Chapter 291: Chapter 259: New Firearm Technology and Submarine

On August 11th, Arthur attended the delayed commencement ceremony of the New Zealand battleship due to the slow progress of the Russian warship construction and encouraged the workers of the Royal Shipyard.

Starting with the Australasian Battleship in January, the Royal Shipyard has now successively started working on three battleships. The fastest one, the Australasian Battleship, is expected to be completed in around March or April of the following year, 1909, for the final launching test.

This is good news for Australasia, as March or April is only about half a year away.

However, even though he was looking forward to the battleship’s launching test, Arthur repeatedly instructed the person in charge of the shipyard and all workers to carefully control the quality of warship construction. What Australasia needs is a powerful, excellent warship that can withstand the actual test of war, not just a showpiece.

The good news is that Australasia’s industry and shipbuilding were established with the help of the Germans, and the Germans’ rigid and serious character has had a profound impact on these Australasian workers.

At least Australasia’s industrial products can withstand the test. Even if they are not as meticulous as Germany, they are definitely striving for perfection.

Currently, the sea trials of the two Russian warships are going very smoothly, and the fastest Peter Pavlovskiy battleship can even be officially delivered around October of this year.

Based on the performance of the Peter Pavlovskiy battleship in maritime aspects, the actual performance of the Monarch-class battleship is not much different from its data on paper, and it is a true dreadnought that can be comparable to the Dreadnought battleship in all aspects.

It is worth mentioning that the first Nassau-class battleship of Germany has been successfully launched, but the performance demonstrated in the test cannot be satisfactory.

In history, because there was no comparison, the Germans had some confidence in the Nassau-class battleships.

However, with the advent of Australasia’s Monarch-class battleship technology, the Germans compared the two warships in all aspects and even produced one sample ship each for comparison. In the end, they had to admit that the design of the Monarch-class battleship was better than the Nassau-class battleship, and the 305mm primary artillery was definitely more powerful than the 283mm main gun.

More crucially, Germany’s most intimate ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, happens to have such artillery technology. After consultations between the two governments, Germany quickly introduced the technology of 305mm ship guns from the Austro-Hungarian Skoda Arsenal. As a price, Germany will help the Austro-Hungarian Empire to have dreadnoughts.

This exchange is not a loss for Germany as the 305mm main gun can significantly improve the firepower level of the current German battleship. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire has dreadnoughts, it can also increase its influence in the Mediterranean Sea, threatening France’s southern coastline and the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Germans kept their promise and shared a part with Australasia after obtaining the 305mm main gun technology of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Germans obtained the gun technology in July, and it was shipped to Australasia in mid-August, just in time for the day when the cabinet candidates had been determined.

After obtaining the gun technology provided by the Germans, Arthur immediately convened all the artillery experts from the arsenal and put the whole country’s strength together to quickly grasp the 305mm main gun technology.

At this time, there were fewer German experts in Australasia. This was because the aid treaty signed with the Germans at the time was only for five years. However, due to the closer diplomatic relations between Germany and Australasia, some experts stayed for a few more years.

From signing the aid treaty in 1900 to August 1908, Germany sent a total of 1,215 experts in various fields to Australasia, providing Australasia with a wealth of advanced industrial and scientific knowledge.

So far, there are fewer than 200 German experts left in Australasia, and the specific number is only 141.

These 141 people are the result of Australasia’s eight-year effort and finally managed to keep them permanently in Australasia.

Of course, they used more peaceful means. The Australasian government provided a lot of convenience and policies, which retained one-ninth of the entire expert group’s talents.

A considerable part of them are experts in the military factories and shipyards, accounting for 93 people, and the rest are talents in the chemical industry, basic industry, and other industries.

Most of these experts have successfully obtained Australasian nationality, and the rest are considering it.

Arthur offered generous terms for winning them over. In addition to keeping their yearly wages unchanged, he promised to invite all their families to Australasia and grant them nationality as soon as possible, enjoying the treatment of Australasian citizens.

At the same time, they would be given conditions that all immigrants would get, which means that these German experts’ families would receive at least several dozen acres of land when they arrived in Australasia, and their living could be guaranteed.

William II maintained a default attitude towards Arthur’s talent recruitment. After all, the good relations between Germany and Australasia were ahead, and the abundance of German talent did not lead to dissatisfaction with Australasia because of these more than one hundred talents.

Following Arthur’s command, hundreds of arsenal gun experts began a comprehensive study of the 305mm main gun technology provided by the Germans under the guidance of dozens of German experts, striving to master the technology as soon as possible and then equip it on the Australasian battleship.

At present, the two Russian warships have already been tested for launching, so they have to wait for Australasia to master the technology before spending time replacing the main guns of these two battleships.

However, the good news is that it won’t take long to replace the main gun. It will be completed in as short as half a month and as long as one or two months.

Moreover, these disassembled 283mm main guns could also be installed on Australasian coastlines as coastal defense batteries. This would not only solve the problem of waste but also enhance the defense capabilities of the Australasian coastlines.

In addition, the submarine technology provided by Germany had basically been mastered by Australasia. Since Germany’s current submarine technology only reached the U-3 class submarines, and that too only the first two vessels, their technology was not too advanced, at least by European standards.

Germany’s U-3 class submarine construction plans comprised 20 vessels, divided into seven groups. Germany’s goal was to make performance improvements in each group of U-3 class submarines, which was also the reason for the rapid rise of German submarine technology later on.

At present, Germany’s U-3 class submarines were still in the construction phase of the first two vessels, the U-3 and U-4, which were the most basic U-3 class submarines.

This type of U-3 class submarine had a surface displacement of 421 tons, and an underwater displacement of 510 tons. The length of the submarines was about 53.1 meters, with surface speeds reaching around 12 knots and underwater speeds reaching 9.4 knots.

In comparison to the more advanced submarines developed by France and Italy at the time, these submarines were somewhat lagging behind. Perhaps Kaiser Wilhelm II was aware of this, which is why he generously shared the design blueprints of the U-5 to U-7 submarines, which were still in the design stage, with Australasia.

These were the second group of U-3 class submarines, and the German Navy had higher requirements for this group.

According to the design blueprints, the displacement of the second group of submarines was much greater than that of the first group, and each submarine was required to be equipped with at least three engines, allowing the submarines to have a surface speed of at least 14 knots.

Furthermore, the German Navy demanded that this group of submarines have a cruising range of at least 2000 nautical miles, a crew of around 20 people, and the ability to operate continuously underwater for 72 hours to complete missions.

In terms of firepower, the submarines were equipped with two torpedo launchers at both the front and rear ends, with a total of 6 to 8 torpedoes carried on board.

According to the design blueprints, the second group of submarines would almost satisfy the German Navy’s requirements, with an estimated surface speed of around 14 knots, an underwater speed of more than 9 knots, and a maximum speed maintained between 10 to 11 knots.

To be honest, there was no comparison between the performance data of the first and second groups of submarines. The second group of submarines were truly battle-worthy and met Arthur’s satisfaction.

Although the second group of submarines only existed on the design table at present, Arthur believed in the German Navy’s technology. After all, according to historical developments, German submarine technology indeed experienced rapid progress during this period.

Naturally, relying only on the efforts of Germans themselves wouldn’t be enough; the independent research of Australasia was also crucial.

Given that the cost of building submarines wasn’t too expensive, Arthur immediately ordered the shipyard to thoroughly understand the design blueprints of the first group of U-3 class submarines and to build a submarine to familiarize themselves with the process.

Subsequently, in-depth studies were conducted on the design blueprints of the second group of submarines. Once both Australia and Germany were sure that the design blueprints were flawless, then large-scale submarine construction would commence.

After dealing with the naval interlude, the time neared the end of August, which was when Arthur decided to convene the cabinet meeting.

Although, in theory, this was just a regular cabinet meeting, since it was the first meeting after the restructuring of the cabinet and it also welcomed several new cabinet ministers, it was rather important.

At this cabinet meeting, Archbishop Stede of Australasia, Lord Chancellor Gregory, Defense Minister Raul, and Sir Evan would make their first appearances, with Evan returning to the cabinet in a new capacity.

Moreover, with the addition of Kent Butler’s son, the former defense minister officially assuming the position of Secretary of State in the Cabinet government, there would likely be significant changes in the alignment of the cabinet.

However, this wouldn’t greatly affect Arthur. After all, he controlled the most important finances and defense sectors, and Secretary of State Kent was a highly loyal and trusted talent. There was no need to worry about the emergence of opposing factions within the cabinet.

Based on the current situation, the relationship between Speaker of the House Evan and Chief Minister Walter would certainly not return to what it was in the previous government.

One was a former Prime Minister, and now Speaker of the House, the other was a former Minister of Livelihood, and now a Prime Minister. If there were no surprises, both would likely aim for the position of Chief Minister in the next cabinet, which was a testament to their strained relationship.

It could even be said that after serving three consecutive terms as cabinet ministers, the former Prime Ministers of several Australian colonies would become the most threatening competitors amongst one another, if they wished to remain in the cabinet.

Apart from these more experienced cabinet ministers, the current cabinet also included loyalists directly appointed by Arthur, as well as rising stars in the cabinet elected with the support of political parties.

However, the only two political parties in the cabinet, the Unity Party and the Rural Party, both leaned towards Arthur. This significantly reduced the likelihood of the emergence of opposing factions within the cabinet.

On August 21, 1908, the long-prepared cabinet meeting was officially convened.

Arthur attached great importance to this cabinet meeting, choosing to hold it in the grandest and most formal conference hall of Sydney Palace.

Starting from around seven in the morning, cabinet ministers had been waiting outside the door. Before the cabinet meeting officially began at eight o’clock, all ministers were in place, quietly awaiting Arthur’s arrival.