Chapter 555 The Heat of a Super Battleship

"It's hard to imagine that the Russians are willing to invest so much this time, the first Soviet ship needs a budget of 1.2 billion rubles, and the budget of the Soviet and Russian Navy is only a little more than a year old? I'm afraid I'm going to put it in. "Marshal Forbes looked at the intelligence gathered by the British intelligence officers and felt only a toothache. At this time, the ruble did not change as much as in later generations, and it was almost the same as the ratio of the ocean. 1.2 billion rubles is just as good as three or four billion dollars.

However, after spending a huge amount of self-production, the invested funds were transferred to the domestic capital recycling process, and the corresponding technology was also obtained. This is also one of the main reasons why the Russians paid for two Yamato-class battleships, and then stopped, and they were willing to seek easy difficulties.

"Soviet Russia has increased the budget investment of the navy, you must know that their calculation system is different from that of others, and a lot of work is unpaid." Pound frowned.

"But the tone of the Soviets and Russians is really a large-ton super-battleship with 450 mm naval guns, do they have the strength?" Forbes scoffed, saying that he didn't suspect anything about the news that Meng Xiang had specially spread from Skynet, but only about Soviet Russia's manufacturing capabilities. Although Soviet Russia's economic power has surpassed that of Britain, the British have always been world-class in shipbuilding. Even the British scratched their heads a little about such a design, not to mention the Soviet Russians, whose naval strength has always been poor.

In fact, the former Soviet-class battleships were suspected of a big leap forward in the strength of Soviet Russia at that time. Not to mention raising the bar

"Just do it, there's nothing you can't do!" Churchill spoke suddenly.

"The glory of the empire has been overshadowed by the golden light of gold coins, and the immense power of steel of the empire has been forgotten. Even that grizzly bear is about to go into the water, is the British Empire really falling? Churchill asked, "No, if we do it, we can do it." The world needs to hear the roar of our new Lion King! ”

The new Lion King that Churchill referred to was a super-class battleship that the British had planned to build. The Battle of Cape Roca had already overwhelmed the obsolescence of the British's main battleships. Although three super-battleships stabilized their position, the Germans were getting stronger and stronger in their navy. Three super-class warships were obviously not enough, and although the intervention and support of the Americans behind them alleviated the crisis of the British moving to the field, they ultimately relied on themselves.

No one knows how long the war will last, and as long as the British do not plan to give in, they will be ready for a protracted war. Relying on buying is also unreliable, and the price is high, and the British who have the production capacity lack nothing more than time. In order to make a lasting calculation, the British also had to have their own plans for the production of superships.

The Lion-class battleship only had a standard displacement of 42,550 tons, and the three triple 45-fold 406-mm naval guns were obviously not too much of a threat to the Yamato-class battleships.

Since the presentation of the Yamato-class battleships of the Germans, the construction of the Lion-class battleships has been stopped early, and new modifications have already come out, but the huge cost has made the British hesitate. It was not until after the crisis of the Battle of Cape Roca that the British ruthlessly launched the construction program of a new Lion-class super-battleship.

The King Lion-class battleships were an expansion of the King George V-class battleships and the Lion-class battleships, and were designed by absorbing some of the features of the Yamato-class battleships. Not to mention, the British's familiarity with the sea is unparalleled. They quickly corrected some of the shortcomings in the Battle of Cape Roca, and absorbed some of the advantages of Zhenyuan and Dingyuan, revised the original plan, and finally presented the new Lion King class.

The British explained for a long time, and finally determined the tonnage to about 60,000 tons. Although the standard displacement of the Yamato-class battleships and the new Soviet-class battleships of Soviet Russia is about 65,000 tons, if the quality of the armor steel is better and some of the designs are more reasonable, the British have a control of about 60,000 tons. They don't need fame, hundreds of years of naval construction have made everything practical.

The standard displacement of 60,000 tons is crossed, which makes the placement of armor and firepower more comfortable.

But when it came time to choose firepower, there was a discord within the British.

"As long as you hit, you will get results!" Some people believe that the advantage of firepower lies in the density of firepower, although it does not necessarily break the defense of the armor in important parts, but the threat of close misses to the underwater armor and the weakness of the horizontal armor still make those ordinary naval guns a great threat. Moreover, the 45 times the diameter of 406 mm, which the British originally planned to use on the Lion-class battleships, was also a powerful gun. If it is a four-seat triple-mounted 12-gun gun, it can have a more dense firepower, and some people have even proposed a five-seat triple-mounted naval gun.

Under such dense firepower, even if the Yamato-class battleship took a few hits, it would have to do a lot of damage. At least the defense of air defense, etc., will be greatly reduced, and the rest can be delivered the final fatal blow by the ship's torpedoes, or even by the torpedo machines on the aircraft carrier.

"One lethal hit is the most effective attack!" This firepower hedgehog was rejected by another group of people, who firmly believed in the power of a cannon that could penetrate all armor.

After seeing the giant cannons of the Yamato-class battleships, some British people also liked the power of the cannons. In World War I in '15, the British designed an 18-inch naval gun with a diameter of 40 times, and when the 457 mm naval gun was put into service in '17, the British found that their battleships at that time could not withstand such a huge recoil.

But they still did not abandon the pursuit of giant artillery, and in 20 years, they also designed an 18-inch naval gun with a diameter of 45 times. If the hull is enlarged to more than 60,000 tons, the recoil of the cannon can still withstand after precise design.

"With radar, with accurate calculations, can't you do a fatal blow? It's much better than setting off fireworks all over the sky, but in the end you get nothing. "These Cannon Clans hold on to the long-standing belief in Giant Cannons, and in their design, four twin or three triple like the Yamato-class will do.

But the density-hungry people cling to their multi-turret credo and go toe-to-toe with it.

However, the British could not afford to pass the time with such quarrels.

In the end, they adopted two options, the Lion-class battleship equipped with eight improved 42-caliber 457-mm naval guns, and the Lion-Guard-class armed with 12 45-caliber 406-mm guns. Each is equipped with 3 ships first. Of course, those multi-turret parties were not convinced, and the multi-gun battleships in their minds only got the name of the Lion Guard, and they all called them the avant-garde class.

In the calculations of the British, the Lion-King and Lion-Guard-class battleships could be formed together. In this way, the power of the 18-inch cannon combined with 12 naval guns with dense fire will be more effective.

At this time, the Americans were also thinking about the matching of their Meng Dana-class battleships.

The charm of the super-class battleships that Meng Xiang preached did make the world set off a frenzy of super-class battleships. Even the Italians took the plunge to order a Yamato-class battleship to compensate for the losses of their Mediterranean fleet. But a part of the U.S. Navy still adheres to the theory of their aircraft carriers.

Americans, who are planning to replace themselves as the new hegemons of the seas, are more receptive to new things.

At this time, the Americans were the most thorough country in the study of aircraft carriers. Huge money and huge investment have allowed them to go further.

"Although the super battleship is very powerful, we must recognize one thing, that is, the torpedoes dropped by our aircraft can completely sink that Fantasy-class battleship." William Frederick Halsey Jr. said reluctantly. The attitude of this brute bull was at this time beside the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Hasbender Kimmmel, "What we need should be more aircraft carriers, not those steel coffins." My USS Saratoga needs to be bigger, it can carry more planes, and at least it should be able to take off a little bigger bomber. ”

Kimmel listened quietly, and after Halsey finished speaking, he spread his hands and said, "These are just based on the fact that your plane can hit those super battleships, and hit them frequently. But do you know that if that Fantasy-class battleship is modified with new anti-aircraft weapons, plus the air defense of cruisers and destroyers, do you think your plane will be able to fly above their heads? ”

This theory thrown by Meng Xiang is very popular, especially under the conditions at this time, which directly knocked the aircraft carrier faction down half. In the Battle of Cape Roca, the tightness of the anti-aircraft fire of Zhenyuan and Dingyuan also left a deep impression on the world, and the swordfish and skuas at that time did not have much opportunity under the intensive anti-aircraft fire.

As a result, the world has more trust in the power of super-battleships.

"If I am given more and better carrier-based aircraft, I believe I can do it!" Halsey said with confidence that he had seen the rapid growth of aircraft carriers and aircraft, and he might not be able to do so now, but he firmly believed that the future would definitely belong to aircraft carriers.

"But not yet. Unless you can convince the parliamentarians. Protect our future coastal defense with aircraft carriers and aircraft, rather than the heavy armor of super-battleships that give people a sense of peace. Kimmel sat there without moving, and pointed his right index finger at the headache-inducing man in front of him and chuckled, "Unless you can prove that your aircraft carrier can be worthy of the Republic's new super-class battleship, the Meng Dana, I can only regret to say that you still need to continue to obey the command from above on this issue." ”ro