The Naval Artillery Factory located in Taranto, Italy, is the main R&D and manufacturing unit of Italian heavy artillery.
Most of the artillery installed on the Italian Navy warships were developed and manufactured in this factory. For example, the now famous Italian 10-inch rapid-fire naval gun is the masterpiece of this factory.
Therefore, as the only heavy artillery development factory in Italy, the Naval Artillery Factory has also become the main Italian developer of heavy artillery jointly developed by the three countries.
As the current priority project for joint development among the three countries, the development of the 305 mm heavy gun is also the responsibility of the Naval Artillery Factory.
Today is a big day for the Naval Artillery Factory. After hard research and study, the 305 mm 45 times caliber heavy gun was finally successfully developed.
A brand new and powerful cannon appeared in front of everyone.
"Your Excellency, Admiral, this is a new 305 mm 45 times naval gun jointly developed by our Naval Artillery Factory and the Naval New Technology Research Institute, together with Germany's Krupp and Austria-Hungary's Skoda."
Led by Admiral Yagier, the Minister of the Navy, a group of naval officers were looking at the giant cannon in front of them. As the technical director of the Naval Artillery Factory and the person in charge of the Italian side of the new 305mm 45x cannon, Guillermo Bell
Lieutenant Colonel Sa was introducing to everyone the masterpiece he had developed together with his German and Austrian colleagues.
"The gun has a total weight of 61 tons, a total length of 14.57 meters, a barrel length of 13.72 meters (45 times the diameter), an interrupted spiral bolt, a projectile weight of 389 kilograms, and a maximum range of 21,700 meters."
Director Bielsa, when he briefly introduced the data of this artillery, all the officers present were writing in their notebooks with pens.
It is normal to write down the data of this artillery. After all, this is a great masterpiece. Yes, it is a masterpiece. Bielsa will soon let them know what is outstanding about this artillery.
"We used the latest technology in the manufacture of this gun, and its muzzle velocity can reach 823 meters per second. In addition, the gun can fire four kinds of shells, among which when using capped armor-piercing shells, it can penetrate 457 meters at a distance of 3,000 meters.
mm of armor, it can penetrate 381 mm of armor at a distance of 7,000 meters, and it can penetrate 337 mm of armor at a distance of 12,000 meters.”
As soon as Director Bielsa introduced the armor-piercing ability of the gun, all the officers present took a breath. Because everyone is knowledgeable, of course they know the superiority of the armor-piercing ability of this artillery. Although this data is definitely
According to the laboratory data, it would be good to have 80% data in actual combat, but it still shows its strong armor-piercing ability.
"What kind of armor are you testing on?"
An officer immediately started asking questions.
"Carburized case-hardened nickel alloy steel."
Facing the officer's inquiry, Bielsa immediately told the name of the experimental armor steel. Well, this is Harvey steel.
Although it does not use the latest carburized and surface-hardened nickel-chromium alloy steel, it is still so good that some warship designers frown.
Because general warships need to be equipped with armor that can protect their own artillery, then according to the power of this new 305mm 45-fold heavy gun, the new warships using Krupp armor steel need to reach a maximum armor thickness of 365mm, which is not possible at all.
It's possible.
However, according to actual combat needs, the maximum armor of 300 mm is also a must. Of course, these will need to be discussed after returning. Now we still need to listen to others to continue to introduce the naval gun.
Bielsa then went on to explain other features of the new 305 mm naval gun. Of course, for any naval officer, naval guns are the focus that requires special attention.
Especially after Bielsa said that the cost of each gun was 420,000 lire, the officers present took a breath. This gun can build a torpedo boat. It is indeed an amazing thing with both power and price.
You must know that the purchase price of a 254mm naval gun is only 210,000 lire, which has doubled here.
However, Admiral Yagier, as the Minister of the Navy, did not say anything about the price mentioned by Bielsa. Instead, he continued to ask other questions about the performance of the gun.
After Bielsa finished speaking, Admiral Yagir asked Cuniberti, who was also watching, "How is the performance of this gun?"
Faced with the admiral's inquiry, Cuniberti answered truthfully. "I can't say enough about its performance, because it is the most powerful 305mm gun I know. As the main gun of the next-generation battleship, it is definitely more than adequate."
Hearing Cuniberti's words, Admiral Yagir accurately captured a term. "The next generation of battleships?"
Facing the admiral's inquiry, Cuniberti nodded and answered. "Yes, your Excellency, admiral, this is the next generation of battleships. I already have a preliminary plan."
"Tell me and listen."
How could Admiral Argyle not be interested in the battleship, the absolute king of naval battles? He immediately asked Cuniberti to share his thoughts.
Facing the invitation from the head of the navy, Cuniberti was also very excited because he also knew that it was related to the choice of the next generation of battleships.
"Your Excellency, Admiral, I believe that battleships are the decisive winners in naval battles and are also the core of a fleet..."
Cuniberti talked about the positioning of battleships, and then also talked about his concept of a fully heavy-artillery battleship. "Because the Garibaldi class I designed was a test of the fully-heavy-artillery concept. The results were pretty good.
Under the coordination of the unified shooting director, the performance on the battlefield is much better than that of other types of warships, both in terms of hit rate and projection. So after the new main gun comes out, I think it can be carried out
The development of a first-generation battleship has begun."
As for Cuniberti, if it were another person, Yagir would definitely turn around and leave. Who do you think you are? You said you would start the development of the next generation battleship, but you started developing this battleship without discussion and consultation?
However, this person’s name is Vittorio Cuniberti, that’s another way of saying it.
"Do you have any ideas?"
"Yes." Upon hearing Admiral Yagir's words, Cuniberti took out a thick notepad, which he seemed to read frequently. In addition, the sharp-eyed Navy Minister also discovered that there was a new chapter written on the cover.
There are a few big words in the battleship design plan of the era.
Well, it seems that this man is so confident that he named it a new era battleship.
But later, after Cuniberti stated his design requirements for the battleship, he realized that it was truly worthy of the name.
"First of all, this class of warships should adopt a new 305 mm 45-caliber main gun, with a double-mounted layout on the central axis of two in the front and two in the rear. The use of a double-mounted layout can maximize the accuracy and firepower input of the warship.
In addition, in terms of armor protection, I think that the full protective armor mode should be adopted, especially in the middle of the ship, turret, command tower and other areas that are most susceptible to bullets. The armor can be maximized with 300 mm Krupp armor steel.
In terms of speed, battleships from various countries currently have a speed of 18-19 knots. If the new battleships have more powerful performance, then speed will also be a trump card. I think 21 knots and above is a very reasonable speed. As for power selection
, there is no doubt about the superiority of a steam turbine that can guarantee full power output for a long time. In addition, using a fuel-fired boiler with higher efficiency is also the best choice, I think."
According to Cuniberti, new artillery, steam turbines, oil boilers and other new equipment will all appear in his next generation battleship.
This made Admiral Yagir feel very happy. Of course, he did not forget the side effects of the new technology.
"Cuniberti, I heard you say that a lot of equipment here is brand new. The navy must carefully consider the reliability of these equipment."
Cuniberti was also prepared for Yagir's words, because he also knew that too many new technologies would bring doubts to the Navy, so he replied, "Your Excellency, in fact, I think there is
One possible way is to build a new battleship first and let's test its performance first."
Well, according to Cuniberti, this new battleship has already been decided, and he has not considered the issue of funding at all.
"Let me think about it."
Yagir dare not agree now. Although the navy still has a sum of money, it cannot be used casually and needs to be carefully considered.
"Admiral, I have calculated that this new battleship only needs 40 million lire to function."
As if it was an illusion, Cuniberti felt that after he said these words, Admiral Argyle walked even more hastily.
