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Post by revillag on Jul 26, 2019 12:59:49 GMT -6
October 1899
My dearest Cousin,
Thank you so much for allowing me to visit with you after I finished up my studies at the university. I decided to take your suggestion and visit Uncle to ask for a government appointment. Let me tell you, things did not go as I had planned. On the train to Wien I met a German naval officer. He noticed my Navy League pin and we started talking. He told me that the Kaiser had ordered all of his officers to read a book by an American Captain. It seemed incredulous to me, but he handed me a copy of the book and told me to keep it as he had finished reading it and the German Kriegsmarine would provide him with a new copy. I spent the rest of the train ride reading the book and discussing it with my fellow traveler. I can’t say that I agree with everything that this American was saying, but I believe that he had a valid argument. Commerce is the life blood of a nation, and the nation that rules the Seas can choke the life out of any other.
When I arrived in Wien, I had a pleasant time and I eventually arranged a meeting with Uncle. I had brought a copy of the book and was making notes in the margins while waiting for Uncle. I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I had my nose buried in the book when he walked in the room. Fortunately, he did not take offense and it turns out that the he had read the book and asked for my thoughts on the topic. Well, you know me when it comes to talking about any topic I find fascinating. The next thing I know, it’s evening and we are still discussing it over after dinner drinks. It wasn’t until the next morning that I realized that I had forgotten to ask for an appointment.
Well, I thought that I had blown my chance at an appointment, but a week later I received an Imperial summons. It seems that Admiral Hermann Freiherr von Spaun and Uncle had a meeting the day after my visit and they had a violent disagreement over the course of the Kriegsmarine. Von Spaun was content to let the Kriegsmarine remain a costal defensive force with a mission to prevent invasions and saw no reason why the k.u.k. should be concerned with anything outside of the Adriatic. The reports that I have heard are confused as to whether he resigned, or Uncle sacked him, but the result was that the k.u.k was without a Commanders-in-Chief of the Navy and head of the Naval Section at the War Ministry. That’s where my summons comes in.
Uncle appointed me Commanders-in-Chief of the Navy and head of the Naval Section at the War Ministry! Can you imagine the shock? Of course, I agreed despite feeling completely unqualified for the post. I really had no choice, after all. Uncle is not a man that you say no to. You remember cousin Dimitri, don’t you? There is a reason that you haven’t seen him around recently. Like me, he had gone to Uncle seeking an appointment. The story that I heard is that he did not like the appointment that he had been given so turned it down. Told Uncle to his face that he deserved a more important appointment. So, what did Uncle do? He appointed Dimitri to the post of Imperial and Royal Sheep Inspector, a post he invented on the spot. He declared the post so important that it could not be refused, and that Dimitri could take no other posting or employment while he served in that post. He then ordered Dimitri to personally count and inspect every sheep in the Dual Monarchy and to not show his face in Wien until he had done so!
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Post by mycophobia on Jul 26, 2019 15:38:08 GMT -6
Fun start, I must say AH is getting a ton of love it seems Looking forward to more.
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Post by revillag on Jul 29, 2019 4:45:44 GMT -6
December 1899
Dearest Cousin,
Let no one tell you that the Kriegsmarine’s ships are made of steel and float on an ocean of water. They are in fact made of paper and float on an ocean of ink! I have been in this post for two months and have yet to leave Wien and see an actual ship! It is not all bad, but I have learned that one of the problems of rank is that it is sometimes hard to tell who actually agrees with you and who is just trying to ingrate himself. There is nothing that I despise more than a yes-man. I miss having a confidant that I can talk freely to, so with your permission I will use you as such. Feel free to respond with any suggestions or ideas.
On paper it appears that the Kriegsmarine is in a strong place with six battleships, one more building, seven cruisers with two more building, and twelve torpedo-boat destroyers. These are comparable numbers to our most likely enemies, France and Italy. France has six battleships with two building, eleven cruisers with two building and thirteen torpedo-boat destroyers, while Italy has seven battleships with one building, eight cruisers, and nineteen torpedo-boat destroyers. If you include the ships building that gives us a ratio of 8:8:11, AH:F:I in battleships, 7:13:8 in cruisers and 12:13:19 in torpedo-boat destroyers.
Given the Kriegsmarine has been an afterthought in the military budget it would be easy to look at these numbers and feel confident. That would be a mistake. It is not so much a matter of the number of ships as to the quality of ships. Specifically, our battleships. Our battleships are a good three to five thousand tons smaller than those of other nations. Although they are reasonably well armored with an 8’ belt, they mount only 9” guns. French and Italian battleships mount 12” guns. A 9” gun has a shell weight of about 500 pounds while a 12” gun has a shell weight of roughly 850 pounds. This puts our ships at a considerable disadvantage in a gun duel.
I was threatening to scrap them and start over when Cousin Ferdinand talked me down. Cousin Ferdinand is well regarded by my staff and as far as I can tell, the feeling is mutual. He and I had several long discussions about the Kriegsmarine and its role in the Dual Monarchy. He reminded me that although the Kriegsmarine was a tool of foreign policy, it had the ability to shape foreign policy as well and I should keep this in mind going forward. He agrees with me that we need overseas colonies but cautioned against grabbing whatever is available. Overseas colonies mean income from the colonies, but it also means ships on foreign station which could exacerbate our problems of too few ships.
He agreed too that we needed a new, modern battleship but pointed out that he had used the argument that the navy would be good for national industry in order to get as much funding for the navy as it currently had. He warned me that purchasing ships from foreign manufactures would not be at all acceptable politically [all ships must be built at home]. Because of this, the Kriegsmarine could not even build a 12” ship so building a ship that can outgun other nations is not a viable goal.
This led the discussion into the state of naval technology and technology in general. When I lamented that technological growth was slower than I had expected [80% research rate], he reminded me that a slow growth of technology was actually an advantage to navies as older ships could be kept in service longer, and although it was slow, it was growing at a steady rate [no varied tech]. I argued that it did not mean that we did not need a modern navy. He agreed but pointed out that it costs far less to rebuild a ship than to build a new one and even an obsolete warship can chase off an armed merchant raider.
Talk turned to the idea of airships. I had been approached recently by an inventor trying to get the Kriegsmarine to fund his rigid airship idea. He argued, rather convincingly I must admit, that an airship would greatly expand the sight radius of a fleet. I chose not to fund his inventions as my engineering staff informed me that even if he could get the airship to work, it would be too slow to keep up with the fleet. I asked Cousin Ferdinand for his opinion. He opined that although he saw the same potential in airships that I did, he agreed with the engineers that the technology was not yet mature, and it would not be so for a long time [Slow Aircraft Development].
Last we discussed the problem of flash fires spreading to a magazine and destroying the ship. After discussing the topic at length, we agreed that there was nothing to be done [normal flash damage]. He reminded me that no matter how powerful a ship was, a ship could be destroyed with a single hit and that I should be cautious when building ships. He advised that two weaker ships could ultimately be better than one powerful ship which brought our discussion back around to where it began with our battleships.
He advised me that there was no way that the Kriegsmarine would ever be able to directly match up with the most powerful navies of Europe. He wanted me to keep an open mind and warned me against the common mode of thought about the decisive battle. He advised that if we ever went to war that we should follow a policy of Handelskrieg, or commerce raiding. I have also heard it referred to as Jeune École after the French theorist. Jeune École advocated the use of a powerful armed fleet primarily made up of cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats to combat a larger fleet made up of battleships, as well as disrupt the enemy's global trade.
It is getting late, and I still have much work to do, so I will end this letter here. I hope to hear from you soon.
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Post by revillag on Jul 29, 2019 17:00:17 GMT -6
Please feel free to post any comments. If you like, post in letter format ant I will include a response in kind.
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Post by revillag on Jul 31, 2019 5:03:04 GMT -6
February 1900
Dearest Cousin,
My warmest regards. Last month I finally managed to move myself and my staff to Triestino to be closer to the fleet and I am glad that I did. Being able to meet directly with my officers has been a great benefit. I was also able to meet with the owners of the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyards. I have spent nearly as much time with them as with my officers. The shipyards and the Kriegsmarine are so closely tied that they are almost a branch of the navy, though a very contentious one.
I took a tour of the docks to visit the ships under construction and received an earful from Herr. Muller, the director of the STT shipyards. Herr Muller pointed out that the k.u.k. has the smallest dockyard of all the great powers and is unable to build a ship greater than 13,000 tons, and without a significant expansion, they would be unable to produce a battleship to rival the other powers. I informed him frankly that I had no plans to build such a ship as there was no way that we could afford it. I assured him that the Kriegsmarine would not be looking to foreign powers for our battleships, and that seemed to mollify him.
About a week after the tour of the docks, I had a meeting with all of the heads of all of the departments. I laid out my vision for the Kriegsmarine, how we would no longer be a passive costal defense force but modernize into a navy able to carry out the Empire’s will on a global scale. The younger officers were energized, but I noticed some grumbling on the part of some of the older officers. I was disappointed, but not surprised. Most of our larger ships do not have appropriate accommodations for the crew and officers to live aboard full time. Many of the senior officers maintain houses in the city and I am convinced that many of them spend far more time in their homes or at social events than they do on their ships.
I have ordered the department of personnel to discreetly shuffle around the officers so that at least half the ships are crewed by active officers. These ships will be our active fleet as I expect them to be at sea training more often than they have. The other half I have dubbed the reserve fleet. I intend to slowly push out the old and unwilling officers, but many have connections and it will take time. Still, by concentrating resources on the active ships and putting some of the officers and crews on half pay, we should be able to save a significant sum.
Of course, that sum was promptly spent, as money tends to be in any government bureaucracy. Some of it was allocated to the office of Naval Intelligence, a department my predecessor had neglected. Apparently, he considered it ungentlemanly to know the secrets of others or some such drivel. I chose not to give the department any specific targets, but to set up networks in all our potential competitors for now.
The rest of the money was spent on our researchers. Research and Development now consumes a full twelve percent of our budget. I outlined my concerns with the current state of the Kriegsmarine’s heavy guns and asked them to see about either designing heavier guns or improving the existing ones by building better shells. They informed me that they were having difficulty designing armor piercing shells and asked if they should divert funding to the project. After much deliberation, I decided to keep the funding equal for all of the projects.
I asked the Design Bureau to investigate building a battleship armed with four eleven-inch guns. I requested that it be roughly equal in other respects to our existing Kaiser class in other respects. Their rough design came back at 12,000 tons and a cost of 42 million Kroner. There is no way we can afford such a ship as of now, so I did not order a full study of the design. Perhaps after the two cruisers under construction are built, we will be able to fund such a ship. I have a feeling that we will need such a ship as the papers have informed me that shipyards in the United States of America have laid down two new battleships, one of which was apparently ordered by the Tsar of Russia.
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Post by mycophobia on Jul 31, 2019 10:36:08 GMT -6
I have a feeling that we will need such a ship as the papers have informed me that shipyards in the United States of America have laid down two new battleships, one of which was apparently ordered by the Tsar of Russia. Out of curiosity, where can you find out which is ship is built by the yard of which nation, or is that just a bit of RP on your part.
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Post by revillag on Jul 31, 2019 16:20:50 GMT -6
I have a feeling that we will need such a ship as the papers have informed me that shipyards in the United States of America have laid down two new battleships, one of which was apparently ordered by the Tsar of Russia. Out of curiosity, where can you find out which is ship is built by the yard of which nation, or is that just a bit of RP on your part. It tells you in the summary window at the end of your turn who laid down a new ship and if it is laid down in a foreign shipyard, it will state that.
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Post by revillag on Aug 2, 2019 4:23:15 GMT -6
April 1900 Dearest Cousin, Welcome back from your travels. My staff and I found great amusement in the post cards you sent, especially the ones from France! One of my aids has pinned one to the wall where it is visible from his desk, but not from anywhere else. I noticed it when I went to get a file from his desk. Of course, I said nothing! I am sure it is against regulations and all that, but he spends so much time behind that desk I am willing to look the other way. The miners’ strike in Austria back in January has sent ripples through the steel industry. We may have difficulty getting some of the steel we need for the ships under construction. Herr Muller assures me that he has it under control. I hope so as I still have to pay the workers even if there is no work for them to do. While we were discussing steel, Herr Muller mentioned that he had been approached by a representative of the Steel industry. He said that they promised to throw their weight behind a new naval spending bills pending in the Imperial Council and the Diet. Although there could be some potential backlash against me if it seen as if I am using my position to unduly influence domestic events, I chose to back the initiative. It seems that the majority see my actions as minor and there has been no harm to prestige of the navy in the great halls of power as the bills passed without much debate. With the new naval bill, we can finally afford a modern battleship. While I am tempted to order a monster ship to rival our competitors’, we simply do not yet have the capability to build a ship equal to the first rate 15,000 tom behemoths that the other nations are laying down. I order a design of a more modest 11,000-ton battleship armed with 11” guns and a protection scheme similar to the existing ships. I order the design team to look at the possibility of making it a 20-knot ship, as that would allow it a few knots advantage over its larger opponents so that it could take the better part of valor if it finds itself outmatched. I am told that it will cost over 3 million korne and three months to finalize the design before construction can begin. I received word from cousin Dimitri. He stated that he was visiting relatives in England and now was going to see relatives in Russia. It seems his leave-taking was somewhat hurried as he was shipping a trunk to me and asked it to be forwarded to him once he has an address in Moscow. I checked the date on the postmark and it is suspiciously close to the date that the papers reported a fire in Buckingham Palace.
P.S. News of our plan to build a new battleship has not gone over well internationally. Both France and England have taken exception to our desire to expand and modernize our navy. Harsh diplomatic letters have been exchanged and England has increased the funding to her navy while declaring that they will pay any price to retain their naval superiority. As one new battleship can hardly be seen as a challenge to the Royal Navy, I can only see it as a play to the domestic audience to secure more naval funding.
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Post by revillag on Aug 5, 2019 4:51:06 GMT -6
June 1900
Dearest Cousin,
I know that you intended to journey to Paris to enjoy the Olympic games, but you must leave to collect cousin Dimitry from Russia immediately. I have recently received a copy of a strongly worded letter from the ambassador to Russia. It accused Uncle of sending an agent to cause discord and upheaval in the Russian court. Although it does not name names, it is clear to anyone who knows him that the agent in question is Cousin Dimitry. I doubt that he is intentionally causing trouble for Uncle, but intentional or not, trouble he has caused and in great quantity!
News of the incident has made it to the press, though without names attached. This has caused something of a war scare. I have met with a delegation of merchant ship owners who are fearful for their ships should war break out between us and Russia. My staff determined that it will take at least fifteen ships to provide adequate protection for the merchant fleet. As it is, that would use up almost all of our torpedo-boat destroyers. At times of war, we can impress civilian ships of up to 600 tons and arm them as gunboats for trade protection duties, but this will take at least four months of yard time per ship, and at the end of the hostilities we must return them to their civilian masters. I have deemed this to be unacceptable, both for the time involved, as that would leave the fleet without adequate light ship support for the first four months of the war, as well as the cost of the ships would be lost at the end of the war when the ships are returned. I have therefore ordered a study of what naval ships would be best utilized on a trade protection mission.
In other news, I had a brief visit from cousin Ferdinand. He is going to go against Uncle’s wishes and marry for love. I met briefly with his intended. She is a lovely lady by the name of Sofia. I was invited to the wedding, but they assured me that there would be no hard feelings if I did not attend as anyone who attended would no doubt become a target to Uncle’s ire. Sure enough, a few days later I received a letter from Uncle effectively commanding me not to attend. Interestingly it is to be a morganatic marriage and any children will not be in the line of succession. I sent Cousin Ferdinand my regrets and left an open invitation for him to come and visit.
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Post by revillag on Aug 7, 2019 17:34:14 GMT -6
August 1900 Dearest Cousin, As you have probably read in the papers, we have laid down a new battleship, the SMS Wien. This will be the Kriegsmarine ‘s first modern battleship. Although it is not as large and powerful as some had hoped. Herr Muller, for example, pushed hard for a 13,000-ton ship. I chose a more moderate ship design, mostly due to costs. The ship mounts two twin turrets carrying 11” guns. She also has twelve 7” guns in casemates and six 3” guns as well as two submerged torpedo tubes. She has 8” armored belt, 1 ½” deck, 8” of armor on the turrets, 5” armor on the casemates and 6” protecting the bridge. Her one drawback is that her design speed is only 18 knots. I am not happy with the speed as she will be one knot slower than our current battleships, but there was nothing to do about it. Each extra knot of speed requires more horsepower than the knot before. In order to achieve the extra knot would have meant reducing the armament or armor and pushing up the cost to an unacceptable degree. I was also worried that most other navies are using 12” guns and would therefore be able to out range the Wiens, but I have since learned that Germany is also building its new battleships with a 11” gun. This has brought me some measure of relief. Not that I expect to go to war with Germany, but that they consider it an adequate weapon when they are also facing opponents with 12” guns. I must admit, though only in private, that I envy those larger nations that can afford to build the first rate 15,000-ton battleships. I must constantly remind myself that my job is not to build the world’s best navy, but the one that can best defend the interests of the Dual Monarchy. Tensions have risen with France. Apparently, they are unhappy that they have another competitor in the Mediterranean. Interestingly, the reaction from Italy was that their press clamored for new cruisers, they don’t seem to see us as a threat. Personally, I do not believe that they are deficient in cruisers. They have fewer than us, but they are of an excellent design. Perhaps it is a push by their steel industry to increase sales? After the meeting with the merchants a few months ago, I ordered a study of what to be should be done to protect our merchant ships in times of ear. The study came back recommending that we use torpedo-boat destroyers as trade protection ships. Their short range would not be much of a hindrance because they would operate primarily in the Mediterranean, and their torpedo armament could act as a deterrent to larger ships. The primary downside is that they are cramped ships. I do not envy the crews their mission. I have decided that the smaller Boa class will take the trade protection role in times of war and ordered the first new pair to be built. Eventually I hope to have a total of fifteen of them so I can use the larger Tigers for fleet duty. I inspected the active duty ships this month. There is defiantly a noticeable improvement in the crews. They are infused with a new vigor. I could see some of the crews on the reserve ships look on with envy as I gave the crews of the active duty ships an extra day of liberty. My policy of encouraging the more reluctant officers is paying off. Many of the old guard have left the service. It helps that for many, their pension is greater than the half pay for being in reserve. P.S. Can you believe it? The Italian king has been murdered! We have just received word that King Umberto I of Italy was killed by an anarchist. What is the world coming to? Be safe dearest cousin. I fear that there is worse to come.
[Author’s note] I have recently learned that the Imperial German Navy was called the Kiserliche Marine, not the Kriegsmarine. I will be using the correct name going forward.
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Post by rimbecano on Aug 8, 2019 17:56:25 GMT -6
The German Navy was the Kaiserliche Marine, the Austro-Hungarian navy was the Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine.
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Post by revillag on Aug 9, 2019 7:26:07 GMT -6
The German Navy was the Kaiserliche Marine, the Austro-Hungarian navy was the Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine. I meant to say that I will be referring to the German navy as the Kaiserliche Marine and the Austro-Hungarian as the Kriegsmarine. I don't think that an Austro-Hungarian would have refereed to their navy buy the full name of Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine except under formal circumstances.
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Post by revillag on Aug 9, 2019 7:27:28 GMT -6
Since the first one is short, I am posting two today.
October 1900 Dearest Cousin, It has been fairly slow here these last few months. I was able to take in the local opera. The entire thing was sung in Italian! How do they expect us to follow the story when they sing in Italian? I shall have to wait until they bring in a proper opera in German or Hungarian before I shall return. Nothing to report on our new ships except delay after delay. Both the cruiser SMS Minerva as well as the SMS Wien have had their schedules slip by a month. Herr Popper, Generalshiffbauingeniur, or Constructor General, blames Herr Muller of the STT, who of course blames Herr Popper, but the bottom line is that these things happen with building big ships and there is nothing that can be done about it. The k.u.k. Marine-Akademie has begun what they are calling tactical simulations. They have this big table where they lay out ship models and move them around. Apparently, there is this Englishman by the name of Jane that publishes a wargame about naval ships and a series of books about giving detailed accounts of the ships for use in the game. I have been assured that the information in the books is accurate and the game accurately portrays how ships fight, or at least as accurately as possible. The students and professors are excited as this lets them study tactics in a way that they could not before. I am not sure if they are serious or are just pulling a prank in order to play games while on active duty. I informed them that while they are playing their games, to come up with plans for a full fleet exercise to take please next summer.
December 1900 Dearest Cousin, I wish these last few months were as quiet as the two before! It was a time of both good and bad. In November, Herr Muller approached me with a proposal. He had been contacted by agents of Chile. They wished to purchase a battleship along the lines of the HMS Wein. He needed my permission to accept the bid as the plans for the ship belonged to the Kriegsmarine. I flat out refused him at first. What benefit to us would it be if another nation has a ship we designed? I reminded Herr Muller that the Kriegsmarine paid for the design work, I also pointed out that the civilian side of the yard did not have the cranes and other tools necessary to build a battleship so it would have to be built in the Kriegsmarine’s yard, which would take up valuable dock space we would need. I am sure he was aware of this already, but it seems that he hoped that I was not. Harr Muller left somewhat shaken. Apparently, he simply saw the profit that he would make and overlooked the problems. Herr Muller, however, is not a man to rest easy when there is a profit to be made. He came back later that week with a new proposal, apparently no worse for wear from my previous tongue lashing. If I approved the proposal, he offered to forgo some of the subsidies we had been paying the STT as well as to allow us to use the civilian yards to build and maintain the smaller naval ships. The increase in our budget caused by the canceling of the subsidies would not be large, but it would be welcome none the less and would more than cover the design costs of the battleship. After due consideration, I agreed to the proposal. Herr Muller warned that there was a chance that Chile might try to sell our technology to other nations once they received the ship. I dismissed this as irrelevant. We are behind all of the other Great Powers in technology as it is. With the new money, I ordered two more Boas. That was the good news. The bad is that one of our agents in France was caught. Some in the Kriegsmarine wanted to make him a national hero. I admit that I was tempted to go along. After corresponding with Uncle, I downplayed the incident. Until the SMS Wien is completed, we have nothing that can match the French battleships. Simply put, we are not ready for war. Tensions rose slightly between our two countries, and we suffered some embarrassment in the press, but a major incident was adverted. None the less, the French have decided to increase their fortifications in the Mediterranean by building a battery of 9” guns in Tunisia. This is clearly aimed at us as the Italian battleships can outrange those guns, while out Kiser class have only 9” guns and would therefore have to close to be within range of the forts guns to attack it.
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Post by revillag on Aug 12, 2019 16:52:25 GMT -6
February 1901Dearest Cousin, 1901 has gotten off to a busy start, what with the death of the English Queen Victoria. I, of course, traveled with Uncle to England to pay my respects. Cousin Dimitry was there as well. He swears that he had nothing to do with the Russian incident. I am not sure if I believe him. Disasters seem to follow where he goes and somehow, he always manages to avoid blame. Uncle has rescinded the sheep counting post, so cousin Dimitry is free to seek employment. I hope that this will keep him out of trouble. Both before and after the trip to England, I attended the launching of our two new heavy cruisers. They are magnificent ships, though I have my reservations about their armament. Two 9” guns give it good penetration, but a slow rate of fire. They are also somewhat overweight. Still, since we have not managed to develop reliable 8” guns, they are the best we can do for now. You have asked how we stand in relation to the other Great nations. I have been provided the following information by our intelligence services. They have informed me that the information is correct as of January. The number in parenthesis are ships under construction:
| AH | GB | F | I | R | Gr | USA | B | 6 (2) | 10 (2) | 6 (2) | 7 (4) | 8 (1) | 7 (2) | 6 (1) | CA | 5 (1) | 9 (2) | 6 (2) | 5 | 5 (1) | 6 (2) | 7 | CL | 3 (1) | 14 (1) | 5 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 13 | DD | 12 (6) | 35 | 13 | 19 | 15 | 31 | 18 | Budget | 101,700 | 250,700 | 158,650 | 140,950 | 163,050 | 172,650 | 161,150 |
This includes the new Admiral Spaun class protected cruiser (which shall be named the SMS Fredrick Leopold) that we laid down in January as well as two more Boas. I had looked into a better cruiser design, as I am not happy with the 4” guns on the Admiral Spaun. Unfortunately, increasing the guns to 5” would add too much weight, which in turn would require larger boilers to maintain the same speed. This in turn would require a longer hull which would require more armor plate which would add more weight starting the whole process over again. While none of this is an insurmountable problem from a design point of view, it of curse comes down to cost. Admiral Spaun class are sufficient for its intended role as a torpedo-boat destroyer flotilla leader and raider, and as we are unlikely to purchase many more protected cruisers, it makes no sense to spend the money on a one off design. While I was in England, I spoke to several members of parliament. They are convinced that England must remain the preeminent sea power in the world. They recently voted in an increase in naval spending and assured me that they would continue to vote as much money as the navy required. They seemed quite irrational on the topic, but apparently the people back them. The Royal Navy was spoken of with high regard by all those I spoke to and the papers celebrated the increase in naval spending where ours would lament about what else the money could be spent on. The war scare with Russia is over, but tensions are high with France. I fear that war with them is inevitable, but I shall endeavor to do what I can to hold it off until after the Wiens are completed.
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Post by rimbecano on Aug 14, 2019 9:17:11 GMT -6
It took a while, but I see what you did with "Uncle" and "Cousin Ferdinand". I'm not sure who Dimitry, or the author or recipient of the letter is supposed to be (if they aren't entirely fictional).
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