For Marshal Count Tirpitz, submarines are no strangers. In 1906, the Germania Shipyard built the first submarine, code-named U-1.
However, submarines in this era have slow speed and short endurance, so they can only be used as weapons for offshore defense. The major naval powers don't pay much attention to the development of submarines at all, thinking that they are just weapons used by weak and small countries for sneak attacks. Even within the German Navy, submarines are not taken seriously. Especially when the German Navy has more and more large surface warships, almost everyone is keen to build large surface warships. For submarines, weapons that can only hide underwater and carry out sneak attacks, it is simply impossible. scoffed.
Marshal Count Tirpitz was also affected by this aspect. If Qin Tian hadn't been the one who used the submarine as a secret weapon, he would have scolded him long ago. However, Qin Tian's identity and status are not the same, and Qin Tian has greatly promoted the development of the German Navy. This also left Marshal Count Tirpitz speechless. At the same time, he couldn't help guessing, could it be that the submarine has other potentials that he didn't see?
"Your Excellency Marshal, that's right. The secret weapon I'm talking about is a submarine. However, the submarine in front of you is not a simple submarine like the U-1 submarine, but a powerful submarine that can really be used in actual combat. I I assure you, if the German Navy can have a strong underwater submarine force, it will bring us unexpected surprises." Qin Tian seemed very confident.
Marshal Earl Tirpitz couldn't help frowning. The submarine in front of him is indeed different from the U-1 submarine. It is not only larger in size, but also more beautiful in shape. Yes, it is indeed beautiful. Compared with this submarine, the U-1 submarine is simply an ugly duckling.
"Mr. Huo Lan, please introduce this powerful submarine to the Secretary of the Navy!" Qin Tian said to an old man.
This old man is the famous John Holland, the first person in the world to create a submarine capable of actual combat. Even though he was over sixty years old, Qin Tian still invited him out of the mountain. Of course, a big reason why John Holland was willing to help Germany build submarines was because John Holland was Irish. The Irish have been fighting for independence. Qin Tian assured John Holland that if Germany could defeat Britain in the future war, it would definitely support the independence of Ireland. Therefore, John Holland will do his best to help Germany in this regard.
Combined with Qin Tian's unique insights in this area, Deutsche Shipyard was able to build submarines ahead of this era.
"Yes, Your Royal Highness." John Holland nodded.
"This is a brand new submarine designed and built by us. His Royal Highness named it the U-100 class submarine. This submarine has a surface displacement of 328 tons and an underwater displacement of 279 tons. It is 42.7 meters long and 4 meters wide. , with a height of 8.6 meters and a draft of 3.9 meters. It uses two diesel engines and electric motors as power. The maximum speed on the surface is 13 knots, and the maximum speed under water is 7 knots. The surface endurance is 3100 nautical miles, the underwater endurance is 43 nautical miles, and the maximum diving depth It is 100 meters. The weapon is three 533 mm torpedo tubes, arranged in the front two and one behind. In addition, the ammunition warehouse inside the submarine also stores six torpedoes, a total of nine torpedoes. In front of the pressure hull of the submarine, there is a door 75mm naval gun, with one hundred rounds of ammunition." John Holland said proudly.
Indeed, it can be seen from these data that the performance of the U-100 class submarine is very advanced, not only greatly surpassing the U-1 submarine built by Germany itself, but also surpassing the submarines built by other countries in the world.
"Your Excellency, Marshal, the performance of this submarine is undoubtedly excellent. Especially the strong endurance, enough to sail from Germany to the east coast of the United States. Once war breaks out, the entire East Atlantic waters will become the hunting area for our submarines." .At that time, whether it is the enemy's warships or other ships, they will be under the threat of our submarines. If we can equip hundreds of such submarines, it will be enough to strangle the British sea transportation lines. Once the British If the sea transportation line of the three islands is cut off by us, the British will die." Qin Tian said.
Marshal Count Tirpitz nodded. Although he thinks that a submarine attack is a very ungentlemanly way of fighting. However, in war, all means can be used. Any tactics are fine as long as they can defeat the enemy.
"Your Highness, this submarine is indeed very good. However, I still think that surface warships are the guarantee of victory." Marshal Count Tirpitz said.
"Of course, submarines cannot decide the outcome of a naval battle. Because submarines are weapons of destruction, while surface warships are weapons of control. Our submarines are mainly used to attack the British sea transportation lines, and They attacked the British main fleet to relieve the pressure on the surface fleet," Qin Tian said.
Marshal Count Tirpitz agreed with this. Although there are still some doubts about the real combat power of submarines, Marshal Earl Tirpitz is not opposed to purchasing submarines.
"Your Excellency, Marshal, in order to fully display the combat effectiveness of these submarines, I have thought of a tactic. I named it the 'Wolf Pack' tactic. That is, a few or a dozen submarines are ambushed in the enemy's fleet or within the fleet. A sneak attack on the way it must pass. I think it will be disastrous for the enemy. It will be better if it is at night. I think no fleet or fleet can escape This kind of tactical attack will definitely make them pay an extremely heavy price." Qin Tian said with a smile.
After listening to Qin Tian's introduction, Marshal Count Tirpitz couldn't help feeling chills all over his body. He had to admit that this was undoubtedly an extremely vicious tactic, able to give full play to the advantages of the submarine. Of course, it would be great if this tactic was in the hands of the German Navy. The enemy will suffer heavy losses under the blow of their tactics.
"Your Highness, this tactic is really good. It seems that a weapon like a submarine can really do a lot!" Marshal Earl Tirpitz was very satisfied.
Subsequently, Marshal Count Tirpitz returned to the Ministry of the Navy, and after discussing with other officials, he decided to purchase fifty U-100-class submarines first. If there are subsequent improvements, another fifty will be purchased, bringing the number of submarines in the German Navy to one hundred.
Qin Tian stayed at Deutschland Shipyard and discussed with John Holland about the improvement of the submarine.