Greece’s Roman Road

Chapter 194: ocean voyage

"Of course, the British Empire holds the trident of the sea god, the king of the seven seas, and the Germans are naturally not opponents, but Colonel Henry, can you tell us about your training plan?" Constantine changed the topic from the relationship between Britain and Germany. The conflict between them is shifted.

"That's right, Your Highness, I have already discussed with His Excellency Cantoriotis. In view of the serious lack of experience in the construction of large warships in the Greek Navy, the Navy lacks elite crews with sufficient literacy to supplement the "Trikupis". , so I plan to lead a group of navy crew members to conduct ocean-going training, even a navy rookie, after such a long voyage, can become a navy elite, and can train a group of experienced crew members in a short period of time" Henry and Cantory Otis looked at each other and replied.

Constantine nodded: "So which ships will participate in this ocean voyage? And the specific route of this ocean voyage?"

"That's it, His Royal Highness, we plan to dispatch the "Banning" in the navy to participate in this ocean-going training. The Greek Navy does not have large ships, and this ocean-going training must ensure that the newcomers have enough jobs for them. Internships, gaining practical experience in operating a large warship, so I chose this warship,” explained Cantoriotis.

"In addition to this warship, we also plan to lease a civilian passenger ship to accompany us. First, the Esmeralda-class warship has a limited crew, and secondly, it can give the tired crew a place to rest."

The navy in this era is actually very hard. The crew needs to live on the ship all year round, drifting on the sea, and the accommodation conditions are also very poor.

For example, on the Banning, the displacement of the ship is only 3,000 tons, which is a small and medium-sized warship. Since it is a warship, most of the space must be given way to military facilities, such as naval guns, armor, ammunition depots, coal bunkers, food storage depots, etc. Not much room for crew.

Most of the crew members live on bunk beds in collective dormitories. The upper, middle and lower bunks are like hard sleepers on trains.

Even the officers in the navy are mostly narrow single rooms that can accommodate a single bed, a few cabinets and a folding table. Although the conditions are much better than that of soldiers, such conditions are still very depressing.

In contrast, the situation of civilian ships is much better, and most of the space can serve the crew. After all, civilian ships do not have those heavy armor and artillery, and there is no need to set up many watertight compartments in order to improve the sinking resistance of the ship. , Compared with warships, the living conditions of civilian ships are much more comfortable and comfortable.

That's why Cantoriotis thought of renting a passenger ship to travel with him.

"As for the specific sailing route,..." Having said that, Cantoriotis looked at Colonel Henry.

"The sailing route is around Africa," Henry said.

"Around Africa?" Asked Constantine in surprise.

"The ocean-going formation departed from the port of Piraeus, Greece, passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, and entered the Atlantic Ocean. According to the preliminary plan, the crew will conduct a series of exercises in the Atlantic Ocean, such as artillery drills, and ship driving under severe sea conditions. , the choppy Atlantic is the best naval practice.”

Cantoriotis interjected: "During the artillery exercise, we will use some uninhabited islands in the Atlantic as targets for the Greek Navy's first long-range shooting experiment. There are two 254mm cannons on the Banning. , although this caliber is far from the large-caliber guns on the Trikupis"

When Constantine heard the shooting experiment, he asked with great interest, "How do you conduct the long-distance shooting experiment?"

Constantine was very curious about how the naval artillery of this era ensured that it hit the target at a long distance.

"In shooting training, the target at a specified distance is fired at a fixed elevation angle, usually 500 meters, 1500 meters, and 2500 meters, and the speed of 15 knots is used as the benchmark, and the elevation angle of the artillery is fine-tuned in steps of 1/16 degrees to correct. shooting parameters"

"Deep anchoring, anti-collision avoidance, loss control, lighting control, as well as the endless learning of geographic coordinates and chart positioning, course and speed measurement, navigation marks and signal flag signal light identification, meteorology and hydrology and foreign military knowledge, these projects are all To conduct drills at sea" Henry said his plan.

"Then go all the way south, oh, according to Commander Cantoriotis' request, the formation will visit Matadi in Congo, and then head to Cape Town, South Africa, where the formation is repaired for a short time, and then round the Cape of Good Hope"

Constantine listened to the route carefully, and thought that this way south, the training crew would suffer. The ship formation went all the way south, and on the way to the Congo, it gradually approached the equator, the temperature near the equator was terrifyingly high, Jun Constantine could imagine the ecstasy of sweat in the crew quarters.

"After the formation has loved the Cape of Good Hope, it enters the Atlantic Ocean, where the sea conditions are different from the Atlantic Ocean. In order to allow the crew to gain experience, we will train in the Indian Ocean for about a month, then cross the Mozambique Strait, continue all the way north to the Red Sea, and enter the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. , return to Greece"

Constantine could feel tired just listening to it. According to the route that Colonel Henry said, the distance of this ocean voyage might not be tens of thousands of kilometers.

Thinking about those crew members who have to drift on the ship for nearly a year, and don't know how to endure the long journey, the navy's wages and allowances are much higher than the army's.

"Thank you, Colonel Henry, for assisting the Greek Navy in ocean-going training," Constantine said.

After that, the three became quiet~www.novelmt.com~ Seeing that Constantine and Cantoriotis seemed to have something to say, Henry went to the tavern on the dock with other crew members to have fun, after all The year-long ocean-going training is about to begin, and every second on land is now precious.

"Cantoriotis, there is no problem with the two battlecruisers now. Then, how about the construction of your navy's other auxiliary ships, those torpedo boats and destroyers?" Constantine asked with concern.

The two invincible-class battlecruisers will be the main battleships of the Greek Navy in the future, but the fleet still needs a certain number of auxiliary ships.

Moreover, with the development of torpedo technology, the lightning strike power of destroyers has become more and more attractive to the navies of various countries, and has become a threat that large warships cannot ignore.

Due to the special attack method of torpedoes, attacking ships from underwater, even a battleship with a famously heavy armor, hits a torpedo, even if it does not sink on the spot, it will cause irreversible damage.

Even in the opinion of some naval officers, the reason why the navies of various countries are rushing to develop large-caliber artillery, the artillery of the main naval battleships is getting longer and farther, so that the main battleship can have the ability to launch attacks outside the range of torpedoes. Otherwise, once the main stations enter the range of torpedoes, they will always be in danger.

Therefore, Constantine was also very concerned about the ten large torpedo boats (destroyers) planned by the Greek Navy.

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