บท 61: Launching Ceremony
In Danzig, there are crowds of people on the dock of the Shuoxiao Shipyard.
Out of eager hope that the country's navy can overturn Britain's current maritime supremacy, the launching of every battleship has become a major event of national concern for Germany in recent years. Today's launching ceremony of the Oldenburg not only attracted the attention of the city near Danzig. Tens of thousands of civilians and many royal nobles including Kaiser Wilhelm II also appeared at the ceremony.
Chentian and his entourage came to the viewing platform directly in front of the dry dock. In the center of the viewing platform were William II and the queen. On the left were the nobles and cabinet ministers. On the right were the Prince Prince and his wife, Chentian and his wife. , Tirpitz and other prominent generals. The Oldenburg, whose hull construction has been basically completed, is lying quietly in the dry dock. The ship is hung with a huge colored ball. After a while, the emperor will open it personally to officially launch the Oldenburg. Send the blessings of the people across the country.
At this time, the emperor and queen have not yet arrived, only Prince and his wife have been seated.
"His Royal Highness, long time no see!" Chentian and Lisa walked to them and greeted them.
"Jiji, long time no see! I really miss you!" Even though Chentian had stretched out his right hand, the prince gave him a bear hug, and people around him who didn't understand the situation were fighting for the intimacy of the two young princes. feel happy.
However, at this time, the prince came to Chentian's ear and left a meaningful sentence, "I remember that your majesty's order was officially issued only half a month ago. I didn't expect you to come back so soon! Yes, it seems that you were prepared. The news is well-informed!"
"His Royal Highness, I..." Chen Tian originally wanted to explain, but then felt that it would be useless to explain to him, maybe it will become darker and darker. At exactly this time, the Tirpitz and his wife also came to their seats, and he simply took Lisa to greet them.
"His Royal Highness, Mrs. Prince, how are you!" Tirpitz greeted Chen Tian and his wife with a smile on his face. The launch of this new battleship made him refreshed.
"Your Excellency, the imperial navy has become stronger and stronger under your leadership. You are really admirable!" Chentian still admires the minister of the navy very much, and he is in the development of the Baltic Squadron and submarines. He was also quite supportive of himself, and after taking his seat, the two of them chatted enthusiastically.
Soon after the Nassau-class battleship started construction, it was learned that the British Navy was building a dreadnought ship with a 13.5-inch caliber gun. The German Navy began to feel that the 280mm gun on its battleship was not powerful enough, and decided to build four new gun calibers. It is a 12-inch (305mm) Helgoland-class battleship. This class of ship is named after the four regions of the German Empire, namely Helgoland, Ostfriesland, Thuringia, and Oldenburg. Oldenburg was the last one launched. Ship.
The Helgoland-class battleship has a displacement of 24,700 tons, a length of 167.20 meters, a height of 28.50 meters, and a width of 8.94 meters. It is equipped with 15 Sulzer-Sonkerroft coal-fired boilers, three four-cylinder reciprocating steam engines, and the power is up to 28,000 horsepower, 3 axles, 2 rudders side by side configuration, maximum speed 21 knots, endurance 5500 nautical miles/10 knots, 2700 nautical miles/20 knots. The main gun is 12 305mm/50 times caliber, and the warship has 3 double-mounted turrets at the front and rear of the battleship, which are distributed in the shape of a product. This class of battleship has three chimneys. This is the only class of dreadnoughts in the German Navy with three chimneys besides the old battleships.
Before the launching ceremony had begun, Chen Tian told Tirpitz about the British battleships he had seen on the way.
"If I'm not wrong, it should be two of the three St. Vincent-class battleships completed last year and this year in the UK. It seems that they are officially in service!" After listening to Chentian's description, Tirpitz's face looked on. Obviously gray.
"Although the Saint Vincent-class battleship and our Helgoland-class battleship belong to the same class, our Helgoland-class will not be completed until at least next year. The Oldenburg in front of us will not even be able to serve until the next year. By comparison, we are already much slower than Britain!"
"That's it!" Chentian has always known that the construction period of large battleships is very long, but he did not expect that it will take one to two years to officially enter the battle sequence after launching, but wait for this Helgoland-class battleship to enter service. Later, the British Navy may have newer and stronger warships, and the German Navy will be struggling to catch up.
"His Lord of the Navy, with all due respect, why do we always wait for the British to build new warships before we modify our own warships according to their designs, so that we can never surpass them!" Dang Chentian said When thinking about it, Tirpitz was not surprised, he just sighed helplessly.
"His Royal Highness, everyone knows this truth! But with our current steel smelting technology, power technology and design capabilities, what we can do is to minimize the gap with the British!"
"But..." Just as Chentian wanted to continue speaking, warm cheers came to mind around them. It turned out that the emperor and queen had already arrived at the viewing platform, and the launching ceremony of the battleship was announced immediately.
All the participants stood up to pay tribute to the emperor and queen, and then played the national anthem of the German Empire. After introducing the basic situation of the battleship, the emperor forcefully threw a bottle of champagne towards the bow of the ship. After the bottle was broken, the wine overflowed and the foam splashed. After the emperor finished the bottle-throwing ceremony, all the participants looked at the new ship and applauded warmly. Then the cable was cut off and the battleship slowly slipped into the water under the fluttering flowers and ribbons. In the end, the emperor gave a short speech to encourage the people of the whole country to work hard to build a strong German empire.
"His Lord of the Navy, I hope to have a good talk with you!" After the ceremony, Chen Tian stopped Tirpitz and wanted to continue their topic, but the emperor summoned them immediately.
Chentian and Tirpitz followed the emperor's guards to the special train outside the shipyard, where the emperor and the prince were already waiting for them.
"I came to you this time just to chat casually!" The emperor motioned to them to sit on the chairs in front of him, and the guard quickly served the brewed coffee.
"Gigi, I heard that your submarine sank a Turkish cruiser and also caused Turkish shipping in the Aegean Sea to be trapped for a while."
Chentian knew that the emperor's casual chatting was not so casual.
"Yes, Your Majesty! I have asked Captain Philip, the commander of the submarine unit, to report to the Admiralty for the detailed combat history of the submarine unit!" Chen Tian passed the emperor's ball to Tirpitz.
"Your Majesty, Captain Philip's report is being studied by the Admiralty Department, and I believe that a copy of the information will be compiled and given to you soon!" Tirpitz quickly kicked the ball out.
"No need! We already know the detailed process, but I think the admiralty's efficiency needs to be strengthened in the future!" Prince suddenly intercepted the ball and sent a beautiful long pass to counterattack, Tirpitz He frowned very uncomfortably.
"Don't mention this matter anymore. Now I want to hear your opinions on submarines. Although we have been working hard to build battleships, the damn British battleships are still increasing at twice our speed. If this continues, we will forever There is no way to surpass them, unless we have newer weapons than them! I mean is it possible for submarines to be used against battleships?" William II steadily confiscated the ball. Although everyone here only said a word, it seems that a fierce match has already been played.
"Submarine can be used to sneak attack on opponents, or to block the opponent's maritime transportation, but I am afraid that it cannot confront the opponent's warships head-on!" Chentian has the most say in the submarine, Tirpitz also nodded in favor.
"I think only battleships can fight battleships! Submarines will have to come up for a breather in two hours! They are too easy to be found and destroyed by opponents. I think they can only bully unarmed freighters at night!" Prince looked very professional, but suddenly his eyes lit up and he said something that made Chentian almost spitting blood: "I have a good note. We will convert all of our battleships into submarines, so that we can know what to do. He appeared in front of the enemy's battleship and caught them off guard!"
This time even the emperor gave him a white look. It seemed that this guy didn't understand anything about ships.
"Although submarines are not the nemesis of battleships, that doesn't mean that only battleships can solve battleships!" Chen Tian glanced at the emperor, his expression looking expectant.
"Aircraft! We can use airplanes to drop bombs and torpedoes!" Chen Tian thinks this is a very simple truth, but it seems that people in this era are strongly skeptical of this view.
"His Royal Highness, can a small plane really sink a battleship?" Tirpitz's head couldn't imagine what kind of scene it was like, with tens of thousands of tons of steel giants on one side and wooden frames on the other. Pi's plane, why is the plane winning.
The emperor also shook his head to express his incomprehension. The prince who had just been hit sits quietly on the side, and it seemed that he would not understand.
"Your Majesty, give me a few months, and I will prove it to you!" Chen Tian had no choice but to use facts to prove it, but now there is no ready-made weapon, he still needs some time to research and test.
"Okay! I hope to see the results you mentioned as soon as possible. You can apply for funds from the Admiralty Department!" The emperor was still a little interested in his ideas, and Chen Tian finally didn't need to pay for it this time.
Chen Tian glanced at Tirpitz, and he nodded slightly to express his support.
"I also want to see how ants eat elephants, so remember to call me to see when the time comes!" Prince said with a smile before leaving.
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