Another World: Naval Storm

Since the World War, the Navy has received a total of six light cruisers, but lost a total of eleven light cruisers in the Battle of the North Sea and overseas raids. The Drake Navy, which has always lacked light ships, is extremely uncomfortable with this level of loss.

At a shipbuilding meeting in May, under Leo's lobbying, the Navy Department softened its attitude and placed an order for ten Cologne-class light cruisers code-named DK to the Naval Design Bureau and shipyard at one time.

Leo had very high requirements for the Colon-class light cruiser. Its seaworthiness had to surpass that of previous light cruisers, its protection level had to be stronger than that of the Tower-class light cruiser, and its maximum speed had to reach 28 knots, so that it could both fight and run. This type of light cruiser also had to perform ocean raiding missions, so its endurance had to be no less than 5000 nautical miles. In addition, it also had to undertake the minelaying and anti-submarine missions that were important to Leo, so hydrophones and minelaying facilities were also must-have equipment.

In the Drake Empire, there is a most hated ranking list among naval designers. The Royal Navy ranks first for the least money and most troubles; Congress ranks second for restricting military spending and thus emasculating the performance of warships, which often angers naval designers; the first two appear in departments and have a large number of people. The last one is the naval hero in front of you, the creator of the world's first dreadnought and battlecruiser, and the witness and strangler of the great Saxon-class super battleship!

All naval designers get a headache when they see Leo. The birth of the first dreadnought was amidst the opposition of engineers, power experts and artillery experts. If it were not for the support of Marshal Piltz, the Taren people would have launched the dreadnought earlier than Drake, so they are naturally unable to hold their heads up in front of Leo.

Dreadnoughts, battlecruisers, submarines, airships, airplanes, all these equipment are thanks to Leo. Of course, his brain and rich imagination are worthy of recognition. To turn imagination into reality are the efforts of countless designers and experts from scratch, and their hard work day and night.

In addition to being the most hated person, Leo is also the most respected person. These two points are not contradictory to intellectuals. His imagination is the source of inspiration for the designers of the Navy Ship Design Bureau. It can be said that Leo is the supreme pope of the Navy Ship Design Bureau. Moreover, Leo is a young man among the traditionalists. Although he did not take advantage of the opportunity to be promoted to the rank of admiral after the Battle of the North Sea at the age of 42, and even though there are rumors on the platinum streets that he and the emperor are not in harmony, everyone can see that sooner or later, he will be the Minister of the Imperial Navy.

The Drake Navy is the bread and butter of the Naval Ship Design Bureau. The Secretary of the Navy is naturally the client’s father, and of course the future Secretary of the Navy will also be the client!

Therefore, although Leo had very demanding performance requirements for the new light cruiser, the chief engineer in charge of the DK light cruiser project, Laye, could neither provoke nor hide, so he could only lead his subordinates under pressure and work late into the night to come up with three design drawings. We have to praise the efficiency of the Drake Navy designers, who are more efficient than their counterparts on the other side of the sea.

"Well, the 1-ton DK60 plan still uses the forecastle type of the Wiesbaden-class light cruiser. In terms of protection, 150mm of waterline armor is sufficient for a light cruiser. The four twin 88mm main guns and two single 28mm secondary guns are sufficient, and can compete with the Talen light cruiser. The speed of knots meets the design requirements..." Leo picked up the stack of design drawings handed over by Rye and read them page by page, while others were also looking down at them.

"It's been equipped with a new tripod mast, which is more sturdy than before? Split searchlights, light rangefinders, mine decks and mine rails? It's not bad, after all, it has to perform multiple tasks. Depth charge launchers for submarines have been added, and hydrophones have been added to the midship of the hull and the power compartment has been rearranged to reduce the interference of mechanical noise on the hydrophone." Leo's expression eased a little, and the DK1 light cruiser finally had a point that caught his eye. He continued to look down, and the DK1 and DK2 came into view.

"Isn't the 2-ton DK1 an enhanced version of the DK3? Huh? And the DK2 is an enhanced version of the DK2?" Leo flipped through the book quickly and asked angrily, "Mr. Laye, are you kidding me? Aren't the DK3 and 1 just DK with increased tonnage, a few more secondary guns, and improved key protection parts? What other improvements are there?"

"General, the speed has also been improved..." Laye said timidly.

Leo covered his face. "What kind of qualitative improvement is there in just one or two sessions of improvement? How can I describe you sometimes? You are not conservative when you should be conservative, and you are not radical when you should be radical!"

"General, what do you mean?" The designers in the design bureau were confused by Leo. Was it an illusion? Didn't you ask for stability?

"The design of the Cologne-class light cruiser is too conservative. After the Battle of the North Sea, the situation faced by the Empire is very different from before. You need to be forward-looking in designing the ships needed by the navy!" Designer Gu De's office was filled with heavy breathing. They hated Leo even more and let Leo say everything. He was really shameless.

The rest of the senior naval officers were secretly laughing, but Vice Admiral Malawi couldn't help laughing out loud, which attracted a wave of hatred from the designers for Leo.

"After the Battle of Simbrica, the Empire's light cruisers are no longer just the support and guarantee force of the ocean fleet. The situation requires the light cruisers of the reconnaissance fleet to be able to independently perform new tasks such as small-scale artillery battles, rapid support, patrols, anti-shipping, anti-submarine, escort, reconnaissance, and minelaying. In addition to the several light armored cruisers that were launched recently, our old cruisers have taken on new tasks, so we need a Cologne-class light cruiser with high cost performance, suitable speed, equipped with minelaying and anti-submarine equipment, and capable of sustained operations in the ocean!"

"Mine laying? Anti-submarine? Aren't these the things that the Talen people should be most concerned about? We rarely have such needs!" The young man Hubert retorted subconsciously. The outstanding performance of the Drake Navy in the ocean has made the status of German designers rise sharply, but when they met Leo, they could only retreat.

"Don't think so simply. Now our submarines are rampant in the oceans because of unlimited warfare, but submarines are not exclusive to the Empire! Since we can use submarines to inflict heavy losses on the Allies, the Allies can also send submarines to deal us a heavy blow. We won't always have all the advantages!" Leo said solemnly.

Everyone in the conference room was thinking. The naval commanders were thinking about how to counter the Allied Powers' unrestricted submarine warfare. They found that the Drake Navy was in a good situation. The Empire did not have so many transportation lines and hubs. If the Drake Empire and the Talen Kingdom were switched, they would still have no solution to the unrestricted submarine warfare.