My Italian: Chapter 489 Dante-class battleship

Remember [New] for a second,! Although the battle of Lushun became more and more intense, it was also more and more bloody. However, for the countries on this side of Europe, the war in the Far East is too far for them and has little impact on them, and they are more concerned about European affairs.

If there is anything major happening in Europe recently, it must be the reinforcement fleet of Russia. The fleet recently made a major event. The No. 1 reinforcement fleet, which departed from the Baltic Sea, encountered foggy weather while crossing the Denmark Strait. Said that the merchant ship was hit and sank on the spot and three crew members died, and the bow of the Sisoi was also damaged.

Can hitting and sinking a merchant ship be a big deal?

Yes, because this merchant ship is a British merchant ship. The British Empire was worried that it could not find a reason, and the Russians sent it up themselves. So the British Empire spoke up, and the Russian fleet must compensate the British for their losses. Of course, just talking is not enough. The battleships of the British Empire stopped all these battleships from Russia, and they were not allowed to leave without compensation or handing over the perpetrators.

Faced with the menacing British fleet trying to find fault, the Russians backed down. They paid £197,000 for all losses caused by the collision, and left the perpetrators to stand trial in a British court.

It can be said that in the matter of the collision, the Russians lost all face. This is also a huge blow to the morale of the Russian naval officers and soldiers on the ship.

But just like that, do you think it's over?

The British Empire will later announce that the Russian fleet is prohibited from using the Suez Canal, in addition to prohibiting the Russian fleet from docking at its own ports, and refusing to sell any supplies to the Russian fleet. And also called on friendly nations to do the same with the Russian fleet.

The discerning person knows at a glance that this is the British Empire, which is letting all countries express their opinions. At this time, although the British had just fallen in the Boer War, they were still in a state of prestige. Who else is willing to offend Britain for the Russians? Therefore, other European countries with colonies have all expressed their opinions, prohibiting the Russians from docking and replenishing supplies in their own ports.

In the face of the statements of various countries, Russia's Second Pacific Fleet immediately fell into a predicament, because the fleet planned to pass through the Suez Canal at first, and then borrowed the port of its ally France to stop and supply. It is expected that the whole journey should take two months to arrive in the Far East.

And now that it cannot pass through the Suez Canal, the fleet will have to circumnavigate the African continent, not to mention the increased voyage. This was not planned in advance, what about the resupply ships?

It should be known that the warships of various countries are currently burning coal. Take the British Empire's Dreadnought-class battleship as an example. Its standard displacement is 14,500 tons, the designed coal loading is 900 tons, the normal coal loading is 1100 tons, and the maximum coal loading is 1490 tons. . When it runs at 15 knots and consumes 170 tons of coal per day, the normal coal loading is only enough for 6 days, and the maximum coal loading cannot last for ten days.

In addition to carrying a huge amount of coal, a large amount of fresh water must be available for the boiler to operate (this is why the South American route requires commercial sailboats, and it is difficult to supply coal and fresh water for copper, saltpeter and other materials on the South American route), so the navies of various countries have to surround Navigating half the world is a huge challenge, and the British and French navies have overcome this challenge with a network of bases around the world.

When Nicholas II was worried about how to supply coal, his cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II, assured that the German company under him could guarantee the supply. Facing the goodwill of the Germans, the Russians who lacked supplies agreed at once, which was offended again. Allied French.

However, for Nicholas II, everything must make concessions for the war in the Far East, so in order to get enough supplies for the fleet, the dissatisfaction of the French can only be put down first.

After obtaining the German supply commitment, the Russian Second Pacific Fleet also began a voyage around the African continent.

The Russian fleet can come to an end, at this time a large-scale shipbuilding in Italy is just beginning.

Located in the Venice Naval Shipyard, under the watchful eyes of many naval officers and shipyard workers, Admiral Yagier himself laid the first keel for the Dante. And when he completed this ceremony, it also announced the start of Italian shipbuilding.

The Dante-class is a partially modified warship after the Italian test of the Dreadnought. This class is very similar to the Dreadnought in appearance, of course, there are differences. For example, the Dante-class adopts the cylindrical shape invented by Pugliese. Underwater defense system. Because the system is designed in the cabin, it does not need to increase the burden on the ship, and it is much better than the lightning protection net and the lightning protection next door.

In addition, compared to the Intrepid, the Dante-class hull armor adopts an inwardly inclined layout. Its 25-degree inclination allows the Dante to gain greater armor thickness, or use less armor for defensive purposes.

In addition, the Dante-class has also made certain modifications to address some of the inadequacies of the Dreadnought. In the end, the data of the Dante-class is as follows, with a total length of 158.7 meters, a width of 25.9 meters, and a draft of 9 meters. The standard displacement is 19,700 tons, and the full-load displacement is 22,600 tons.

The firepower is 8 305mm 45-caliber main guns and 16 105mm single-barreled secondary guns. The maximum armor thickness is 280 mm, and the ship is equipped with 18 oil-fired boilers and 4 steam turbines with a power of 30,000 horsepower and a maximum speed of 23 knots. The endurance is 6,500 nautical miles at 10 knots or 4,200 nautical miles at 15 knots~www.mtlnovel.com~ Generally speaking, the Dante-class is an optimized warship of the Dreadnought, and the Italian Navy is also quite satisfied with it. Otherwise, they would not have the ambition to build four ships in one go.

That's right, in view of the current situation and the navy's demand for new battleships, the navy opened four new battleships in one go, and Dante was the first ship of this class, followed by the second ship Petrarch, which was launched in two months. Construction will be started later. The other two, the Leonardo da Vinci and the Michelangelo, will be built early next year.

At present, in addition to the Venice Naval Shipyard (two), the Ansaldo Shipyard (one) and the Orlando Shipyard (one) have also undertaken part of the construction tasks.

It is expected that all four Dante-class battleships will be launched in 1906, when the Italian Navy will pass the dangerous period of the empty window of the capital ship.

However, Admiral Yagier, who presided over the construction ceremony, did not leave. He stayed to have a chat with the shipyard manager. The main purpose is to discuss the construction of the Dante class, mainly to ensure that the shipyard can complete the construction of the warship with high quality and quantity, without delaying the deadline.

Of course, in addition to this, he has to discuss with the Navy's chief designer Cuniberti about the battlecruiser. Because he always felt something was wrong with Cuniberti's plan.