Before the Imperial Navy carried out various designs for new warships and finally came up with the design of the Jiangnan-class warship, the Imperial Navy had actually designed and built two steam warships in the 19th year of Xuanping, both with a tonnage of 200
The offshore patrol ship is about a ton, which is the new steam engine test ship plan set by the Navy last year.
Although the two offshore patrol ship test ships have the same hulls and steam engines, one is propelled by paddle wheels on both sides and the other is propelled by a propeller.
The reason why they are built differently is mainly to test the impact of different propulsion methods.
In fact, many of the tests were not conducted on the two newly built patrol ships, but on the modified warship.
During the 19th year of Xuanping, the empire continued to transform many sailing battleships, installing steam engine power on the previous sailing battleships.
This early modification work was still mainly based on experiments. The main modified ships were some auxiliary warships, mainly armed transport ships. There were only two warships, a two-hundred-ton offshore patrol ship and a four-hundred-ton warship.
Frigate.
The refitting work started around March. Throughout the 19th year of Xuanping, six different auxiliary transport ships, as well as a patrol ship and a frigate were continuously refitted.
What is worth noting is that among the eight ships in total, almost every one of them has been modified differently, and it can even be said that the difference is huge.
Some warships are modified into paddle wheels, and the paddle wheel propulsion method is divided into two strings with a paddle wheel for propulsion. There are also paddle wheels installed at the stern for propulsion. There are even sterns and two strings installed at the same time.
Advancing.
There are also ones modified for propeller propulsion, including single-propeller propulsion, twin-propeller or even tri-propeller propulsion.
In the installation of steam engines, various methods have been chosen, such as a single unit or multiple units, and even the size, volume and power of the steam engine units used are different.
The reason why the Navy carries out many different modifications is actually to find a more stable solution.
Combining the experience gained from two newly designed steam patrol ships and eight modified ships, the Navy has gained experience in using many steam engine warships on the one hand, and on the other hand has found the best way to use steam engines.
After many experiments, and taking into account the empire's current industrial and technological capabilities and those in the next few years, the Navy came to a unanimous conclusion that the design and modification of steam engine battleships should be based on propellers.
Although paddle wheel technology is more mature and propeller technology is not yet mature, the huge advantages brought by propeller propulsion are unmatched by paddle wheels.
Battleships that use paddle wheels for propulsion, whether they use rear-mounted paddle wheels or two-stringed paddle wheels with exposed paddles, have a fatal weakness. Once hit by enemy artillery fire, the entire steam engine power will be wiped out.
.
There is no such problem with propeller propulsion!
So even though technically speaking, propeller propulsion technology is more complex, immature, and has many problems, the Navy still completely abandoned the paddle wheel technology without hesitation after a series of experiments.
This is the difference between military warships and civilian ships. Today's Yangtze River Shipping Company and Feng's Shipping Company, two companies involved in steam ships, both adopt the method of paddle wheel propulsion.
Because the paddle wheel technology is more mature and the cost is cheaper, and more importantly, they don't have to worry about safety issues. They are not warships, so they don't have to consider a series of consequences if the paddle wheel is hit by a cannonball.
Of course, when the Navy matures propeller technology in the future, these companies will definitely follow up without hesitation.
but not now!
After a series of modification experiments, the Navy finally determined the plan for steam engine battleships to be used in the future, and officially started the steam engine modification plan for the main battleships.
Although the Navy has completely stopped the construction of pure sail warships and already has a design and construction plan for steam engine warships, the navy's existing many pure sail warships cannot be simply thrown away.
After slight modifications and the installation of steam engines, these sail battleships can be transformed into steam battleships.
Of course, not all ships will be modified. After all, modification also requires costs. Some ships with little modification value will still retain pure sail propulsion.
As for the Navy, in December of the 19th year of Xuanping, it finally submitted the 'Naval Steam Warship Construction Plan' that has been revised numerous times. This plan does not mean that it will be simply next year, that is, the 20th year of Xuanping.
The naval construction plan is a naval expansion plan that lasts for five years.
In this plan, the navy will actively carry out naval construction in accordance with the goal of "maintaining the global interests of the empire" proposed by Shengtianzi.
The whole plan is divided into three parts!
The first part is to establish coal warehouses in major ports, including the navy's own naval bases and major civilian ports, to store coal, and to set up repair shops that can maintain and repair steam engines. At the same time, considering that the tonnage of the navy's warships will increase in the future,
The larger it is, the deeper the draft will be, so some deep-water berths will be built in advance.
After all, in addition to the Navy's Jiangnan steam battleship, there is also an enlarged version of the design plan, and this enlarged version of the plan is also included in the plan. Although its detailed design has not yet been completed, there is one thing.
What is certain is that its displacement will be at least 3,000 tons, and this is only the most basic. After the final design is completed, it may become 4,000 tons, or it may become 5,000 tons.
The Navy has high hopes for this thousands-ton warship and positions it as the main battleship of the new era.
The second part is to conduct various types of personnel training, especially to add courses related to steam engine battleships in the sea academy, because it is foreseeable that the combat methods of battleships using steam engines are definitely very different from pure sail battleships.
Yes, whether it is daily navigation or combat, specialized new talents are needed.
The third part is the warship construction and modification plan that everyone is most concerned about!
The Navy expects to gradually refit active warships in the next five years without affecting the current combat effectiveness of the army. The refitting will include all main battleships, that is, many existing battleships, cruisers, and frigates will be
Different levels of modifications are gradually carried out. Some ships will only be equipped with steam engines, while some may be equipped with wrought iron armor.
This modification plan is to prevent the existing sail warships from becoming useless, but if it is just a modification, it obviously cannot reflect the navy's ambitions.
Therefore, there are still construction plans for new warships.
In the next five years, the Navy will build twelve steam battleships one after another. According to Jiangnan as a reference, the tonnage of this new type of steam battleship should be more than 1,500 tons!
At the same time, according to technological progress, construction of a new generation of main steam battleships will be started at an appropriate time, that is, main steam battleships, which will replace the battleships represented by Jiangnan and become the new major fleets of the navy. During this period, the initial number is four
Ships, the specific number will be determined later depending on technological progress.
At the same time, in the next five years, no less than sixteen cruisers will be built, and it is required that the new generation of cruisers should exceed traditional sailing battleships in terms of protection and firepower. The target is
It is a 1,300-ton sailing battleship currently in service in the Imperial Navy.
This kind of cruiser will be the same as the existing 800-ton cruiser. It will be mainly used as the flagship of the overseas squadron. When necessary, it will accompany the battle fleet to participate in fleet decisive battles, so it has such high standards.
At the same time, in the next five years, no less than twenty-six new steam frigates will be built, mainly used to perform daily patrols, escorts and other tasks.
The entire shipbuilding plan is expected to build fifty-eight capital ships, almost creating a new imperial navy!
Coupled with the nearly one hundred existing capital ships and waiting for them to be converted into steam engines, the entire Imperial Navy will have at least one hundred and fifty steam-powered capital ships.
As for various types of offshore patrol ships, transport ships, supply ships and other auxiliary warships, the number is even greater.
The scale of the "Naval Steam Battleship Plan" proposed by the Navy is larger than any previous naval expansion plan of the empire, and the actual cost is also greater.
It is absolutely impossible to support the current naval expenditure alone.
For this reason, in the expenditure budget allocation at the end of the 19th year of Xuanping, the empire tilted financial expenditures towards the navy for the first time, and used special funds for fleet expansion for the first time to ensure that the expansion of the navy could be carried out.
This has also led to the first increase in the proportion of military expenditures in fiscal expenditures in next year's budget expenditure allocation.
Since the end of the Unification War, although the total amount of military expenditures in the empire's fiscal expenditures has continued to rise every year, the total proportion has actually been declining, but next year, it increased.
The total fiscal expenditure budget for the 20 years of Xuanping was 150 million yuan, and military expenditure accounted for 42 million yuan, accounting for 28% of the fiscal expenditure ratio.
Among them, the Navy will take away 12 million, and the Army will take 30 million.
Although the navy's military expenditure is still far lower than that of the army, this is the first time that the navy's military expenditure has exceeded tens of millions. In the past, it was only a few million.
The increase in military expenditures in the fiscal expenditure budget also means that the empire is once again preparing for the beginning of a large-scale war!