"These two Duke-class armored cruisers are based on the Orlando-class armored cruisers of the British Empire, with a length of 93.5 meters, a width of 17.63 meters, a height of 7.01 meters, a horsepower of 6,500 horsepower, a conventional speed of 18 knots, and a maximum speed of more than 19 knots in a short time." The Ministry of Defense officials in the audience introduced passionately.

"Whether it's Australia or Duke Arthur, their data is basically the same. They were armed with two 234-mm, the main guns and ten 152-mm guns, as well as a number of six-pounder, three-pounder guns. Such firepower has been able to maintain the safety of our Australian coast, and HMS Australia and HMS Duke Arthur will also be the sharpest blades of the Australian Navy. ”

Although both warships are medium-sized warships, it does not prevent Defense Department officials who have done their homework from detailing them.

Although such an armored cruiser will only be killed in an instant against battleships, it will have a great advantage if it encounters small and medium-sized warships. In other words, it is less than the top, and more than the bottom.

These two warships are among the main warships of the Australian Navy, and as the latest new warships to be launched, they have also been docked in port for the longest time.

The Australians at the scene also had the perk of being able to board the two warships with identification issued by the Australian government.

Of course, this will also extend the docking time of the two warships, and by the time the last visitor returns to port, it will be more than two hours later.

Judging from the expressions of those who boarded the warship to visit the site, they were generally satisfied with the two new warships.

At least in terms of small and medium-sized warships, these two Duke-class armored cruisers are already considered to be outstanding, both in terms of armor protection and firepower, and they are not bad in terms of speed, and they can even be compared with some slower battleships.

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

The armored cruisers that docked in the port this time were the New South Wales and the Queensland.

These two warships have been in service for a long time, both have reached more than ten years.

Because of this, the model of these two warships is the predecessor of the Duke-class armored cruiser, the Orlando-class armored cruiser of the British Empire.

Although the difference between the two types of warships is not too big in appearance, there is a considerable improvement in terms of firepower, armor thickness, and speed.

Because the first two armored cruisers had already left the port, the two new warships did not make a noticeable difference felt.

If it weren't for the introduction of Defense Department officials, people might not even be able to tell the difference between the two types of warships.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what you are seeing now are the New South Wales and the Queensland from the Orlando-class armored cruisers of the British Empire. The two warships are in a model that is the predecessor of the Duke-class armored cruisers, but the two warships are basically no different in appearance. Although they have been in service for more than a decade, these two warships are still the main warships of the current Australian Navy, and their performance is only behind that of HMS Australia and HMS Duke Arthur. ”

The two warships also got the opportunity to be visited, but this time the number of visitors was not so large, and only a few hundred people were randomly selected to board the warship on the spot.

The New Zealand officials did not miss both visits, and they were also specially authorized by Arthur to successfully get the opportunity to board the warship.

Under the colonial system of the British Empire, Australia and New Zealand had different garrisons and coastal defense navies of their own sizes.

Yes, shore defense navy. To put it bluntly, there are a small fleet of backward small and medium-sized warships, and their only role is only to patrol the coast.

Some of these warships were even retired from the Royal Navy, and it was a bit reluctant to get them to fight.

Australia is a country with six colonies, while New Zealand is just one colony.

As a result, the current size of the navy of the New Zealand colony is very pitiful, even more pitiful than that of Australia.

How big is New Zealand's navy? Even the Australian Navy does not look up to shore defense gunboats or even one of the main warships of the New Zealand Navy, and the Australian Navy has been generally equipped with armored cruisers that are not even seen in the New Zealand Navy.

But the colonial government of New Zealand cannot be blamed. Before Australia was integrated, the so-called navy of any colony was actually about the same size as New Zealand's navy.

This is also the reason why New Zealand officials envy the Australian Navy. Obviously, New Zealand and Australia were about the same before, and the size of the navy was not much different.

But now, the Australian Navy has officially equipped with medium-sized warships, and even has the technology to build battleships, but for various reasons, the construction has not begun for the time being.

But it was clear to all New Zealanders that it was inevitable that Australia would build and own battleships, otherwise it would not have been possible to go to great lengths to import battleship construction technology from the German Empire.

This means that the gap between New Zealand and Australia will become wider, and may even evolve into a gap between New Zealanders and Australians.

You know, these two peoples evolved from immigrants from the British Empire, and there is no difference in nature.

New Zealanders envy the current changes in Australia, but also the current high benefits and large number of high-paying jobs for Australians.

It also laid a good foundation for the League to advance and promote a coalition policy with Australia, which is currently one of the most popular parties in New Zealand.

Under the hype of the Coalition, New Zealanders have accepted and look forward to a union with Australia.

Even if they can be treated like Australians, then what does it matter if they become Australians?

This process has also been accelerated by the actions of the Royal Relief Committee in New Zealand. Although the investment in New Zealand is not as large as in Australia, it does provide relief to thousands of extremely poor New Zealanders, and even tens of thousands of people are involved in relief operations, and New Zealand's reputation is not undeserved.

Under the combined efforts of the Union and the Royal Relief Committee, exchanges between New Zealand and Australia have increased visibly, and more and more people are looking forward to uniting with Australia and allowing Australians to help New Zealand.

After the four armored cruisers, all that remained were small warships such as frigates and shore defense gunboats.

There is nothing to introduce about the small warship, and there is no event for people to board the ship to visit.

This also greatly accelerated the speed of the navy's review, which took nearly four hours for the first four armored cruisers and only an hour for the six smaller warships in the back.

After inspecting all the Navy warships on site, the next step is a much-anticipated activity for Australians, which is to randomly select a number of people to board the warship and see the naval fire strategic targets in person from the warship.

In order not to have an accident, and also to make the navy form a long snake formation and better attack strategic targets, the warships will sail to a port ten nautical miles away to carry out this test on a relatively wide ocean.

In order to ensure safety, the quota for boarding the warship this time was only 400 people, and each armored cruiser had a quota of 100 people.

Although it is said to be a random selection, in reality it is not really random, and it can only allow officials to randomly select some people who seem to be more patriotic, so that they can have the opportunity to board their country's warship in person.

Although there were only 400 people, the whole selection stage lasted for half an hour.

Those who were chosen were overjoyed, and those who were not chosen were slightly disappointed. But this is also normal, there are at least 20,000 onlookers in the shipyard area, and out of so many people, 400 people are randomly selected, and the chance of being selected is only 1 in 50.

By the time the 400 people boarded the warship, the time had already come to more than three o'clock in the afternoon.

In order to carry out the entire test session early, the fleet set off directly after a little preparation, and the target was the test point ten nautical miles away.

The target of the fire was an old civilian fishing boat, which had been scrapped and had been purchased by the defense department for the purpose of the test.

In order to simulate the enemy's warship, this scrapped fishing boat was even modified to a certain extent, covering the surface with a layer of armor, which is already comparable to a medium-sized warship in terms of protection.

The goal of the fleet was to successfully destroy the fishing boat after a concentrated fire, and then return to port after collecting all the data.

This is a test of the crew's familiarity with the warship, and it would be a bit funny if the hit rate of the fixed target was not high.

The main warships of this test were the four armored cruisers, or the two Duke-class armored cruisers that had just been launched.

The firepower of these two warships is relatively good, and if they can hit this fishing boat at the same time, the mission will basically be completed.

When the fleet arrived at the designated location, it immediately lined up in a line, and all the warships aimed their guns in the direction of the fishing boats, and each took aim.

With the flagship's order, all the warships gathered fire on the fishing boats in the distance, and the sound of artillery was deafening.

"Did you hit the target?" Such questions arise in the minds of all Australians.

As the smoke from the burning of gunpowder cleared, people finally got a glimpse of the fishing boats in the distance.

Most of the warships still hit their targets, especially the four armored cruisers. Although a layer of armor had been added temporarily, the fishing boat had been blown in half by this time, and the bow and stern were sinking rapidly.

"Beautiful!" The Australians on the warship cheered, also admiring the good performance of the new warship.

"The goal was successfully completed, and the warships returned in an orderly manner!"

The flagship, naturally, saw such a result and gave the order to return.

All the warships turned their guns back and then turned around and headed back towards the harbor of Sydney.

In the port, although the remaining people could not see the scene of the fleet gathering fire with their own eyes, the officials of the Ministry of Defense will announce it as soon as they receive the news.

Just minutes after the fishing boat sank, officials at the Ministry of Defense received the news and were delighted to announce it.

Like the reaction of the people on the warship, there were bursts of cheers and applause at the port.

This proves that Australia's newly built warships are still very reliable, and so are Australia's navies.

Subsequently, Arthur and Prime Minister Evan gave a few more speeches, and this time the National Day ceremony and the Navy parade were officially over.

3,300 words together, ask for support!

(End of chapter)