Chapter 193 Invincible Class Enters Service

On November 11, 1910, a mighty battlecruiser, escorted by two British cruisers departing directly from Gibraltar, appeared off the coast of Piraeus.

The Greek people, who had already received the news, stood on the dock excitedly and looked forward to it, until the loud whistle spread far from the sea, and the Greek and British flags flying high on the mast of the battleship appeared in front of everyone, and everyone cheered for the warship.

Constantine and Sophie, together with the royal family, came to welcome the "Trikoupis" battlecruiser to Greece.

This latest model of warship, which Greece bought from Britain at a high price, was named "Trikoupis" to commemorate the former Greek prime minister with outstanding political achievements. During his tenure, he was determined to reform, develop industry and commerce, and successfully led Greece to defeat the old enemy Ottoman.

After the "Trikoupis" is put into service, it will also become the new flagship of the Greek Navy.

Amid the enthusiastic cheers of everyone, the 17,000-ton battlecruiser "Trikoupis" anchored off the pier of Piraeus Port.

Constantine raised his right hand flat between his eyebrows, and saw a rubber boat paddling towards the shore. Several Greek naval personnel boarded the land from the rubber boat. Constantine went forward and gave the leader a hug: "Congratulations, Commander Kontoriotis, now you finally have a decent flagship."

As for the other Invincible-class warship built by the Athens Shipyard in Greece, due to the lack of experience of the Athens Shipyard in building warships, it was suddenly commissioned to build a warship of more than 10,000 tons. Even with the help and guidance of engineers sent by the British, the main components were purchased from the UK. The Athens Shipyard was basically only responsible for building the hull and assembly. The construction process was still bumpy, and the construction period was postponed again and again. It is likely that it will not be officially put into service until the end of 1911.

Kontoriotis first took a step back, saluted Constantine and Sophie, and said loudly: "Your Highness, the Greek Navy's "Trikoupis" has just entered service."

While the two were talking, several other naval personnel came to the welcoming crowd, and soon everyone exclaimed. It turned out that the Greek people who came to the dock to welcome the warship could take turns to visit this newest, largest displacement, and most advanced warship of the Greek Navy.

After the greetings, Kontoriotis pointed to a young officer in a naval uniform behind him and introduced to Constantine: "Your Highness, Crown Princess, this is Colonel Henry of the British Royal Navy"

"In the future, this Colonel Henry will accompany the ship to help the Greek Navy crew familiarize themselves with this warship and help train gunnery"

The current navy, without the help of electronic equipment, wants to accurately hit the moving enemy warships with cannons in the vast ocean. It is not an easy task.

Hearing this, Constantine shook hands with Captain Henry enthusiastically: "Thank you for your help, Captain Henry, how do you plan to train our Greek naval crew?"

The British officer named Henry saluted first, and then shook hands. As a member of the British Royal Navy, Henry naturally did not want to lose his prestige, and said confidently: "Your Highness, although training the crew of the Invincible-class battleship is a very complicated matter, I am still confident that I can train the Greek navy to be as elite as the British Navy. After all, Greece also has a deep maritime tradition and there are good seafarers here."

Henry also complimented Greece a little.

Constantine smiled. On the surface, the relationship between the two sides seemed very harmonious, perfectly interpreting the friendship between Greece and Britain.

In fact, whether it was Constantine or Henry, everyone knew very well that the officers sent by the Royal Navy to the ship were not just out of kindness to help Greece.

The Invincible-class battlecruiser is currently one of the main battleships of the United Kingdom. It is one of the Invincible-class battlecruisers of the British Navy, and it is no exaggeration to say that the equipment installed on it is the most advanced technology of the British Navy.

The British agreed to sell the Invincible-class battlecruiser to the Greek Navy, which is the result of the comprehensive effect of many aspects.

In fact, according to the British side, after the Greek Navy expressed its intention to purchase warships, they originally planned to select two pre-dreadnoughts in service in the British Navy and sell them to Greece, just like the Germans sold pre-dreadnoughts to the Ottoman Empire, which could also achieve the purpose of the Greek Navy to balance the Ottoman Navy in the Aegean Sea.

After the appearance of the dreadnought, the British Empire had spent a lot of money to build the largest scale and the pre-dreadnought, which firmly occupied the world's leading position in total tonnage, and suddenly fell into an embarrassing situation.

The appearance of the dreadnought made the pre-dreadnought suddenly change from an absolute main warship to a humble role that can be dispensable.

The role of the battleship is very simple and crude. It is used for decisive battles and controlling sea power. It emphasizes heavy armor and powerful guns.

Its expected combat scenario is to be the absolute main force of the navy, lined up in a battle line, and fight with cannons and ships on the sea, punching each other, and you shoot and I shoot.

Therefore, these pre-dreadnoughts are not as good as all-heavy gun battleships such as dreadnoughts in terms of firepower, and they have no advantages in armor and maneuverability. They are not qualified to stand in the same battle line with dreadnoughts, and they have lost their status as main battleships.

Because pre-dreadnoughts have slow maneuvers, they are not as good as cruisers and destroyers in reconnaissance, patrolling, support, and vigilance.

This is why the Greek Navy chose the Invincible-class battlecruiser when the price difference between the Invincible-class and the Dreadnought-class battleships is not much.

Battlecruisers are versatile in naval warfare, and they are the main force in decisive battles? Even if the opponent is a dreadnought battleship, in a short period of time, at least the Invincible-class firepower is not inferior, and it can barely work; maritime reconnaissance, patrol, alert, support for one's own destroyer and cruiser formations, and even minelaying and merchant ship escort, such miscellaneous tasks, battlecruisers can take care of both.

Battlecruisers have such advantages: those who can beat me can't catch up with me (dreadnought); those who can catch up with me (cruisers and destroyers) can't beat me.

This is why no one in Greece, from the navy to the government, has ever mentioned buying dreadnoughts.

If the British Navy can sell the backward pre-dreadnoughts to Greece, it can not only solve the problem of a large number of pre-dreadnoughts, but also allow the British Navy to recover funds and compete with the Germans in the navy, killing two birds with one stone.

However, Commander Kontoriotis was very determined. When the Greek Navy purchased warships, it had to buy the Invincible-class battlecruisers, which were versatile in naval warfare. The large number of pre-dreadnoughts in the British Navy were not even considered by the Greek Navy.

And this Colonel Henry, who was sent to Greece by the British Navy, was not only to teach Greek sailors to be familiar with warships, but also to infiltrate the Greek Navy and expand Britain's influence in the Greek Navy.

As for the details, refer to the influence of the German Army in the Ottoman Army.