Chapter 82

Climbing the stairs and passing through the corridor, he entered the main room directly.

Sunlight filtered through the clear windows, illuminating the small room as brightly as the outside world. On the flower stand beside the window, a few pots of red and white flowers bloomed, their beauty enhanced by the green leaves, emitting a faint and fragrant aroma. On both sides of the room, bookshelves as tall as a person were lined up, filled with countless leather-bound files and various books. The walls were snow white, the floor spotless, and the room exuded the characteristics of a newly built space.

A slender middle-aged man sat at the main desk in the center, writing and drawing. His single-lens glasses hung comically on the tip of his nose. Seeing an exceptionally handsome young man enter, the middle-aged man calmly stood up from his seat, bowed to Qing Ying, and smiled slightly, saying, "Your Highness, you have arrived so quickly. It's a 100-kilometer drive from Berlin to here, and I thought you wouldn't arrive until noon."

Qing Ying smiled faintly, not picking up on the middle-aged man's topic. Looking at the designer whom he had only met once, Qing Ying paused for a moment and then said, "Mr. Flick, I have come here today to discuss the design plan for the small cruiser. It has been three months since we last met, and I believe Mr. Flick must have come up with a good design by now."

Hearing these words, a faint hint of pride flashed in the eyes of the middle-aged man called Flick. He smiled and said, "Your Highness, please rest assured. Our team's professional skills are among the best in the entire empire. If not, His Majesty would not have entrusted us to serve you. This type of small cruiser, weighing two to three thousand tons, is precisely our team's forte. If we couldn't produce a design in three months, we wouldn't be able to continue in the field of ship design."

Having said that, Flick stood up, rummaged through the file cabinet beside him, and placed a thick leather-bound package in front of Qing Ying. He cleared his throat and began to introduce it, "This document contains the design drawings of the new fourth-class cruiser, including the layout of all equipment and the corresponding calculations, totaling 283 pages. As for the boilers, steam engines, and cannons, which are not part of the shipbuilding process, only a general plan is provided, without detailed drawings of individual parts. Many core subsystems on the warship are still beyond our current capabilities, so we need to purchase them from established shipyards and Krupp, and then assemble them in our factory."

Since the shipyard began construction two years ago, a large amount of funds and manpower has been spent on the technical reserves for the construction of military ship hulls and the outfitting and launching of ships. It is simply impossible to pursue the A-level production qualification for water-tube boilers and triple-expansion engines. Currently, the shipyard can only produce some mechanical equipment required for auxiliary power systems. Qing Ying was well aware of this basic situation. He nodded and said, "Mr. Flick, would you mind showing me the final side and top views and giving me a brief introduction?"

"It would be my honor." Flick untied the string on the document and took out two general plans.

"This design was led by me. Apart from the old Eumelian of the Wilhelm shipyard, who can reduce the tonnage by about 0.5% through piecemeal methods, no one else in the entire German Empire can achieve this performance with a smaller tonnage. Its standard displacement is 2,400 tons, full load displacement is 2,550 tons, length is 100 meters, width is 12 meters, draft is 4.3 meters, and the block coefficient is 0.461, making it an extremely slender ship. The power system consists of 6 water-tube boilers and 2 triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines, with a design power of 8,200 horsepower. If everything goes well, its speed will exceed 22 knots. In terms of armament, it is equipped with 10 105mm/40 caliber main guns, 8 37mm machine guns, and 3 450mm torpedo tubes. The 4 main guns are arranged in two twin-turret armored decks at the bow and stern, while the other 6 are individually placed on both sides. As for protection, apart from a 25mm thick armored deck from the bow ammunition room to the rudder, only the command tower has 60mm hardened armor." Flick explained.

Qing Ying focused on the high-definition drawing in his hand, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his lips when he saw the unique design of the twin-turret armored decks. This idea was initially proposed by Wilhelm II and first applied to his "Lead Duck." Although this brilliant idea was overshadowed by the name "Lead Duck," after it was rehabilitated, the concept of twin-turret armored decks was taken seriously by designers. Compared to the traditional layout of single-turret armored decks on both sides of the bow, the twin-turret design not only adds an extra gun to the broadside firepower but also offers significant advantages in other directions. The only drawback is the need for a larger base that can support two large guns and rotate quickly. For German engineers, achieving the combination of small-caliber guns on the deck in a twin-turret configuration presents no technical challenges in terms of material strength and structural design.

Compared to the 10 "Gazelle"-class cruisers that began construction in 1898, this design is 300 tons lighter, with the same power output, and even slightly better armament and protection. Of course, in addition to improvements in the hull structure and power system, the freeboard of this design is very low: except for the 33% of the bow with a 5-meter freeboard, the remaining 67% of the area is only 2.9 meters above the waterline under normal loading. This significantly saves tonnage but makes the ship less capable of withstanding rough seas, limiting it to near-shore operations. However, this small cruiser is not designed for ocean dominance. From the beginning, Qing Ying had set the requirement for a low freeboard, and now it seems to be quite effective!

Qing Ying repeatedly examined the drawing in his hand and could not help but praise, "A very good design, the freeboard must be this low! Didn't Frederick the Great also say that sailors who dislike being soaked by seawater are not good sailors, and ships that do not take on waves at the bow are not good ships? To compress the tonnage and enhance the three elements of the ship, a slight loss in seakeeping is a small price to pay."

"Your Highness, although I must admit that the low freeboard design has more advantages than disadvantages, and your initial requirements were far-sighted and wise, this language seems to be that of a Frenchman born in Corsica," Flick chuckled. He rested his elbows on the table, crossed his fingers in front of his chest, and said seriously, "Based on the combat requirements you proposed, I have made the greatest effort to optimize this design. Compared to the 4 150mm main guns proposed by Little Hedilla, this design, which is heavily armed with 105mm guns, is clearly more effective in protecting large warships. Its 7 105mm guns on one side can fire over 100 16-kilogram shells in one minute, enough to tear any torpedo boat that dares to approach into pieces. For unarmored cruisers without vertical armor, the 105mm guns, with a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute, have three times the probability of penetrating the waterline and causing flooding compared to 150mm guns."

Qing Ying nodded in agreement. Although he had proposed the idea of increasing the main gun's power two years ago, it was primarily for battleships and large armored cruisers. For small warships, specific issues must be analyzed specifically. If this ship is intended for close combat, the powerful 150mm guns are undoubtedly the best choice, and it should even be equipped with waterline armor. However, if it is only for escort duties, waterline armor is unnecessary, and 150mm guns are somewhat overkill. Thinking about this, Qing Ying felt a slight excitement. It seemed that Flick was a very promising individual, not bound by conventions!

Flick looked at the leather-bound package in his hand, his face showing a hint of tenderness, as if he were looking at a work of art he had carefully crafted. He said with a sense of pride, "Every drawing in here was personally drawn by me and my colleagues, including Little Hedilla. Compared to the designers in large shipyards who often borrow others' designs, this design is far superior in both quality and intuitive understanding. To reduce the weight, we worked tirelessly for over a month, finally bringing it down from the initial 2,500 tons to the current tonnage. If this design is adopted, it will be the best reward for us."

At this point, Flick seemed to think of something, his voice tinged with confidence, and a relaxed expression appeared on his face. He was one of the top small warship designers in the country, and the young man in front of him was the most influential person in the entire German Empire. Given his capabilities and connections, how could his design not be accepted? A moment later, he heard Qing Ying say, "Mr. Flick, I appreciate your and your team's efforts. When I leave, I will take this drawing with me and have it audited by the naval department in Berlin. If there are no issues, we will immediately prepare for construction."

Hearing the young crown prince's assurance, Flick's face lit up with a radiant smile. Just as he was about to thank the young man, he heard him speak again in a clear voice, "In addition, I have one more request. Is there anyone in the shipyard who is particularly skilled in submarine design?"

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