Chapter 820 Ship Purchase
Stettin, Germany.
Stettin is one of the important seaport cities in Germany. It may not sound familiar, but it had a more famous "Polish" name in its previous life - Szczecin.
This is the birthplace of Catherine II, the founder of the Russian Empire. Her father was a prince of the Kingdom of Prussia.
The name Szczecin also appeared in the famous "Iron Curtain" speech, in which Churchill declared that "from Szczecin in the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the European continent", making it a witness to the Cold War.
Of course, the fates of these two cities in the previous life, Szczecin and Trieste, as important seaport cities of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire respectively, were quite similar.
Germany was obviously in a better situation. No matter how it was divided, it still existed. However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire disintegrated after World War I, so the issue of nationalism has always been important to Ernst.
"Count Hermann, our German shipbuilding technology is absolutely reliable. Just ten years ago, the Far Eastern Empire ordered two first-class ironclad ships and three cruisers from our factory. It has been fully verified in the Far East and can fully meet the needs of the East African Navy. So you have come to the right place by choosing our Vulcan Shipyard among the many shipyards in Germany."
The Vulcan Shipyard, where the Beiyang Fleet ordered warships, was originally just a small shipbuilding plant established in 1851.
However, Germany had not yet been unified in 1851, and the Prussian navy was very weak at the time, so the starting point of the Vulcan Shipyard was not low in Germany. It was also a pioneer of modern shipbuilding industry in the Kingdom of Prussia, which had not yet unified Germany.
Moreover, the parent company of the Vulcan Shipyard not only manufactures military and civilian ships but also railway equipment, and is considered a relatively powerful military-industrial enterprise in Prussia.
After the reunification of Germany, it developed rapidly and became one of the country's leading shipyards. The factory's greatest achievement was obviously the construction of two world-leading ironclad ships for the Far Eastern Empire in the 1980s.
Before this, the Vulcan Shipyard had never had experience in building large ironclad ships. In this respect, it was not as good as the Bagamoyo Shipyard in East Africa. Moreover, the Vulcan Shipyard had many competitors, and it was able to stand out entirely because of the purchases made by the Far Eastern Empire in the 1980s.
The Vulcan shipyard was located in central Prussia, in Bredow on the lower Oder River on the outskirts of Stettin (Szczecin).
Now the shipyard's director, Wells, is trying hard to promote the shipyard's business in East Africa. However, East African Foreign Minister Hermann obviously does not have much interest in Wells' words.
"Director Wells, we have no doubt about your factory's technology and manufacturing capabilities, but we only need to order an ironclad ship as a supplement to the navy. At this stage, East Africa's demand for the navy is not too strong." Count Hermann said tactfully.
As a money-eating beast, the navy will never be satisfied. Of course, the more warships the better. However, the East African Navy obviously cannot represent the attitude of the East African government.
Now that the South African War has been a beautiful war of nation-building, East Africa can be said to be very safe in the short term, so East Africa has also begun to work on disarmament.
The Navy is currently going to retire four ironclad ships at one time. Of course, as compensation, it will introduce three ironclad ships with the latest technology as supplements.
East Africa plans to build one ship on its own, and the remaining two will be imported from Germany and Austria-Hungary respectively. In addition to absorbing advanced technology from peers, it will also facilitate the East African Navy to further expand its horizons.
Most of the ironclad ships in East Africa were built in the 1960s and 1970s, and most of them are now outdated. Of course, as the world's top naval military industry, the backward technology of ironclad ships is only relative to the great powers, and it can still exert a deterrent effect in other regions.
Two of the retired warships of the East African Navy were prepared to be sold for 600,000 taels of silver in accordance with the pre-war transaction with the Far Eastern Empire. The average price was only 300,000 taels, which was basically giving them away for free.
However, if the East African Navy wants to develop, these ironclad ships cannot lay eggs. It is a good place for them to "retire" in the Far East waters. Otherwise, they can only be dismantled or used as targets.
Of course, this deal is definitely a win-win for the Far East Empire. After all, the service life of the retired warships in East Africa is not that long, and the oldest one is no more than 20 years old.
The cost-effectiveness is still very high. With a little maintenance, it can serve for another ten years without any problem. Even if it is sold as scrap metal, you can make some profit.
Germany's shipbuilding technology may be stronger than that of East Africa, but it is limited, especially the Vulcan Shipyard. The Hechingen Consortium itself has its own shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, so East Africa is fully capable of obtaining some of the German shipbuilding technology.
The uniqueness of the Vulcan Shipyard lies in its great fame. As for its strength, it is actually on the same level as the East African Shipyard. Of course, backed by Germany's strength and education, the future development of the Vulcan Shipyard should not be bad.
Therefore, Count Hermann and other East African officials were not very interested in introducing warships from the Vulcan Shipyard. However, the Vulcan Shipyard had the ability to independently build ironclad ships, and many of its technologies were original, so it was still worth referring to by the East African Navy.
If it were not for this purpose, East Africa could have given the order to the Hechingen Shipyard in Hamburg. Of course, the Hamburg branch of the Hechingen Shipyard is no longer as strong as before, and its focus on commercial ships is also one of the reasons.
After all, the development of East Africa's local shipbuilding industry mainly relies on the transfer of elite personnel from Venice and Hamburg. As a result, the development of the shipyards in Venice and Hamburg is naturally restricted.
However, Germany and Austria are both world-class powers. Backed by the resources and education systems of the two countries, the shipyards of Hamburg and Venice are still developing well and still rank among the best in the two countries.
"That's a shame. The strength of the East African Navy is worthy of respect. It is an honor for many shipyards to be able to produce warships for such a navy with real combat records. I am somewhat envious of the Trieste Royal Shipyard in this regard."
In the South African War, the East African Navy performed well. Although it was only a draw and even suffered a slight loss, it depends on who the opponent was.
Currently, the two most powerful naval countries in the world are Britain and France. It is very surprising that the East African Navy can confront the British Royal Navy head-on.
This also made the Austro-Hungarian Empire's military shipbuilding industry proud, because most of the main naval ships in East Africa were built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or the technology came from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy already had the Battle of Rissa as its record, while Germany was far behind in this regard.
Therefore, the fact that East Africa was able to order warships from the Vulcan Shipyard itself was somewhat unexpected for the Vulcan Shipyard.
"Director Wells, you don't have to be too depressed. The development of Germany's shipbuilding industry is obvious to all. It can be said that the development of the German navy is the fastest in the world. Take your factory for example. In the 1980s, you were able to defeat Britain and win orders from the Far East Empire. You can be said to be proud of it within the industry. Now Germany simply lacks opportunities for actual combat." Count Hermann comforted.
Although the East African Navy also developed extremely rapidly, it was highly dependent on the technical support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Germany was more creative and independent from the very beginning, so in this field Germany was still much stronger than East Africa.
What East Africa lacks most is the system, especially the lack of high-end talents. This is closely related to the fact that the education system in East Africa has been developed for too short a time. The East African Navy is a mixed bag of buying and building.
Especially in the 1970s, people were very eager for quick success and the East African Navy took a big bite, which has not been fully digested so far.
(End of this chapter)
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