Chapter 159: Chapter 154: Warship Approaching the Shore

After Arthur’s speech, the National Flag’s raising and the National Anthem’s playing followed as usual.

At this time, although some countries already had their national anthems representing the royal family and the country, most countries still had vague impressions of their National Anthems, and the songs used in ceremonies and celebrations were not quite the same.

However, the British Empire’s official song used in formal occasions and ceremonies was “God Save the King,” which was also the only song representing the British Royal Family.

As a member of the British Royal Family, Arthur naturally had the right to play “God Save the King.”

So far, the only song designated for Australia’s large-scale celebrations is also “God Save the King.”

Accompanied by the solemn song echoing throughout the shipyard, a huge Australian flag was slowly escorted by a team of guards to the flagpole, and then fixed on the ropes used for raising and lowering the flag.

“Long live Australia!”

With the flag slowly rising on the flagpole, a warm cheer rang out over the nearby open space.

For the Australians at this time, witnessing the national flag, representing their country and the royal family, flying high in the sky was the best news for those who loved their country.

Prime Minister Evan took a step forward after the flag had been hoisted from the bottom of the flagpole to the highest point and slowly unfurled it to flutter over the ceremony site. He continued to preside over the National Day celebrations.

“Next will be the most important part of the entire National Day celebration – His Highness, the Duke, reviewing Australia’s naval fleet upon his command!” said Prime Minister Evan slowly.

After Prime Minister Evan finished speaking, those present eagerly looked towards the distant harbor.

They could vaguely see that in the distance, in the middle of the horizon, several small and large black spots were slowly growing larger – these were the eagerly anticipated Australian warships.

The naval parade was the main event of this National Day celebration, and the one people were looking forward to.

Although they knew that the Australian naval fleet had no large warships, with the largest being just over 5,000 tons of armored cruisers.

But this did not dampen the Australians’ enthusiasm to watch their country’s warships.

Since the colonial period, the navy has been one of the most important branches of a country’s military. Even for some island countries, the navy has become more important than the army, and the country’s financial input into the navy is far greater than that of the army, such as the current world’s superpower, the British Empire.

The British Empire’s investment in the navy is substantial, which is why the Royal Navy can always maintain the world’s top position, even crushing the second and third-ranked powers.

The famous two-power policy also reveals how much the British value their investment in the navy. Maintaining the Royal Navy’s advantage can be regarded as one of the most critical policies of the British Empire.

At present, the vast majority of Australians are immigrants from the British Empire, so they naturally inherit the British tradition of valuing the navy.

As immigrants of the previous colonies, they had no way of expecting Australia to invest in the navy, even if they had some sense of belonging to their current homeland, Australia.

Although Australia has a large area of land, at that time, the population was only a little over three million.

Despite this, Australia was divided into six colonies, each governing itself independently and without interfering with each other.

Under such circumstances, how could people expect Australia to have a navy? Keep in mind that the six colonies of Australia had difficulty affording even the expenses of a 6,000-strong army, much less constructing a navy from retired Royal Navy warships and small warships.

Now, after finally becoming a complete Duchy, there has indeed been some input and achievements in the navy.

This is also the reason why Australians attach so much importance to their navy. After decades of silence, they have finally seen the hope of Australia’s navy rising. Although it is currently just a small hope and a nascent trend.

Seeing everyone looking forward to the arrival of the navy, Arthur did not hesitate. He stepped forward and took the loudspeaker to solemnly announce: “Now, under the witness of Australia’s national flag and all the people, I declare the grand parade of the Australian Navy in 1903 officially begins!” Upon Arthur’s order, some officials in the audience began to prepare.

Shore defense artillery fired three shots towards the uninhabited coastline, symbolizing the third year since the founding of the Australian Principality. Simultaneously, this also signaled the Australian fleet in the distance. The sound of the shore defense artillery meant the naval review had officially begun.

Leading the fleet were the newly launched HMAS Australia and HMAS Duke of Arthur armored cruisers.

Both of these new warships were launched just in time for National Day, allowing Australians to see Australia’s latest warships at this time.

The distant fleet appeared as big and small black spots, which, while slowly approaching, looked only as big as sesame seeds.

The Australians eagerly fixed their eyes on the area beyond the coast, completely focused.

As one warship after another slowly approached the harbor, people gradually saw the full picture of the warships.

At this point, the distant sesame-sized dots gradually enlarged and slowly turned into the size of soybeans and then broad beans.

As the harbor could not accommodate all the warships at once, the naval inspection was carried out in pairs.

Of course, the first ones to dock at the harbor were the two new warships,

HMAS Australia and HMAS Duke of Arthur.

Only after the warships had completely docked at the harbor did the Australians clearly see the warships’ true size and full picture.

Although the Duke-class armored cruiser is just a medium-sized warship and its cost and various performance indicators do not match the currently mainstream battleships, it is still an enormous creation to humans.

The length, width, and height of the Duke-class armored cruiser were 93.5 meters, 17.63 meters, and 7.01 meters, respectively, and it looked like a building up close.

The two armored cruisers parked at the harbor seemed like two buildings had been built on the coast.

“Gentlemen and ladies, the two warships you see here are our navy’s newly launched Duke-class armored cruisers. The one on the left is called HMAS Australia, and the other is HMAS Duke of Arthur.” Below the reviewing stand, two officers from the Ministry of Defense were introducing the two warships to everyone through another loudspeaker.