Chapter 3153
Tao Donglai said: "Listening to what you said, there should be other fleets that have expressed interest in the Glory-class battleship?"
Shi Diwen nodded and said: "There are many people who are interested in this ship. Last year, Zhoushan received several groups of people who came to inspect it, but so far, the shipyard has not received any orders from outside."
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Yan Chujie smiled and said: "The cost of your boat is really too high. Those who can afford it may not be able to use it, and those who can use it may not be able to afford it. It is a bit difficult to promote it."
Shi Diwen responded: "This is the paradoxical situation that the shipyard is currently facing. The early development expenses have led to high construction costs. The only way to dilute the cost is through mass construction. However, if no external orders are received, the cost cannot be reduced. We can only continue to maintain high prices.”
The development phase of the Glory-class battleship lasted several years. A large amount of money was consumed in the process, which directly drove up the construction cost. Even the East China Sea Fleet, which is not short of money, can only build one to test the water at the beginning, hoping to use this as a model to sell the Glory-class warship to other fleets to dilute future construction costs.
But this matter did not go smoothly. As Yan Chujie said, the Glory-class battleship does look good, but it may not be the equipment that each fleet needs to purchase most at present.
The level of local military budgets is often directly linked to the level of local social wealth. Apart from the East China Sea Region, those with the most sufficient military budgets are probably the navies of Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian.
However, the waters of Guangdong and Guangxi have been peaceful for many years, the pirates have long since disappeared, and there are no other opponents in the area. There is almost no need to use the Glory-class battleship. Even if the Glory-class battleship is bought back, it will most likely only be used as a decoration.
There have always been invisible restrictions on equipment procurement for the Fujian garrison. Even if Xu Yuzhuo wanted to spend money to purchase this new type of warship, he would probably be blocked by the Ministry of National Defense during the application process.
Those with real combat needs are the imperial borders such as the Northern Region, Luzon Region, and Star Island Region, as well as the North American Region far across the ocean. However, the financial status of these regions and the allocation of military budgets are obviously still insufficient. It cannot be compared with the East China Sea Region.
The cost of purchasing a Glorious-class battleship is almost three times that of a Majesty-class battleship. In addition, the use and maintenance costs after entering service are also considerable, which is enough to make fleet commanders cool down their enthusiasm for purchasing and seriously think about their own plans. Does the fleet really need this new type of warship?
Tao Donglai asked: "How do you plan to solve this paradox?"
Shi Diwen said: "There are many ways to solve the problem, but if you want to achieve quick results and dispel the doubts of onlookers, there is only one way."
"Send the completed Zhoushan to the battlefield and use actual combat performance to prove that this new warship is worth the money. If its combat effectiveness can far exceed that of the Majesty-class warship, commanders should not No longer so sensitive to cost.”
This may sound like a violent argument, but if you think about it carefully, it makes sense.
Other fleets have adopted a wait-and-see attitude towards the newly launched Glory-class warships. In addition to the prohibitively high price, they will of course also have certain doubts about their actual combat performance.
If after buying it, you find out that it is not so useful when you go to the battlefield, this thing cannot be returned.
The best way to dispel such doubts is of course to let the Zhoushan prove its strength on the battlefield. At least it must have a performance that exceeds that of the Majesty-class battleship, so that people can willingly dig into their pockets.
Tao Donglai was thinking about something else. He smiled and said, "It seems that you haven't been on the battlefield for a long time and you are a little restless."
Shi Diwen avoided Tao Donglai's ridicule: "If such expensive weapons and equipment are only placed in Dinghai Port as a display, it is not of the value it deserves." If Shi Diwen wants to build a weapon in the East China Sea, If a war is launched in the region, there is only one target, namely Japan across the sea. If Shi Diwen plans to make a comeback in the military and return to the battlefield to find the feeling of a commander, then he probably can only use Japan.
Japan's maritime armed forces are not as good as today's North Korea, but it is quite suitable to be used as a target for recruiting Glory-class battleships.
However, if Shi Diwen really plans to do this, he cannot act arbitrarily. According to Haihan's system, any war launched against foreign countries must first be discussed and approved by the Executive Committee.
After visiting the shipyard, the group boarded the Zhoushan, which was specially docked near the shipyard.
Several engineers who personally designed and built the Zhoushan also followed from the shipyard to explain some of the construction details of the ship to the officials.
In Haihan's shipbuilding history to date, the Zhoushan is the ship with the largest displacement, more than twice the size of the Majesty class.
Compared with the warships built in the past, the Zhoushan has undergone great changes in the hull structure. All the side guns deployed on the lower deck of the old warship have been canceled and replaced by rotatable turrets on the front and rear decks of the hull.
The originally extremely complicated sail system was also drastically simplified, with only one main mast, two pairs and three masts retained. The task of driving the battleship was handed over to the steam power system in the cabin.
If the previous Majestic-class battleships were dominated by sails and supplemented by steam power, then on the Glory-class battleships, the positions of the two are exactly reversed.
But the overall design idea is not derived from the Majestic-class battleship, but more like an enlarged and improved version of the previously built Warrior-class experimental ship.
Engineers said that when the Glorious class was being designed, there was even a version of an ironclad ship, but the cost was too high and it was rejected at the pre-trial stage.
Of course, now that the design plan is in place, in a few years, Haihan's steel production will increase to a certain stage, and the cost of ironclad ships can be reduced to an acceptable level, and then a new era may be ushered in.
Although the performance of this battleship seems to have been greatly improved compared to the Majestic class, its use and maintenance also face higher costs.
The Glorious-class warship itself has a limited loading capacity. If it is to go to sea for a long time, it must be equipped with a supply ship to carry coal and fresh water to ensure that the steam power system on the ship can continue to operate.
But such shortcomings become a small shortcoming that can be ignored in the face of the several rapid-fire cannons on the front and rear decks.
These breech-loading guns using copper-cased shells are very expensive and have a long manufacturing period. However, considering that their combat performance is several times higher than that of older naval guns, they are barely cost-effective.
Shi Diwen said that with the blessing of these advanced naval guns, even if the opponent is the Haihan warship in service, the Glory class will have an overwhelming advantage.
(End of chapter)