Chapter 160: Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Five: Sea Test

“These two Duke-class armored cruisers are both modified from the British Empire’s Orlando-class armored cruisers, with a ship length of 93-5 meters, width of 17.63 meters, height of 7 01 meters, 6500 horsepower, a conventional sailing speed of 18 knots, and a short-term maximum speed of over 19 knots.” the Ministry of Defense official said with enthusiasm.

“Both the HMAS Australia and HMAS Duke of Arthur have similar specifications. They are equipped with two 234mm main guns, ten 152mm guns, and some six-pounders and three-pounders. This firepower is sufficient to maintain the security of Australia’s coastline, and the HMAS Australia and HMAS Duke of Arthur will also become the sharpest edge of the Australian Navy.”

Although both of these warships are medium-sized, this does not hinder the well-prepared defense officials from giving a detailed introduction.

Although such armored cruisers would be instantly killed if they were to face battleships, they would have a great advantage if they encountered small and medium-sized warships. In other words, they are not good enough to compete with larger ships but are superior to smaller ones.

These two warships are among the main ships of the Australian Navy, and as the newest ships launched, they have been docked at the harbor for the longest time.

Australians present also have the privilege of boarding these two warships with their Australian government-issued identification for an on-site visit.

Of course, this will also extend the time the two warships are docked. By the time the last visitor returns to the harbor, it is already more than two hours later.

Judging from the reactions of those who boarded the warships for an on-site visit, they seemed generally satisfied with these two new warships.

At least in terms of medium and small warships, these two Duke-class armored cruisers are considered top-notch, with first-class armor protection and firepower equipment, and are not lacking in speed. They can even be compared with some slower battleships.

There are a total of four slots for armored cruisers in this naval parade, so the next two warships are still armored cruisers.

The armored cruisers docked at the harbor this time are the HMS New South Wales and HMS Queensland.

These two warships have been in service for more than ten years.

As such, their models are the predecessors of the Duke-class armored cruisers: the British Empire’s Orlando-class armored cruisers.

Although there is not too much difference in appearance between the two types of warships, there have been significant improvements in terms of firepower, armor thickness, and speed.

Due to the departure of the previous two armored cruisers from the harbor, the arrival of the new ships does not create an obvious difference for the people.

If it were not for the introduction by the defense officials, people might not even be able to tell the difference between these two types of warships.

“Ladies and gentlemen, what you see now are the HMS New South Wales and HMS Queensland from the British Empire’s Orlando-class armored cruisers. These two ships belong to the models that preceded the Duke-class armored cruisers, but there is no significant difference between the two types of warships. Although they have been in service for over ten years, these two warships still remain among the main forces of the Australian Navy, their performance only slightly behind that of the HMAS Australia and the HMAS Duke of Arthur.”

These two warships also offer the opportunity for people to visit, but there are not as many visitors this time. Only a few hundred people were randomly selected on-site to visit the warships.

New Zealand officials did not miss either of these two visitation opportunities, and with Arthur’s special authorization, they all successfully obtained the opportunity to board the warships.

Under the British Empire’s colonial system, Australia and New Zealand each have their own garrisons and their own shore defense navies.

Yes, shore defense navies. In plain terms, these are small fleets composed of obsolete small and medium-sized warships whose sole purpose is to patrol the coastline.

Some of these warships are even retired from the Royal Navy, and it would be a bit of a stretch to let them participate in battles.

Australia is, after all, a country composed of six colonies, while New Zealand is just one colony.

This has led to the current pitiful scale of New Zealand’s Navy, which is even more pitiful than Australia’s pitiful navy.

How large is New Zealand’s naval fleet? Even coastal artillery ships, which the Australian navy does not hold in high regard, are among the main warships of the New Zealand navy. There is not even one armored cruiser, which is now widely equipped in the Australian navy, in the New Zealand navy.

However, this could not really be blamed on the New Zealand colonial government. Before Australia’s integration, the so-called navy in any of its colonies was not that much different from New Zealand’s navy.

This is also the reason why New Zealand officials admire the current Australian navy. It seems that previously, New Zealand and Australia were not that different, their naval sizes were not that far removed.

But now, the Australian navy has officially been equipped with medium-sized warships and even has the technology to build battleships. They just haven’t started construction yet for various reasons.

But all New Zealanders know that it is inevitable for Australia to build and own battleships; otherwise, they would not have gone to great lengths to introduce battleship construction technology from the German Empire.

This means that the gap between New Zealand and Australia will grow larger and larger, and it may even evolve into a gap between the people of New Zealand and the people of Australia.

Keep in mind that these two nations were originally both descended from British immigrants and, in essence, did not have any differences.

New Zealanders envy the current changes in Australia, as well as the high welfare and high-income jobs that Australians now enjoy.

This has laid a good foundation for the Alliance Party to promote and publicize its policy of unity with Australia. The Alliance Party is currently the most popular party in New Zealand, bar none.

With the extensive promotion by the Alliance Party, New Zealanders have now accepted and are looking forward to the union with Australia.

Even if they could enjoy the same treatment as Australians, what is the harm in them becoming Australians?

Accelerating this process is the action of the Royal Relief Committee in New Zealand. Although their investment in New Zealand is not as large as in Australia, they have indeed relieved thousands of extremely impoverished New Zealanders, and the relief operations have even included tens of thousands of people, enjoying an excellent reputation in New Zealand.

Under the joint efforts of the Alliance Party and the Royal Relief Committee, the communication between New Zealand and Australia has visibly increased, and more and more people are beginning to look forward to joining forces with Australia and letting Australians help New Zealand.

After the four armored cruisers, the remaining ships are escort ships and small warships such as coastal artillery ships.

There is not much to introduce about small warships, so there are also no activities for people to board and visit them.

This greatly speeds up the naval review process, as the first four armored cruisers took nearly four hours, while the six small warships combined took only one hour.

After reviewing all the naval warships on site, the next event that Australians were looking forward to was the random selection of some people to board the warships and personally watch the naval target fire strategy on the ships.

In order not to cause accidents and to allow the navy to form a long snake- shaped formation for better attacking strategic targets, the warships will sail to a harbor ten nautical miles away to carry out this test on a wider sea.

To ensure safety, only 400 people will be allowed to board the warships this time, with 100 slots for each armored cruiser.

Although it is said to be random, true randomness cannot be achieved. Officials can only pick some people who seem patriotic and give them a chance to personally board their country’s warships.

Although there are only 400 people, the selection process still lasts half an hour.

Those who are selected are overjoyed, while those who are not are slightly disappointed. This is normal, as there are at least 20,000 spectators in the shipyard, and among so many people, the odds of being randomly selected are only one in fifty.

By the time these 400 people board the warships, it is already past 3 PM.

In order to complete the entire testing process earlier, the fleet sets off shortly after making preparations, aiming for the testing point ten nautical miles away.

The target of this concentrated fire is a scrapped old civilian fishing boat, which the Ministry of Defense purchased specifically for this test at a slight cost.

In order to simulate an enemy warship, the scrapped fishing boat is even retrofitted with a layer of armor covering the surface, making its defense comparable to a medium-sized warship.

The goal of this fleet is to successfully destroy the fishing boat after the concentrated firepower and then collect all the data and return to the harbor.

This will test the crew’s familiarity with the warship, as it would be a joke if their accuracy in hitting a fixed target was not high.

The main force of this test is the four armored cruisers, or rather, the two newly launched Duke-class armored cruisers.

These two warships have excellent firepower, and if they can hit the fishing boat at the same time, they will basically accomplish the mission.

Once the fleet reaches the designated location, they line up in a straight formation, aiming their guns at the fishing boat and making their own adjustments.

At the flagship’s command, all warships concentrate their fire on the distant fishing boat, with thunderous cannon fire and deafening noise.

“Did we hit the target?” All Australians wonder in their hearts.

As the smoke generated by burning gunpowder gradually dissipates, people finally see the current state of the distant fishing boat.

Most of the warships managed to hit the target, especially the four armored cruisers. Even though a temporary layer of armor was added, the fishing boat is now torn in half, with both the bow and stern sinking rapidly.

“Beautiful!” The Australians on the warships cheer, marveling at the impressive performance of the new warships.

“Mission accomplished, all warships return to the harbor in an orderly manner!”

The flagship naturally sees this result and issues the order to return to the harbor.

All warships turn their guns back and then change direction, heading back towards Sydney Harbour.

At the harbor, although the remaining people cannot see the scene of the fleet’s concentrated fire with their own eyes, the officials of the Ministry of Defense will announce the news as soon as they receive it.

Just a few minutes after the fishing boat sank, the Ministry of Defense officials had already received the news and announced it quite happily.

Like the reactions of people on the warships, the harbor scene erupts with cheers and applause.

This proves that Australia’s newly built warships are very reliable, as are Australia’s navy personnel.

Then, after a few more speeches by Arthur and Prime Minister Evan, the National Day celebration and the naval grand parade officially come to an end.