The Rise of Australasia

Chapter 842: Chapter 630: Hercules Class and Hurricane Class_2

The situation in Europe was not important to Arthur; so long as there wasn’t the outbreak of a massive war, whatever struggle for power Britain, France, Germany, and Russia engaged in wouldn’t affect the international status and influence of Australasia.

Arthur’s attention was focused on the current military industrial development of Australasia, or to be precise, the development of the now vitally important aircraft carriers.

Australasia’s existing aircraft carrier design was known as the Giant-class aircraft carrier, which had been designed in 1916, over nine years ago.

More importantly, in these nine years, Australasia had welcomed the development of jet planes, and the existing aircraft carriers could no longer accommodate jet aircraft; the navy urgently needed a new aircraft carrier design to equip a large number of jet planes.

It had to be acknowledged that the enhancement of aircraft performance by jet planes was substantial. However, the problem also lay here: jet planes were too fast compared to regular planes, so fast that they simply could not safely remain on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Even though the Giant-class aircraft carriers were equipped with arresting devices, the landing of jet planes resulted in damages as high as 30% or more, which was clearly unsatisfactory for an aircraft carrier intended for actual combat.

Figuring out how to safely and effectively land jet planes on aircraft carriers had become the navy’s main research goal.

Aside from that, the quantity of aircraft that could be carried, the armor, and anti-aircraft capabilities, as well as the cruising speed of the aircraft carrier, and more, were all goals for improvement in the new aircraft carrier.

However, after nine years of development, the Royal Shipyard did have a clear direction for research and development of aircraft carriers, and had even achieved certain research results.

After Arthur inquired about the progress of the aircraft carrier’s research and development, design drawings for two aircraft carriers were quickly brought to his office, named the Hercules-class aircraft carrier and the Hurricane-class aircraft carrier, respectively.

A clear disadvantage of the prior Giant-class aircraft carrier was its total tonnage of just over 10,000 tons, which was not stable when sailing.

The consumption of fuel and the takeoff and landing of aircraft would cause the aircraft carrier to sway, making the landing of the aircraft all the more difficult and increasing the chances of aircraft damage.

To resolve this issue, the tonnage and size of the Hercules-class aircraft carrier were significantly larger. It had undergone comprehensive enlargement and widening, and a more resilient special steel plate was used as the material for the deck.

Of course, the increase in size meant the weight of the aircraft carrier exceeded 20,000 tons, almost double that of the previous Giant-class aircraft carrier.

But if one only looks at the improvements in armor protection, the increase in tonnage was completely justified.

Also, the aircraft capacity of the Hercules-class aircraft carrier was raised to 36, which significantly strengthened the combat capability of the aircraft carrier.

Beyond changes in size and weight, the deck of the Hercules-class aircraft carrier was also fitted with a laser signal light to provide the ideal landing angle for pilots through reflection.

The laser signal light was equipped with a gyroscope bracket to ensure that the reflected landing angle was correct in any situation.

With advantages also come disadvantages. Precisely because of the massive volume and weight, the cruising speed of the Hercules-class aircraft carrier did not see much improvement.

Even though more boilers were installed, the cruising speed of the Hercules-class aircraft carrier was still only around 26 knots, which was only satisfactory in terms of speed.

However, in terms of firepower, besides having as many as 36 various combat airplanes, the Hercules-class aircraft carrier was also equipped with a number of CA-2 27mm anti-aircraft guns.

This firearm was an improved version of the CA-1 37mm Machine Gun; even though it had a smaller caliber, it was specifically an anti-aircraft weapon for combatting air targets.

With improvements from the Royal Military Factory, the rate of fire of the CA-2 27mm anti-aircraft guns reached a terrifying 88 rounds per minute, creating a dense net of fire that was a deadly weapon against enemy aircraft.

In addition, there was also a specially modified MA-107 Maxim Heavy Machine Gun. This heavy machine gun, after modification for anti-air fire, had its firepower multiplied by several times through multiple barrels, making the anti-aircraft firepower of the Hercules-class aircraft carrier the strongest.

Without exaggeration, based on the data on paper, coupled with Australasia’s most advanced jet aircraft, the Hercules-class aircraft carrier would undoubtedly be the most advanced aircraft carrier for the next ten years, and would greatly enhance the naval power of Australasia.

If the Giant-class aircraft carriers were considered the first generation of aircraft carriers, then the current Hercules-class aircraft carriers are truly powerful weapons, capable of easily overpowering battleships.

Of course, no matter how strong the Hercules-class aircraft carriers are, they cannot overshadow the brilliance of the Hurricane-class aircraft carriers.

From their names, the differences in design between these two types of aircraft carriers are evident. Hercules-class leans towards size and weight, which means armor protection and firepower.

The Hurricane-class aircraft carriers, on the other hand, lean more towards power and deterrence. Their size hasn’t increased much compared to the Giant-class, but the improvement in power is extremely significant.

The Hurricane-class aircraft carriers have a total length of 195.2 meters, a width of 23.5 meters, a draft of 6.9 meters, and can carry 22 combat airplanes.

This class of aircraft carriers has not seen much improvement in armor protection compared to the Giant-class, only a reinforcement of some anti-aircraft firepower, ensuring the aircraft carriers’ self-defense and counterattack capabilities.

The most significant enhancement is the power system, which, after improvements to the previous steam turbines, includes the installation of several new steam turbines, allowing the Hurricane-class aircraft carriers to reach the terrifying speed of 27.5 knots, very close to 28 knots.

A speed of 28 knots is considered fast even for the most advanced battleships of the time, which also provides the Hurricane-class aircraft carriers with the guarantee to escape from any warship.

The slight increase in length also allows jet planes to take off and land more easily on the Hurricane-class aircraft carriers.

Equipped with arresting devices and auxiliary landing systems (laser signal lights), these features make the design of both the Hercules-class and Hurricane-class aircraft carriers more reasonable, greatly enhancing their deterrence.

The equally excellent design of these two types of aircraft carriers left Arthur somewhat at a loss. One focused on being bigger, the other on being faster; it was not clear which design better suited the current development of the navy.

However, both designs have their advantages, and Arthur could ensure that whichever type of aircraft carrier was chosen would be among the most advanced.

The dilemma of selecting an aircraft carrier continued into the second day, right up until breakfast when William reminded him.

"Why must you choose just one? Why not build both?” William’s simple statement was like an epiphany for Arthur, which solidified his determination to swiftly begin the construction of aircraft carriers.

Both designs would be top-tier for the next ten years and would certainly not fall behind even in twenty years.

This also meant that if World War II were to occur as expected, the aircraft carriers being built now would provide substantial assistance to Australasia.

After all, government finances were more than sufficient, and constructing both types of aircraft carriers at once was not a concern regarding funds.

In mid-November, Arthur convened a Cabinet Meeting where the motion to build two new types of aircraft carriers was unanimously passed, and it was also decided that Australasia’s shipbuilding plan for the next five years would be set.

Aware that the decline of battleships was inevitable, even if they were still powerful now, could not change the fact that in ten to twenty years, battleships would be outdated.

Instead of building battleships now, it made more sense to channel all efforts and funding into constructing aircraft carriers.

With this line of thought, Australasia’s shipbuilding plan for the next five years consisted almost entirely of aircraft carriers and submarines, with a small number of other small and medium-sized warships; no new battleships would be built, as the existing few were sufficient.

Between the end of 1925 and the end of 1930, Australasia built a total of 4 aircraft carriers, 32 submarines, 11 escort ships, 25 small destroyers, 15 patrol boats, and 8 coastal artillery ships.

To mislead others, the shipbuilding plan included four battleships that would not actually be built.

At the same time, the construction of the four aircraft carriers would be done in secrecy, making other nations focus on the construction of battleships, which was most crucial.

Only after the nations had presented their most advanced battleships, and while they were complacent, would they realize whether aircraft carriers or battleships were the correct direction for the future.

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