other countries in this era, it is really difficult to say who will win and who will lose.

After all, this era is still the world of battleships, and although the concept of aircraft carriers is ahead, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the technology and experience of aircraft carriers and the technology of aircraft.

What's worse is that the power plant of the R108 battleship has been qualitatively improved compared to the R107 battleship.

The number of oil-fired boilers has been increased to 12 and the number of steam turbines has also been increased to 4, and the maximum power is expected to reach 80,000 horsepower and the maximum speed is expected to reach 24 to 25 knots.

Although these figures are only estimates, the design data of the R108 battleship is definitely more than a half-star improvement compared to the R107 battleship.

Even an ordinary person like Arthur who doesn't know much about warship design can see at a glance the huge gap between the two battleship designs, let alone these experts who specialize in designing battleships.

"Why didn't you come up with the design of the R108 battleship earlier? Judging by the design data, this is the battleship that Australasia should have built. Arthur asked.

"Your Majesty, didn't you say that Australasia would temporarily reduce the development of capital battleships in accordance with the future naval conference?" Richard Harding Davis boldly reminded.

Arthur slapped his forehead, remembering that he had indeed said such a thing.

But you must know that Australasia has such an advanced warship design, even if it is used in every possible way to find an excuse, it is necessary to delay the time of the naval limitation treaty by two years to ensure that the new battleship is built.

"We do have to comply with the future treaty on the limitation of the Navy. However, the Naval Limitation Treaty has not yet been formalized, and there are still no restrictions on the construction of warships. Arthur said: "The design of both battleships can be retained. Now the main thing is to improve and start the construction of the R108 battleship, and when the Naval Limitation Treaty is implemented, the R107 battleship will be the main battleship we can build, and the two are not in conflict. ”

Historically, after the signing of the Naval Limitation Treaty, many countries have privately built larger battleships.

Not to mention that now that the restriction treaties have not been signed, countries have built a large number of capital warships before the treaty is signed, and Australasia naturally cannot miss such an opportunity.

"When will the construction of the R108 battleship begin? What is the fastest time to get into the water? Arthur asked the most crucial question.

Treaties of Naval Limitation could not have been signed in a short period of time, because the time spent trying to ascertain the economic and industrial conditions of each country was counted over the years.

Coupled with the time it takes for various countries to argue over the specific scale and proportion, it will take more than a year to sign the Naval Limitation Treaty at the earliest, and it may even be two or three years slower.

As long as Australasia has the intention to delay, it is no problem to drag on for a year or two. Two years is enough time to build a battleship, and even if it has just been launched, it was built before the signing of the treaty, and it has no impact on the implementation of the treaty.

"This design has gone through our initial experiments, and it is basically no problem. If construction starts now, it is expected to be officially launched at the end of '21 or early '22 at the earliest. Richard Harding Davis thought about it for a moment and gave a reasonable time frame.

"Judging by the size of our current shipyard, in a year and a half to two years, at most several such battleships can be built at the same time?" Arthur continued to ask.

"Generally speaking, the construction of two battleships at the same time should be guaranteed to be completed within a year and a half. If part of the manpower were to be removed and the R108 battleship could be built in full force, it would be possible to start construction of three ships at the same time, and it should be launched before the middle of 1922. Richard Harding Davis again thought carefully for a long time before coming up with an answer.

Who says a technologist like Richard has no ambitions? In order to ensure that it could be completed within two years, Richard also wanted to build more battleships, after all, the design of this battleship was his hard work, and naturally he also wanted to see more battleships of the same class built and sail on the blue sea.

"Mid-1922?" Arthur's face was a little solemn after hearing this, and after pondering for a while, he said, "Then start construction of three ships at the same time!" The Royal Shipyards in Sydney were informed that the construction of the R108-class battleships must be launched for testing before mid-1922. Any questions can be addressed to the government or the Kent butler, and during the construction of the battleship, all problems will be resolved as a matter of priority. Mr. Richard, the responsibility of the country has been entrusted to you, and I have appointed you as the chief builder of the R108 battleship, and I will cooperate with the Sydney shipyard to take full charge of the construction of the new battleship. The naming and testing of the battleships have all been postponed, and I hope that within two years I will be able to see the completion of three new massive battleships. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty! I will definitely not disappoint your expectations, and I will inform the Sydney shipyard. Richard Harding Davis's face instantly turned red, and he suddenly stood up excitedly, and couldn't wait to say.

With a wave of his hand, Richard was asked to do his own thing, and Arthur decided to end his stay in Melbourne.

Now that the Melbourne shipyard has more important matters, there is no need for Arthur to bother.

Whether it is the R107 battleship or the R108 battleship, the design fully refers to the British battleship design, and even has the help of the British, and the overall design idea is quite reliable.

If Arthur remembers correctly, the battleship Nagato, known as the most powerful battleship of this era, is only about 40,000 tons of displacement.

Because of the technical limitations of the islanders, it is not easy for the Nagato-class battleships to be equipped with a 410-mm 16-inch gun, and it is impossible to equip an 18-inch gun.

But in any case, the Nagato-class battleships were definitely one of the most powerful battleships in the world at this time, at this point in time in 1920.

If Arthur remembers correctly, the maximum power of the Nagato-class battleship also seems to have exceeded 80,000 horsepower, and the speed can reach 26 knots.

But the islanders are not so stupid, and naturally it is impossible to announce the true speed of the Nagato-class battleships.

Whether in history or now, the islanders have concealed a certain amount of data from this so-called most powerful battleship, which has a considerable reputation and is about to complete the sea trial stage and is about to be commissioned.

In the official data bulletin of the islanders, the maximum speed of the battleship Nagato was only 23 and the power was only about 58,000 horsepower.

The reason why Arthur retained the design of the two battleships, R107 and R108, was actually to have the same idea as the islanders.

Even if the Naval Limitation Treaty is signed in advance in the future, the data on the R108 battleship under construction in Australasia can be temporarily concealed and replaced with the data of the R107 battleship.

Anyway, the two battleships are still relatively similar in appearance, from the same designer, as long as the secrecy is done well, maybe it can really be fake.

Of course, the best news was, of course, that the three R108 battleships were launched for testing before the treaty was signed. In this way, other countries will not have any excuses, and Australasia can justifiably equip these three powerful battleships.

3000 words for the first update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)