Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 354 Naval Arms Race
After the design of the Monarch-class battleship was approved by the naval department, the construction work began immediately.

The first to begin construction was the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, which was responsible for building Ferdinand II, the future flagship of the Spanish Royal Fleet.

The construction period of the battleship Ferdinand II lasted for one and a half years. Construction was to begin in September 1890 and the ship was expected to be launched in March 9.

Considering the long naval testing phase, this new battleship would not be able to enter service in the navy until three years later, in 1893 at the earliest.

The construction of the second Monarch-class battleship, Isabel I, will be a little later, after all, the scale of the Valencia United Shipyard is still not as large as that of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard.

Isabel I will start construction in November 1890 and strive to be completed in mid-11. If the construction process goes smoothly, both new battleships will hopefully be commissioned into the navy before 1892.

The remaining two, the El Ferrol Royal Naval Shipyard and the Cartagena Shipyard, also have their own tasks.

In fact, after the design of the main warship of tens of thousands of tons is determined, the design of the 7000-ton cruiser can also be copied by analogy, and a new cruiser design can be obtained by giving up some performance.

Here we have to mention Spain's demand for 7000-ton cruisers, which is to use them as secondary main warships. In other words, these 7000-ton warships will also be used on the front battlefield, and they will play a role in naval battles.

After several days of discussion by the warship design committee, the approximate design plan for the 7000-ton cruiser was quickly determined.

Because of its tonnage of only 7000 tons, it is impossible for a cruiser of this level to take into account firepower, armor protection and speed like a battleship.

Because they have to participate in the main decisive battle, firepower is more important than armor protection and speed, and speed is more important than armor protection.

The reason is very simple. Only with sufficient firepower can you cause damage to the enemy's main warships. Only with sufficient speed can you keep up with the enemy's main force, otherwise you will become a living target that cannot run.

As for armor protection capabilities, it may be important for battleships, but not so important for cruisers.

The tonnage of a cruiser itself is only 7000 tons, and the speed must also be taken into consideration. Even if firepower is abandoned, it is impossible to achieve the armor protection capability of a battleship level.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to completely abandon armor protection and increase firepower and speed to the battleship level.

Even if such a cruiser with poor protection would sink after being hit by a few shells, as long as it could hit the enemy's main warships a few times before sinking into the sea, it would not be a loss at all for the Spanish Navy.

In order to ensure that the 7000-ton cruiser can also cause damage to the enemy's main warships, the first thing to be determined is the caliber of the cruiser's artillery.

Although the caliber of the 305mm naval gun is not as good as the 343mm caliber of the Monarch-class battleship, it is definitely a main warship-level artillery with great destructive power.

In terms of power, the cruiser copied the power group of the Monarch-class battleship and also used two three-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines.

However, the power is weakened. The power under normal ventilation is only about 7500 horsepower. At full power, it can almost reach the power level of the ordinary power of the Monarch-class battleship.

However, considering that this cruiser has a tonnage of only about 7000, this power is quite sufficient.

It is expected that the maximum speed of such a cruiser will exceed 18 knots, and when the steam group is running at full power, the speed can reach about 17 knots.

Fast speed and strong firepower are all the advantages of a cruiser. As for armor protection, this cruiser design has only disadvantages.

The thickness of this cruiser's main armor belt is not even comparable to that of the two Spanish ironclad ships, and its armor protection capability can only be described as fragile.

It is no exaggeration to say that this cruiser would be in danger of sinking as long as it was hit by a shell from the enemy's main warship.

But high risk means high reward, this cruiser of only 7000 tons also has the ability to sink the enemy's main warships.

Considering the ever-increasing cost of main battleships, as long as the ratio of two cruisers can be exchanged for one, it will be a sure profit for Spain.

Because such a cruiser is destined to adopt a life-for-life strategy, this new 7000-ton cruiser was named the Warrior class.

The El Ferrol Royal Naval Shipyard and the Cartagena Shipyard will be fully responsible for the construction of 10 Warrior-class cruisers. Their task is to launch two cruisers every year in the next five years.

After all, it is only a 7000-ton warship, and the construction time is not as long as that of a battleship. The construction time of a battleship can easily exceed a year, and generally it takes between one and a half to two and a half years.

The construction time of a 7000-ton cruiser can be shortened to one year, which means that the El Ferrol Royal Naval Shipyard and the Cartagena Shipyard only need to build one cruiser each year to meet the needs of the five-year shipbuilding plan issued by the Navy.

September 1890 was an extremely busy month for Spain.

At the beginning of September, the construction of the battleship Ferdinand II was officially announced. As the King of Spain, Carlo personally attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the battleship Ferdinand II and expressed his new expectations for the Spanish Navy.

At this time, due to the influence of the theory of sea power, both the people and the government of European countries attached great importance to the power of the navy.

Spain's high-profile construction of battleships was a great confidence booster for the Spanish people.

A few days after the groundbreaking ceremony of the battleship Ferdinand II, the groundbreaking ceremony of the cruisers Warrior and Hero followed.

The groundbreaking ceremony for these two smaller cruisers did not attract much attention, but it also aroused heated discussions among many Spanish people.

For the Spanish people, 1890 was perhaps the happiest year. In that year, the construction of a battleship and two cruisers was announced. The combined tonnage of these three warships was close to 3 tons, which was something that the Spanish people could not even imagine.

In the previous ironclad ship era, a navy of 3 tons was equivalent to at least three ironclad ships, and it would take Spain at least five years to build three ironclad ships.

Now Spain has completed the 3-ton naval construction task in just one year. Does this mean that Spain's naval power will continue to increase in the next few years?
Like the Spanish people, many European countries have expressed concern about Spain's high-profile naval construction.

The British, in particular, were eager to get news about the battleships built by Spain. Although the British had already discussed the idea of ​​building battleships at this time, their first battleship, HMS Sovereign, had already started construction at the end of September last year, and it was expected to be launched and start the naval test phase at the beginning of next year.

But it is clear that Britain will not be satisfied with building battleships earlier than Spain. Britain wants to maintain its position as a naval hegemon, and they do not allow any country to challenge their naval power. Because Spain is highly secretive about the battleships it builds, Britain has not found out the details of the battleships built by Spain.

To be on the safe side, Britain accelerated the construction of its battleships and increased naval spending again.

Britain's move to increase naval spending triggered a small naval arms race in Europe.

At this time, it was not only the British who attached great importance to the navy. Almost all major European powers were accelerating the construction of their navy.

As early as mid-to-late 1889, the Triple Alliance led by Germany, Austria and Italy held a secret meeting to discuss the development of the navy and future plans.

After the publication of Alfred Thayer Mahan's "The Influence of Sea Power on History, 1660-1783", the Triple Alliance responded decisively by convening another meeting and reached a unanimous opinion, which was to continue to accelerate the construction of the navy.

The King of Italy at this time was still Carlo's brother Umberto I, a nationalist and imperialist who attached great importance to Italy's military strength.

Under his leadership, the size of Italy's army almost doubled. During the reign of Carlo's father, Vittorio Emanuele II, the Kingdom of Italy had a standing army of just over 20.

When Umberto I became King of Italy, the size of Italy's army expanded rapidly in a short period of time, and has now reached an exaggerated level of nearly 40 people.

You have to know that before the war, the regular army strength of Germany and France was only 40, and the population, industry and economy of Germany and France were far ahead of Italy.

Italy maintained an army of more than 40 soldiers, which was a huge challenge for Italy's finances. However, during the reign of Umberto I, Italy also acquired two small colonies in Tunisia, which made Italy's military expansion not in vain.

After the theory of sea power was taken seriously by European countries, Umberto I immediately turned his attention to the development of the navy.

Long before that, he had made Italy's navy one of the top five in the world. The total tonnage of the Italian navy was as high as 24.2 tons, and the size of the navy even exceeded that of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Spain.

Of course, this 24.2 tons of naval tonnage is also somewhat exaggerated. The main reason why Spain's naval tonnage lags behind Italy is that almost all of the sailing warships from decades ago have been eliminated, and the only main battleships left are the ironclad ships built in recent years.

Italy built ironclad ships on a large scale, and also kept its previous sailing warships. The total tonnage of all its warships was as high as 24.2 tons, but it lagged behind Spain in the number of ironclad ships.

The current ranking of the world's navies is: Britain first, France second, Russia third, Spain fourth, Italy fifth, Germany sixth, the United States seventh, and Austro-Hungary eighth.

This also shows why the Triple Alliance vigorously developed its navy. Compared with the Franco-Russian Alliance, their navy was not just a little bit weaker.

If the navy is not developed, the combined French and Russian fleets will dominate the Mediterranean, thus affecting the stability of the Italian and Austro-Hungarian coasts.

Although Germany's coast will not be harassed by the French fleet, if Italy and Austria-Hungary fall into chaos due to the loss of their coasts, Germany will not be able to hold out for long on its own.

While Britain and Spain were aggressively building their navies, Italy also announced its own naval construction plan.

Although Italy's army is not very strong, its navy is worth mentioning. More importantly, Italy is excellent in shipbuilding, which is why the Italian navy ranks among the top five in the world.

This was the era when ironclad ships were transforming into pre-dreadnoughts. Even though the term battleship had not yet become popular in various countries, the concept of this type of warship was no longer a secret.

In the research and development of main warships, all countries want to design a more powerful warship. The British are the best in this regard. They will not only lead the era of battleships, but also the era of dreadnoughts after battleships.

For Italy, which has a fairly good shipbuilding industry, they also have their own battleship ambitions.

After learning that Carlo had spent a huge amount of money to obtain the Spanish battleships through public bidding, Carlo's brother Umberto I also conducted a public bidding throughout Italy, and announced that whoever could design a work that would satisfy the Italian Navy would receive a large financial reward and other subsidy policies.

Such open bidding was highly valued by Italian shipyards and attracted competition from major shipyards.

在1890年的10月份，意大利也宣布会在未来5年内建造至少5艘战列舰，并且投入2亿里拉的海军经费。

The Italian lira and the Spanish peseta are of equal value, which means that the Italian government's investment in naval construction is not much different from that of Spain.

This was the case with Italy alone, not to mention Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The German government attaches great importance to the construction of the navy.

At this time, Germany had entered the era of William II, and Germany's foreign policy was no longer isolating France and managing Europe as it was during Bismarck's period.

Germany had been constantly developing colonies several years ago. After William II became the German Emperor, Germany's emphasis on colonies continued to increase, and the navy became an important force in Germany's military construction.

As early as October 1889, the German government announced that it would invest at least 10 million marks in the next five years to develop the German Empire's own powerful navy.

In March 1890, the German government announced an additional 3 million marks, expanding the naval development funding to 5000 million marks.

Marks are more valuable than pesetas. 2 million marks is equivalent to 2.5 million pesetas, which means that Germany's investment in the navy is not much different from that of Spain.

As for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which remained in the Triple Alliance, they invested less in the navy.

This is not because the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not attach importance to the navy, but because the Austro-Hungarian Empire had limited finances and could not continue to develop a large-scale navy while having a large-scale army.

What's more, the coastline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was relatively short, and all the coastlines were concentrated in the Adriatic Sea. The Adriatic Sea is a bay in the Mediterranean Sea, between the Balkan Peninsula and the Apennine Peninsula, and its narrowest point is only a little over 70 kilometers.

This also means that once the Austro-Hungarian Empire and France go to war, their fleets will most likely be blocked directly in the Adriatic Sea and will not be able to enter the Mediterranean, let alone go to the ocean to fight.

(End of this chapter)