The disaster of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius came and went quickly. One month after the volcano stopped erupting, the province of Campania, where Naples is located, has partially returned to normal. In addition to those who lost their loved ones in this disaster, there are still
Apart from the painful thoughts, among other people, the volcanic eruption has already become a topic of conversation.
Of course, the losses in Naples were not small. According to subsequent statistics, the total value of the losses was about 46 million lire. The main losses came from the destroyed town of Ottaviano and the shutdown of surrounding factories caused by volcanic ash.
However, these losses were not borne by the people or the factories themselves. The government also provided a more or less relief fund, which somewhat compensated for some of their losses.
Therefore, this volcanic eruption has become the memory of most people.
The disaster caused by the volcanic eruption has basically come to an end, but life will still go on.
One day more than a month later, the Port of Naples welcomed a large number of warships. Anyone who is familiar with the navy will definitely be very surprised, because currently all the warships that the Italian Navy can handle are gathered here.
Is the Port of Naples designated as a military port?
It’s not surprising that some people think this way, because currently Italy has very few warships at its disposal. Except for the Dreadnought battleship, the others are all warships of several thousand tons, and none of them have tens of thousands of tons. This makes the famous
The Italian Navy is a little embarrassed.
There is no way, who made the Italian Navy sell ships too hard before, and also decommissioned a large number of old warships in order to build ships, resulting in today's situation of lack of supply. There are not even warships to support the appearance.
But don’t worry, currently two Dante-class battleships are about to enter service, and two more are about to be launched. And a new Taranto-class large cruiser is about to be launched. In just one year, the Italian Navy will
Things will improve a lot. As for the small difficulties now, just overcome them.
In addition, although Italy cannot handle the large battleships, the situation is different for small and medium-sized battleships. The 26-knot Piedmont-class light cruiser and the 30-knot new destroyer are both very interesting little characters.
There is naturally a reason why these warships gather here, because the visiting fleet from the United States is about to arrive in Naples, so Italy, as the host, naturally needs to send warships to welcome it.
Maybe some people have already thought of it, yes, it is the famous Great White Fleet that is visiting this time. Compared with history, the time of this visit is two years earlier.
The reasons are also caused by many aspects. First, after the victory of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan was too active in the Pacific and was suspected of squeezing the United States' local interests. Therefore, this round-the-world visit of the U.S. fleet has the factor of showing its strength.
Second, the new U.S. President Roosevelt is an admirer of sea power theory (like William II). He attaches great importance to the navy and is willing to support the navy in showing its strength to countries around the world.
Third, the United States has built a lot of warships in recent years. In just six or seven years, the United States has built 16 large warships. It is precisely because of its sufficient wealth that the United States has the idea of showing it to other countries.
This is not only to show off the strength of the U.S. Navy, but also because it can benefit the United States. For example, on the Panama Canal issue, the United States relied on its expanded navy to force the French to let go of the Panama Canal.
The U.S. Navy, having tasted the sweetness, planned to show it to other countries while the warships in its hands were not outdated. It felt that the effect was pretty good, and Japan, which had been a bit noisy before, immediately showed enough enthusiasm.
When the fleet arrived in Japan, the Japanese Navy sent 16 of its best warships to welcome the guests. After that, the fleet was not only summoned by Emperor Meiji, but its combined fleet commander, Admiral Togo Heihachiro, also had a pleasant conversation with the American naval officers and soldiers.
.And the celebration lasted for a whole week, which made the US Navy quite happy.
No way, the 16 newly built pre-dreadnought battleships do look majestic, enough to demonstrate the strong industrial strength of the United States. So much so that in order to allow them to pass through the Suez Canal, the canal had to temporarily close to other ships for four days.
Now that this majestic visiting fleet is about to arrive in Naples, Italy, as the host, of course cannot make the guests dissatisfied, so all kinds of warships that Italy can handle are gathered here, waiting for the arrival of the American fleet.
Gu Mo
"Vice Admiral, the American fleet is almost here."
On the flagship Dreadnought, Lieutenant General Hilma, the commander of the Home Fleet who was responsible for leading the greeting team, heard the words of the communications officer and immediately said, "Order, each ship prepares in turn to welcome American friends coming from afar.
."
What Lieutenant General Hilma said is literal. Because the relationship between the two countries is very good at present, giving each other sufficient respect is the character that the Italian navy should have.
Following Lieutenant General Hilma's words, the Italian warships also started to move. They lined up in a long queue, waiting for the visiting American fleet.
The American fleet has appeared in the distance and is heading towards Naples at high speed.
Welcomed by the salute, the visiting American fleet entered the port of Naples one after another.
"Hello, Major General Sperry, welcome to Italy."
During the welcoming ceremony, Lieutenant General Hilma stepped forward and shook the hand of Rear Admiral Sperry, commander of the U.S. Great White Fleet.
"Hello, Lieutenant General Hilma, thank you for the welcome."
As the commander of the Great White Fleet, Rear Admiral Sperry has also visited many countries and ports, and is familiar with diplomatic etiquette.
Then the generals of the two sides shook hands with each other, and when Major General Sperry walked up to a middle-aged man wearing the uniform of an Italian Navy rear admiral, he spoke with a somewhat complicated look in his eyes.
"Hello, Major General Leifer. Your Excellency is well-known, and our colleagues all admire your command level."
The words of Major General Sperry showed that they knew in whose hands they had suffered a loss. Of course, this was not to settle an old score, but to show due respect.
Faced with Sperry's profound words, Leifer, who had been promoted to major general, could only reply with a smile. "Thank you for your colleagues' recognition, but everything has passed, and we should look forward."
"Your Excellency is right, we should look forward."
At the welcome dinner that night, officers from the United States frequently toasted to Leifer. Even Leifer, who had been tested for many years in battle, was unable to resist and did not even know how to leave.
This also shows that what the Yang guys say about letting go is a bit untrue.
However, trying to regain some respect at the wine table is not the main reason for this visit to Italy, and the officers of the US Navy also know this.
