Although the aliens don't know when they will come, the pressure on the Imperial Navy in the future will be huge.
But that is the future after all, and for now, the Imperial Navy is under very little pressure. Even the battleships of the Tang Navy are so idle now that they serve as museums in major ports.
Therefore, judging from the current actual situation, the Imperial Navy does not urgently need large-tonnage battleships or even armored cruisers. What the Imperial Navy needs is a large number of cruisers, frigates, and offshore patrol ships.
Moreover, the Imperial Navy does not have much demand for the combat effectiveness of the above-mentioned cruisers, frigates, and offshore patrol ships. Instead, it pays more attention to auxiliary properties such as range, seaworthiness, self-sustainability, and living space for officers and soldiers.
At the same time, the Imperial Navy needs a larger number of small and medium-sized warships to maintain control of global waters. Compared with performance, the Imperial Navy has a more urgent need for quantity.
These naval policies have caused the Navy to suspend the construction of battleships and even armored cruisers. Although they continue to be built, the speed has slowed down a lot.
Instead, more funds were spent on small and medium-sized ships and auxiliary ships.
Even for small and medium-sized warships, the Navy has undergone relatively big changes. For example, the Xiyin-class dome-armored cruiser, which is very good from a traditional perspective, was canceled by the Navy after only four ships were built.
Instead, the West Indian-class improved version was built.
However, the combat effectiveness of the improved Xiyin-class is not as good as that of the old Xiyin-class!
Yes!
The improved Xiyin-class cruiser recently started by the Datang Navy is not as good as the improved Xiyin-class cruiser in terms of combat effectiveness.
This kind of thing may be very difficult to understand in the eyes of later generations, but if it is placed in the contemporary Tang Dynasty navy, it is easy to understand.
The initial design of the Awesome West Indies class was considered to be quite perfect by a large number of admirals.
With a standard displacement of only 2,500 tons, it has gained considerable protection capabilities from the dome armor and coal bunker, as well as the powerful firepower of six 150mm breech-mounted naval guns, and the maximum speed can reach
At 18 knots, the endurance can reach a full seven thousand kilometers, and the cost is not expensive, only 400,000 Tang Yuan.
Powerful steam generators, the most advanced carburized armor steel, an advanced 150mm 35x breech-loading rifled gun, advanced optical sighting equipment and other advanced equipment.
The combination of these keywords is enough to make the Xiyin-class cruiser's combat effectiveness stand out among the others, and its comprehensive combat effectiveness is even stronger than the 4,000-ton Shanxi-class armor-protected cruiser.
The Shanxi-class armored cruiser was previously classified as a battleship.
However, although there is a huge difference in tonnage between these two warships, their actual combat capabilities are very different. Although the Shanxi-class protected cruiser is also very new in age, it has also been gradually modified with rear-mounted guns.
But it still cannot cover up the lagging behind in the overall performance of the Shanxi-class protected cruiser.
However, even so, the Navy is still dissatisfied with the West India-class cruisers.
Why?
Just because it’s good doesn’t mean it’s useful!
Moreover, the Xiyin-class is too advanced, and it is so advanced that it is expensive!
The high price is not just about the cost. In fact, the standard displacement of 2,500 tons of this thing costs 400,000, which is not expensive.
What is really expensive is the subsequent maintenance cost.
The Navy has estimated that the cost of the Xiyin-class cruiser's first ten years of service is even higher than the cost of the 4,000-ton Shanxi-class armor-belt cruiser.
This is why the Navy has been emphasizing the importance of gunnery training in recent years.
If your artillery skills are too bad, you will need to fire more shells to hit the target. Each shell is worth money!
At the same time, although the Xiyin-class dome-armored cruiser has excellent combat performance, it is still relatively average in other aspects.
For example, the seaworthiness and the living space of the officers and soldiers on the ship are actually not as good as the Shanxi-class armor-belt cruiser.
Although the Shanxi-class cruiser is an old design, it has sufficient tonnage and can provide more tonnage to improve the living space of soldiers. Moreover, during the subsequent modifications, the Navy did not move large-caliber artillery aboard.
The main gun is the same 150mm 35x breech-loaded rifled gun as the West India-class, and the number is not much larger.
With the same tonnage, the artillery is almost the same, which naturally frees up more space to improve other aspects of performance.
Therefore, although the modified Shanxi-class cruiser is not as good as its 4,000-ton displacement in terms of combat effectiveness, its seaworthiness, living space and other performances are quite good.
This is also the reason why the Navy has frequently dispatched Shanxi-class cruisers on overseas duty in recent years, because naval officers like this cruiser that looks like an old design but is very comfortable to stay in.
Only the Xiyin-class cruiser seems to have incredible combat capabilities, but in fact it is not very friendly to the officers and soldiers on board.
In response to this problem, the Imperial Navy modified the design, mainly reducing firepower, armor, and improving seaworthiness and living space for officers and soldiers.
From this, the West India-class improved cruiser was born. This thing only has two 150mm naval guns, plus four 100mm secondary guns.
Compared with the Xiyin-class prototype, the firepower dropped by more than half!
For protection, although carburized armor steel is still used, the thickness and coverage area are much smaller. Most places can just be covered with steel plates.
What are the benefits of sacrificing these?
The officers and soldiers serving on the ship are living more comfortably. If their life was extremely difficult in the past, it has become very difficult now...
In order to improve the service conditions of warships and enable warships to maintain higher combat effectiveness for a long time, the Navy has also worked hard and would rather sacrifice the combat effectiveness of warships for this purpose.
Anyway, there are only so many enemies, no matter how little firepower it is, it will be enough. Even if you add a steel plate to the armor, the natives won't be able to penetrate it.
However, the steam engine power endurance of the Xiyin-class improved cruiser has been maintained, but the sail system has been completely cancelled.
Although the Tang Empire can be proud to say that its naval bases or colonial ports can be found in all sea areas around the world.
Even if it was not a port under the control of the Tang Dynasty, but a port of Spain, Portugal and other countries, the Tang Dynasty could go wherever it wanted without any hindrance.
But not every port has coal to replenish.
And coal isn't cheap either.
From this perspective, it should be correct to retain the sails, but in fact the Tang Navy still chose to cancel the sails.