Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Logically speaking, the Royal Navy was well aware that if the Admiral-class battlecruisers, which could reach a top speed of 29.5 knots, were converted into aircraft carriers, they would have a greater deck wind due to their higher speed, and the larger hull would also facilitate the placement of guns, resulting in a longer flight deck and a larger hangar.

The problem is that the construction of the third and fourth Admiral-class battlecruisers was terminated relatively early, shortly after the surrender of the Leitanian Empire. As a result, the completion rate of these two battlecruisers is very low. The fourth ship, in particular, has not even had its boilers installed. If these two ships were to be converted into aircraft carriers, a much larger investment would be required, which would be very difficult for the Royal Navy at present.

In contrast, the second ship of the Admiral Torrare-class battleships, which was originally to be sold to the Chilean Navy, was at least more complete. Apart from the weapons, including the guns, the main body of the warship had been basically completed and the propulsion system had been installed. The unfinished guns and superstructure were actually very suitable for conversion into an aircraft carrier.

Moreover, as a battleship hull, even the low-end version exported abroad still had nine-inch armor, which was quite adequate in terms of the carrier's gunnery capabilities (a term that will certainly be unfamiliar to military enthusiasts in later generations).

The only problem is that it is a fairly conventional battleship hull, 190.5 meters long, 31.4 meters wide, and with a draft of 8.7 meters. In terms of length-to-beam ratio, it is only slightly over 6, which is not a very good figure. The power system is only 37,000 horsepower, and the top speed can only reach 22.75 knots.

Theoretically, since the original five 14-inch gun turrets don't need to be installed, especially the space of the No. 3 turret located amidships, could be used to add a boiler room, thus improving the propulsion system. However, due to the short and stout hull shape, the speed would probably be difficult to exceed 25 knots.

After much deliberation, the Royal Navy of Victoria opted for the conversion of a battleship hull with a higher degree of completion. The Royal Navy's reason was that a speed of 25 knots was sufficient. In the future, the three Furious-class aircraft carriers, which were fast after the conversion, could operate in conjunction with battlecruisers or independently. This aircraft carrier, converted from a battleship hull, could also operate alongside the Queen Elizabeth-class fast battleships!

These four converted aircraft carriers together will consume half of the Royal Navy's aircraft carrier tonnage. Therefore, the construction of the HMS Hermes, a light aircraft carrier with a tonnage of just over 10,000 tons, which the Royal Navy originally planned to start, was halted before it even hit the slipway. After all, 10,000 tons is a bit small even just to fit 10-inch guns, not to mention the need to accommodate flight decks and hangars.

Regarding the remaining half of the aircraft carrier tonnage, the Royal Navy plans to wait until the current batch of aircraft carriers has been modified before assessing the situation. Discussions held during the recess of the naval treaty negotiations with the domestic authorities can only determine these general directions. The specific design details of the aircraft carriers are neither within the scope of the treaty discussions nor can they be explained in a few words.

It would be more accurate to say that the Royal Navy of Victoria was able to conduct a thorough investigation and finalize the decision on whether to retain the hull of the Admiral-class battlecruiser or the battleship during another treaty recess of two weeks, which can be considered a very high level of efficiency.

Of course, besides the Royal Navy, there were even more efficient options – the Colombian Navy immediately decided to convert the HMS Constellation and HMS Columbia, two Lexington-class battlecruisers that were not allowed to be retained under the treaty, into aircraft carriers. These two battlecruisers, which were 270 meters long, were already quite well-finished. The Colombian Navy needed to remove some of the turrets and gun mounts that had already been installed on these two ships, as well as all the superstructures, and also to re-lay out the smoke ducts.

Of course, the most important thing is to adjust the layout of the ammunition magazine and design and install new 10-inch main guns. In terms of firepower, we should strive to install nine 10-inch main guns in accordance with the upper limit of the treaty. The Colombian Navy started bidding for new triple 10-inch gun turrets even before the treaty was formally signed. The design department has even started to organize people to draw up the design drawings of the Constellation-class aircraft carrier.

Even a rough calculation shows that the displacement of this Constellation-class aircraft carrier is definitely over 35,000 tons. Even including the 3000-ton conversion, it still far exceeds the maximum tonnage of 27,000 tons for aircraft carriers initially stipulated in the treaty.

Therefore, in the next phase of negotiations, the Colombian Navy immediately proposed that the aircraft carriers modified under the treaty could have an additional 3000 tons of weight for the installation of anti-torpedo bulges and other equipment, and another 3000 tons for so-called "aviation facilities and hull structure" improvements. In short, the Colombian Navy's approach was basically that if one 3000 tons was not enough, they would apply for another 3000 tons until their tonnage was sufficient.

The Colombian Navy originally thought this would be a tough battle. Even if the Tang Empire also had aircraft carriers converted from battlecruisers, and all the signatory countries could use these modified tonnage ships, they would probably still object.

After all, the Colombian Navy was well aware that the Tang Empire's warships seemed to be more efficient than their own. The Tang Empire's battlecruisers, whose construction had been halted and which were equipped with 420mm guns, did not seem to be heavier than the Lexington-class battlecruisers, even with larger guns and thicker armor.

After all, they don't use electric drive, and their power compartments don't need to be as long as the Lexington's.

Therefore, if the other side wants to make things difficult for us and strongly opposes making so many patches to modify the tonnage of the aircraft carrier, under the same constraints, the Tang Empire is indeed very likely to come up with a more balanced and complete design than us.

However, the Tang Empire's delegation completely acquiesced to Colombia's proposal, which made the Colombian Navy even more convinced that the Tang Empire might be trying to make a difference with their aircraft carriers equipped with 11-inch guns—perhaps they were planning to use that weight to add thicker armor.

This inevitably gave the Colombian Navy a completely new imagination of what they envisioned as the "powerful 11-inch main gun aircraft carrier of the Tang Empire."

However, the reason why the Tang Dynasty did not object was quite simple—Li Che was well aware of how difficult it was to control the weight of the Lexington in history. As the world's largest aircraft carrier for a long time, this thing weighed 36,000 tons during the treaty period, and its weight exceeded 4 tons after the subsequent modifications.

In this world, the Constellation-class aircraft carriers also have to carry three 10-inch main guns. The Colombian Navy is doing well to keep the weight at 36,000 tons. In fact, he really wants to say that if 3000 tons is not enough, you can add another 6000 tons.

Every extra ton of power you use on these heavy-armored aircraft carriers now is a noose around the neck of your future, more conventional aircraft carriers once you realize this!

Chapter 301 The Colombian Navy has jumped into this pit themselves.

Although the concept of the Constellation-class aircraft carrier is currently only on paper—no, the Colombian Navy hasn't even finalized the design plan for the Constellation-class aircraft carrier at this point—this doesn't stop the Colombian Navy from fantasizing about the Constellation-class aircraft carrier.

Just like many teenagers experience sexual repression, the Colombian Navy's symptoms are a typical example of fast capital ship repression syndrome.

A warship like the Constellation, with its 10-inch guns capable of fulfilling some of the functions of a capital ship, and also able to launch aircraft for reconnaissance and aerial attacks, is practically the dream ship of the Colombian Navy.

However, unlike the Royal Navy of Victoria, the Colombian Navy does not have several hulls that can be converted into aircraft carriers. The Colombian Navy currently only has two original Lexington-class battlecruisers that are very suitable for conversion into aircraft carriers. Although a total of 6 Lexington-class battlecruisers were ordered, the latter two were actually additional batches added later and were not very complete.

Apart from the Lexington-class battlecruisers, the only other warships built by the Colombian Navy were the South Dakota-class battleships.

If it were the Royal Navy of Victoria, they would probably choose to convert the hull of the South Dakota-class aircraft carrier into a prototype, given its history. If converted into an aircraft carrier, regardless of its aviation capabilities, its gunnery capabilities would be absolutely unmatched.

Moreover, the South Dakota-class battleships hold special significance within the Colombian Navy. This is not only because they are the most powerful battleships in the Colombian Navy's arsenal and the first battleships in the Colombian Navy to be equipped with 16-inch main guns, but also because the South Dakota-class battleships are known internally within the Colombian Navy as the "South Dakota-class fast battleships".

Ah~ so fast!

When battleships are associated with the word "fast," the first thing that comes to mind is probably the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships of the Royal Navy. While the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were indeed somewhat inferior in speed, barely reaching 25 knots (I'm giving them a slight boost), their speed was actually not satisfactory to the Royal Navy, as they could barely reach that speed when fully loaded.

Meanwhile, in Colombia, the South Dakota-class battleships, as a plus version of the standard battleships, finally broke free from the Colombian Navy's standard speed limit of 21 knots. After enhancing their power, the Colombian Navy finally brought the speed of the South Dakota-class battleships to... 23 knots.

Well, how can you say this isn't progress?

From the Colombian Navy's perspective, if the new battleship is two knots faster than the old one, then wouldn't the new battleship necessarily be a fast battleship?

Should we convert the hulls of the South Dakota-class battleships into two more aircraft carriers? In terms of size, the South Dakota-class battleships were 684 feet long and 109 feet wide (a little over 208 meters long and 33.2 meters wide). In terms of length-to-width ratio, although this ship's ratio was also around 2, it was still better than the aircraft carrier that the Royal Navy converted from the hull of HMS Admiral Torrae.

However, such a promising plan for the modification of an aircraft carrier for the Colombian Navy, which Li Che would have loved to personally fund if he knew about it, was rejected by the Colombian Navy at the most basic demonstration stage.

The fundamental reason why the Colombian Navy rejected the modification plan was that this thing could only run at 23 knots, not more than 30 knots.

The aircraft carrier that the Colombian Navy wants should at least be able to outrun the battlecruisers of the Victorian Empire and the Tang Dynasty, right?

Therefore, the Colombian Navy decided to modify only these two sections of the aircraft carrier. However... as mentioned earlier, the Colombian Navy, suffering from a "lack of fast capital ships syndrome," urgently hoped to acquire more fast warships. So, without suitable hulls for high-speed capital ships to be modified, the wealthy Colombian Navy said—so what if it doesn't have a speed of over 30 knots? We'll just build new ones.

This is indeed a brilliant idea; it could lead to immediate discharge from the hospital.

With the Constellation-class aircraft carriers still under construction and with virtually no practical experience in operating aircraft carriers, the Colombian Navy began designing entirely new aircraft carriers.

Although some within the Colombian Navy have expressed concerns that this new type of ship, which the Colombian Navy has little prior experience with, should perhaps wait until the construction of the two Constellation-class aircraft carriers is completed and the actual construction and use of the front-line fleet is finished before adjusting the design based on operational experience.

The Colombian Navy is now clearly preparing to skip this step altogether. Relative to the total size of its fleet, the limited number of fast ships makes the Colombian Navy somewhat hasty in acquiring quasi-fast capital ships when given the opportunity.

Of course, this is understandable. If you've liked Liu Yifei since you were a child, and in your mind, Liu Yifei is the fairy sister in your heart, and then one day I suddenly find that the person sitting across from you on your blind date is the fairy sister, and at night you find that the fairy sister has taken off her coat and is lying in bed, at this time you would say that you are still a novice and that you should go out and learn some skills first, and then come back to spend the night with the fairy sister?

Are you kidding me?! Who the hell could stand this?!

The Colombian Navy acted like someone who couldn't tell their own limitations after meeting a goddess. Before anyone had even dug a pit for them, they jumped right into it. As a result, in addition to the two Constellation-class aircraft carriers, the design sketches for two newly designed aircraft carriers equipped with ten-inch main guns were finalized in a very short time. These two aircraft carriers will follow the refitting work of the two Constellation-class aircraft carriers and have their keels laid.

how to say?

The astonishing wisdom of the Colombian Navy!

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Compared to the top three powers, the Kingdom of Gaul and the Kingdom of Syracuse each received 60,000 tons of aircraft carrier tonnage in the treaty. Although 60,000 tons of aircraft carrier tonnage is only one-third of the aircraft carrier tonnage of the top three powers, this tonnage is more than enough for the Kingdom of Gaul and the Kingdom of Syracuse.

In contrast, in another world, France and Italy on Earth never fully utilized their available aircraft carrier tonnage. Here, at least due to the issue of the 10-inch guns on aircraft carriers, countries valued those few 10-inch guns more than the aircraft on the carriers.

On the Gallic Navy's side, they did not choose a Normandy-class battleship like in another world, and then follow the example of the Royal Navy on the other side of the Channel to build an aircraft carrier that looked similar but had many problems in actual use—the Béarn.

The Béarn appears to possess all the design elements of a modern aircraft carrier—a full-length flight deck, a side-mounted bridge, side-mounted funnels... all features that only a well-designed modern aircraft carrier would have.

In reality, the Béarn was essentially a nobody throughout World War II, with very few opportunities to perform on the battlefield. The reason, of course, was that the Gallic Navy chose to convert a battleship with a speed of only 21 knots into an aircraft carrier. As is well known, an aircraft carrier with this speed was only fit to sit at the same table as escort carriers during World War II.

In this world, the Gallic Navy also chose to convert battleship hulls into aircraft carriers, specifically Normandy-class battleships. However, this time, the Gallic Navy's aircraft carriers were fitted with 240mm turrets—the secondary main guns removed during the conversion of the Danton-class battleships finally found a purpose.

Compared to the Gallic aircraft carrier, which is essentially the same thing in a new bottle, the Kingdom of Syracuse, a country that historically believed it did not need to develop aircraft carriers, has actually begun to develop its own.

And many years later, when Syracuse's aircraft carrier enters service, other countries will be astonished and ask the crucial question: "Is this an aircraft carrier?"

Chapter 302 The Shogunate Has a Fleet

"Your Highness was looking for me?"

After learning that Li Che had asked her to come over that evening, Tokugawa Akiko, feeling a little nervous, lifted her skirt and went to Li Che's rest cabin on the Jingyuan.

Although the living conditions on large surface warships are much better than those on medium and small ships, the living conditions for senior officers are naturally better.

However, for someone who has truly been pampered since childhood, let alone the Jingyuan of today, even if you gave him the best cabins in the Yamato Hotel, the Roosevelt Hotel, or a certain destroyer palace, it would still be a "torture," not to mention the Jingyuan of this era.

(By the way, can everyone recognize what kind of ships these three refer to?)

Tokugawa Akiko was a pampered young lady from a young age. When the shogunate ruled Japan, Tokugawa Akiko's status was, in some ways, more prestigious than that of a princess of the Imperial Family. After all, status in the real world is linked to power and wealth. Whether it's the concept of a patriarchal society or other settings popular in certain Jianghu novels, they don't exist in reality.

These past two years have been a period of hardship for Akiko, so she was able to get through the time she spent living on the ship. It was precisely because she had previously enjoyed a life of luxury and then experienced the upheaval of the Tokugawa family that Akiko adapted so quickly to the change in circumstances. That is why her father had chosen her to be sent to the Prince of Jin's residence.

Many within the Tokugawa family believe that if Miss Mingko were a man, she would undoubtedly be the next Kubo-no-sei (Kubō-no-sei, a title of nobility). This composure in the face of different circumstances is quite valuable for a nobleman's son, and it reflects a certain level of personal qualities.

Logically speaking, Li Che also grew up in luxury, but Mingzi, who served by Li Che's side, never felt that the prince had any demands regarding the quality of his material life. If it was to set an example in the army before the end of the war, then the prince's continued simple lifestyle can only be described as a habit.

Although Tokugawa Akiko knew that the Jin Prince's family had always been like this, disliking extravagance, she could clearly sense the distinct differences between His Highness, the Crown Prince, and the two princes.

Just like this time, delegations from various countries traveled to Honolulu aboard their respective warships. To maintain secrecy, all internal discussions and communications with their home countries took place on the warships. However, during their daily rest periods, most delegation members stayed in accommodations provided by the Colombian government on shore, as the conditions on board could never compare to those on land.

Prior to this, even during the breaks in negotiations, Li Che had never spent the night on shore. The Crown Prince did not disembark, and the entire Tang delegation had to stay on the ship.

As one of the more unique members of the negotiation team, Tokugawa Akiko was assigned a single cabin of her own. Although she was told before departure that she must serve the Crown Prince well, after departure, Li Che devoted almost all his attention to the treaty negotiations. Apart from bringing him meals and tea, the two did not have much communication.

She had already served tea and snacks to the Crown Prince earlier that evening, and was about to go to sleep fully clothed in her cabin when the Crown Prince unexpectedly summoned her again.

Considering that it is currently the recess period of this naval conference negotiations, and that the negotiations between various countries on aircraft carriers have been quite tiring for Your Highness recently, but the most important negotiations on capital ships and aircraft carriers have already ended, does Your Highness intend to let me serve you in bed to release the pressure that has accumulated over this period of time?

Thinking of this, Tokugawa Akiko couldn't help but feel grateful that she had just taken a bath and changed into new clothes during the day. Recalling the skills that the old women in the Tokugawa household had taught her, Tokugawa Akiko felt her cheeks burning.

As the saying goes, "Training for a thousand days is for using it for one hour." Could it be that tonight is the time for...? With such a jumble of thoughts, Mingzi walked into Li Che's dormitory.

"Your Highness."

"Oh, Mingzi, you're here. Please have a seat." Li Che was leaning back in one of the two single sofas in the room, looking at the documents in his hand, and casually pointing to the other single sofa opposite him.

Akiko Tokugawa glanced around the room, bowed again, and then closed the hatch, simultaneously locking it with the bolt.

The sound of the door closing clearly caught the attention of the two guards standing at the cabin door. Almost simultaneously, they turned their gaze to the door and then heard the sound of it being locked from inside.

His Highness is inside;

The Tokugawa princess was also inside;

The door is already locked............

"Old Wang, shall we go up to the deck for a walk?"

"Yes, yes, it's a bit stuffy in here."

"How long do you think we should go up there for? Half an hour?"

"Do you think His Highness is like you, only eating main courses and not desserts or appetizers? Or do you think His Highness eats exceptionally fast like you? Let's walk around up there for half an hour before coming down."

"How the hell am I fast?"

"Hurry up and leave."

The two guards left, exchanging a few words, while Li Che, inside the room, was preoccupied with the report in his hands and completely oblivious to Tokugawa Akiko's subtle movements. Only after he caught sight of Akiko sitting down opposite him did he finally ask, "Akiko, how's your courage?"

“Courage?” Mingzi looked at Li Che with some surprise. “Does Your Highness wish for Mingzi to be bolder or less bold?”

Li Che had only asked casually, but he didn't expect the Japanese girl to answer him like that, which made him chuckle: "You dare to answer me like that, so you must be quite bold. If I let you speak at the naval conference in a few days, you won't get stage fright, will you?"

"Speak at a naval conference?" Tokugawa Akiko was taken aback. "Your Highness, Akiko doesn't understand the navy."

“I don’t need you to understand the navy. There are other people who can handle the technical issues. What I need is for you to catch the Japanese and even the Colombians off guard during the negotiations.” Li Che smiled and handed over the documents in his hand, pointing at Tokugawa Akiko with his finger, his gesture resembling that of a famous recruitment poster from the United States during World War II.

"Catch them off guard?"

Akiko Tokugawa took the document with a somewhat bewildered look. After glancing at it, she discovered that the document actually contained a complete inventory of the Shogunate Navy's assets.

The current Shogunate Navy, in terms of both strength and size, can be described as a roadside vessel. In terms of size, it can only muster a squadron of light cruisers and a squadron of destroyers at most. Moreover, whether it is cruisers or destroyers, the cruisers and destroyers that the Tang Dynasty currently has are generally small in tonnage and weak in firepower.

Now, most of these warships are simply moored in the harbor. Some of the sailors on board remain on the ships, while others have even gone out to earn extra money.

Frankly, a maritime force like this in exile would probably go unnoticed by any major power unless specifically mentioned.

"Your Highness, what do you need our shogunate to do?"

"Your shogunate's warships are due for an upgrade. I've already sent a telegram to the country informing them that our navy will donate four 4-ton cruisers to your nation free of charge. In addition, we will provide you with a batch of second- or third-class cruisers, which will replace your current destroyers and frigates..."

Such a grand gesture shocked even Tokugawa Akiko, who didn't know much about the navy. If these ships were given to the shogunate, it would mean that the shogunate's navy would be several times stronger, and the shogunate navy might not even be able to recruit enough sailors to operate these warships.

"Does Your Highness intend to circumvent some of the treaty restrictions through the Shogunate?"

“You are indeed very clever, Akiko.” Li Che nodded. “I can also tell you frankly here, and you can also pass on what I said to the Tokugawa Shogun. We do need to make use of the Shogunate’s navy now. The ships we are transferring to you are in very good condition and have hardly suffered any serious damage during the war. However, these warships were generally built before the outbreak of the World War, so in terms of performance… these warships are somewhat outdated.”

"No problem, Your Highness. Even if these ships are relatively old, aren't they still bigger and better than the few ships in the hands of our Shogunate Navy?"

Akiko Tokugawa was afraid that Ritsuka had no demands. So what if she was being used? Being used meant she had value!

"Compared to your previous ships, they are indeed much better in terms of performance." Li Che had thought long and hard before handing over these 10,000-ton cruisers. The Victorian Empire and the Ming Dynasty were products of the exploration of large-scale light cruisers during the World Wars.

The Royal Navy of Victoria ultimately produced the Hawkins and heavy cruisers, while the Tang Dynasty produced four Yangtze River-class cruisers.

Both types of warships share a common feature: they both use cheaper and lighter deck guns. Although their firepower is largely contingent on emergency measures, there is no doubt that these heavy cruisers possess absolute dominance over other light cruisers of the era.

Chapter 303 Recoil Control Failure

However, the performance of these two "fallen heavy cruisers" will certainly not be able to keep up with the rapid development of cruiser technology in the next ten years or so. The reason is simple - whether it is the Hawkins-class of the Royal Navy of the Victorian Empire or the Changjiang-class of the Tang Dynasty, these two cruisers use 7.5-inch naval guns and 180 mm naval guns respectively, and both of their guns are loaded entirely by manpower.

This weight of artillery is basically the limit for manual loading, but looking to the future, the performance of this artillery will be very awkward.

Except for the early models which were particularly vulnerable, the armor protection of heavy cruisers from various countries has been improved to varying degrees in later models, especially the Kaohsiung and Zara, both of which are known as the kings of treaty heavy cruisers. Moreover, one of their major features is that their protection is quite good among cruisers.

However, even these two, the best-protected heavy cruisers among the treaty cruisers, were still somewhat limited in their protection against eight-inch armor-piercing shells. This was because, under the weight restrictions of the treaty, firepower, mobility, and protection were almost an impossible triangle for heavy cruisers.

Especially regarding protection, the level of protection required to perform a grand ceremony within a snail shell is an ordeal for all countries. Some countries have even simply waved their hands and said, "I don't need protection anymore, JOJO!"

The French built a cruiser like this. Their Duquesne-class cruiser had a protective weight of 425 tons, which is only 4.5% of its displacement. Its thickest side armor was only 30 millimeters. The protection was limited to the ammunition magazine, main gun turret and fire control platform. It was the weakest of the early treaty cruisers of various countries, almost completely exposed.