Chapter 260 New Artillery Technology and Submarines

On August 11, Arthur attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the battleship New Zealand, which had to be postponed due to the slow progress of Russian warship construction, and encouraged the workers of the Royal Dockyard. new

Starting from the first battleship Australasia in January, the Royal Dockyard has started construction of three battleships one after another. The fastest battleship Australasia is even expected to be completed in January next year, and will undergo final construction. Launching test session.

This is good news for Australasia, after all, March and April are only about half a year away.

However, although he looked forward to the launch test of the battleship, Arthur repeatedly asked the person in charge of the shipyard and all workers to carefully grasp the quality of warship construction. What Australasia needs is strong strength, excellent performance, and able to withstand war. The warships tested in actual tests are definitely not fake.

The good news is that Australasian industry and shipbuilding were established with the help of the Germans, and the Germans' old-fashioned and serious character also deeply influenced these Australasian workers.

At least Australasia's industrial products can stand the test. Even if they are not as meticulous as Germany, they are definitely striving for excellence.

The current sea trials of Russia's two warships are going very smoothly, and the fastest battleship Petropavlovsk can even be officially delivered around October this year.

Judging from the current performance of the Petropavlovsk battleship in the maritime sector, the actual performance of the Sovereign-class battleship is not much different from the paper data. It is a truly fearless battleship that can compete with the Dreadnought battleship in all aspects. ship.

It is worth mentioning that Germany's first Nassau-class battleship has been successfully launched, but the performance reflected in the test process is not satisfactory.

Historically, the Germans still have some confidence in the Nassau-class battleships because there is no comparison.

But after acquiring Australasia's Sovereign-class battleship technology, the Germans compared the two warships in all aspects, and even produced a prototype of each for comparison. In the end, they had to admit that the Sovereign-class battleship was superior. The design is better than that of the Nassau-class battleship, and the 305mm main gun is definitely more powerful than the 283mm main gun. New 𝘹.𝘤𝘰𝘮

More importantly, Germany's closest ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, happened to have such artillery technology. After consultations between the two governments, Germany quickly introduced 305 mm naval gun technology from the Austria-Hungary Empire's Skoda Arsenal. As a price, Germany would help the Austria-Hungary Empire possess dreadnoughts.

Such an exchange is not a loss for Germany. After all, the 305mm main gun can greatly improve the current firepower level of German battleships. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire has dreadnoughts, it can also increase its influence in the Mediterranean, threatening the southern coast of France and the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Germans also kept their promises. After obtaining the Austro-Hungarian Empire's 305mm main gun technology, they shared a share with Australasia.

The Germans obtained the artillery technology in July, and it was shipped to Australasia in mid-August, which happened to be the day when the cabinet candidates were decided.

After receiving the artillery technology provided by the Germans, Arthur immediately summoned artillery experts from all arsenals and gathered the strength of the whole country to master the 305mm main gun technology as soon as possible.

At this time, there were far fewer German experts in Australasia. This was because the aid treaty signed with the Germans at that time was only five years old. However, because of the closer diplomatic relations between Germany and Australasia, some The expert stayed a few more years.

Since January 1, a total of 1,215 experts of various types have been dispatched to Australasia. These experts have delivered a large amount of advanced industrial and scientific and technological knowledge to Australasia.

As of now, there are less than 200 German experts still staying in Australasia, and the specific number is even only 141.

These 141 people are the result of eight years of hard work by the Australasian government, and they have finally left these 141 people in Australasia permanently.

Of course, it must have been relatively peaceful means. The Australasian government provided a lot of conveniences and policies, and this was able to retain one-ninth of the entire expert team.

A considerable number of them are experts in military factories and shipyards. The number of these experts accounts for talents in the chemical industry, basic industry and other industries.

At present, most of these experts have successfully obtained Australasian citizenship, and the rest are already under consideration. new

Arthur gave very favorable conditions for the win. In addition to keeping their annual salary unchanged, he also promised to invite all their families to Australasia, and to allow them to obtain nationality as quickly as possible and enjoy Australasia. treatment of citizens.

At the same time, all the conditions granted to immigrants will be obtained, which also means that the families of these German experts will receive at least dozens of acres of land when they come to Australasia, and their lives can be fully guaranteed.

William II maintained a tacit attitude towards Arthur's behavior of attracting talents. After all, the good relationship between Germany and Australasia came first. In addition, Germany had a large number of talents. He would not be interested in Australasia because of these more than 100 talents. West Asia is dissatisfied.

Following Arthur's order, under the leadership of dozens of German experts, artillery experts from hundreds of military factories began to conduct comprehensive research on the 305mm main gun technology provided by Germany, striving to master the technology as quickly as possible. , and then equipped it on the battleship HMS Australasia.

At present, two Russian warships have been launched for testing, so they can only wait for Australasia to master the technology and spend time to replace the main guns of the two battleships.

However, the good news is that it does not take too long to replace the main gun. It can be as short as half a month or as long as one or two months. The replacement of the main gun can basically be completed.

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Moreover, these disassembled 283mm main guns can also be installed on the coast of Australasia and used as coastal defense forts. It would both solve the problem of waste and enhance the defense capabilities of the Australasian coast.

In addition, the submarine technology provided by Germany is basically controlled by Australasia. Because Germany's current submarine technology is stuck at the U-3 class submarine, and it is still the first two U-3 class submarines, so the technology is not too advanced, at least in Europe.

Germany's U-3 class submarine construction plan has a total of 20 ships, divided into seven groups. Germany's goal is to improve the performance of each group of U-3 class submarines. This is also the reason why the technical level of German submarines increased rapidly in the later period.

Currently, Germany's U-3 class submarines are still under construction of the first two submarines, U-3 and U-4, which are also the initial U-3 class submarines.

This type of U-3 class submarine has a surface displacement of 421 tons and an underwater displacement of 510 tons. The length of the submarine is approximately 53.1 meters, the surface speed can reach about 12 knots, and the underwater speed can reach 9.4 knots.

Compared with France and Italy, which currently have relatively mature submarine development, such submarines are still lagging behind. Perhaps William II also knew this, so he generously shared with Australasia the design table that is still being developed. Design drawings of submarines U-5 through 7.

This is the second group of U-3 class submarines, and the German Navy has higher requirements for this group of submarines.

According to the design drawings, the displacement of the second group of submarines is much greater than that of the first group of submarines, and each submarine must be equipped with at least three engines, allowing the submarine's surface speed to reach at least fourteen knots.

Moreover, the German Navy also requires that the submarines in this group have a cruising range of at least 2,000 nautical miles and a crew of about 20, which can ensure that the submarines can continuously submerge for 72 hours to perform tasks.

In terms of firepower, two torpedo launch tubes are arranged at the head and tail of the submarine. The total number of torpedoes carried by the submarine is about 6 to 8.

According to the design drawings, the second group of submarines can almost meet the requirements of the German Navy. The surface speed is expected to be about 14 knots, and the underwater speed can be maintained at 10 to 11 knots.

To be honest, the performance data of the first group of submarines and the second group of submarines are not comparable at all. The second group of submarines are the ones that can really enter actual combat, and they are also designs that can satisfy Arthur.

Although the second group of submarines currently only exists on the design table, Arthur believes in the technology of the German Navy. After all, according to historical development, German submarine technology has indeed experienced rapid advancement during this period.

Of course, the efforts of the Germans alone are not enough. Australasia’s own research is also very important.

Anyway, the cost of building a submarine was not too expensive. Arthur immediately ordered the shipyard to work hard to understand the first set of submarine design drawings of the U-3 class submarine, and to become familiar with the process of building a submarine.

After that, there will be a comprehensive study of the second set of submarine design drawings. As long as both themselves and Germany are sure that the design drawings are OK, then it is time to vigorously build submarines.

After dealing with the Navy episode, the time came to late August, which is when Arthur decided to hold the cabinet meeting.

Although in theory this is just a normal cabinet meeting, after all, it is the first meeting after the cabinet reorganization, and it also ushered in several new cabinet ministers, so it is still relatively important.

At this cabinet meeting, Archbishop Steed of Australasia, Justice Gerry of the Kingdom, and Defense Minister Raul will appear for the first time. Sir Evan will also return to the cabinet government in a new capacity.

Coupled with the fact that the son of Kent's housekeeper, the former Minister of Defense, has officially become the Minister of State in the Cabinet Government, the alignment of the Cabinet Government should also usher in a big change.

But for Arthur, the impact was not big. After all, Arthur controls the most important finance and national defense, and Minister of State Kent is also a loyal and loyal person whom Arthur trusts very much. There is no need to worry about the emergence of factions in the cabinet that oppose him.

Judging from the current situation, the relationship between House Speaker Evan and Chief Minister Walter will certainly not return to that of the previous administration.

One is the former Prime Minister and the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the other is the former Minister of Public Welfare and the current Prime Minister. If nothing unexpected happens, both of them will attack the chief minister of the next cabinet government, which also means that the relationship between the two will not get much better.

It can even be said that after three consecutive terms as cabinet ministers, the prime ministers of several previous Australian colonies will become the most threatening competitors to each other if they want to continue to stay in the cabinet government.

In addition to these relatively senior cabinet ministers, the current cabinet government also includes loyalists appointed by Arthur himself, as well as rookie cabinet ministers who are supported by political parties and elected.

However, the only two political parties that currently have cabinet seats, the Fine Gael Party and the Country Party, both favor Arthur, which also greatly reduces the possibility of an opposition faction forming in the cabinet.

1. The cabinet meeting, which had been prepared for half a month, was officially held.

This time the cabinet meeting received Arthur's attention, and the meeting location was chosen in the largest and most formal conference hall in Sydney Palace.

Cabinet ministers have been waiting outside the door since around seven o'clock in the morning. Before the official start of the cabinet meeting at eight o'clock, all cabinet ministers were in place, quietly waiting for Arthur's arrival.

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