Chapter 289: Hope-Class Battleship
The Chilean proposal for a super dreadnought quickly woke Arthur from his dreams of Australasia's rise.
Although Australasia had already achieved global leadership in areas like tanks, airplanes, and dreadnoughts, with its military industry being of the highest standard, it was still far from enough.
The intensity of the arms race between the UK and Germany, their rapid technological advancements in military technology, was something Arthur couldn't even imagine.
Since the inception of the dreadnought, it had become the most powerful battleship in the world. Even now, only five countries had dreadnoughts.
Arthur felt some pride in this, as Australasia not only had dreadnoughts, but it was also a nation that possessed advanced shipbuilding technologies for ships like the Nassau-class battleships, Monarch-class battleships, Saint Vincent-class battleships, and the Sovereign-class battlecruisers.
In terms of dreadnought construction technology, Australasia ranked among the top three, right after the UK and Germany.
However, Arthur had overlooked one crucial point: the speed at which the UK and Germany were advancing in their military technology.
While the dreadnought was still the most powerful warship in the world, the UK had already begun to develop, and in some cases, already built super-dreadnoughts, putting it far ahead of the world, leaving the second and third places far behind.
If Australasia truly wanted to rise, it couldn't be satisfied with its current achievements. Arthur knew it had to look toward the future and recognize the world beyond.
Therefore, Arthur made a firm decision: even if the deal with Chile for the super-dreadnought fell through, Australasia would still develop its own super-dreadnought, and at the fastest pace possible.
On October 21, 1910, at Arthur's summons, the majority of Australasia's naval shipbuilding experts arrived at the Royal Shipyard, including German experts who had already settled in Australasia.
Arthur attended the meeting at the Royal Shipyard and gave the experts an order: to design a battleship with a total tonnage of at least 23,000 tons, a full load displacement of at least 27,000 tons, equipped with 13.5-inch guns, and an overall upgrade in armor, propulsion, and firepower.
To facilitate the design, Arthur provided the experts with the construction blueprints of the Monarch-class battleship and the Saint Vincent-class battleship, encouraging them to use these designs as references and create a new battleship.
With Arthur's command, the shipbuilding experts quickly set to work, starting to design the new type of warship.
Arthur set a deadline of three months for the design. Those who succeeded in designing the battleship would receive significant rewards, and possibly even a peerage.
This generous offer stirred the enthusiasm of the shipbuilding experts, and the Royal Shipyard became crowded with activity.
Luckily, the construction of the two battlecruisers was nearing completion. Even though most of the experts were assigned to the new battleship design project, it didn't affect the final assembly of the two battlecruisers.
By November 1910, the Sydney Stock Exchange, founded by Arthur, was also starting to take shape.
The Sydney Stock Exchange had attracted more than ten foreign investors and over a hundred small to medium-sized Australian enterprises.
It had successfully brought in millions of Australian dollars in foreign capital, allowing many small and medium-sized factories and companies to surpass the million-dollar asset mark.
The Sydney Stock Exchange was now bustling with activity, with thousands of people visiting daily and millions of dollars in transactions.
For East Asia, this year had been a year of disaster, with floods, famines, plagues, and other catastrophes causing enormous losses in the region.
Australasia's grain exports for the year had surpassed 4 million tons, with half of that amount going to East Asia, providing substantial profits for state-owned, royal, and private farms.
In mid-November, Arthur attended the launch ceremony of the two newly completed battlecruisers, marking the completion of Australasia's first five-year shipbuilding plan and the successful implementation of the navy's first five-year plan.
As for the second five-year shipbuilding plan being promoted within the navy, Arthur decided to suppress it for the time being.
For Australasia, there was no immediate need to increase the number of dreadnoughts. If the number of dreadnoughts in Australasia continued to grow before World War I, it would inevitably draw the attention and concern of the European powers.
Even if the powers had no other intentions, they would likely start to feel uneasy about the growing strength of Australasia's navy.
This would not be a good thing for Australasia's development, as Arthur still hoped to buy the 13.5-inch gun technology from Britain, at least acquiring dozens of these guns for the eventual installation on the super-dreadnoughts.
If this drew attention from the European powers, causing them to implement a technological blockade, the situation would turn disadvantageous.
The navy was important for Australasia, but if the development of the navy led to European countries becoming wary, it might not be worth it.
While Australasia might have a second navy five-year plan, it certainly wouldn't be in this period, with the shadow of the European war hanging over them.
Arthur's authority made the naval officers reluctant to protest, and they had no choice but to focus their hopes on the training of the two newly built battlecruisers.
If the combat capability of these two battlecruisers was similar to that of the dreadnoughts, Australasia would have five main battleships, surpassing even second-rate powers like the island nations, ensuring a certain degree of self-defense.
As the construction of Australasia's navy progressed, the sense of national pride among the people was growing.
It must be acknowledged that, in this era, the navy was indeed the most important branch of the military.
A great power might not have a strong army, but it could never afford to lack a powerful navy to protect its coastline and territory.
Of course, this didn't apply to purely inland nations, but in this age of colonization, it was nearly impossible for an inland nation to become a great power.
How important is the navy? One could say that if Australasia had a few more dreadnoughts, it would truly be able to stake its claim as a great power.
With one or two decisive naval battles to slap the faces of second-rate powers, Australasia could become a recognized new great power.
But this approach wasn't necessary for Australasia. What the country lacked wasn't its position as a great power, but the true strength and foundation to belong to the top tier.
Speaking of which, the island nation was indeed considered the eighth great power. But the question remained: besides the decayed Ottoman Turkish Empire, which great power would regard the island nation as worthy of respect?
Even the similarly decayed Russian Empire, if it relocated its main forces and navy to the Far East, might not consider the island nation its equal.
This is the true strength and foundation of the old great powers, the very thing Arthur and Australasia aspired to.
Meanwhile, the shipbuilding experts were making progress. Ten designs had already been completed, but none of them fully met Arthur's specifications.
Among all the requirements from Arthur and the Chileans, tonnage was the easiest to achieve.
The simplest way to increase tonnage was by adding thicker armor. This would significantly boost the ship's tonnage. Additionally, increasing the size of the ship would easily meet the Chileans' demand for a 28,000-ton battleship.
But the problem was, such a ship would essentially be a hollow shell. Blindly increasing the volume and armor thickness would greatly reduce the ship's propulsion.
Arthur believed that such a design might not even achieve the speed of older battleships.
The design issue persisted until the end of December 1910.
On December 21, 1910, Arthur finally received some good news. The shipbuilding experts at the Royal Shipyard had, after much effort, come up with a design that looked far more reliable than the others.
The new battleship design drew on the Monarch-class and Saint Vincent-class battleships, but overall it was a completely new design.
More than 60% of the design was based on technologies that Australasia did not have. This meant that to build the new battleship, Arthur would need to negotiate with the UK to purchase the required technologies.
Arthur had anticipated this shortcoming. After all, even for the 13.5-inch guns, Australasia lacked the necessary technology and would need to import them from the UK.
Furthermore, more advanced power systems, armor protection, and other features would also need to be imported from the UK, ideally purchasing the construction technology and principles.
The battleship design that was reported to Arthur had basically met both his and the Chileans' requirements.
While not all the requirements were fully met—given the need to consider Australasia's specific construction technologies—Arthur was pleased with the final design.
The new battleship was expected to be about 181 meters long, 28 meters wide, and have a draft of 8.4 meters.
The new battleship's size far exceeded the Monarch-class and Saint Vincent-class battleships, making it a true super-battleship.
The increase in size was mainly due to the expansion of the armor and propulsion systems. The estimated standard displacement of the new battleship would be around 22,800 tons, with a full load displacement reaching 26,910 tons.
If all went according to plan, the new battleship would be equipped with 45-caliber MK V 13.5-inch guns, with a total of ten main guns.
Additionally, it would have 18 4-inch 50-caliber secondary guns and 4 533mm underwater torpedo tubes.
Compared to the Monarch-class and Saint Vincent-class battleships, the new battleship represented a massive improvement in firepower.
In terms of propulsion, it would use the same power system as the Saint Vincent-class battleship, including two sets of four-axis Parsons direct-drive steam turbines and twenty-two Hercules Vialot-type mixed-fuel water boilers.
With the addition of four more mixed-fuel water boilers, the new battleship's estimated power would reach 34,000 horsepower, with a top speed of at least 21 knots.
In terms of armor protection, the new battleship would feature main armor belt thickness ranging from 6.5 to 12 inches, a 3.5-inch deck, 4 to 8-inch watertight bulkheads, 11.5-inch turrets, 10-inch gun mounts, and 11.5-inch command towers.
This level of protection was a significant improvement over previous dreadnoughts, and coupled with the upgrades in firepower and propulsion, Arthur was confident that the new battleship would have at least 40% greater combat power compared to the Saint Vincent-class battleship.
This was a conservative estimate, as the real combat performance could not be guaranteed. But in a real naval battle, the new battleship would easily outperform older dreadnoughts.
Arthur was thoroughly satisfied with the new battleship design and decided to name it the Hope-class battleship.
Hope—symbolizing the hope for the nation's rise. Arthur hoped that with the super-dreadnought, Australasia would continue its dream of ascension and shine with its own color, making the world hear Australasia's voice.
The finalization of the super-dreadnought design lifted Arthur's spirits, and he began generously rewarding the experts at the Royal Shipyard.
Each expert was granted a reward of 10,000 Australian dollars, and the primary designer of the Hope-class battleship would also be awarded a medal for their efforts.
Arthur was generous with his scientists and other talents, as these experts were the true hope for Australasia's rise.
Even if the total reward of 200,000 Australian dollars for the 200 shipbuilding experts seemed like a small price to pay for the design of the Hope-class battleship, it was a very worthwhile investment.
Since over 60% of the technology for the Hope-class battleship needed to be imported from the UK, the cost of the battleship would far exceed that of the Monarch-class battleships.
According to the shipyard's experts' conservative estimates, the cost of one Hope-class battleship might exceed 2 million pounds, possibly reaching 2.2 million pounds.
How to price the Hope-class battleship became a headache for Arthur. Based on the profit margins of the Monarch-class battleships, the price could reach nearly 3 million pounds, but such a high price would likely be unaffordable for the Chileans.
Arthur also saw the Chilean naval order as an opportunity for the shipyard to practice building super-dreadnoughts, so the battleship's price would likely need to be reduced further.
(End of Chapter)
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