Zhu Jingyuan looked at the confused audience, felt melancholy for two seconds, and then decided not to worry about it.
These things I proposed are not the final data of this ship.
I just gave a direction, which was equivalent to the design demand list given by Party A, and there were many requirements that were too "novel" in the demand list.
For example, the cruise stern was used on Japanese and American battleships during World War II, such as the South Dakota, Iowa, and Yamato.
The square stern was used on the British battleship Vanguard in post-war service, and was only popularized on modern warships.
The tilted main armor was first used on the Renown during World War I, and became popular on the new high-speed battleships of World War II.
As for anti-aircraft guns, airplanes had just been invented at this time. Who knows about this now.
The bulbous nose was first tried by the USS Delaware battleship in 1907. It was not used by Italian cruisers until the 1920s, and it was basically mature in the Yamato era.
Moreover, it was mainly used on warships at this time. Because the design and construction costs were too high, it was only launched on low-speed civilian ships in the 1960s.
Today's craftsmen and officials certainly don't understand these large numbers of designs that appeared from World War I to World War II, or even after World War II, or have questions about them.
However, everyone should understand the basic target parameters. Both craftsmen and officials can imagine the power of a 40,000-ton ship with nine 360-millimeter guns and 360 knots.
For specific design details, I have to communicate in detail individually with various functional departments and manufacturers, and with all participating craftsmen.
Through introduction and practical testing, all details are slowly hammered out, and the final parameters can be determined.
So Zhu Jingyuan shook his head slightly, put these things behind his head, and came up with the design requirements for the next battleship:
"Now let's take a look at today's No. 3 ship, which is the battleship that everyone should be more interested in.
"The appearance of this ship... may seem strange now, but when you see her appearance, you should be able to think of what to do, right?
"Yes, this ship is a direct attempt to put an airplane on a ship -"
At this time, the audience at the scene suddenly became energetic, whether they had thought of this kind of ship before, or they had never thought of this kind of ship at all.
Seeing the schematic diagram of the ship's hull with a flat surface that looked like a road, plus the schematic diagram of the aircraft painted next to it, and listening to Zhu Jingyuan's words, he immediately came to his senses.
This idea is absolutely unprecedented, because the successful test of the aircraft is inherently unprecedented.
The most energetic person among the people present was undoubtedly the old emperor sitting at the front.
Finally, I got to what I cared about most, and I had to listen carefully to how this kid was messing around.
Zhu Jingyuan also glanced at the old emperor, looked into his bright eyes, and immediately smiled and continued:
"Compared with the previous No. 1 and No. 2 ships, this is definitely a truly brand-new warship. I am going to call her an 'aircraft carrier'.
“Like the previous artillery battleships, the design of this aircraft carrier will also be divided into two modes: conservative and radical.
"The No. 3 ship is a conservative design, pursuing the fastest possible completion and starting actual aircraft take-off and landing testing and exploration as soon as possible.
“So based on the largest existing armored cruiser, we directly made significant modifications to form the aircraft carrier design drawing.
“Specifically, all the main gun and secondary main gun decks are deleted, and a large warehouse is built on the deck above the main engine room that runs through most of the hull.
“The big warehouses are of course used to store aircraft.
“Above the aircraft warehouse, a completely straight, as close to rectangular as possible through deck is erected to serve as a runway for aircraft to take off and land.
“The flight deck and hangar deck are connected through a mechanical lifting platform to transfer aircraft between the warehouse and the deck.
“Finally, in order to prevent smoke from affecting the deck, the boiler flue should converge to the right side of the hull, come out from the side of the hull, and extend upward with a slight inclination outward.
"Of course the bridge must be moved to the right side so that it can be integrated with the chimney. An external convex platform must be designed at the front and rear of the bridge to serve as a flight command platform.
"No secondary guns, no medium-caliber secondary guns, no guns can be installed in early tests, leaving space for 120mm high-level dual-purpose guns, and subsequent anti-aircraft guns.
“Finally, speed, the aircraft carrier must have a high speed, at least 27 knots, preferably more than 30 knots.
“So the ship also uses steam turbines and oil-fired boilers.
"In general, all the buildings on the upper level of the ship must make way for a straight and regular runway, including the naval guns, which must be designed on a platform extending outward from the hangar deck."
"This is the general design direction. If you have any small questions, you can talk about it now. If you have big questions, we can talk about it later."
When Zhu Jingyuan said this, he paused briefly, waiting for possible questions.
As a result, the old emperor at the front spoke enthusiastically:
"The flue and the bridge need to be tilted to the right. Is it possible to do this, or is it necessary?"
Zhu Jingyuan thought for a while and said:
"It is recommended to do this. According to my experience, when people encounter danger, they will subconsciously turn left.
"The plane will look like this when it lands on the deck. If the smokestack and bridge are on the right side, the pilot will most likely fall into the sea.
"If the chimney is on the left, it's a deck accident..."
The old emperor nodded slightly, and then immediately continued to ask:
"Why not use medium-caliber secondary guns? If an aircraft carrier encounters the enemy's traditional fleet, wouldn't it only have the firepower of a destroyer?"
Zhu Jingyuan continued to explain:
“The way aircraft carriers operate, they should always have aircraft on alert around them. The detection and observation distance of aircraft is much greater than that of conventional ships.
“Under normal circumstances, the enemy has no chance at all to get close to the aircraft carrier within a few dozen kilometers without the aircraft carrier knowing about it.
"An aircraft carrier with foresight has the opportunity to leave the enemy's search range before the enemy discovers it."
The old emperor immediately continued to ask again:
"What if we encounter an enemy? If the plane forgets to take off, or it's raining, there's no way to alert the plane.
"So, the aircraft carrier should at least have the firepower of a cruiser, otherwise the enemy's cruiser can sink the aircraft carrier!"
Zhu Jingyuan was particularly helpless. The old emperor directly took over everyone's problems, probably because he had thought about it decades earlier than others.
The old emperor's current thinking is a common problem in early aircraft carrier design and construction.
It is natural for everyone to think about the various problems that aircraft carriers will encounter in terms of the combat methods of artillery battleships.
So we struggled with the main gun issue for a long time.
Historically, the early Lexington-class aircraft carriers in the United States were equipped with eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns when construction was completed.
Japan's two aircraft carriers, Akagi and Kaga, are also equipped with 10 200mm artillery pieces.
Theoretically, these aircraft carriers have the firepower of heavy cruisers.
However, during the subsequent renovation process, they were all gradually dismantled because they were no longer needed.
Zhu Jingyuan tried to persuade the old emperor:
"Grandpa Emperor, first of all, aircraft carriers are active offensive long-range strike weapons, not defensive combat weapons for close-quarters combat.
“After the aircraft carrier discovers the enemy, while launching an attack, it must first keep or even distance itself from the enemy to avoid being discovered by the enemy fleet.
"Under normal circumstances, aircraft carriers should not operate within the rainfall range. If they encounter showers during a battle with artillery warships, they should leave the rain cloud area as soon as possible.
“If you encounter a rain shower during a battle with an aircraft carrier, you can decide whether to enter the rain cloud area to avoid enemy reconnaissance based on whether you are in an offensive or defensive state.
“Then, if it is really discovered by the enemy’s screen guard fleet, the fleet defense task can be handed over to the escorting artillery and armored warships.
"The aircraft carrier will be the main ship and should not act alone. It must be accompanied by at least multiple armored cruisers and preferably high-speed battleships.
“The aircraft carrier provides long-range reconnaissance support to the artillery warships, and the artillery warships provide close defense and fire support to the aircraft carrier.
"Finally, there will often be aircraft taking off and landing on the deck of the aircraft carrier. If there are medium and large-caliber artillery fire on the deck, it will easily damage nearby aircraft."
The old emperor nodded slowly as he listened, but finally said:
"What my grandson said makes sense, but in Grandpa's opinion, there is still no way to completely avoid the possibility of encountering a conventional firepower warship.
"If an aircraft carrier has no self-defense firepower at all, it will always be difficult to make people feel at ease..."
The old emperor said this, and a large number of designers behind him nodded.
They all felt that the old emperor asked his questions and expressed his worries.
Although Zhu Jingyuan's planning was very complete, he still couldn't help but worry.
Zhu Jingyuan nodded his head when he heard this, but he also understood a little bit.
The aircraft carrier is a truly new type of warship, which is completely different from the previous artillery warships. It is normal for inexperienced people to worry.
After careful consideration for a few seconds, Zhu Jingyuan finally made a decision that went against his own experience:
"Then install eight 160mm cannons first, but this must not affect the integrity and smoothness of the flight deck.
“Conventional single-mounted artillery can only be installed under the sides of the flight deck, on platforms extending outward from the hangar deck.
“After being launched into the water, various simulated combat experiments will be conducted to determine whether these artillery pieces are useful in combat.
"If it is determined that it is really no longer needed, dismantle it and replace it with high-level and flat dual-purpose guns and anti-aircraft guns."
The designers behind nodded, and the old emperor also smiled and nodded:
"Temporarily compromising, and then using the actual situation to verify your correctness can make the participants more convinced and establish authority more effectively..."
Zhu Jingyuan was immediately speechless. It turned out that the old emperor believed in him and was just using the situation in front of him to preach to him.
I am just a prince who wants to dig black gold in the desert. Do I need to learn such complicated skills? Can't I just throw coins...
If I continue to be an official in the court, can my uncle Ninth let me go?
Unless you always want me to be the emperor.
Um?
