Chapter 141: Selling Battleships?
"Your Grace, are you really referring to Germany's main battleship, the Brunswick-class battleship? Australia has mastered the construction of the Brunswick-class battleship, and you are saying it can be exported?" Tozawa Koichiro asked, astonished.
"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have specifically mentioned it, Mr. Tozawa," Arthur nodded and smiled as he explained. "If your country is willing, Australia's shipyard can sell you a few battleships at a price slightly above the cost. Of course, the exact number will depend on your country's financial reserves."
Did the island nation want to purchase battleships? There was no need to think about it. The number of battleships a country possessed was very important in terms of naval strength, and it could even determine the outcome of a naval battle.
In terms of combat power, battleships were currently the decisive factor in a naval engagement, far outweighing the importance of smaller ships.
Tozawa Koichiro nodded and continued, "What is the price of the Brunswick-class battleships that you produce? How long would it take to complete the construction of a full battleship?"
While battleships were important, the price had to be reasonable, and the construction period should not be too long.
If it took several years to build a battleship in Australia, it would be unacceptable for the island nation. It would be better to order from Britain. Even if Britain was slow, it could guarantee the completion of a battleship in less than two years. Though the transportation and reception time would take another couple of months, at least the battleship could be added to the navy in just over two years.
If Australia's construction time could be shorter than Britain's, then Tozawa Koichiro and even the island nation's government would not mind ordering battleships from Australia.
But if the delivery time was far longer than the time it would take from Britain, then it would be better to order from their ally, the British Empire.
Knowing Tozawa's concerns, Arthur smiled and explained, "Rest assured, under the guidance of German experts, our shipyard has fully mastered the construction technology of the Brunswick-class battleship. According to our experts' estimates, building a complete Brunswick-class battleship will cost over a million pounds, and with our labor costs included, we can offer you a friendly price of 1.35 million pounds. As for the construction time, don't worry. Australia does not plan to build any battleships in the short term. If your country places an order, we will give it our full attention, and we guarantee that the construction time for each battleship will not exceed a year and a half, with delivery within two years."
Currently, the cost of building a main battleship was not as high as the future dreadnoughts, which would cost millions of pounds. A battleship like the Brunswick-class, which was one of Germany's main warships, was priced at just under 28 million marks, or less than 1.4 million pounds.
Arthur was right—1.35 million pounds was indeed a friendly price, even slightly breaching the price control treaty Germany had set at the time. But compared to the true cost of building the battleship, it wasn't that much.
Although Arthur said the Brunswick-class battleship cost over a million pounds, the actual cost of building a battleship was just over 800,000 pounds. With labor and other costs, it would definitely be under 900,000 pounds.
Selling at nearly 1.4 million pounds meant a profit margin of at least 500,000 pounds, which was one of the exploitative aspects of the Western powers. After all, military industries are highly profitable. Otherwise, why would so many countries be willing to sell their battleships? The profit from each battleship could fund the construction of a large warship. The profit from two battleships could even fund a new battleship.
Tozawa Koichiro understood the cost of a battleship, especially a main battleship, and it was close to what Arthur had mentioned.
Arthur's promised delivery plan of one and a half years to complete the battleship and two years for final delivery aligned very well with Tozawa's expectations.
The construction time for a battleship varied, but it generally took around six months to a year and a half. After the ship was launched, additional testing and trials were necessary, and the time needed for delivery would often take up to two years.
Particularly, the battleships the island nation had ordered from Britain had a construction time of a year and a half. After factoring in test trials and transportation, the final delivery time could be as long as two and a half years.
In normal times, waiting two and a half years wouldn't be an issue, but the island nation was preparing for a significant move in the Far East, and the sooner the battleships were delivered, the higher the chances of success for their planned operations.
"Your Grace, may I visit your shipyard? If there are no issues, we are willing to place an order for a battleship," Tozawa Koichiro tentatively inquired.
"Of course, our shipyard is currently constructing the 'Duke-class' cruiser for the Australian navy. If your country is interested, we can also sell you the Duke-class cruiser," Arthur nodded and said with a smile.
Compared to the Brunswick-class battleship, the Duke-class cruiser wasn't as important. Though it was the main warship of Australia's navy, its role was mainly for patrolling the coastline.
Since the navy's expansion plan began in mid-May, nearly six months had passed.
Under the guidance of German experts and with a large labor force of indigenous workers, the shipyard was progressing rapidly.
Additionally, Australia's naval orders consisted mostly of small and medium-sized warships, with the largest being the Duke-class cruiser, which wouldn't take more than seven months to build.
At the moment, the shipyard was working feverishly. Three small escort ships had already been completed and were about to begin testing. Two larger cruisers were in the final construction stages, and in about a month, they would be ready for launching and entering the testing phase.
With Arthur's approval, Tozawa Koichiro, Hino Toshiyuki, and the island nation's diplomatic delegation visited the shipyard, boarding the three completed escort ships and witnessing the construction process of the two Duke-class cruisers.
Initially, the islanders had some doubts about Australia's ability to build battleships, but when they saw the shipyard workers expertly constructing the ships, and receiving the approval of the German experts, they knew that Arthur's words were true.
(End of Chapter)
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