Although the Battle of Port Arthur became more and more intense and bloody, for countries in Europe, the war in the Far East was too far away and had little impact on them. They were more concerned about matters in Europe.
If anything major has happened in Europe recently, it must be the Russian reinforcement fleet. The fleet has recently done a big thing. The first reinforcement fleet that set out from the Baltic Sea encountered heavy fog while passing through the Denmark Strait.
, as a result, the Sisoy accidentally collided with a merchant ship. As a result, the merchant ship was sunk on the spot and three crew members were killed, and the bow of the Sisoy was also damaged.
Can ramming and sinking a merchant ship be considered a big deal?
Yes, because this merchant ship is a British merchant ship. The British Empire was worried that it could not find a reason, so the Russians sent it themselves. So the British Empire spoke, and the Russian fleet must compensate the British for their losses. Of course, speaking alone was not enough.
After all, the warships of the British Empire stopped all these warships from Russia, and they were not allowed to leave without paying compensation or handing over the perpetrators.
Facing the menacing British fleet that wanted to cause trouble, the Russians backed down. They paid 197,000 pounds for all losses caused by the collision, and also left the perpetrators to face trial in the British court.
It can be said that the Russians lost all face in the collision. This was also a huge blow to the morale of the Russian naval officers and soldiers on the ship.
But just like that, do you think it’s over?
The British Empire would then announce that it would ban the Russian fleet from using the Suez Canal. In addition, it would also ban the Russian fleet from docking at its own ports, and refuse to sell any supplies to the Russian fleet. It also called on friendly countries to implement the same approach to the Russian fleet as it did.
A discerning person can tell at a glance that this is the British Empire, which is asking all countries to express their stance. At this time, although the British have just suffered a stumble in the Boer War, they are still in a state of great prestige. Is there any blind person who is willing to work for the Russians?
What about offending Britain? So other countries with colonies in Europe subsequently expressed their opinions and banned the Russians from docking and replenishing supplies at their own ports.
Faced with the statements of various countries, Russia's Second Pacific Fleet immediately fell into trouble, because at first the fleet planned to pass through the Suez Canal, and then use the port of its ally France to stop and resupply. It was expected that the whole journey would take two months to reach the Far East.
And now that it can no longer pass through the Suez Canal, the fleet will have to go around the African continent, not to mention the increased voyage. This was not planned in advance, so what should the supply ships do?
You must know that all warships in various countries are coal-fired. Take the British Empire's Dreadnought-class battleships as an example. Its standard displacement is 14,500 tons. It is designed to carry 900 tons of coal. The normal coal loading is 1,100 tons. The maximum coal loading is 1,490 tons.
When it travels at 15 knots and consumes 170 tons of coal per day, the normal coal loading is only enough for 6 days, and the maximum coal loading cannot last ten days.
In addition to carrying a huge amount of coal, a large amount of fresh water is also necessary to run the boiler (this is why commercial sailing ships are needed on the South American route. It is difficult to replenish coal and fresh water when transporting copper, saltpeter and other materials on the South American route). Therefore, the navies of various countries have to carry out encirclement operations.
Navigating halfway around the world was a huge challenge, and the British and French navies were able to overcome this challenge with a network of bases around the world.
When Nicholas II was worried about how to supply coal, his cousin Kaiser Wilhelm II guaranteed that his German company could guarantee the supply. Faced with the goodwill of the Germans, the Russians who were short of supplies immediately agreed, which offended them.
Allied with the French.
However, for Nicholas II, everything must be compromised for the war in the Far East. Therefore, in order to allow the fleet to obtain sufficient supplies, the French can only put aside their dissatisfaction first.
After receiving Germany's supply commitment, Russia's Second Pacific Fleet also began a voyage around the African continent.
The matter of the Russian fleet can come to an end. At this time, a large-scale shipbuilding project in Italy has just begun.
Located in the Venice Naval Shipyard, under the watchful eyes of many naval officers and shipyard workers, Admiral Agier personally laid the first keel for the Dante. After he completed this ceremony, he also announced the beginning of Italian shipbuilding.
start.
The Dante class is a partially modified battleship after the Italian test of the Dreadnought. This class is very similar to the Dreadnought in appearance. Of course, there are differences. For example, the Dante class adopts the cylindrical shape invented by Pugliese.
Underwater defense system. Because this system is designed in the cabin, it does not need to increase the burden on the ship. It is much better than mine protection nets and mine protection partitions.
In addition, compared to the Dauntless, the Dante-class shipside armor adopts an inward-sloping layout. Its 25-degree inclination allows the Dante-class to obtain greater armor thickness, or use less armor to achieve defense.
Purpose.
In addition, certain modifications have been made to address some of the shortcomings of the Dauntless. In the end, the data of the Dante-class are as follows. The total length of the Dante-class is 158.7 meters, the width is 25.9 meters, and the draft is 9 meters. The standard displacement is
19,700 tons, with a full load displacement of 22,600 tons.
The firepower is 8 305 mm 45 times caliber main guns and 16 105 mm single-barreled secondary guns. The maximum armor thickness is 280 mm. In terms of power, the ship is equipped with 18 oil-fired boilers and 4 steam turbines with a power of 30,000 horsepower and a maximum speed.
It is 23 knots. The endurance is 6500 nautical miles at 10 knots or 4200 nautical miles at 15 knots.
Generally speaking, the Dante class is an optimized battleship of the Dreadnought, and the Italian Navy is quite satisfied with it. Otherwise, it would not have the ambition to build four ships at once.
That's right, in view of the current situation and the Navy's demand for new battleships, the Navy launched four new battleships in one go, and the Dante was the first ship of this class, followed by the second ship Petrarch in two months.
The construction of the other two ships, the Leonardo da Vinci and the Michelangelo, will begin early next year.
In addition to the Venice Naval Shipyard (two ships), the Ansaldo Shipyard (one shipyard) and the Orlando Shipyard (one shipyard) are also undertaking part of the construction tasks.
It is expected that all four Dante-class battleships will be launched in 1906, and by then the Italian Navy will have passed this dangerous period of capital ship vacancy.
Admiral Yagir, who presided over the construction ceremony, did not leave. He stayed and had a conversation with the shipyard managers. The main purpose was to discuss the construction of the Dante class and to ensure that the shipyard completed the construction of the warship with quality and quantity.
Work must not be delayed.
Of course, in addition to this, he also had to discuss the battlecruiser issue with Cuniberti, the chief designer of the Navy. Because he always felt that something was wrong with Cuniberti's plan.
