Chapter 2496 The Forgotten Battleship 4

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The Japanese Navy gained a lot from this Russo-Japanese War. It not only acquired four Rurik-class battleships, but also acquired some destroyers and auxiliary battleships. The Kamchatka seaplane carrier was one of the most dazzling trophies. First, unlike the Rurik-class battleships that stayed in the port for almost the entire war, Kamchatka performed well. It had been cooperating with the Japanese Navy in the Indian Ocean for a long time, using a large number of seaplanes on it to search for Germany. There were camouflaged attack ships in this area, and they successfully captured two of them. They also provided anti-submarine escort assistance to the fleet, and successfully drove away at least 20 submarines!

However, when the Russian government collapsed, this poor Kamchatka seaplane carrier was receiving supplies and maintenance in the Philippines. The Japanese Navy easily accepted this seaplane carrier and incorporated it into the Japanese fleet, even with its name. Nothing has changed...

"These are all necessary. At the beginning of the war, the Germans also assigned a large number of seaplanes to the Suchon fleet for reconnaissance. In the later stages of the war, I always believed that the German fleet's last large-scale ambush on our transportation in the Indian Ocean was When forming the fleet, they used aircraft carriers! Otherwise, they would not have so many aircraft. It can be seen that it is necessary to equip the break-up fleet with an aircraft-carrying warship. And the Imperial Navy does not lack such one. Seaplane carrier." Yamamoto Isoroku said.

The Japanese Combined Fleet basically operates within the coverage of land-based aviation. Therefore, whether it is aviation reconnaissance, air defense or anti-submarine, the real bulk is borne by land-based aviation. If nothing else, just on New Ireland Island, Japan has deployed at least 250 aircraft of various types, and more than 400 aircraft on New Britain Island. A considerable part of the entire Japanese aviation force has gathered together. Although it lacks bombers and torpedo aircraft, in terms of pure air defense firepower, But it is quite strong, so it is also possible to allocate a seaplane carrier to the break-up fleet.

"Great. With the seaplane carrier and the sea supplies provided by the British, we can definitely turn the Americans' transportation lines upside down." Koga Mineichi said excitedly.

"Haha, maybe, but the bigger our actions are, the closer we will be to destruction. Don't forget, your Excellency, the Americans may not have a good way to deal with us, but the Germans are different. Their carrier-based aircraft forces have Rich experience in sea attacks, and the Germans also have the most powerful fast fleet group in the world! If they want to kill us, unless we sneak back early, they will catch us sooner or later. Our mission this time Not only to break diplomatic relations, but more importantly, to serve as a decoy, to divert the German fleet from the front line when necessary! This is a very dangerous task." Yamamoto Isoroku said.

"Using your own fleet to create an opportunity for the main force of the combined fleet? It is worth it. I just hope that the performance of the combined fleet is worthy of our sacrifice." Koga Mineichi shook his head and said.

"Okay, that's for the future. I think the Combined Fleet Command will make good arrangements for us. After all, we have at least two battleships in our hands.

Such power cannot be lost easily. Let's go up and see our battleship. " Yamamoto Isoroku said.

"Although it is a good ship, it is really a bit old." He stroked the twin 12-inch turrets on the rear of the battleship Rurik with his hand, and looked at the seaplane equipment under intensive construction not far away. He Fengyi said with some emotion.

As he said, although the Rurik stood out from the crowd when it first entered service, and could even be said to have made groundbreaking contributions in some fields, it was too old after all. Not only some subsystems were far behind the times. , and most importantly, the hull limits the space for improvement of this battleship.

For example, to increase aviation facilities, a general dreadnought can place the guide rails, cranes and other equipment required for seaplanes in the middle of the hull. In this case, it will not be easily damaged by wind and waves, but this battleship has four turrets directly in the four corners of the middle. Below is the ammunition depot. Not only does it occupy the space needed for seaplanes on the surface of the ship, but more importantly, there is no room for an aviation fuel depot in the lower hull.

Therefore, the Japanese Navy could only make do with two guide rails and a crane on the hull to use as retracting and retracting equipment for seaplanes. As for the aviation gasoline depot, it was placed directly under the uppermost deck in an unprotected state. If a shell hits, then the feeling will definitely be extremely sour! And more importantly, there is no cover at the rear of the hull. If the wind and waves are relatively strong, it is possible for the waves to rush up directly and smash the seaplane to pieces. In addition, the bow string of this battleship is already relatively bad, so this matter is even more uncertain.

"The Ministry of the Navy has made some efforts. They installed mine protection protrusions on both sides of the hull, which increased the buoyancy of the warship. The warship's stem condition has been improved a lot, and the extra mine protection protrusions can also be used It is used to hold fuel and fresh water, which increases the endurance of the battleship." Yamamoto Isoroku said.

"That definitely means a decrease in speed. I doubt that even if the ship is fully loaded, it will be difficult to reach a speed of more than 23 knots even if the power equipment is replaced, right?" Koga Mineichi said.

"That's probably it. This is actually a pseudo-fast battleship. Even in terms of speed, it is not on the same level as the German Bavaria." Yamamoto Isoroku said.

"Well, at least if we encounter American cruisers, our 12-inch guns are enough to deal with them." Then, the two began to move around on the battleship. Compared with the power and hull parts of the project, the Rurik The changes in weapons were not major. The main gun was copied. Although the original secondary main gun was replaced, this was the work of the Russians before and had already been modified when the Japanese took over. In addition to the eight 12-inch main guns, the most important secondary guns on this battleship are 20 120MM rapid-fire cannons. These are truly products of the pre-dauntless era. During World War I, the British did not produce new 120MM rapid-fire cannons. . It is estimated that some of the ammunition for these artillery can only be dug out from the bottom of Japanese and Russian warehouses.

The Japanese finally decided to dismantle some of the 120MM rapid-fire guns and use some gun positions with better shooting range to install British 12-pound anti-aircraft guns. After all, in this era, even cruisers have to consider anti-aircraft firepower. Rurik is also a battleship after all, so it is naturally necessary to equip some anti-aircraft guns.

Previously, the Japanese were planning to dismantle the 120MM artillery and replace it with a 6-inch artillery, because the power of the former was too small, even when facing merchant ships. But it was eventually abandoned due to issues with construction time and materials. And while the two were inspecting the battleship, the Pacific War finally came!

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