Now, with the use of 16-inch artillery and the increase in power and armor requirements, the increase in the tonnage of battleships is necessary, but it is not endless. From the current choices of various countries, the tonnage of new battleships will not exceed 40,000 tons! Because the fundamental marginal diminishing pattern of benefits will be less and less. The higher the tonnage, the more complex the construction will be, and the fewer docks can be built and maintained, and the more restrictions on deployment and use will be brought about.

Therefore, in a short period of time, there may be no technical problems in the emergence of larger caliber artillery, but there must be problems in the use of equipment. The accumulated result of these problems is that countries will seek restrictions on the tonnage of warships! The Germans actually agree with this issue, and Su Xiong and Sims also found the first topic to reach a consensus tonight!

"I also think that for a long time, the tonnage of battleships has remained below 40,000 tons, and the positioning of artillery as 8 or 9 16-inch guns is the best choice. The armor design is based on the standard of defense of 16-inch guns and the speed is above 25 knots. This design is the most cost-effective. Your country's newly renovated South Dakota-class battleship should be the best among the battleships that are about to be completed." Su Xiong said. "If your country does not seek a battleship with larger tonnage and stronger firepower, this condition can be achieved."

"What about aircraft carriers? On the battlefield now, the importance of aircraft carriers is close to that of battleships. With the development of technology, when the aircraft develops to a certain level, it is not impossible for aircraft carriers to replace battleships and become overlords at sea during the day. Moreover, aircraft carriers are more flexible in use and can perform multiple tasks. The tonnage of such warships is also a type that must be restricted." Sims said.

"So, what level do you think is the tonnage limit of aircraft carriers better?" Su Xiong asked.

"I personally think that the aircraft carriers with a capacity of more than 20,000 tons are still a little small. Although the current aircraft carriers are enough to release a considerable fleet of aircraft, as the aircraft carriers become larger and larger in the future, the tonnage of aircraft carriers will still increase. We always have to leave some margin for future aircraft. Another problem is the defense of aircraft carriers, especially the defense of bombs. I think our current aircraft carriers are just eggs with hammers. They have strong attacks, but poor defenses." Sims said.

"There is also the demand for ocean-going combat. Both our navies need to fight on distant oceans, so we need to equip a large amount of fuel and ammunition, especially the latter. With the increase in aviation threats, we need to equip more anti-aircraft guns on warships, and the ammunition consumption of anti-aircraft guns is amazing. So I think the current tonnage of aircraft carriers is best limited to around 26,000 tons." Sims thought for a while and said.

"Is it 26,000 tons? This tonnage is slightly lower, right?" Su Xiong said thoughtfully. The meaning of this sentence can also be interpreted in many ways! So Sims is a little confused about what the other party means!

"Do you say that aircraft carriers of this level are not cost-effective, or are they not suitable for future naval warfare?" Sims asked.

"I am not a professional aircraft carrier officer, so I don't want to say much about technical matters, but I personally think it would be better to limit the tonnage of an aircraft carrier to around 30,000 tons." Su Xiong said.

"This issue can be discussed in the future." Sims's understanding of aircraft carriers is also limited, so this issue will be introduced soon.

"So do you have any opinions on cruiser-level warships?" Sims asked.

"Actually, I feel that the competition for naval cruisers is the most intense now. If this trend continues, it may lead to a series of adverse consequences. I personally think that from the perspective of Germany and the United States, it is not appropriate to build a warship with a displacement of nearly 20,000 tons with 10-inch guns equipped with 8 to 9 doors. Because the cost-effectiveness of this kind of warship is too low," said Su Xiong.

Long before the outbreak of the war, when the Crown Prince Ruprecht and the German Navy held a meeting, they mentioned that in the future, all parties might engage in vicious competition in large cruisers. After all, the Americans have already started to develop 10-inch naval gun armored cruisers. According to the principle that others have, we must have, the Germans will also join this competition. If the performance of the current large American armored cruiser is used as a benchmark, the cost of this warship is relatively high and cannot be used to deal with the main ships. It can only be used to deal with the opponent's lower-level cruisers or destroyers. When dealing with destroyers, the efficiency is actually not high. The 6-inch gun or 8-inch gun cruiser of the same cost may be better. Therefore, before coming, Scher and others reminded Su Xiong whether to make a limit on this level of warships to prevent the two sides from entering a vicious competition mode.

"But, from the moment, our large cruisers performed very well on the battlefield. Our cruisers perfectly suppressed the opponent's cruisers and destroyers. And we have equipped some large cruisers and there are more warships on the ship platform. From an economic perspective, it is too expensive to let us give up these warships." Sims said.

"Your country's large cruisers are outstanding mainly because the Japanese Navy does not have corresponding warships. If you are caught in the competition of large cruisers, then today, one side will build a warship equipped with 10-inch guns with a displacement of 20,000 tons. Tomorrow, the other side will build a warship equipped with 12-inch guns and a displacement of more than 25,000 tons. Such warships are quite close to the tonnage of the main ship. If you consider the issue of gun change, it is the main ship. This blurred ship type will cause the restrictions on the main ships of both sides to become empty text. Do you understand what I mean?" Su Xiong said.

The trick of changing the cannon is no longer new in this plane. The German Navy replaced the 3-connected 12-inch cannon with a double-connected 14-inch cannon during the war. Today you did the first day of the lunar month and tomorrow you could do the fifteenth. It can be predicted that in order to improve the performance of the warship as much as possible, everyone will do this, as long as the tonnage and hardware allow it.

In fact, the 20,000-ton warship has reached the edge of the main battleship. During wartime, if a three-unit 10-inch gun is used, there is no problem with changing it to a double 12-inch gun! That is a battleship of a battleship of a battleship. If a super large cruiser with 12-inch gun really appears, after changing the gun, the firepower will be increased to the 14-inch gun or even higher level, it will be a real main battleship. If this happens, the restrictions on the main battleship in the treaty will become a piece of waste paper!
Chapter completed!