1825 My New Daming

Chapter 268 This is India's real strength! (ask for subscription, ask for monthly pass)
December 1829, 12, Scotland, Onik Islands, Scapa Flow.

This is a good natural bay surrounded by Mainland, Hoy, South Rhonesay and a group of small islands. It is about 24 kilometers long, 13 kilometers wide, and covers an area of ​​130 kilometers.There are no strong winds and waves, and it does not freeze in winter. The most important thing is that the location is particularly good!

This bay is located on the back of the British Isles, guarding the gates of the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea at the same time, and to the west is the vast North Atlantic Ocean.Running south along the British coastline to the English Channel is eight or nine hundred kilometers. For the large naval fleet, this distance is only a day or two.

In addition, the privacy of this sea area is enough. It is not as conspicuous as Portsmouth and Plymouth, the two naval bases next to the English Channel. There are so many merchant ships coming and going at their gates every day, it is impossible to hide. What a secret.Therefore, a large area of ​​sea in Scapa Flow and its surroundings has become the main anchorage of the Royal Navy since the second half of 1829. Small ships flying the flag of the Royal Navy patrolled the surrounding area day and night, driving away those who tried to approach All vessels without a special permit.When the weather is better, there will be airships of the Royal Navy circling in the sky around Scapa Flow.

In the midst of this vigilance, British Prime Minister Duke Wellington, First Sea Lord Earl Nelson, Admiral Elliot, Secretary of the Admiralty, and Major General Somerset, Director of Ordnance, took a newly commissioned Egyptian ship. The Degas-class first-class protected cruiser quietly sailed into the main anchorage of the Royal Navy from the first entrance of Scapa Flow.

埃德加级的标准排水量高达7350吨，主机功率高达1.2万匹马力，最高航速超过了20节。配备有2门9.2英寸主炮和10门6英寸主炮和16门3磅炮，还有4具14英寸的鱼雷发射管。

Although this class of cruiser is not as good as the 8 Blake class battles with the 3 Duke-class ships of the Daming Persian Gulf Fleet off the coast of Goa, it is still a very good first-class cruiser.

Moreover, the cost of this first-class cruiser is not bad, only 37 pounds. For the financially poor British Empire, it is an economical ship. Therefore, before the Naval Shipbuilding Act passed in June 1828, the Royal Navy had already Placed an order for 6 ships.After the passage of the new shipbuilding bill, the Royal Navy ordered 9 more ships.

But today's protagonist is not this Edgar-class first-class protected cruiser, but a more powerful battleship!According to Viscount Palmerston, the Minister of the Navy who was attending the peace conference in Vienna, this is an invincible warship that can change the rules of the naval battle game and win victory and glory for the British Empire.

It is HMS Victory, the lead ship of the new Royal Navy Victory class.

The huge hull of the Victory is now floating on the sea at the corner of Scapa Flow. The huge steel hull exudes a frightening coldness under the reflection of the sun. The steel turret is even more destructive.

"Duke, this is the most powerful battleship known in the world, even more powerful than the Ming Dynasty Navy's hero class!"

The niece and son-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, like Nelson, has only one arm due to injuries. The gentle and serious voice of Major General Somerset, the director of ordnance, sounded from the bridge of the Edgar-class cruiser Theseus .

Major General Somerset said: "It has a standard displacement of more than 1.8 tons, is equipped with 18 coal-fired steam boilers and 4 triple-expansion steam engines, can generate 2.25 horsepower under normal ventilation conditions, and can reach a maximum speed of 21. 1 knot faster than the Hero class!
In addition, its firepower is also more powerful than the hero class!Our engineers optimized the turret layout and changed the six 6mm twin-mounted turrets of the hero class into five 280-inch twin-mounted turrets. One at the bow and one at the stern, and one at the rear of the boiler room in the midship of the hull. body center line; between the two boiler rooms, one on each side is symmetrically arranged, a total of 5 12-inch/2 times caliber guns, the maximum firepower of the ship's side is 10 main guns, and the forward fire power is theoretically 12 main guns. gun.This artillery layout makes the firepower density of the victory class no less than that of the hero class, but because the artillery caliber is much larger, it must be able to occupy a considerable advantage in artillery battles.

The armor protection of the Victory class is also strong enough. The whole ship has 5000 tons of armor, which is 600 tons more than the Hero class. Like the Hero class, they all adopt surface-hardened armor steel, which makes the whole ship's anti-strike ability no less than that of the Hero class. At hero level."

The Duke of Wellington turned his head and glanced at Earl Nelson, and asked, "Count, can this victory class beat the hero class?"

"Yes! Certainly!" Earl Nelson said with certainty, "Duke, do you know what the biggest advantage of this victory class is?"

"Is it because its speed is 1 knot faster and the caliber of its artillery is larger?"

"No!" Earl Nelson twitched his mouth and showed a smug smile, "Its greatest advantage is the workers and engineers who built it. They are the greatest workers and engineers in the world, and they can work overtime day and night for victory! Duke, do you know? The first keel of this battleship was laid in Plymouth on August 8 last year. Four months later, this giant ship with a standard displacement of more than 10 tons was launched. On August 4 this year It completed all the outfitting projects and started sea trials. Today, only 1.8 year and 8 months after the start of the victory, it officially entered service and joined the Royal Navy of the British Empire! Its construction speed is an absolute It is a miracle of no buckle, and it is also the real hole card of the British Empire."

Major General Somerset nodded, "That's right, although our overall industrial strength cannot compare with that of Ming Dynasty, we have more hardworking shipbuilders and engineers. They can work 12 or even 16 hours a day, and they can work at night. They insist on working in the cold wind, and they can still guarantee the quality. In order to catch up with the work, they can even work seven days a week, and even change the place of worship to a temporary church in the shipyard.

Such workers are the real trump card of the British Empire!Thanks to their efforts, the 1828 Victory-class ships started in 10 will all be delivered before the end of the first quarter of 1830!In addition, including the warships acquired by the Indian Grand Fleet, we will have as many as 1 Indomitable-class ships delivered before the end of the first quarter of 12. The number of cutting-edge first-class cruisers equipped with the Navy will be completed in 1830 It reached 1 before the end of the first quarter, and this is after deducting the data of the sinking Waterloo! "

"10 plus 12 plus 20, that's 42 ships!" The Duke of Wellington counted with his fingers, "Where is the airship mothership? How many ships can be prepared?"

George Elliot, who is in charge of the airship and airship mothership project, replied: "Duke, because we have to do our best to ensure the construction of front-line combat ships, the number of airship motherships to be built is less than originally planned, but before the end of the first quarter of next year, we can Prepare 1 ships. And since we are equipped with gliding guided bombs, 15 airships are enough to deal a fatal blow to the enemy's large fleet!"

"Okay!" The Duke of Wellington nodded, "22 battleships, 20 armored cruisers, and 15 motherships. This is India's real strength!"

This strength is really scary!
If you don't consider that these battleships, armored cruisers and motherships have a little water injection, it is decent enough to fight a World War II.Moreover, so many warships, armored cruisers and motherships were only built by workers in British local shipyards working overtime during the two years from 1828 to 1830. That would be even more frightening. Powerful!
"India?" Nelson was taken aback, "Duke, you mean India?"

The Duke of Wellington nodded heavily, and said with a smile: "Yes, it is India. Sell all these warships to India. Emperor William's India! The war that the British Empire is inconvenient to initiate will be initiated by Emperor William's India. And India will fight to the last rupee for Emperor William! May God bless the Emperor of India and his Indian Empire!"

(End of this chapter)