Greece to roman road

On November 11, 1910, a mighty battlecruiser, escorted by two British cruisers setting off from Gibraltar, appeared outside the port of Piraeus.

The Greek people, who had already received the news, stood on the dock with excitement and excitement, until the loud sound of the whistle spread far from the sea, and the heroic figures of the Greek and British flags flying high on the mast of the battleship appeared in front of everyone. In front of us, everyone shouted humanely at the warship.

Constantine and Sophie, on behalf of the royal family, came to welcome the battlecruiser "Trikupis" to Greece.

This latest model of warship purchased by Greece from the UK at a high price was named "Trikoupis" to commemorate this former Greek prime minister with outstanding political achievements, who was determined to reform and develop industry and commerce during his reign. , and successfully led Greece to defeat its old enemy the Ottomans.

After the "Trikupis" is put into service, it will also become the new flagship of the Greek Navy.

Amid everyone's enthusiastic cheers, the 17,000-ton battlecruiser "Trikupis" anchored outside the dock of Piraeus Port.

Constantine raised his right hand flat between his eyebrows. He saw a rubber boat rowing towards the shore. Several Greek naval personnel boarded the land from the rubber boat. Constantine stepped forward to meet them and gave the leader a Hug: "Congratulations, Commander Kontoriotis, now you finally have a decent flagship"

As for the other Invincible-class warship built by the Athens Shipyard in Greece, due to the lack of experience in building warships at the Athens Shipyard, it was suddenly commissioned to build a warship of more than 10,000 tons, even if the British sent it Engineers helped guide the ship, and the main components were purchased from the United Kingdom. The Athens Shipyard was basically only responsible for building the hull and assembling it. The construction process was still bumpy, and the construction period was pushed back again and again. I am afraid it will not be officially put into service until the end of 1911. .

Kontoriotis took a step back first, saluted Constantine and Sophie with a military salute, and said loudly: "Your Highness, the Greek Navy "Trikupis" is entering service."

While the two were talking, several other naval personnel came to the welcoming crowd. Soon everyone let out bursts of exclamation. It turned out that the Greek people who came to the pier to greet the warship could all take turns to visit the newest and largest displacement ship of the Greek Navy. , the warship with the most advanced performance.

After the greetings, Contoriotis pointed to a young officer wearing a naval uniform behind him and introduced to Constantine: "Your Highness, Crown Princess, this is Captain Henry of the Royal Navy."

"In the future, Captain Henry will accompany the ship to help the Greek navy crew become familiar with the warship and at the same time help train gunnery skills."

For the current navy, without the assistance of electronic equipment, it is not easy to accurately use cannons to hit enemy warships that are constantly moving on the vast sea.

Hearing this, Constantine shook hands with Captain Henry enthusiastically: "Thank you for your help, Captain Henry. How do you plan to train our Greek naval crews?"

The British officer named Henry first saluted in the same way and then shook hands. As a member of the Royal Navy, Henry was naturally unwilling to lose his prestige and said confidently: "Your Highness, even if you train the crew of the Invincible-class battleship, it is It is a very complicated matter, but I am still confident that we can train the Greek navy to be as elite as the British navy. After all, Greece also has a profound maritime tradition and there are very good sailors here."

Henry also paid Greece a small compliment.

Constantine smiled. On the surface, the relationship between the two parties seemed to be very harmonious, which perfectly explained the friendship between Greece and Britain.

In fact, whether it was Constantine or Henry, everyone knew very well that the Royal Navy sent officers stationed on the ship not just out of good intentions to help Greece.

The Invincible-class battlecruiser is currently one of the main battleships of the United Kingdom. It is a member of the Invincible-class battlecruisers along with the British Navy's Invincible. It is no exaggeration to say that the equipment installed on it is the latest cutting-edge equipment of the British Navy. The crystallization of technology.

The British agreement to sell the Invincible-class battlecruiser to the Greek Navy was the result of a combination of factors.

In fact, according to the British side, after the Greek Navy expressed its intention to purchase warships, they originally planned to select two pre-dreadnoughts from the British Navy in active service and sell them to Greece, just like the Germans sold pre-dreadnoughts to the Ottoman Empire. It can also achieve the purpose of the Greek Navy checking and balancing the Ottoman Navy in the Aegean Sea.

After the emergence of the dreadnought, the British Empire had spent a lot of money to build the largest pre-dreadnought, which firmly occupied the world's leading position in gross tonnage. It suddenly fell into an embarrassing situation.

The emergence of the dreadnought has transformed the former dreadnought from an absolute main warship into a dispensable and humble role.

The role of the battleship is very simple and crude. It is for the main force to fight decisively and control the sea power. It pays attention to heavy armor and sharp guns.

Its expected combat scenario is to serve as the absolute main force of the navy, line up in a battle line, and engage in a duel between cannons and giant ships on the sea.

Therefore, in terms of firepower, these pre-dreadnoughts are not as good as fully heavy artillery battleships like the dreadnoughts, and they have no advantages in armor and maneuverability. They are not qualified to stand on the same front as the dreadnoughts. They have lost their status as capital ships.

Due to the slow maneuverability of pre-dreadnought ships, they are not as good as cruisers and destroyers for tasks such as reconnaissance, patrol, support, and security.

This is why the Greek Navy chose the Invincible-class battlecruiser when there is not much difference in price between the Invincible-class and Dreadnought-class battleships.

Battlecruisers are all-rounders in naval warfare and the main force in decisive battles? Even if the opponent is a dreadnought battleship, in a short period of time, at least the Invincible-class firepower will not fall behind, and it can be done barely; maritime reconnaissance, patrolling, warning, supporting one's own destroyer and cruiser formations, and even laying mines and escorting merchant ships, such chores, Battlecruisers can do both.

Battlecruisers have this advantage: Those who can defeat me cannot catch up with me (dreadnoughts); those who can catch me (cruisers and destroyers) cannot defeat me.

This is why no one in Greece, from the navy to the government, ever mentioned purchasing a dreadnought.

If the British Navy can sell its backward pre-dreadnoughts to Greece, it will not only solve the problem of a huge number of pre-dreadnoughts, but also allow the British Navy to withdraw funds and engage in naval competition with the Germans, killing two birds with one stone.

However, Commander Kontoriotis is very resolute. When the Greek Navy purchases warships, it needs the versatile Invincible-class battlecruisers. The large number of pre-dreadnoughts in the British Navy are not at all considered by the Greek Navy.

As for Captain Henry, he was sent to Greece by the British Navy. In addition to teaching Greek sailors to become familiar with warships, he also had to infiltrate the Greek Navy and expand British influence in the Greek Navy.

As for the details, refer to the influence of the German Army in the Ottoman Army.