Chapter 206: The Monarch-Class Battleship
If Russia's slow progress in the construction of the Dreadnought battleship could be attributed to a lack of research and development capabilities and insufficient funding, then France's slow pace in the same area was harder to explain, especially given its status as a former great power.
In fact, the French were not slow in pursuing the Dreadnought; it was more the case that their naval budget had already been depleted by the construction of the pre-DreadnoughtDanton-class battleships. Not only did the navy have little budget left, but France's shipyards also lacked the capacity to begin new Dreadnought construction.
Because of this, despite the Danton-class battleships becoming obsolete after the advent of the Dreadnought, the French were determined to finish building all the Danton-class ships by 1911 before beginning their own Dreadnought program.
Whether or not this was a foolish move is debatable, but by the time France began its Dreadnought program, other nations had already entered the era of super-Dreadnoughts.
France's first Dreadnought, the Courbet-class battleship, became an unfortunate example of a battleship that was already behind in the Dreadnought era.
While the British led the way into the Dreadnought era, the second most committed nation in terms of resources and importance was the German Empire.
After the birth of the Dreadnought, the delicate balance between the British and German navies was shattered, and both countries began a new round of shipbuilding competition, with the British Dreadnought becoming the centerpiece.
Germany's response to the Dreadnought was the modified Nassau-class battleship, based on the older 1901-class battleships. The Nassau-class improved armor protection and adopted the Dreadnought's concept of fully heavy main guns, equipped with twelve 280mm main guns.
However, compared to the Dreadnought, the Nassau-class had much smaller caliber guns. While its rate of fire was faster, its firepower was still significantly weaker.
More importantly, the Nassau-class battleship and the Dreadnought differed in terms of propulsion and systems. The Dreadnought used four steam turbine propulsion units, coupled with numerous steam boilers, which greatly improved its speed.
The Germans, however, did not believe in this technology. The Nassau still used old three-cylinder reciprocating steam engines and only utilized coal-fired boilers.
This old-fashioned propulsion system meant that when the Nassau operated at top speed, the reciprocating motion of the machinery caused the ship to vibrate violently, affecting the accuracy of the guns and targeting.
Aside from this issue, the Nassau class's maximum speed was only 19 knots, significantly slower than the Dreadnought, which could exceed 21 knots.
In the original timeline, the Nassau-class quickly fell behind after its introduction, becoming a brief flash in the history of German warships.
Due to its strong relations with the British Empire, Germany, and Russia, Australasia received the design schematics and details for the Dreadnought battleship, and Kaiser Wilhelm II generously handed over the Nassau-class design to Arthur.
Of course, Wilhelm II had his own motivations for doing so. He knew of Arthur's ambitions and understood that once Arthur received the schematics, it was inevitable that Australasia would master Dreadnought construction technology, even developing their own Dreadnought.
At this sensitive time, what did it mean for Australasia to have its own Dreadnought? It meant that Australasia could rapidly become a naval power, reshaping the balance of power in Oceania and potentially even in Southeast Asia, the Far East, the Indian Ocean, and the Southwest Pacific.
Would having their own Dreadnought make the British Empire—always cautious when it came to naval power—start to worry?
Although Arthur had good relations with the British public, wasn't Wilhelm II in a similar position before?
There are no permanent alliances between nations, only interests that shift over time.
If Australasia posed a threat to British interests in the regions they prioritized, it could quickly become a hypothetical enemy of the British Empire.
Given British tendencies, it was very likely that they would send at least one Dreadnought to the Indian Ocean region. To maintain a naval balance in the region and perhaps even gain some advantage, the British would want to ensure that their presence was strong enough to assuage their concerns.
Sending an additional Dreadnought to the Indian Ocean would mean that one less Dreadnought would be stationed in Europe.
For the German Empire, the fewer Dreadnoughts the British had stationed in Europe, the fewer enemies they would have to face in the future.
This is why Kaiser Wilhelm II generously handed over the Nassau-class battleship's design to Arthur.
By redirecting the issue to Australasia, Germany was more than willing to let Arthur's ambitions take shape.
When Arthur received the Nassau-class schematics, he quickly figured out all of Wilhelm II's plans.
However, for Australasia, this wasn't a hot potato; instead, it was a ray of hope for naval development.
Perhaps Wilhelm II was also aware of the importance of these documents to Australasia, as Arthur would never abandon the Nassau-class designs.
Although the Nassau-class was technically a Dreadnought, it still retained many old-fashioned features and would inevitably be rapidly outdated.
Arthur was not foolish. He was well-versed in history and would not be as cautious as the Germans.
After receiving the Nassau-class schematics, Arthur convened all the shipbuilding experts available to Australasia for a meeting to discuss the future shipbuilding plans for the country.
Arthur's sole purpose was to harness the abilities of these experts to combine the best aspects of the Nassau-class and Dreadnought battleships into a new design, one without the flaws of its predecessors—a truly modern Dreadnought.
The obvious flaws in the Nassau-class were twofold: First, the caliber of its main guns was too small, resulting in weaker firepower compared to the Dreadnought. Second, it still used an outdated power system, which caused significant vibration when the ship was at full speed, affecting gun accuracy.
For Australasia's new Dreadnought, these flaws needed to be corrected. Not only should the firepower be enhanced as much as possible, but the propulsion system should also be modernized, replacing the old reciprocating engines with new steam turbines.
These two issues were the main problems with the Nassau class, and they directly impacted the most important aspects of a battleship: firepower and speed.
With clear goals in mind, the shipbuilding experts began an intense discussion, considering all possibilities for the design.
For Australasia, designing a Dreadnought was relatively straightforward. Thanks to the extensive intelligence gathering on the Dreadnought, its detailed specifications were already known to most major powers, including Australasia.
In addition, with the Nassau design in hand, they now had two Dreadnought design options to work from and could improve upon them.
The plan was to take the Nassau as the base and integrate the Dreadnought's features where the Nassau had weaknesses, resulting in a Dreadnought that would be free of flaws and could rival or even surpass the Dreadnought itself.
The shipbuilding experts from Germany were heavily involved in the improvement process.
Given the coming era of super-Dreadnoughts, the main focus for Australasia's research was on the design of Dreadnoughts, and the involvement of German experts was seen as a positive development.
Germany's precise approach to mechanical engineering was invaluable in this endeavor.
Even the old Nassau class, with its problematic propulsion system that caused vibrations at full speed, had proven to be a reliable vessel for many years, showcasing the quality of German craftsmanship.
These German experts were excited to contribute to Australasia's Dreadnought research.
After the Dreadnought was born, their initial enthusiasm waned, but after consulting with their home country, Germany encouraged them to stay in Australasia and continue supporting the country's naval development.
They had initially thought their work with the Dreadnought design was done, but now they were deeply involved in the design process for Australasia's own Dreadnought.
One of the reasons these experts were so willing to help was that Australasia had full access to the German Nassau-class design documents.
Australasia's access to Germany's Dreadnought designs proved the strength of their relationship and Germany's support for Australasia's naval ambitions.
Moreover, in the years since, Australasia had cultivated a cadre of shipbuilding experts.
Though they still lagged behind Europe's leading powers in shipbuilding, they had reached the level of a second-tier nation.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Australasia's and Germany's experts, the design for the first Dreadnought was completed.
Although the design had not been fully tested, it was based on the principles of both the Dreadnought and Nassau classes, and as long as there were no significant flaws with either, the design should be sound.
Of course, operational capabilities would need to be verified through actual trials.
Even though the British had great confidence in the Dreadnought, it wasn't until after more than a year of sea trials that it was officially inducted into service.
Arthur formally named the new battleship the Monarch-class.
Due to its basis on the Nassau design, the Monarch would look very similar to the Nassau class.
However, due to the fact that neither Germany nor Australasia had mastered the 45-caliber 305mm gun technology, the Monarch class was initially designed to carry twelve 280mm guns, similar to the Nassau.
This was only temporary, though. Once either Germany or Australasia acquired more advanced 305mm guns, they would be incorporated into the Monarch class.
Arthur had also instructed that enough space be left in the design for potential future upgrades to the Monarch's main guns.
(End of Chapter)
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