Chapter 289 Hope-Class Battleship
The Chilean idea of the super dreadnought quickly awakened Arthur, who was indulging in the dream of the rise of Australasia.
Although Australasia is currently a world leader in tanks, aircraft, dreadnoughts, and its military industry is absolutely world-class, this is far from enough.
Under the influence of fierce arms competition between Britain and Germany, the extent of their arms technology replacement is beyond Arthur's imagination.
Since its birth, the dreadnought has instantly become the most powerful battleship in the world. Even up to now, there are only five countries that truly own dreadnoughts.
Arthur is also somewhat complacent about this, because Australasia is not only a country with dreadnoughts, but also a country that has mastered advanced main battleship construction technology such as Nassau-class battleships, Monarch-class battleships, St. Vincent-class battleships, and Unity-class battlecruisers.
In terms of dreadnought-class main battleship construction technology, Australasia can be said to be ranked after Britain and Germany, and can compete with the top three in the world.
But Arthur neglected one thing, that is, the speed of replacement of military technology in Britain and Germany during this period.
It is true that the dreadnought is still the most powerful warship in the world. But Britain has already developed and even successfully built a super dreadnought, and is far ahead of the world in terms of warships, leaving behind the second and third place behind.
If Australasia wants to truly rise, it must not be satisfied with the current achievements, but must look further and know the world.
Therefore, Arthur also made up his mind that even if the super dreadnought order with the Chileans failed, Australasia must develop its own super dreadnought, and at the fastest speed.
On October 21, 1910, at Arthur's call, most of Australasia's naval shipbuilding experts arrived at the Royal Dockyard, including those German experts who had settled in Australasia.
Arthur attended the meeting of the Royal Dockyard and gave these experts a requirement, that is, to design a battleship as soon as possible with a total tonnage of at least 23,000 tons, a full load tonnage of at least 27,000 tons, a main gun caliber of 13.5 inches, and a comprehensive upgrade in power armor protection and firepower.
To this end, Arthur took out the construction drawings of the Monarch-class battleship and the St. Vincent-class battleship, and asked the experts to refer to the construction layout and technology of these two battleships to find ideas for designing new battleships.
With Arthur's order, the shipbuilding experts began to get busy and began to design the new battleships in their minds.
Arthur gave a design time of three months. Those who successfully designed the battleship will receive a lot of rewards and may even be awarded a title.
This generous condition also attracted the enthusiasm of a large number of shipbuilding experts, and the Royal Dockyard was surrounded by these experts.
Fortunately, the construction of the two battlecruisers has been almost completed. Even if most of the experts in the Royal Dockyard are transferred, it will not affect the final assembly of the two battlecruisers.
In November 1910, the Sydney Stock Exchange founded by Arthur gradually began to take shape.
The current Sydney Stock Exchange has attracted more than a dozen foreign capitals and hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises in Australasia.
The realization of attracting millions of Australian dollars in capital from abroad has enabled many small and medium-sized factories and enterprises to exceed 10,000 yuan in assets.
The current Sydney Stock Exchange can be regarded as a bustling place with people coming and going. The daily passenger flow is as high as thousands of people, and the capital flow is as high as tens of thousands of Australian dollars.
This year is a disaster year for East Asia. Various natural disasters, man-made disasters, plagues, plagues, etc. have caused huge losses to this area.
Australasia exported more than 4 million tons of grain this year, half of which was exported to East Asia, and was earned a lot of profits by state-owned, royal and private farms.
In mid-November, Arthur attended the launching ceremony of two battlecruisers, which meant that all the warships of the five-year shipbuilding plan of Australasia had been completed, and the first five-year plan of the navy had been completed.
Arthur temporarily chose to suppress the second five-year shipbuilding plan advocated by the navy.
For Australasia, there was no need to pile up the number of dreadnoughts so high for the time being.
Before World War I, if the number of Australasia's dreadnoughts increased, it would definitely attract the attention and attention of European powers.
Even if the powers had no other ideas, they would have a certain fear of Australasia, which had an increasingly powerful navy.
This was not good news for the development of Australasia. After all, Arthur still hoped to buy the technology of 13.5-inch main guns from Britain, and at least buy dozens of 13.5-inch main guns to meet the main gun installation of future super dreadnoughts.
If it attracted the attention and fear of European powers in advance, leading to a certain technical blockade of Australasia by European countries, it would be a bit too much of a loss.
The navy is certainly important to Australasia, but if the development of the navy causes the fear of European countries, it is really unnecessary.
Australasia may have a second five-year naval plan, but it should not be now when the war in Europe is looming.
Arthur's authority made those naval generals dare not say more, and they could only pin their hopes on the training of the two newly built battlecruisers.
If the combat effectiveness of these two battlecruisers is similar to that of dreadnoughts, then Australasia can also welcome five dreadnought-class main battleships, and the combat effectiveness of the navy can also exceed that of the inferior powers such as island countries, which can be regarded as having some means of self-protection.
With the construction of the Australasia Navy, it can be seen with the naked eye that the national pride of Australasia has been getting higher and higher.
It has to be admitted that for the current era, the navy is really the most important thing among all military branches.
A powerful country can be without a strong army, but it cannot be without a strong navy to protect the coastline and territory.
Of course, some pure inland countries are another matter. But in this era of great colonization, it is really not easy for an inland country to become a great power.
How important is the navy? It can be said that if Australasia has a few more dreadnoughts, it can really clamor for the status of a great power.
Through one or two naval battles, it can severely hit the face of the inferior powers and become a recognized new great power by stepping on the inferior powers.
But it is really unnecessary for Australasia to do so. What Australasia lacks now is not the status of a great power, but the real strength and heritage of a top great power.
Apart from other things, the current island country has indeed been called the eighth great power. But the question is, apart from a corrupt country like the Ottoman Empire, which great power would look up to a country like the island country?
Even if it is the equally corrupt Tsarist Russian Empire, if the main force and navy of the Tsarist Russian Empire in Europe are all moved to the Far East, the island country may not be the opponent of the Tsarist Russian Empire.
This is the real strength and heritage of the old great powers, and this is what Arthur and Australasia dream of.
During this period, the experts in the shipyard have not made no progress. Even ten warship design drawings have been completed, but each design drawing is still a certain distance from Arthur's requirements.
Among all the requirements of Arthur and the Chileans, tonnage is actually the easiest thing to achieve.
The simplest way to increase tonnage is to add thicker armor to each part of the warship.
Armor will greatly increase the tonnage of the warship, and if the warship is made larger, it will easily reach the tonnage of 28,000 tons required by the Chileans.
But the problem is that such a warship is basically just an empty shell. Increasing the volume and thickness of the armor will greatly reduce the power of the warship.
If this is really done, Arthur thinks it is a question whether the new warship can reach the speed of the old battleship.
The design problem of the warship continued until the end of 1910.
On December 21, 1910, Arthur finally received good news. The shipbuilding experts of the Royal Dockyard finally designed a design that looked more reliable than other warships under the efforts of all parties.
The design of the new warship refers to the design of the two dreadnought battleships, the Monarch-class battleship and the St. Vincent-class battleship, but overall it can be called a brand-new battleship.
More than 60% of the design of the new battleship is all technology that Australasia does not have. This also means that if you want to build a new battleship, you have to rely on the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to negotiate with the British Empire and purchase the corresponding technology.
Of course, Arthur had already anticipated this shortcoming. After all, even if it is just a 13.5-inch main gun, Australasia does not have the corresponding technology, and it needs to be imported from the British Empire.
What's more, there are more advanced power systems, armor protection, etc., which all need to be imported from the British Empire. Of course, it is best to purchase its construction technology and principles.
The battleship design reported to Arthur has basically met the requirements of Arthur and the Chileans.
Of course, not all requirements are met. After all, we have to think about the specific construction technology of Australasia, and we can't let the design drawings of the warship become a piece of paper.
The estimated length of this battleship is about 181 meters, 28 meters wide, and 8.4 meters deep.
In terms of volume, the new battleship far exceeds the Monarch-class battleship and the St. Vincent-class battleship. It is definitely a veritable super-large battleship.
The increase in volume is actually the expansion of armor and power systems. Including all blocks and systems, the standard displacement of this new battleship is expected to reach 22,800 tons, and the full load displacement is expected to reach 26,910 tons.
If nothing goes wrong, this battleship will be equipped with 45-caliber MKⅤ type 13.5-inch caliber main guns, with a total of ten main guns.
In addition, it will be equipped with 18 4-inch 50-caliber secondary guns and 4 533 mm underwater torpedo launchers.
Compared with the Monarch-class battleships and the St. Vincent-class battleships, the new battleships have made great improvements in firepower.
In terms of power, the new battleship adopts the same power system as the St. Vincent-class battleships, including two sets of four-shaft Parsons direct-drive steam turbines and twenty-two Hercules Viaro mixed-fired water boilers.
The only change is the addition of four mixed-fired water boilers, which means the new battleship's estimated power reaches 34,000 horsepower and its speed can be maintained at at least 21 knots.
In terms of armor protection, the new battleship will increase the thickness of the armor to 6.5 to 12 inches for the main armor belt, 3.5 inches for the deck, 4 to 8 inches for the watertight bulkhead, 11.5 inches for the turret, 10 inches for the gun mount, and 11.5 inches for the command tower.
This level of protection is a huge improvement over the previous dreadnoughts. Coupled with the improvement in firepower and power, Arthur believes that the new battleship will have at least a 40% increase in combat effectiveness compared to the current St. Vincent-class battleships.
Of course, a 40% increase in combat effectiveness is also a relatively conservative estimate. If it is in a real naval battlefield, no one can guarantee what will happen, but the actual combat capability of the new battleship will indeed crush the old dreadnought.
Arthur was very satisfied with the design of the new battleship, and finally made up his mind that the design of the first super dreadnought in Australasia would be determined as the design drawing in front of him.
After careful consideration for a long time, Arthur decided to name the super dreadnought in Australasia as the Hope-class battleship.
Hope is the hope of a country's rise. Arthur hopes that with the super dreadnought, Australasia can continue its dream of rising, bloom with the colors of Australasia, and let the world hear the voice of Australasia.
The confirmation of the design of the super dreadnought made Arthur very happy, and he began to reward the experts of the Royal Dockyard generously.
First of all, everyone has a reward. Not only does everyone have a reward of 10,000 Australian dollars, but the main designer of the Hope-class battleship will also be awarded a corresponding medal to encourage him.
Arthur is very generous to the scientists and other talents under him. After all, these talents are the hope of Australasia's rise.
Even if they are rewarded with 10,000 Australian dollars each, including all the shipbuilding experts involved in the design of the super dreadnought, there are only more than 200 people.
More than 2 million Australian dollars in exchange for the design drawings of the Hope-class battleship is a good deal no matter how you think about it.
Because more than 60% of the technology of the Hope-class battleship needs to be introduced or purchased from the UK, this also leads to the cost of this battleship being much higher than that of the Monarch-class battleship.
According to the conservative estimates of shipyard experts, the cost price of a Hope-class battleship may exceed 2 million pounds, or even reach about 2.2 million pounds.
How to price the Hope-class battleship has become a headache for Arthur. If based on the profit of the Monarch-class battleship, the price of a Hope-class battleship may be close to 3 million pounds. I am afraid that the Chileans cannot afford such a high price.
Moreover, in Arthur's view, the Chilean naval order is an opportunity for the shipyard to practice building super dreadnoughts, and it seems that the price of the warship has to be lowered.
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