My Italy

Chapter 41, Venice-class armored cruiser (Part 2)

No one at the scene showed any impatience with the young designer's self-introduction. It wasn't that the designer was so great, but that the Andosare shipyard behind it was famous in Italy.

The plant is one of the largest shipyards in Italy. Compared with other shipyards, the Andozal Shipyard has a greater reputation among the people because it ranks among the Italian shipyards in terms of both cost and delivery speed. It is at the forefront, so its private shipbuilding orders are almost piling up, and many foreign maritime merchants even go to the shipyard to order ships.

Although it can make a living by relying on private orders, it does not mean that Andoshar Shipyard is poor in military ships. It has built more than ten battleships of various types such as the battleship Avonda Torre, the battleship Roma, the cruiser Genoa, etc., which fully demonstrates its strength in military ships.

Andoshar Shipyard actually dares to send a young man here, which is enough to prove his ability. However, although most people recognize Andoshar's strength because of the shipyard, there are always some who can't stand it.

"Boy, on behalf of the Andoshar Shipyard, you can call your adults to come out. Isn't this old guy Brin afraid of being embarrassed?"

An old designer in his fifties was shouting loudly at Vittorio Cuniberti. This was a big deal. He was Bernardo Bran, the current Dulio-level designer. Although he was not well-known in later generations, he is now famous in Italy. He and Benedetto Breen are considered the two most outstanding warship designers in Italy.

Since they are called together, there must always be a distinction, so the relationship between the two is not harmonious at all, and they have repeatedly argued with each other. Bernardo Bran previously had an advantage in naval battleship design, and now the Navy plans to build three more ships after improving on the shortcomings discovered in the Durio class, so it especially wants to see Benedetto Bran. Breen's frustrated expression, and this time Benedetto Breen actually dared not to come, so Vittorio Cuniberti could only bear the pain for him, who made Breen the chief designer of the Androsal Shipyard? Where is the teacher?

Seeing that the young man Vittorio Cuniberti didn't speak, Bernardo Bran felt that bullying young people was boring. Maybe it would be bad if it was reported that he was bullying a newcomer.

But no one expected that this young man named Vittorio Cuniberti immediately taught everyone a lesson.

"Everyone, I have brought the design plan of Andoshar Shipyard. First of all, we need to understand the role of the armored cruiser. As the name suggests, the armored cruiser is a cruiser with reinforced armor. It looks very simple but it is not like this. Maybe someone wants to ask This is a warship bidding site. I am wasting everyone’s time by giving you popular science here. I want to explain it here, because if you don’t understand these concepts, the warships you launch will not meet the requirements..."

When it comes to warship design, this young man named Cuniberti speaks clearly and logically about his ideas. Although Carlo didn't know much about warship design, he found that no one at the bidding site refuted what the young man said, which showed that his speaking skills were very good. Even Nadto Bran, who had just mocked him, did not mock him.

After a brief introduction, he finally revealed the design plan for the Andoshar Shipyard. "Our current design plan is as follows. The armored cruiser plan has a total length of 105.7 meters, waterline length: 99.0 meters, width: 18.0 meters, displacement of 6850 tons (standard), 7460 tons (full load). Draft: 7 meters (standard), 7.5 meters (fully loaded).

For power, we use two upright three-stage expansion three-cylinder reciprocating steam engines with dual-shaft propulsion. The maximum output power is 13,000 horsepower and the maximum speed is 18.6 knots. Endurance; about 10 knots/6,000 nautical miles.

It is equipped with four 254 mm 30 times caliber main guns in a 2X1 front and rear 2X1 layout, six 152 mm secondary guns in a 6X1 layout, and is also equipped with eight 75 mm and four 57 mm guns.

The main protection belt is 5-inch armor, which extends from the waterline to the middle deck. The bow and stern waterline armor is 80 mm, and the turret is 152 mm. In addition, we have optimized the anti-sinkability by combining the waterline armor belt with the dome armor, and designed the middle to be a coal bunker. Even if the main armor is penetrated, not much water can enter. In addition, our plan adopts a subdivided compartment design. The entire ship is divided into 32 watertight areas, with a total of 228 watertight compartments. "

Faced with the plan revealed by Cuniberti, many people present were shocked. Is it possible to install such a tonnage, install so much firepower, and have very good speed and armor? For many people on the scene, they couldn't do it. Because everyone knows something about warship design, they know how difficult it is to achieve a balance between the three.

It is not that there are no objections. As two outstanding designers in Italy, Nadetto Bran has his own pride. However, he failed to find any major flaws in it, making it difficult for him to attack young people, but that was not necessarily the case for others.

"Why is this ship equipped with so many artillery pieces and it can run so fast? This is unscientific."

"You use a triple-expansion steam engine. Have you considered its reliability?"

"for……"

Facing the numerous inquiries at the scene, Cuniberti tried his best to choose reasonable answers. As for those who were critical, he had no time to deal with them now.

This caused the venue to be interrupted for a while, and there were many inquiries from officers. After everything subsided, the Navy's bidding meeting continued.

However, at this time, many shipyards lost confidence after comparing the plans from Andoshal Shipyard. I went on stage and came down after speaking for a few times. Therefore, the second half of the bidding meeting immediately became boring, and Carlo also felt bored watching it.

At this time, he saw Vittorio Cuniberti, who represented Andoshar Shipyard, and summoned him. Although he didn't know that this man would be the designer of the Garibaldi class in the future, and he was also the proposer of the Dreadnought class who proposed a unified caliber all-heavy main gun.

But Carlo felt that the young designer was not simple at all, so he asked him to talk to him about the solutions he provided.

"Mr. Cuniberti, don't be nervous, just think of us as friends."

Seeing that the young man in front of him who had the same name as his brother but a different surname was a little nervous, Carlo first spoke to persuade him. He likes to make friends with talented people.

"Okay, Your Majesty."

"I have some doubts about your shipyard's plan. Can I point it out?"

"No problem, Your Majesty, please speak."

Seeing Carlo change the topic to warship design, Cuniberti immediately lost his nervousness.

"Why not cancel the collision angle? I feel that with the advancement of technology, the speed and firepower of warships are changing rapidly. It is completely unrealistic to ram and sink the opponent, and the impact will also cause damage to itself. This design is somewhat unreasonable. Bar?"

Facing Carlo's question, Cuniberti glanced at the naval officer on the side and gave an explanation in a low voice. It turned out to be the Battle of Lisa. After the Italia was rammed and sunk by the Austro-Hungarian Maximilian, Italian naval designers deliberately added a collision angle, and the navy also acquiesced in this design.

After listening to Cuniberti's explanation, Carlo said without hesitation. "Then cancel it. This design also affects the speed."

He knew that the Battle of Lisa was the last naval battle in which ramming tactics were used. At other times, the collision angle might injure others, such as the Yoshino, the Yoshino, and the Yoshino.

"In addition to this design plan, why not place the three chimneys more compactly?"

"Your Majesty, this will increase the area hit by the bullet, and the power chamber below cannot be made smaller."

"Although it will increase the area hit by bullets, it can save the upper floor area and help improve the living environment of officers and soldiers."

"Let me think about this."

During the exchange between Carlo and Cuniberti, the bidding meeting ended, and as expected, Andoshar Shipyard won the order for two ships to be installed and patrolled.

The Navy named it the Venice-class armored cruiser, and its design plan, after Carlo's suggestion, canceled the collision angle, made the three chimneys more compact, and only had one main pole behind the command tower. And the lines are smoother, making it look like a work of art.

However, the problem this brings is that the cost is relatively high. Two Venice-class ships are installed and patrolled, and the Andoshar Shipyard has quoted a cost of 24 million liras (cost of 430,000 pounds per ship). But this is not a problem for Carlo. Someone will pay for these two battleships.

Finally written it.

In addition, don't think it can't fit. Italy equipped the cruiser "Etna" with two 254mm guns, with a displacement of 3881 tons. It was launched in 1885.

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