November 8, 1894. Royal Navy Shipyard in Castella Mare (Italy).

"This new warship will be the same as Gena

The subclass, like the Garibaldi class, is called a new milestone in the history of shipbuilding in the Italian Navy. Vittorio said, pointing to the two warships that were working intensively on the slipway in the distance. It is not known if Beiyang is interested in new ships. If Beiyang is interested in purchasing, the Kingdom of Italy will sell it at the most friendly price and provide as convenient as possible in terms of payment methods. ”

"This, you should contact General Xu of the Beiyang Fleet, I can't be the master." Yan Boxun on the side said a little.

"Mr. Yan, as Xu's successor in the field of warship design, I think you are also very willing to put a lot of effort into the new warship into the Beiyang Naval Division. This battleship was superior to the British majesty, the German Caesar, and the French Charlemagne. Although the Northern Fleet already has the Garibaldi class and its derivatives. But those were only armored cruisers, at most battleships of the second rank. The Dante-class battleships, on the other hand, were true first-class battleships with 50% higher firepower projection than the PISA-class. The armor protection reaches 10 inches of the main armor belt and 8 inches of the upper armor. The main guns are 3 10-inch guns with 3 units and 40 barrels. The secondary gun is a six-seat twin 6-inch gun, and the turret has been realized. These secondary cannons have a much larger range of fire than the gallery cannons or secondary cannons placed on the ear mounts. The speed has reached a high speed of 20 knots under strong pressure ventilation. This is the culmination of Italian shipbuilding. Is Mr. Xu really not moved? Vittorio said as he stared at Yan Boxun, watching his reaction.

"Mr. Xu and I both like this type of warship very much, and the Qing Navy does lack some warships that can make a final decision. But now that the Qing Kingdom is in the war stage, I think even if I want to order it now, I am afraid that there will not be enough funds to provide a down payment, if the Qing-Japanese war is won, I think the Beiyang Naval Division will order this class of new warships, but the first batch I think it will be difficult. Yan Boxun also said with regret.

"If that's the case, I think the two battleships built in Castella Mare may have to find another buyer. The Spaniards are also very interested. They ordered 3 Gennes on the spot

After the sub-class dome cruisers, 2 more battleships of the PISA type were ordered. One of them was built in Spanish shipyards, with technology and parts supplied by the Kingdom of Italy. And now, for some special reason, the Spaniards may continue to order larger and stronger warships from Italy. And the Dante-class, which is the culmination of the Italian navy, is a good choice for them. Vittorio said with regret.

"Some special reason? Can you be clearer? The contemptible people don't know much about politics. Yan Boxun asked with a frown.

"Outwardly, the Spaniards planned to revive the navy. As early as 1890, the Spaniards planned to build the armored cruiser Princess Teresa (historically, the Spaniards did build three). But I chose Gena of the Kingdom of Italy after comparison

Sub-class dome cruiser. I think you know that. Vittorio spoke eloquently.

"3 4000-ton warships did not run out of budget, so the Spaniards, after several years of hard work, raised some more funds and then ordered 2 PISA-class armored cruisers in our country. It is said that judging from Spain's national strength and needs, these cutting-edge warships should be enough, but there have been some changes in the Caribbean recently. The newly rising United States made the Spaniards feel threatened, so they urgently needed more powerful warships to protect their ancients, right? And I don't know why. The British expressed their support for the Spaniards' move. So with the financial backing of the British, I think it is quite possible that the Spaniards will order the new Dante-class battleships. At least as far as I can tell, the Spaniards have begun to make contact with our Admiralty. "Vittorio didn't miss a single detail. Tell him everything he knows. …,

"What do you mean by that? I'm just a designer. Yan Boxun's face changed slightly, he really couldn't understand the purpose of Vittorio's words.

"I just want to know, why did Xu actually agree to provide such an advanced warship to Spain? According to the agreement, all warships jointly designed by Italy and the Beiyang Design Bureau must be agreed by both companies before they can be sold. As far as I know, Mr. Xu played a big role in the purchase plan of the Spaniards. It seems that in terms of loans, Xu Jie completed them with the help of his friend Garin in the United Kingdom. Mr. Xu's attitude was a little too positive. Vittorio was a little puzzled.

"The Americans are a bit ambitious, and the Qing Dynasty and Britain are a little dissatisfied with some of the moves of the United States, as for the specific details? I don't know very well. Yan Boxun replied ambiguously.

"I see." Vittorio seemed to understand something.

The appearance of the Dante-class battleships was even more shocking than the appearance of the **-class dome cruisers and Garibaldi-class armored cruisers. This is a real first-class battleship, in terms of tonnage, no less than the same class of warships of any great power, and in terms of firepower because of the use of 3 turrets and the design of the main gun in the central axis, the firepower of this battleship surpasses all other warships of the same period, and the Italian Minister of the Admiralty, Mr. Brynn, said bluntly: "The Dante-class battleships surpass the same type of battleships of other naval powers in terms of protection, firepower and speed." The battleship named after the great man would definitely not put his name to shame, and at sea, the Dante-class battleship would definitely not be afraid of any opponent. ”

And the Italian Admiralty and shipyards have made a rare big move. Work started on 4 Dante-class battleships at the same time! And only two of these 4 battleships were ordered by the Italian Navy. The other two were started before they could find a buyer. This is also a wonder in the history of world shipbuilding. Just after this news was leaked, some European experts ridiculed it. "The Italians were carried away by the hot sales of the **-class dome cruisers and Garibaldi-class armored cruisers. This kind of construction work, which does not take into account the market situation, is tantamount to throwing hundreds of thousands of pounds into the Mediterranean. There is some truth to this. At that time, the world's warship market had tended to be saturated, and the three ABC countries in South America (Argentina, Brazil, and Chile) all purchased new warships, among which Brazil and Argentina both purchased the ** class and the Garibaldi class, while in Asia, Turkey and Qing also purchased many ships of the same type or improved. The remaining European powers, for various reasons, will not go to the purchase of foreign warships. So as it stands, there are no potential customers for such an expensive warship at all. "Maybe the Italian Navy originally planned to eat all 4 warships? After all, Italian shipyards have been patronizing and making money in recent years. Some experts commented.

But no matter what. The appearance of Dante-class battleships still made the eyes of naval technical experts of various countries shine. As early as the PISA type, the Italians chose the design of the 10-inch gun with a central shaft, and the current Dante class can be seen as a strengthened version of the PISA class. However, the choice of 3 main guns by the Italians this time did give mixed reviews to experts from various countries. Compared with the twin main gun, the triple is more complex and has a larger diameter of the gun ring, which is more difficult to machine. Many experts proposed to use a 3-gang main gun turret with it. But it is better to change to a twin 12-inch turret. The reason is simple, with the advancement of technology, 12-inch guns can also be rapid-fire. The Russian Navy's new armored cruiser Rurik is equipped with a single 12-inch gun that can achieve a rate of fire of 1 round per minute. Although there is an advantage in the projection volume of a 10-inch gun per unit time. But in terms of armor-piercing performance. The 12-inch gun undoubtedly has more advantages. More experts believe that against battleships of the same class, the artillery with a smaller projection but can penetrate is much stronger than the artillery with a higher projection but cannot penetrate. As for protection, many experts also believe that a thickness of 8 to 10 inches is enough for an armored cruiser, but in the face of a 12-inch main gun of the battleship class, this thickness of armor is obviously not enough. Although the Italians used their newly developed "hardened armor". But refer to the main armor belt of the previous battleships that was more than 14 inches high. Still, many experts have expressed concerns about the performance of the defenses. And the Russians said even more confidently. The Rurik can deal with the Dante class with only its 10-inch secondary main gun, and does not use a 12-inch main gun at all. Under the blows of the new Russian warships, Dante was just a Yamato artillery battle. …,

However, this is only the so-called inference of those experts, and in the future battles, both Garibaldi and Dante have written a brilliant chapter like the ** class, and they have refuted those ridiculous statements with their actual expressions. Of course, these are just afterthoughts, so I won't mention them now.

In addition to these arguments about performance, there was also a part of the experts who turned their attention to the question of the positioning of Dante, in terms of firepower, which was superior to that of a battleship of the first class, and in terms of protection, which was between a battleship and a cruiser. And in speed it was very close to the cruiser. Fisher of the British Royal Navy suddenly discovered that when Rurik appeared, wasn't the armored cruiser killer that the British Empire had been looking for such a battleship? In terms of speed, it can basically keep up with the cruiser, and in terms of protection, it can resist the 10-inch guns of ordinary cruisers, and the firepower can suppress the cruiser. Such a warship can not only intercept the enemy's cruiser in the ocean break, but also serve as the front of the fleet. Wipe out the opposing team's reconnaissance fleet. When encountering the opponent's main fleet, it can evacuate at high speed. So that the situation of naval warfare is one-way transparent for one's side. Isn't this exactly what the Royal Navy dreams of a battleship? Considerable role, both in the protection of lines of communication and in decisive battles of the fleet. And Fisher called this battleship the perfect battleship. He also made a name for himself in the Royal Navy for his research on Dante-class battleships. So much so that later generations thought that the so-called earliest war cruisers could actually be attributed to the Dante class in Italy!! Thank you book friends for the tips and evaluation votes under the snow~~. Everyone's support.,The author is here, thank you~~.