Chapter 480: The Aircraft Carrier is Completed
. There will be no activities on the National Day in the new year. Even the usual flag-raising activity is prohibited from having anyone watch.
It’s not that there is any secret in flag-raising activities, but the flu is still a risk. For the sake of public safety, it is better to have as few public gatherings as possible.
As the new year dawns, there's some good news for Australasia.
The first is the compensation from the defeated countries and the United States. Australasia can receive about 120 million Australian dollars in compensation, which is more than half of last year's total fiscal revenue. It can be called a sudden fortune.
You know, Australasia's total fiscal revenue in 1918 was only 172.9 million Australian dollars, an increase of only 4% compared to the previous year, which was far smaller than the previous growth rate of 15% to 17%.
But there is nothing that can be done. After all, the impact of influenza on countries around the world is very serious. Australasia is fortunate to be able to continue to maintain fiscal revenue growth.
If you include indemnities of up to 120 million Australian dollars from the defeated countries and the United States, Australasia's total revenue last year was close to 300 million Australian dollars, and its financial budget is quite wealthy. It is also the reason why Australasia is confident to develop the entire plain of the Murray River Basin. s reason.
Behind the growth in fiscal revenue, the total fiscal expenditure of the Australasian government last year was also alarmingly high.
Because of the free supply of supplies and free influenza treatment across the country, Australasia's total fiscal expenditures increased sharply last year, almost even exceeding total fiscal revenue.
The total expenditure of A$170.4 million is enough to prove the cost of the Australasian government during the influenza epidemic. This expenditure figure has increased by nearly 25 million Australian dollars compared to last year, and it goes without saying that all of it has been spent there.
What can be expected is that this year’s total fiscal expenditure will definitely not be low. After all, the construction of the new capital officially started this year. This is a major project involving at least hundreds of millions of Australian dollars.
On January 17, 1919, Arthur, accompanied by many guards, quietly came to the Royal Sydney Dockyard to inspect the sea trials of Australasia's self-developed and self-produced aircraft carrier, the Giant-class aircraft carrier, which had been under construction for two and a half years.
The construction of the Giant-class aircraft carrier took place in the second half of 1916. The first batch of construction plans was divided into two ships, namely the Giant aircraft carrier and the Sky aircraft carrier, and both were completed in mid-1918.
Now is the most critical testing period for these two aircraft carriers. If this sea-navigation test period can be successfully passed, it is expected that these two aircraft carriers will be put into use in mid-to-late 1919.
This is huge good news for Australasia. The addition of two aircraft carriers can greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the navy, making Australasia's navy one of the top five in the world in terms of scale and actual combat effectiveness.
It is precisely because of the importance of these two aircraft carriers that it was decided to personally inspect the sea trials of the aircraft carriers to see what the actual combat effectiveness of the aircraft carriers independently studied by Australasia was like.
In the true sense of the word, the only research results on aircraft carriers currently are cause and effect. But if you include all the battleships and battlecruisers that were temporarily modified during the war, aircraft carriers actually appeared several years ago.
There is a huge difference in combat effectiveness between aircraft carriers. After all, false aircraft carriers are only temporary substitutes during wars. The development of the navy still requires real aircraft carriers.
After the war, the relationship between Britain and Australasia was relatively close, and the British had also heard about the HMS Arthur, the aircraft carrier studied by the British.
The USS Arenas aircraft carrier proposed a plan in 1916 and officially started construction in April 1917. The progress was not much weaker than that of Australasia.
I have to admire the British's excellent ability in shipbuilding. The HMS Arenas God aircraft carrier studied by the British is actually not much different from the HMS Giant aircraft carrier in Australasia.
Of course, what determines the real combat effectiveness and role of an aircraft carrier is the carrier-based aircraft carried by the aircraft carrier.
In order to cooperate with this advanced Giant aircraft carrier, Australasia has equipped it with up to 24 fourth-generation military aircraft, maximizing the combat effectiveness of the Giant-class aircraft carrier.
Among them, there are 6 reconnaissance aircraft, 8 fighters and 10 bombers, which can fully guarantee the aircraft carrier's reconnaissance, air combat and enemy bombing work.
It is no exaggeration to say that the combat capability and role of the Giant-class aircraft carrier, which is equipped with 24 of the most advanced military aircraft in the world, have far exceeded that of the most powerful super-dreadnought.
If a super-dreadnought and a Giant-class aircraft carrier were to compete one-on-one, the winner would only be the Giant-class aircraft carrier, and the super-dreadnought would not have any chance of winning.
There is only one reason for this disparity in results, and that is that the effective attack range of the super dreadnought is too far from the effective attack range of the aircraft carrier.
Because of its aircraft, the Giant-class aircraft carrier can conduct reconnaissance, combat and even bombing missions hundreds of kilometers away.
But the maximum attack range of the super-dreadnought is also the maximum attack range of the main gun. At present, the maximum range of ship-borne main guns is tens of kilometers, and it is completely impossible to guarantee the hit rate of such large-caliber main guns. The gap between the two sides in terms of firing range is huge.
It can be said that aircraft carriers are the nemesis of giant battleships. When Australasia actually owns aircraft carriers in the future, it will be able to make up for the gap with other countries with large battleships, and even rely on aircraft carriers to overtake the navy in a corner.
A little understanding of the fleet composition of later generations will make it clear that the most powerful fleet is naturally the aircraft carrier fleet.
Generally composed of an aircraft carrier plus several destroyers and more small warships, the majestic battleships in World War I and World War II have gradually lost their role with the birth of aircraft carriers.
After all, the cost of a super-dreadnought is as high as about 2 million pounds, but the total cost of a Giant-class aircraft carrier plus 24 aircraft is only about 1.5 million pounds. An aircraft carrier built with 1.5 million pounds can suppress a super-dreadnought built with more than 2 million pounds. No matter how you think about it, this deal is cost-effective.
Countries around the world are spending a lot of money to build more super-dreadnoughts. When they face the aircraft carriers built by Australasia and the United Kingdom, they know how to write the word "crying without tears".
There is no naval limitation treaty yet, so the victorious countries naturally build warships however they want.
Take the UK as an example. Despite the impact of the flu in 1918, the UK still started building two aircraft carriers, two super-dreadnoughts and two battlecruisers.
If the construction of these six main battleships had not continued until 1920, Arthur would have felt that the naval arms competition was still continuing.
In order to keep the Australasian aircraft carrier as unknown to the outside world as possible, Arthur's visit to the Royal Dockyard in Sydney was very secretive and low-key, and there was no one to greet him at the Royal Dockyard.
The offshore area where the test was conducted was also completely blocked. After all, Australia's oceans are fully controlled by Australasia, and it is only a matter of words to block it.
No country would be stupid enough to challenge Australasia's status in Oceania. Even Britain and France may not be able to shake Australasia's dominance in Oceania.
On the super battleship Hope, Arthur held a telescope and was patiently watching the performances of the two aircraft carriers.
Because the stability of the two aircraft carriers being tested could not be fully guaranteed, Arthur still wisely chose to watch the performances of the two aircraft carriers on the Hope super-dreadnought.
The two aircraft carriers mainly tested the rapid takeoff and landing of three different types of aircraft, precise detection and attack of targets at the farthest distance, and rapid U-turn in a short period of time.
As a large warship with a full load displacement of more than 13,000 tons, the Giant-class aircraft carrier is relatively small compared to the super-dreadnought.
Because it is equipped with almost the same power, the Giant-class aircraft carrier's top speed can reach 25.5 knots. This speed has exceeded some battlecruisers that are famous for their speed, which is enough to show how fast the aircraft carrier is.
Of course, the important reason why the Giant-class aircraft carrier runs so fast is that the Military-class aircraft carrier gives up almost all its firepower.
In addition to some rapid-fire guns and machine guns used for air defense, there are also several torpedo tubes hidden underwater, which together form all the firepower sources of the Giant-class aircraft carrier.
As for the large artillery that conventional warships have, it is impossible to see it on the Giant-class aircraft carrier.
But this is easy to understand. After all, aircraft carriers basically rely on aircraft for reconnaissance and firepower. Aircraft carriers rarely engage in hand-to-hand combat with enemy warships, and they basically do not have that ability.
The most difficult thing to overcome in building an aircraft carrier is the long take-off distance required by current aircraft with inferior performance.
Because of insufficient power, aircraft made in Britain and France generally require a take-off distance of more than one kilometer.
Aircraft often need to taxi for a long time before they have enough power to fly. However, due to the design and purpose of the aircraft carrier, it is impossible to design it to be too long.
Take the Giant-class aircraft carrier in Australasia as an example. Its length and width are only 180 meters and 21.5 meters respectively, which is obviously far from the taxiing distance required by the aircraft.
In order for an aircraft to take off within such a short distance, some technologies that help the aircraft fly must be used.
Needless to say, the all-through deck allows the aircraft to have longer taxiing and landing distances, improving the stability of the aircraft during takeoff and landing.
You know, during the entire flight of an airplane, apart from human influence, the most dangerous stages are takeoff and landing.
Especially for landing, the entire aircraft carrier is only so far away. If there is a slight mistake in landing, the aircraft may crash directly into the sea, or even crash directly on the deck.
The Giant-class aircraft carrier has a specially designed arresting device to help intercept aircraft that are landing too fast and prevent the aircraft from taxiing directly into the sea.
After all, the cost of building a state-of-the-art military aircraft is tens of thousands of Australian dollars. It would be heartbreaking to lose one for nothing.
In addition to the devices that assist take-off and landing, the Giant-class aircraft carrier also deliberately covers the aircraft parking area and the aircraft carrier's command tower with thicker armor to ensure the aircraft carrier's protective performance.
After all, the aircraft carrier's own firepower is actually not strong. If it does not have reliable protection capabilities, it can easily be attacked by submarines lurking underwater.
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(End of chapter)