On April 27, Adriana and some of her crew left the port of New York aboard United Shipping's new passenger ship, the first generation of United Shipping's so-called transatlantic standard ship construction, or Union or Standard Ship for short. The biggest feature of this generation of products is versatility, passenger ships and cargo ships use the same hull, keel, bottom compartment, engine and boiler, and even the shape data size is basically the same, the only difference is the functional difference.

If there is a traverser to ride, it can be seen that the United Ship and the Liberty Ship and the Victory Ship in the United States in the history have adopted similar construction ideas - based on standardized construction modules, and at the same time can store a large number of prefabricated components, and the shipyard directly uses these prefabricated components for installation, which is convenient for rapid construction in special periods.

The entire combined ship has a displacement of 15,000 tons and is powered by a steam turbine oil-fired boiler – now Italy has the largest oil resource in Europe, so it is natural that it can be built. The maximum speed is 18 knots (actually 18.6 knots), and the maximum endurance of 14,000 nautical miles when fully loaded with cargo is 12 knots, which requires more than most freighters - the maximum speed of passenger ships and freighters in this era is generally not more than 15 knots, don't look at these 3 knots, you have to pay a lot of costs, many people think that joint shipping to engage in 18 knots is a pure waste, is a blind toss. But who knows that this is a necessary routine for Contini to change to escort aircraft carriers at a critical juncture?

Since it is said to be an Atlantic-type freighter, there is no problem with naturally entering the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, so the endurance requirement for the United ship is that it can depart from Italy, cross the Suez and the Strait of Malacca through the Mediterranean Sea and arrive at the Italian Concession in Tianjin, China, without needing to refuel halfway - in fact, whether it is the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone or the Union Terminal, there are supporting facilities to replenish, and the reason why it is emphasized that direct transportation without replenishment is obviously to avoid something, and the only explanation is the goods on the freighter

A total of 4 orders have been placed for such standard freighters, which will complement the standard tankers, but the number of construction in the short term is not large, and it is scattered across multiple shipyards - not that Contini does not need to be large-scale, but the time is not yet ripe, and only when the crisis is in full swing, large-scale construction orders will become a lifesaver for shipyards.

However, compared with the rapid construction of the free wheel and the victory wheel, and the overall cycle is only 10-12 months, the speed of the combined wheel is much slower, and it took 20 months to build one under the full support of all aspects, which has been regarded as an unprecedented breakthrough in the Italian shipbuilding industry, so the depressed Contini can only continue to endure and ask the next batch of construction time to be compressed to 18 months under the premise of ensuring quality - this makes people feel embarrassed, but who dares to disobey the president's intentions?

Now the United Group controls half of the large shipyards in Italy, and can also influence the other half through naval orders, or you obediently go to the small shipyard to sit and wait for death, if you still want to stay in the large shipyard, you can't avoid the president's claws - the president will not get along with ordinary employees, on the contrary, all employees hope that the United Group can manage their enterprises, which not only means a steady stream of orders, but also means generous remuneration and good benefits, But those senior managers and senior designers who think they have a little status and ability are very uncomfortable, either do as the president says, or get out, saying that the routine of the sprinkling is useless, in fact, it means that there is no third way to go, quite a "boring official" feeling.

The reason for this high pressure is that Contini sees the problems of the Italian shipbuilding industry very clearly: first-class design, second-rate materials, and third-rate speed. Among the major powers, Italy is relatively slow to build warships, not so much because of the lack of national strength and finance, but because of the problems of the Italian industrial system and management norms - the small batch construction is too much pursuit of individuality and style, and the construction is superficial and inefficient, resulting in the speed is not fast. So he had to work on management and operational efficiency, and the easiest way to do that was to break up and reorganize and bring in German workers, German designers and engineers.

The most commonly used method is that the Germans supervise and manage the Italian section, and the Italians supervise and manage the German section - after the German Volken shipyard is under the command of the United Shipyard, such cross-exchanges are more frequent, and the Italians' operational efficiency and seriousness can follow.

In addition to management specifications, technical specifications are also being adjusted. There are institutional reasons for the majority of Italian models, on the one hand, because there are many Italian shipyards and their scale is not large, and everyone cannot reach an agreement on their own battles; On the other hand, there are designers who want to do something unusual to show their ability, so that there are all kinds of strange designs, of course beautiful if they are well done, and if they are not done well, they are big guinea pigs - only Italians in the world like to be so unconventional and pursue a sense of design. Contini has always thought that this approach is very fucked, of course fashion has to be played like this, those things have to be changed every season, how can you make money without design? But planes, warships, and tanks will be used for many years, and no one can stand it if they are always tossed and replaced.

Of course, technology is also a reflection of strength, Italy is subject to the lack of industrial strength, for example, there are not many companies that can afford the production of naval guns and armor, everyone is waiting for the rice to be cooked, and one module will drag down the entire module. Contini had no choice but to use the capabilities of the United Group to seek breakthroughs and effective support for Italy again: for example, United Steel cooperated with Krupp of Germany to make progress in the field of carburized armor steel and expand production - this kind of thing Krupp actually doesn't want to give, the problem is that this can't be given to other orders, and carburized armor is no longer the top technology, so in the end it gritted its teeth and gave it; Another example is to give an order to Ansaldo to develop a 381mm naval gun based on a 406mm naval gun - drugs can also be used.

When Ansar's multi-faceted representative said that the navy did not have this development plan at present, and asked where it would be used, Contini was so angry that he slapped the table and lectured the representative for half an hour, and the core meaning was just one sentence - "The navy can't be built without me?" It doesn't even work for me to speak, who else do you want to hear? The next day, the representative who dared to slap the president in the face was thrown home to retire, and the Ansaldo company happily took over the development task and made a request for an advance of $1 million in research and development funds, and Contini gave 1.2 million directly with a stroke of his pen, and said coldly: "Before 1935, I want to see the success of the 406mm naval gun and make no less than 20 barrels!" Also, the R&D process had to be kept secret, and I didn't want people to know that I was messing with this thing, and someone would lose their heads......"

So now everyone likes and worries about the orders of the United Group: they like it because the profits given by the list are very rich, and they are worried about the high technical difficulty and the tight time. But the bosses only have money in their eyes, so naturally how to squeeze it.

Since 1928, the United Group has used its financial strength and market appeal to launch a new round of mergers and acquisitions: United Shipbuilding swallowed up 14 shipyards, large and small, within 7 months, and gathered together all their workers, designers and engineers, in addition, the United Group also controlled 4 of the 5 largest shipyards in Italy through equity participation or even control, especially now close to the United Shipyard, The Grand United Shipyard, which undertook the construction of the Ida special cruise ship, has been fully controlled by the United Group, and the large and small United Shipyards are now officially merged into the Super United Shipyard, which can be described in a witty way - the beautiful North Adriatic Sea is located in the arms of United Shipbuilding.

The greatest utility of this integration is to get rid of the clutter of models and ship design codes, and also to allow the chaotic Italian merchant fleet to be effectively cleaned up.

The newly integrated United Shipyard has the ability and technical strength to build 50,000-ton ships, and the entire set of facilities can be solved through the system, Contini is not satisfied with this, and is still ordering the expansion of two docks, preparing to push the shipbuilding capacity to 100,000 tons in one fell swoop. In two months, the first Caracciolo-class will be completely completed, the second will be launched and ready for outfitting, and the third is on the agenda for the laying of the keel - the United Group has happily allocated half of the down payment, and the other two Trent-class (United Group Guards) and four Zara-class heavy cruisers are also currently under construction, and the entire Italian Navy is racing at an unprecedented speed - no, the ship.

Because Contini said that he sponsored 4 more ships in the Zara class, and it was the so-called joint type (12,500 metric tons of displacement), which of course exceeded the provisions of the "Washington Naval Armaments Treaty", but the reported figure was 10,100 tons, which perfectly met the provisions of the treaty, in fact, everyone was exceeding, no one should laugh at anyone, but Italy was very bold, and they all dared to report 10,100 tons of 12,500 tons - anyway, no one saw it before it was built.

At first, the Navy was concerned about the status and combat effectiveness of the Navy after the large-scale sale of battleships and cruisers, but now it seems that everything is under control: by 1934, the Navy will have four 35,000-ton Caracciolo-class battleships (actually 35,800 tons) and two 22,700-ton Andrea Doria-class battleships, and the overall number will be controlled within the scale of 185,000 tons. As for the 2 warships of the Count Cavour class, the Italian Navy is also ready to sell them at the right time, and this right time is not difficult for the promotion of naval warships - 3 months ago, there were earth-shattering changes in the Far East...... [Sensitive content in the next section, please wait for the author's official account to push in the evening]