"The power of the 14-inch gun should be enough, right? Is it necessary for us to build a 15-inch gun carrier?" Tirpitz hesitated and asked a question. In his opinion, the tonnage of the 15-inch gun carrier is too large, and the cost will definitely rise all the way, which is a very problematic for the fleet size.

"Of course, because from the current level, even if our 12-inch l45 gun uses the latest armor-piercing shell to hit the target at a distance of 11,700 meters, at a comprehensive incident angle of 30 degrees (referring to the horizontal and vertical angles at the same time) it can only penetrate 229mm of armor! At the same angle, 10-inch armor can be penetrated at 10.1 kilometers. To be honest, it is difficult to penetrate the current battleships through this depth." The prince once again played out his advantage as a time traveler. This data was actually not measured, but this time the prince copied the hull data of the German 12-inch l50 gun in history.

"We know to thicken the armor to more than 300mm and to tilt the armor to increase the difficulty of penetration. Do you think the British would not think of it? As long as they increase the thickness of the armor to 330mm, even if it is vertical armor, it will be difficult for us to penetrate them!" The prince raised his own concerns.

In fact, even if the power of the 380mml45 gun in Germany in history can penetrate 13.5-inch armor at a distance of 9400 meters at a 30-degree incident angle. Of course, this 30-degree incident angle is a bit large. In fact, the drop angle of the shell may be smaller than this angle, so the depth of the gun is improved. There is a saying that 12500 meters can penetrate 350mm armor (actual measurements are just inferred, and the author cannot find out).

In history, Bavaria's 15-inch cannon has little problem with the queen. It's not that the 330mm armor and dome armor are not powerful, but because the queen is overweight in history, and there are too few parts of the main equipment exposed to the water. But who dares to say that the British battleships must be overweight in this plane? What if it is not overweight? What if the British are stubborn or find that the Germans use larger caliber cannons to increase armor? Who can explain this clearly?

Therefore, based on the principle of lenient information on the enemy, the prince means to use the largest caliber artillery among the warships that Germany can currently be equipped with! - 15-inch cannon! At the same time, the hard cap and emerging artillery shell technology of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Skoda were introduced. **** Your Excellency's requirements were not high, that is, it was the level when the British tested the 15-inch green hat shell in 1921. The latter penetrated the Bavarian 350mm turret in history at a distance of 15,000 yards... This is the actual data!

If it weren't for the 400mm heavy artillery that was too difficult to build, the warship tonnage would be at least 32,000 tons. Even this tonnage would only cause slow battleships and could not guarantee a speed of 25 knots, Your Highness the Prince would also plan to build a 400mm artillery.

"Don't think too simple about our enemies. They may suffer losses in a battle, but they will be improved soon. A simple strengthening of the dome armor can improve the defense of the warships. Therefore, as a weak navy, we must have larger caliber artillery. We strive to destroy our opponents instead of injuring them." Seeing people's hesitant expressions, the prince said.

"If we equipped a 15-inch naval gun, we can penetrate the British 13-inch armor belt at a distance of 15,000 yards and have the opportunity to penetrate the opponent's dome armor, and then send the warhead into the ammunition depot or power bay. With a suitable shell, we may destroy a battleship worth 2 million pounds. If it is a 350mm artillery, we may not even be able to penetrate 12-inch armor at this distance." The prince said.

"But we have to consider the tonnage and cost. I once asked the designer how many tons a slow battleship equipped with 8 15-inch guns would cost. They told me it would cost more than 28,000 tons. I asked how many tons would be needed if the speed was increased to 25 knots? They said it would cost about 33,000 tons. The cost would reach more than 58 million marks! The construction cycle might take 3 and a half years."

"There are huge risks in this, not just engineering risks, but also time and money risks. I am confident that the Kingdom of Bavaria has a useful 15-inch gun, but I doubt whether our shipyard can complete such a job, at least for now," said Tirpitz.

"Then can we do this? The first batch of 15-inch gun battleships are equipped with 6 main guns, and the tonnage is on par with our 14-inch gun rapid battleships. In fact, our second batch of battleships is very similar to the rapid battleships we completed at the Brom-Foss Shipyard, whether in tonnage, defense and power design. With very small improvements, I can even make concessions in the layout of artillery, but I require that all the battleships that started construction in the third batch use 15-inch level artillery, and even start using 15-inch guns in the later stages of the second batch of battleships!" The prince put forward his own suggestions for improvement.

Compared with the dispute over whether the new warships use 4 double-mounted 350mm guns or 3 triple-mounted 350mm guns, the prince is not very concerned. After all, the gap is not very big, but there is absolutely no concession in the issue of gun caliber. In terms of projection, even in history, Germany's six 15-inch guns can project 4.5 tons of ammunition in one round (each shell weighs 750kg). And 8 350mm guns can project 4.8 tons of ammunition in one round (each shell weighs 600kg). The projection of both sides is very close, but the armor-piercing ability is definitely better.

"The British may not be equipped with 15-inch guns. Our 15-inch gun warships may stimulate them. The British will design larger guns and build larger warships, and our gap may become bigger. Everyone here knows that the 15-inch gun and its carrier have reached our limit, whether it is funding or production cycle. This is the case." Tirpitz looked around at everyone present and said earnestly. He had no selfishness at this moment. His words were very convincing.

"But sooner or later the British will equip 15-inch cannons! It will definitely be! We have the ability to equip 15-inch cannons in advance, so why should we take into account the attitude of the British? If the British want to equip 16-inch cannons and build warships of more than 35,000 tons, then let them build them well, and their limits will not be much higher than us. They may have more funds, but the construction cycle and single-ship tonnage will not be stronger than us! Now believe me." The prince also knew that this confrontation was at a critical moment, so he insisted on using the 15-inch cannon as soon as possible.

It has been said that it is not easy for the prince or Tirpitz to say more. The prince emphasized the power of large-caliber artillery from a tactical level, while Tirpitz emphasized the demand for industry and funding from the economy and fleet size. He even worried that the Fleet Act would be in crisis because of too much funding. What both sides said makes sense. When they do not give in to each other, only one person can make the decision!
Chapter completed!