Chapter 288: The Super Dreadnought Ambitions of the Chileans
As time moved into October 1910, Arthur received some good news: the Australis and New Zealand battleships had officially joined the navy.
That's right, after nearly a year of sea trials, these two battleships had successfully passed the tests and were now fully operational naval ships. After more than a year of handling and experiments, the naval soldiers were very familiar with these battleships, and their combat capabilities had started to form.
Currently, the Australasian navy had three dreadnoughts, and the construction of two battle cruisers was nearing completion. The scale and combat power of the navy had vastly improved compared to the past.
At the same time, Australasia welcomed visitors from South America.
Much like the naval arms race between European powers, in recent years, especially from the late 19th century to the present, several South American countries—particularly the three largest, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil—had been engaged in a vigorous naval arms race due to territorial disputes.
Chile and Argentina even clashed over territorial issues, which eventually led to a peaceful resolution under British mediation. However, the competition between the three countries did not end with the temporary peace. After the conflict, Britain sold two Constitution-class pre-dreadnoughts to Chile, and Argentina ordered two Rivadavia-class battleships from Italy.
When the dreadnought battleships were created, Brazil decided to halt its purchase of pre-dreadnoughts in 1907, instead using the funds to buy the newly developed dreadnoughts.
Britain built two Minas Gerais-class battleships for Brazil, which officially entered service this year, making Brazil the fifth country in the world, after the UK, Germany, Russia, and Australasia, to possess dreadnoughts.
Historically, Brazil was supposed to be the third country to acquire dreadnoughts, but due to the presence of Arthur and Australasia, both Australasia and Russia had their dreadnoughts earlier.
With these two dreadnoughts entering service, Brazil's navy immediately surpassed that of all other South American countries. This led to the official start of the South American naval arms race, with countries rushing to purchase more powerful dreadnoughts to counter each other.
In mid-1910, the Chilean National Congress passed a resolution to allocate at least £4 million for naval expansion, which included two battleships over 20,000 tons, six destroyers, and two submarines.
Initially, the Chilean government planned to hold a tender to choose a company to build the dreadnoughts for them. However, since British and German shipyards were busy constructing dreadnoughts for their own countries, the companies bidding for the tender were mainly from smaller European nations.
This discouraged the Chilean government, as these nations had no dreadnoughts of their own, and the Chilean government didn't believe these shipyards could build powerful dreadnoughts.
At this point, the second military ship trade order between Russia and Australasia reminded some Chilean naval officers and government officials of Australasia.
While Australasia might not seem much different from the smaller European nations, it had successfully negotiated two military ship trade agreements with one of the great powers, Russia. The ships built by Australasia had proven their worth and combat capabilities, gaining the trust of Russia.
If Russia had equipped itself with four battleships and two cruisers from Australasia, why should Chile doubt their ability to fulfill its needs?
Considering that the dreadnoughts built by Australasia met the demands of the great powers, surely they could meet Chile's needs as well.
With this thought, the Chilean government sent a delegation to Australasia to conduct a firsthand inspection.
The visit of the Chilean delegation caught Arthur's attention, though it was more because of the financial backing of the Chilean mission. While Arthur did not know the specifics of Chile's plans to purchase ships from Australasia, he was aware that the South American naval race was in full swing, and it was likely that the Chilean diplomats were here for the dreadnoughts.
Indeed, the Chilean delegation was direct and made their intentions clear—they wanted to inspect Australasia's dreadnoughts.
Upon hearing the report from Foreign Minister Andrew, Arthur did not hesitate and instructed Minister Andrew to take the Chilean delegation to the Royal Shipyard.
On the way to the shipyard, the discussions with the Chileans surprised Minister Andrew. The Chileans had high demands, specifically requesting battleships with a displacement of at least 28,000 tons, equipped with 12-inch guns.
12-inch guns were not a problem, as Australasia's dreadnoughts were equipped with 305mm main guns. However, the challenge was the tonnage. Even the Monarch-class battleship, at full load, only weighed 20,910 tons, far from the 28,000 tons the Chileans wanted.
In fact, the battleships historically built for Chile with such requirements were some of the most powerful super-dreadnoughts of their time.
As the development of dreadnoughts progressed, the caliber of the main guns grew to between 13.5 and 15 inches, with increased effective range. The main gun turrets were arranged along the ship's longitudinal centerline to reduce or eliminate midship turrets, and the displacement was increased to over 25,000 tons. Such battleships were typically called "super-dreadnoughts."
In fact, the first nation to develop and build super-dreadnoughts was the British Empire. The Orion-class battleships, designed to cope with the intense naval shipbuilding competition with Germany, were a new class of powerful ships, referred to as super-dreadnoughts by the British.
The most important change was the installation of 13.5-inch guns, far surpassing the 12-inch guns of the Saint Vincent-class battleships. This upgraded the gun caliber from 305mm to 343mm, greatly enhancing the firepower.
The first Orion-class battleship, HMS Orion, began construction at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and was quietly launched in August of this year, maintaining a high level of secrecy.
With the experience from the launch of the dreadnought battleship, the secrecy surrounding the launch of the Orion was tightly controlled, and as of now, no other country knew of it.
The Chileans' seemingly unreasonable request immediately reminded Arthur of the super-dreadnoughts that were about to emerge in history, or perhaps already had.
Australasia had managed to achieve global leadership in dreadnoughts, and Arthur had no intention of relinquishing this position easily.
He immediately summoned naval experts and ordered them to design a large battleship with a total displacement of no less than 23,000 tons, and a full load displacement of no less than 27,000 tons, based on the Chileans' requirements.
Arthur's instructions were to not only enhance the firepower but also to improve the armor and propulsion system, ensuring that despite the increased size and weight, the ship's speed would still be around 21 knots.
This posed a significant challenge for the shipyard's experts, as they had no direct reference for such large warships. They could only rely on the blueprints of the Monarch-class and Saint Vincent-class battleships, making improvements in certain areas to meet Arthur's specifications.
After several days of touring the Royal Shipyard, the Chileans were quite satisfied with the facility. The only drawback was that the largest battleships on display (the Monarch-class) had a full-load displacement of just under 21,000 tons. Even with modifications, the Monarch-class could not exceed 22,000 tons, which was still far from the 28,000 tons the Chileans requested.
However, there was good news: Minister Andrew personally assured them that under Arthur's orders, the Royal Shipyard was already designing a super battleship with a full-load displacement of around 28,000 tons, which would meet most of the Chileans' requirements.
After careful consideration and consultation with their government back home, the Chilean delegation decided to enter into preliminary cooperation with the Royal Shipyard.
If the newly designed warships met Chile's requirements, they would officially sign a contract for two battleships, six destroyers, and two submarines.
The main reason the Chileans were willing to wait for the Royal Shipyard's design results was that the Royal Shipyard had shown strong development, and unlike the European small and medium-sized countries that had no dreadnoughts, the Royal Shipyard had experience with battleships, destroyers, and submarines.
Moreover, the Chileans had seen some German and British faces in the Royal Shipyard, which meant the shipyard had the technical support of both Germany and Britain. This gave the Chileans confidence that the warships built by Australasia would be up to standard.
In the presence of Arthur, the Chilean diplomatic team and the Royal Shipyard signed a treaty. If the new warships met most of Chile's requirements, the contract would be officially enacted. If the ships did not meet the expectations, the contract would be voided, with no financial obligation on the part of Chile.
This agreement was beneficial for both parties. For Arthur, the treaty provided an opportunity to gain experience for the shipyard in building super-dreadnoughts, ensuring that future ships for Australasia would be more efficient and less prone to errors.
(End of Chapter)
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