My Italian: Chapter 539 The intensifying naval shipbuilding competition

The end of the Balkan Wars was the last major event in Europe.

Restoring peace in the Balkans is also the wish of all countries, so when the treaty is signed, all countries sing praises, saying that it has maintained peace in Europe.

Peace has returned to the Balkans and peace has returned to Europe. To say calm might be a bit of an understatement, as the naval race in full swing is going on.

The British Empire announced at the beginning of 1909 that the United Kingdom would start construction of six large warships this year, of which the most noteworthy are four Aries-class super-dreadnoughts equipped with 10 343mm 45-caliber main guns.

These four Aries-class super-dreadnoughts are the emergency response battleships of the United Kingdom after learning that Germany, Italy and Austria will adopt 350mm main guns.

This class of warships has a normal displacement of 22,200 tons and a full-load displacement of 25,870 tons. The total length is 177.1 meters, the length between the vertical lines is 166.1 meters, the width of the ship is 27 meters, and the draft is 7.6 meters. Capacity: 752 people.

In terms of power, 18 Babcock-Wilcox-type coal-fired boilers provide 4 "Parsons" steam turbines with a power of 27,000 shaft horsepower, allowing the Aries-class super dreadnoughts to sail at a speed of 20.5 knots.

The main guns are 10 343mm guns/l45mkv (5×2), 16 102mm guns/l45mkvii (16×1) and 4 47mm guns to form the secondary battery, in addition to 3 533 mm torpedo launcher. In terms of protection, the main armor belt is 305-203 mm, the armored compartment is 254-76 mm, the turret armor is 279 mm, and the conning tower armor is 279 mm.

It can be seen from all aspects of performance that this battleship is really an emergency product.

For the British Empire, the continuous construction of new ships by the Allies is a direct challenge to its sea power. According to the words of Churchill, who just served as Secretary of the Navy, the British Empire is willing to spend the last penny on maintaining its sea power.

The determination of the British Empire to defend sea power at all costs has been seen by other countries, but they have seen it, but their determination to control sea power has not changed at all.

Germany has responded this year by building four large warships. Three of these are the latest Kaiser-class ships (also known as Caesars).

This class of battleship is also the first German battleship to use a 350mm main gun. The standard displacement of this class of warships is 25,100 tons, and the full-load displacement is 28,100 tons. This class of warships has a total length of 173.40 meters, a width of 29 meters and a draft of 9.10 meters. The power system is 16 kerosene mixed boilers, 3 steam turbines, the main engine power is 33,000 horsepower (up to 48,000 horsepower when overloaded), 3 axles, 2 rudders are arranged in parallel, and the maximum speed is 22 knots. Endurance: 7900 nautical miles/12 knots, 2400 nautical miles/21 knots.

In terms of firepower, the Caesar class is equipped with 8 350mm 45 caliber main guns, 4 double turrets, 14 150mm/45 caliber secondary guns, single mounted on the side; 12 single 88mm/45 caliber anti-torpedo boat guns; 5 500mm torpedo tubes.

On armor: main belt: 350mm, horizontal deck 110mm; turret: 320mm (front) - 150mm (top); broadside: 350mm (main belt) - 180mm (bow side) - 150 mm (stern broadside); conning tower: 350 mm.

In terms of single-ship performance, the difference between the German Kaiser class and the Italian Cavour class is mainly reflected in protection and speed.

This also has a lot to do with the different situations faced by the two countries. First of all, the German navy faces the high sea conditions in the North Sea, and the speed requirements are not so high, so Germany allocates the weight of the ships to the armor.

On the Italian side, because most of them are in the calm Mediterranean Sea, they have higher requirements for speed.

In addition, since Germany itself does not produce oil, the selection of boilers is mainly based on kerosene mixture. After all, it is necessary to consider the change to burning oil, so all the oil needed needs to be purchased. If there are some extreme accidents, So how can Germany provide fuel for these warships, and Germany is more coal-burning.

In addition to the biggest potential rival Germany, other countries are also in the construction of dreadnoughts. The United States also announced the start of construction of three large warships this year, two of which are the latest Wyoming-class battleships.

It needs to be explained here that although the United States has obtained the construction technology of dreadnoughts from Italy, the Americans may have their own unique views on dreadnoughts.

In addition to the Delaware-class battleships, which were initially built to Italian drawings, on the subsequent Florida-class, the adventurous designers of the US Naval Ship Design Institute made some improvements of their own, such as changing the turret to The first two and the third are basic operations. In addition, when the United States has insufficient technology, the warships built by it also have a small gap with Europe in terms of power.

Even the Delaware class built according to Italian drawings is somewhat different from the original Italian. For example, on the Dante class, its 18 oil-fired boilers and 4 steam turbines can reach a maximum power of 30,000 horsepower, driving the warship to run at a speed of 23 knots.

As for the Delaware class, under the same configuration, its maximum power is only 28,000 horsepower, which drives this class of battleships to run at a speed of 22.1 knots. On the one hand, the displacement is higher than that of the Dante, and the power output is lower.

From this point of view, it is also a consensus that the United States before World War I lags behind Europe in certain technological aspects. Not to mention that before the First World War, even during World War II, Europe was also technologically superior to the United States.

As for this new American Wyoming-class battleship, its biggest feature is that it is equipped with six 305mm 50-caliber double-mounted turrets (the front two and the rear four are piggybacked, which is wonderful enough). With six turrets installed on the 171.3-meter hull, it can only be said that Americans are extremely creative and adventurous.

And in order to install these six turrets, the boilers of this class of warships were compressed to 12, and the consequence was that the ship's maximum speed was reduced by 20.5 knots, which was basically the slowest speed among dreadnoughts. (This time and space is the first German dreadnought Nassau-class battleship, using Italian technology, the speed has reached 21 knots, and the follow-up Helgeland class has also reached 21 knots)

In addition to the participation of Germany and the United States in the naval shipbuilding competition, Austria-Hungary also announced the construction of two joint force classes this year. Austria-Hungary's construction of this class of warships received technical support from Germany and Italy, but Austria-Hungary may have its own ideas. , In the choice of the main gun, the main gun with a 305mm 50-caliber caliber is still selected, and Austria-Hungary still chooses four triple-mounted turrets.

However, it has received technical support from allies, and its hull and underwater structure have been optimized, which is indeed much better than the joint forces in history.

In addition, Italy's neighbor, France, finally decided to build a dreadnought. After the completion of the Dandong-class construction, the French navy's dreadnought Guba-class also announced the news of the start of construction earlier this year. Speaking of which, the French are also unusual. When all countries started to build dreadnoughts, the French were still building their own Dandong-class dreadnoughts. I really don't know what the French have in mind.

The ship is 166 meters long, 27 meters wide, and has a draft of 9.04 meters under full load. Its standard displacement is 23,475 metric tons, and when fully loaded, it displaces 25,579 metric tons. It has a top speed of 21 knots and is equipped with six 305mm twin turrets. Moreover, the layout of the Guba-class turrets is very interesting, with two turrets in the bow and stern, and one turret on each side of the other ship.

As France's first dreadnought, it can be said that the Guba class is already very good.

In addition to France, Russia and Japan in the Far East also started the construction of dreadnoughts.

Among them, Russia announced that it would start construction of four of its own dreadnoughts, which are also known as Gangut-class dreadnoughts.

As for Japan in the Far East, it also announced the construction of two Hanoi-class dreadnoughts this year.

As for Japan and Russia, which have only just begun to build dreadnoughts, I would be in tears if I say too much.

The previous war left the pockets of the two countries empty, and now it is difficult to breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, uukanshu.com has to participate in the construction of dreadnoughts, after all, it can be called a great power with this thing (as for Spain's shrinking model, it fully shows that its national strength is insufficient).

All countries are building their own dreadnoughts and super dreadnoughts. The Italian Navy can only watch with envy this year, because of the shrinking of funding this year and in order to ensure the construction of three Cavour-class ships, Italy can only wait any longer.

Although the Italian Navy is somewhat weak on large warships this year, the Italian Navy has not fallen behind in the construction of small warships.

With the construction of light cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines and other special ships, the Italian Navy continues to strengthen its capabilities.

After all, the navy cannot only have large warships, and various small warships and auxiliary ships are also indispensable. In addition, considering the long coastline of Italy, the coastal fortifications also cannot fall.

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