Chapter 244: Petropavlovsk

Time flies and it is the end of November 1907, the day when the first of the two Russian dreadnoughts, the battleship Peter Pavlovsk, was officially completed.

The Russians had high hopes for these two dreadnoughts and paid a considerable price.

An investment of five million pounds in exchange for two powerful dreadnoughts and some small warships is the last investment of the Russians in the navy.

At least for five years, I am afraid that the Russians will not make any more investments in the navy, after all, the Russians really have no money.

But the good news is that these two dreadnoughts have also greatly improved Russia's naval strength.

No matter which squadron these two dreadnoughts serve in, they can have a greater influence on the region.

At present, the island country has no plan to build any dreadnoughts. If Russia equips two dreadnoughts in the Far East in advance, will the island country be Russia's opponent?

The answer is naturally no. Although the dreadnoughts have not really participated in the battle yet, the data of the dreadnoughts has been known to countries around the world.

All countries in the world have a relatively unified and standard answer, that is, a real dreadnought can completely match two or three old battleships.

Of course, this is only from the perspective of paper strength. If a naval battle is really participated in, the outcome of the battle will change rapidly, but it is a tacit fact that the dreadnought has great advantages.

The Russians attach great importance to the construction of the Peter Pavlovsk, and also sent General Makarov, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, to personally participate in the launching ceremony of the Peter Pavlovsk battleship.

Of course, there are also naval officers and soldiers from the Russian Pacific Fleet who will join the sea navigation test of the Peter Pavlovsk battleship after the launching ceremony.

On the one hand, they can more realistically experience the power of this dreadnought, and on the other hand, they can master the driving of the Peter Pavlovsk more quickly and form combat effectiveness more quickly.

Russia is currently an important ally of Australasia and one of the countries with the best relations with Australasia.

Therefore, the arrival of General Makarov also attracted Arthur's attention, and he sent Defense Minister Kent to accompany him to attend the launching ceremony of the battleship Peter Pavlovsk.

The launching ceremony was actually very simple. After the Peter Pavlovsk was transported from the shipyard to the offshore port and successfully launched, there were salutes and cheers on the port.

Although this is a Russian warship, it was also independently manufactured by the Australasians themselves, so it also attracted some Australasians to watch.

After all, according to the government's construction plan, the Australasian Navy will also be equipped with such warships in a few years, which is also the real reason why Australasians are curious about the Monarch-class battleship.

The main gun currently equipped on the battleship Peter Pavlovsk is a 283mm main gun. After all, Australasians do not yet have a 45-caliber 305mm main gun.

But this situation will soon change. According to news from Germany, Germany will completely master the technology of 305mm main guns by mid-1908 at the latest, and is willing to share it with Australasia.

This also means that battleships built in Australasia after mid-1908 can be equipped with larger caliber main guns, which will significantly improve firepower.

Of course, Arthur will never forget the battleship Peter Pavlovsk, and he also made a special promise that after Australasia mastered the technology of 305mm main guns, he could replace the main guns of the battleship Peter Pavlovsk for free.

Before seeing the battleship Peter Pavlovsk with his own eyes, General Makarov had doubts about the shipbuilding ability of Australasia.

After all, Australasia was still a colony of the British Empire seven years ago, and General Makarov did not take the six colonies of Australia together into consideration.

Now only seven years have passed, and General Makarov does not believe that Australasia can master the technology of building the most advanced battleships.

But the facts soon slapped General Makarov in the face. When General Makarov saw the completed battleship Peter Pavlovsk with his own eyes, General Makarov could not help but be moved to tears.

This is the largest investment in the navy in Russia in recent times, and it is also the strongest battleship in the world that Russia can master at present.

"Such a big guy, this is really wonderful!" General Makarov's eyes have never moved since he saw the battleship Peter Pavlovsk.

In fact, it is true. For people like General Makarov who love the navy and warships, there is nothing more exciting than watching the powerful warships belonging to their own country.

"General Makarov, why don't we go to the ship to take a look?" Seeing that General Makarov really likes this battleship, Minister Kent suggested with a smile.

"It's natural, it's natural. Let's go, Minister Kent, and see how beautiful this big guy is. Australasia is really an incredible country. I'm sorry for my previous doubts." General Makarov nodded impatiently and said frankly.

"This is normal, General Makarov. After all, it's a big guy worth millions of pounds. It's okay to be cautious." Minister Kent said with a smile.

After all, Australasia had only exported a Brunswick-class battleship to the island country before this.

Only Britain, Germany and Australia have the ability to build the most powerful dreadnoughts.

Needless to say, Britain and Germany are the two most powerful countries in the world, so their capabilities are naturally not doubted.

The development time in Australasia is only more than seven years. It is normal to suddenly claim that it can keep up with the level of the great powers in terms of dreadnoughts.

Smiling, accompanying General Makarov on board the battleship Peter Pavlovsk, Minister Kent personally introduced all the equipment on the warship to General Makarov.

The most attractive thing is naturally the 283mm main gun on the Peter Pavlovsk. Although the caliber of the gun is not as good as the British dreadnought battleship for the time being, such a design is indeed the most advanced at present.

General Makarov nodded with satisfaction while looking at the neatly installed 283mm main guns on the warship.

Even if it is only a 283mm main gun, its firepower has exceeded that of most Russian battleships.

Not to mention that the dreadnought-class battleship also has excellent armor protection capabilities and uses advanced power from steam turbines and boilers.

"Minister Kent, when can the test of the Peter Pavlovsk battleship begin?" General Makarov asked impatiently.

For an outstanding general who has worked hard for the navy for most of his life, he can't wait to see the true strength of the new Russian warship.

"If you want, you can start now." Minister Kent said with a smile.

The testing and sea trials of warships are an extremely long process, which is used to test the stability of warships, actual combat capabilities and specific errors with paper data.

Because General Makarov is here, this test is naturally not a boring test such as testing stability.

Generally, the links used to test the speed and stability of warships take several months, so that the design and equipment of the warships can be truly tested.

This test mainly focuses on maximum speed and firepower.

Accompanying the Peter Pavlovsk is a battleship from Russia.

Although this is an old battleship, it is also one of the main warships of the current Russian Pacific Fleet.

This time it will travel with the battleship Peter Pavlovsk to truly feel the difference in speed between the two battleships.

The maximum speed of Russia's old battleships is only 18 knots, but the maximum speed of the battleship Peter Pavlovsk reaches 21 knots. This gap does not seem to be much, but in fact it is extremely huge.

This can be seen from the start of the two warships. The Peter Pavlovsk has been ahead of the old Russian battleship since the start. After sailing for more than a minute, it has even pulled out a distance of more than 100 meters from the old battleship.

As time passed, the battleship Peter Pavlovsk was far ahead, and the distance between the two battleships even exceeded one kilometer.

You know, at this time, the sailing time of the two battleships does not exceed ten minutes. This means that in ten minutes, the Peter Pavlovsk battleship has completely crushed the old Russian battleships in terms of speed.

After seeing the old warships in the distance with a telescope, General Makarov nodded with satisfaction.

At this time, General Makarov's satisfaction with the Peter Pavlovsk battleship has reached the highest level, and General Makarov is looking forward to the real service of the Peter Pavlovsk battleship.

After sailing for more than half an hour, the Peter Pavlovsk finally slowed down.

Here, the Peter Pavlovsk will conduct firepower tests, including the accuracy and strike force of the artillery.

The 283mm artillery has obvious advantages and disadvantages compared to the 305mm main gun. The firing frequency of the 283mm main gun is much higher than that of the 305mm main gun, which is also the reason why the Germans were confident before.

But such an advantage is not so friendly to the Australian and Russian naval soldiers on the Peter Pavlovsk battleship.

Because it is the first time for them to operate a warship of this design, both the Russian and Australasian naval soldiers are unfamiliar with this operation method, so they need more time to practice and become proficient.

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