My Italy

Chapter 40 Venice-class armored cruiser (Part 1)

Carlo did not know what happened to the recruits of the Third Guards Regiment formed by the red shirts. But even if he knew it, he couldn't do anything. He sent people to keep an eye on him, so the military couldn't go too far, and besides, they still limited the number of people to be eliminated.

Now Carlo has more important things to do, and that is the work of loading and patrolling two ships waiting for him. After he promised the Navy to pay for the construction of two patrol ships, Admiral Golek, as the Minister of the Navy, worked very diligently.

From time to time, he came to tell Carlo how the progress was going, which even attracted curious inquiries from the Prime Minister. But when he learned that Carlo was planning to purchase two more warships for the navy, his expression was truly wonderful. Because this was something Carlo did with royal funds, he, as prime minister, could not do anything about it. I can only sigh that there is nothing else to say except that the royal family is really rich.

Since he was going to spend a lot of money, Carlo didn't want to hide it and openly announced it. The people loudly applauded the king for spending his personal money to help the navy build ships, which also brought Carlo's reputation to a new high (it was not that high originally).

Of course, newspapers added a lot to Carlo's life. In these newspapers, Carlo was described as a young and heroic king who was unwilling to accept the status quo in the face of foreign oppression. He spent all his money to add two warships to the navy.

This kind of story is what the people like to hear and see. Since Carlo has shouldered such expectations, he will definitely do something that meets their expectations.

So in the next period of time, Carlo frequently appeared in major newspapers. Although he did not make remarks that surprised the world like Wang Shiqiang, his presence was greatly enhanced.

Although he appeared frequently in newspapers, Carlo did not forget his mission. After Admiral Gorek reported that the preparations were almost complete, he came to the Admiralty.

The Admiralty Building located at No. 16 Mondivka Street shows a Renaissance style. The three buildings are arranged in a zigzag shape. The logo of the Royal Navy is clearly visible on the building, showing the extraordinary spirit of the navy.

The Italian Navy was formerly the Navy of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1861, the maritime fleets of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, and the Kingdom of Piedmont merged to form the Royal Italian Navy. Currently, the Italian Navy has 87 combat ships with a total tonnage of 287,000 tons. Ranked fourth in the world.

However, regardless of the current tonnage of Italian warships, most of the current Italian warships were built in the 1960s. After the Lissa naval battle with Austria, the navy's funding was significantly reduced. Despite this, the Italian Navy still built a number of warships with sufficiently superior performance.

Among them, the representative works are the Tulio and Henrico Dandolo. This class has canceled all sails and is equipped with twin propellers. It is powered by a vertical compound steam engine. The power of 12,000 horsepower is enough to allow this giant ship of more than 12,000 tons to reach a speed of 14.8 knots, which is also quite good in Europe. of.

These two warships were the most powerful warships in the world when they were built. Their 450 mm 20-caliber naval guns were capable of dealing with all warships.

However, its construction spanned a long period of time. Construction started in 1873 and was not completed until 1880. After it was completed, it was somewhat mediocre. The rate of fire of its main gun, one round every five minutes, is also impressive.

The Navy discovered during the exercise that although the ship is powerful, it still has various shortcomings, such as its main gun that fires every five minutes, and the ship's main battery's firing range is insufficient. (The Dulio class has three chimneys. The two turrets are located between the first and second chimneys, and between the second chimney and the third chimney. The picture is so beautiful, I think.)

Although the Durio class has various shortcomings, it still represents a huge progress in Italian shipbuilding technology.

At present, the Navy has decided to make some modifications to the Durio class to address its shortcomings and continue the idea of ​​building three improved ships.

Carlo was not unaware of this. However, he didn't have many suggestions for the current ideas of the Italian Navy. Firstly, he didn't know much, and secondly, the time was wrong and the technology was not up to par. Even if he talks about the concept of the dreadnought ship, it is impossible to get the Navy's approval, because this is simply not realistic at present.

So this time Carlo came to the Navy Department, he only wanted to choose a good plan for his armored cruiser.

Yes, this time it is a tender for Carlo's two armored cruisers. Because no one in the Navy has designed armored cruisers, this time the Navy plans to brainstorm ways to choose the most suitable plan for construction. Of course, perhaps the construction costs funded by the royal family also played a big role in this. After all, this can bring the relationship between the Navy and the King closer, so the Navy did not conduct internal bidding, but instead convened major shipyards to conduct bidding.

At present, the Navy Ministry has already sent bidding requirements to major shipyards. According to the requirements of the Ministry of the Navy, this Italian cruiser must have a speed of more than 18 knots and sufficient firepower. In addition, the protection requirements are to be able to withstand the bombardment of 150mm naval guns, and the tonnage must not exceed 6,500. Hundred tons.

Faced with the requirements of the Ministry of the Navy, major shipyards have prepared their own plans and are gearing up to win Italy's first cruise ship.

Faced with such a bidding situation, the Navy might not invite Carlo. After all, it is the Royal Navy, and besides, this is still paid for by the king.

So after Carlo walked into the bidding conference hall, Admiral Golek, as the Minister of the Navy, immediately announced that the bidding had begun. Carlo was not allowed to say a few words, and he had no intention of saying more. He was worthy of being a capable soldier.

Following Gorek's opening, the bidding meeting began immediately. The first person to come forward was from the Venice Naval Shipyard. This shipyard affiliated with the Navy has strong strength. The Durio-class battleship was built by this shipyard.

I saw the person in charge of the shipyard coming up with his own plan. "Your Majesty, everyone here, the design plan of our Tunisian shipyard is that the length of the ship is 106 meters, the width is 14.7 meters, and the draft is 7.1 meters. The standard displacement is 6450 tons, and the full load displacement is 7130 tons.

In terms of firepower, we have prepared two 203mm main guns for it, which are installed in 2×1 on the front class A fort. On the rear deck, we have installed 4 152mm secondary main guns. In addition, there are 8 120mm guns. They are arranged on both sides of the middle of the warship. In addition, in order to deal with small and civilian targets, we also installed 8 57mm guns to deal with these targets. In addition, the ship also installed a 5×18-inch torpedo launch tube behind the island. .

For power, we use a 10,000-horsepower reciprocating steam engine with a maximum speed of 18 knots. The maximum range is 5,700 nautical miles/10 knots. We use flat armor for the armor, including 100 mm of main armor belt, 50 mm of horizontal armor, 57 mm of command tower armor, and 57 mm of gun mount armor. "

The person in charge of the Venice Naval Shipyard said a lot. Although it sounded good, even Carlo, who didn't know much about the navy, felt something was wrong. After thinking for a long time, he finally knew what the problem was. Such a firepower configuration is similar to that of a protected cruiser. It is obvious that the Venetian Naval Shipyard did not understand the essence of an armored cruiser.

Since Carlo felt it, Admiral Golek, as the head of the navy, could naturally feel it too.

So he waited for the person in charge of the Venice Shipyard to finish speaking before speaking. "We have learned about the plan of the Venice Shipyard, so please ask the next person in charge of the Andoshar Shipyard to come up with a plan."

As Admiral Golek finished speaking, a young man who seemed to be still clinging to the tail of his youth stood up.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, the slightly young designer said with some embarrassment. "I am Vittorio Cuniberti, the designer of the Andosaar Shipyard. Next, I will explain our shipyard's plan to you."

I checked a lot of information, so I posted it late. I will try to publish the next chapter before twelve o'clock.

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