The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 327 New Battleship Design and a New Round of Scientific Research Tasks
Zhu Jianxuan accepted the new results in the petrochemical laboratory, issued several related orders, and arranged a new round of scientific research tasks.

Then, after leaving the petrochemical laboratory, he went to the Battleship Design Institute of the Academy of Engineering and convened a meeting of the main designers.

Confirm the current research and development and improvement status of Ming Dynasty's naval equipment and weapons, and look through the various new warship design plans planned by designers in recent years.

Zhu Jianxuan then formally ordered the design institute to use existing new technologies and equipment to begin designing a new generation of warships.

The caliber of the battleship's main gun remains 160 mm, but the gun barrel and bore are completely new designs.

The ratio of the length of the artillery barrel to its diameter, commonly known as the artillery caliber, increased from 45 times to 60 times.

A higher caliber, combined with more propellant, allows artillery shells to accelerate longer in the barrel and accumulate more energy.

Therefore, after the caliber of the artillery is increased, the range and accuracy will be improved to a certain extent.

Combined with the recently completed automatic loading system, it is expected to increase the gun's rate of fire from three to four rounds per minute to eight to twelve rounds per minute.

There are also new high-explosive shells, new ship-borne mechanical ballistic computers, and new unified fire control devices.

Plus new closed oil boilers and new gas turbines.

Zhu Jianxuan was chatting with the craftsmen and listed a series of new technical indicators. The chief craftsman of the design institute immediately reminded them:

Using an automatic loading system and a higher caliber main gun will increase the weight of the ship's structure.

If the original hull layout is not changed and the existing new technologies are fully utilized, the displacement of the new warship will increase by two to three thousand tons.

The ship's empty displacement will reach 14,000 tons, and its full load displacement will increase to about 10,000 tons.

However, one main turret can be reduced, which should maintain the current tonnage.

After hearing the reminder, Zhu Jianxuan fell into deep thought.

The Ming Dynasty's navy and craftsmen did not have much desire for larger caliber artillery.

The caliber of existing new shipborne artillery is still 160 mm.

At this time, all potential enemies of the Ming Dynasty did not have stronger warships, and the power of the existing 160mm ship-borne rapid-fire artillery had already crushed the world.

The designers of Ming Dynasty warships and shipborne weapons did not focus their main efforts on improving the caliber and power of artillery.

Instead, the focus is on continuing to improve the artillery's auxiliary performance such as rate of fire and accuracy.

The Ming Dynasty's artillery warships currently have no special armor-piercing shells, and all of their ammunition are high-speed high-explosive shells.

The current situation of Ming Dynasty's artillery and warships, coupled with the fact that Ming Dynasty's aircraft had basically matured and its aircraft carriers had been in service for many years.

In the era from World War I to World War II in the past, the most typical dreadnought super battleship was a main battleship equipped with at least six large guns with a caliber of more than 300 mm.

In today's naval system of the world, it seems that there is no place for it at all, and there seems to be no need to design and build it.

This world already has dreadnought battleships, which were born directly in the form of super cruisers.

However, these super cruisers, which are the current artillery warships of the Ming Dynasty, are accustomed to being called battleships by designers, the navy, and civilians.

This is inherited from the sailing warship and is a general term for the most advanced artillery warship.

The dreadnought battleship, the most powerful weapon and the most complex machine in the history of human warfare, will never appear on the battlefield again.

Zhu Jianxuan, who used to be a military fan, felt a little regretful.

With this unique emotion, Zhu Jianxuan responded to the craftsmen's request for the tonnage of the new warship:

"Forget 18,000 tons. Let's just relax the displacement limit to 20,000 tons. The steel structure of the ship is the cheapest part anyway, right?

"Our current warships no longer need to pursue higher speeds; a maximum speed of more than 50 kilometers per hour is sufficient.

"The additional space and weight will be used as living space for officers and soldiers, and as storage space for fuel and supplies for warships.

“I remember that the living space for officers and soldiers on the original warships was extremely limited. In the future, we will try to ensure that all soldiers have fixed beds with no more than three layers.

“Even if the existing battleships are already invincible, there is no need for the new battleships to continue to pursue the ultimate in military power.

“Indicators such as redundancy, living facilities, safety and endurance can be raised.”

A 20,000-ton warship can be equipped with a 200mm main gun, but under the current maritime situation, there is no need for the Ming Dynasty to bother with larger caliber guns.

Zhu Jianxuan chose 20,000 tons and 12 guns over 15,000 tons and 9 guns and 18,000 tons and 12 guns.

The craftsmen were obviously stunned when they heard this. They were all very surprised and felt it was a bit outrageous, but there was nothing wrong with what Zhu Jianxuan said.

The point is, since the emperor has said so, why are the people below still arguing?
Such an inflated warship is certainly not as efficient as one whose tonnage and size have been squeezed out, and is not as flexible as the opponent when the force is the same.

But the emperor was right. The Ming navy’s warships were already invincible, so it was time to pursue safety in the future.

Then no one said anything more, and they all responded in unison:

"I obey your orders."

Then many people couldn't help but give a few compliments:
"Your Majesty is merciful and considerate of the hard work of the naval officers and soldiers. The naval officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will definitely remember this in their hearts."

Zhu Jianxuan didn't take these gossips to heart and continued to arrange other tasks:

“The 20,000-ton warships will be the core force of the ocean-going fleet. Their mission is to demonstrate the military deterrence of the Ming Dynasty and participate in possible ocean-going fleet decisive battles.

"In this large fleet, there should also be a number of core battleships to handle various miscellaneous matters during daily cruises.

"At the same time, we don't need to station the top battleships in all overseas ports. It is enough to use the second-tier backbone battleships.

"So we also need to design a new secondary artillery battleship, the overall indicators of which can be downgraded based on the main battleship..."

As Zhu Jianxuan spoke, he flipped through the design plans at hand and chose one with relatively even comprehensive indicators:
“Let’s take this plan as the basis, the empty displacement is 7,000 tons, and the full load displacement is 10,000 tons.

"The main weapon uses four triple-mounted 120mm 50-caliber automatic cannons, and four sets of quintuple-mounted 500mm torpedo tubes are installed."

Judging from the battleship design standards from World War I to World War II in Zhu Jianxuan's previous life, this secondary battleship, like the previous main battleship, has maximized the waste of tonnage.

The ship, with a full load displacement of 10,000 tons, only used 120mm guns, which are the guns of a 2,000-ton destroyer.

Or maybe it was because the Ming Dynasty’s enemies were too weak, and 120mm artillery was completely sufficient. Instead of pursuing firepower intensity, the Ming Dynasty Navy should pursue higher firepower density.

Therefore, a triple-mounted 120mm gun was designed. In previous history, artillery of this caliber was basically twin-mounted or even single-mounted.

Because most of the destroyers in World War II had extremely narrow and long hulls, most of them could not accommodate wider triple-mounted guns.

The new 055-ton main battleship has a status in the Ming Navy similar to that of the in the modern Chinese Navy. There will only be one or two ships in a large fleet as the command core.

The status of secondary battleships in the navy is close to that of 052D. They are fully functional backbone forces, and a fleet will have many ships.

Below the secondary backbone battleships, the so-called third-level battleships must also be designed.

Its status is equivalent to the destroyer leader before World War II, or the 054A in the modern naval system.

It serves as the leader of the offshore patrol fleet for the homeland and colonies, and also as the core warship of the ocean escort fleet.

The empty load displacement is 3,500 tons, and the full load displacement is limited to 5,000 tons.

The main weapons are four twin 056mm guns with a -caliber gun and four triple mm torpedo tubes. Finally, there are the fourth-level battleships, which are responsible for patrolling and doing odd jobs near the mainland and colonies. Their status is equivalent to the destroyers and frigates of the World War II era, or the modern A.

The empty load displacement is 2,000 tons and the full load displacement is 3,000 tons.

The main weapons are three twin 120mm 40-caliber guns and two triple 500mm torpedo tubes.

This series of new artillery warship design plans all increased the size of the ship at the request of Zhu Jianxuan, gaining more hull space and tonnage margin.

While participating in the discussion, the craftsmen wrote down Zhu Jianxuan's requirements and then went back to organize a complete formal design plan.

After talking about artillery battleships, the topic naturally turned to aircraft carriers.

Zhu Jianxuan took the draft of the aircraft carrier design that the craftsmen usually designed, flipped through it roughly, and then said directly:
“They are all too conservative. The indicators of these plans are too low. The largest one is only 25,000 tons. However, some of the plans have good design ideas.

"As the performance indicators of aircraft carried by aircraft carriers become higher and higher, aircraft carriers can no longer just serve as reconnaissance ships, but can now be used directly as attack ships.

“Also, aircraft carriers are very efficient in attacking. After all, a ship in the water can only travel at 50 kilometers per hour, but an aircraft can reach several hundred kilometers per hour.

"Several naval battles in America and Europe have proven this point, with concentrated use of carrier-based aircraft as attack weapons having very good results.

“So the next new aircraft carrier can be called an attack aircraft carrier.

“In order to maximize the attack capability of aircraft carriers, the empty displacement of aircraft carriers in the homeland must be increased to 30,000 tons, and the full load displacement must be increased to 40,000 tons.

“It must be able to carry more than 80 aircraft of various types, and its maximum speed must reach 60 kilometers per hour.

"The new main aircraft carrier will be designed according to this indicator.

“However, we can also design a secondary aircraft carrier to undertake low-intensity tasks such as patrolling, reconnaissance, and escort that were originally intended for aircraft carriers.

"The empty displacement is 15,000 tons, the full load displacement is 20,000 tons, and the speed can reach 50 kilometers per hour."

When Zhu Jianxuan was talking about the arrangements, most of the craftsmen below were confused. Their astonishment was even more exaggerated than if the capacity of artillery battleships had been increased to 20,000 tons.

The aircraft carriers previously built by the Ming Dynasty had a full load displacement of only 15,000 tons, so the direct jump to 40,000 tons was indeed too large.

However, the craftsmen had no intention of questioning it, because Zhu Jianxuan had made almost no mistakes in his previous decisions, especially in scientific research and design.

No matter how exaggerated the initial ideas and plans seemed at the time, the emperor's will was always proven to be correct and far-sighted in the end.

Just like the North-to-South Water Diversion Project, this requirement, which many people thought was incomprehensible at the time, was proven to be correct more than ten years later.

A group of craftsmen, with surprise, carefully wrote down Zhu Jianxuan's requirements and prepared to start a new design.

Zhu Jianxuan thought about it for a moment, then took out a pen, paper and ruler and drew a simple diagram on the spot.

On a neat rectangular deck, another staggered line was drawn at an angle.

“The deck of an attack aircraft carrier can try this design, with the front end of the main deck as the main launch area and the angled deck as the recovery area.

“After being recovered, the aircraft can be moved to the front of the main deck so that landing aircraft will not collide with aircraft on the deck.

"If the landing fails, you can continue to push forward and take off again, and there will be no collision.

“Under extreme conditions, the angled deck can also be used as a take-off area, or to continuously recover aircraft while launching them, and the two areas can operate semi-independently and in conjunction.

“The development used a steam pressure-driven catapult, mounted at the front of the deck, to power heavy-loaded aircraft and shorten takeoff distances.

"If you need to discuss or confirm anything about the details of the aircraft carrier design, you can call me directly."

After Zhu Jianxuan finished the painting, he used slides to show and introduce it to the craftsmen. The craftsmen on site quickly understood the purpose of the design and couldn't help but admire it.

“This is really exquisite.”

"It's like using one deck as two."

"Your Majesty, you are wise..."

In the original history, the angled deck and steam catapult, two key facilities on modern aircraft carriers, appeared to cope with the boarding of jet aircraft.

But in the propeller era, this two-phase design was actually useful.

Even if the catapult is of low power, or even if there is no catapult at all, a separately arranged angled deck is still useful.

Although simultaneous take-off and landing operations are only theoretical, they can obviously directly improve the deck scheduling efficiency of traditional aircraft carriers, and the key is to avoid landing accidents.

In addition, for large warships such as aircraft carriers, the service life starts at 20 years, 30 years is normal, and 50 years is not particularly outrageous.

During this long period, jet aircraft will definitely have to be used on board, and a rectangular straight deck is definitely not acceptable.

Instead of waiting until that time to dismantle the straight deck and perform a major cosmetic transformation on the aircraft carrier, it is better to arrange the angled deck in advance during the design.

The steam catapults designed now are likely to have very low power, and the aircraft's demand for catapults is not high.

But this early catapult can be reserved in advance, and the space required for the future catapult can be reserved when the ship is designed and built.

In the future, directly replacing the catapult with a newer and more powerful one will definitely be more effective than forcibly cutting grooves and installing catapults on the normal deck.

Zhu Jianxuan's reminders and requests are also a direct reflection of the time traveler's experience, and can avoid many troubles in advance.

After arranging the aircraft carrier matters, Zhu Jianxuan looked through the design drawings of the submarine again and felt that this aspect was relatively safe and there was nothing that needed additional reminders.

We simply selected a more suitable plan as the base map and asked the design team to complete the design of the new submarine based on it.

After arranging the task of battleship design, it was already afternoon.

Zhu Jianxuan went back to the palace to rest first. After the morning court the next day, he immediately went to the Academy of Sciences again to arrange a new round of scientific research tasks for the researchers.

Arrange a team to do research on radio detection and try to make the "radar" of the previous life.

Arrange a group to study the characteristics of semiconductors, thereby moving backward to transistor technology and further preparing to design a general-purpose electronic computer.

Assign a team to design a television, wired and wireless broadcasting systems, and transmit dynamic images to distant places in real time.

Arrange a group to conduct research on radioactive elements, and at the same time start research on relativity, and then move on to the exploration of fission and even fusion weapon technology.

Arrange a team to upgrade electric welding technology, explore electroslag welding technology, and then explore electroslag smelting technology.

Assign a team to be responsible for the extraction of antibiotics such as penicillin.

…………

Zhu Jianxuan stayed in the Academy of Sciences for several days in a row, mobilizing all the people in the academy to conduct more in-depth research.

These are technologies from the Second Industrial Revolution or even the Third Scientific and Technological Revolution, and many of them are quite difficult.

Zhu Jianxuan does not require them to complete the task within a specific time, but allows them to do exploratory research first.

But as a time traveler, Zhu Jianxuan knows that these technical routes are feasible.

As long as there are enough funds and manpower, results will be obtained sooner or later.

(End of this chapter)