Chapter 334 I’m the most scared when I hear it
If the Kuril Islands are regarded as an island chain, the Russian Empire will be locked in the Sea of Okhotsk.
This is also understandable. When Russia signed the contract with Japan, it sold Alaska to the United States, maybe with the idea of using Japan as a buffer zone.
Now that times have changed, it is not Ye Luoxin’s wish to take back the Thousand Islands.
After the Tenth Russo-Turkish War, Russia wanted to upgrade the Siberian Fleet to the Pacific Fleet, and by the way, upgrade the equipment level of the Siberian Fleet to the same level as the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet.
Since the Kuril Islands were all given to Japan, the renamed Pacific Fleet cannot even enter the Pacific Ocean, which would be a joke.
The Sino-Japanese War completely changed the ecology of East Asia. In the past, it was unprofitable to go to war with Japan. Now, Japan has become rich overnight through the war. This has set a very bad example for all countries.
In the final analysis, it is the 230 million that is to blame.
George still has great ideas about Hokkaido fishing grounds.
The world's four largest fishing grounds, Hokkaido's fishing grounds rank first.
Amur's fishing capabilities are now getting stronger and stronger. In Vladivostok alone, there are hundreds of large and small fishing companies, and the total number of fishing boats exceeds 1,000.
The aquatic products of Vladivostok not only provide rich nutrition for Amur, but are also exported to the Qing Empire and Central Asia in large quantities, becoming the most popular commodity in Vladivostok.
The largest export product from Vladivostok is not cars or cosmetics.
But aquatic products and animal furs.
To seize the Kuril Islands, it is necessary to greatly increase the strength of the Siberian Fleet.
The "Yuryev" just acquired by the Siberian Fleet is the first 10,000-ton armored cruiser of the Russian Empire. It has a displacement of 11,700 tons and a top speed of 18.7 knots. It is equipped with 4 single-barreled 203mm main guns and 16 single-barreled guns. 152mm rapid-fire gun.
Looking at the number of artillery pieces alone, the "Yuriev" also has a lot, but the layout of the "Yuriyev"'s artillery is unreasonable. When dealing with the same target, only 2 can be used, and the other two can be used. Unable to participate, huge waste.
As a cruiser, the "Yuriev" is not much faster than a battleship, which becomes the fatal weakness of the "Yuriev".
Ye Luoxin also has ideas about warships.
The Vladivostok Shipyard can now build destroyers. Although the maximum tonnage is only 800 tons, in theory, there are no technical obstacles to building a light armored cruiser of about 3,000 tons in Vladivostok.
What surprised George was that the Vladivostok Steel Plant developed nickel-chromium alloy steel earlier this year and improved the armor surface carburizing process. Compared with traditional armor steel, this new armor steel has greatly enhanced protective performance. 6 inches (152 mm) thick new armor steel with defensive capabilities equivalent to 12.5 inches (317.5 mm) of traditional armor steel.
The armor steel commonly used in various countries now is Harvey armor, and its protection capability is increased by 50% compared to traditional armor steel.
Japan ordered two new battleships with a displacement of 12,000 tons from Britain last year. These two battleships have not yet been completed and did not have time to participate in the Sino-Japanese War.
After the signing of the "Chunfan Tower Treaty", Japan became rich overnight. The shipbuilding plan that had been shelved many times due to lack of funds was restarted. The news received by George was that Japan was seeking to build four ships A battleship with a displacement of approximately 15,000 tons.
The Beiyang Navy was completely wiped out in the Sino-Japanese War, and the Qing Imperial Navy was no longer able to pose a threat to Japan.
Japan continues to expand its navy, who is its next target?
George used to advocate the Japanese threat theory, but St. Petersburg did not take it seriously.
Now St. Petersburg finally feels the threat from Japan. It is against this background that the "Yuriev" was transferred to the Siberian Fleet.
Don’t look at George’s disdain for the "Yuryev".
But if the threat from Japan had not become more and more obvious, even the "Yuryev" would not have had the Siberian Fleet's turn.
George no longer advocates the Japanese threat theory, but pays more and more attention to the British threat.
George regarded Japan's military expansion as Japan's initiative to provoke an arms race in East Asia.
This is Hong Guoguo's conspiracy, and the Russian Empire has to take over.
The Siberian Fleet has not added new ships for nearly 20 years and owes too much debt. It wants to forcibly increase the strength of the Siberian Fleet to the level of the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet in a short period of time. Then the Baltic Fleet and Black Sea Fleet will be affected.
If this situation continues, the consequence may be that the three major fleets will not gain advantages in their respective waters due to lack of strength.
However, if resources are not allocated to the Siberian fleet, the safety of the Amur waterway cannot be guaranteed.
So George had a headache for Nicholas.
"Build, build a light cruiser first, and if it doesn't work, sell it to Aceh."
George still used Aceh to practice.
Before George left St. Petersburg, Nicholas promised George that more newly built battleships and cruisers would be equipped with the Siberian Fleet.
One problem has to be said. These new battleships and cruisers built by the Russian Empire are actually not suitable for the Siberian Fleet.
When designing new ships, the Imperial Navy never considered the sea conditions in Siberia, and designed them entirely based on the conditions of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea.
The Baltic Sea and the Black Sea are both inland seas with less wind and waves. Therefore, although the battleships and cruisers built by the empire have decent firepower, they sacrifice seaworthiness to a certain extent, and their wind and wave resistance and endurance are relatively weak.
These are not problems in the Baltic and Black Seas. But if you put it in East Asia, the problem will be bigger.
For example, the battleship "Navarin" under construction in Russia has two twin-mounted 305mm main guns and eight single-barreled 152mm secondary guns, but its displacement is only 10,200 tons, which is only suitable for low wind and wave offshore waters such as the Baltic Sea. used, dubbed the "overturned table" by the Russian military.
Just such a ship, construction started in 1889, has not yet been completed, and is not expected to enter service until next year.
George really has nothing to say about the efficiency of Russian shipyards.
So the Vladivostok Shipyard wants to build warships. If it adopts the St. Petersburg plan, neither the design drawings nor the work efficiency will satisfy George.
This meant that the Vladivostok Shipyard had to start from scratch.
Fortunately, this is not a big problem, there is no shortage of design talents in Vladivostok.
At the end of the 19th century, the flow of personnel between countries was very frequent. Bai Yiyi, who designed the three-view warship for Japan, is currently in Vladivostok. The destroyer produced by the Vladivostok Shipyard is Bai Yiyi. designed.
Bai Laoyi's trip to Japan was not successful. The Sanjing ship performed poorly in the Sino-Japanese War, but this was not Bai Laoyi's problem.
The Japanese are very happy about their achievements. The stronger the performance of the warships, the better, and the lower the cost, the better. This is impossible to achieve in itself.
The first warship designed by Bai Laoyi for Japan had excellent performance, but it failed in the end because it did not meet the requirements of the Japanese.
Unlike the Japanese, Vladivostok took a pragmatic route. The role of destroyers was patrolling, and whether naval guns could be used was irrelevant. Bai Laoyi's capabilities were finally fully demonstrated in Vladivostok.
“The Japanese require the least money to obtain the most powerful firepower. What can I do? They can only forcibly install the 305-caliber artillery on a hull that is only suitable for 254-caliber artillery. As for actual combat Ability, as long as the Japanese are happy——"
Bai Laoyi gritted his teeth with hatred when he mentioned the Japanese.
Blauyi's design ability is beyond doubt. The first protected cruiser of the French Navy, the "Sfax", was written by Blauyi.
In Japan, Bai Laoyi suffered a misfortune.
What made Bai Laiyi the most angry was that because of the poor performance of the Sanjing ship in the Sino-Japanese War (the 320-meter main gun failed to fire a single shot), Bai Laiyi was wildly ridiculed by his French colleagues after returning to France, and he could no longer accept it. to work related to warship design.
That’s why Bai Laoyi had to return to the Far East.
“Come on, let’s start with your best protected cruiser and design the most powerful cruiser for Vladivostok.”
George’s words made Bai Laoyi’s eyes dull. He now Hearing the words "most powerful" brings fear to my heart.
“Don’t worry, there is no limit on cost.”
This is the biggest difference between George and the Japanese.
You get what you pay for, this is true at all times.
The cruisers in Vladivostok are for personal use and not for export, so they don’t need gimmicks.
"Then there will be no problem!"
Bai Laoyi was refreshed. Designers were most afraid of being both independent and independent, and they liked employers like George the most.
Although George also wants performance, he is not afraid of spending money.
What else is there to say?
“However, protected cruisers have fallen behind. We need cruisers that are not so strong in protection and firepower, have higher endurance, and are faster.”
Bai Laoyi designed “Sfalk” "Si" was already more than ten years ago, and the design ideas now are completely different from those then.
When France built the "Sfax", the "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" of more than 7,000 tons were called battleships, and now they are not even as good as armored cruisers.
The "Sfax" designed by Bai Laoyi for the French Navy is now an iron bastard with slow speed, weak firepower and short legs.
The "Sfax" has a displacement of only 4,500 tons. This weight, even with all the armor, cannot withstand current battleship main guns or torpedo attacks.
In this case, then simply abandon the comprehensive route, greatly strengthen the speed advantage, and focus on "patrol".
"This is just the beginning. After the destroyer is completed, the cruiser will be next. After a while, the Vladivostok Shipyard will start building battleships. You have plenty of opportunities."
What George will do next Expansion of Vladivostok Shipyard.
There are only 5 shipyards in the Russian Empire that can build 10,000-ton warships.
Now these five docks are all occupied. If you want to build new ships, you have to order them from foreign countries.
The Vladivostok Shipyard has two shipyards that can build 10,000-ton giant ships, so whether Alexei is willing or not, the Vladivostok Shipyard will assume more and more shipbuilding tasks.
(End of this chapter)