In the endless sea, a neat and beautiful warship is sailing in the water. The towering towers and powerful cannons all show its strength, leaving a trail of water with waves behind the ship.
This ship is the only Dreadnought battleship that Italy can use, and there are a large number of American naval officers on board this most powerful battleship in Italy.
"This boat is really fast."
A U.S. Navy officer, while feeling the sea breeze blowing in his face, praised the battleship at his feet.
Since the Spanish-American War, the U.S. Navy has attached great importance to the importance of speed after experiencing it personally. Among other things, no matter how good the performance is, the speed of the battleships built in these years is not lower than 18 knots.
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Among them, the Virginia-class battleship launched two years ago has a maximum speed of 20 knots, and has become the top three fastest among the pre-dreadnought battleships in various countries. From attaching great importance to defense to attaching great importance to speed, the transformation of the U.S. Navy is amazing.
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But speaking of it, there is nothing wrong with the U.S. Navy’s emphasis on starting speed. Americans who span two oceans do need to pay attention to the speed of warships. If they still pay attention to protection as before, then there is something wrong.
In addition to the speed, this group of American naval officers were very curious about everything on the Intrepid. Especially when the Intrepid launched a salvo, it caused these Americans to scream.
"Lieutenant General Hilma, your country's Dreadnought is truly an epoch-making warship, with a perfect combination of firepower, protection, and speed. Its launch has directly changed the shipbuilding plans of various navies. All previously built warships will be destroyed.
Sweep it into the trash."
Rear Admiral Sperry knows the navy very well, and he can praise the Dreadnought so unremittingly because this battleship is indeed outstanding. In the two years since its introduction, there must be photos of the ship on the desks of senior navies in various countries.
At least Rear Admiral Sperry knows that this ship has the most photos in the US Navy.
"Your Majesty Sperry, you are very polite. This warship was mainly designed and promoted by our country's Viscount Cuniberti, which is why we have this warship."
Faced with Lieutenant General Hilma's polite words, Sperry just listened. Such a major decision to build a ship cannot be promoted by the designer himself. Even the genius Viscount Cuniberti cannot do it.
. He did not look down on the world-famous Viscount Cuniberti. On the contrary, he was very envious of the emergence of such a talented warship designer in the Italian Navy.
However, building a ship is too expensive and requires both the navy and the government to agree. It is unlikely to be done by one person alone, unless he is the leader of a country.
Moreover, in addition to visiting the purpose of Sperry's trip, the Dreadnought battleship was also one of the purposes.
It must be said here that the United States has also followed suit and built its own dreadnought South Carolina-class battleship. The ship is 141 meters long, 24.5 meters wide, has a draft of 7.5 meters, and has a standard displacement of 16,500 tons. It is equipped with 305 mm 45-diameter twin
4 mounted guns (two at the front and two at the rear, backpack type), 22 76mm 50-caliber single guns, and 2 533mm underwater torpedo tubes.
The main engine is a vertical four-cylinder three-expansion reciprocating steam engine with 2 sets/2 shafts. The main boiler is 12 Babcock coal-fired water tube boilers. Power: 18,500 horsepower. The maximum speed is 19 knots.
The performance of this battleship is very different from the Italian Dreadnought. Not to mention the displacement, the length of the ship is also much shorter. After installing four twin main turrets, the power part is left
There are not many cabins, not to mention that the U.S. Navy actually uses a three-expansion reciprocating steam engine, which makes the ship unable to exert its due combat effectiveness.
Therefore, the U.S. Navy is very dissatisfied with the South Carolina-class dreadnought produced by its own designers, and is even more eager to keep up with the world trend. In this case, the U.S. Navy needs to think of something else.
The solution is that the Great White Fleet of the United States is currently sailing around the world, so it makes sense to visit Italy and directly experience the performance of the Intrepid.
Italy was also very cooperative and allowed the American officers to experience the performance of a real dreadnought. So after returning to Naples that day, a secret message was sent from Naples to the United States. This also led to the third day, the Secretary of the Navy
Admiral Yagir hurriedly found Carlo.
"Your Majesty, this is a request from the Americans to purchase our country's warships and technology."
As he spoke, the Secretary of the Navy handed over a list. This is a list of warships that the United States wants to purchase.
Carlo took the list and read it, but his brows furrowed as soon as he looked at it.
"Just one Dante-class battleship and one Taranto-class battlecruiser?"
Although the Americans have given high prices for the two battleships (a Dante-class battleship is priced at 60 million lire by the Americans, and Taranto is 75 million lire), the Americans want Italy to provide a complete set of blueprints for the two ships.
Carlo felt a little worthless.
If you want to say that countries like Brazil and Argentina are buying like this, then Carlo will decide to sell, but the United States is different. Let’s not talk about local tycoons. The key is that the shipbuilding strength of the United States is not much worse than that of Europe.
So faced with this offer, Carlo knocked on the table and thought about the pros and cons.
The advantage is that Italy will earn money, which can be used to expand its army.
The disadvantages are also obvious. This will improve the level of US shipbuilding and is not conducive to future wars in Europe.
Of course, saying this may be a bit praising Italy's role, but it is indeed the case. Although the industrial scale of the United States currently far exceeds that of European countries, its technical level is much worse than that of Europe. In recent years, the United States has purchased a large number of precision instruments and various equipment from European countries.
technology. But in terms of military technology, European countries actually have a tacit understanding to shield the United States.
You see that even by World War II, the United States, which had experienced a large number of high-skilled immigrants from various countries, could only catch up with Europe in terms of technological level. Not to mention that at present, the United States is still in the stage of a primary industrial country. So facing the United States
Carlo had to carefully consider the request to purchase technology.
Of course, even without the help of Italy, the United States can definitely build a dreadnought, but there is only a slight difference in performance compared with Europe.
"Well, let's separate the warships from the technology. If the price is less than 200 million lire, we will not consider selling the technology. You can also ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help."
After Carlo thought about it again and again, he made a request. If you don't sell it at a high price, how can you have the nerve to break the tacit understanding of various countries? Although Italy has made an exception once, it means giving too much. If it gives less, then the rules are the rules.
Next, under the negotiation of the Navy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy and the United States conducted arduous negotiations on the sale of warships and technology.
Faced with the 200 million lire demanded by the Italian lion, although the United States has money, money does not come from strong winds, and it also fights with arguments.
The negotiator, Johns, the U.S. ambassador to Italy, even proposed to purchase only battle cruiser technology. However, the U.S. request was directly rejected, and Italy insisted on a rigid requirement of either buying everything or not buying it at all.
Italy has the confidence to dare to say this. Firstly, among other countries, only Italy dares to sell dreadnought and cruise ship technology. Secondly, the Italian Navy has judged that although the United States' need for new warship technology is not as urgent as last time, it is not unreasonable.
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In fact, the Italian Navy's judgment is correct. The United States is indeed eager for new warship technology. In particular, the patrol technology is the most eager for the U.S. Navy.
The reason is very simple. The battle cruiser is the nemesis of the current patrols of various countries. It is the perfect weapon for those who want to seize the large interests of European countries in South America.
After about a month of wrangling, the United States finally relented and purchased a Dante-class battleship, a Taranto-class cruiser, and a full set of technologies for the two ships at a price of US$40 million.
While the two countries were negotiating warship and technology deals, the United States' Great White Fleet had already visited various European countries and embarked on its return voyage to the Americas.
Overall, this visit of the U.S. Great White Fleet was a success. It demonstrated the majesty of the U.S. Navy to other countries around the world. Likewise, this voyage was a test of the endurance of the U.S. warships, the reliability of the mechanical devices, and the quality and quality of the crew.
