Naturally, Hu Weidong couldn't help but ask why the heavy cruiser "Tone" chose 240mm as its main gun, which was a very unconventional caliber among Japanese naval guns. In fact, this matter actually stems from his surprise attack on Fengtai and the annihilation of all heavyweights with extremely high firepower.
Speaking of the powerful Japanese 12th Division...
After that series of miraculous victories, Japan not only lost tens of thousands of elites, but also lost heavy equipment equivalent to three field heavy artillery brigades. It should be noted that there were only five field heavy artillery brigades in Japan at that time. In order to ensure that the army had enough
To provide fire support, Japan, with its limited heavy artillery production capacity, had to temporarily reduce its naval gun production plan to free up enough production capacity.
Accelerate the production of army artillery. Originally, this situation would not last long. Unexpectedly, shortly after the full-scale war of aggression against China broke out, the Japanese Army lost two more field heavy artillery brigades in Shanxi. As the war of aggression against China continued to expand,
, the Japanese Army's demand for artillery is increasing, so the naval gun production plan has naturally been repeatedly compressed and postponed...
Originally, Japan's navy and army had great independence. The navy could sternly reject such an approach that seriously harmed the interests of the navy. However, at this time, there was a problem within the navy. The emerging aircraft carrier faction was eager to seize power, and even did not hesitate to fight with the army.
Cooperation, and in their eyes, "giant ships and cannons" are outdated, and aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft are what the navy invests in
Therefore, apart from the various anti-aircraft guns necessary to protect aircraft carriers and frontline airports, they do not have much interest in those large-caliber naval guns. However, those shipbuilding plans that are still on paper can be adjusted or even changed in design.
The gun barrels of the battleships that have been built still need to be maintained and replaced regularly. And the battleships under construction must also be equipped with main guns?
There is really no savings in the former, and replacing gun types costs a lot of money. If we do this just to build fewer large-caliber naval guns, it will definitely outweigh the gains. But for the latter, someone once shouted, "The new navy only needs two kinds of warships -
—Aircraft carriers and (coordinating aviation
"Mother's) auxiliary ships." But my friend came up with a good idea, "Japan has no strong enemies in the coastal waters. As long as it has a strong aviation force, it can defend the enemy at sea. The mainland, Taiwan, North Korea and Manchuria (for the Pacific Ocean)
On those small islands, fortress guns still have a price
Worth it.) Those coastal fortresses (feared by the powerful strength of the Soviet Army in the Far East, but the land fortresses dared not be dismantled) are now useless. They should have been dismantled long ago to save money. The fortress guns are too cumbersome.
, the army basically has no use for it, it just fits into our
On the warship! Do the math. We have more than a thousand large-caliber fortress guns. Even if we exclude those that are too old to be used, there are at least several hundred large-caliber heavy guns that are not outdated and are sufficiently equipped.
There are dozens of large warships..."
As a result, the original 203mm caliber l50 main guns of the "Tone" heavy cruiser and its sister ship "Chikuma" under construction were replaced by eight 90-type 240mm fortress-type heavy cannons. Because the 90-type 240mm fortress-type cannons are
The original main gun was longer and thicker. If it were built according to the original design,
After it was installed, the ship's turret probably wouldn't be able to rotate at all (Note 1). But how could a high-ranking naval officer bow his head and admit his mistake? He immediately accused the ship's own unreasonable design, and in the end forced the designer to do so.
The design plan was redone, and the unique appearance in the history of this heavy cruiser was aborted...
But in Hu Weidong's view, the heavy cruiser Tone, whose design returns to tradition, is undoubtedly more powerful than the historical prototypes. The eight main guns can fully exert their power. Compared with reducing the loss of three water reconnaissance aircraft, the gains definitely outweigh the losses.
And although the Type 90 240mm heavy cannon is not a very advanced product, its performance is really good. Far better than
The original main gun is much easier to use. First of all, the caliber is there. For the main gun, the caliber means power. Think about it, the 203mm main gun cannot be compared with the 240mm, and the 90-type 240mm heavy cannon is
In addition to inheriting the advantages of Japanese artillery such as high accuracy and long life (at the expense of slow rate of fire), it also has incredible features.
The terrifying range, even if it fires ordinary 240mm shells (no special shape, no additional charge, no booster device.), can easily hit 50 kilometers away, while the original 203mm naval gun has a range of close to 30 kilometers
has a good range, but compared with it, it pales in comparison. Naval guns, especially the main gun, are
Typical of "one inch longer, one inch stronger", the range not only means that you can attack the enemy first in artillery battles, but if you have an advantage in speed, it can also make the enemy beaten but unable to fight back. More importantly, it has a long range of cannon-like projectiles.
The muzzle velocity is also high, which means the shell has strong penetrating power, which is more important than anything else in the era of giant ships and cannons...
Some people may ask, since this fortress gun is so good, why didn't the Japanese Navy use it as a naval gun before? It turns out that on the one hand, because the Japanese Navy's ships did not have the tradition of equipping artillery of this caliber before, if this weapon was suddenly introduced,
A new caliber will put a lot of pressure on logistics; and the bigger problem is that this caliber is too high or too low. Like the 203mm naval gun, it cannot penetrate the main armor of a battleship, but it is a bit wasteful to deal with cruisers.
Yes, originally the Army was somewhat concerned about it.
Interesting, but its terrifying weight of more than 50 tons ultimately discouraged the Army. No matter how powerful the cannon is, it has little practical value to the Army. Fortunately, the range is not enough for fortress guns that do not need to be maneuvered.
It was very important that this gun was saved from being laid off. However, due to the high cost, the production quantity was not very large. If it were not for its early appearance (it was put into active service in 1930), the quantity in stock would not be enough to equip several large warships.
....
Note 1: Historically, the gun position design of the Tone-class heavy cruiser was very strange. All 8 main guns were arranged at the front of the hull, while the rear of the hull was arranged as a special seaplane operation area. The appearance was quite special at the time.
.The advantage of this configuration method is that it can increase
It increases the carrying capacity of seaplanes and makes the take-off operation of the aircraft more convenient. In addition, it can also avoid the impact of muzzle flames and storms caused by the main gun firing on the aircraft. The disadvantage of this configuration of the Tone-class is that the turret takes up a lot of space on the hull deck.
Large, there is a blind spot in the main gun's firing range.
Personally, I think this design is quite advanced. Unfortunately, the turret is not a missile launcher, and the seaplane is not a carrier-based helicopter. With the naval warfare method at that time, this design is definitely not worth the gain. For a cruiser that uses shelling as its main attack method, the seaplane
No matter how important it is, how can it be compared with the main gun?