A decade of sharpening the sword—Chongming Island-class battleship

By the standards of the time, in other respects, the Jiangnan Shipyard almost crafted the Chongming Island-class into a "perfect" battleship

In this way, it is unlikely that the Chongming Island-class would not aspire to become an excellent battleship

In fact, at that time, both the United States in developing the 16-inch main gun and the United Kingdom in developing the 16-inch main gun encountered similar issues. The primary challenge was that the ultra-large caliber main guns imposed new requirements on the materials of the barrel, the rotating mechanism, and various devices designed for the artillery, thereby significantly increasing the difficulty of development

Ultimately, Jiangnan Shipyard had no choice but to replace the originally planned four twin-mounted 400 mm main gun turrets with four triple-mounted 350 mm main gun turrets. It can be said that this is the greatest regret of the Chongming Island class

With the outbreak of World War II, the three Chongming Island-class battleships gradually entered combat.

As early as the development of the Kunlun Mountain-class battleship, engineers at Jiangnan Shipyard realized that once war broke out, the imperial navy would undoubtedly revise the performance specifications of the warships and shift their focus. In simple terms, during wartime, cost is a secondary factor, while performance is the primary factor. Without sufficiently excellent performance, even the cheapest and most well-designed warships hold no value.

Undoubtedly, the performance of the Chongming Island class significantly surpasses that of the Pennsylvania class battleships built in the United States during the same period, with its protection capabilities far exceeding those of the British Queen Elizabeth class and Revenge class battleships, and its firepower delivery capacity also surpassing that of the Queen Elizabeth class battleships

Furthermore, after the outbreak of war, naval military expenditure surged, and the development of key equipment, which had previously lagged behind requirements, was expedited. Therefore, during the design phase, Jiangnan Shipyard considered the extensive use of new technologies and new equipment, with little regard for the potential increase in costs.

However, the imperial navy is determined not to allow the performance of its capital ships to fall behind that of its two main rivals

Standard displacement: 25,000 tons, full load displacement: 29,400 tons; overall length: 175.4 meters, beam: 29 meters, draft: 9.1 meters; capacity: 1,182 persons

Due to the erroneous command of the fleet commander, three closely grouped Chongming Island-class battleships failed to arrive at the most crucial decisive battle, only reaching the scene after the combat had concluded, and were tasked with the rear guard duty

The vessels that participated in World War II include: Chongming Island, Zhoushan Island, and Ryukyu Island

In hindsight, the decision made by Jiangnan Shipyard was highly visionary and of great significance

It is important to note that, at that time, there were indeed very few battleships in the Allied fleet that possessed the strength and confidence to confront the Chongming Island class.

Certainly, no warship is perfect, nor is there a warship that is free from regrets in its design

It can be said that the greatest regret of the Chongming Island class is that the development of the 400 mm main gun is still significantly behind the construction progress of the warships, forcing the engineers at Jiangnan Shipyard to reluctantly compromise and arm the Chongming Island class battleships with 350 mm main guns

After the war, all three ships of the Chongming Island class underwent extensive modifications. Unfortunately, in order to save costs, the Navy did not replace the main guns of the Chongming Island class as it did with the Wuyue class.

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Regrettably, the construction period for the Chongming Island class exceeded the Navy's specifications by nearly six months, resulting in the missed opportunity to participate in several critical naval battles. After completing its training, it only had time to participate in the "Battle of the Java Sea"

Main guns: 12 units of 45-caliber 350 mm L50 naval guns (4 × 3), secondary guns: 12 units of 47-caliber 150 mm L47 naval guns (4 × 3), quick-firing guns: 12 units of 47-caliber 100 mm L50 naval guns

Boilers: 8 units of 1947 model oil-fired boilers, Main engines: 4 units of 1947 model steam turbines, Power: 49,000 shaft horsepower, Propulsion: 4 shafts with 4 propellers; Speed: 24 knots, Endurance: 10,500 nautical miles at 10 knots

At this point, the investments made by Jiangnan Shipyard in the initial years began to yield returns, as their newly designed battleships quickly gained favor with the navy, securing an order from the navy in the early years of the Ming calendar 547 (1915 AD). At that time, Jiangnan Shipyard, Dalian Shipyard, and Guangzhou Shipyard had just completed the construction of three Yinshan-class ships, prompting the Imperial Navy to place an order for all three at once, naming them "Chongming Island," "Zhoushan Island," and "Ryukyu Island."

Main armor belt: 200 - 350 mm, armor compartment: 200 - 350 mm, deck: 75 + 85 mm, turret: 150 - 450 mm, gun mount: 350 mm, command tower: 200 - 450 mm

Undoubtedly, the engineers of the empire have maximized the potential of the Chongming Island-class with a displacement of 25,000 tons

Certainly, in terms of design capability, it is unlikely that any country's shipyard can surpass Jiangnan Shipyard.

It can be said that among battleships of the same displacement, none possess combat capabilities that exceed those of the Chongming Island class. Even the Pennsylvania class battleship, which has a displacement of 6,400 tons more than the Chongming Island class, can at most achieve a draw against it

In this context, Jiangnan Shipyard began the design work for the new battleship, self-funding and adhering to the principle of prioritizing performance

However, this does not hinder the construction work. The hull design of the Chongming Island-class battleship has basically been completed, and the initial construction work will also take some time. Nevertheless, this issue ultimately affected the construction schedule of the three battleships, exceeding the time stipulated by the Navy. As a result, Jiangnan Shipyard also paid a considerable fine to the Navy

When it comes to battleship design and development capabilities, Jiangnan Shipyard is unmatched within the empire and is undoubtedly one of the most powerful in the world. Of course, this capability is often reflected not only in technical aspects but also in the engineers' grasp of the trends in battleship development

In fact, at that time, the Jiangnan Shipyard had not yet completed the detailed design work

It was precisely for this reason that the Allied fleet abandoned its pursuit of the Imperial fleet

In this battle, the Chongming Island-class missed the opportunity to prove its own strength

The construction of three Kuyu Island-class battleships had not yet been completed when the war broke out. At this time, the Imperial Navy was already dissatisfied with these three battleships, which were deemed "neither here nor there." However, in order to avoid wasting funds, they continued to allocate money for their construction. Additionally, the Imperial Navy indeed needed more capital ships at that time

At the beginning of the war, due to the fact that a large number of new battleships had not yet been completed and commissioned, it was difficult to take on significant responsibilities. Therefore, the Chongming Island-class, as one of the most "cutting-edge" battleships of the Imperial Navy, undertook many important tasks and became a major player on the maritime battlefield in the early stages of the war

Moreover, the Chongming Island-class was the first battleship of the Imperial Navy to adopt turret-mounted secondary guns. Subsequent combat proved that the secondary guns installed within the turrets had a significantly higher operational efficiency than those mounted on casemates, and this design became the standard for later Imperial battleships