Chapter 74

Although Britain lost its global dominance as the empire on which the sun never sets after World War I, it is undeniable that the Royal Navy at this time could be described as sweeping the world, unparalleled in history. In a single year, they launched 8 capital ships, and in three years, 17 capital ships. This terrifying military buildup, which poured all resources into the navy, was something Germany could never match. Historically, the German naval budget was only 40% of Britain's during the same period. It was almost impossible to build a High Seas Fleet that could match the Royal Navy in numbers during the dreadnought era with that amount of money. Therefore, to defeat the British at sea, Germany had to not only improve quality but also start building capital ships capable of joining the final battle line in the pre-dreadnought era!

However, the naval line of 1914 was far from that of 1904. During the Russo-Japanese War, the main battleships of various countries still had 4 12-inch main guns and a speed of 18 knots. Ten years later, this standard had suddenly risen to 10 13.4-inch guns and a speed of 21 knots. The rapid advancement of naval technology rendered the large number of pre-dreadnoughts obsolete for frontline combat; in terms of firepower, armor, and speed, these old ships had fallen far behind.

Due to the limitations of the era, even if Qing Ying had the mindset and insights of over 100 years later, it was impossible to build a ship with the technology of the time that could defeat dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts in a decade. However, winning a decisive battle and participating in it were two entirely different concepts; the former required superior strength, while the latter only needed the ability to engage the enemy. Qing Ying already had a detailed idea of what such a ship should be like.

Firstly, as a member of the battle line, this ship must have excellent protection. Due to technical limitations, the outer areas and even the waterline of the ship could be lost, but the internal core compartments must be strictly protected to prevent a single hit from causing an explosion. The German warships' commonly used turtle deck structure provided the best answer to this. This heavy turtle deck was installed at a large angle behind the main armor, offering excellent vertical protection against shells. If the main armor was penetrated, there would still be a heavily sloped armor plate standing firm, protecting critical areas such as the engine room and ammunition storage. With this iron undergarment, sinking the ship could only be achieved by penetrating the waterline and causing it to take on water and capsize. This would allow it to absorb a significant amount of enemy fire for the main fleet.

Secondly, this ship must have a speed of at least 20 knots. In the historical Battle of Jutland, the British Grand Fleet deployed 28 battleships and 9 battlecruisers, but not a single pre-dreadnought appeared in this unprecedented battle line. Jellicoe chose to let the main fleet operate independently, leaving behind 50 pre-dreadnoughts of various types, not only because the main fleet already had a nearly 2-to-1 advantage over the German Navy, making these old ships unnecessary, but also because their speed was far too slow to keep up with the main fleet. The design speed of British pre-dreadnoughts was generally around 18 knots, and many ships had seen their speed drastically reduced due to poor maintenance over the years (the British pre-dreadnought HMS Mars, completed in 1899, had a speed of 18 knots when new, but by 1914, it could only crawl at 14 knots). In contrast, the dreadnoughts had a speed of 21 knots. In this situation, bringing these old ships to the main battle would only hinder the fleet's maneuverability. For dreadnoughts, a speed of 20 knots was the minimum requirement; to keep up with the main fleet, the old ships Germany built in advance for the fleet battle should also have this capability.

In addition, this ship must have a certain level of firepower to damage the British early dreadnoughts and draw their fire. The 11-inch guns currently equipped on German battleships would suffice. Ideally, 6 to 8 11-inch guns would be best, but it was 1895, and the technology was not yet mature. Equipping more than 6 11-inch main guns would make the ship too large, so Qing Ying decided to temporarily equip 4 to reduce construction pressure.

Now that the German Navy was preparing to develop cruisers, it was the best opportunity. If he could persuade Wilhelm to increase the tonnage of the new cruisers to around 12,000 tons, it would be sufficient to achieve 4 11-inch guns and a speed of 20 knots, as well as a 250mm waterline armor belt and a 65-70mm thick iron undergarment, not inferior to the early British dreadnoughts. With a speed of 20 knots, this ship could be called an armored cruiser; but in the event of a world war, it could be directly deployed in the battle line to participate in the fleet battle! Such a ship, designed from the start for fleet battles, would be far superior to the obsolete ships like the Braunschweig and the old Deutschland that Scheer used to fill the ranks!

—

Thinking this, Qing Ying felt a surge of energy and nodded, saying, "Father is absolutely right. We cannot just prepare for the last war; we must consider the overall situation. The French are always devious and cunning; they might already be preparing to build large cruisers. In the face of an uncertain future, it would be best to build these armored cruisers larger, sacrificing overseas cruising capabilities to specifically counter the possible large cruisers the French might build. Moreover, the performance of a larger ship would improve exponentially due to the combined protection and power efficiency. For the same cost, the combat capability of 5 6,400-ton ships is inferior to 4 8,200-ton ships, and 4 8,200-ton ships are not as powerful as 3 11,500-ton ships! Therefore, I suggest building 3 11,500-ton first-class large cruisers instead of 5 6,400-ton second-class cruisers! The British have already started building 14,200-ton large cruisers, and the French might follow suit."

Hearing this, Wilhelm understood Qing Ying's point. This boy, not yet 13, had proposed the concept of appropriately larger warships two years ago. If 3 small warships were combined into 2 larger ones, it would not only save weight in the propulsion system but also significantly reduce the armor area of the core compartments, allowing more weight to be used elsewhere. In terms of ship design, this was indeed a brilliant guiding principle, but when applied to armored cruisers...

Wilhelm smiled slightly, his face regaining its usual confident and proud expression, and said, "Eitel, you are right. However, you have only grasped the shortcut to improving warship performance but overlooked another crucial core issue: the cost of the warship. Last October, Alfred proposed a 10,000-ton armored cruiser with 4 240mm main guns, which I rejected. If the tonnage were increased as he suggested, it would significantly raise the cost of the armored cruiser, making it almost as expensive as a battleship, despite not being the main force in naval battles. This excessive enlargement of armored cruisers is putting the cart before the horse, and excessive investment in non-main warships will affect the number of our main warships!"

Even though Qing Ying already knew Wilhelm's philosophy from the future, hearing him say it himself still made him admire his adoptive father from the bottom of his heart. As soon as the tonnage of the armored cruisers was increased, Wilhelm keenly perceived the essence and implications. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when new technologies and concepts were emerging, no one could match his insight except for Qing Ying, the穿越者 (time traveler).

Looking at Wilhelm's confident and radiant smile, Qing Ying felt a bit reluctant to use his future knowledge to challenge him. However, this matter concerned the future development of the entire Imperial Navy, so he had to resolve to explain the solution to his adoptive father. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "If that's the case, I think I have a way to solve it."

"Hmm?" Wilhelm's eyelids twitched, a look of disbelief in his eyes. If it had been half an hour ago, Wilhelm would have thought his most beautiful child was talking nonsense. But after just now, after hearing his theory on the obsolescence of protected cruisers, Wilhelm felt a bit uncertain. His child's expertise in naval matters was no less than his own; how could Wilhelm not carefully consider his words?

Wilhelm was silent for a long time before he finally spoke, half affirming and half doubting, "Eitel, I admit that I was incomplete in my consideration of the protected cruisers, but this issue is not in the same category. Over the past year, Alfred and I have had the designers propose countless plans to balance cost and combat effectiveness, but none of them could solve this problem. I know you, like me, have a strong interest in the navy, but surely you can't have this level of skill!" As he spoke, a hint of bitter laughter appeared on Wilhelm's face. He had always been confident in technical planning and ship design, never feeling intimidated by veteran designers; how could he now feel a lack of confidence in front of a child?

PS: Haha, my fleet battle-type armored cruiser is about to be born, hehehe... Special thanks to GO229 for the theoretical support~~~

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends