The investigation of the commission of inquiry concluded that the extensive use of electrical welding in the newly built ships of the Japanese Navy was the main cause of the accident. In addition, the Fourth Fleet encountered huge waves that had not been encountered before. Generally speaking, a wave-height-to-wavelength ratio of 1/20 is considered a rare wave, but according to the descriptions of the ships of the Fourth Fleet, the ratio of wave height to wavelength in the event of Typhoon No. 2 reached 1/10, and the sea conditions far exceeded the level that the ships were designed to handle.

After the "Fourth Fleet Incident," the Japanese Navy carried out a second major refit of all its warships, the main content of which was to increase the strength, and in addition to removing some armament from the small ships to increase stability. After this incident, the stability and structural strength of the newly built and rebuilt Japanese warships were greatly improved, and the resilience to rough sea conditions was also greatly improved.

In addition, the "Fourth Fleet Incident" exposed Japan's shortcomings in the study of meteorology and typhoons in the Pacific. Since then, Japan has set up many meteorological observation stations on the islands of the western Pacific Ocean and dispatched meteorological observation vessels to understand the structure of typhoons and acquire knowledge to deal with them. The "Fourth Fleet Incident" stimulated the development of meteorology in Japan later, and it can be regarded as a harvest of misfortune.

The negative impact of the Fourth Fleet Incident was that the Japanese Navy lost trust in welding technology. After the incident, Dr. Hiraga, a conservative shipbuilding expert, took control of the shipbuilding department of the Ship Administration Headquarters, and Hiraga ordered the abolition of electric welding on all newly built ships and replaced them with traditional riveting. Hiraga has always seemed to have a peculiar distrust of new technologies, and under his leadership Japan has become increasingly conservative in the design of warships.

After learning of Hiraga's practice, Fujimoto Kikuo was furious, and he angrily pointed out that this practice of choking on food is a retrogression in shipbuilding technology, and will make the Japanese navy widen the gap with the United States and Britain in the future. But at this time, he was because of these two accidents. He has been removed from all his duties, and he no longer has the power to exert influence on the shipmaster's headquarters.

Seeing that Hiraga was determined to go his own way. Fujimoto Kikuo knew it was useless to talk about it. He sighed and stopped talking, but silently watched as the staff packed up his drawings and materials.

A breeze blew in through the window, and a sketch of a design floated from the table. Under the blowing of the breeze, it actually fell to the feet of Fujimoto Kikuo, Fujimoto Kikuo leaned over and picked up the drawing, and when his eyes fell on the familiar line drawing on the drawing, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

At the mark of this drawing, the eye-catching words "Super Battleship" are prominently written.

Hiraga stepped forward and snatched the blueprint from Fujimoto Kikuo when he saw the giant battleship with quadruple guns arranged in a pyramid pattern. I couldn't help but sneer contemptuously.

This picture is a design of the Japanese "Super Battleship" designed by Kikuo Fujimoto that has been rejected.

In its concept of "future operations," the Japanese Navy once envisaged building a "super battleship" equipped with a 510-mm main gun as the main surprise attack force in a decisive battle against the United States at sea. The idea was first conceived in 1930. By 1933, the Japanese Navy's Ship Administration Headquarters had the idea of "building a giant battleship that would be wider than the Panama Canal locks." On October 21, 1933, Ishikawa Shingo Nakasa, a staff officer of the Naval Command Department, published an article entitled "A Humble View on Armament Countermeasures for the Second Phase," in which he argued that "the birth of the 'dreadnought' made all the existing battleships of that time obsolete overnight. Now, with only 70 percent of the U.S. strength, building a warship that is more powerful than all existing battleships would tilt the U.S.-Japanese naval balance in favor of Japan. Gain's giant warships will surpass the Panama Canal, and the United States is building similar warships for a naval arms race. It is necessary to build enough to allocate to the two oceans, which will impose an unbearable economic burden on the United States. ”

End of 1933. Ishikawa Shingo commissioned Edazaki Iwakichi Nakasa, a confidant of Fujimoto Kikuo, the designer of the Ship Administration Headquarters, to calculate the main parameters of the giant battleship: a displacement of 50,000 tons and a speed of more than 30 knots. The main gun is about 9 20-inch guns, and the defense capability is to defend against existing 16-inch shells at a distance of 20,000 to 38,000 meters, and in addition, it can still ensure safety after hitting about 10 500-kilogram warhead torpedoes. According to estimates, the power of this class of "super battleships" will be 40 to 50 percent stronger than the Japanese Navy's existing "Nagato" class battleships, China's "Republic" class battleships, the United States' "Colorado" class battleships, and Britain's "Nelson" class battleships, and in the Pacific direction, in view of the fact that the Chinese Navy's "Republic" class battleships and "Glorious" class battlecruisers have been dismantled, the construction of two such "super battleships" will be able to resist the existing US Navy "Colorado" class battleships. And capable of destructively overwhelming the opposing side in the combat effectiveness of a single ship. …,

On March 21, 1934, at its second meeting, the Japanese Navy's Arms Limitation Research Committee studied the relevant materials, as well as reference materials for the shipbuilding competitions of other countries. The Arms Limitation Research Committee was established in 1927 by Vice Admiral Kichizaburo Nomura, then Vice Admiral of the Navy, and composed of members from the Ministry of the Navy, the Military Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of the Navy, the Naval Ship Administration Headquarters, and the Naval Aviation Headquarters. After studying the matter, the committee decided to conduct a study on the feasibility of a "super-warship," including what kind of maximum caliber the ship's main guns should use, whether other countries, especially the United States, have the ability to build similar warships, and what the budget and daily maintenance costs would be. Because Japan was already aware that the United States was building battleships with 16-inch guns, the caliber of the main guns of the "super battleship" had to surpass it.

The technical specifications of the "super battleship" proposed by Kikuo Fujimoto are 50,000 tons of standard displacement, 60,000 tons of full load displacement, 290 meters long, 38 meters wide, and 9.8 meters draft. It is armed with 12 20-inch guns, mounted in three quadruple turrets in the bow, modeled after the British "Nelson" class battleships, arranged in a pyramidal shape. In addition, it is equipped with 16 155-mm secondary guns, all of which are installed in twin turrets, 8 to 11 127-mm anti-aircraft guns, several anti-aircraft machine guns, 12 seaplanes capable of dive bombing, and 3 catapults. The thickness of the broadside armor was 16 inches. The thickness of the armored deck was 11 inches. The "Super Battleship" will be equipped with a steam turbine with a total power of 140,000 horsepower and a speed of about 30 knots. 6000 tons of oil.

The 20-inch caliber naval guns required for the "Super Battleship" greatly exceeded the current level of Japanese military technology. 1916 year. The Wu Factory of the Navy once trial-produced a "36 centi" (the actual caliber is 480 mm) naval gun, but due to the poor steel-making, casting and other technologies, there were small cracks and sand holes in the gun body. The cannon exploded in the ninth firing while conducting a firing experiment at the Kameshou Shooting Range on Kurahashi Island. Later, Japanese technicians changed the caliber to a smaller one. A 460-mm gun was tested, and the test firing was barely successful with a reduced charge. In 1927, the Wu Navy Factory also faced technical difficulties in the trial production of a 410-mm naval gun with a long body (52.5 times diameter), and had to give up hastily after making rough wood for the gun body. Having learned from the past, the head of the first department of the Naval Gun Design Headquarters had to point out the technical risks faced by the production of 20-inch naval guns.

On July 5, 1934, Ezaki Iwayoshi proposed a revised design of the "Super Battleship": a displacement of 67,000 tons and armed with nine 460-mm guns. Installed in three triple turrets, all concentrated in the bow of the ship; 4 x 155 mm triple secondary turrets, 4 x twin 127 mm anti-aircraft guns; 6 axles, 200,000 horsepower. It has a speed of 31 to 33 knots and a cruising range of 10,000 nautical miles at 18 knots. The core idea of the design is to intercept the U.S. aircraft carrier battle group at a high speed of 33 to 34 knots with 2 super warships and 2 newly-built aircraft carriers as the core. In addition, there is a second option with 4 axles and a maximum speed of 28 knots.

However, the "Tomozuru Incident" and the "Fourth Fleet Incident" in 1934 forced the design of the "Super Battleship" to be terminated and re-examined. The plans of the "shipbuilding geniuses" Fujimoto Kikuo and Ezaki Iwaiyoshi were rejected, and Keiji Fukuda took over the design of the "super battleship", and Hiraga Jean, a veteran of the Japanese shipbuilding industry, served as the technical director. At this time, the "aviation faction" represented by Major General Isoroku Yamamoto, head of the Aviation Headquarters, had already keenly seen the huge superiority of aircraft carriers in future naval warfare. Therefore, they opposed the construction of two useless giant warships, but the die-hard "battleship party" led by Prince Fushimi Miyahiro, the chief of the military command department, the minister of the navy, Otkaku Tsusei, and the head of the ship administration headquarters, Nakamura Ryozo. The idea of "fleet aviation" was negated, and huge ships were to be built anyway. as a "symbol of the spirit of the Imperial Navy".

In October 1934, the Military Command Department sent the Ezaki design plan back to the Ship Administration Headquarters, proposing to increase the speed to about 35 knots and increase the broadside defense. The person in charge of the design pushed back the opinion of the military command on the grounds that it was "technically impossible". The Military Command Department then revised the key items of the super battleship again, believing that the combat mission of the new warship in the future will mainly be to participate in the pursuit of the enemy aircraft carrier fleet and to carry out water strike battles with the battlefleet, so it is necessary to improve the design conditions and move one of the main turrets to the stern. Finally, on December 1, 1934, under the program code name "A-140", the Ship Administration Headquarters was officially ordered to begin design work. The "Super Battleship" was thus included in the Japanese Navy's shipbuilding program. This was the later battleship of the "Yamato" class.

As for the design of the "super battleship", Fujimoto Kikuo also has a "private design case", in this plan, the displacement of the super battleship is enlarged to 72,000 tons, the total length is 320 meters, and the main gun is 12, which is installed in the three main turrets in the bow of the ship in a quadruple way, and the ship type is similar to the "Nelson" class. Due to the size and weight of the turret, the proposal was not submitted to the Ship Administration Headquarters for discussion. …,

The drawing that Kihisao Fujimoto was holding in his hand just now and was taken away by Hiraga Jean was the design sketch of "Fujimoto's Private Case". This can be said to be the masterpiece of Fujimoto Kikuo's "ghost career".

Fujimoto Kikuo watched blankly as Hiraga handed over the drawings to a staff member and put them in the file bag, he took out his handkerchief, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and slowly regained his composure.

Soon, the staff had almost sorted out the drawings and materials in the room, and Hiraga Jean was about to leave when a staff member came over and handed him a pencil drawing. And Fujimoto Kikuo's gaze also fell on the painting.

In this painting, a mighty battleship is carefully sketched with pencils of different thicknesses, this battleship has a huge tower bridge and chimney, and at the bow of the ship, there are three huge quadruple turrets arranged in a pyramid, at this time, the quadruple main guns of these huge turrets raise two barrels each, and fire fiercely into the sky at a 45-degree angle, and the muzzles of the guns spew out long flames. Thick black smoke. Around this giant battleship there were several cruisers and destroyers. And in the skies above the fleet. There are even several planes painted.

"You drew this?" Hiraga immediately recognized that this was the "Fujimoto version of the super battleship", and couldn't help but sneer again.

Fujimoto Kikuo nodded a little blankly.

Hiraga Jean looked at this imaginary picture again, he looked at Fujimoto Kikuo's bloodshot eyes and gray hair on his sideburns, and handed the painting in his hand to Fujimoto Kikuo with an expressionless face. Turned and walked away.

Beijing, Admiralty of the Republic of China, Directorate of Naval Intelligence.

At this time, in the intelligence analysis room, several people were talking about the latest information that had just been obtained from Japan.

"After the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Japanese Navy reformulated its naval rearmament plan as a countermeasure to the Washington Conference. The plan is divided into Plan A and Plan B, and Plan A that needs to be completed as a 'current contingency' includes: First. Complete 2 aircraft carriers "Panjo" and "Tenryu", second, build 8 "Furutaka" class medium cruisers and 8 "Myoko" class large cruisers, third, secure the construction of 26 destroyer hulls, and fourth, build 14 cruiser submarines, 10 mine submarines and 28 fleet dives. ”

"Submarines?"

"It's a submarine. The Japanese call it is awkward. ”

"This list is actually very revealing. From this list. We can see that the Japanese Navy's countermeasure to the "Washington Treaty" is to build a large number of cruisers, destroyers, large submarines, and other types of ships that are not limited in the treaty, and at the same time develop new long-range oxygen torpedoes, in order to give full play to the numerical superiority of these auxiliary warships and the advantages of torpedo warfare in the beginning of the war, and to consume the American fleet as much as possible before the decisive battle between the two fleets, so as to be able to defeat the main fleet of the United States with the existing fleet size in the final fleet decisive battle. According to the statistics of the Japanese Navy's "Arisukai" in 1934, in the years from the entry into force of the "Washington Treaty" to 1934, the "warship manufacturing cost" of the Japanese Navy for the construction of capital ships was 165.23 million yen. The cost of building auxiliary warships such as destroyers, submarines, and submarine carriers amounted to 938.26 million yen. This ratio also reflects the development trend of the Japanese Navy during this period. ”

"Yes, 1926 and 1927. The Japanese Navy twice added a shipbuilding program in order to increase its torpedo warfare forces in the ocean. The new warship construction program includes 8 Kaohsiung-class cruisers, 36 destroyers of the Fuxue type, 3 additional cruiser submarines and 5 fleet submarines. The new shipbuilding program is called Plan B. On the eve of the London Naval Conference. Plan C was also formed, which included the construction of six "King Kong" class ships, six additional "Kaohsiung" class cruisers and 30 "blowing snow" destroyers, six additional cruiser submarines and 36 fleet submarines, and two additional large aircraft carriers. ”

"The current Japanese Navy has formed the first supplementary plan for the 1932 year, the 'One Plan', with Plan C as the main body. After proposing the 'nine-stage operation' strategy against the United States, the plan was supplemented in 1933, and the second supplementary plan for 1934-1935, the 'Second Plan', was formed, which included the construction of two 'Soryu' aircraft carriers, four 'Mogami' cruisers, and the addition of 'Chuchun' destroyers. ”

"At their rate of expansion, we're in danger!"

"The speed of expansion is one thing, the key is that we understand their strategic intentions in order to be targeted."

Since the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese Navy's idea of a decisive battle against the United States has been to gather the main forces of the fleet in the waters around Amami Oshima, and then advance to the sea east of Honshu Island to launch a 'torpedo war on the ocean' and a decisive battle for the fleet. Based on the information we have now, there has been basically no major change in the thinking of the Japanese, except for moving the decisive battle to the Ogasawara Islands. After the London Conference, the Japanese Navy's plan to expand its auxiliary warships was also aborted, and they further decided to extend the battlefield to the Central and Eastern Pacific, and launch surprise attacks as soon as the U.S. fleet left its home port. The product of the constant revision of this concept is the so-called 'nine-stage operation' plan. ”

"The 'Nine-Paragraph Operation' plan? What is the 'nine-stage method'? ”

"It sounds like this 'nine-stage operation' has nothing to do with our Chinese Navy."

"This 'nine-stage operation' is actually quite interesting, let's take a look at it specifically." An officer waved his hand, and as the staff operated, a huge map of the Pacific Rim was quickly placed on the shadow wall.

"This 'nine-stage operation' is specifically aimed at the Americans, and for us, the Japanese actually have other arrangements, let's talk about their methods of dealing with the Americans first."