African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1192: Chapter 201: Hawk Strike Aircraft Carrier

May 25, 1915.

Ernst had rarely left his ”home base” in Rhein City, but this time he was heading to the Pemba Bay Shipyard in East Africa.

Unlike his other trips, Ernst’s inspection of the Pemba Bay Shipyard was relatively low-key, with no media or grand welcome ceremonies arranged.

May 26, 1915, at ten o’clock in the morning.

Ernst arrived in Pemba City.

The chief designer at the Pemba Bay Shipyard, Aaron, who had received the notification early, personally led the way to the location where the aircraft carrier was moored.

At ten forty, Ernst’s convoy reached the East African naval port at Pemba Bay, where the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier lay quietly at berth.

Gazing at this sea beast moored at the East African naval port, Ernst was quite excited, even though this domestically produced aircraft carrier seemed somewhat different from the impression he had of aircraft carriers.

However, Ernst understood that, after all, it was not the twenty-first century yet, and it was quite an achievement for East African researchers to create such a sea giant without any reference points.

On the side, Aaron introduced to Ernst, ”Your Majesty, this is the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier named according to your request.”

Ernst was very satisfied with the term ”Eagle Strike,” as it resonated with him. Eagles soar through the sky, fish swim in shallow waters, and all creatures compete freely in the frosty air.

In a previous life, the Far East Empire had named a series of missiles ”Eagle Strike,” so it wasn’t in conflict with East Africa’s naming of the aircraft carrier as ”Eagle Strike.”

Also, the aircraft carrier itself relies on carrier-based aircraft as a means of attack, making the term ”Eagle Strike” quite fitting. With the added imagery of fish swimming in shallow waters, Ernst believed there was a need for East Africa to reserve names for future submarines.

Aaron continued, ”We spent a whole six years conducting continuous experiments and demonstrations to finally build the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier. It has a full displacement of over fourteen thousand tons and a standard displacement of over twelve thousand tons, measuring one hundred eighty-three meters in length and twenty-four meters in width, with a speed of twenty-two knots, powered by fuel.”

”Very good!” Ernst evaluated, noting that at least from the appearance, it was more pleasing than those converted from cargo ships. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have taken East African researchers six years to build this steel beast.

Of course, using the term ”steel beast” to describe East Africa’s first aircraft carrier might not be very appropriate; this term might be more suitable for East Africa’s battleships.

The displacement of the Eagle Strike compared to those previous life aircraft carriers of several tens of thousands, even over a hundred thousand tons, seemed rather small.

Most of East Africa’s battleships had displacements greater than that of the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier, as there was no reference, so the designs tended to be conservative.

However, with Ernst’s guidance, the shape of this aircraft carrier was above the passing line, such as the island located on the right side of the deck.

”Let’s take a look!” Ernst suggested.

Aaron and the other researchers naturally fulfilled their duties, and soon under their guidance, Ernst was on the deck.

The first thing Ernst noticed on board the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier was the airplane, or rather the carrier-based aircraft. In Ernst’s mind, the more carrier-based aircraft an aircraft carrier had, the stronger its combat power.

So he asked, ”How many carrier-based aircraft can the Eagle Strike carry?”

Aaron answered, ”Reporting to Your Majesty, the Eagle Strike carrier can carry up to twenty-four carrier-based aircraft. It’s like a mobile runway at sea, using these carrier-based aircraft to quickly complete takeoffs and landings, thus achieving uninterrupted and long-range strikes on enemy ships.”

At this moment, Ernst suddenly noticed something, which was that the deck seemed to be made of wood. Although he knew that early aircraft carriers had wooden decks in a previous life, the use of wooden decks on East Africa’s first aircraft carrier still felt a bit jarring to him.

He asked Aaron, ”Why does the Eagle Strike carrier have a wooden deck instead of steel or other materials?”

Aaron replied, ”Wooden decks have various advantages such as anti-slip, moisture resistance, and insulation, especially important in humid and hot maritime regions. Both East Africa’s local coastal areas and its overseas territories are mostly concentrated in tropical marine regions. The Indian Ocean, Nanyang, Central Pacific, and South Atlantic all exhibit this characteristic.”

”So from the perspective of our navy’s operational areas, using wooden decks is reasonable. Furthermore, we have attempted to use other materials, but due to time constraints, they are temporarily unsatisfactory.”

”For example, based on our experiments and calculations, if a carrier with steel flight decks were to perform missions in most of our sea areas, the deck surface could rapidly exceed sixty degrees in a short period of time. After all, steel absorbs heat quickly, and the sea surface can easily become humid and sultry. If steel isn’t specially treated, it can easily become slippery, and high temperatures could significantly reduce the lifespan of aircraft tires and possibly risk blowouts. Correspondingly, wooden decks are more conducive to aircraft takeoff and landing safety.”

”Steel decks certainly have their advantages, such as excellent protection. But good protection, once attacked, can easily deform. At the current technology stage, it would require longer periods to be repaired back at port, whereas wooden decks can be quickly repaired and a series of repairs can be accomplished right on the carrier.”

”At the same time, using wooden decks can effectively reduce weight while enhancing the ship’s stability and seaworthiness. Our initial-generation aircraft carriers obviously still have many experiences and design deficiencies, so for prudence, using wooden decks naturally has its reasoning.”

Ernst understood some aspects, given his broader perspective, but some East African officials didn’t quite get it.

At this moment, an East African naval officer asked, ”Mr. Aaron, wouldn’t this wooden deck easily be ignited and collapse if attacked by artillery?”

Aaron calmly replied, ”This is related to the operational mode of the aircraft carrier. From the beginning, we didn’t plan for it to engage directly with battleships and other attack-type vessels. The positioning of the aircraft carrier is a long-range strike mode that exceeds the range of naval guns.”

”The aircraft carrier serves as the core, while its carrier-based aircraft are responsible for attacks on enemy vessels. Clearly, with small targets like carrier-based aircraft in the sky, imagine facing those flying targets carrying bombs—what battleship wouldn’t find them troublesome!”

The naval officer, not yet convinced, asked, ”What if enemy ships get too close?”

Aaron replied, ”Aircraft carriers never operate alone; they form a powerful combat system. According to our concept, they require escort ships, destroyers, and other vessels to safeguard the aircraft carrier, effectively avoiding direct confrontations between the aircraft carrier itself and enemy ships.”

Of course, as Aaron said, if an aircraft carrier wants to form a combat system, it undoubtedly requires extensive investments, not to mention the development of supporting vessels needed to build this system from scratch.

Currently, apart from its own carrier-based aircraft, the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier clearly lacks other supporting vessels, which means the Eagle Strike hasn’t formed a complete combat system.

However, solo operation of the Eagle Strike carrier isn’t entirely impossible; it’s just not safe nor easy to achieve results.

From the naval perspective, they were clearly not fully receptive to aircraft carriers, given that the emergence of aircraft carriers inherently represents a breakdown of conventions—a completely new combat system where the core is the aircraft carrier, around which all vessel activities are centered to achieve ideal outcomes.

No matter what the naval thoughts are, Ernst was overall quite satisfied with the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier, knowing that aircraft carriers would become vital flagship vessels in the future fleet, so East Africa couldn’t abandon its development.

However, the Eagle Strike aircraft carrier obviously has some issues, such as its wooden deck. Even though Aaron mentioned numerous benefits of the wooden deck, as time and technology evolve, the wooden deck would eventually be phased out. Therefore, East Africa is only taking the first step now, and its aircraft carriers have a long road ahead.