My Italian: Chapter 348 5-year shipbuilding plan

The Italian Navy has done a lot of hard work in escorting the Italian economy over the years.

For the Italian Navy, these hardships are nothing. After all, the Kingdom invests a lot of money every year, and the Navy still has to show enough effect. However, as time went on, the navy could feel that the naval warships were getting less and less. To be more precise, the cutting-edge battleships are becoming more and more insufficient.

Although the Venice Improvement class and the Turin class are masterpieces that pioneered the era, the warships launched in various countries are not weaker than the Turin class, and the catching up trend makes the Navy worried.

Therefore, from Admiral Argier, the Minister of the Navy, to the sailors, they all eagerly hope to enhance the strength of the navy, so that the Italian Navy can continue to gallop in the sea.

As the head of the Italian Navy, Admiral Yagier is of course duty-bound. But fortunately, His Majesty the wise king is still very concerned about the navy, so he has not forgotten the needs of the navy.

"Your Majesty, this is our Navy's five-year shipbuilding plan, please take a look at it."

Following the words of Admiral Yagier, a thick shipbuilding plan was handed to Carlo.

Carlo did not read the plan immediately, but asked Admiral Yagier. "Your Excellency, before reading the plan, I have to declare that in the next five years, the government will only allocate 280 million lire to build the ship, and will not allocate one more lire, so if the navy builds If the ship plan is exceeded, you must find a way to raise funds yourself.”

Why did Carlo say such heavy words first? The navy had precedents before this, and it was not once or twice that the warships were outfitting, and the money was spent. Then, in order to prevent the warships from being in service, the government can only allocate funds, because the money is not much, and it is about 10-15% of the balance. The Navy has done too much of this, and the government has also complained. This financial expenditure was originally a turnip and a pit. If the Navy gave too much, it needed to be deducted from other aspects.

Moreover, the new Prime Minister Antonio has a new look and is unwilling to take over this kind of shit.

Therefore, Carlo's intention to give priority to greetings is also to care about the Navy, so as to avoid any major conflicts between it and the government.

Facing Carlo's words, Admiral Yagier smiled unnaturally. "How can it be, this time our Admiralty will never do such a thing."

It's just that his words cannot convince Carlo that his unnatural expression has betrayed him.

Carlo opened the plan. The first page was the Navy's total scale of this shipbuilding. The Navy intends to build 3 new battleships, 3 new armored cruisers, 8 cruisers, 18 new battleships in the five-year shipbuilding plan. A torpedo boat destroyer (that is, a destroyer), as well as a variety of warships such as gunboats, torpedo boats, special support ships, etc.

In this shipbuilding list, the core is 3 battleships and 3 armored cruisers.

Because they are big guys with more than 10,000 tons, they are more able to attract Carlo's attention.

In order to facilitate Carlo's inspection, the Navy also carefully marked the performance requirements of each ship in this plan.

The three 10,000-ton armored cruisers must achieve a high speed of 22 knots in the Navy's requirements. The Admiralty believes that Italy cannot be left behind as countries are installing patrols faster and faster. Therefore, the new armor must be designed to have a speed that disdains the installation of patrols in various countries, so 22 knots are essential.

In addition, the firepower also cannot be left behind. Three twin-mounted 254mm rapid-fire guns must also be installed to target more and more patrols in the navies of various countries. As for the secondary gun, it will be considered after the main gun is equipped.

In addition to speed and firepower, the armor of warships also cannot lag behind. In terms of armor, the navy has good news, and the armor steel jointly studied with Krupp is even more successful. After water steel and oil steel, Krupp developed a carburized surface hardened nickel-chromium alloy steel, which is the famous Krupp armor steel. Compared with the Harvey armor steel currently used in various countries, the armor steel has a 25% improvement in protection performance.

This also means that with the same defense, only 80% of the weight can be achieved using Krupp armor steel. This not only saves tonnage, but also greatly benefits the design of warships.

The Admiralty's armor requirements for the new patrol are higher than that of the Venice Improvement. Compared with the 90mm-152mm hull armor of the Venice improved class, the hull armor requirements of the new cruiser are 115mm-190mm, and the armor height is also increased from 3.2 meters to 3.7 meters. The increased armor is mainly placed below the waterline. This is the experience summed up by the Navy after fighting with the Japanese. Because if attacked below the waterline, the unarmored warship will suffer serious damage.

As for the tonnage, the Admiralty also strictly restricted the standard displacement of no more than 11,000 tons and the full-load displacement of no more than 12,800 tons. As for endurance, it must not be less than 8,000 nautical miles/10 knots.

It can be said that if Italian designers can design this cruiser in accordance with the requirements of the Navy, as long as it is launched within three years, they can immediately regain the throne of the king of cruisers for Italy.

Carlo is very satisfied with the new patrol plan given by the navy, and is worthy of the Italian Navy, which is known for its high requirements.

However, when he saw the battleship plan, Carlo couldn't help frowning.

Admiral Yagier, who had been staring at Carlo, tightened his heart and hurriedly asked. "Your Majesty, is there anything inappropriate?"

Don't blame Admiral Yagier for being so nervous. This may be the biggest shipbuilding plan he has made in his tenure. The navy is eager to see it. If something goes wrong, how to explain to the naval officers and soldiers, he, the Minister of the Navy, is afraid Only take the blame and resign.

"There are indeed some problems. Do you feel that the battleship in the plan is not much different from the Turin class?"

Carlo expressed his doubts, which made Admiral Yagier a little embarrassed. Because the king is right, the new battleships are not much different from the current Turin class.

In the new plan of the Ministry of the Navy, the new battleship is required to be equipped with 4 356mm main guns, and the maximum speed is only 19 knots, and the maximum armor thickness is also 380mm, but considering the improvement of the new armor steel , which is better than the Turin class in protection. Of course, the only merit of the new battleship is that the displacement is less than that of the Turin class. Compared with the standard displacement of the Turin class of more than 14,900 tons, the standard displacement of the new battleship is required to be reduced to 13,500 tons.

This reduces the displacement while ensuring the firepower and speed and enhancing the defense power. This is a dojo in a snail shell, and it is equally difficult.

And reducing the displacement also has an advantage, that is, the construction cost of the new warship will definitely be cheaper than the Turin class.

The Admiralty does not start with performance, but starts with price. This is the more you live, the more you go back, right?

In fact, I can't blame the Admiralty for this, because the Turin-class design is very classic, and it is difficult for the Admiralty to set a high standard for the new warship.

To say that the large-caliber rapid-fire guns on the main guns have not yet been developed, it is impossible to greatly reduce the caliber in order to accommodate the rapid-fire guns. Isn't this putting the cart before the horse. In terms of power, even the latest three-expansion steam engine can't increase the horsepower much. As for the armor, you can think of some ways, but just relying on the armor to think of a way can not greatly improve the performance of the battleship. So the Admiralty can only make a new plan that is quite satisfactory.

Don't think that the Admiralty will only demand warship designers. In fact, this is also the most reasonable request made by the Admiralty after collecting the latest technologies. On the battleship, the Turin class is already dazzling enough, so I think The Admiralty couldn't think of a way to go far beyond the Turin-class new warships.

Facing Admiral Yagier explaining the difficulties of the Admiralty, Carlo nodded silently. It seems that it is really difficult for them to want the Admiralty to come up with an epoch-making masterpiece.

Since Admiral Yagier explained it like this, Carlo also accepted. After all, he must know more about battleships than the Navy.

However, considering the future development of warships, he still had to ask. "How is the steam turbine research going?"

"Currently the Naval Power Research Institute has built a 1,000-horsepower steam turbine ~www.mtlnovel.com~ and is testing it."

Admiral Yagier also reported good news but not bad news. He did not say a word about the results of this test, because the test results were very bad. In less than half an hour, the steam turbine exploded and almost injured people. reasons for tightness.

But Carlo continued to speak after hearing the good news. "The research on steam turbines must continue, and it is best to develop high-power ones. In addition, we must not fall behind the research and development of large-caliber rapid-fire naval guns and new ammunition."

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, our Admiralty will not leave this research behind."

Admiral Yagier's assurance, Carlo still believes, after all, the Navy is more active than anyone else in the research of large-caliber naval guns and new ammunition.

"Now I'm relieved!"

Speaking of which, Carlo turned to the page about the price in the plan, and the total shipbuilding cost of 287-325 million lire appeared strikingly in front of him.

According to his knowledge of the habitual criminal of the Admiralty, he should generally look at the latter number at this time.