Chapter 820 Ship Purchase
Germany, Stettin.
Stettin is one of the important seaport cities in Germany. It may not sound familiar, but in its previous life, it had a relatively resounding "Polish" name - Szczecin.
This is the birthplace of Catherine II, the founder of the Russian Empire. Her father was a prince in the Kingdom of Prussia.
The name Szczecin also appeared in the famous "Iron Curtain" speech. Churchill declared that "from Szczecin on the Baltic Sea to Trieste on the Adriatic Sea, a picture spans the European continent. The Iron Curtain has fallen", a witness to the Cold War.
Of course, in their previous lives, these two cities, Szczecin and Trieste, were important seaport cities in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire respectively, and their destinies were quite similar.
Germany is obviously slightly better. No matter how it is divided, it still exists. However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire disintegrated after World War I, so the issue of nationalism has always been taken seriously by Ernst.
“Count Hermann, our German shipbuilding technology is absolutely reliable. Just ten years ago, the Far Eastern Empire customized two first-class ironclads and three cruisers from our factory, which have been fully utilized in the Far East. It has been verified that it can fully meet the needs of the East African Navy, so you have chosen our Vulcan Shipyard among the many shipyards in Germany.”
Vulcan Shipyard is also the Beiyang Navy. The place where warships were ordered was originally a small shipbuilding factory founded in 1851.
However, Germany had not yet been unified in 1851, and the Prussian navy was very weak at that time, so the starting point of the Vulcan Shipyard was not low in Germany. At that time, it was also a modern shipyard in the Kingdom of Prussia, which had not yet unified Germany. Pioneer in shipbuilding.
Moreover, the parent company of Volcan Shipyard not only manufactures military and civilian ships but also railway equipment, and is considered a relatively powerful military industrial enterprise in Prussia.
After the reunification of Germany, it developed rapidly and became one of the leading shipyards in the country. The biggest achievement of the plant was obviously the construction of two world-leading ironclad ships for the Far Eastern Empire in the 1980s.
Vulcan Shipyard has actually never had experience in building large ironclads before. In this regard, it is not as good as Bagamoyo Shipyard in East Africa. Moreover, Volcan Shipyard has many competitors and can stand out. It completely relied on the Far Eastern Empire's purchases in the 1980s.
The Vulcan Shipyard is located in central Prussia, in Bredo on the lower reaches of the Oder River on the outskirts of Stettin (Szczecin).
Now the director of the shipyard, Wells, is trying his best to promote the company's business to East Africa. However, East African Foreign Minister Herman obviously does not have much interest in Wells's words.
"Director Wells, we have no doubts about your factory's technology and manufacturing capabilities, but we only need to order one ironclad ship to supplement the navy. At this stage, the demand for the navy in East Africa is not too strong." Herman The count said politely.
As a gold-eating beast, the navy will never be satisfied. Of course, the more warships, the better. However, the East African Navy obviously cannot represent the attitude of the East African government.
With the South African War, a beautiful founding battle, East Africa can be said to be very safe in a short period of time, so East Africa has also begun to work on disarmament.
The Navy is currently decommissioning four ironclad ships at one time. Of course, as compensation, it will introduce three latest technology ironclad ships as a supplement.
East Africa plans to build one of its own, and the remaining two ships will be imported from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition to absorbing the advanced technology of their counterparts, it will also facilitate the East African navy to further expand its horizons.
Most of the ironclads in East Africa were built in the 1960s and 1970s, and most of them have fallen behind now. Of course, as the world's top naval military industry, the technological backwardness of ironclads is only compared to that of the great powers. They can still exert a deterrent effect in other regions. .
Two of the retired warships of the East African Navy are prepared to be sold for 600,000 taels of silver in accordance with the pre-war deal with the Far Eastern Empire. The average price is only 300,000 taels, which is basically a free gift.
However, if the East African Navy wants to develop, these ironclad ships cannot lay eggs. Letting them "retire" in the Far East Sea is not a bad place. Otherwise, they can only be dismantled or used for target practice. Of course, this business is definitely profitable for the Far Eastern Empire. After all, the retired warships in East Africa are not very old, and the earliest ones are no more than twenty years old.
The price/performance ratio is still very high. With a little maintenance, it will not be a problem to serve for more than ten years. Even if you sell scrap metal, you can get back your money.
Germany's shipbuilding technology may be stronger than that of East Africa, but its strength is limited, especially the Vulcan Shipyard. The Hechingen Consortium itself has its own shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, so East Africa is fully capable of acquiring some German shipbuilding technology.
The particularity of Vulcan Shipyard lies in its great reputation. As for its strength, it is actually about the same level as East Africa. Of course, with the strength of Germany’s strength and education, the future of Vulcan Shipyard will be Development should not be bad.
So East African officials such as Count Hermann have little interest in introducing warships from Volcan Shipyard. However, Volcon Shipyard has the ability to independently build ironclads after all, and many technologies have their own originality. , so it is still worthy of reference by the East African Navy.
If it were not for this purpose, East Africa could have given the order to the Hechingen Shipyard in Hamburg. Of course, the strength of the Hamburg Branch of the Hechingen Shipyard is no longer what it used to be, mainly focusing on commercial ships. The focus is also one of the reasons.
After all, the development of the local shipbuilding industry in East Africa mainly relies on the deployment of elite soldiers and generals from Venice and Hamburg. This naturally limits the development of the Venice and Hamburg shipyards.
However, Germany and Austria are both world-class powers. Backed by the resources and education systems of the two countries, the Hamburg and Venice shipyards are still developing well and can still be ranked high in both countries.
“That’s such a pity. The strength of the East African Navy is worthy of respect. It is an honor for many shipyards to be able to produce warships for such a navy with a real record. At this point, I am very proud of it. Some envied the Royal Shipyard of Trieste.”
In the South African War, the East African Navy performed well. Although it was only a tie and suffered a slight loss, it depended on who the opponent was.
At present, the two most powerful navies in the world are Britain and France. It is very unexpected that the East African Navy can confront the British Royal Navy head-on.
This also made the Austro-Hungarian military shipbuilding industry proud, because most of the main naval ships in East Africa were built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or the technology came from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy already had the Battle of Lisa as its record before, but in this regard Germany was more than a little behind.
So the fact that East Africa was able to order warships from Vulcan Shipyard made Vulcan Shipyard somewhat unexpected.
"Director Wells, you don't have to be too depressed. The development of Germany's shipbuilding industry is obvious to all. It can be said that the development of the German navy is the fastest in the world. Take your factory as an example. Throughout the 1980s, Being able to defeat Britain and win orders from the Far Eastern Empire in the 1960s can be said to be a source of pride within the industry, but now Germany just lacks opportunities for actual combat," Count Hermann said with relief.
Although the East African Navy is developing extremely rapidly, it relies heavily on the technical support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Germany has been more creative and independent from the beginning, so Germany is still much stronger than East Africa in this field.
And the most lacking thing in East Africa is the system, especially the lack of high-end talents. This is closely related to the short development time of the education system in East Africa. The East African navy is a mixed bag.
Especially in the 1970s, they were very eager for quick success and instant benefits. The East African Navy directly ate it into a fat man, and it has not been fully digested so far.
(End of this chapter)