Chapter 906: The Hungry Fleet
This cannot be wrong, it can only be said that no one can make mistakes without being a sage. In fact, the Scharnhorst-class battleships specially designed for ocean-going use also use large water tube boilers in order to reduce logistics and maintenance pressure. And for this reason, the displacement of the Scharnhorst is actually larger than that of the orthodox Helga Lan class battleships are taller. There is no way, the efficiency of large water tube boilers is a bit low.
"In addition, I need to make it clear that if we continue to build new warships, I recommend using kerosene mixed-fired boilers." Fisher continued.
"Hold the grass? Did I hear it correctly? Doesn't this mean that our navy has given up its rapid-fire cannons and returned to old-fashioned guns?" Upon hearing this, the naval officers on the side became anxious! To be honest, there are so many benefits to oil-fired boilers. You don't need so many stoves, just use an oil pump. You don't need to consider manpower when maintaining a long-term high-speed voyage. The combustion value of heavy oil is much higher than that of coal. Under the same weight, , the range of battleships using fuel is much greater than that of warships using coal.
And from the perspective of warship design, the use of heavy oil is more suitable for the underwater defense system of the warship. This is actually very good. The heavy oil tank only has a small opening to use the oil pump to get fuel, while the opening of the fuel tank is generally relatively large. This structure The intensity is naturally different. The British's watertight compartment division is not as good as that of the Germans, so it is naturally worse underwater. Moreover, using heavy oil boilers is more convenient for supply. If it is a coal-fired boiler, all the officers and soldiers on the ship should come together and move the briquettes together. If it is heavy oil If so, just a few people and an oil pump would be enough. It is the general trend that heavy oil boilers replace coal-fired boilers, okay? How is it possible to go backwards? Is it true, as a famous saying says, that history develops in a spiral, and regression and repetition are common? ! Almost all the Royal Navy admirals were somewhat confused.
"Admiral Jericho, you are the Commander of the Grand Fleet. I think you know more about the Grand Fleet's oil depots than your own house? Can you explain it to everyone here?" Sir Fisher He glanced at Jericho who was facing him and said angrily.
Does Fisher have what it takes? Of course there is, otherwise he would definitely not be the First Sea Lord. He was promoted step by step from the fleet. His abilities may not be impressive, but they are still top-notch. To be fair, Fisher's most controversial aspect in his life was his admiration for battlecruisers. He achieved outstanding results during his tenure as First Sea Lord.
First of all, his courage to abolish old warships under pressure is a very bold and effective action. The annual maintenance and use expenses of a pre-dreadnought ship are 100,000 pounds! How many British ships are fearless? There are dozens of ships! And among these battleships, not to mention being on the battle line, how many are usable? Only by abolishing a large number of old warships and saving a lot of money and personnel can the Royal Navy have money to develop new warships. Fisher has made great contributions to this!
Secondly, although Fisher caused some problems with the battlecruisers, don't forget that in history, Fisher was able to lead the entire world into the era of fearlessness. This vision and decisiveness are worthy of 32 likes for future generations! The price of a Dreadnought is almost twice that of the previous Dreadnought. Those who can be ruthless enough to build such a thing and accept this kind of thinking,
They are all fierce men too!
As Sea Secretary, Fisher needs to pay attention to including but not limited to the fleet. He needs to consider the budget, fleet composition, human resources, and enemy strategy. From this perspective, he actually stands much higher than Jericho. The fuel problem he mentioned now actually implies that the British Empire has encountered fuel supply difficulties in the current environment.
You know, unlike battleships, hundreds of light cruisers and destroyers in the British Empire mainly burn oil. If you want to feed these battleships at one time, it will not be enough without more than 60,000 tons of heavy oil. Large destroyers require 300 to 500 tons of fuel. The fuel requirement of a light cruiser jumps to about 1,000 tons! How much of a drain are these things?
What makes Fisher even more depressed is that aviation fuel consumption has also increased. After realizing the huge role of the air force, the British have also begun to step up military expansion. Based on the principle of stacking quantity, even furniture factories and piano factories have begun to process wood for Air Force aircraft... Then the number of aircraft in the Royal Air Force climbed directly to about 1,200, and it is still increasing. Although this plane does not yet have the 96 and 100 high-octane aviation gasoline of later generations, these things also need to be refined from crude oil. The oil yield rate of gasoline is only about 10%... Gasoline consumption in aviation and automobiles has directly led to big problems in the UK's already-not-abundant fuel supply. At this time, the Navy still wants to build all-heavy oil boilers? Fisher believes that even if he agrees, the government is unlikely to pass it.
The British government's oil shortage problem in this dimension is not only caused by German submarines. Before the war, Britain could import crude oil from the United States, Persia, and the Dutch East Indies. But now, Persia is close to the Persian Gulf, but there is Su Xiong The home of the fleet…. Oil tanker wants to get out? Are you thinking too much? The Netherlands upholds neutrality, but similarly, the transportation channel must first avoid the Su Xiong fleet and camouflaged raiders hunting in the Indian Ocean, and must also compete with submarines when approaching the British coast...
Not to mention how difficult it is to get through this process, how many brain cells it requires and how much risk it requires, no normal businessman would do this business now... Nonsense, the war has started now. The world's largest shipping power (Britain) and the world's second shipping power (Germany) are both busy fighting the war. There are a lot of orders in the maritime transportation industry! Just transporting anything isn't making money? Do you have to put your head in your belt to work for the British? Can't think about it? !
To give the simplest example, in history, Japan's total shipbuilding tonnage in 1914 was only 52,000 tons, but by 1918, the total shipbuilding tonnage soared to 420,000 tons! What does this mean? The demand is great! A Japanese named Uchida Shinya opened a company with only one steamship in 1915, and then expanded it to 16 ships the following year! In 1918, this guy simply invested 2 million yen in a shipyard!
And it's not just the shipping industry that has been hit hard, the insurance industry has also been hit hard. Because attacks at sea have increased too much, many insurance companies have refused to provide services for British ships, and the cost of war insurance has also risen linearly, making UK shipping costs have increased quite a bit.
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