Chapter 1061 The Dreadnought Age
Over time, the East African Navy had built two dreadnoughts by 1908, second only to the rich and powerful British Royal Navy. Although the dreadnoughts were more advanced warships than the previous dreadnoughts, the number of two and a half ships was obviously not able 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 relied on its own technology and minimal A combination of some East African technologies.
Counting the United Kingdom, four countries in the world already have dreadnoughts. Other countries, except France, which prefers cruisers and other types of ships, also plan to join the track.
The most troubled person about this outcome is the United Kingdom. At the same time, East Africa, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire successively owned dreadnoughts, which 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 actually not too clear. The main reason is that the focus is different. 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.
There are also different views on battlecruisers within the East African Navy. However, adhering to the principle that others have what I have, the navy is also actively developing this type of ship. However, East Africa is still lagging behind Britain and Germany in terms of national strength and technological level. There is a certain gap, so it cannot be formed temporarily.
The reason why East Africa can follow closely behind in the Dreadnought is that the Bagamoyo laid the foundation and made arrangements in advance. However, as long as the United Kingdom and Germany adjust their development direction, they will soon catch up. This also reflects the current situation in East Africa. The gap between the navy and the world's top naval powers.
Of course, this is mainly the result of the gap in financial resources and industrial foundation. East Africa's shipbuilding manufacturing industry can only be considered at the mid-to-upper level, while the United Kingdom undoubtedly ranks first in the world in this field, while Germany has exploded in technology in recent years and has a strong industrial foundation. German shipbuilding is not inferior to that of the United Kingdom. Apart from the two countries, the United States ranks 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 unsatisfactory in comparison, and it is difficult for France to keep up with the pace of Britain, the United States, and Germany. The main reason is that after the Franco-Prussian War, French industry The development is not ideal, at least compared to Germany, and France does not have as strong a family as the UK for the navy to squander, which results 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.
At the same time, because the focus is different from that of battleships, differentiation allows the two types of battleships to use more tactics, so for battlecruisers, the East African Navy is determined to win.
In short, since 1905, the East African Navy has begun to accelerate its development in all aspects. In terms of expectations, the East African Navy does not seek to be the world's number one navy, but to ensure that East Africa does 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 suffered heavy losses in the Russo-Japanese War , lost more than half, but its total tonnage still ranks ahead of East Africa.
However, it is estimated that the Russian Navy and the Japanese Navy will not be able to slow down in the next few years, so the country that really wants to surpass them in East Africa 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 East Africa has already overtaken France in terms of total industrial volume. At present, East Africa's industrial competitors are mainly platoons. The UK 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. It's like this.
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 were equally matched in World War I, and Germany was The Eastern Front suppressed the Russian military.
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 the turmoil in the domestic situation, and Russia's war potential was not fully reflected.
So the national strength of Russia and France is about 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, and its total strength still exceeds that of East Africa. That explains the problem very well.
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 of the quantities of the two countries can be directly compared. They are both large countries with an area of over 10 million square kilometers, and their populations are not much different, so The comparison effect between East Africa and Russia is even 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)