Chapter 1030: Joining the Naval Competition
While East Africa is evaluating the results of the First Five-Year Plan and preparing for the Second Five-Year Plan, the Japanese and Russian navies are also facing the final showdown in the distant Far East waters.
Although the Russian Navy, which had received a certain amount of support from East Africa, was much stronger mentally than in its previous life, it fell into a dangerous situation after the actual battle with the Japanese Navy. Especially the mistakes of the command and decision-making personnel caused the Russian Navy to once again Repeating the same mistakes, the Russo-Japanese naval war began to develop in the direction that Ernst wanted, or in the direction that all countries in the world wanted except the warring countries. However, the benefits that East Africa could gain from the Russo-Japanese War were too few, far less than those in the Spanish-American War. .
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Bagamoyo Port.
As the earliest shipbuilding manufacturing center in East Africa, Bagamoyo Port assumes the main task of the current East African navy, especially the construction of battleships.
As the Russo-Japanese naval war broke out, more and more details were mastered by the East African military shipyards, and the original battleship construction plan was re-formulated.
Rollalena, chief engineer of the Bagamoyo First Shipyard, is re-evaluating the battleship designs that have tended to be conservative in the past.
Rollalena: "According to the battle reports from the Far East, it has been proven once again that only large-caliber naval guns of more than 300 millimeters can be the key to determining the victory of naval battles. The future will still be the era of large ships and huge guns."
"So for the construction of new battleships, I mainly recommend increasing the displacement from the original 18,000 tons to at least 20,000 tons, and canceling some secondary guns. Although these types of naval guns are mostly rapid-fire guns with a relatively fast firing rate, The range and power are inferior to the main gun.”
"It may be feasible for these secondary guns to be used to engage small and medium-sized ships such as cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats, but dealing with sea monsters like battleships is a huge waste of firepower resources and space on board."
"At the same time, the secondary battery caused the battleships' guns to have a variety of calibers and different ballistic properties, making it difficult to centrally command and fire. Instead, each gun position was aimed and fired independently. This shortcoming was even more obvious in the Russo-Japanese naval battle."
"So I advocate that all the main guns of the next battleship be unified into heavy main guns of the same model and caliber, and adopt the concept of 'full heavy artillery'. A battleship like this has at least six 300mm guns that can be fired uniformly. Naval guns of above caliber.”
"The range of the main gun on the ship should be as far as possible, and the caliber should be consistent to facilitate the correction of the impact point. The number should be large to focus fire on the opponent's important parts. The power must be strong and the speed should be high to facilitate seizing advantage. The position and armor must be strong and able to withstand the opponent's attack."
The new design proposed by Rollalena is actually no different from the "dreadnought" in the previous life, and his idea has won the support of most people.
Soon, the design plan for the new battleship was handed over to Ernst. Ernst did not understand warships, but he decided to immediately implement the East African version of the "dreadnought" construction plan.
Ernst told the naval department: "We should complete the construction of new battleships before the end of 1906, and refer to the latest warship construction status of other countries, especially the British battleship construction status, and evaluate the overall performance of the new battleships before proceeding with our country. Shipbuilding plan in the new era.”
"Previously, my country's shipbuilding manufacturing industry had also given priority to its layout. During the Second Five-Year Plan period, shipbuilding manufacturing will receive more support to support the development of my country's maritime industry."
Ernst's remarks surprised the East African naval department. After nearly ten years of silence, the great development stage of the East African navy is finally about to begin.
Previously, the East African Navy could only envy and hate its counterparts in other countries who were expanding their navies, while the East African Navy had to make way for economic development. Although the East African Navy was not weak in strength, compared with other major countries, it had fallen into A stretched situation.
Ten years is a blink of an eye for the navies of other countries, but it is an extremely long time for the East African navy. At that time, the direct tonnage of the Japanese Navy rose from about 50,000 tons in 1895 to more than 200,000 tons, which was directly 100,000 tons. Nearly five times that of a year ago, the German Navy built more than a dozen new battleships alone, and the British built more than 30 battleships.
At that time, among the world's major navies, France, Austria-Hungary, Spain and East Africa could only stare at the naval competition.
France was mainly influenced by the Green Water School, so it did not keep up with the craze of battleship construction in the early days. The Austro-Hungarian Empire did not pay attention to the navy, and Spain was completely limited by national power.
The East African Navy, like the Austro-Hungarian Navy, did not participate in previous naval competitions, but the East African Navy obviously received more attention than the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
In fact, the Austro-Hungarian Navy is also currently promoting a new round of shipbuilding plans in the country. It is said that it has received support from Franz. In this case, the East African Navy is naturally more urgent. However, with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War With the preview of the naval battle between Japan and Russia, the dawn that the East African Navy has been waiting for seems to be coming.
Ernst said: "Don't rush to be happy. Although naval construction is an important strategy for our country in the next ten years, naval investment is quite resource-intensive. Therefore, the research and development of new battleships must be down-to-earth. If you don't even have this If I can’t pass one level, it will definitely affect my thoughts on naval expansion.”
Ernst must pour cold water on the naval department. After all, once the navy goes astray, it will waste a lot of resources and time to get back on track.
"During the Second Five-Year Plan and the Third Five-Year Plan, my expectation is that my country will build one battleship every year, that is, ten battleships, and strive to reach at least fifteen battleships by 1915, plus the existing battleships, which is about twenty ships. At the same time, a batch of cruisers, submarines, torpedo boats and other ships will be built."
"These ten new battleships, because of the rapid update and iteration of naval ships now, must be adjusted at any time in design, and will not be anchored by the current battleship technology."
In the past, there were super dreadnoughts, battlecruisers, etc. after the dreadnoughts, so the construction of naval ships must not remain unchanged, but must be adjusted at any time with the development of the times. When the East African aircraft manufacturing industry matures, Ernst will definitely promote the aircraft carrier construction plan.
Regardless of Ernst's emphasis, the Navy Department has already been on top. At least ten battleships in ten years, although this pie is not as big as the previous big moves of Britain, Germany and other countries, it is enough for the current East African Navy.
As a country with two or even three oceans (plus overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean), the current size of the East African navy is obviously far from meeting its own needs. It is still possible to deter domestically, but it is almost impossible to have activities overseas. The new shipbuilding plan will greatly ease the pressure on the East African navy.
Of course, Ernst's ideas are somewhat different from those of the Navy Department. Ernst mainly considers the East African Navy's warship construction plan from the perspective of World War I in the previous life.
Who can profit from World War I also needs the support of a large navy. Why did the United States dare to eat both ends in the previous life? Naturally, it is because the strength of the US Navy is worthy of the "respect" of the Allies and the Allies. If the US Navy is not strong enough, it will not be able to support the United States in World War I as a "neutral country" to make a lot of benefits.
Therefore, before the outbreak of World War I, the East African Navy must also reach a certain scale, not only to undertake wartime escort or deterrence tasks, but also to seize a large number of overseas markets during World War I.
If the European war broke out at that time, then Britain, France and other countries will weaken their control over overseas colonies and subordinate forces outside their own countries.
If East African industrial products want to occupy these vacant overseas markets more quickly, they naturally need "naval gun diplomacy" to open the doors of other countries in the world. Therefore, before World War I, the East African Navy must become one of the important dominant forces in the international order in terms of overall scale.