The Rise of the Empire

"This is a submarine?" In the No. 9 slipway of the Brom-Forth Shipyard, a barracuda-like chubby thing is being maintained. Accompanied by shipyard staff, Prince Ruprecht and Prince Heinrich visited the most advanced submarine of the German Navy so far. Note that this is not the first submarine, because before that, the German shipyard had already started building three small submarines for Russia, and one of them had even been delivered. Of course, these submarines were all small cargoes of less than 200 tons. Not much use.

"Yes, this is a submarine." The prince nodded and said.

"But compared to submarines built by other countries, this ship is a bit bigger." Prince Heinrich probably inspected the size of the submarine and said: "Does this submarine have any advantages compared to the previous products? I am big. Come here all the way, won't you just show me a simple enlarged version?"

"Don't tell me, it's basically an enlarged version..." The prince murmured. "On this submarine, we used a new type of diesel engine. The gasoline is volatile and easy to explode, and our country's diesel oil level is very high. It is more suitable as a submarine power. At the same time, the ship type has been modified to give it a higher water surface. Speed, and this ship is bigger and equipped with more weapons. If the previous submarine was only suitable for offshore operations, then this submarine can already fight on the British west coast." The prince said.

"You seem to be very interested in such little things?" Prince Heinrich looked at the submarine being maintained, then looked at the prince and said seriously.

"That's it. If I said that in the future, it is these little guys, not the battleships of the High Seas Fleet, that really determine the victory or defeat at sea, what would you think?" the prince asked rhetorically.

"If someone else said it, I would think he was a lunatic. If it was you, I would seriously consider it, and then listen to your opinion." Prince Heinrich said with a slight smile. "Because I don't think you, who are making money every day, will make a special trip from Munich in your busy schedule just to make a joke with me."

"Well, imagine if we have dozens of submarines of this size or larger, and these submarines are cruising in the vast ocean. When encountering unprotected transport ships, we will use naval guns or torpedoes to sink them. One just doesn't A 1,000-ton submarine can sink 2 to 5 ships in a single attack. The registered tonnage may be nearly 20,000 tons. A ship of less than 1,000 tons can be exchanged for an opponent’s 20,000-ton ship. I think there is a lot in this world. Few countries can afford such a loss, right?"

"And if you are in danger, you can still dive into the water. At present, the navies of various countries do not have reliable anti-submarine weapons. They can also plant mines near the opposing military port, or as a security force of the high seas fleet to pull out an anti-submarine network at sea, is that true? You have already mentioned these to me in your letter. I hope to hear more different opinions. In addition, I don’t think that tens of tons of fuel alone is enough for these little guys to travel the Atlantic Ocean.” The Prince said .

"Although this submarine currently has only 7000 nautical miles on the water at 8 knots, it is enough to maneuver in the waters around the United Kingdom. No matter which route the British ships take, they will eventually appear in the British Isles. Nearby, this submarine has a surface speed of more than 17 knots, which can catch up with more than 90% of merchant ships!"

"Imagine if we have 100 such submarines, 30 of which can cruise off the coast of England, what kind of result is this time? And each of these submarines consumes only a few dozen tons of fuel. We The cost of the submarine is very low, and as long as it can destroy a merchant ship, the cost of the submarine has been recovered!"

"This tactic itself is tonnage exchange. The submarine tonnage is exchanged for the tonnage of the opponent's transport ship. More importantly, the submarine can be mass-produced during the war to continuously compensate for the battle damage, unlike the battleship that requires a long construction period! Said the prince.

"But let's not say that such a submarine encounters a light cruiser, even some torpedo boats can't be beaten. What if the other party deploys gunboats in the nearby waters or arranges escorts? The advantage of submarines lies in the concealment of navigation, and if they are underwater If the normal speed is less than 5 knots and the maximum speed is less than 10 knots, the submarine can't even keep up with the transport fleet. How can you calmly launch an attack?"

"Currently, countries do not have effective weapons against submarines, but in my opinion, as long as the submarines cannot effectively destroy the lines of communication, then the British's goal has been achieved. The submarine's killing efficiency may not be very high. You said yes No?" Prince Heinleich thought for a while and said.

"You are indeed right. There are still many problems with submarines today, but the premise is bright. Escorts can indeed effectively reduce the probability of submarines attacking the merchant fleet, but the premise is that the British need to invest a lot of manpower and capital. In the construction of the **** fleet, and if we have enough submarines~www.NovelMTL.com~ we can even go on safari in the open sea, the British sea communication line will be beaten in front of our submarines. The blood vessels of the empire will not stop bleeding." The prince said.

"So you want my support? Then why don't you discuss this with Admiral Tirpitz?" Prince Heinrich asked.

"Because this matter is still in its infancy, in fact, to be honest, not everyone has a very broad vision. Tirpitz is relatively conservative, and the main role of the submarine is to attack the transport ship. It is not powerful. Like a battleship, how can it be measured by tonnage, artillery, armor, and speed. Moreover, the failure of Admiral Mooqi last time made me feel that it is not easy to go alone." The prince said helplessly.

"I understand this. If necessary, you should say hello to me. I will say to His Majesty that it would be better if we can demonstrate the role of submarines through an exercise. In fact, during the war, the Empire considered converting some ships as sea The role of assault ships and submarines is very similar to that of camouflaged assault ships at sea.” Prince Heinrich said.

"In addition, if you want to build a large submarine, you can have other ideas. For example, once a war starts and our maritime transportation is cut off by the British, then you can use large submarines to transport strategic materials for the country. In this case, the underwater fleet of the High Seas Fleet Maybe there will be a big development." Prince Heinrich said.

"Transporting submarines? This excuse is very good, very realistic, and really needed!" The prince said silently in his heart.

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