Long live Joachim

Chapter 78: Years of Struggle On a day in December 1908, Wilhelmshaven, Germany. In the depths of winter, the low hanging clouds give people an inexplicable sense of oppression, piercing cold winds howl past, and ice debris and snow can be seen everywhere in the shaded areas. Despite this, Xia Shu, who is outdoors, still feels a warmth in his heart because he is standing on the Nassau battleship, which he has determined the design blueprint with his own hands and is very different from the historical original. This is the first dreadnought ship of the German Navy, anchored at Caesar Dock adjacent to Wilhelm Shipyard. Its size is larger than the surrounding German warships. The 11 inch naval gun, configured in a triple unit configuration, appears particularly powerful. Due to the four main turrets occupying the main space on the front and rear decks, the tower bridge and triangular mast are relatively rear, and the two chimneys and four twin mounted auxiliary turrets are slightly crowded in the midship of the ship Despite high expectations for their country's first dreadnought, the German leadership had to patiently wait for several more months. Due to the adoption of a series of new technologies, the main body of this new German warship still needs to undergo corresponding equipment debugging and technical modifications after completion. Therefore, scaffolding, riveting machines, and some equipment components can still be seen on its deck, and the bow and side of the ship have not yet been painted with the ship emblem. Amidst a light military music, two officers dressed in deep blue long breasted winter suits of the German Navy raised the Black Eagle Iron Cross flag of the German Navy from the flagpole at the bow of the ship. Standing on the upper deck with Xia Shu to witness the flag raising ceremony was his superior Reinhard Scheer during his service on the Alsace. During his nearly two-year tenure as the first battleship commander, Scheer delivered a satisfactory result to his superiors through his outstanding performance in training exercises and overseas cruises. As a result, he was promoted to Rear Admiral and awarded the honor of serving as the captain of the first new battleship. As for Xia Shu, his outstanding performance as a combat staff officer on the Alsace still exceeded the perfect score range. Coupled with his extraordinary background, he was promoted twice within two years and became the youngest lieutenant colonel officer in the German Navy early on. Because he did not want to become a puppet of the drawing board, he repeatedly declined the appointment of Tirpitz as the chief designer of shipbuilding and only accepted the appointment of the Navy's chief technical advisor. Then he resolutely came to this dreadnought ship designed by himself and served as Scheer's chief of combat staff. After the flag raising ceremony, Scheer gave a brief speech to the first batch of officers and soldiers who boarded the ship. The combat organization of this warship is 1000 people, and the debugging process usually only requires two fifths of the fixed personnel. Based on the emphasis on the new warship, the Navy Department has equipped it with three-quarters of the fixed personnel at once, namely 30 officers and 720 sailors. They will familiarize themselves with this new warship in the next few months in order to form combat effectiveness as soon as it officially enters service. As the Alsace remained a battleship serving in the main fleet, the transfer of Natsuke and Scheer was a separate transfer and did not involve other officers and sailors on board. Among the first crew members of the Nassau, about half came from retired Saxony class ironclad ships (according to the German Navy Act, with the introduction of new replacement ships, these old warships that had reached their service life were either decommissioned and stored, or resold and dismantled), while the other half were newly trained sergeants and new recruits enlisted in the fall. Thanks to its larger tonnage and size, the living conditions for the crew of the Nassau were superior to those of previous German warships, which is also in line with the concept clearly proposed by Xia Shu when formulating the design plan: to use the best possible software and hardware conditions to ensure the morale and confidence of the crew. Because there are still many devices in the debugging stage, the crew of the Nassau have plenty of free time in addition to daily essential exercises and cleaning work. Bridge and football have become the most popular leisure activities for officers and soldiers. Xia Shu, who has been selected for the Best Team of the Navy Football League for three consecutive years and has won the Assist King award twice, has undoubtedly become the absolute core of the new team. He has invested some energy in team building and training competitions. Most of the time, he either goes to Kiel to fulfill his shipbuilding supervision function or quietly stays in his cabin to study and write, condensing his personal experiences and thoughts into written language. On the Survival of Warships in the Age of Full Heavy Artillery "is the first work of Xia Shu's" Otaku Life ". It systematically analyzes the huge changes brought by full heavy artillery warships to naval warfare modes, meticulously calculates the firing angles of long-range artillery, and clarifies that the long-range artillery of full heavy artillery warships will pose a fatal threat to traditional warships with heavy waterline armor and light deck defense. This means that when facing dreadnoughts, there is not only a difference in the number of guns and armor thickness, but also a comprehensive disadvantage in design institutions and defense concepts. After the publication of the work within the German Navy, it quickly sparked heated discussions. Admiral Tirpitz immediately instructed the Navy's technical department to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the current main ships, improve and strengthen technical defense deficiencies and damage management arrangements. At the same time, he requested that the work be printed as a booklet, with the Navy Staff, High Seas Fleet Command, and Navy Ship Design Department each having a copy, and even consider some outline clauses as design and construction guidelines for subsequent main ships. After the sensational "On the Survival of Ships in the Age of Full Heavy Artillery", Xia Shu published "Full Heavy Artillery Storm" within the Navy, which provided a detailed analysis and discussion on how to maximize the firepower efficiency of full heavy artillery warships. It quoted test data from multiple Krupp naval guns during development, and a large amount of computational analysis also elevated Xia Shu's ballistic theory level from the academy level to the quasi expert level. Moreover, this article first proposed the concept of "unified command system for ship fire" in the German Navy, becoming an important guide for the development of the German Navy's main ships. In addition to his systematic exposition of viewpoints, Xia Shu also provided some short and medium length articles for German naval publications, such as "Sailors - The Foundation of the Navy", "Naval Blockade Warfare", and "Thirty Meters Under Water", which have become recognized as masterpieces by the navy. The "Hohenzollern Genius" has expanded its reputation from ship design to technical, tactical, and even strategic fields. At the same time, the testing and adjustment work of the Nassau is also proceeding in an orderly manner. The debugging of a new warship covers various aspects such as power, navigation, weapons, communication, etc. , and usually focuses on testing its reliability and stability. Just after the New Year, the Nassau conducted its first sea trial, and the new combination of Schulz Sunnycroft coal-fired boilers and Shuo Xiao Parsons steam turbines performed remarkably well, with an overload output of 29500 horsepower and a test top speed of 21. 05 knots, greatly exceeding the design speed of 20 knots. The happiest person for such a result is Xia Shu. For a moment, he felt that there was nothing more wonderful in the world than seeing his design transform from a dull and monotonous line diagram to a majestic physical object with his own eyes! Backed by the will of imperial rulers and naval amendments, the German Navy is building new warships at an unprecedented pace. The Nassau class has not yet entered service, and the new Helgoland class has already started construction. It is considered an improved model of the Nassau class. Stimulated by the news of the British Navy using 13. 5-inch guns on new battleships, the German Emperor finally gave up his beloved 11 inch gun and ordered Krupp to develop a new 12 inch caliber gun, requiring it to be equipped on new warships. The German engineers responsible for warship design were caught off guard by this. Fortunately, their "Hohenzollern genius" changed the German Emperor's reckless decision with persuasive words. In order to ensure the design and construction progress of the new warship, the Helgoland class ultimately adopted the same 45 caliber 11 inch guns as the Nassau class - the armor piercing shells it fired were sufficient to penetrate the armor of all active and under construction British battleships at combat distance. The full axis configuration of four triple main guns will continue the terrifying firepower of the Nassau class, and the increased weight will be used to strengthen the defense of the battleship, including increasing the frontal and turret armor from 10. 6 inches to 11. 8 inches, and the waterline armor from 11. 8 inches to 13 inches, all of which will play a crucial role in future combat. During the commissioning and refitting project before the Nassau went into service, the German Navy started a new warship, which was really enough to compete with the British battlecruiser "Von de Tann". It has been greatly improved on the basis of the quasi war cruiser "Blucher". It carries three triplex 11 inch naval guns with a standard displacement of 20000 tons, uses an improved powerful steam turbine, and is propelled by four axes (German battleships during World War I were propelled by three axes, and war cruisers were propelled by four axes). The designed maximum speed reached 27. 5 knots, and its comprehensive defense capability has been upgraded to a higher level than that of the Blucher. Although the firepower standard is very close (only the barrel diameter is different), the Von der Tann is different from the Shanhorst class during World War II. The two fast warships have different body lengths The difference is 50 meters, and the difference in width is 3 meters, so the former looks more solid, and the freeboard is also higher than the much maligned Shanhorst class. Its airworthiness performance is better except the speed and endurance. The Germans confidently built the first two classes of dreadnoughts and battlecruisers, while the British led with equal determination. By the beginning of 1909, the British Navy had successively built and put into service four Paltrowen class battleships, which were the world's first mass-produced dreadnoughts. Their main structure continued the design of the dreadnought and underwent some improvements and enhancements. As an improved version of the Paltrowen class, three Saint Vincent class battleships had been launched, and the leading Invincible class battlecruiser was nearing service. Its improved model, the Indefatigable class, had already been finalized, and the first ship began construction at the Davenport shipyard in February 1909. The naval competition between Britain and Germany is becoming increasingly fierce, and other old and new powers are not to be outdone. The United States was one of the earliest countries to propose the concept of fully armed battleships, and their first class dreadnought ship, the South Carolina class, began construction in 1906, during a lengthy debugging process in the later stages of completion;Italy was also one of the earliest countries to embrace the concept of fully armed battleships, but due to their usual procrastination, their first dreadnought, the Dante, did not begin construction until 1909;The emerging Asian power Japan, after building the world's largest dreadnought ship, the Satsuma class, also began construction of their so-called all heavy gun battleship, the Izumo class (although this class of warships uses the same caliber main gun, the main gun caliber is different).