The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 842 - 630: Hercules Class and Hurricane Class_2

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.

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.