Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Zhongliang, two grandsons, went directly to the Jiangnan Shipyard in Suzhou after visiting the artillery factory, turbine factory, armored steel factory and other warship-related supporting factories.
Zhu Jingyuan saw the complete large-scale model of the 60,000-ton warship here, and once again reviewed the overall performance of the entire ship.
The total no-load displacement is basically 50,000 tons.
If we calculate the standard displacement stipulated in the naval treaty of the previous life, it should be between 52,000 tons and 53,000 tons.
The full load displacement is 62,000 tons.
The full load displacement is the displacement when all weapons, equipment, personnel, and all normal fuel tanks are filled. There is actually additional space on the ship.
Therefore, the battleship still has a maximum displacement.
After being fully loaded, it can continue to be overloaded, and can sail and operate at a maximum of 65,000 tons.
The waterline length is 256 meters, the total length of the hull is 266 meters, and the maximum width of the hull is 36 meters.
The normal displacement draft is 10.5 meters, and the fully loaded displacement draft is 11 meters.
The side main armor belt is 420 mm thick and installed at an angle of 20 degrees.
The horizontal armor thickness of the main deck is 200 mm.
The power system has a power of 200,000 horsepower and a maximum speed of 32 knots under full load.
When fully loaded, the fuel capacity is 9,000 tons, and the maximum fuel capacity is 10,000 tons.
At a speed of 15 knots, the maximum range is 15,000 nautical miles, equivalent to 27,700 kilometers.
The range is 8,200 nautical miles at a speed of 20 knots, which is equivalent to 15,000 kilometers.
The main weapon is three triple-mounted 420 mm 50-caliber artillery pieces.
The secondary weapon is four triple-mounted 160 mm 50-caliber secondary guns.
Anti-aircraft weapons include sixteen 120mm high-level and flat dual-purpose guns.
Thirty-two 80mm high-level and flat dual-purpose guns.
Sixty-four forty millimeter anti-aircraft guns.
Equipped with four seaplanes for school shooting and reconnaissance.
The size of this ship's hull is between the historical Iowa and Yamato.
The hull length is basically the same as Yamato, but the width is three meters narrower.
It is seven meters shorter than the Iowa, but three meters wider.
Simply looking at the size and image, it looks a bit like Iowa who has gained weight, or Yamato who has lost weight.
However, the firepower performance of the 62,000-ton ship is basically the same as that of the 72,000-ton Yamato.
The speed is four to five knots higher than Yamato.
When the design specifications were gradually determined, Zhu Jingyuan originally tried to ask the designers to reduce the main armor to 360 mm.
Because Zhu Jingyuan felt that in future naval battles, the main armor of battleships would be basically useless.
It is better to leave more weight and space to enhance the overall structural strength of the ship.
But I soon realized that whether the main armor was 420 mm or 360 mm, the weight difference was only about a thousand tons, but the side defense level was one level lower.
One thousand tons is certainly not a small number in terms of design, but now there is no one and no rules that can restrict the Ming Dynasty from adding an extra thousand tons of weight when designing warships.
Moreover, if it is just to improve the armor, there is no need to exceed the weight by one thousand tons.
Within the range of 60,000 tons, 420 mm of armor can be achieved, but other functions will be affected.
Zhu Jingyuan's consistent habit of thinking is to relax restrictions on tonnage.
This time, the upper limit of the tonnage of the new battleship was simply increased by another two thousand tons.
As a result, the designers made some detailed adjustments to the battleship design, keeping the main armor thickness at 420 mm and increasing the fuel capacity from 7,500 tons to 9,000 tons.
The additional two thousand tons were really completely drained.
Zhu Jingyuan took the final design line drawings and reports of the battleship, followed Zhu Zhongliang, and accompanied by Wang Lai, went to the shipbuilding dock to preside over the keel laying ceremony of the new battleship.
Zhu Zhongliang presided over the ceremony to cut the steel plates for the battleship last year, and this year the keel laying was handed over to Zhu Jingyuan.
When the salute sounded and the workers went into the dock to work, Zhu Jingyuan, his grandson, and Wang Lai returned to the lounge.
While drinking tea and chatting, Zhu Jingyuan asked about other conditions of the battleship:
"I didn't say that when I watched the ceremony, so the ship hasn't been named yet?"
Wang Lai said directly:
"Not yet. If your highness has any ideas, you can discuss it with your majesties."
After hearing this, Zhu Zhongliang asked:
"Jingyuan, what do you think? Are you still naming me with your prefix?"
"A number of 40,000-ton warships have been built in the past few years, and the more pleasant words without prefixes have long been used up.
“Then I changed the Yuan font size and chose a few like Zhenyuan and Dingyuan, and I almost ran out of the good ones.
"Now this first new-level battleship can have a new set of naming rules."
Zhu Jingyuan shook his head subconsciously:
"I'm actually not good at naming. I asked if there was a name, just because I wanted to know the name.
“And I think the naming of Ming warships is a bit random now, so it’s better to formulate a set of naming rules.
“Make a range of choices in advance and determine the time for naming, and then you can do it step by step.
"Every time I think of a name, it shouldn't be convenient to manage the registration, right?"
Wang Lai nodded in agreement after hearing this:
"really……"
Zhu Zhongliang laughed and asked:
"If you're not good at naming, you're probably good at making rules. What do you think about this naming rule?"
It has been seven years since Zhu Jingyuan recovered his memory, and his life experience has increased by another seven years.
Zhu Jingyuan's mentality has changed somewhat compared to a few years ago.
Zhu Jingyuan looked at the factory outside the window, and then at the booklet explaining the battleship in his hand:
“Instead of trying to think of a good word every time, why not just name all the places.
“Most of the previous cruisers and destroyers were named after places.
“In the future, battleships and aircraft carriers can also be named after place names.
“Associating the names of battleships with various places in the Ming Dynasty will also facilitate the work of supporting the army in various places.
"If they were people from a certain place in the Ming Dynasty, they would have a natural affinity for a battleship named after their hometown, right?
“At the same time, the corresponding rules have been stipulated. Battleships of different levels will adopt the names of administrative districts of corresponding levels.
“Prefecture names were most commonly used by cruisers in the past, and garrison and county names were mostly used by destroyers.
“In the future, it can be clarified that fleet cruisers use formal prefecture names, and patrol and escort sub-cruisers use state names.
"The high-speed destroyers in the fleet use the name of the county, and the escort destroyers use the name of the garrison.
“Then battleships and aircraft carriers can use province names directly.
“In the future, battleships and aircraft carriers will become larger and larger, and now they have reached 60,000 tons.
"The total number of warships of this size is not very large, more than thirty is the limit.
"Even if 40,000 tons of warships are added, all the local provinces plus the names of overseas provinces will definitely be enough.
"Old warships are retired, and new warships can inherit their names and be recycled.
“In order to distinguish different ship types, battleships can be named after inland provinces and aircraft carriers can be named after coastal provinces.
"Now the name of this first 60,000-ton battleship can be used in Hebei Province, which was established on the basis of Beizhili.
“Naming this most special new province a super battleship is a form of publicity for the battleship, province and navy.
“The time when the battleship was named was really too early when it was designed.
"It can be named when the order is officially placed, so that the shipyard can directly use the ship name as the project code name."
Zhu Zhongliang couldn't help but nodded:
"Yes, this rule has clear logic and is convenient for both the navy and the local government.
"Hebei is also good. The first 60,000-ton warship is named after the province of Beizhili. It is very suitable."
Most of the officials and craftsmen on site nodded silently.
If Zhu Jingyuan's set of rules is finalized, it will be a good thing for them, the actual persons in charge of related work.
Otherwise, you don’t know when to apply for naming every time, and you don’t know what kind of naming type there will be in the future.
In fact, a new internal number must be assigned to the management projects of shipyard design and construction.
For example, the number of this new ship is simply 60,01.
But there were also a few craftsmen with a little weird expressions, and some were even suppressing laughter.
In the end, it was Li Rui, who had the highest status among the craftsmen and a relatively direct personality, who spoke:
"This...Your Majesty, Your Highness...that Beizhili, Hebei Province is actually a coastal province..."
Many people reacted immediately.
Zhu Jingyuan said that the aircraft carriers were named after coastal provinces and the battleships were named after inland provinces.
Then he immediately proposed to name the first 60,000-ton battleship after Hebei.
The key was to win the approval of the Emperor and most of the officials and craftsmen.
They didn’t mean to agree, but most people didn’t realize that Hebei is actually a coastal province.
Zhu Zhongliang was suddenly confused:
"What? Hebei is also a coastal province?"
Wang Lai then said:
"Tianjin Port in Hebei Province is the largest seaport in the north of Ming Dynasty..."
Zhu Jingyuan almost asked: What, Tianjin is from Hebei?
Zhu Jingyuan's mind has come to his senses.
Today I performed a live joke that Hebei is also a coastal province...
Zhu Jingyuan almost put his hand on his forehead:
“I didn’t realize that Hebei is a coastal province.
"That can only be used on aircraft carriers, or the naming rules for aircraft carriers and battleships are reversed.
"So, which one is better for this first 60,000-ton battleship?"
Zhu Zhongliang, the eldest, finally understood and couldn't help laughing:
"Hebei...haha...
"I think it's good to name aircraft carriers along the coast and battleships inland. This rule doesn't need to be reversed.
“But it really doesn’t work in Hebei, nor in South Zhili.
“Everyone thinks about it, which inland province is suitable?”
Zhu Zhongliang and Zhu Jingyuan, together with a group of officials and craftsmen, discussed for a long time.
In the end, the name of the first 60,000-ton battleship was locked on Huguang.
The scope of Huguang Province in the Ming Dynasty was the sum of Hunan and Hubei in later generations. It has always been the richest among the inland provinces.
Before the Renwu Dynasty, there was a reputation that if Huguang was well-established, the world would be well-equipped.
At the same time, the local Xianghu School is also a very well-known regional traditional Confucian school.
After finalizing the name of the new battleship, Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Zhongliang chatted with the craftsmen for a while and had lunch at the factory.
After lunch break, the ordinary craftsmen went to work separately.
Zhu Jingyuan, Zhu Zhongliang and his grandson took two officials from the Ministry of Industry, Wang Lai and Li Rui, to the office of the shipyard boss.
Briefly discuss and confirm Ming's future shipbuilding plan.
Although the Emperor of Ming Dynasty is not here, the special prince Zhu Jingyuan can decide the shipbuilding plan.
Wang Lai first asked Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Zhongliang:
"Your Highness, after the mass production of the 60,000-ton battleship begins, will the 40,000-ton battleship still have to be built?"
Zhu Zhongliang looked at Zhu Jingyuan noncommittally. Zhu Zhongliang was basically not involved in such specific matters.
Zhu Jingyuan nodded decisively:
“Of course we must continue to build, forty-thousand-ton battleships should always be the backbone of the battleship fleet.
“The cost of a 60,000-ton battleship is too high, and it will not be built in large quantities in the future.
“My plan for the battleship is that all high-speed battleships in the future, including 40,000-ton, 60,000-ton, and even 80,000-ton battleships that may be available in the future, will have a maximum total of no more than 32 ships.
"Under normal circumstances, more than half of them should be 40,000-ton high-speed battleships."
Wang Lai asked a little surprised:
"But... after the mass production of the 60,000-ton warship, wouldn't the designation of the 40,000-ton warship itself just fall into the 'medium-sized ship trap' in His Highness's theory?"
The term medium-sized ship trap was proposed by Zhu Jingyuan.
Relevant designers actually already have relevant knowledge.
It's just that Zhu Jingyuan clarified this concept based on his previous life experience.
Due to Zhu Jingyuan's extremely high prestige, craftsmen naturally talked about this concept and used it.
The content of this theory is probably a compromise in tonnage of small battleships and lightweight battleships. Various aspects and parameters may look good.
However, when actually calculating the cost-effectiveness ratio of construction and use, this kind of warship is usually the least cost-effective.
Because among the construction costs of warships, the most expensive thing is actually the power system.
At the same time, according to the theory of fluid dynamics, the larger and longer the hull of a warship, the easier it is to achieve higher speeds.
A 60,000-ton battleship requires 200,000 horsepower to run at 32 knots.
A 15,000-ton cruiser also needs 100,000 horsepower to run at 32 knots.
The various frames and steel structures that determine the final weight of the battleship are the cheapest parts of the entire ship.
The final result is that the greater the overall displacement weight of the warship, the more the cost and cost tend to be directly proportional.
The marginal cost of increasing tonnage decreases within a certain range.
Therefore, the larger the capital ship, the more cost-effective it is. As long as there are no mutually agreed restrictions, the capital ship will definitely become larger and larger before the opponent completely cannot keep up with the competition.
Conversely, the smaller the overall displacement weight of a warship, the higher the cost per unit weight will be.
Therefore, among the main fleets, the ships with the highest average cost per ton are not large battleships, but high-speed destroyers that move with the fleet, and those small high-speed cruisers.
However, various small and medium-sized cruisers and destroyers have to be built due to actual functional needs.
At the same time, their overall tonnage is small, and the actual cost of a single ship is not obvious.
Therefore, the bigger the capital ships are, the more cost-effective they are, while small ships have to be built due to demand issues.
But between cruisers and battleships, there is obviously a huge pit in terms of cost-effectiveness.
A 20,000-ton ship and a 30,000-ton ship require very similar power systems, so the cost difference is not obvious.
However, the firepower and defensive capabilities of a 20,000-ton ship are completely different from those of a 30,000-ton ship.
This pit that appears on the cost and cost-effectiveness ratio curve is the so-called medium-sized ship trap.
Historically, large cruisers such as Alaska basically jumped into the trap of medium-sized ships perfectly.
Des Moines, Prince Eugen and other heavy cruisers with nearly 20,000 tons are basically in this pit.
The cost of two 20,000-ton Des Moines class ships can buy a 50,000-ton Iowa, and two Prinz Eugens can also buy a Bismarck battleship.
The cost of building an Alaska-class large cruiser is almost 70% of that of the Iowa-class.
But two Alaskas can never beat one Iowa.
Iowa absolutely crushes Alaska in terms of defense and firepower.
Now the Ming Dynasty's 60,000-ton battleships use 420 mm super-heavy guns and 420 mm super-heavy armor.
Facing the 360mm gun and 300mm armor of a 40,000-ton battleship, it is absolutely crushing.
Zhu Jingyuan also nodded directly at this time:
“If you look at the cost purely, 40,000 tons compared to 60,000 tons does fall directly into the trap of medium-sized ships.
“But just like small ships have to be built, ship building should not only look at cost, but also based on actual demand.
“Why spend more money building a 60,000-ton ship if a 40,000-ton ship can meet all needs?”
(End of chapter)
