ps: Thanks to the book friend "Chen Liangyou1" for the reward, please continue to ask for recommendation votes ^_^
Although the improvement of warship armor cannot be compared with that of tanks due to its relatively large thickness, the Nanchang-class heavy cruiser has also benefited greatly from it. Considering that the thicker the double-sided hardened armor, the improvement will be worse, and the Nanchang-class will eventually
It is just a heavy cruiser, so Hu Weidong decided to further reduce the armor thickness of the Nanchang-class. Therefore, the improvement in protection is not very great, but the freed load greatly increases the range of the Nanchang-class heavy cruiser. This is very important for China, which does not have overseas bases.
For the navy, it is of great practical significance.
It is also worth mentioning that double-sided hardened armor is also the last modern armor technology that can be used on warships. This means that the potential of Nanchang-class heavy cruiser protection has been fully tapped. Unless someone invents it in the future,
Without super-level technology that surpasses the level of the 21st century, or at the expense of other performance, it would be difficult to enhance the armor protection capabilities of the Nanchang-class heavy cruiser. However, the main reason why Hu Weidong suspended the research on warship armor was after the war.
The development trend of armor-free warships
In addition to artillery and armor, Hu Weidong also did not hesitate to remove 6 torpedo tubes that he had long disliked. The reason is that for a heavy cruiser with a full load displacement of more than 18,000 tons, there is little chance of using it. Once it is hit by the enemy,
However, it will cause huge dangers. Keeping it will do more harm than good. It is better to remove it for peace of mind.
In addition, the seaplanes and their supporting gunpowder catapults carried by the two heavy cruisers were also canceled by Hu Weidong. This was due to safety considerations and the removal of torpedo tubes to avoid seaplanes, especially
The gunpowder catapult became a weak point in the defense of the Nanchang-class heavy cruiser during the battle. The second was to prevent the seaplanes sent out for reconnaissance from exposing the traces of the warship. After all, with the slow flying speed of the seaplane, it would be difficult to escape once targeted by the enemy.
track.
In fact, Hu Weidong had made the same suggestion to the German side before, but the Germans always felt unsure about relying entirely on radar guidance for long-range artillery attacks. However, Germany's world-leading optical sighting device cannot be separated from the cooperation of aircraft (
Otherwise, they would not be able to get rid of the limitations of the earth's curved surface), so they finally retained the seaplane on the ship. Hu Weidong had no choice but to do this
Shrugging, he admitted that the performance of current radar is indeed not as good as Germany's world-leading optical instrument. Especially in weather with good visibility, but radar, as an emerging technology, has great potential for development, even when compared with Germany.
Before launching technical cooperation and consolidating China's industrial foundation, a new model could be launched almost every few months, let alone in the future.
Seeing that the Germans were so stubborn, Hu Weidong did not insist too much. However, on China's own warships, he still demanded that radar be used as the basis of the fire control system. In his estimation, according to the development speed of China's radar technology,
Within a year, shipborne radars will be able to completely replace the role of optical instruments, except for small-caliber anti-aircraft guns that require extremely high response speeds. In this way, the existence of seaplanes will obviously do more harm than good, and they will be removed.
It was inevitable, but Hu Weidong was touched by this, but he came up with the idea of developing a carrier-based helicopter. A carrier-based helicopter does not need dangerous gunpowder catapults. It also has a small fuel capacity, so even if it is destroyed by the enemy, it will not cause serious consequences.
, and the target is smaller and not easy to be discovered by the enemy. The space and load taken up on a warship are much smaller than that of a seaplane. In addition, ship-based helicopters are also in line with the trend of post-war naval development, so this can be considered.
It's just that the difficulty of developing helicopters is much more difficult than Hu Weidong imagined. In fact, as early as when he first introduced talents from abroad, he had already transformed helicopters (to be precise, helicopters with practical value) into the history of helicopters.
The Russian-American engineer Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, the inventor of the aircraft, was brought to China and earmarked for the development of helicopters. However, due to the Chinese industry
The foundation is weak and not much breakthrough has been made in the past two years. Hu Weidong was even worried that the invention of helicopters would be delayed due to his intervention. Fortunately, after comprehensive cooperation with Germany, not only China's industrial base
It is much thicker, and the rotorcraft technology, which although it went the wrong way but is of great reference value for helicopter development, was introduced from Germany, thus greatly accelerating the development progress of helicopters.
In April 1939, Sikorsky's research team finally succeeded in manufacturing the first practical helicopter VS300, and made many major breakthroughs in the following year. Finally, at the end of 1940,
The first finalized helicopter
The aircraft "Zhi 1" was put into mass production. "Zhi 1" is a two-seater helicopter with a maximum take-off weight of more than 1,200 kilograms, a cruising speed of 115 kilometers per hour, a range of more than 360 kilometers, and a practical ceiling of more than 2,000 meters. "Zhi 1"
1" can carry 1
A pilot and an observer. If you only bring that pilot, it can also mount a depth bomb and take off from a warship to perform anti-submarine missions. This helicopter seems to be good, but the rotor is not yet mature at this time.
Power makes the reliability of "Zhi 1" always
It was deeply criticized, and the preciousness of Chinese pilots limited its application. It was not until the second-generation helicopter "Zhi-3" using gas turbines was put on the ship that it began to receive widespread praise and was promoted on various types of ships. However,
By then World War II was coming to an end.
Besides, it was still only 1939, so Hu Weidong only set aside a platform on the Nanchang-class heavy cruiser for parking helicopters in the future. Compared with the helicopter platform, the area for four seaplanes and their catapults was too large.
Okay, leaving such a large area empty is really a huge waste, so Hu
After consulting German warship designers, Weidong decided to install a main gun turret and corresponding other facilities at the rear of the Nanchang-class heavy cruiser, which also made it the most powerful heavy cruiser during World War II.
Even if the differences in artillery performance between countries are not taken into account, this is still the case. Its basic parameters are as follows:
Standard displacement: 14,200 tons, full load displacement: 18,500 tons
Anti-submarine: 2 rocket depth charge launchers (maximum range 1500 meters), 2 hedgehog guns (maximum range 300 meters).
Armor: waterline main armor belt 2550mm (Note 1); horizontal armor 5080mm; turret (front) 120mm; command tower 125mm; mine protection armor, three layers, each layer 25mm.
Crew: 1,800
Note 1: The reason why the armor thickness of the main armor belt on the side strings is greatly reduced is because the combat method of the Chinese Navy is very different from that of Germany. Unless the Nanchang-class heavy cruiser is bullying the enemy's small ship, it will rarely use the side strings to engage enemy ships.
For bombardment, the side string armor does not need to be so thick, but because the front
Tailing the enemy (pursuing or escaping) is the main method of combat. The probability of being attacked by large-caliber armor-piercing projectiles on the front of the turret is very high, so armor protection is crucial. As for horizontal armor, considering the insufficient power of dive bombing, the thickness of 5080mm is already