Chapter 775 Vigorously develop submarines

The upcoming TV Expo has quickly attracted the attention of domestic and foreign capital. A large number of capitals have signed up to participate and are ready to come to Australasia.

Australasia seems completely cut off from the rest of the world. It is quiet and peaceful at home, but it is becoming more and more chaotic abroad. It can even be described as a mess.

This is not a one-sided statement, but the best summary of the current world situation. From developed and prosperous Europe to barren and barren Africa, rebellions and wars are breaking out everywhere.

Conflicts between colonies and metropolitan states, conflicts between ethnic groups, and conflicts between countries created an era of chaos.

In this chaotic era, Arthur is both a spectator and a participant.

February 27, 1931, Australasian Cabinet meeting.

This cabinet meeting is very important for Australasia and may even determine the strategic pace of the country in the next decade.

One of the decisive factors is that the naval limitation treaty signed ten years ago is about to expire, and countries have different attitudes towards renewing this treaty.

"Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, the possibility of renewing the naval limitation treaty is almost zero. We must be prepared for this." Foreign Secretary Wellington looked serious, and his words made the cabinet ministers look different. .

You must know that no matter what the purpose of the naval limitation treaty is, it plays a great role in limiting the development of the navies of various countries and avoiding naval arms races.

Once the naval limitation treaty cannot be renewed, the price may be another round of naval arms race around the world.

What's even worse is that Australasia is definitely a participant and has to pay a lot of money for it.

Because once we fall behind in the naval arms competition, the blow to the country will be huge, and it is very likely that the country will fall behind in future wars.

"What is the current attitude of various countries?" Arthur rubbed his frown and looked at Minister Wellington.

"The attitude of Britain and France is very ambiguous, and it is still unclear what the respective views of Britain and France are. But according to the intelligence we have, there is a high probability that the islanders will not agree to renew the naval limitation treaty.

They are already vigorously developing super-large battleships and are likely to become the first country to tear up the naval limitation treaty. ” replied Wellington, the Foreign Secretary.

Arthur rubbed his brow again, not surprised that the island country might tear up the treaty. It is no exaggeration to say that this country will do something even crazier than tearing up the treaty.

"We don't need to make any additional statements on this matter." Arthur glanced at the cabinet ministers with different expressions and ordered: "We just need to wait quietly for the actions of Britain and France. If any country takes the lead in tearing up the Naval Limitation Treaty, we immediately followed, and devoted ourselves to the construction of the navy at all costs.

In addition, pay detailed attention to the islanders' naval activities. I need to keep our navy ahead of the island nations at all times, whether it's submarines or aircraft carriers, whether it's destroyers or battleships, okay? "

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The cabinet ministers immediately stood up and replied seriously.

Arthur didn't just give an order, it was a firm order. In the face of major issues of right and wrong, if any cabinet member showed hesitation, Arthur would show no mercy.

"Your Majesty, are you saying that we must expand in all aspects of the navy?" Defense Secretary Thomas asked excitedly.

The construction of the navy has never been a small investment, and the funds are definitely tens of millions of Australian dollars.

If a large-scale naval arms race were to start, the investment in the navy could reach hundreds of millions of Australian dollars.

This is also where Defense Secretary Thomas is excited. With such a large amount of military investment, the status of the Ministry of National Defense will rise, and the strength of the military will also usher in great growth.

"At present, we still give priority to the construction of submarines and aircraft carriers, followed by the construction of destroyers and battleships." Arthur shook his head and expressed his thoughts: "But we still have to pay attention to the construction of foreign capital ships, especially the super super ships built by the islanders. Large battleship.”

If Arthur remembers correctly, the island nations in history were very exaggerated in the construction of battleships.

The islanders seem to have built a behemoth called the Yamato battleship, with a standard displacement of 65,000 tons and a full load displacement of 72,800 tons.

Such data are very exaggerated. The battleships built by the islanders are not even large enough to describe them.

You know, the current Hope-class battleships in Australasia have a full load displacement of only 27,000 tons. They can only be regarded as little guys in front of the battleships of island countries.

This is also the real reason why Arthur specifically ordered to pay attention to the construction of the islanders' battleships. Even if the aircraft carrier can deal with the battleship very well, it is not as easy as imagined to deal with such a large behemoth.

Speaking of which, Australasia's economic situation is much better than that of island countries. If it's just a naval arms race with the islanders, Arthur wouldn't mind letting the islanders see what real investment is.

In fact, having said that, a naval arms race may not be a bad thing for Australasia.

Looking at the size of the navies of various countries in the world, Australasia actually does not have an advantage.

But if you look at the navies of various countries in detail, you can actually find an obvious feature, that is, there are many old warships.

Especially the British and French fleets have a large number of old warships. The old warships here are not just the dreadnoughts that have fallen behind the times, but also the products of the last century, which are pre-dreadnoughts.

Compared with the British and French fleets, most of the Australasian fleet is composed of dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts, as well as a large number of battlecruisers and aircraft carriers. Generally speaking, it can be regarded as mostly new warships.

In fact, it makes sense that Britain and France have a large number of old warships to replenish their numbers. After all, Britain and France have a large number of vast colonies and require a large number of fleets to patrol and escort the coast.

But for island countries, the large number of old-fashioned warships in the country is entirely caused by the country's finances.

Britain and France need those old warships, but the islanders are simply reluctant to throw away those old ships.

Under such circumstances, Britain, France and even island countries maintained the scale of large old warships while building a large number of new warships, and the military expenditures they borne were much higher than those of Australasia.

If a new round of naval arms race really breaks out, Britain and France will have colonies to suck blood from, Australasia will have Persian Gulf territory and rich mineral resources, and other countries will have basically nothing.

Such consumption would be conducive to Arthur's plan, and it would also take the opportunity to consume additional British and French control over the colonies, which would also weaken Britain and France in disguise.

In such a cabinet meeting, Arthur's firm support for military expansion surprised the cabinet members.

As if they had received the signal, they all changed their previous attitudes and became staunch militants.

After all, these officials are not fools. In Australasia, government decisions depended largely on Arthur's attitude rather than on their own officials.

As long as Arthur expresses his attitude of pro-war, people will become fanatical activists. Can officials like them still hide behind the people? The best way is of course to comply with Arthur's attitude. Anyway, Arthur will be the first to take the lead if something goes wrong.

Although the original decision was to allow the development of the naval limitation treaty, this does not mean that the Australasian government will really do nothing.

Especially for potential rival island countries, we still need to have the necessary means of competition.

Intelligence agencies began to closely monitor the island nation's naval construction plans. Once it is discovered that the islanders are secretly building super large battleships, Australasia will publicize the crimes of the islanders and occupy a righteous position in public opinion.

However, the islanders have indeed done a good job in intelligence work in this area. They understand that the naval limitation treaty is beneficial to them, so they will not blatantly tear up the naval limitation treaty before it expires.

On the other hand, Australasia has begun research on very large battleships and new submarines and aircraft carriers.

As what may be the last series of battleships, Arthur specifically ordered the major shipyards to exert their maximum capabilities and build the largest, fastest, best-protected battleships, and the most powerful firepower.

At present, several major shipyards have joined forces to start research and strive to design the most powerful and largest battleship in the world.

As for aircraft carriers, Arthur's request is to improve the existing aircraft carriers and increase the number of aircraft carriers can carry and their speed of travel.

Finally, there is the submarine. Submarines have developed to this point, and their role has been very important.

Australasia's submarines combine the submarine technologies of Britain, France, and Germany. With the efforts of Australasian experts, they are merged into Australasia's unique submarine technology.

The most advanced submarine in Australasia is currently the AU-7 ocean-going submarine.

The entire submarine is 66.5 meters long and can accommodate 42 to 46 members. The maximum speed on the surface can reach 17.5 knots, and the maximum underwater speed can reach 8.4 knots, which is relatively fast among submarines.

The best thing about the entire submarine is the submarine's endurance. At cruising speed of 5 knots, the submarine can travel 6,500 nautical miles, which is a distance of 12,000 kilometers.

However, this data is for reference only. Although the fuel inside the submarine can travel 12,000 kilometers, the supplies inside the submarine may not last for such a long time.

Taking into account the internal oxygen consumption of the submarine, the submarine can travel up to 120 nautical miles (approximately 222 kilometers) at a speed of 5 knots underwater, or if it stays for 24 hours, it must surface to replace oxygen.

This is also a characteristic of submarines of this era. Although submarines give the impression of fighting in the sea, submarines spend most of their time on the sea.

After all, people always have to breathe. After entering the sea, the consumption of oxygen inside the submarine is a huge problem.

Let’s talk about the design of the submarine. The design of this AU-7 submarine is quite advanced. The designed diving depth of the submarine is 150 meters, and the maximum diving depth in the experiment can reach 220 meters.

This depth has been able to escape the sonar search of various countries, so it is not an exaggeration to call such a submarine a ghost in the sea.

If it weren't for the fact that it couldn't stay under the sea for a long time, such a submarine would definitely be a killer weapon in today's era.

But this does not cover up the current strategic role of submarines. In World War I, Germany used unrestricted submarine tactics to cause great losses to British and French merchant ships.

The submarine technology currently possessed by Australasia is more powerful, and the strategic role it can play is naturally better.

In terms of submarine firepower, this submarine can be considered to have powerful firepower. The entire submarine has a total of five torpedo launch tubes, which can carry a maximum of 14 torpedoes.

In terms of the distribution of torpedo tubes, the submarine is equipped with four torpedo tubes at the head and one at the tail.

After all, most of the time, the head of the submarine faces the strategic target. The torpedo launch tube at the tail is to prevent special accidents and is also a life-saving trump card reserved for submarines.

In addition to the weapons under the sea, the submarine is also equipped with a heavy machine gun and a small-caliber artillery on the top.

After all, submarines float on the sea most of the time, and they will inevitably encounter enemies on the sea.

Moreover, submarines always dock to replenish supplies. The weapons on the top of the submarine are still very important. At some point, they may become life-saving weapons for the members inside the submarine.

Overall, such a submarine design can be regarded as capable of both offense and defense. Not only can it become a ghost and a god of death in the ocean, but with its faster speed and deeper diving depth, it can flexibly avoid enemy searches.

Because it can dive for up to 24 hours, it can effectively avoid enemy searches. But after 24 hours, the submarine had to surface.

After all, lack of oxygen is currently the biggest problem for submarines, and it is also the biggest factor limiting submarine dive time.

As long as the oxygen problem is solved, the submarine's diving time can be doubled. At that time, submarines will truly become ghosts and gods of death in the sea, coming and going without a trace.

Although there has been no movement in terms of main warships for the time being, the defense department has put forward new plans regarding the construction of submarines.

The plan was quickly reported to Arthur's desk and received Arthur's nod of approval.

Over the next five years, Australasia is expected to build 120 submarines. Among them, in the next two years, Australasia will build 55 submarines, all of which are AU-7 class.

In two years' time, the AU-8 class submarine, which is in the testing phase, will become the mainstream submarine built by the Navy, replacing the AU-7, and 65 units will be built.

A full 120 submarines is no longer a small number. Coupled with the original size of Australasia's submarines, the number of submarines in the Navy will exceed 200, which has already ranked among the top three in the world in its original history.

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