Chapter 364 Soon, everyone will have aircraft-carrying battleships! (Please subscribe, please vote)

November 20, 1831, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Mobile Anchorage.

In the commander's office of the Atlantic Fleet flagship USS United States, standing in front of the window and seeing the large and small warships moored in Mobile Bay, Vice Admiral David Porter was also a little excited. All the veterans of the U.S. Navy were there.

Here it is!

There are six battleships alone, and they are all brand-new United States class! The ship names are United States, Washington, South Carolina, Michigan, Delaware, and North Dakota.

There are eight armored cruisers in total. In addition to six new Pennsylvania-class ships, there are also two old armored cruisers, the USS Maine and the USS New York.

In addition to the six Chester-class protected cruisers, the protected cruisers New Orleans and Alba purchased from the United Kingdom, as well as five airship carriers and 30 other destroyers, gunboats, minelayers, and minesweepers, they

It already possesses more than 90% of the combat power of the US Navy!

This is the strength of the United States, which likes to speak in terms of rules based on strength. Although it started late, relying on the strong potential given by the east coast and central plains of North America, the United States, which was only founded more than 50 years ago, has grown into a country that is only as old as the Ming Dynasty.

The industrial countries of Britain, France, Prussia, and Austria are comparable to the Slavic empire of Rakshasa in eastern Europe.

However, considering that the growth rate of the United States exceeds that of the United Kingdom, France, Prussia, and Austria, it is only a matter of time. It will not even take until the end of this century. In another twenty or thirty years, the United States will be able to climb to the third position in the world.

By then, the strength of the U.S. Navy will be unimaginable today. It is a pity that Ming imperialism did not give the United States a chance to develop and grow. It began to pursue the policy of suppressing and containing the United States early. It is really hateful!

Looking at the large fleet moored on the sea, Lieutenant General David Porter took two deep breaths before retracting his gaze and returning to his desk. Looking at the intelligence he had just received, his face was a little solemn.

This information was sent by wired telegram from the British entrenched in Port of Spain, Trinidad, reporting the situation of the Japanese Texas Maritime Self-Defense Force currently resting in Port La Guaira, Republic of Colombia. It was only discovered that

It has three Nandao-class transport ships, two old-fashioned 10,000-ton sail battleships, seven Guogong-class armored cruisers - this type of armored cruiser is only equivalent to a third-class protected cruiser in terms of tonnage, and several other transport ships.

Armed merchant ships transporting coal, supplies and ammunition.

Compared with the last discovery of the airship station in the Falkland Islands (Malk Islands), there are two fewer large battleships and five cruisers. These seven ships are the real main force, right?

Because they were worried about the presence of aircraft-carrying warships in the maritime self-defense formation, the British airships did not dare to get too close at all and could only watch from a distance. Therefore, the airship sent by the Falk Islands did not find out the specific situation of the maritime self-service formation. But this time

The report from Port of Spain came from British spies in Port La Guaira.

So David Porter doesn’t even know what models the two missing ships are?

He could only guess that one of these two large ships should be an aircraft-carrying battleship that showed its prowess in the Battle of Tregg Strait, and the other one was probably a fast battleship.

The reason why David Porter has this view is that in the war game conducted by the US Navy, the coordination between fast battleships and aircraft-carrying battleships is the most powerful!

During the deduction, the fast battleships held up the front, while the aircraft-carrying battleships launched carrier-based aircraft from behind to drop bombs. Then, they waited for the carrier-based aircraft to blow up the enemy's battleship formation to pieces, and the aircraft-carrying battleships then charged in.

The battle group, together with the fast battleships on the front line, used naval guns to bombard the wounded enemy ships.

This method of bombing first and firing later is advanced no matter how you look at it!

Therefore, naval experts from Western countries, including David Porter, have all become the "aircraft-carrying battleship faction" - now there is no such thing as the "battleship faction" and the "aircraft carrier faction", but the two factions have merged into one!

Driven by these "two-in-one faction", although the British and American countries did not have operational combat aircraft, various plans to build aircraft-carrying battleships and aircraft-carrying cruisers were launched one after another.

The United States is of course no exception. The "Enterprise" class, an aircraft-carrying armored cruiser developed on the basis of the Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser, has now completed its design and is being worked on day and night at Bath Shipyard in New York. It should be ready to go to sea before June next year.

try.

By then, the U.S. Navy should also have its own carrier-based aircraft!

A new era - the era of aircraft-carrying warships crossing the oceans is coming soon.

In fact, before and after the Battle of Great Strait, engineers from Britain, the United States, France, Prussia and other countries who loved flying had already built aircraft that could use internal combustion engines to drive propellers.

However, due to the lack of powerful internal combustion engines, the range and load capacity of these aircraft are too small to be put into military use.

However, internal combustion engine technology is advancing rapidly, and it is hard to overstate how rapid it is.

So by the time the aircraft-carrying armored cruiser "Enterprise" begins sea trials, the U.S. Navy will probably already have available aircraft (aircraft).

But now, David Porter has neither an aircraft-carrying armored cruiser nor an aircraft. He can only rely on the speed of the Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser and the US Navy's familiarity with the Caribbean to fight night battles with the Texas Sea Fleet from afar...

…

But the problem is that in order to seize the opportunity to engage in a night battle with the Dezhou Navy's fleet, we must first determine the location of the Dezhou Navy's main force ships.

But where is the enemy's main force?

When David Porter was worried, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Vice Admiral, I just received a telegram from Port of Spain." This was the voice of Major Farragut, communications staff officer of the Atlantic Fleet.

"Come in, little David." David Porter's tone seemed very friendly. Because the Major David Farragut outside the door was his adopted son. He joined the U.S. Navy with him when he was 8 years old, and has been a sailor all the way.

When I became a major now, I learned to fly a plane not long ago.

David Porter planned to let Major Farragut become the commander of the "Enterprise" flying wing after the "Enterprise" was commissioned.

At this time, the door of the commander's office had been pushed open, and a navy lieutenant colonel in his early 30s, a little short, and looking very shrewd, stepped in, gave a military salute to Lieutenant General Porter, and then reported:

"Lieutenant Admiral, a Japanese cruiser in the port of La Guaira left last night, and at noon today, the airship discovered that it had passed through the Strait of St. Lucia and entered the Atlantic Ocean.

In addition, the Texas Coast Guard has notified the La Guaira Port authorities that they will leave the port around dusk today!"

"A cruiser entered the Atlantic Ocean?" David Porter immediately went to the chart table and started searching. Saint Lucia is located between Saint Lucia and Martinique, and those two islands are Trini.

They are two of a chain of many small islands that looks like a necklace of pearls between Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico. Beyond this chain of islands, there is the vast Atlantic Ocean.

Looking at the island chain on the chart, David Porter fell into deep thought. After a while, he was heard muttering to himself, "Why do the Japanese want to divide their forces into two groups? Do they want to use the main force of their fleet in the Atlantic Ocean?"

The superior force will break up the engagement and attract us to attack to cover their convoy passing through the Yucatan Strait?"

"Vice Admiral," Major David Farragut said, "This possibility is very high! But we must not let their convoy pass through the Yucatan Strait. There are three ships in this convoy with a full discharge of 25,000 tons.

Troop transport ship and two 13,000-ton sailing ironclads - according to intelligence, the Chinese have transformed their old sailing ships into landing ships that can transport troops and support landings! If these five ships are all landing troops, at least

There can be 20,000 people! If they are allowed to land in Texas, the United States will lose Texas!"

David Porter nodded and said: "But we can't let go of the so-called main force of the Texas Navy. We also divided our forces into two groups, one to block the Yucatan Strait, and the other to search for their aircraft-carrying battleships in the Atlantic Ocean!"
Chapter completed!