Chapter 288 The Chileans’ Super Dreadnought Ambition
As time entered October 1910, Arthur received another piece of good news, that is, the battleships Australia and New Zealand had officially entered the navy.
That's right, it has been nearly a year since the naval test, and these two battleships finally successfully passed the test and truly became the navy's battleships.
After more than a year of operation and experimentation, naval soldiers are also very familiar with these two battleships, and their combat effectiveness has been initially formed.
At present, the Australasian navy already has three dreadnoughts, and the construction of two battlecruisers is about to be completed. Compared with before, the scale and combat effectiveness of the navy are completely different.
At the same time, Australasia also welcomed guests from South America.
Just like the naval arms race between Europe, in recent times, even from the end of the 19th century to the present, several large countries in South America, especially the three largest countries, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, have led to territorial disputes. A series of vigorous naval arms races.
Chile and Argentina even had conflicts over territorial disputes, but peace was finally restored under British mediation.
But the competitive relationship between the three countries did not end because of temporary peace. Following the conflict, Britain sold two Constitution-class pre-dreadnoughts to Chile, followed by Argentina's order for two Rivadavia-class battleships from Italy.
After the birth of the battleship Dreadnought, Brazil decided to stop purchasing pre-dreadnought battleships in 1907 and use all the funds to purchase newly born dreadnoughts.
The United Kingdom built two Minas Gerais-class battleships for Brazil and officially entered service this year, making Brazil the fifth country in the world to own dreadnoughts after the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, and Australasia.
In fact, Brazil should be the third country to own dreadnoughts in history, but because of the existence of Arthur and Australasia, both Australasia and Russia possessed dreadnoughts in advance.
After the two dreadnoughts were officially put into service, Brazil's naval strength instantly surpassed all countries in South America.
It is precisely because of these two dreadnoughts that the naval race in South America has officially begun, and major countries have purchased more powerful dreadnoughts to check and balance their opponents.
In the middle of this year, the Chilean government passed a resolution to allocate at least 4 million pounds to expand the navy, including two battleships of more than 20,000 tons, six destroyers and two submarines.
At the beginning, the Chilean government planned to select companies to build dreadnoughts for itself through tenders.
However, because the shipyards in Britain and Germany are generally busy building dreadnoughts for their own countries, the companies participating in the tender are basically shipyards from small and medium-sized European countries.
This makes the Chilean government a little discouraged. After all, none of the shipyards that came to bid are in countries that do not have dreadnoughts. The Chilean government does not believe how powerful these shipyards can build dreadnoughts.
At this time, the second warship trade order between Russia and Australasia reminded some Chilean naval and government officials of Australasia.
Although Australasia is generally not much different from the small and medium-sized countries in Europe, after all, it is a country that has entered into two warship trades with Russia, one of the great powers. The performance and combat effectiveness of the warships they built must have gained the trust and trust of the Russians. recognized.
Since the Russians were heavily equipped (two trade orders totaled four battleships and two cruisers), what reason did Chile have to be suspicious?
The battleships built in Australasia can meet the combat needs of the great powers. Can they not even meet the combat needs of Chile?
With this idea in mind, the Chilean government sent a visiting team and decided to go to Australasia to inspect it for themselves.
The Chilean inspection team attracted Arthur's attention. Of course, they were actually interested in the funds of the Chilean mission.
Although Arthur did not know that Chile had planned to purchase warships in Australasia, Arthur knew that this was the time of the South American naval competition, and the arrival of the Chilean diplomatic team was most likely for Australasia's dreadnoughts.
In fact, the Chilean representative was straight to the point and expressed the Chilean government's intention to inspect the Australasian dreadnought.
After hearing the report from Foreign Minister Andrew, Arthur didn't think much and asked Minister Andrew to take the Chilean delegation to the Royal Dockyard.
On the way to the Royal Dockyard, Minister Andrew was slightly surprised by his conversation with the Chileans.
The requirements of the Chileans are not low. The requirements for battleships are at least 28,000 tons of giant battleships, and they must be equipped with 12-inch giant guns.
The 12-inch gun is easier to handle. After all, the 12-inch cannon is actually a 305mm main gun. All Australasian dreadnoughts are equipped with this kind of main gun.
But the problem is that the tonnage of the dreadnought is a bit difficult to deal with. Even the Monarch-class battleship has a full load displacement of only 20,910 tons, which is far from the Chilean requirements for a 28,000-ton giant battleship.
In fact, the battleship originally built according to the requirements of the Chileans in history was already the most powerful super-dreadnought at the time.
With the development of dreadnoughts, the caliber of the main guns has increased to 13.5 to 15 inches, and the effective range of the guns has continued to increase. The main gun turrets are arranged on the horizontal and longitudinal central axis of the hull, reducing or eliminating the main gun turrets amidships. And increasing the displacement to more than 25,000 tons, this level of dreadnought is often called a super-dreadnought. In fact, the first country to develop and build super-dreadnoughts is still the British Empire. This is why George V was able to agree to hand over the drawings and technology of the St. Vincent-class battleships to Arthur.
The first super-dreadnought ship of the British Empire is called the Orion-class battleship. It is a newly designed four main battleships designed by the British in order to cope with the pressure of the strong naval shipbuilding competition with Germany.
The Orion-class battleship focused on improving its firepower and was completely different from the previously built dreadnoughts. It was called a super-dreadnought by the British.
The more important change is that the Orion-class battleship is equipped with a 13.5-inch main gun, which far exceeds the 12-inch main gun of the Saint Vincent-class battleship.
This also allowed the battleship's gun caliber to jump directly from 305 mm to 343 mm, greatly enhancing its firepower.
The first Orion-class battleship, HMS Orion, has begun construction at Portsmouth Naval Dockyard and was even quietly launched in August this year.
Thanks to the confidentiality experience of the last Dreadnought battleship, the confidentiality of the launch of the Orion battleship has been very good, and it has not yet been known to other countries.
The Chilean's request, which seemed outrageous to Minister Andrew, made Arthur instantly think of the super-dreadnought that should be born soon or has already been born in history.
Australasia has finally managed to lead the world in terms of dreadnoughts, and naturally such a leading position cannot be given up easily.
Arthur made a prompt decision and summoned naval experts, asking them to follow the Chileans' requirements and design a large warship with a total tonnage of no less than 23,000 tons and a full load displacement of no less than 27,000 tons.
Arthur requested not only to strengthen the firepower, but also to strengthen the armor protection and power system of the warship, so that the warship can still maintain a speed of about 21 knots despite a substantial increase in size and weight.
This requirement is a difficult problem for experts at the naval shipyard. After all, they currently have nothing to learn from in terms of such large warships. They can only rely on the drawings and data of the Sovereign-class battleships and the St. Vincent-class battleships. In some cases, Make improvements and changes in all aspects to strive to achieve the data and results required by Arthur.
After spending a few days visiting the Royal Dockyard, the Chileans were very satisfied with the Royal Dockyard in Australasia.
The only fly in the ointment is that the earliest battleship currently owned by the Royal Dockyard (only the Sovereign class is displayed and exported to the outside world) has a full-load displacement of less than 21,000 tons.
Even if some changes are made in some aspects, the full-load displacement of the Monarch-class battleship cannot exceed 22,000 tons, which is far from the 28,000 tons expected by the Chileans.
But there is good news. Minister Andrew personally assured them that under Arthur's order, the Royal Dockyard is already designing a super battleship with a full load tonnage of about 28,000 tons. The design requirements of the battleship are basically based on the needs of the Chileans. Able to meet the requirements of Chileans.
The Chilean diplomatic team decided to reach preliminary cooperation with the Royal Shipyard after careful consideration and sending telegrams to inquire about domestic opinions.
If the new warships designed by the Royal Shipyard meet the needs of the Chileans, or at least meet most of the needs, then the Chileans will officially sign an order with the Royal Shipyard for two battleships, six destroyers and two submarines.
The main reason why the Chileans decided to wait for the design results of the Royal Dockyard is actually that the current development of the Royal Dockyard of Australasia is really good, and the Royal Dockyard owns all warship systems including battleships, destroyers and submarines. It looks much more reliable than those small and medium-sized European countries that have no dreadnoughts at all.
What's more, Chileans also saw some German and British faces in the Royal Dockyard.
This also means that the Royal Dockyard of Australasia is supported by German and British technical experts.
The Chileans believe that under the guidance of British and German experts, the warships built in Australasia are absolutely guaranteed.
Witnessed by Arthur, the Chilean diplomatic team signed a treaty with the Royal Dockyard.
If it is determined that the new warship meets most of Chile's requirements, the warship order will officially take effect. If the requirements cannot be met, the warship order will be officially cancelled.
If the warship order is cancelled, the Chileans do not need to pay any money.
This is also the reason why the Chileans are willing to sign the treaty. After all, the Chileans do not need to spend money before the warship order takes effect.
In fact, Arthur also had a purpose in reaching such a treaty with the Chileans. After all, when it comes to super-dreadnoughts, Australasia is considered to be conducting independent research without any reference.
If there are orders from the Chileans, there will be an opportunity for the shipyard to accumulate experience when building super-dreadnoughts in the future. When Australasia builds its own super-dreadnoughts in the future, the shipyards will be handy. Not only will they build Efficiency will be accelerated and the probability of problems will be greatly reduced.
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(End of chapter)