Ten Years of Naval Construction (by book friend Beifeng)
Summary of the Chaoyang-class ironclad battleships of the Han Empire National Defense Force and its ten-year development and construction achievements
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the ten-year naval construction plan has been completed. From 1880 after the end of the Argentine War to the end of 1890, three main naval bases were completed successively to assist the fleet in managing 26 main warships and the remaining small auxiliary warships. The base establishment
The personnel include 5,700 surface ship officers and soldiers, the Marine Corps has been expanded to 4,400, 800 frogman special operations forces, ground ship maintenance, garrison troops and other base-affiliated personnel have gradually increased to 8,500, and the navy is close to 20,000 people.
A comprehensive joint exercise involving bases, ships, and Marine Corps is held every two years to enhance the comprehensive combat capabilities of bases and ship formations.
During this period, the old flagship "Chaoyang" large ironclad ship with a standard displacement of 6,270 tons was captured from the Brazilian Navy in 1868 and two other medium-sized ironclad ships with a displacement of 3,500 tons purchased from the United Kingdom in 1869 and were put into service in 1888 due to the aging condition of the ships.
It was officially decommissioned in June 2001 and transferred to the navy's transport training service ship sequence. The overall combat level of the navy and the coordinated operations between the navy and the army have achieved the expected results. The army and navy's military technology and shipbuilding technology have also made great progress. In September 1886, it was equipped with
The production capacity of 155mm land and sea guns with a caliber of 35 times and below, and the 14-inch (356mm) "Brushkauf" blackhead torpedo imported from Germany were also digested and absorbed and became capable of production in December 1886, which provided long-term development for the development of the navy.
Consider establishing a unified standard system to improve management quality and logistics support efficiency, and name the army and navy weapons as the Han-made 1886 type. The Han Empire National Defense Force and Navy have two main fleets and four squadrons, namely the Atlantic Fleet (
Including Caribbean Squadron, Congo Dispatch Squadron) and Pacific Fleet (including Nanyang Squadron, South Pacific Squadron).
On the basis of summarizing the 20 years of development and construction experience and lessons of the Han Navy, and drawing on the classification of warships in some Western countries, Li Mingyuan promulgated the "Naval Charter of the Han Empire National Defense Force" on December 28, 1888 and officially implemented it. According to it,
The "Regulations on Naval Surface Combat Ships of the Han Empire Defense Force" divides surface ships into six ship classes: battleships, cruisers, light cruisers, gunboats, gunboats, and torpedo boats.
Warships with a displacement of more than 8,000 tons are first-class main battleships, those with a displacement of more than 6,000 tons and less than 8,000 tons are second-class main battleships, those with a displacement of more than 4,500 tons and less than 6,000 tons are first-class main cruisers, and those in the range of 3,000 tons to 4,500 tons
There are second-class main cruisers in the range, third-class light cruisers in the range of more than 1,000 tons to less than 3,000 tons, gunboats in the range of less than 1,000 tons and more than 500 tons, and the remaining small warships are gunboats and fish (rod) mine boats.
According to the classification of warships by displacement, the Han Empire Defense Force Navy had a total of 26 main warships completed in the ten-year plan by the end of 1890, including two "standard displacement 8,500-ton" ships purchased from the German Volcan shipyard in 1885.
Chaoyang class ironclad battleship,
The Han Xinjing Shipyard built four "Pioneer" class armored cruisers with a standard displacement of 3,500 tons and entered service at the end of 1887, and purchased two "Pioneer" class armored cruisers with a standard displacement of 3,200 tons that entered service at the end of 1878 from the French Mediterranean Ironworks Shipyard.
The "Shengli" class armored cruisers were self-built and improved at the Han Dynasty Royal Shipyard. Six "Yangwu" class light dome armored cruisers with a standard displacement of 2,400 tons were put into service in 1888. They were built in the Han Dynasty.
The Beijing Shipyard built twelve "Yongxing" class light armored cruisers with a standard displacement of 1,350 tons and entered service in early 1879;
In addition, 16 "Sea Lion" class gunboats with a standard displacement of 760 tons and 21 "Sea Lion" class gunboats with a standard displacement of 200 tons were built at Xinjing Shipyard in Han Dynasty and entered service in 1873, mainly used for inland rivers and offshore patrols and operations.
Wolf" class gunboats, 16 120-ton "Sea Shark" class torpedo boats that entered service in 1885, and more than 60 various types of ocean survey ships, communication liaison ships, reconnaissance ships, minelayers, minesweepers, and steamships
, auxiliary ships including tugboats, small ships, underwater machinery ships, screw bridge ships, water ships, coal ships, dredgers, transport ships, supply ships, training ships, a total of more than 100 advanced warships of various types.
Compared with other countries in the world at the same time, both quantity and quality have begun to take shape and strength, and it has also announced to the world that an important emerging maritime combat force has begun to enter the magnificent stage of the sea power era.
Xingjing Shipyard, Xinghe Shipyard and Royal Shipyard are respectively located in Xingjing (Porto Alegre, Brazil), Xinghe County (Joinville, Brazil) and Wuzhong City (Montevideo, Uruguay), formerly
The two shipyards were originally two civilian shipyards established in early 1869 with shipbuilding equipment imported from Prussia, and both were located in Xinjing. In February 1872, the two shipyards were upgraded and transformed into military shipyards, and one shipyard was relocated from Xinjing.
As for Xinghe County, in April 1873, Xinjing Shipyard successfully built a gunboat with a displacement of 760 tons under the technical guidance of French shipbuilders such as Darman. Three months later, Xinghe Shipyard absorbed the skills of Xinjing Shipyard.
Experience also built a gunboat.
The Royal Shipyard was established in early 1879 at the request of Li Mingyuan, who ordered the navy to use shipwrights poached from the Jiangnan Shipyard. On March 1, 1880, after occupying Wuzhou (Uruguay), it chose a city with deep water and wide harbour, considering the long-term development of the navy.
Wuzhong Port (Port of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay), which can build, repair and maintain large warship dock bases and large naval comprehensive bases, was officially established. The three shipyards share shipbuilding technology and collaborate to tackle various naval and military technology projects and
It is a difficult problem to be able to build warships of the same specifications and standards in a unified manner. Later, it will gradually undertake the construction and maintenance tasks of larger and larger warships as the navy develops.
The two "Chaoyang"-class iron-clad battleships of the Han Empire's National Defense Force were improved from the two Dingyuan-class iron-clad battleships of the Beiyang Navy (standard displacement 7335 tons, full load displacement 7670 tons), and were built at the Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, Germany.
, On March 25, 1882, Han and Germany signed a formal ship purchase contract in Berlin. On October 1, 1882, local ship mechanics and naval officers and soldiers sent by Han arrived in Germany. On October 10, 1882, construction of the two ships started at the same time.
Launched on December 1, 1883, completed on June 9, 1885, sea trials were completed on July 1, 1885 and delivered by the shipyard. The two ships arrived in Han on August 1, 1885 and joined the Atlantic Fleet of the Han Empire Defense Force.
Officially commissioned (Chaoyang serves as the new flagship of the Navy, and Dawn serves as the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet).
The "Chaoyang" class ship is 104.5 meters long, 18.5 meters wide, with a draft of 6.8 meters, a standard displacement of 8,500 tons, and a full load displacement of 9,100 tons. In terms of power system, it is equipped with two composite horizontal three-stage expansion reciprocating steam engines (horizontal orgpound reciprocating).
Usually transliterated as Kangbang machine) and 8 circular coal-fired boilers, twin-shaft propulsion, single propeller diameter 5 meters, during the trial "Chaoyang, Dawn" both ships measured the main engine power of 8300 horsepower, the speed of 16 knots, and the endurance of 4500
Nautical miles/10 knots, equipped with a searchlight with an illumination of 8,000 candlepower and a searchlight of 20,000 candlepower, and 2 generators providing 70 kilowatts of power.
The total weight of the armor is 1,761 tons. The armor on the waterline of the Ironclad Fort is 14 inches (365mm) thick, the armor below the waterline is 12 inches (305mm) thick, the 305 gun mount is 304mm thick, the gun mantlet is 15mm thick, and the turret dome cover is exposed (
The thickness is 2 inches 50.8 mm), the armor thickness of the command tower is 203mm, the normal coal load of the coal bunker is 750 tons, the maximum coal load is 1050 tons, and the establishment is 400-440 people. The "Naval Charter of the Han Empire National Defense Force" stipulates that the captain of the ship has the rank of colonel
, the deputy captain has the rank of colonel or lieutenant colonel.
When ordering the Chaoyang class, we adopted the opinions of the German naval captain Kraugern, the naval consultant of the Han Empire Wehrmacht, and improved on the Saxony class hull and the Dingyuan class main gun installation method. The four main guns were installed on the warship in twos.
Two double-mounted gun turrets (dome-type, 50.8mm thick) with symmetrical layout at the bow and stern of the central axis are exposed in the turret. There is a transmission device at the bottom of the double-mounted gun mount that rotates the artillery through human and steam assistance.
(The main gun is the 1885-type 305mm 35-fold twin-mounted breech naval gun newly developed by the German Krupp Company for the Han Empire Defense Force Navy. It is hydraulically powered. The barrel length is 10675mm. It has 72 rifle lines and is 4364mm long. It has propellant burning.
The barrel length of the chamber is 140mm, the barrel of a single gun weighs 42.5 tons, the upper gun mount weighs 7.25 tons, the rate of fire is 3 minutes per round, and each gun has 50 rounds of ammunition). The front and rear main guns are equipped with boilers and 2 vertical
In order to expand the range of the warship's mobile attack firepower,
The main mast is located in the middle of the ironclad ship to separate the two sets of twin main guns to avoid mutual influence of the muzzle wind. The four main guns in the two twin main batteries can simultaneously turn to the bow and stern of the ship to fire within a 260-degree fire range.
The reason why the gun cover was installed was that machine guns with a very fast firing rate began to appear on warships at that time. The machine guns installed in the mast tower were a great threat to the sailors operating in the exposed turret with a completely open top. Han technicians
It is proposed that a cannon cover similar to that of a ship's rotating platform be mounted on the cannon in the exposed fort and be connected to the base of the artillery through several brackets to rotate with the gun, which can provide certain protection for the personnel inside. In order to avoid the cannon cover
All the weight is pressed on the gun mount. Tracks are laid on the top of the thick armored wall of the exposed fort, and the gun cover with wheels at the bottom is mounted on the armored wall to form a rotating dome-type gun cover.
The ammunition available for the Type 1885 305mm 35 times caliber main gun includes exploding rounds (grenades, explosive rounds) and solid rounds (condensed iron rounds, training rounds), all of which are separately loaded. The exploding rounds (only the warhead, the same below) weigh 292
Kilogram, the warhead contains 10 kilograms of powder, and the largest propellant pack weighs 72 kilograms (the propellant pack is cylindrical, made by wrapping gunpowder tablets in a silk bag. The weight is marked on the outside. You can select different weights of charges according to the range.
package); the solid projectile weighs 325 kilograms, with a small amount of powder in the warhead. The largest propellant package is 72 kilograms. The muzzle velocity of the gun is 580 meters per second, and the effective range is 11,100 meters; the secondary battery is installed in two turrets at the bow and stern of the ship.
Four single-mounted Krupp 1880-style 210mm 35-caliber naval guns (one single-mounted 150mm secondary gun at the bow and stern of the Dingyuan-class ship was removed and improved into two single-mounted 210mm secondary guns). Two guns at the bow and stern are located in four single-mounted guns.
It is mounted on the gun tray and the rear is open. The gun mount is an exposed turret type, with a length of 7330mm, a gun weight of 12.5 tons, a muzzle velocity of 579 meters per second, and a gun cover with a thickness of 2 inches (50.8mm) to protect the gunner. The gun mount adopts the original
The reentry machine has a firing rate of one round per minute, an effective range of 8,300 meters, and a total of 150 rounds of ammunition;
Each side of the warship is equipped with 8 single-mounted 8-seat German Krupp 1880 type 150mm 35 times caliber breech steel hoop naval guns (modified in 1889 into 8 Han-made 1886 type 155mm 35 times caliber breech naval guns, 5425mm long,
The rifle length is 4800mm, the barrel weighs 4.77 tons, and the gun mount weighs 5.16 tons. The available ammunition includes blooming bullets and solid bullets, both weighing 51 kilograms. The largest propellant package weighs 17 kilograms. The muzzle velocity of the gun is 580 meters per second, and the effective range is 11,000.
meters, these 8 artillery pieces are installed in 8 gun covers on both sides and are fired by manual rotation). The exposed turret type gun seats are located in the turrets on both sides of the middle part of the hull. They use early recoil machine gun mounts and are 5220mm long.
, the rifle length is 4800mm, the barrel weighs 9930 kilograms, the muzzle velocity is 530 meters per second, the effective range is 11000 meters, the rate of fire is 1 round per minute, the gunner has a 1-inch (25.4mm) rear open hood protection, and the left and right shooting range is very small.
It is large and can provide sufficient fire support to the front, sides and rear of the warship, with a total of 300 rounds of ammunition;
It is also equipped with eight 75mm Krupp guns (similar to the Krupp camp guns equipped by the Army, except that in addition to the Army gun mount, there is an additional gun mount for shipboard installation. The gun body is 3230mm long and weighs 750 kilograms.
It uses flower shells, weighing 5.85 kilograms. This kind of artillery is mainly used by the Marine Corps after it lands ashore. It can also be temporarily arranged at an appropriate position on the ship if necessary). The shells used include "single-layer flower shells" and "cascade shells."
, "cluster bullets", "swarm bullets"; 8 French 37mm five-barreled Hotchkiss rapid-fire guns (a small-caliber rapid-fire gun with a very high rate of fire, usually equipped with a re-entry mechanism), with a gun body length of 740mm
, weighs 209 kilograms, has a rate of fire of 60 rounds per minute, has 24 rounds of ammunition per door, and has a range of 2778 meters. The ammunition is also divided into flower shells and solid shells, both weighing 1.1 kilograms. It can penetrate 24mm thick steel plates at a distance of 274 meters, front and rear.
Two guns are installed in each of the upper masts (combat masts) of the mast, and the remaining four are installed on both sides of the hull. The gunners are protected by 5mm gun mantlets;
The hull design of the Chaoyang class follows the German Saxony class and is appropriately lengthened and widened. The Saxony class does not have a torpedo weapon design. The Han Navy is very fond of cutting-edge torpedo weapons, so Han and German technicians worked on the Chaoyang class.
Three additional 14-inch torpedo tubes (with 21 torpedoes) were added, all of which are advanced German Schwartzkopf phosphor bronze blackhead torpedoes. Two of the torpedo tubes are arranged on the front and left sides of the warship, located on the iron armor.
Before the fort, another one was arranged on the center line of the warship's stern, and the launch port was located below the warship's stern. This improvement was so successful that shortly after the Chaoyang class was completed, Germany also made the same modification as the Chaoyang class on four Saxony class ships.
Transformation.
The two warships "Chaoyang" and "Lingming" each also carry two carrier-based torpedo boats (standard displacement of 16 tons, boat length of 19.5 meters, speed of 15 knots, and a 14-inch torpedo launcher on the left and right sides of the boat), respectively named "
"Too One, Too Two, Rei One, Rei Two", the two torpedo boats matched for hoisting are equipped with a special boom on the mizzen mast (there are two front and rear poles on the mizzen mast of the warship, and the forward one is the real boom)
The boom is the boom, and the one at the rear is the wind rod that controls the direction of the sail when using the sail. Although the four small torpedo boats are more powerful, they cannot sail long distances to distant seas for combat because of the small coal load and short range.
After being attached to the ship and arriving at the combat area, it is then hoisted into the water to sail and fight on its own to achieve surprise and victory. The bows of the Chaoyang-class ships each have sharp knife-like ramming angles underwater, and their appearance is exactly the same as those used by the Saxon-class and Dingyuan-class ships (colliding angles).
It became popular among the navies of various countries after the Battle of Austria, and was mainly used to ram enemy ships at close range); the improved Chaoyang class has 32 guns of various types (22 guns for the Dingyuan class). Compared with the prototype ironclad ship, its weapon performance and
It is more advantageous in quantity and has stronger attack power and lethality against enemy ships. The Chaoyang class's protection design adopts the same ironclad fortress style as the Saxony class and Dingyuan class. The ironclad fortress is 43.5 meters long, from the superstructure to the side.
At and below the side waterline, the warship's hull except the bow and stern parts are tightly wrapped with 305-355mm thick steel-faced iron armor (steel-faced composite armor), which provides solid defense.
The key parts of the entire central part of the warship, such as the ammunition depot, power department, etc., are protected by an armored fortress. The thickness of the protective armor and the internal layout of the hull are basically the same as those of the Dingyuan ship. The armor below the waterline is all made of the Dingyuan ship's steel armor.
It is not like when the Zhenyuan ship was built due to rising raw material prices and limited funds, Beiyang was forced to replace the steel armor under the waterline with wrought iron armor with a slightly less defensive effect. Therefore, the excellent protective performance of the two Chaoyang class ships is the same;
An oval bronze plaque is nailed to the wall of the long reception room. The traditional Chinese rope pattern surrounds the Chinese character "Chaoyang"/"Dawn",
The living space of ordinary sailors is smaller than that of officers. The resting place is basically in a hammock, and eating, sleeping, and working are all in the same place. To ventilate the cabin, there are 4 large ventilators and 4 small ventilators on the main deck.
Evenly distributed on both sides of the middle part of the warship, the wind buckets on the ventilation ducts can be turned as needed. Four of the large ventilation ducts are equipped with special devices to lift the cinders in the boiler room to the deck and then distribute them on the starboard and starboard sides.
Two garbage cans are dumped for disposal. In order to meet the daily needs of sea voyages, the Chaoyang-class warship is equipped with 20 fresh water boilers. The fresh water produced by the seawater desalination machine every day can be used by more than 400 people on the ship. In addition,
Fresh fruits and vegetables such as bean sprouts, apples and frozen meat (refrigeration technology introduced by the Han Dynasty from Australia in 1875) effectively guarantee the lives of the officers and soldiers on the ship. For the navy, good and well-guaranteed living conditions are undoubtedly one of the keys to defeating the enemy.
The Chaoyang-class armored ship, which was finally built after five years of hard work by the Han Dynasty, concentrated powerful firepower, speed and protection. When it was completed, it attracted the attention of countries all over the world. Although like all warships in the exploration period, it was imperfect in design and construction, but after analysis
Comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the capital ships of various countries in the world during the same period, in terms of the tactical and technical level at the time, this was a very advanced battleship.