December 20, 1829, Scapa Flow, Onk Islands, Scotland.
This is a good natural bay surrounded by Mainland Island, Hoyin Island, South Lonasay Island and a number of small islands. It is about 24 kilometers long, 13 kilometers wide and 130 kilometers in area. There are no strong winds or waves, and there is no ice in winter. The most important thing is that the location is particularly good!
This bay is located on the back of the British Isles, guarding the gates to the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea. To the west is the vast North Atlantic. Going south along the British coastline to the English Channel is eight to nine hundred kilometers. For the naval fleet, this distance is only a day or two's voyage.
In addition, this sea area is sufficiently secretive. It is not as conspicuous as Portsmouth and Plymouth, the two naval bases next to the English Channel. There are so many merchant ships coming and going in front of them every day that it is impossible to hide them. What a secret. Therefore, Scapa Flow and a large area around it have become the main anchorage of the Royal Navy since the second half of 1829. Small ships flying the Royal Navy flag patrol the surrounding area day and night, driving away those who try to get closer. All vessels without special permission. When the weather is nice, there will be Royal Navy airships circling in the sky around Scapa Flow.
On this alert, as if facing a formidable enemy, the British Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, the First Sea Lord, the Earl of Nelson, the Secretary of the Admiralty, Commodore Elliot, and the Director of Ordnance, Rear Admiral Somerset, were on board a newly commissioned Egyptian ship. The Degas-class first-class protected cruiser quietly sailed into the main anchorage of the British Royal Navy from the first entrance to Scapa Flow.
The Edgar class has a standard displacement of up to 7,350 tons, a main engine power of up to 12,000 horsepower, and a top speed of over 20 knots. Equipped with 2 9.2-inch main guns, 10 6-inch main guns, 16 3-pound guns, and 4 14-inch torpedo tubes.
Although this first-class cruiser is not as good as the three Blake-class ships that previously fought against the eight Guogong-class ships of the Ming Dynasty's Persian Gulf Fleet off the coast of Goa, it is still a very good first-class cruiser.
Moreover, the cost of this first-class cruiser is not bad, only 370,000 pounds. For the British Empire with poor financial resources, it can be regarded as an economical and practical ship. Therefore, before the Naval Shipbuilding Act was passed in June 1828, the Royal Navy Orders for 9 ships have been placed. After the new shipbuilding law was passed, the Royal Navy placed an additional order for 6 ships.
But today’s protagonist is not this Edgar-class first-level protected cruiser, but a more powerful battleship! According to Lord Palmerston, Lord of the Admiralty, who is attending the peace conference in Vienna, this is a first-class invincible battleship that can change the rules of naval warfare and win victory and glory for the British Empire.
It is HMS Victory, the first ship of the Victory class of the new Royal Navy of the British Empire.
The huge hull of the Victory is now floating on the sea in a corner of Scapa Flow. The huge steel hull exudes a frightening cold light under the reflection of the sun. There are 6 huge ships located at the bow and left and right sides. The steel turret gives people a feeling of amazing destructive power.
"Duke, this is the most powerful battleship known in the world, more powerful than the Hero class of the Ming Navy!"
The uniquely gentle and serious voice of Rear Admiral Somerset, the Duke of Wellington's niece and son-in-law, who, like Nelson, was injured and was left with only one arm, sounded from the bridge of the Edgar-class cruiser Theseus. .
Major General Somerset said: "It has a standard displacement of more than 18,000 tons, equipped with 18 coal-fired steam boilers and 4 triple-expansion steam engines. Under normal ventilation conditions, it can generate 22,500 horsepower, and its maximum speed can reach 21 knot, one knot faster than the hero level!
In addition, its firepower is also more powerful than the hero level! Our engineers optimized the turret layout and changed the Hero-class six 280mm twin turrets into five 12-inch twin turrets... one at the bow and stern of the ship, and one behind the boiler room amidships. One, arranged on the center line of the ship; between the two boiler rooms, one is symmetrically arranged on each side, with a total of 10 12-inch/45-caliber guns. The maximum firepower of the entire ship is 8 main guns on the sides and forward firepower. Theoretically 6 main guns. This kind of artillery layout makes the Victory-class firepower density no less than that of the Hero-class, but because the caliber of the artillery is much larger, it will definitely have a considerable advantage in artillery battles.
The armor protection of the Victory class is also strong enough. The entire ship has 5,000 tons of armor, which is 600 tons more than the Hero class. Like the Hero class, it uses surface-hardened armor steel, making the ship's anti-strike ability no less than that of the Hero class. At the heroic level..."
The Duke of Wellington turned to look at Earl Nelson and asked, "Earl, can this Victory Class defeat the Hero Class?"
"Yes! It must be possible!" Earl Nelson said very firmly, "Duke, do you know what is the biggest advantage of this victory-class?"
"Is it because its speed is one knot faster and its gun caliber is larger?"
"No!" Earl Nelson curled his lips and showed a proud smile, "Its greatest advantage is the workers and engineers who built it... They are the greatest workers and engineers in the world, and they can spend their days fighting for victory. Working overtime all night! Duke, did you know? The first keel of this battleship was laid in Plymouth on August 10 last year. Four months later, this giant ship with a standard displacement of more than 18,000 tons was launched. This year On August 11th, it completed all outfitting projects and began sea trials...and today, just one year and four months after the start of construction of Shengli Hao, it officially entered service and joined the Royal Family of the British Empire. Navy! Its construction speed is an absolute miracle, and it is also the real trump card of the British Empire."
Major General Somerset nodded, "Yes, although our overall industrial strength cannot be compared with Ming Dynasty, we have more diligent shipbuilders and engineers... They can work 12 hours or even 16 hours a day. For hours, they could keep working in the cold wind at night and still ensure quality. In order to rush the work, they could even work seven days a week, and even changed the place of worship to a temporary church in the shipyard.
Such workers are the real trump card of the British Empire! With their efforts, all 10 Victory-class ships started in 1828 will be delivered before the end of the first quarter of 1830! In addition, including the battleships received by the Indian Grand Fleet, we will have as many as 12 Indomitable class ships completed before the end of the first quarter of 1830... And the number of new first-class cruisers equipped with the navy, It will reach 20 ships before the end of the first quarter of 1830, and this still excludes the data of the Waterloo that sank in the battle! "
"10 plus 12 plus 20...that's 42 ships!" The Duke of Wellington counted on his fingers, "What about the airship mothership? How many can be prepared?"
George Elliot, who is in charge of the airship and airship mothership projects, replied: "Duke, because we have to fully guarantee the construction of front-line combat ships, the number of airship motherships to be built is less than the original plan. However, it can be completed before the end of the first quarter of next year. Prepare 15 airships. And since we are equipped with gliding guided bombs, 15 airships are enough to give the enemy's large fleet a fatal blow!"
"Okay!" Duke Wellington nodded, "22 battleships, 20 armored cruisers, 15 motherships... This is India's real strength!"
This strength is really scary!
If you don't consider that these battleships, armored cruisers and motherships are slightly water-filled, it would be decent enough to fight in World War II. Moreover, so many battleships, armored cruisers and motherships were only built by workers in British shipyards working overtime in the two years from 1828 to 1830. That is even more terrifying... Now The British Empire is still very powerful!
"India?" Nelson was stunned, "Duke, you mean India?"
The Duke of Wellington nodded heavily and said with a smile: "Yes, it is India. Sell all these warships to India...Emperor William's India! A war that is inconvenient for the British Empire will be initiated by Emperor William India comes to initiate, and India will fight to the last rupee for Emperor William! May God bless the Emperor of India and his Indian Empire!”
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