"Your Highness, the Capital Ships the Germans are selling are, on the whole, extremely advanced. Moreover, they are all quite new. Even the oldest Nassau-class Battleships are less than ten years old. If we purchase them, we can continue using them for another ten years or even longer. This is absolutely essential to expanding the strength of the Imperial Navy," Admiral Anton Haus said excitedly.
Ever since the previous Crown Prince, Archduke Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had attached great importance to naval development. However, for all manner of reasons, the development of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's navy had been far from satisfactory. Up to now, the Austro-Hungarian Empire Navy possessed only four Radetzky-class Battleships as its Capital Ships. Although these Battleships were equipped with four Triple 305mm Main Guns, their overall strength was not formidable; they could not even rival the German Navy's Nassau-class Battleships. As for the more powerful Austro-Hungarian Monarch-class Battleships, construction had only begun not long ago. The lead ship, the Austro-Hungarian Monarch, was not expected to enter service until next year. The other Battleships would likely take even longer to enter service.
Such a naval scale naturally could not satisfy Admiral Anton Haus, commander of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Navy. Now that Crown Prince Karl intended to purchase the Battleships the Germans were about to retire, it could not have been better. Though those Battleships were being retired by the Germans, what the Germans disdained was not something the Austro-Hungarian Empire Navy would turn its nose up at. After all, they were bona fide Capital Ships! Even the Austro-Hungarian Monarch-class Battleships would not outperform the German Navy's retired Helgoland-class Battleships and Kaiser-class Battleships. Even the Moltke-class Battlecruisers would not be much weaker in combat power than the Austro-Hungarian Monarch-class Battleships.
"In other words, every one of the Germans'