Chapter 205 The Epoch-making Dauntless
Just as Arthur expected, the establishment of the Kingdom of Australasia did not arouse any opposition in Europe.
Even with the strong support of the two current monarchies, including the German Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire, most monarchies in Europe congratulated the newly established Kingdom of Australasia.
The British attitude is more complicated. The British public expresses congratulations and blessings on the establishment of Australasia, while the government has some opinions. After all, after the establishment of the Kingdom of Australasia, it will replace the British Empire and become a legal country in Oceania.
But in the end it was Edward VII who expressed his opinion, and the British government also expressed congratulations on the establishment of the Kingdom of Australasia.
Of course, although ambassadors have been sent to each other with major important countries, it is obvious that the establishment of Australasia is not the current mainstream news in Europe.
There is no other reason. During this period, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard of the British Empire built a battleship that could change the world's battleship system in just four months, making the entire Europe and even the world famous. Caught in a stir.
Although the United Kingdom did a good job of keeping the Dreadnought battleship secret during its construction, spies from other countries have eventually discovered the clues since the cruise test began.
Thanks to the efforts of spies from other countries, especially German spies, the real data of the Dreadnought battleship was also known to major European countries.
"This is an epoch-making great battleship!"
This is what rulers and naval experts from all countries thought after seeing the design of this battleship.
Because of the widespread use of new technologies in all aspects, the Dreadnaught battleship subverted the design concept of previous battleships and completely crushed existing battleships.
What does that mean? Previous battleships had their own advantages in firepower, protection and speed. Either they had extremely powerful firepower, or their armor protection was very strong, or they had some achievements in speed.
Each of these battleships has its own advantages and can each play its own role in naval battles.
But the dreadnought is different. The Dreadnaught battleship uses main guns with unified ballistic performance, which not only greatly improves the firepower of the battleship, but also allows commanders to more conveniently command all main guns to aim at the same target, and the efficiency of concentrated firepower output is also greatly improved. Correspondingly, the hit rate of the main gun can also be improved.
In addition, the Dreadnought battleship uses ten 305mm main guns, twenty-seven 5.4kg guns, and five underwater 457mm torpedo tubes, which greatly increases the firepower of the Dreadnought battleship, making the Dreadnought battleship It has an absolute advantage when facing the old battleships of the past.
At the same time, the total armor weight of the Dreadnought battleship is about 5,000 tons, which is improved compared to previous battleships.
More armor also means more comprehensive protection. The armor thickness of key parts such as the turret, engine room, ammunition depot and command tower even reaches more than 280 mm, and the armor completely wraps the hull.
More importantly, on the basis of the increased firepower and armor of the Dreadnought battleship, the battleship's speed has also been greatly improved.
The design requirement of the Dreadnought battleship is that the maximum speed can reach more than 21 knots and can be maintained for a long time.
But you must know that the fastest battleship before the dreadnought can only reach a maximum speed of about 19 knots, and it can only be maintained for a period of time.
Such speed is undoubtedly epoch-making, but British shipyards and experts used new steam turbines and steam boilers to solve the problem of power requirements.
The Dreadnought battleship is equipped with 18 drum coal-fired steam boilers and four Parsons steam turbine units to provide power.
Its power is as high as 22,500 horsepower, and during its first sea trial, it even reached 24,700 horsepower. The theoretical maximum design speed is 21 knots, but during sea trials, the maximum reached 22.4 knots.
In summary, the Dreadnaught battleship can completely crush all previous old-fashioned battleships in terms of firepower, armor protection and speed.
The previous situation of being unable to fight but being able to run away, and being unable to run but being able to fight will not occur. Battleships from other countries will not only be unable to defeat the British Empire's Dauntless, they will also be unable to escape.
This also means that the current world naval structure will usher in a major reshuffle. All previous old-fashioned battleships will be like paper tigers in front of the dreadnought.
If the number of battleships in the past represented the strength of the navy, then the number of new dreadnoughts now represents the new naval strength.
It is the British Empire that leads warships into a new era, but it is also the British Empire that is having the biggest headache at the moment.
There is no other reason. After the birth of the dreadnought, all old battleships were reduced to scrap metal. Although Britain will gain some advantages in the construction of dreadnoughts, this also means that most of the warships in the Royal Fleet will become products of a backward era.
The British Empire and France, which had the largest number of old-fashioned warships in the past, have both become affected by this major naval change.
But this is also a good opportunity for some emerging countries, such as the German Empire, which has always wanted to catch up with Britain in terms of navy.
If we look at the previous battleship system, it is basically impossible for the German Navy to catch up with the British Navy.
Although the German navy is becoming larger and larger, the size of the British Royal Fleet is expanding faster, and there is still a huge gap between Germany and Britain. But after the birth of the dreadnought, the strength of the navy was determined by the number of dreadnoughts.
It is an excellent opportunity for the rising stars in the world, including the German Empire, the United States and even Australasia.
Of course, some people see hope, while others are disappointed or even a little desperate.
Some people have the opportunity to catch up, while others are naturally in danger of falling behind.
It is already difficult enough to maintain the current size of the navy, but after the birth of the dreadnought, all existing battleships will basically be outdated, and they will not be able to compete with the countries that own the dreadnought.
Of course, this is not the only country suffering from this. If I have to name a country that is suffering the most, then it may be the island country that has just shared the hegemony in the Far East with Russia.
The island country gained part of the rights to the Far East in the last Russo-Japanese War and truly occupied the Korean Peninsula.
But such benefits are not enough to make up for the island country's losses in the war, especially when a large number of warships were lost.
The original naval strength can only be barely maintained at the level of the last great powers. If the follow-up construction of dreadnought ships is not carried out, the gap with other great powers will gradually widen, and the expansion dream of the island country will still be blocked.
In general, the birth of the dreadnought has accelerated the situation of European naval competition, and has also caused almost all major powers to invest in the research and development of dreadnoughts.
Because there is no experience, all major countries, including Germany, have aligned their dreadnought research and development templates with the Dreadnought battleship.
In fact, this fell into the British trap again. When each country came up with its own dreadnought design, the British Empire once again came up with the super-dreadnought ship, once again forming a certain leading advantage in the three major warship designs.
Almost on the day he received the information, William II ordered the major German shipyards and navy to come up with the German dreadnought design drawings as soon as possible and start construction work.
This scene has appeared in almost all major powers, and warship designers of major powers have become busy because of this.
It is worth mentioning that because the aid from Germany did not take into account the birth of the dreadnought, these German shipbuilding experts are still working for Australasia, and they will also become the leaders of Australasia's research on the dreadnought. people.
Soon, with the efforts of the major powers, the designs of dreadnoughts from various countries were quickly released.
It is worth mentioning that the American South Carolina-class battleship was one of the first battleships in the world to adopt full-heavy artillery. It was designed at about the same time as the British Dreadnought.
However, due to the budget being shelved, the South Carolina-class battleship started construction a step later than the British Dreadnought battleship. The first South Carolina-class battleship, the South Carolina, was not even officially commissioned in March 1910, much later than the Dreadnought. The official commissioning of the battleship was more than two years later.
As this dreadnought design shocked the world, the Americans also determined the design and construction of the South Carolina-class battleship, and the U.S. Navy also urged Congress to quickly appropriate funds.
There are many great powers taking action at the same time, including Italy's Dante Allegri, the island nation's Hanoi-class battleships, and Germany's Nassau-class battleships.
Among them, except for the British Empire, the United States and the German Empire, which are determined to build navies, Italy and island countries that currently have plans to build dreadnoughts do not currently invest much.
There is only one Italian battleship, the Dante Allegri, and it is only a sign of design. The actual construction will not start until a year later.
The Hanoi-class battleships of the island country are also similar. Although the design is already in place, the financial situation of the island country does not allow construction to begin immediately. It will have to wait until at least a year later, and there will be no more than two ships at most.
Of course, the two countries at the bottom of the great powers are actually pretty good. At least they have domestic construction plans for dreadnoughts, but they just need to wait longer.
There are two other countries that are well-known compared to the island countries and Italy. They currently do not have any plans to build dreadnoughts. These two countries are France, the former hegemon of the European continent, and the European bulldozer Tsarist Empire.
It's not that the Tsarist Empire has no plans to build dreadnoughts, it just means that the Tsarist Empire's research and development and design capabilities are not strong, and there is currently no relatively perfect battleship design plan.
The first dreadnought of the Tsarist Empire in history was built after the birth of the Italian Dante Allegri. Under the guidance of the British shipyard, it was generally built with reference to the Dante Allegri.
The first dreadnought of the Tsarist Russian Empire was the Gangut-class battleship, which had two important birth factors.
One is that the construction of the Dante Allegri in Italy was completed, and the other is that after easing relations between Britain and Russia, Russia built it under the guidance of British shipyards.
At present, Italy's Dante Allegri battleship is only a design sketch, and the relationship between Britain and Russia has not eased. Whether Russia's Gangut-class battleship can be successfully born is still a question.
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(End of chapter)