Chapter 268 This is the real strength of India! (Please subscribe, please vote)

December 20, 1829, Scotland, Onyk Islands, Scapa Flow.

This is a good natural bay surrounded by Mainland Island, Hoy Island, South Ronaldsay Island and a series of small islands. It is about 24 kilometers long, 13 kilometers wide and 130 kilometers in area. There are no strong winds or waves, and there are no storms in winter.

Freezing, the most important thing is that the location is particularly good!

This bay is located on the back of the British Isles, guarding the gates of the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea. To the west is the vast North Atlantic. To the south, it runs along the British coastline to the English Channel, which is eight to nine hundred kilometers. For the naval fleet,

In other words, this distance is only a day or two's flight.

In addition, the secrecy of this sea area is also sufficient. It is not as conspicuous as Portsmouth and Plymouth, the two naval bases next to the English Channel. There are so many merchant ships coming and going in front of them every day that it is impossible to hide them.

What a secret. So Scapa Flow and a large area around it have become the main anchorage of the Royal Navy since the second half of 1829. Small ships flying the flag of the Royal Navy patrol the surrounding area day and night.

Drive away any ships that try to approach without special permission. When the weather is good, there will be Royal Navy airships circling in the sky around Scapa Flow.

On this alert, as if facing a formidable enemy, the British Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, the First Sea Lord, the Earl of Nelson, the Secretary of the Admiralty, Commodore Elliot, and the Director of Ordnance, Major General Somerset, were on board a newly commissioned Egyptian ship.

The Degas-class first-class protected cruiser quietly sailed into the main anchorage of the British Royal Navy from the first entrance to Scapa Flow.

The Edgar class has a standard displacement of up to 7,350 tons, a main engine power of up to 12,000 horsepower, and a top speed of more than 20 knots. It is equipped with 2 9.2-inch main guns, 10 6-inch main guns, and 16 3-pound guns, as well as

4 14-inch torpedo tubes.

Although this first-class cruiser is not as good as the three Blake-class ships that previously fought against the eight Guogong-class ships of the Ming Dynasty's Persian Gulf Fleet off the coast of Goa, it is still a very good first-class cruiser.

Moreover, the cost of this first-class cruiser is not bad, only 370,000 pounds. For the British Empire with limited financial resources, it is an affordable ship. Therefore, before the Naval Shipbuilding Act was passed in June 1828, the Royal Navy had already

An order for 9 ships was placed. After the new shipbuilding bill was passed, the Royal Navy placed an order for 6 more ships.

But today’s protagonist is not this Edgar-class first-class protected cruiser, but a more powerful battleship! According to Viscount Palmerston, Minister of the Navy, who is attending the peace conference in Vienna, this first-class is enough to change the game of naval warfare.

Rules, the invincible battleship that won victory and glory for the British Empire.

It is HMS Victory, the first ship of the Victory class of the new Royal Navy of the British Empire.

The huge hull of the Victory is now floating on the sea in a corner of Scapa Flow. The huge steel hull exudes a frightening cold light under the reflection of the sun. There are 6 huge ships located at the bow and left and right sides.

The steel turret gives people a feeling of amazing destructive power.

"Duke, this is the most powerful battleship known in the world, more powerful than the Hero class of the Ming Navy!"

The unique gentle and serious voice of Rear Admiral Somerset, the Duke of Wellington's niece and son-in-law, who, like Nelson, was injured and was left with only one arm, sounded from the bridge of the Edgar-class cruiser Theseus.

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Major General Somerset said: "It has a standard displacement of more than 18,000 tons, equipped with 18 coal-fired steam boilers and 4 triple-expansion steam engines. Under normal ventilation conditions, it can generate 22,500 horsepower, and its maximum speed can reach 21

knot, one knot faster than the hero level!

In addition, its firepower is also more powerful than the Hero-class! Our engineers optimized the turret layout and changed the Hero-class's six 280mm twin-mounted turrets into five 12-inch twin-mounted turrets, one at the bow and stern.

There is a boiler room aft of the middle part of the hull, which is arranged on the center line of the hull; between the two boiler rooms, one is symmetrically arranged on each side. There are a total of 10 12-inch/45-caliber guns, with a maximum firepower of 8 on the sides of the entire ship.

It has 6 main guns and a theoretical forward firepower of 6 main guns. This artillery layout makes the Victory-class firepower density no less than that of the Hero-class. However, because the caliber of the artillery is much larger, it will definitely have a considerable advantage in artillery battles.

.

The armor protection of the Victory-class is also strong enough. The whole ship has 5,000 tons of armor, which is 600 tons more than the Hero-class. Like the Hero-class, it uses surface-hardened armor steel, making the whole ship as resistant to strikes.

At the level of hero."

The Duke of Wellington turned to look at Earl Nelson and asked: "Earl, can this Victory Class defeat the Hero Class?"

"Yes! It must be possible!" Earl Nelson said with certainty, "Duke, do you know what is the biggest advantage of this victory-class?"

"Is it because its speed is one knot faster and the caliber of its artillery is larger?"

"No!" Earl Nelson curled his lips and showed a proud smile, "Its biggest advantage is the workers and engineers who built it. They are the greatest workers and engineers in the world, and they can work overtime day and night for victory!

Duke, did you know? The first keel of this battleship was laid in Plymouth on August 10 last year. Four months later, this giant ship with a standard displacement of more than 18,000 tons was launched. On August 11 this year

It has completed all the outfitting projects and started sea trials. Today, just 1 year and 4 months after the start of Shengli Hao, it officially entered service and joined the Royal Navy of the British Empire! Its construction speed is uncompromising.

The unbreakable miracle is also the real trump card of the British Empire."

Major General Somerset nodded, "Yes, although our overall industrial strength cannot be compared with Ming Dynasty, we have more diligent shipbuilders and engineers who can work 12 hours or even 16 hours a day, and can work at night

They kept working in the cold wind and could still ensure quality. In order to rush the work, they even worked seven days a week, and even changed the place of worship to a temporary church in the shipyard.

Such workers are the real trump card of the British Empire! With their efforts, the 10 Victory-class ships started in 1828 will all be delivered before the end of the first quarter of 1830! In addition, including the warships received by the Indian Grand Fleet

Including, we will have up to 12 Indomitable-class ships delivered before the end of the first quarter of 1830. The number of new first-class cruisers equipped with the navy will reach 20 before the end of the first quarter of 1830. This

The data of the Waterloo that sank in the battle has been deducted!"

"10 plus 12 plus 20, that's 42 ships!" Duke Wellington counted on his fingers, "What about the airship mothership? How many can be prepared?"

George Elliot, who is in charge of the airship and airship mothership projects, replied: "Duke, because we have to fully guarantee the construction of front-line combat ships, the number of airship motherships to be built is less than the original plan. However, it can be completed before the end of the first quarter of next year.

Prepare 15 airships. And since we are equipped with gliding guided bombs, 15 airships are enough to give the enemy's large fleet a fatal blow!"

"Okay!" Duke Wellington nodded, "22 battleships, 20 armored cruisers, and 15 motherships. This is India's real strength!"

This strength is really scary!

If these battleships, armored cruisers and motherships are not considered a little bit full of water, it would be decent enough to fight in World War II. Moreover, so many battleships, armored cruisers and motherships were only produced in the two years from 1828 to 1830.

It was built by workers in British shipyards who worked overtime, which is even more terrifying. The British Empire is still very powerful!

"India?" Nelson was stunned, "Duke, you mean India?"

The Duke of Wellington nodded heavily and said with a smile: "Yes, it is India. Sell all these warships to India. Emperor William's India! Wars that are inconvenient for the British Empire to initiate will be initiated by Emperor William's India.

And India will fight to the last rupee for Emperor William! May God bless the Emperor of India and his Indian Empire!”
Chapter completed!