Chapter 162 The Navy Is Under Increasing Pressure

"At present, it is impossible to hand over warships to a shipyard with such low level as yours to build them." Constantine interrupted the fantasy of Ravenna manager unhappily.

The warships used by the Greek Navy now are almost all purchased from the UK. If the navy is asked to agree to the production of warships by Greek shipyards rashly, it is impossible to get the navy to agree.

After all, warships are different from civilian ships. The difference between the two is not in tonnage, but mainly in the sturdy structure, speed, anti-sinking and wave resistance of the hull.

Then there are reconnaissance, communication and navigation systems. General ships are not as complete and advanced as naval ships.

"The recent task of your Athens Shipyard is to take more orders from the Greek Congo General Company and accumulate the ability to build large ships, especially the 8,000-ton ocean-going cargo ships that the Spanish Congo Company needs recently."

Due to technological breakthroughs, the tonnage of ships at this time showed a rapid upward trend.

"At the same time, I will contact the navy and let you undertake the construction of several small warships for training and to get in touch with the construction of warships."

Large cruisers are out of the question, but small warships, such as the navy's offshore patrol boats and torpedo boats, can still be tried.

After returning from the Athens shipyard, Constantine went to the naval headquarters in Piraeus Port.

Rear Admiral Kontoriotis (whose rank was promoted due to his accumulated merits) is now the only general among the Greek naval officers and the actual supreme commander of the Greek Navy.

"General Kontoriotis, I just returned from the Athens shipyard." Constantine went directly to Kontoriotis' office.

Seeing the dusty Constantine, Kontoriotis said: "Your Highness, should our Greek Navy also buy some new warships?"

"The Ottoman Navy was trapped in the war because it had no navy, which led to the passivity in the 1896 war, which is bound to trigger a construction boom in the Ottoman Navy."

"Moreover, our neighbor to the west, the Italian Navy, should not be underestimated. After Greece obtained Albania, the pressure on the navy increased sharply." Kontoriotis saw Constantine coming to the Navy Headquarters rarely, and immediately complained.

Albania and southern Italy are separated by the Adriatic Sea, and have a long coastline that needs to be protected. The southern region of Italy is very close to Albania.

The two sides, one in the east and the other in the west, guard the gate of the Adriatic Sea-the Strait of Otranto.

Whether the Greek Navy is reluctant or not, the threat of the Italian Navy is imminent.

According to the current capabilities of the Greek Navy, except for the two 3,000-ton Esmeralda-class ships, the other warships are almost useless when facing the Italian Navy.

In order to face this severe situation, it is imperative to expand the strength of the Greek Navy.

"Your Highness, the Italian genius designer, Edelarte Mastio, has designed a 7,350-ton armored cruiser for the Italian Navy that combines firepower, armored defense and speed, and can assist battleships in fleet decisive battles."

At this point, Cantoriotis was helpless. The tonnage of one of their warships is almost comparable to the total tonnage of the Greek Navy. The huge difference in strength makes people have no desire to confront.

"It has excellent performance. With a displacement of only about 7,000 tons, Edelarte Masdi, an Italian designer, has realized the mainstream 10,000-ton armored cruiser configuration on it, including large-caliber main guns, a large number of rapid-fire secondary guns, large-area hardened armor protection, and a moderate speed and range."

"It is precisely because of the excellence of this type of warship that Argentina and Spain have successively purchased a total of four Garibaldi-class armored cruisers from Italy."

At this time, in order to enable private shipyards to accumulate more construction experience, the Italian Navy allowed the shipyards to sell the warships ordered by the navy to foreign countries, and then rebuild one to complete the contract of the domestic navy.

The four warships of this class that were built successively, although they were all named "Garibaldi" during construction, were all sold after construction. On the contrary, the Italian Navy has not yet obtained a warship of this class.

"However, according to the current situation (Greece has expanded its territory in the Balkans), the new Garibaldi-class cruiser will have to join the Italian Navy after it is completed."

"How should the Greek Navy respond?" Kontoriotis asked.

The Greek government's financial problems are already very tight. With huge foreign debts, war expenses, and infrastructure investment in the newly added territories, despite the implementation of tax reforms and the expansion of financial resources, the Greek finances are still stretched.

For Greece, the top priority is to digest the newly added territories as soon as possible and restore the entire country to normal.

"In any case, the government can't afford to expand the navy now."

"At present, the Greek Navy can only be patient and take a defensive posture."

"However, without a large allocation, some defensive weapons can still be purchased."

Kontoriotis' eyes lit up and he said quickly: "Your Highness, in fact, the torpedo boats purchased from the UK in the navy have always performed well since they were put into service. If they are used for defense, large torpedo boats are very cost-effective."

The main weapon of the torpedo boat is the torpedo. Due to the special nature of its destructive principle, this weapon poses a fatal threat to ships. It is an asymmetric weapon-even if a torpedo launched by a small boat can hit the enemy's large ship, it will also severely damage the opponent. It is indeed very suitable for the current Greek Navy.

Constantine agreed to this suggestion, and then told the other party about his experience of the Athens shipyard and his intention to let his country participate in the construction of warships in the shipyard.

"You can apply for funds from Prime Minister Alexandros to purchase several large British-made torpedo boats, but it is best to order two or three torpedo boats from the Athens shipyard"

"Although the navy will not have sufficient funds in the next two years, you should not slack off. Let your technicians in the navy design cruisers, or find suitable designs from warships of other countries, and require them to be able to effectively deal with Italy's Garibaldi-class armored cruisers. When the government's finances are sufficient, you can start immediately."

Although Constantine knew that letting Greek shipyards build warships, various important subsystems of warships, such as naval guns, coal-fired boilers and steam engines, and armored steel, were basically purchased from abroad, and the Athens shipyard was just assembling them.

However, for the Greek Navy, those purchased warships cannot always go to the UK for maintenance and upkeep. Cultivating a strong domestic shipyard can at least help the Greek Navy with routine maintenance and upkeep, saving a considerable amount of military expenditure.

Thinking of this, Kontoriotis agreed with Constantine's suggestion and tried to let the Athens shipyard accumulate some experience in warship construction.