The "Washington Naval Treaty" stipulates that the standard for a capital ship is a displacement of more than 10,000 tons and a main gun caliber exceeding 203 mm.
The "Kimberley" level heavy cruiser is stuck just below this standard line, with a full load displacement of 9,600 tons and a main gun caliber of 203.
With a caliber of this level, even if the naval gun technology in southern Africa is derived from the British and is relatively powerful, the damage it can cause to the battleship "Queen Elizabeth" will be extremely limited.
Regarding the "live ammunition" incident, neither Roque nor John de Robec discovered it immediately. By the time Roque and John de Robec received the report, the "Kimberley" had already completed the review.
In other words, neither Rock nor John de Robeck noticed that they had already walked past the gate of hell.
"What's going on?" John de Robeck did not think that the "Kimberley" deliberately used live ammunition, but even if it was a mistake, the facts reflected in this incident are shocking.
"I don't know either -" Roque was also confused. This matter was probably a mistake. If so, he still needs to be held accountable.
It's really inappropriate to make such a mistake during an inspection.
From the corner of his eye, Rock noticed that the Royal Navy officers on the bridge of the battleship "Queen Elizabeth", including John de Roebuck, all had strange expressions.
It’s also to blame that Southern Africa has been too high-profile during this period. It has battleships and aircraft carriers, and it seems that it has become a naval power.
As a result, in a simple ship review, the Southern African Navy made such a big mistake that for a while it felt like someone had seen through their pants.
"Ask Barton what's going on." Rock looked ugly.
However, on second thought, it is a good thing. If such an error occurs, the strength of the Southern African Navy will definitely drop a notch in the eyes of the Royal Navy, and the threat will also be reduced.
Fitch took the order and left, while Rock continued to focus on the ship review.
Passing in front of the battleship "Queen Elizabeth" is the hospital ship "Peace", which is a meritorious hospital ship that played an important role during the World War.
Britain also refitted two hospital ships during the World War, but the facilities were relatively simple and could only handle some ordinary trauma. They did not even have an operating room for emergency operations.
The "Mir" hospital ship not only has a fully equipped operating room, but is also equipped with an advanced X-ray room and graded care of hospital beds, which can provide better care for the wounded.
Rock originally wanted to emphasize this point, introduce the hospital ship "Peace" to John de Robeck, and downplay the aggressiveness of the Southern African Navy.
As a result, this was a mistake. Without Roark's introduction, John de Roebuck began to take the initiative to inquire about the situation of the "Peace" hospital ship.
Probably in the opinion of John de Robeck, the Southern African Navy, which performed so amateurishly, was definitely not capable of fighting. In other words, in terms of support, the Southern African Navy could still play some role.
"The Mir hospital ship has a full load displacement of 21,000 tons. It was modified from a transport ship. It has 550 beds and is equipped with 230 medical staff. We have begun research on a hospital ship professionally used for medical treatment.
Some hospital ships are being upgraded." Rock seemed to be in a bad mood, obviously affected by the own incident just now.
"Locke, don't take it too seriously. It has taken hundreds of years for the Royal Navy to reach its current level -" John de Robeck meant a lot. A century-old navy is not a joke. It requires time to accumulate and settle.
Rock smiled and said nothing. It took hundreds of years for Britain to build the Royal Navy, but it only took a few decades for the United States to develop from the Great White Fleet to more than a hundred aircraft carriers.
Different national conditions naturally lead to different methods.
Rock acknowledged that the Royal Navy was still strong, but not unattainable.
After the ship review, Rock returned to the base and immediately called Patton over to ask about the results of the investigation.
"We replenished some artillery shells after arriving at Whale Bay. The soldiers made a mistake and stuffed the training shells into the gun barrel as blank shells - that's it -" Patton looked sad. Fortunately, it was a training shell. If it was a high-explosive bomb or
Armor-piercing bullets, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Be cautious, gentlemen. This incident is a wake-up call for us, and we must resolutely prevent similar incidents from happening again." Roque doesn't need to be too harsh, and a drum doesn't need a heavy hammer. Roque still trusts Barton.
Roark did not say this to Patton alone. Don Juan, Jackson Marshall, and several light cruiser captains were all present.
Recently, with the sea trials of battleships and the laying of the keels of aircraft carriers, some people in the Southern African Navy are really a little bit confused. They probably feel that with battleships and aircraft carriers, the Southern African Navy can become a world-class navy.
This kind of thinking is unacceptable. Confidence is a good thing. Excessive confidence will lead to arrogance. The Southern African Navy does not yet have the qualifications to be proud.
"Yes!" The captains responded in unison, and this time the atmosphere was very serious.
In the evening, Rock held a dinner at the naval base to entertain the Royal Navy officers and soldiers who came from afar.
The dinner was held in the auditorium of the naval base. In order to provide better services to the Royal Navy officers and soldiers, the base invited chefs from major hotels in Walvis Bay to provide guests with a wide variety of southern African specialties.
In fact, it is a variety of Eastern and Western snacks, plus some seafood and fruits, which are specialties of southern Africa.
The drinks provided at the dinner were very rich, with dozens of varieties for guests to enjoy freely.
"Southern Africa is indeed rich in products. Giving up southern Africa will definitely be a great loss for the British Empire." John de Robeck, dressed in military uniform, was full of praise for the wine produced in Cape Town.
"When the British Empire abandoned southern Africa, southern Africa was still full of ruins -" Rock admitted that southern Africa is rich in products, but the rich products also require people to work hard. During the African period, the specialties of southern Africa were fruits and game.
During the Boer period, the specialties of southern Africa were beef and wool. Now, the real specialties of southern Africa are airplanes and automobiles.
It's completely a qualitative leap.
"When are you going to annex Madagascar?" John de Roebuck did not ask about West Africa and the two Congoes, but he was quite concerned about Madagascar.
Also, Madagascar was once a French colony. Unfortunately, France failed to make the Malagasy people surrender after decades of hard work.
If Southern Africa annexed Madagascar, it would be a slap in the face to the French.
"It's difficult. Just look at how miserable the French are in Madagascar, and you'll know how difficult it is to annex Madagascar." Roque and John de Robeck could still say something sincere.
Now the British Empire is in a state of strategic contraction and has no ability to expand externally. It would be a good thing if Southern Africa could expand externally. After all, Southern Africa is also a Commonwealth country. As Southern Africa expands, the influence of the British Empire will also increase.
"Learn from the Americans and kill all the indigenous people of Madagascar - the French are too weak, so they could not conquer Madagascar -" John de Robeck's words made Rock shudder. There are millions of indigenous people in Madagascar. Kill them all.
Light?
Don’t doubt that the British Empire can really do this kind of thing.
Think of the barbed wire fences and concentration camps of the Boer War -
And Kitchinna's "scorched earth policy" is not inferior to the Japanese's "Three Guangs".
It is said that the United States is also a country mainly composed of British immigrants, Anglo-Saxon——
hehe.
Rock shook his head and was about to speak when a quarrel suddenly came from the corner of the hall.
"Unprofessional means unprofessional, it's irrefutable - even if your southern African navy has battleships and aircraft carriers, you can only use them to salvage sardines. If you calm down and listen, you will definitely hear the lamentations of those battleships and aircraft carriers -
—”
Roque was surprised, who is this? He speaks like he is reciting poetry, and it rhymes--
"That's enough William, you've drunk too much, go back and rest -" someone was persuading.
"I didn't, I'm sober, don't stop me, I want to teach these poor people a profound lesson!" The drunk guy had no self-control. He drank like this not long after the dinner started. The British drinking culture is indeed
Well-deserved reputation.
The UK may have the most drug addicts in the world.
The "addiction" of drinking alcohol.
The introduction of the "Prohibition" in the United States has a lot to do with the British people's addiction to alcohol. Walking on the streets of Britain, you can see drunk people everywhere. It would be okay if you just go home and sleep after drinking too much, but the British are drunk.
Later, he loved to make trouble and even called it wine culture——
hetui——
As long as the culture related to "alcohol" can be classified as dross.
Before Roque could say anything, John de Robeck stormed over angrily.
In the crowd, a Royal Navy officer with a red face, smelling of alcohol and unable to stand was speaking nonsense.
The faces of several southern African naval officers including Patton were ashen. The Royal Navy officer's words were like a sharp sword piercing Patton's heart.
"Send him back to the ship. After he sobers up tomorrow, I need a reasonable explanation from him." John de Robeck sent the man away, otherwise he would probably be beaten by a group of people later.
Naval officers are usually quite irritable in character, especially Royal Navy officers. After all, the Royal Navy has been powerful for hundreds of years. It is very common in the Royal Navy to be arrogant and arrogant.
"Yes sir!" The drunken William did not forget to salute when he saw John de Robeck, and then he saw Roque, and a sarcastic smile suddenly appeared on his face.
The sober naval officers at the scene did not give this guy a chance to commit the crime and directly picked him up and took him away.
"Let me go, you cowards—uh huh—"
"I'm sorry Locke, when William wakes up, he will apologize to you in person -" John de Robeck was also helpless. There was a complex pattern emblem embroidered on William's collar, which was probably a descendant of a certain noble.
