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A gust of wind swept by, causing the hems of their trench coats to flutter loudly. Standing in the rain at the dock, they watched as two new domestically built destroyers sounded their horns and slowly set sail, leaving the port.
The smell of paint still lingered on the warship, but storms were imminent once it left port.
After the delivery ceremony, Liu Ting, as a representative of the Ministry of National Defense, did not leave Shanghai but continued to the Songjiang Naval Design Bureau, and Zheng Shiyan, as a naval representative, went with him.
The real event is what follows. The launch and commissioning of the destroyer were expected; success would be a given, while failure would be unbelievable.
The next phase of warship design being planned by the Naval Design Bureau will be a pivotal event that will determine the fate of the navy for decades to come.
Liu Ting and Zheng Shiyan could only participate in the process as representatives. Even the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of the Navy could only offer some opinions. The final decision-making power rested with the Imperial Study.
The Navy will launch the "Three Ones" plan next year, which is one cruiser, one warship and one aircraft carrier. This is the Navy's core plan for the next five years. If things go smoothly, they will continue down this path. If things don't go smoothly, it will be a waste of five precious years.
No one dares to take this lightly; it's a strategic plan concerning the nation's maritime power!
First is the cruiser program. Last year, the Navy launched the construction project of the experimental cruiser "Confucius" to test the Republic's ability to build large surface warships.
The initial construction cost for the Confucius was estimated at around six or seven million, but it kept rising and surged to over 11 million, almost overwhelming the navy.
This isn't even a capital ship, just a cruiser. A cost of tens of millions is really unacceptable.
What's worse is that there's just an empty hull on the slipway. It's been almost a year, and so much money has been poured in, but all that's left is an empty shell sitting in the dock.
The navy, of course, was not happy about this, so they sent people to investigate what was going on. In the end, the navy was embarrassed to find that the shipyard had not embezzled any money, but instead they had to continue to put money in.
Because the money was spent on things other than the shipyard. To be honest, the shipyard is just a final assembly workshop. The real technological content that requires a lot of money is in other factories.
Developing things like triple-mounted turrets, large-caliber naval guns, large armor manufacturing, large marine propulsion systems, optical aiming instruments, marine power systems, and communication equipment all require massive amounts of funding. Even if you ask the Germans for help, you'll still have to spend money, or even more.
Some progress has been made. The 150mm triple turret land firing test has been successful. Although the accuracy is slightly worse than that of the twin turret, it is perfectly acceptable. The triple turret technology is now a unique technology of the Republic. Even the Germans are envious and can only buy it.
The gun factory of the Jiangnan Gun and Cannon Bureau has now mastered the production technology of 210mm caliber naval guns. Although it can only produce 210mm guns with a caliber of 38 calibers at present, it is expected to be able to produce guns with a caliber of 45 calibers in the next year or the year after.
Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant and Shanghai Iron and Steel Company also completed the technology of processing and manufacturing large armor plates by importing equipment. Although they could not compare with the technology of Britain and Germany, or even the technology of the United States, they at least had it. They could not meet the needs of large main warships of more than 30,000 tons, but they could meet the needs of warships of 10,000 to 20,000 tons.
In terms of marine propulsion systems, domestic manufacturers have begun to develop large-scale steam turbines and high-pressure boilers for ships, and breakthroughs are expected before 1915.
In terms of optical instruments and power system technology, it's not just the navy that's spending money; civilian manufacturers and central authorities are also investing heavily to advance these technologies.
Without these supporting subsystems in place, any plans to build large domestically produced warships will be futile.
The experimental cruiser "Confucius" only needs these byproducts of the research and development process to meet its needs. The real need for these subsystems to play their full role will be in the future large surface ships that weigh tens of thousands of tons.
The Confucius probe was merely an experimental platform, an expensive test subject used to verify the reliability and practicality of these technologies.
The Confucius probe, after several rounds of revisions, has not changed much in its basic data, but its actual performance and reliability are far superior to before.
The previous Confucius was just an enlarged version of the Xingxiu-class destroyer, but now you can think of the Confucius as a scaled-down version of a future large Chinese naval vessel.
At best, the Confucius is a light cruiser. In the future, the Republic Navy will continue to improve and upgrade it based on the construction experience of the Confucius, and develop the next generation of light cruisers.
The real core of the cruiser construction plan is still the heavy cruiser plan. One of the three plans that the Navy will launch next year is a heavy cruiser.
Currently, the Songjiang Naval Design Bureau has submitted multiple plans to the central government for review, but they have all been rejected. After multiple rounds of overhaul and redesign, the most promising plan is the fourth one.
The basic parameters of the cruiser in the fourth design scheme have been determined. The ship's shape follows the standard design of the Republic, with a square stern, long forecastle, and flared bow.
With a displacement of about 15,000 tons, it is equipped with three triple 210mm naval guns, two forward and one aft. The armor adopts a focus on protection, just like the Kongzi, which only needs to protect the core compartment with the main armor belt, without comprehensive protection.
However, one improvement over the Confucius was that the fourth design added a mine protection belt and core compartment box armor protection, and also increased the protection of the horizontal armor.
In terms of speed, the fourth design still uses a heavy oil high-pressure steam boiler and steam turbine as the power combination, requiring a maximum speed of at least 30 knots.
This plan is the one that best meets the central expectations after being rejected multiple times.
This is also part of Zhao Yan's "small steps, quick progress" strategy. First, start the heavy cruiser construction plan, and observe the situation while building. If everything goes smoothly, then proceed to launch the main warship plan.
If things don't go smoothly, then the main battleship plan will be shelved until the heavy cruisers are completed, and then we'll see how things go.
Every step must be taken steadily, whether fast or slow.
First, develop experimental cruisers. Once the experimental cruisers are successful and we are confident in their success, then we can develop heavy cruisers. If the heavy cruisers are successful, then we can proceed with the capital ship program.
Originally, Zhao Yan had no interest in manufacturing capital ships, which were expensive and destined to become obsolete; they were too costly and drained the nation's resources.
But the current situation doesn't allow Zhao Yan to do that. The main battleship is the entry ticket to becoming a powerful nation. Before you build it, you're at best a second-rate country, but once you build it, you're in the first-rate category.
For at least the next fifteen years, the era of capital ships will still be dominated by them. The core of the struggle for naval power will still rely on capital ships as the main force. No matter how reluctant Zhao Yan is, he has to grit his teeth and squeeze out the money to develop this.
The core of the "Three Ones" plan, the construction of capital ships, was also directly defined by the Central Study Office, which stated that the ships should be able to defend vital points, penetrate enemy ships, and keep up with cruisers.
Costs also need to be strictly controlled and cannot be exceeded.
After weighing all the requirements, the naval design bureau decided to design a small main warship with a tonnage of less than 25,000 tons. After all, building warships costs money per ton and the larger the tonnage, the more expensive it is!
The current international mainstream development trend is that countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and even the United States and Japan have begun to develop and build main warships with 380mm guns and a displacement of more than 30,000 tons. However, the Republic is unable to keep up with this trend and can only plan to develop small main warships that are suitable for its own national conditions within its limited capabilities.
Perhaps by the time the Republic's small main battleships are launched, other countries' 380mm super-dreadnoughts will already be in service in batches. But there's nothing we can do; our foundation is too weak and our national strength is insufficient.
The small main battleship is also an experimental platform for the Republic's future large core warships. The plan is to build only one, with an estimated full-load displacement of about 25,000 tons. It is equipped with three triple gun turrets, two forward and one aft, and the main gun caliber adopts mature technology imported from Germany, namely the 305mm/L50 naval gun.
In terms of defense, the focus is on strengthening the ships, just like the German ships. They must be able to withstand the attack of 14-inch naval guns. Ensuring survivability is the core objective, since capital ships are meant to hold the line and deal damage.
In terms of firepower, they resorted to underhanded tactics, sacrificing the lifespan of the artillery barrel to increase the propellant chamber and improve the muzzle velocity of the projectile. At the same time, they adopted high-hardness alloy armor-piercing projectiles. Since the Republic had plenty of tungsten ore, they directly used tungsten alloy to make the armor-piercing part of the projectile, designing a capped armor-piercing projectile.
This firepower is enough to penetrate the fragile British and Japanese forces. As long as it can penetrate, that's enough. The Republic doesn't pursue being too big; it just needs to be sufficient.
Regarding speed, the Imperial Study made a key requirement: a speed of thirty knots was the minimum, and even if it could not be achieved, room must be left for later modifications.
The construction of this small capital ship was expected to begin between 1913 and 1914. The specific timing would depend on the progress and control of the cruiser construction. The central government would only approve the investment after the construction technology and all subsystems had been successfully developed.
Moreover, the main engineers, construction personnel, and designers of the capital ship construction program must all be Chinese; the Germans can no longer be allowed to shoulder the main responsibility.
That period will likely be the peak time for overseas students returning to China. Every year, thousands of students will return after completing their studies, which will greatly enrich the talent pool of the Republic. Once they return, they should be given immediate opportunities to put their knowledge into practice and make progress by trying and learning from mistakes.
The launch of the small capital ship construction program will also be a major test of the country's industrial capabilities. It coincides with the end of the first five-year plan, and the results will be tested by this capital ship.
Once construction is complete, Zhao Yan estimates that World War I will break out around the same time. Once war breaks out, he will start improving and increasing production capacity based on this prototype.
World War I will last at least three or four years. If we speed up the process and produce four or five capital ships during the war, that will be enough to get through it.
Chapter 245 Experimental Aircraft Carrier
Throughout the latter half of July, Liu Ting was attending various meetings, as was Zheng Shiyan. The two of them were constantly shuttling between Shanghai, meeting between manufacturers and design bureaus.
It wasn't the kind of meeting that was all talk and no action; it was a meeting full of practical information and technical data. Liu Ting was, after all, a graduate of a university, so he knew a little about it. If he really didn't understand, he could get the hang of it by reading the materials a few more times.
But Zheng Shiyan seemed to be struggling. He was also a professionally trained engineer, but he had studied military-related fields and found these engineering construction and manufacturing technologies very difficult.
Fortunately, the two worked well together. For issues related to professional technology and data, Liu Ting represented the Ministry of National Defense to offer suggestions, and for issues in the field of military expertise, Liu Ting stepped in.
However, their experience and knowledge were of little use in the field of aircraft carriers. Even the shipyards didn't know how to build them. All they were given was a top-secret sketch and a usage manual, and that was it. They had to figure everything out on their own.
The Republic's main warship program can only be launched after the prerequisite technology tree is fully developed, but the aircraft carrier program is required to be launched immediately.
Because aircraft carrier construction technology is not difficult, it is simpler than that of cruisers, and even similar to that of destroyers, with no major technical challenges.
It doesn't require naval gun systems, nor does it require large-scale, ultra-thick armor manufacturing technology, nor does it need to consider turret layout; it only needs to consider aircraft take-off and landing and speed performance.
The task of building the aircraft carrier was personally assigned by the Imperial Study, leaving no room for refusal.
Zhao Yan's idea was simple: to first build an experimental aircraft carrier, a capability that the Republic definitely possessed.
These days, aircraft carriers aren't as sophisticated as century-old ones. They're basically just mobile runways at sea, providing a platform for propeller-driven aircraft to take off and land. This doesn't require any particularly complex technology.
Not to mention modern biplanes, which don't even need catapults; a runway of a couple hundred meters is enough for them to take off easily.
The central command provided a sketch that clearly defined the design layout of the starboard island with a through-deck, requiring the deck to be over 250 meters long and over 25 meters wide, with a hangar inside.
The requirements given from above were all rough; the specific design had to be figured out by the people below. The general requirement was to be able to carry as many aircraft as possible for sea voyages and support aircraft take-off and landing on the deck.
The engineers and designers at the design bureau were all dumbfounded. No one knew how to design this thing. Even the Germans were dumbfounded. Designing a professional warship just to carry those toy-like airplanes out to sea? Wasn't that too extravagant?
Airplanes are nothing new to people in the engineering field; everyone knows what an airplane is. But it is precisely because they know that they don't understand the needs of higher-ups.
There are indeed people applying airplanes to the military field. For example, Britain, France, the Republic, and the United States are all trying to use airplanes to replace hot air balloons for artillery fire correction and reconnaissance.
However, people often find that the use of aircraft is not very significant, and it is even quite troublesome. Whether it is artillery fire correction or reconnaissance missions, a higher and wider perspective is required, and aircraft meet this requirement.
However, airplanes are too cumbersome to use and are far less convenient than hot air balloons. Although hot air balloons fly very low and cannot move, they do not require a location and can be inflated and taken off anywhere.
But airplanes need airports. Modern airplanes are generally short-range, so airports have to be built on the front lines. The military rejected this idea on its own. When war actually breaks out, who the hell has the time to build airports, hangars, fuel depots, maintenance yards, and other supporting facilities? They'd rather send out reconnaissance troops.
A single function of fire control and reconnaissance is far from enough to impress the military, unless you can also bomb and straf, thus playing an offensive role.
Transmitting intelligence back from aircraft is also a problem nowadays. The miniaturization of radio equipment is not progressing well enough, and the carrying capacity of aircraft is also insufficient. After the aircraft takes off, the data and intelligence acquired must be written down by the pilots themselves, put into a tube, and then dropped over the ground troops.
This process is really cumbersome. You know, once a hot air balloon sees intelligence, it can immediately send it to the ground via flag signals, which is much faster.
The reason why everyone feels it's not worthwhile is that aircraft are still in a primitive form at this stage, their function is insufficient, and it's not worth investing huge resources to build and use a platform for them.
Even if the navy wanted to equip itself with aircraft for reconnaissance and fire control missions, having one or two seaplanes carried by large ships would be sufficient.
Allocating special funds to build a dedicated aircraft carrier is seen by everyone as a losing proposition, and no one can understand what such an aircraft carrier can do.
A ship with no heavy armor, no artillery, and only a bunch of toy-like airplanes—isn't going to sea just sending a fragile dumpling to its death?
The designers couldn't imagine the torpedo bombers and bombers that the higher-ups were planning. They thought airplanes were just harmless flies, and that the only purpose of an aircraft carrier carrying dozens of planes to sea was to harass the enemy with the noise of its propellers, like flies.
The central government has always been stingy with military spending, reluctant to spend big money on building main warships, but it has directly poured money into building aircraft carriers, which even the navy cannot understand.
The design bureau asked Liu Ting for some data about the aircraft. They needed to understand exactly what the aircraft data was before they could design and build the aircraft carrier in a targeted manner.
However, Liu Ting's answer was unreliable. He said that the plane was still in the design and improvement process and he could only give a rough estimate of its size.
Since the aircraft carrier and carrier-based aircraft were both launched in tandem, Liu Ting told the design bureau that they didn't need to wait for news about the carrier-based aircraft; they could just design according to the basic data from the higher-ups. The carrier-based aircraft would then adapt and match the aircraft carrier on its own.
Not knowing anything about the situation made the design bureau's professionals extremely frustrated. In the past, when designing warships, they would first know the tonnage, gun caliber, and protection requirements before they could start designing.
But now we're doing the design work in complete darkness, especially for a ship of such enormous tonnage. How can this not be a headache?
Liu Ting and Zheng Shiyan also felt confused and at a loss, so they could only join forces to ask the central government for instructions. Within two days, the central government sent an encrypted telegram, this time with more detailed design requirements and specifications.
These requirements and specifications were all derived by Zhao Yan from memory. The new requirements included laying an armor belt around both sides of the aircraft carrier, with a thickness of only about 100 millimeters, and a torpedo protection belt.
In addition to the hangar, the interior of an aircraft carrier must also include fuel depots and ammunition depots, and large take-off and landing machines must be designed on both sides of the ship to transfer carrier-based aircraft between the deck and the hangar.
The horizontal and deck armor should be as thick as possible while ensuring that the speed and tonnage do not exceed the limits, and the bow should be a closed design.
Ample space must be reserved on both sides of the ship and on the island for modifications, mainly for installing small artillery systems. There is no need to install any large naval gun systems on the entire ship.
In terms of protection, the sides must be able to withstand torpedo attacks, and the horizontal armor must be able to withstand vertical attacks. There are no requirements for the protection of naval guns; it only needs to be able to withstand the main guns of destroyers. As for what to do when an aircraft carrier encounters a capital ship or a cruiser? Of course, it's a no-go!
Taking all the requirements into account, the design bureau reluctantly began preliminary planning and sketch design.
It is estimated that this type of aircraft carrier will have a displacement of over 20,000 tons, and its full-load displacement may even exceed 30,000 tons. Once completed, it will become the largest ship in the Republic's Navy in terms of tonnage and volume, even surpassing the planned main warships.
Thanks to the lack of protection requirements, the artillery system is essentially non-existent. It doesn't need armor protection or complex naval gun ammunition magazine design, so it's basically just a shell ship.
The only difficulty lies in the propulsion system and speed requirements. The requirements stipulate that the aircraft carrier's speed must exceed 30 knots, preferably around 33 knots. This is understandable; if such a fragile ship cannot run fast, it is basically useless.
Liu Ting stayed in Shanghai until early August before being recalled to Beijing by Dai Mingde. This was because Feng Ru from Lingfei Airlines in Guangzhou had completed his enlistment and become a lieutenant colonel, serving as the vice president of the Changsha Military Flight Academy.
After assuming his post, his first task was not to go to the Changsha Military Flight Academy to take up his post, but to come to Shanghai to take over the subsequent aircraft carrier design assistance work. As an aviator officer, he participated in the subsequent design matters of the aircraft carrier and served as the aviation consultant of the design team.
Liu Ting no longer had to rack his brains to deal with the various problems of the design team. He was the director of the Technical Equipment Bureau, not the director of the Technical Equipment Design Bureau!
The design of the new aircraft carrier will be finalized this year, and will begin next year in conjunction with the heavy cruiser program.
The construction is expected to take two and a half to three years. This gap will coincide with the time for military flight academies to train pilots and for aircraft manufacturers to develop and manufacture carrier-based aircraft and supporting weapons and ammunition.
Once the aircraft carrier is built, its carrier-based aircraft, supporting weapons and ammunition, and pilots are all ready, it can immediately conduct training exercises after being launched, facilitating its rapid formation of combat capability.
Each process is highly confidential and relatively independent, ensuring that this trump card will not be exposed in advance to the greatest extent possible.
The Republic has always tried its best to involve its own technical personnel and officers in aircraft carrier projects. Only when it is absolutely unavoidable will the Germans be allowed to participate to a limited extent.
After all, the intelligence on the Navy's destroyer and experimental cruiser projects had been known to Britain and Japan, and the whole world knew that the Chinese were building a fragile ship that could run very fast while carrying small water pipes.
The National Security Intelligence Service investigated thoroughly but found no evidence of internal leaks. In the end, they could only conclude that this was a ploy by the Germans to deliberately provoke tensions in East Asia and incite an arms race.
Their technical experts participated in the design and construction of the supporting ships throughout the entire process. The Republic could keep it from anyone, but it could never keep it from the Germans.
The Germans went to great lengths to stimulate an arms race in the Far East, provoke tensions, and divert pressure from Europe.
If it weren't for the secret alliance signed between the two countries, the Germans might have even exaggerated the China threat, leading the British to develop the "pivot to Asia" strategy.
But if you really play like that, Zhao Yan will probably turn on you in a heartbeat!
The Germans' only bottom line was not to leak core secrets, such as triple-mounted turrets, superimposed turrets, capped armor-piercing shells, key protection, and box-type defenses. The Germans continued to maintain strict secrecy regarding these crucial secrets.
After all, they had paid a considerable price for these technologies, and after the joint development was successful, the Germans began to apply these designs to their new warships.
The Germans' new design for the Königssee battleship had been scrapped and redesigned. Originally, they planned to use a two-forehead and two-aft superfiring layout, with one gun installed in the middle, for a total of five twin-mounted 305mm main gun turrets.
But after seeing the design concepts of the Republic's new capital ships and cruisers, they immediately threw their own design proposals into the trash heap.
The multi-turret cult design is no match for the Republic's triple-turret design. Even though their King-class ships are equipped with five turrets and ten main guns, their efficiency in both broadside and bow firing is not as good as the Republic's triple-turret layout with two turrets forward and one aft.