Another World: Naval Storm

Chapter 188 Shameless Taren

The Renown-class battlecruiser has a long forecastle and an outward-flared bow, which makes it more seaworthy. It uses the 381mm caliber main guns of the Revenge-class battleships, but the number is reduced to 6. The secondary guns are installed in triple turrets, all located on the open deck, which increases the firing range and reduces the impact of waves when sailing at high speeds and in severe sea conditions.

In order to achieve a higher speed, the huge power plant occupies a large tonnage, which leads to the reduction of the weight occupied by the defensive armor. Among the battlecruisers currently in service in the Royal Navy, the armor protection level of the Renown-class is relatively poor, but the cost is still as high as 290 million gold pounds.

The design principle of the Renown class is to target the enemy's cruiser fleet. The large-caliber guns can launch fatal strikes outside the range of the enemy ships, and the high speed can maneuver freely or evade the enemy's capital ships. This is the concrete embodiment of the view of Fisher, the former Minister of the Navy of the Kingdom of Talen, that speed is the best defense. Due to the light weight of the hull structure, it will vibrate violently when all the main guns are fired.

"Sir John, your suggestion is indeed very tempting..." The suggestion of the Second Sea Lord put Admiral Jefferson, the new commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet, into a dilemma.

"Sir John, my original plan was to re-incorporate the Queen Elizabeth-class ships into the main fleet of the Grand Fleet to maintain the Grand Fleet's numerical advantage over the Ocean Fleet. However, if two Queen Elizabeth-class battleships are modified, the Grand Fleet may have to fight the Drakes again before the modification is completed." In view of the poor performance of the Queen Elizabeth-class ships after being incorporated into the battlecruiser fleet in the decisive battle of the North Sea, Admiral Jefferson planned to transfer three Queen Elizabeth-class ships back to the main fleet of the Grand Fleet, and redesign a battlecruiser.

The main fleet of the Grand Fleet was in better shape than the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, but they still did not have the confidence to deal with the main fleet of the Drake Ocean Fleet.

The sixth and seventh ships of the Queen Elizabeth class, HMS Warrior and HMS Malaya, will be able to enter service in May next year. If they are interrupted for large-scale refitting, the service time of the two warships will be greatly delayed. I am afraid that the most optimistic scenario is that they will not be able to enter service until 5. But what the Royal Navy lacks most is time. The Drakes will not wait for them to prepare for war. Time is a luxury that the Talens cannot buy. The large fleet that urgently needs capital ships to defend the homeland and protect the shipping routes cannot wait.

"The basis for the Queen-class modification is better than that of the Revenge-class. Although the cost of modifying the battleship may exceed 100 million gold pounds, do we have any other choice?" Seeing that Jefferson seemed to be about to refuse, the Second Sea Lord John Casorpe quickly gave another most important reason.

Everyone knew he was telling the truth. What the Royal Navy and Talen lacked was time! Time! The upper and lower limits of the Revenge-class battleships being converted into battlecruisers were exposed before people's eyes. No matter how capable the naval designers were, they could not change the fact that the actual combat capability of the Renown-class was not as good as that of the Lion-class battlecruisers. The First Battlecruisers Squadron was in urgent need of combat power replenishment, but it was definitely too late to build new battleships.

"General Jefferson, there will be no problem with the Grand Fleet. I will provide it with the necessary combat power!" Art, who had been listening, suddenly spoke up and surprised everyone, "There is another battleship being fitted out at the Armstrong Shipyard. Since we can requisition the warships that the Ottomans want to buy from us, we can certainly requisition warships from other countries! Moreover, if Talen needs it, they must contribute. Since we have already eaten half of the meal, let's eat it all now!"

Art's words caused mixed reactions from the crowd, but most people still felt that this was a good idea. The only ship that the Royal Navy could put into service as soon as possible was the HMS Canadian battleship, and it also had another ship of the same class!

The Gabaibei was originally the Admiral Latour battleship ordered by the Chileans from the Armstrong Shipyard. In 1908, the Samba Republic, one of the three smallest powers in South America, ordered two dreadnoughts from Talen. As a result of the chain reaction, the Chileans, one of the three smallest powers, were unwilling to lag behind.

Soon, two battleships were ordered from the Tallen Armstrong Shipyard to fight against the Republic of Samba. The two battleships were the Admiral Rathor and the Admiral Cureon. By the time the war broke out, the outfitting of the Admiral Rathor had been basically completed, while the construction of the Admiral Cureon, which was close to being launched, was completely halted due to the war.

The Talen Empire, a country that started out as pirates, would pretend to be gentlemen and civilized in peacetime, but in times of life and death, they would turn into bandits again.

When the war broke out, Tarun seized two Ottoman battleships in succession, forcing the Ottoman Empire to join the Allies. The short-sighted Hochukis directly acquired the Admiral Latour battleship of the Chilean Navy at the end of 1914 and renamed it the Gabeil.

As a ship for export to make money for the Talen Empire, the price of the Jiabaibei is expensive, because there are only two companies that can export dreadnoughts. The Jiabaibei uses steam turbines, 4 shafts with 37 horsepower, a maximum speed of 000 knots, and is equipped with 22.75 twin 28,600mm main guns, 5 single 356mm secondary guns, two 16mm guns and four 152mm guns on the 76-ton ship. The firepower is not inferior to the famous seven-turret holy relic.

The South American Navy, like other navies around the world, also pursues the majesty of giant ships and cannons. The Gabaibei also inherited the disadvantages of the Talens in armor protection, but its armor is worse than that of the Talen battleships of the same level. This resulted in the Gabaibei's main armor at the waterline being only 102-229㎜, the horizontal deck thickness being only 25-102㎜, the main turret front armor being 254㎜, and the thickest command tower armor being only 280㎜. Can you tell me how many Talens people are good at cheating people?

Since the Talens dared to sell it, they knew the situation of the export-oriented battleships they produced very well. The Jiabaibei, which was being fitted out on the outfitting slipway, was towed back to the dock to strengthen the hull, add multiple watertight compartment armors, and also began to arrange key protection for the engine room and ammunition depot.

Before the Battle of Ship Burial Bay, the self-esteem of the Talens was not without its benefits. In addition, the shipyard was busy with the original shipbuilding plan, so the modification of the Canadian White North could only proceed slowly, and it would not be completed until October 17 at the earliest. After losing three battleships in the Battle of Ship Burial Bay, the Talens quietly accelerated the construction of the Canadian White North.

After the tragic Battle of the Skagerrak, the Talens finally stopped maintaining their dignity, and the battleship HMS Gabe began to become the favorite of the Royal Navy.

At the naval meeting in April, the sister of the Gabaibei, the former Chilean Admiral Kurien, and the battleship Afrika which had been lying quietly in the dock gathering dust, could finally be rebuilt and put into service.