Rise of Australia

Chapter 156 Sea Test
"These two Duke-class armored cruisers are modified from the Orlando-class armored cruisers of the British Empire. They are 93 meters long, 17.63 meters wide, and 7.01 meters high. They have 6500 horsepower and a regular speed of 18 knots, the highest in a short period of time. The speed can reach more than 19 knots." The Ministry of National Defense officials in the audience introduced it passionately.

"Whether it is Australia or Duke Arthur, their data is basically the same. They are equipped with two 234mm main guns, ten 152mm guns and some small six-pound and three-pound guns. Such firepower can already maintain The safety of our Australian coast, HMS Australia and HMS Duke Arthur will also be the sharpest knives of the Australian Navy."

Although these two warships are medium-sized warships, it does not prevent officials of the Ministry of Defense who have done their homework from introducing them in detail.

Although such an armored cruiser will only be instantly killed when it encounters a battleship, it will gain a great advantage if it encounters a small and medium-sized warship.In other words, it is more than enough than the top and more than the bottom.

These two warships are one of the main warships of the Australian Navy, and as the latest new warships launched, they have been docked in the port for the longest time.

The Australians at the scene also have a benefit, that is, they can board the two warships to watch on the spot with the identity certificate issued by the Australian government.

Of course, doing so will also prolong the docking time of the two warships. By the time the last visitor returns to the port, it will be more than two hours later.

Judging from the expressions and reactions of those who boarded the warships for on-site visits, they are generally satisfied with the two new warships.

At least in terms of small and medium-sized warships, these two Duke-class armored cruisers are already the best. Both armor protection and firepower equipment are top-notch, and their speed is not bad. They can even be compared with some slower battleships.

There are four places for armored cruisers in this naval parade, so the next two warships are still armored cruisers.

The armored cruisers docked at the port this time were HMS New South Wales and HMS Queensland.

These two warships have been in service for a long time, and both have reached more than ten years.

Because of this, the models of these two warships are the predecessor of the Duke-class armored cruiser, the Orlando-class armored cruiser of the British Empire.

Although there is not much difference between the two types of warships in appearance, there has been a considerable improvement in terms of firepower, armor thickness, and speed.

Because the previous two armored cruisers had already left the port, the two new warships did not make people feel the obvious difference.

If it weren't for the introduction by officials of the Ministry of National Defense, even people might not be able to tell the difference between the two warships.

"Gentlemen and ladies, what you are seeing now are HMS New South Wales and HMS Queensland from the Orlando Festival armored cruisers of the British Empire. The models of these two warships are the predecessors of the Duke-class armored cruisers. Basically, there is no difference. Although they have been in service for more than ten years, these two warships are still the main warships of the Australian Navy, and their performance is only behind Australia and Duke Arthur."

These two warships also had the opportunity for people to visit, but this time the number of visitors was not so large, only a few hundred people were randomly selected on the spot to board the warship for viewing.

The New Zealand officials did not miss the two visit opportunities, and under Arthur's special authorization, they all successfully obtained the opportunity to board the warship.

Under the colonial system of the British Empire, Australia and New Zealand had different garrisons and coastal defense navies of their own sizes.

Yes, coastal defense navy.To put it bluntly, there is a small fleet composed of some backward small and medium-sized warships, and their only role is to patrol the coast.

Even some of the warships were retired from the Royal Navy, and it was a bit reluctant to let them participate in the battle.

Australia is at least a country with six colonies combined, while New Zealand is just one colony.

This also led to the fact that the current navy size of the New Zealand colony is very poor, even more pitiful than Australia's poor navy.

How big is New Zealand's navy?Even the coastal defense gunboats that the Australian Navy doesn't care about are even one of the main warships of the New Zealand Navy, and the armored cruisers that the Australian Navy has generally equipped are not even seen in the New Zealand Navy.

But this really cannot be blamed on the New Zealand colonial government.Before Australia was integrated, the so-called navy of any colony was actually about the same size as New Zealand's navy.

This is why New Zealand officials are envious of the Australian Navy.Obviously, New Zealand was similar to Australia before, and the size of the navy was not much different.

But now, the Australian Navy has officially equipped medium-sized warships, and even has the construction technology of battleships, but due to various reasons, it has not started construction for the time being.

But all New Zealanders know that it is inevitable for Australia to build and own battleships, otherwise it would be impossible to spend a lot of time importing battleship construction technology from the German Empire.

This means that the gap between New Zealand and Australia will become wider, and may even become a gap between New Zealanders and Australians.

You must know that both of these two nations evolved from immigrants from the British Empire, and there is no difference in essence.

New Zealanders envy the current changes in Australia, as well as the current high welfare and a large number of high-paying jobs for Australians.

This has also laid a good foundation for the Coalition Party to promote and publicize its joint policy with Australia. The Coalition Party is currently the most popular political party in New Zealand.

Under the hype of the Coalition Party, New Zealanders have accepted and expected a union with Australia.

Even if they can enjoy the treatment that Australians can enjoy, then what does it matter if they become Australians?
Also accelerating the process is the action of the Crown Relief Commission in New Zealand.Although the investment in New Zealand is not as high as that in Australia, it has indeed helped thousands of extremely poor New Zealanders, and the relief operations even included tens of thousands of people. The reputation in New Zealand is not bad.

Under the two-pronged approach of the Coalition Party and the Royal Relief Commission, the communication between New Zealand and Australia has increased visibly, and more and more people are looking forward to joining forces with Australia to allow Australians to help New Zealand.

After the four armored cruisers, the rest are small warships such as frigates and security gunboats.

There is nothing worth introducing about the small warship, and there is also no activity for people to board the ship.

This also greatly accelerated the speed of the naval inspection. The first four armored cruisers took nearly four hours, while the latter six small warships combined took only one hour.

After inspecting all the naval warships on site, the next activity that people in Australia are looking forward to is to randomly select some people to board the warships and watch the navy focus on the strategic targets in person on the warships.

In order not to cause accidents, but also to allow the navy to form a long snake formation to better attack strategic targets, the warships will sail ten nautical miles away from the port to conduct this test on a relatively wide ocean.

In order to ensure safety, the quota for boarding the warship this time is only 400 people, and each armored cruiser has a quota of 100 people.

Although it is said to be a random selection, in fact it cannot be truly random. The officials can only randomly select some people who seem to be more patriotic, so that they can have the opportunity to board their own country's warships in person.

Although there were only 400 people, the entire selection stage lasted for half an hour.

Those who were chosen were overjoyed, while those who were not were slightly disappointed.But this is also normal. There are at least 400 onlookers in the shipyard. Among these people, [-] people are randomly selected, and the chance of being selected is only one in fifty.

By the time these 400 people boarded the warship, it was already past three o'clock in the afternoon.

In order to complete the entire testing session earlier, the fleet set off directly after a little preparation, and the target was the testing point ten nautical miles away.

The target of the fire this time was an old civilian fishing boat that had been scrapped. It was bought by the defense department at a small price just for this test.

In order to simulate the enemy's warship, the scrapped fishing boat was even refitted to a certain extent, covering the surface with a layer of armor, which was already comparable to a medium-sized warship in terms of protection.

The goal of the fleet this time is to successfully destroy the fishing boat after focusing the fire, and then return to the port after collecting all the data.

This is a test of the crew's familiarity with warships. It would be a bit funny if the hit rate of fixed targets is not high.

The main warships for this test are the four armored cruisers, or the two newly launched Duke-class armored cruisers.

The firepower of these two warships is relatively good. If they can hit the fishing boat at the same time, the mission has basically been completed.

When the fleet arrived at the designated location, they lined up immediately, and all the warships pointed their guns in the direction of the fishing boat, aiming at each other.

Following the command of the flagship, all the warships focused their fire on the fishing boats in the distance, and the sound of the guns was deafening.

"Did you hit the target?" This question arose in the hearts of all Australians.

As the smoke generated by the burning gunpowder gradually dispersed, people finally saw the current situation of the fishing boats in the distance.

Most of the warships still hit the target, especially the four armored cruisers.Although a layer of armor was added temporarily, the fishing boat had been blasted into two halves at this time, and the bow and stern were sinking rapidly.

"Beautiful!" The Australians on the warship cheered, also admiring the good performance of the new warship.

"The goal was successfully completed, and the warships returned in an orderly manner!"

Naturally, the flagship also saw this result and issued an order to return.

All the warships turned their guns around again, then turned around and returned to Sydney Harbour.

At the port, although the rest of the people could not see the scene of the fleet's fire, the officials of the Ministry of National Defense will announce it as soon as they receive the news.

Just a few minutes after the fishing boat sank, officials of the Ministry of Defense had received the news and were very happy to announce it.

Like the reaction of the people on the warship, there were bursts of cheers and applause at the port.

This proves that Australia's newly built warships are still very reliable, and the Australian navy is equally reliable.

Afterwards, Arthur and Prime Minister Evan made a few more speeches, and this time the National Day Ceremony and Navy Parade also came to an official end.

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(End of this chapter)