Chapter 465: Handling the money and delivering the goods
No matter how Kassav torments the British, Peter's attention these days has been on the two battleships used by Japan to pay off debts.
The "Katori" and "Kashima" have a standard displacement of 16,400 tons, a maximum speed of 18.5 knots, and an endurance of 10,000 nautical miles at an economic speed of 10 knots.
The main guns of "Katori" and "Kashima" are 305mm 45 times caliber, with very advanced performance and world-class level.
The all-heavy artillery battleships of the Siberian Fleet became famous in the Battle of Pohang. The value of "Katori" and "Kashima" dropped rapidly, so the British agreed to compensate "Katori" and "Kashima" to Siberian Fleet.
The British were also inappropriate. After taking over the "Katori" and "Kashima", Peter discovered that the British had actually removed the main guns of the "Katori" and "Kashima", which was equivalent to giving the Siberian fleet only two empty spaces. shell.
Peter was very angry and asked the British for the main guns of "Katori" and "Kashima".
The British argued that they only agreed to hand over the "Katori" and "Kashima", but not the main guns of the "Katori" and "Kashima".
Although without the main gun, the value of "Katori" and "Kashima" has dropped greatly, but after all, the foundation is still there. As long as the main gun is installed, it can still maintain a certain face.
Excluding "Katori" and "Kashima", the Siberian fleet only has four battleships in total, and there is really no qualification to pick and choose.
"The Admiralty called. If we don't like these two battleships, the Admiralty can accept-"
Chief of Staff Kzhakov did not mind it. The Siberian Fleet has even determined the names of these two battleships. .
The battleships of the Siberian Fleet followed the Mountain Series. Since "Ural" and "Caucasus" were already occupied, the two battleships were named "Altai" and "Sikhot".
“Let them die!”
Deputy Commander Rakitsky is not polite. The Siberian Fleet would rather sink these two battleships as target ships than give them to the Navy Ministry.
Peter said nothing and carefully studied the renovation plans for "Altai" and "Sikhot".
There are two modification plans. One is to modify only the main gun pair, changing the 45-caliber single-gun 305 into a twin-mounted 40-caliber 330. The amount of work in this plan is small, and it can Completed within 4 months.
The second plan is to modify the power system together
The system used by "Katori" and "Kashima" is a reciprocating steam engine with 20 boilers and a power of 17,350 horsepower.
If the power system produced in Vladivostok is used, the maximum speed can be increased to about 21 knots, but it will take a long time, at least 1 year to complete the transformation.
The two full-heavy artillery battleships built by the Vladivostok Shipyard for the United States only took 16 months from keel laying to launching.
So if the power system is modified, the amount of work will not be much different from rebuilding a ship.
"It's definitely not possible to give it for free. Can it be sold to the Admiralty?"
Peter thought about it, but still didn't like it.
It’s not impossible to sell it.
The Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet combined now only have one "Glorious" and one "Crown Prince" left, and they are in urgent need of battleships to supplement them.
The Black Sea Fleet doesn't matter. Anyway, the Ottoman Empire's navy cannot pose a threat to the Russian Empire. It doesn't matter whether it has battleships or not.
St. Petersburg is right next to the Baltic Sea. Although Nicholas was extremely disappointed with the navy, St. Petersburg's need for coastal defense was more urgent than Vladivostok.
If these two battleships are sold to the Admiralty, then maybe George will be kind and build two more full-heavy artillery battleships for the Siberian Fleet, which will make a lot of money.
“What if the Duke doesn’t build it?”
Krzhakov doubted George's determination to support the Siberian Fleet.
George previously fully supported the Siberian Fleet because of the threat of the Combined Fleet.
Now that the combined fleet has been annihilated, the Siberian fleet is also facing the embarrassing situation of flying birds and good bows hiding.
"Go and test the Grand Duke's tone——"
Peter is a dead Taoist friend but not a poor Taoist. After thinking about it, he changed his tune: "I'd better go!"
George was not opposed to replacing two battleships that had completely fallen behind with two full-heavy artillery battleships.
But the problem is that the Admiralty also has to be willing to buy it.
Even with a discount, two battleships without main guns would cost 20 million rubles anyway.
Coincidentally, the budget of the Navy Department this year is only 20 million in total.
The State Duma still doesn’t agree with this.
After the Russo-Japanese War, the State Duma hoped to disarmament in order to save military expenditures and invest in restoring the national economy and people's livelihood.
For this reason, the State Duma proposed that both the Navy Department and the Army Department should be abolished or increase their establishment in accordance with the requirements of the State Duma.
This request was strongly opposed by the military.
The conflict between the State Duma and the military was so acute that Nicholas had to dissolve the State Duma.
Nicholas made a serious mistake.
The State Duma was created together with George when Sergei was still alive, with the purpose of using the State Duma to ease Russia's domestic conflicts.
So the vast majority of State Duma members are loyal to Nicholas, otherwise they would not be able to enter the State Duma.
After the State Duma is dissolved, there will be re-election. The loyalty of these newly elected members of the State Duma to Nicholas will be questioned.
There is no doubt that the newly elected members of the State Duma are still loyal to the Russian Empire.
But loyalty to the Russian Empire does not necessarily mean loyalty to Nicholas.
George has nothing to do with the re-election of the State Duma.
The Amur Council is still very stable and never makes trouble.
Unlike the State Duma, the Amur Parliament is composed of a group of retired old men and women. Their main task is to supervise whether the various regulations of the Amur Governor's Palace are resolutely implemented.
George does not need parliament to help him formulate policies. The situation in the Russian Empire is different from that of Britain and France. Excessive power of parliament will only make the situation more complicated.
George was not opposed to selling these two battleships to the Navy, but he was still opposed to starting the construction of new battleships.
“The UK will build three more battleships this year after the Dauntless. If we do not build new battleships, then our existing advantages will be completely lost within two years——”
Peter was full of resentment. Compared with the Royal Navy, the Siberian Fleet was still almost useless.
There is no other way.
The Royal Navy is too powerful. The "Dreadnaught" is just testing the waters. Three more "Bellerophon" class battleships will start construction this year.
All three of these ships are fully heavy artillery battleships.
"Peter, don't forget our purpose-"
George is only responsible for provoking the arms race and does not participate.
Like Britain, Germany's Nassau-class battleships will lay down their keels next year, with a total of four ships to be built.
French and Italian fully heavy artillery battleships are being designed.
"Our purpose is to protect the safety of the waterway——"
Peter played dumb.
"If you have nothing to do, why not study the aircraft carrier-"
George pointed the direction for Peter.
What kind of battleship do you want? Aircraft carriers are the way to go.
During the Russo-Japanese War, aircraft carriers equipped with seaplanes had begun to appear, and they played an important role in the naval battle with the Combined Fleet.
Now the role of seaplanes is only for reconnaissance.
But Peter knew that the Yuriev Arsenal had installed the weapon on the aircraft and was testing it.
Vladivostok is commercially developed and is not suitable for weapons research.
Yuriev is located in the inland area. Unless you take a train from Khabarovsk to Yuriev, there is no other way, which is more secure.
Vladivostok's aircraft already have the ability to take off and land directly on aircraft carriers. George is keeping this secret now in order to leave this surprise to the United Kingdom.
In another three to five years, when the British have invested huge sums of money to build a bunch of dreadnoughts, George will throw out aircraft carriers, which will tangle the British to death.
Of course not necessarily.
The concept of all-heavy artillery battleships was proposed a long time ago, but Britain still waited for the all-heavy artillery battleships of the Siberian Fleet to enter service before starting to build dreadnoughts.
The same should be true for aircraft carriers. The British are as stubborn as Russia.
"Aircraft carrier—does this thing have a future?"
Peter still doesn't know enough about aircraft.
"Of course, carrier-based aircraft are the future."
George was extremely sure.
Peter is still very obedient. Since George said that carrier-based aircraft are the future, then just sell the battleships that Japan has delivered to the Siberian Fleet.
But it was not easy to sell the battleship to the Admiralty.
The Admiralty wanted battleships, but didn't want to pay for them.
Alexey personally sent a telegram to George, hoping that George would give the battleship to the Navy first, and the cost would be discussed later.
George was decisive.
When doing business, George always paid with one hand and delivered the goods with the other hand.
George knew St. Petersburg too well. If he didn't give the money now, the money would probably be gone, and he would never give it in the future.
(End of this chapter)