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Battlecruiser Type 1913

[4430 Parts]


"After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Qing government still sought to rebuild the navy when it was almost completely destroyed. In 1907, the finances of the Qing court gradually improved, especially after Zai Xun commanded the Admiralty, the Qing court began to actively consider the purchase of new warships, and quickly approached Britain, the United States and other countries to discuss the purchase of new capital ships. The Qing Court sent people to Britain to examine the design and cost of new battlecruisers. However, as Britain was expanding its army to prepare for war, and the United States had no experience in the design of battlecruisers, these provisions were not followed up until the fall of the Qing Dynasty.

In 1913, the newly established Beiyang Yuan Shikai government also began to consider the expansion of the navy. The Navy Department of the Beiyang government gave the "First Acquisition Plan" and budget estimates on March 21. The new naval construction plan was broadly similar to that of the Qing government, ranging from capital ships such as battlecruisers, to smaller warships such as submarines, to auxiliary vessels such as transport ships.

At the heart of the Admiralty's ship building program were two battlecruisers, along with 10 first class armoured cruisers, 12 second class armour deck cruisers, 18 third class armour deck cruisers, six detective cruisers and six carriers, totaling 54 ships at a cost of approximately 23.54 million pounds. However, the plan submitted at this time only specified the ship's displacement, speed, quantity, cost and other indicators, among which the target of battlecruiser was: 26,000 tons of displacement, 28 knots of speed, the plan is to have two ships, the unit price of 2.1 million pounds. The Admiralty thought that at that time, all the countries in the world "mostly used battlecruisers as the main force", and their performance was stronger than the old ironclads. Although the cost was "not easy to say in terms of our financial resources", "it was necessary to set up some measures so that the soldiers could learn their use and serve as the basis for expansion in other countries".

After receiving the proposal, The State Council of the Buyang government said, We will proceed as planned, but no budget has been allocated.

On April 5 of the same year, outside the Admiralty, the General Staff Headquarters also gave its own plan for building ships - the First Plan and Reasons for building Ships in the third to Tenth years of the ROC. The plan, which envisioned the Japanese navy as an enemy in the 1920s, called for a fleet of 30 battlecruisers, 12 scouts, 100 torpedo hunters, and 20 large submarines by 1920. Of COURSE, THIS PLAN WAS OBVIOUSLY IMPRACTICAL, so the staff again revised the more realistic naval expansion from second to tenth year of ROC, reducing the size of the Navy to eight battlecruisers, eight reconnaissance ships, 40 torpedo ships, 12 oceangoing submarines, and 10 small submarines.

Compared with the Admiralty scheme, the Staff gave a more detailed description of the parameters of the capital ship -- 28,000 tons of displacement, 29 knots of speed, 9 inches of armour in the middle and 4 inches in front and rear, 10 main guns 45 times 14 inches in diameter, 16 secondary guns 50 times 6 inches in diameter, and five 22-inch underwater torpedo tubes. Curiously, the State Department did not even reply to the ship proposal, perhaps ignoring it altogether.

Saw the shipbuilding plan of huge interest only a few of the State Council, the admiralty began to look turned to more practical: small and medium vessels on April 10, admiralty with record company signed a contract, to the austro-hungarian empire STT shipyard and Germany Aktien-Gesellschaft Vulcan Stettin shipyard to purchase shore destroyers, then October and amend the contract as to the austro-hungarian empire CNT shipyard to purchase cruiser. While the plan was moving forward, the Navy again began to consider the stalled capital ship plan. On October 31, the Navy sent another letter to the State Department, saying that the plan submitted in March did not specify specific targets such as the number of gun emplacement, because "there is no way to change it" if the tonnage was specified. This time, the size, artillery, armor, and power of the new ship will be improved so that the State Department can propose a cabinet meeting again.

In the Cost Table, the battlecruiser's specifications remain unchanged at 26,000 tons and 28 units. The new specifications include 10 13.5-inch main guns, 14 6-inch secondary guns, and a 12-inch main armor belt, but the power is only 30,000 horsepower. The battlecruiser in this scheme may be similar to the British Iron Duke class battleships, but achieving speed targets in terms of power will certainly be impossible.

The State Council of the Beiyang Government still did not respond to this detailed plan, and the next naval ship-building plan by the Admiralty and Staff would not be completed until 1934. The acquisition of new capital ships was not inconceivable, not to mention the possibility of completing all the naval expansion plans, if the Beiyang government had spent all its resources at the time; But the defense budget could not be given to the Navy alone, and the acquisition of new army firearms, the restructuring of the army, and the training of new recruits were obviously far more important than the construction of the Navy. And the admiralty presented several plans, its tone is also mainly to fight for the budget, no wonder the Beiyang State Council is negative to this matter."（舰r百科，2022）


舰r百科，Oct.2，https://www.zjsnrwiki.com/wiki/1913%E6%88%98%E5%B7%A1
杨志本, 《中华民国海军史料》, 海洋出版社, 1986.


Displacement: 33,176 tons
Length: 194.2 m
Wide: 30 meters
Draft: 9 meters
Power: 114,584 horsepower

Twin 356mm guns x5
Single-mounted 152mm guns x16
120mm deck guns x4
20mm aa guns x16

Belt Armor: 305mm
Horizontal armor: 140mm


Credits to Hyperschnizel and 西瓜 for masts, motor boats and cutters. Thank you!