Chapter 414 Aircraft Carrier Trial
The Admiralty was never as important as they thought they were in Sheffield's eyes. In the eyes of the slave owners, the navy was used to show off, but the army was used to save lives. To the outside world, the navy was undoubtedly the first class, but he valued the army more.
So when these Navy Department observers came to Houston, he directly put these arrogant people aside and let them travel at public expense. As for seeing the aircraft carrier, they were not in a hurry. Of course, for the Navy Department observers, this was exactly what they wanted, and they could take the opportunity to corrupt themselves.
"Why are you like this? You should seize the opportunity to win the favor of the Navy Department." Alice Roosevelt was a little angry and upset that the opportunity she fought for was not valued, but she still patiently persuaded.
"These people simply look down on the Houston Shipyard!" Sheffield was like a spoiled child, thinking to himself that if he wanted to improve their favorability, he could simply send these people to Puerto Rico and bring them back with full favorability.
But Sheffield still felt that he was at a disadvantage for doing this to these minions. These people were not of high enough rank and did not deserve to be treated seriously. Of course, he could not say these words in front of Alice Roosevelt.
After pointing out that it was the Navy Department's fault, the slave owner wanted to take off his pants, but Alice Roosevelt sternly stopped him, saying, "I'm not comfortable for a few days, wait a few days."
Sheffield pulled up his trousers angrily, his face full of grievance, and he almost squeezed out two crocodile tears to prove his point.
"Don't look at me like that, it will be fine in two days." Alice Roosevelt couldn't stand facing such a look, so she said slowly, "Two days won't hurt you, can't you think about me? Don't be so selfish."
Although it was physically inconvenient, Alice Roosevelt still agreed and did not rule out being intimate after the inconvenient time was over.
After not seeing each other for a while, the two had a lot to talk about. Sheffield also learned from Alice Roosevelt about President Roosevelt's attitude towards the Russo-Japanese War. Alice Roosevelt seized this opportunity and proposed to visit the Houston Shipyard.
"Has Japan finally taken it seriously?" Sheffield asked himself. This was only a matter of time, but Alice Roosevelt actually remembered his own shipyard, which showed her deep affection and loyalty. This was simply a typical abuse of public power.
But this seems to be a good thing. Sheffield couldn't help laughing. What's the saying? Fighting without breaking means fighting with a bottom line, not completely breaking off relations. This is also in line with the relationship between the United Company and the federal government.
"What are you laughing at? You also agree with my father's opinion?" Alice Roosevelt asked in confusion. Why did this man laugh so happily when he mentioned the situation after the Russo-Japanese War?
"Of course I'm happy, because President Roosevelt's vision is very forward-looking, almost as forward-looking as mine." Sheffield began to praise the current President of the United States, but in fact it was just to pave the way for praising himself. He said complacently, "If the country needs any help, you can ask for it in the future. Because of your relationship with Alice, I will definitely consider it."
"It's as if you have something that you have to ask the country for help." Alice Roosevelt said unhappily, but she had to admit in her heart that this statement was completely different when it was said by someone else and by the man in front of her.
"That's not necessarily true. Although I sold the Panama Canal project to the federal government, the previous contract has not been invalidated. If you want to continue the construction according to the schedule, you still need the steel, cement and machinery I provide. President Roosevelt's naval layout cannot be separated from this canal. This is just one of them. There are other places."
Sheffield kept Alice Roosevelt in suspense and revealed the second piece of information, "Once the Pacific naval power is developed, the Hawaiian Islands will be the core of the Pacific Fleet. My dear, there are only a few places in Hawaii that are suitable for ports, and I bought them all. I hope that when the Navy Department negotiates with me, its attitude will be more respectful and not be like those naval observers."
As for the federal government's desire to forcibly seize land, they can give it a try. No matter which Secretary of the Navy gives the order, Sheffield will kill anyone who dares to rob so directly.
"It doesn't matter if I support those observers from the Navy Department for a few days. It doesn't cost much. Since they sent you here, I will pretend that their poor civil servant temper never happened this time." Sheffield reached out and pulled Alice Roosevelt into his arms, kissed her red lips. If she was not feeling well, she could warm up in a convenient place first.
As for observing the sea trial of the aircraft carrier, Sheffield was not in a hurry. The aircraft carrier was not the money-eating machine of later generations. One of the reasons for the rise of aircraft carriers was that their cost was much cheaper than that of battleships.
It was not until five years later that American pilot Eugene Ely took off from the platform installed on the front of the cruiser "Birmingham" in a Curtiss biplane. The following year, he successfully landed on the platform installed on the rear of the anchored armored cruiser "Pennsylvania". The British Navy followed closely. Before World War I, Navy Captain Charles Samson followed Eugene Ely's example and successfully achieved the first British takeoff on a warship from the temporary runway built above the 305mm main gun and front deck of the battleship "Africa".
The combat effectiveness of an aircraft carrier is mainly demonstrated through the performance of its aircraft, which expands the combat radius of the battleship and achieves a preemptive effect. As for the aircraft currently in the hands of the United Company, they naturally meet all the characteristics of the early twentieth century, with a wooden body covered with canvas. The aircraft has two pilots, one to fly the plane and the other to shoot.
The slave owner knew that this layout of two cockpits had many disadvantages, such as the extremely low hit rate of the machine gun in the rear cabin, and the addition of one person would simply increase the burden on the aircraft. But it didn't matter, the good stuff had to be kept for himself.
At the test site in New Mexico, the United Aircraft Corporation's aircraft has been equipped with a machine gun firing coordinator, which is a device that can fire from the nose of the aircraft without hitting the propeller, greatly enhancing the aircraft's air combat capability. But Sheffield is not going to show it now, and is going to keep it in case of an emergency.
Of course, there were some minor problems at the beginning, mainly due to the delay in firing sometimes. However, these are minor things. Once the general direction is correct, other minor repairs will be fine. The emergence of new technology always takes some time to run in.
So what the Admiralty observers were destined to see was an aircraft with a rear cockpit gunner, and Sheffield would only let these people see so far.
It is good to see this level. A businessman pursues maximum profit. If others are not better than him, and he improves his technology so much, wouldn't it be very unsociable? Can he still play in a country? If war comes one day, it will not be too late to put it into production. Anyway, the aircraft patent is in the hands of the United Company. If a competitor is found, it will be acquired. If it is shameless, then the Black Gold Company will have to come forward and talk to the other party. The behavior of disrupting the market will definitely be sanctioned.
Finally, after completing the heavy-duty journey, Sheffield met the bored naval observers again. Next, both sides will board the No. 1 aircraft carrier for sea trials. In fact, with the technical reserves of the Houston Shipyard, it can only take out this kind of test ship with a full load displacement of less than 7,000 tons.
However, the slave owner believed that tonnage was not a problem. As the saying goes, it is not unusable.
Sheffield saw the contempt in the eyes of several naval observers. A 7,000-ton battleship was almost on the verge of being eliminated in the current federal fleet. Not to mention this strange-looking aircraft carrier, which seemed to have almost no self-defense capability.
What is the purpose of such a long deck? Is it used to make medieval plate armor to get beaten? Several naval observers looked at each other and shook their heads secretly, thinking that this warship, which was more gimmicky than anything else, might be a Houston shipyard used to defraud the navy of funds.
With the navy being built now, every shipyard wants to get a piece of the pie. Do they think it's easy to take advantage of the Navy Department?
The aircraft carrier did not sail too far and stopped when it reached a well-prepared sea area. The head of the Houston Shipyard, surrounded by several arrogant naval observers, introduced the combat methods of this warship. Three or four nautical miles away, there was a target ship as the target. With an order, the propellers of the four aircraft started, accelerating little by little, and finally successfully took off along the deck and pounced on the target ship the size of a fishing boat.
"This aircraft can fly forty nautical miles, including the return flight, and can see targets within twenty nautical miles. It is a relatively advanced aircraft in the world today. The aircraft is divided into two cockpits, and the machine gunner in the back can join the battle."
As soon as the head of the Houston Shipyard finished speaking, three nautical miles away, in the rear cockpits of four aircraft, machine gunners holding Gatling guns fired at the small target ship.
"I say? Can't even sink a fishing boat? What's the point? Any warship's guns can send it to the bottom of the sea, without firing the main guns." A naval observer put down the telescope and said with a teasing look on his face, "The federal government now attaches great importance to naval construction. We can understand the impulse of some shipyards to get orders. But we must focus on research and not use irregular means to achieve our goals because of lack of technology."
In his mind, this thing called an aircraft carrier was already equated with defrauding the navy's procurement funds. As expected, he had no hope on the way here, which was really foresight.
(End of this chapter)
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