The Rise of the Empire

Chapter 2433: Cruiser thing one



As for destroyers and submarines? Needless to say, destroyers, the future is mainly air defense and anti-submarine. On the submarine side, Dunnitz is in, and the submarine side can be handed over to the future Dunnitz. There is no need to worry about the Crown Prince now. Only such things as cruisers need to be considered.

Because the concept of cruisers covers too wide a range! Taking the First World War as an example, the Linxian-class light cruiser with a displacement of more than 3,000 tons can be called a cruiser. German warships equipped with 175MM artillery can also be called cruisers. The Mainz-class battleship that dragged Thomas desperately in the Norwegian Sea battle can also be called a cruiser! When the Americans were building a large number of capital ships, they were also building cruisers equipped with 10-inch artillery... So this matter is in trouble!

So, now the problem comes, the tonnage of the cruiser has expanded from 4,000 tons to 14,000 tons! This span is a bit big! If you think about some BT products in the future history, such as the Japanese super armor cruiser and the American Alaska-class super cruiser, the title span of this cruiser is like from Beijing to Tibetan Mastiff!

Regarding the development of cruisers, to some extent, it can be seen as a matter of adding more water to the surface, and adding more water to the surface! For the time being, the armored cruisers and protective cruisers of the pre-fearless era will not be mentioned, nor will we mention the so-called first, second and third class cruisers. Take the light cruiser built after the fearless era.

The British began building light cruisers with 6-inch artillery and 2 to 3 inch armor belts early on. The main task of these light cruisers was to deal with destroyers and the earliest German light cruisers equipped with 105mm artillery. And then, the German Navy quickly increased the artillery of the light cruiser to the 6-inch level, and at the same time enhanced the protection, so after ensuring the speed, 6-inch artillery and a certain degree of armor belt, the tonnage of the light cruiser was generally reached. Up and down 5000 tons!

However, in order to suppress the British light cruisers equipped with 6-inch guns, the German Navy began to build light cruisers with main guns on the central axis and equipped with 175MM turret guns. No surprise, the tonnage of this level of light cruisers approached directly. To 7000 tons! However, the British are actually preparing to continue to expand the tonnage and armament of the light cruiser. This is true both in this plane and in history, but unfortunately, because the British battleship has lost too much, a lot of resources and manpower have been transferred to the construction of the battleship. So these light cruisers were not completed.

In history, the first cruiser equipped by the British with artillery over 6 inches was the famous Hawkins-class cruiser. Construction of this class of light cruiser started in 1916, and has been in service since 1919. The standard displacement of this class of light cruiser is as high as 9,500 tons! Equipped with 7 7.5-inch guns. The output power is 70,000 horsepower, the maximum speed is 31 knots, and it has a range of 5,400 nautical miles at a speed of 14 knots.

However, the inability to equip this class of light cruisers in Britain does not mean that other countries are incapable! For example, the United States on this plane is already building cruisers with more than 6-inch guns. This is the Omaha class cruiser now in service! That's right, it's Omaha. This class of cruiser was the first American light cruiser in history. But in this plane, it has become an existence closer to a heavy cruiser! With the requirements for heavy armor, long range, and high endurance, the tonnage of this class of warships has approached 10,000 tons!

Well, there is a German pot among them. The Germans came up with this type of cruiser using the 175mm artillery to suppress the British light cruisers. In actual combat, the performance of this cruiser is really good. And in line with the principle that the enemy has it, we also have it, the British are prepared to be high but lack money. Americans are not short of money and naturally start to make a big deal! 7 ships were launched in the first batch!

However, because of the different environment and positioning, Germans can do this, but it may not be cost-effective for Americans to do this! First of all, it must be understood that the role of light cruisers is to counter lightning strikes and reconnaissance. The light cruiser with a displacement of 5,000 tons is actually very cost-effective. The cost is average, the quantity is sufficient, and it is enough to deal with the general 4-inch guns of the destroyer, and the speed is fast enough.

However, the German 175MM artillery cruiser has only one task, and that is to deal with the opponent’s 5000-ton light cruiser. In fact, the 175MM artillery is not easy to use against the destroyer. The reason is simple. The 175MM artillery can not be quickly achieved by relying solely on manpower. Yes, so you have to configure heavy and complex servo equipment, that is, turn the artillery into a turret, and all this is considered the higher tonnage and cost. When dealing with destroyers, the performance of the 6-inch gun is actually sufficient. As a result, the mission of this German 175MM artillery light cruiser is too single.

But the Germans still do it. The reason is simple. Although the tonnage has increased, in general, because Germany is mainly fighting offshore, there is no need to consider endurance. This can save a lot of tonnage, and because British light cruisers do not have artillery over 6 inches~www.novelhall.com~ and artillery shells rarely have special armor-piercing shells, so German 175MM cruisers only need to be able to defend 6-inch semi-armor-piercing shells. Enough, so after weakening the armor and range, the Germans can take it with 7,000 tons. The cost rise is not high.

But for the British and Americans, it is different. Whether it is the United Kingdom, which has colonies all over the world, or the United States, which needs to fight in the remote Western Pacific, they all need warships to have a long range! And if we consider the housing problem of long-time missions, the tonnage of British and American light cruisers will definitely rise!

The British Hawkins-class cruiser is to deal with the German 175MM artillery light cruiser, so the defense must not be too low, which requires the need to increase armor. The Americans must also consider dealing with Japanese light cruisers of the same level in the future, so they must also increase their armor. Under the requirements of increasing armor and range, it is normal that the tonnage of the so-called 7.5-inch gun cruisers of the United States and Britain approaches 10,000 tons. It can be said that the behavior of the German High Seas Fleet led to a certain degree of vicious competition!

Of course, it is foreseeable that in the future, the Germans will also be affected. The reason is simple. After acquiring a large number of British colonies in Africa, the German navy also began to enter the ocean! In the future, we will also need to face cruisers of the same level from other countries, and the armor and range must also be increased. Therefore, without exception, all performance requirements must be transformed into tonnage and cost increase... This was originally a stopgap measure, but in various vicious competition situations, everyone couldn't stop the brakes if they wanted to!

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