Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 1312

Not counting the Normandy-class battleships, the dreadnoughts that France now has, plus the three "Dandon"-class battleships known as the "strongest former dreadnoughts", France now has a total of 10 battleships, which are still powerful.

At the beginning, a total of 6 "Dandon" class battleships were built. During the World War, the "Dandon" battleship was sunk by the German submarine U64 near the waters of Sardinia. Rimia was severely damaged by the storm. After returning to Toulon, both ships were treated as target ships. There are only three ships left in service, namely "Condorcet", "Diderot" and "Voltaire". ", the displacement is 18890 tons.

The heavy cruiser "Johannesburg", the largest warship in southern Africa, has a tonnage of only 9500, which is comparable to a little more than half of the three "former dreadnoughts".

"That won't work either—" Bainbridge Colby didn't let go. It's not a matter of strength or strength. The purpose of the Washington Naval Conference is to limit the arms race, not to determine the strength of the navy. It is really 30 tons for France and Italy. Then France and Italy must build new ships.

mediterranean --

Britain also has extensive interests. Once France and Italy build new ships, will Britain build them?

The United Kingdom will build new ships, and the United States will definitely follow suit.

The United States has formulated a new shipbuilding plan, and Japan must also keep up.

In this way, the Washington Naval Conference would be meaningless.

After thinking about this problem, Rock also wanted to "sick" directly.

It's a pity that it doesn't work. The 60-year-old Yusaburo Kato is working hard to persevere, and the strong Rock has no reason to get sick.

In September, the meeting still had no results. At this time, a news came from the French government. Considering that it took five to six years to restart the Normandy-class battleships, the French government decided to give up and sell all five Normandy-class battleships. .

Among the five battleships, except for the "Bearn", which is progressing slowly, the hull completion degree is only 25%, the hull completion degree of the other four ships is above 60%, and the main engine completion degree is between 50% and 70%. etc. The boilers of "Normandy", "Flanders", and "Gascony" have been completed and are used to equip other ships, and the boilers of "Languedoc" are 96% complete.

This news aroused the attention of all parties involved in the naval meeting, but it is not easy for the French government to sell the ship. Countries capable of equipping dreadnought ships look down on Normandy-class battleships, and countries that are incapable cannot afford them. The French government once considered By reusing the highly completed hulls of the first four ships for other purposes, the reconstruction plan includes cargo ships, cruise ships, oil tankers and even floating fuel storage, but either the cost is too high or the safety is insufficient, and they can only be sold separately in the end.

"Southern Africa also needs a powerful navy. A navy without dreadnoughts has no soul. Powerful dreadnoughts are the symbol of sea power. Aircraft carriers have a future, but they are not deterrent enough. If Southern Africa is willing to buy these five Normandy-class ships The hulls of battleships, then considering the friendship between France and southern Africa, the French government will give a price that includes friendship." Albert Sarao is willing to sell the hulls of five Normandy-class battleships to Southern Africa, in this way, the French government got rid of the burden, and southern Africa has a dreadnought, a win-win situation!

"Your Excellency, the total tonnage of the capital ships of the Royal Navy has exceeded 50 tons. It is even necessary to dismantle the dreadnoughts in service in order to build new ships. Moreover, the performance of the Normandy-class battleships is not good. Now they are seriously behind, and they are still only It’s just a hull, without boilers and main guns, so why do you need it?” Rock said that the Normandy-class battleship was almost worthless, but it’s not that bad.

The design displacement of the Normandy-class battleship is 25000 tons, and it is equipped with five double-mounted 340mm caliber main guns. Later, it was modified to three quadruple-mounted turrets. The fastest speed is 21 knots. ability.

Compared with the latest battleships of Britain, the United States and Japan, although the Normandy-class battleships have obvious shortcomings, they are still very attractive to countries without battleships like southern Africa. In general, the Normandy-class battleships and the United Kingdom are still The performance of the King George V-class battleships in service is similar.

The King George V-class battleship is not the later King George V-class. The construction of the King George V-class battleship started in 1911, and there are 4 ships of the same class. During the training, the engine room on the port side was struck by mines in the waters north of Ireland. After losing power, the towing failed and capsized and sank. The other three ships participated in the Battle of Jutland. All of them were decommissioned to make room for tonnage.

It is a pity that the Southern African Navy is part of the British Navy and is not qualified to form a separate navy. Therefore, Southern Africa cannot buy Normandy-class battleships, and they cannot be equipped with them.

"The Normandy-class battleship is not as bad as you said. Even if it is not built as a battleship, it can be converted into an aircraft carrier or other ships." Albert Sarao worked hard to get rid of the five iron shells.

The point is that the asking price of the French is not cheap.

You must know that the cost of man-made warships in France is much higher than the cost of warships in southern Africa. Generally speaking, the cost of the same warship in southern Africa is more than half that of France. That's why Rock doesn't like the Normandy-class battleship. This is different from selling the shell of an aircraft carrier in a certain country in the future.

"Your Excellency, even if a battleship is converted into an aircraft carrier, its performance will be greatly limited. Southern Africa has the best aircraft carrier in the world, so there is no need to buy a hull modification—" When it comes to aircraft carriers, Roque really doesn't want them.

The two aircraft carriers produced by the United Kingdom in Southern Africa have a full load displacement of 22000 tons and can carry 80 carrier-based aircraft.

The "Transvaal" and "Nyasaland", which have already laid their keels in southern Africa, have a full-load displacement reduced to only 20000 tons, but they can carry more carrier-based aircraft, reaching an unprecedented 108, and their combat effectiveness is unprecedentedly strong.

"300 million, five Normandy-class battleships, only 300 million." Albert Sarao directly offered the price. The price is indeed not expensive, but it is not enough for Rock.

"It's just five iron shells, and the hull of the 'Bearn' is only 25% complete, 300 million francs?" Rock's counter-offer was very dishonest, and the sale of scrap iron was more than that, okay?

"My lord, those are five powerful battleships. Among them, 'Normandy' and 'Flanders' are the fastest-moving ships. The hulls of 'Languedoc' are 60% complete. Said that it only takes a small amount of money and time to get five powerful battleships." Albert Sarao looked ugly, and the 73 million francs were converted into rand, which was only about 300.

"Let me think about it—" Rock didn't say anything dead, there is actually room for maneuver here.

Southern Africa cannot be equipped with battleships, which does not mean that East India or Najd Sultanate cannot be equipped. East India and Najd Sultanate are not Commonwealth countries and are not restricted by the Washington Naval Conference.

Of course, if East India buys battleships, it will definitely be opposed by Japan, and the Najd Sultanate will be opposed by France and Italy.

But it doesn't matter, there are the Kingdom of Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, the Kingdom of Congo, and the newly independent West Africa next to Southern Africa, which can be used by these countries.

After sending Albert Sarao away, Rock sent a telegram to Pretoria, and at the same time, called Stoudemire and Owen to discuss how to borrow chickens to lay eggs.

"East India or Najd Sultanate are not acceptable. These two regions have conflicts of interest with Japan and Italy. Once these two countries are equipped with dreadnoughts, it will cause anxiety in Japan and Italy—oh, and France—" Owen knew How sensitive is this issue? Dreadnoughts are different from battleships. They will cause regional power imbalances in minutes, and may lead to wars at that time.

"Then let the Republic of Congo and the Kingdom of Congo buy it. No one cares about these two countries—" Stoudemire and Rock fear that the world will not be chaotic.

"The United States will object." Owen is still worried. The United States is very aware of the relationship between southern Africa, the Republic of Congo, and the Kingdom of Congo. If the Republic of Congo and the Kingdom of Congo buy it, it will increase the power of the Royal Navy in disguise.

"No, no, no, it's different, Owen, the United States will not object, and of course it will not support it. The United States will acquiesce—" Stoudemire smirked. If Southern Africa has four Normandy-class battleships, then the ambition of the Southern African navy will be greatly reduced. It will expand, and maybe it will actively pursue battleships with larger tonnages. At that time, some new problems will appear within the Royal Navy.

The country in the world that most hopes to see Southern Africa become independent from the Commonwealth is probably the United States.

"Well then, the final question is whether the Normandy-class battleship is worth our money to buy." Owen is not only worried about funds, but also technology and capabilities.

The 300 million that Albert Sarao offered was definitely not francs. Whether it was rand or British pounds, it was too expensive to buy five hulls for 300 million, and it was almost half of it.

Even if it is cut in half, if all five Normandy-class battleships are built, I am afraid that the investment will be at least 2000 million.

Funding aside, Southern Africa has money, so funding is not a problem, the problem is technology and capability. Although Port Edward can build an aircraft carrier of more than [-] tons, it has never built a battleship. Whether it has this capability has yet to be verified.

And more importantly, once the five Normandy-class battleships are all built, using these five Normandy-class battleships will require at least seven to eight thousand sailors, plus the logistics department and base staff, the manpower required must exceed [-]. This is another heavy burden for the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa.

Of course, the benefits are not without, no matter whether Roque likes battleships or not, if the navy of a powerful country does not have three or five battleships to support the front, it is really shameful.

Including Patton, if Patton is given a battleship and an aircraft carrier to choose from, Patton will most likely choose a battleship.

(End of this chapter)