Building Dreadnoughts

"Stopping the construction of warships does not mean the empire is abandoning naval development.

On the contrary, the navy will remain a major focus of the empire's development. If the empire wants more territory and more overseas interests, it must have a powerful navy.

Otherwise, the empire's expansion plans cannot be carried out at all!"

Mikhail said to Navy Minister Admiral Pavel Tyrtov and Chief of the General Staff Admiral Brusilov.

Admiral Pavel Tyrtov felt as though he had swallowed a reassuring pill.

He had been worried that Mikhail no longer wanted to develop the navy and would pour all their resources into the army.

If that happened, there would be no hope left for the navy.

Fortunately, His Majesty the Tsar still had remarkably far-reaching vision.

Mikhail knew full well that if the Tsarist Russian Empire did not want to be trapped on the Eurasian Continent, it needed a powerful navy.

Among Europe's many great powers, only the Austro-Hungarian Empire, besides the Tsarist Russian Empire, had no overseas colonies.

Almost all the other great powers had overseas colonies.

Even the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Kingdom of Portugal possessed rich overseas colonies.

The Kingdom of Portugal, a pioneer of the Age of Exploration, had even built a colonial empire that had once inspired awe.

This was undoubtedly very attractive to the Tsarist Russian Empire.

Even though the world had already been carved up.

But no one should forget that a world war would break out in a dozen years or so at most.

When that happened, the entire world order would change completely.

If the Tsarist Russian Empire wanted a share of the spoils of war, or rather, wanted to seize vast overseas colonies in the process, it had to build a powerful navy.

Besides, the Tsarist Russian Empire could not confront the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets without a powerful navy.

Especially since the Tsarist Russian Empire would go to war with the Japanese in a few years.

Without a powerful navy, the Tsarist Russian Empire would be at a severe disadvantage in that war.

Even if the Tsarist Russian army could defeat the Japanese on the battlefield, it would have no way to threaten the Japanese Empire's home islands.

Forcing the Japanese to admit defeat would also be extremely difficult.

Therefore, building a powerful navy was imperative!

"The warships the navy is currently building, as well as those whose construction has not yet formally begun, are already severely outdated.

Our national resources are limited. We cannot waste precious resources building these outdated warships.

Therefore, once construction of these outdated warships is suspended, the shipyards will begin building new types of warships!"

Mikhail continued.

Admiral Pavel Tyrtov naturally had no objection.

Who would want to build those backward warships when they could build newer, more advanced ones with better performance?

Mikhail then took out a stack of blueprints and handed them to Admiral Pavel Tyrtov.

"Minister, immediately organize experts from the Navy Ministry and the various shipyards to assess these warship designs. If they are technically feasible, begin construction as soon as possible.

If the necessary technology is lacking, find a way to achieve the necessary breakthroughs before beginning construction. Whether by purchasing machinery and equipment or technology from abroad, we must achieve these technological breakthroughs!"

Mikhail instructed.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Admiral Pavel Tyrtov replied.

By now, his gaze had been completely drawn to the blueprints.

The first design showed an enormous, magnificent warship, imposing and majestic.

"This is a battleship I designed. Unlike existing battleships, it uses an all-big-gun arrangement. I call it a dreadnought!" Mikhail said.

The term "dreadnought" had originally come into use only after the battleship Dreadnought of the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets entered service in another timeline.

As soon as the battleship Dreadnought entered service, it swept all the battleships built by other nations, including those still in their shipyards, into the junk heap.

Afterward, battleships were classified as either pre-dreadnoughts, referring to earlier battleships equipped with two twin-gun main turrets, or dreadnoughts, referring to battleships with an all-big-gun arrangement.

The Japanese called them "dreadnought-class" battleships.

Mikhail had no intention of changing the term and kept the name "dreadnought."

Of course, Mikhail had already named this new battleship the "Mikhail I class." Perhaps, when outsiders spoke of dreadnoughts, they might use "Mikhail I-class" battleships instead.

The Mikhail I-class battleship had a full-load displacement of 22,000 tons and a top speed of 22 knots. It was armed with three triple 305 mm, 45-caliber main turrets, twelve 152 mm, 45-caliber secondary guns, six twin 122 mm, 50-caliber quick-firing mounts, ten 76.2 mm quick-firing guns, twelve 47 mm quick-firing guns, and two triple 457 mm torpedo launchers.

As for armor protection, the waterline belt, turret faces, and conning tower were all 305 mm thick, and they used Mikhail's new armor steel, the Russian version of Krupp armor steel.

Without a doubt, this warship had exceptionally powerful firepower and protection, as well as a very high speed.

Once it entered service, it would certainly be the most powerful battleship in the world.

"Your Majesty, this battleship is too advanced. So advanced that I'm afraid it would be very difficult to build with the empire's existing technology!" Admiral Paval Tyrtov looked deeply conflicted.

"To maintain a speed of 22 knots, it needs advanced, large triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines. The empire would find it difficult to produce such advanced engines. In addition, ensuring accuracy requires advanced optical instruments and sighting equipment, among other things, which the empire would also need to import from the Germans," Admiral Paval Tyrtov explained.

"Find a way to import the steam engines from abroad. The Germans, the Gauls, and even the people of the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets have this technology. A somewhat higher price is acceptable.

However, I hope the empire will accelerate its technological research and development and work toward replacing them with domestic technology.

The Germans do indeed lead the world in optical instruments and sighting equipment. If we can purchase them from the German Empire, that would be ideal. If not, we'll find another way!"

Mikhail also understood these technical difficulties.

With the Tsarist Russian Empire's current technology, solving these problems would not be easy. However, if they did not confront them directly, the problems would persist and continue, never to be solved.

Mikhail had already decided that, starting now, he would increase investment in science and technology. In particular, whether through purchases, theft, or other means, the Tsarist Russian Empire had to achieve breakthroughs in technologies related to military science and technology.

Otherwise, the Tsarist Russian Empire would be just like the Russians of later generations, whose weapons and equipment always left people with the stereotype of being "dumb, big, black, and crude."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Admiral Paval Tyrtov replied.