Chapter 1061 The Dreadnought Era
As time goes by, the East African Navy has built two dreadnoughts by 1908, second only to the rich and powerful British Royal Navy, although the dreadnoughts are more advanced than the previous dreadnoughts Warships, but the number of two and a half ships is obviously not enough to control the overall situation.
At present, the two dreadnoughts of the East African Navy are deployed in the Indian Ocean Fleet, while the quasi-dreadnought ship Bagamoyo belongs to the Atlantic Fleet. This also reflects the core position of the Indian Ocean in East Africa's maritime strategy.
In fact, the popularity of dreadnoughts was very fast. In 1907, both Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had begun building their own dreadnoughts. The technology of the Austro-Hungarian navy mainly came from East Africa, while Germany mainly It is a combination of its own technology and a very small part of East African technology.
Including the United Kingdom, four countries in the world already have dreadnoughts. Other countries, except France, which prefers cruisers and other ship types, also plan to join the track.
Regarding this outcome, the most troubled person is undoubtedly the United Kingdom. At the same time, East Africa, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire have successively acquired dreadnoughts, which has also caused a little tension in the "German" threat theory in various countries around the world.
The combined number of dreadnoughts in the three countries is more than that of the United Kingdom. Therefore, in 1907, the United Kingdom increased its plan to build its own dreadnoughts and battlecruisers.
The difference between battlecruisers and dreadnoughts is mainly reflected in speed. Battlecruisers are more maneuverable. Currently, only one country, the United Kingdom, has battlecruisers.
Germany followed closely and started the construction of battlecruisers in 1908, which is expected to be launched next year. East Africa is slightly behind in this regard.
Of course, the boundaries between the two types of warships are not actually too clear, mainly because of their different focuses. From the perspective of the East African Navy, the battlecruiser is more of a transitional product.
Regarding battlecruisers, Britain, the United States, Germany, Japan and other countries in the past had different positions on battlecruisers. Fisher, the inventor of the battlecruiser, believed that battlecruisers were battleships, while some people believed that battlecruisers were large heavy cruiser.
The East African Navy also has different views on battlecruisers. However, adhering to the principle that others have it and I have it, the Navy is also actively developing this type of ship. However, East Africa is not as strong as the United Kingdom in terms of national strength and technological level. There is still a certain gap compared with Germany, so it cannot be formed for the time being.
The reason why East Africa was able to follow closely behind in the Dreadnought was that the Bagamoyo was the base and planned in advance. However, as long as Britain and Germany adjust their development direction, they will soon catch up. This also reflects the current gap between the East African navy and the world's top naval powers.
Of course, this is mainly the result of the gap in financial resources and industrial base. East Africa’s shipbuilding manufacturing industry is at the mid- to upper-middle level at best, while the UK undoubtedly ranks first in the world in this field, while Germany’s technology in recent years After the outbreak, the industrial base was strong, so that German shipbuilding was not inferior to that of the United Kingdom. Apart from the two countries, the United States ranked third in the world.
Among other countries, I won’t mention Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The navies and armies of the two countries are not satisfactory compared to each other, and it is difficult for France to keep up with the pace of Britain, the United States, and Germany. The main reason is After the Franco-Prussian War, France's industrial development was not ideal, at least compared to Germany. France did not have as strong a fortune as Britain for its navy to squander, which resulted in the French navy being in a position of neither superior nor inferior.
In the East African naval development plan, the main reference object is still the British Navy. Because of different national conditions, there are certain cognitive differences between the East African and German navies.
As a two-ocean country, East Africa pays more attention to ocean warfare, while Germany lacks the motivation in this area. Therefore, the East African Navy believes that battlecruisers are a type of ship suitable for investing in ocean power, especially against A country with a weak navy has great deterrent power.
At the same time, because the focus is different from that of battleships, differentiation allows the two battleships to use more tactics, so for battlecruisers, the East African Navy is determined to win.
In short, after 1905, the East African Navy began to accelerate its development in all aspects. In terms of expectations, the East African Navy did not seek the status of the world's number one navy, but to ensure that East Africa would not fall into the first echelon. With the development of naval military competition, many countries have actually gradually been unable to keep up with the development speed of the navies of Britain, Germany, and the United States, such as France, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.
The East African Navy has just begun to exert its strength. After all, East Africa did not participate in the previous naval military competitions in the pre-dreadnought era. This allows the East African Navy to use more energy in the dreadnought era. According to previous experience, the dreadnought can be used at least until World War II. , was replaced by aircraft carriers in the middle and late stages of World War II, so East Africa does not have to worry about exiting the historical stage due to technological changes in this track for a short period of time.
The current direct goal of the East African Navy is to reach the top five levels in the world. Now the East African Navy should be in the seventh position, behind Britain, Germany, the United States, France, Japan and Russia. Although the Russian Navy is behind Japan and Russia It suffered heavy losses in the war, losing more than half of its total tonnage, but its total tonnage still ranked ahead of East Africa.
However, the Russian Navy and the Japanese Navy are unlikely to be able to slow down in the next few years, so the country in East Africa that really wants to surpass them should target France.
If the East African navy surpasses France, it can be foreseen that France's international status will really be replaced by East Africa, because in terms of total industrial volume and other aspects, East Africa has already overtaken France. At present, East African industry Its competitors are mainly the United Kingdom, which ranks third in the world.
Of course, Britain has definitely fallen behind Germany and the United States in the industrial field, and may be on par with Germany economically.
In fact, Russia's economic aggregate may be greater than that of France. However, due to population, industry and other factors, Russia has no size but no quality. Therefore, under normal circumstances, it can be considered that France's national power is greater than that of Russia, at least in terms of efficiency and utilization. That's how it goes.
With France’s organizational capabilities and military strength, if it fights Russia, France will at least have an advantage in the early and mid-term. This is mainly based on the experience of previous battles. After all, France and Germany did not compete in World War I. They were on par with each other, and Germany suppressed Russia's military on the Eastern Front.
Of course, with Russia's size, there is a high probability that Russia can turn defeat into victory. After all, the main reason for Russia's defeat in World War I was caused by the turmoil in the domestic situation, and Russia's war potential was not fully reflected.
So the national strength of Russia and France is almost the same, and East Africa and France each have their own advantages and disadvantages, but comparing Russia and East Africa is another result.
Russia’s military strength is currently higher than that of East Africa, at least on paper. Russia’s army maintains more than one million people all year round, while East Africa is less than half of Russia’s. After the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Navy lost nearly half of its navy. , the total volume still exceeds that of East Africa, which illustrates the problem.
Of course, from the actual situation, Russia's military strength is definitely not as good as that of East Africa, such as weapons and equipment, mobilization capabilities, etc. What's more, the East African Army has initially realized motorization, and the Navy has also caught up with the trend of dreadnoughts, surpassing Russia's Navy was just a matter of time.
Leaving aside the military field, East Africa is crushing Russia. On the one hand, East Africa's industrial scale is larger than Russia's, and at the same time, the quality of East Africa's industrial development is also better than Russia's.
It is not easy to compare the industries of France and Russia. After all, the two countries are different in size. However, East Africa and Russia are different. Many quantities of the two countries can be directly compared. They are both large countries with an area of over 10 million square kilometers and a population of Not much different, so the contrast between East Africa and Russia is more obvious.
Basically, it can be said that Russia has many advantages over Europe, and East Africa also has them. However, some of Russia's disadvantages are not necessarily the same in East Africa.
(End of this chapter)