What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 255 New Orders
At 3 a.m. on the 28th, the hairy chicken expert forced himself to get up and study the data transmitted back by the Dubrev, and quickly forwarded it to allies who had also sent warships.

At four in the morning, Matt was taken from his home to a car by agents and taken to the think tank's research lab.

Five minutes later, a blurry video was played on the television.

This is footage taken by the Dubrev at the time. Because the shooting equipment was a digital camera and the warship was equipped with an advanced wireless data transmission system, it transmitted 8 frames of images in the original MPEG-1 format. The images were then compressed and transmitted back to the mainland before being sent to the think tank.

The incident occurred late at night, and the original footage was still somewhat legible thanks to the searchlight and reflections. However, the footage being shown now looks like a TGV high-speed train entering a station, with only a huge, white object flashing by intermittently.

Eight frames of video are unwatchable. After being sped up three times, there is even less detail. In reality, verbal information and photographs are more convincing.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the data strongly suggests that the Carr sped at nearly 70 knots for almost an hour, missing the Dubre as it continued northward toward the Caribbean.

Matt and the other ship experts then retrieved aerial photographs of the destroyer and footage taken in the Falkland Islands, confirming that it was unlikely to be a hydrofoil configuration.

Hydrofoil designs have hulls that rise significantly above the waterline and have distinctive features. The USS Carl was clearly not one of them; it was a typical high-speed, large destroyer from World War II.

"Judging from the photos and videos, the Carr is slightly smaller and narrower than the Dubre, with a displacement of around 2000 to 2500 tons. If it can be propelled to 35 knots, 5.5 to 6 horsepower would be sufficient."

As Matt spoke, he drew the shape and propulsion layout of the USS Carl on the blackboard, and quickly wrote down the number "60000":

"Ignoring the factor that propeller efficiency decreases due to contact with a large number of bubbles at high speeds, even if wave-making drag is the main obstacle, the speed increase is proportional to the cube of the propulsion power. Doubling from 35 knots to 70 knots means an 8-fold increase in power, or 480,000 horsepower."

In reality, there are many more influencing factors, so it might need to be multiplied by 1.5, or even 2, bringing the actual figure to no less than 60 to 90 horsepower.

A horrifying conclusion appeared on the blackboard, and the group of people almost dared not breathe.

What is the power output of a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier? 26 horsepower at 31 knots.

The Enterprise has 28 horsepower and 35 sections, while the Kitty Hawk has 28 horsepower and 33 sections.

This destroyer, weighing just over two thousand tons and less than the weight of its reactor and propulsion system, produced more than twice the power of the USS Enterprise.

Even its wind resistance was not optimized; judging from the existing video footage, there was almost no wind resistance design. The violent airflow created a turbulent water vapor storm at the stern, which even caused the Dubrev's electronic systems to malfunction briefly.

The frigate has urgently instructed the Dubreuil not to advance rashly and to maintain a long-range observation of the following warships.

If the Bismarck, weighing over 50,000 tons, were to go on a high-speed run at 70 knots, it might just capsize the Dubre.

"At this speed, the missile's hit rate will decrease by 20%, 30%, or even more."

A shipborne weapons expert shook his head with difficulty. Originally, with the advancement of missile technology, it didn't matter much whether a warship's speed was 30 knots or 40 knots, as it couldn't escape missiles anyway. Therefore, the overall speed of warships has been declining since the war.

But when the speed increased to 60 or even 70 knots, everything changed dramatically.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but according to the records of the Dubrev, the Carr made two sharp turns in just 8 seconds before getting close to the Dubrev. Even with a rudder that can withstand the huge torque, the thin hull cannot withstand such a turn. At best, the hull will twist; at worst, it will be torn apart."

Matt added an even more frightening point, which made the experts break out in a cold sweat: the several-thousand-ton Carl was as agile as a car and could even drift!
After a while, someone finally uttered the outrageous claim that the media had speculated about:
"Perhaps, this really is an undead fleet."

The alarming conclusion was delivered to the intelligence department, and after repeated verification, it was sent to the Atlantic Fleet along with top instructions.

...At five o'clock in the morning, after various agencies got up in the middle of the night to analyze and summarize the information, and after the decision-making body reviewed it, the Atlantic Fleet obtained secondhand intelligence and new instructions.

The original Atlantic Task Force was not formed with a clear purpose; it was simply to prevent the Second Fleet from moving north and approaching the mainland, and to stop it from approaching Panama.

The new directive is: to attempt to incorporate the Second Fleet's abandoned targets without prior public disclosure, and to bring its warships back to the mainland as intact as possible (Note: firing the first shot is strictly prohibited; the main objective is to win them over, and generous terms may be offered).

Dalton and Edwin, who were reading the instructions, were both stunned. To take over an entire fleet? What a fantastical idea.

After reviewing the compiled information on the Carl's 70-knot race, the two instantly understood.

If we could acquire such advanced propulsion technology, its significance would be no less than that of the Saturn V.

Imagine if, even with lowered standards, the task force's top speed could be maintained at 50 knots per hour – that would be an exaggerated concept. Many naval tactics would undergo a complete overhaul, and many missiles would be forced to be upgraded.

Even future attack submarines will be crippled, their torpedoes unable to catch up with warships, leaving only missiles available.

But how do we incorporate such a fleet?
In fact, one of the main reasons why the Flying Chicken, which received the news first, was willing to share the information a few hours later was that it was unable to intercept the fleet and hoped to eventually share the technology.

Dalton strongly suspected that they had already negotiated with the British and reached some kind of agreement.

As expected, around 7 a.m., Dalton inquired with the IAA and learned that Britain was urgently contacting the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible in the Mediterranean and HMS Ark Royal in the UK, seemingly preparing to be redeployed.

Meanwhile, a large number of people have appeared at the port of the Clemenceau, which is preparing to be decommissioned, possibly in preparation for deployment.

What was originally an obscure World War II fleet was at most ranked A in importance, but now it's AAA.

Dalton made a very risky decision:

"Let's split up. The George, leading two Ticonderoga ships, will leave the formation, head west across the Dominican Republic, guard the Caribbean Sea, and intercept the Carl."

The remaining escort ships followed the battleships, heading towards Pasir Ris. The battleships of the Second Fleet certainly wouldn't be able to move as quickly.

Intercepting a destroyer doesn't require a battleship, and with aircraft carriers carrying planes, searching for small targets is much easier.

Moments later, the captains of several warships agreed to the proposal, stating that the aircraft carrier had two Ticonderoga ships to protect it from missile threats, and that maintaining distance was safe.

In this way, the original mixed fleet was transformed into a separate aircraft carrier fleet and a pure capital ship fleet.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic Fleet contacted the European Composite Fleet and the Dubre, learning that the Dubre was about to encounter three battleships that appeared to be the Second Fleet advancing forward.

The reason it is only suspected is that the radar signal is very chaotic, and only three targets can be identified very vaguely. Sometimes they will even merge into one or two. The radar signal characteristics are more like a sea storm, but much smaller than a real storm.

With a speed of 37 knots and erratic radar signal characteristics, the Dubreuil suspected the presence of electronic jamming equipment and decided to be more cautious.

Meanwhile, Guyana has already launched a C-160, preparing to conduct reconnaissance.

(End of this chapter)