Chapter 414 New Port of Hamburg
November 12, 1872.
East African Navy Lieutenant Colonel Julian and East African port designer Roy Weiss took two navy warships to Richard Bay. Julian is a serious Austrian navy background, because Richard Bay is too far away from East Africa. Due to the remoteness, it was impossible for Archduke Ferdinand to go to Richard's Bay in person, so Julian was assigned to go there.
Julian stood on the bow deck, high-spirited, watching his small "fleet" riding the wind and waves on the sea. This was a completely new feeling that could not be experienced in the Adriatic Sea, with billowing black smoke. Drifting toward the north with the sea breeze.
The navy is meant to roam freely on the ocean, rather than stay in a big bathtub in the Adriatic Sea like the Austrian Navy. However, Julian is still a little unsatisfied. It would be even better if he could drive an ironclad. Okay, that can better reflect the romance of the military on the sea.
Richards Bay is located on the east coast of South Africa, with Maputo in the north and Durban in the south. The defense pressure in East Africa here can be imagined.
So Archduke Ferdinand assigned two warships currently in service in the East African Kingdom to Julian's command. This was definitely a surprise for the fledgling Julian.
I was not even a captain in the Austrian Navy. Not only was I promoted in East Africa, I also directly controlled two warships.
Of course, the most important thing is that the East African Navy never defaults on wages, and the welfare benefits are better than those in Austria. Although the wages are lower than those in the Austrian Navy, the cost of living in East Africa is much lower than in Austria.
The East African Navy has a total of eight main warships, two of which will be retired to Haiti, which means that the East African Kingdom actually only has six available warships.
The two battleships commanded by Julian were retired from the Austrian Navy and sent to East Africa. They can only be said to be old friends, so they are not unfamiliar.
If two warships were deployed to defend South Africa before, Archduke Ferdinand would definitely feel pain. However, since East Africa wants to purchase new ships, Archduke Ferdinand has become more generous. If it were not for the new warships, Once it is in place, even if the entire East African navy is packed and sent to South Africa, Archduke Ferdinand will not object.
However, because East Africa occupied this place, the name Richard Bay does not exist. Instead, it was called New Hamburg Bay by the East African Kingdom, and the port planned to be built by East Africa here was also called New Hamburg Bay. Port of Hamburg.
The reason why the New Hamburg Port is different in name from ports such as Dar es Salaam and Mombasa is that it was completely built by an East African kingdom without any historical burden, and Hamburg plays an important role in German history. status, especially during the Hanseatic League.
As a nomadic people who migrated from the interior, the Zulu people have no concept of ports at all, leaving the entire coastline of the Zulu Kingdom in a state of desolation.
Royavis: "The New Hamburg Port is positioned as a dual-use military and civilian port. According to the geographical conditions of the New Hamburg Bay, we can set up two ports, build a civilian port at the seaside of the bay, and build a military port in the southern hinterland. In this way, the military port can be realized "Double insurance."
The shape of New Hamburg Bay is similar to a trumpet, but there are two narrow areas. One is that the width of the bay is about 800 meters, and there is a five-point area along the channel. A narrow mouth of about a hundred meters. This width is not too wide, but it is much better than the conditions of Durban Port. The mouth of Durban Port is only close to 400 meters.
And this layout naturally divides the new Hamburg Port into an inner and outer harbor. The previous Durban Port also had this layout, but the inner and outer harbors of Durban Port were realized by building embankments on both sides.
Julian: "Would it be better to place the military port at the mouth of the bay? It feels unnecessary to place it inside. And I feel that the north side of the inner harbor also has good construction conditions, even better than yours. Why not use the two selected locations?" Royavis: "Because there is no need. Before arriving here, I had a separate discussion with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. In fact, I also wanted to choose the north side of the inner harbor as the port construction area at the beginning, but the Crown Prince told me that South Africa is not a key construction area in East Africa at present, so there is no need to pursue an overly large port. , it’s enough.”
Ernst considered that the new Hamburg Port may become the largest coal and mineral export port in East Africa in the future, so he reserved space in advance.
The New Hamburg Port was called Richards Bay (or Richards Bay Port) in its previous life. It was one of the largest coal export ports in the world. In its previous life, South Africa produced more than 200 million tons of coal annually, and most of its coal exports were It was done through the new port of Hamburg, and only Ernst knew about the existence of huge coal reserves in South Africa.
At present, Ernst does not plan to develop the coal mines in South Africa. The coal mines in East Africa (mainly Tanganyika and Kenya) are fully sufficient now, and the role of the new Hamburg Port is to facilitate the transportation from East Africa exports materials to South Africa to save costs.
Because South Africa borders the British Cape Town Colony and the Natal Colony, this is also the area with the greatest defense pressure in East Africa. A certain number of troops will be maintained here for a long time, and the consumption of the army is indispensable. , while sea transportation is obviously the most economical mode of transportation, the cost of land transportation is very high, unless Zimbabwe is developed and agriculture is developed, materials can be exported to South Africa nearby.
Urian: "If that's the case, then it makes sense, but our trouble now is that it's too deserted here, and we can't even see a single person."
Royavis: "Because the Zulus generally live inland, they don't care about the coast. After living in East Africa for so long, except for some black people who believe in Arabia in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, I have never seen a black fisherman. But don’t worry about the port construction. The Army in South Africa will assist us. Now they have a large number of slaves.”
The East African Army stationed in the former Zulu Kingdom is mainly stationed north of the Tugela River. It is across the river from the British colony of Natal, and the South African Army Headquarters is in Pretoria.
Julian: "The map shows that there are two large lakes to the north and south of New Hamburg Port. I wonder if we can make use of them."
Royavis: "The one to the south It is unlikely that there is a lake. In fact, it is a large swamp with very shallow water. It is possible that the lake is in the north. Its area is even larger than New Hamburg Bay. The best thing is that there is a natural river connected to New Hamburg Bay. "
In fact, the population of Richards Bay in the previous life was mainly distributed along both sides of the great northern lake. As for the natural river channel, it only needs some modifications to better connect with the new Hamburg Port.
The river is only seven meters wide where it connects to the lake mouth, and it only needs to be widened to about 800 meters. The width of the river below is more than 20 meters, and the width of the downstream is more than 100 meters. If it can be used well, it will be extremely Greatly increase the value of the new Port of Hamburg.
Urian: "In this way, the lakes in South Africa are indeed strange. These lakes are not small in area and are distributed close to the coastline. There are three large lakes around the New Hamburg Port alone, and the ones further north are There is also Lake Saint Lucia, which is more than 300 square kilometers and is also close to the sea. Coastline distribution. "
This series of lakes is strung along the South African coastline like a pearl necklace. The closest lake to the sea is even less than two kilometers away. It is shown on the map that the land part in the middle is like a thin strip. Line, just opposite to the coral reef island chain off the coast of East Africa.
(End of this chapter)