Chapter 101: Further Developments to Naval Warfare
A new era of peace meant that Bruno had more time to plan for the war effort. His first shipyard was up and running and was beginning to work on the blueprints he had previously designed for the type XXI U-boats.
Quite frankly, the means to manufacture all the components of the Type XXI Submarine, or the improved variation of it which Bruno designed, already existed in the era. Diesel Engines were invented as far back as 1893. While Electric motor-generators were designed first in 1831. As for alkaline batteries, they were a recent invention having been first created in 1899.
As for the Hull itself, it was actually easier to manufacture than, say, the recently launched SM U-1U-Boat by the German Navy. And the reason being is that unlike U-boats of the current era, the Type XXI was manufactured quickly via prefabricated sections welded together. Were improvements needed to be made to the Diesel Engine, Electric Motor-Generators, and the Batteries necessary to sustain days' worth of submersion? Of course, and no doubt, it would take several years to work all of these things out.
But with Bruno giving his naval engineers and enormous head start with some basic rough drafts of how these things should reasonably function. He had no doubt that by 1914, his submarines would be concluded and manufactured in sufficient numbers to aid the war effort.
And while submarines, especially those that were virtually undetectable by the means of the era, were certainly a valuable weapon in war. There was another classification of warships that was woefully underdeveloped in the early 1900s.
They would later go on to serve in very important roles such as in terms of anti-submarine warfare minelaying, anti-air screening for capital class ships, and of course as escorts to protect maritime trade.
I'm talking, of course, about the Destroyer class of warship. Destroyers of WW2 were far more limited to their modern versions which were capable of launching anti air, anti-ship, and cruise missiles. Rather from the 1900s to the 1940s, they were primarily equipped with torpedoes, forward launching ASW weapons, depth charges, flak guns, and dual-purpose
cannons.
The biggest obstacle in the creation of both the U-Boats and the Destroyers that Bruno had in mind would be the fire control systems which they both made use of. In 1905 warships of all kinds made use of manual fire weapons, and line of site detection, with only the most advanced warships beginning to make use of things like telescopic sights for longer range detection.
Inventing an advanced fire control system for his destroyers, those used during the Second World War, was easier said than done. For example, fire control systems used during the era were large, heavy, multifaceted designs.