Chapter 1097： Real crisis (1/2)

With repeated threats and the cabinet government's full guarantee, the British Parliament finally passed a bill to increase military spending with a small majority.

The budget of 70 million pounds was cut to 65.81 million. This is considered good, and it is common for the budget to be cut in half in Parliament.

Perhaps they felt the threat of Shinra, and the members were stimulated by reality. When everyone waved their sickles, they showed mercy.

In spite of this, the various processes went down, and after the Navy completed the tender to determine the shipyard, the time came to May.

Before Campbell breathed a sigh of relief, new bad news came. The number of docks of more than 20,000 tons is insufficient to start construction of so many super battleships at once.

”What? At this time, you told me that there are not enough docks to meet the requirements?”

Prime Minister Campbell growled.

It doesn't work if you don't get angry. The super battleship can move more than 20,000 tons. Such a big man cannot be placed on the berth at all. The construction must be carried out in the dock.

But docks are not Chinese cabbage, especially docks of more than 20,000 tons, which are even rarer.

From the original time and space until the outbreak of World War I, I never heard of anyone starting a dozen or so dreadnought ships at one time. It's not that everyone didn't want it, mainly because the hardware conditions were not met.

Even in World War II, only the Americans were able to start the construction of a dozen large warships at the same time.

Facing the Prime Minister’s question, Secretary of the Navy Swinding replied sadly: ”It is a pity, Prime Minister.

Although I don't want to believe that the empire will have insufficient capacity, this is the reality. The birth time of the Dreadnought is too short, and we have no time to build more large docks. ”

Although the shipbuilding industry in Britain has developed rapidly in recent years, merchant ships exceeding 20,000 tons are still rare.

It's not that there is no technology, but the market demand is not big. Although in theory, the larger the tonnage of a merchant ship, the lower the unit transportation cost, but that is only theoretical.

Now that we have just entered the early 20th century, overseas trade is far less developed than later generations. What should we do with a merchant ship of more than 20,000 tons?

Now there are only a few commodities that need to be transported by shipping: agricultural products, cotton textiles, petroleum, ore, and steel.

Although it is a bulk commodity, the demand for large merchant ships is actually still not large.

Taking cotton textiles as an example, who would dare to put tens of thousands of tons of goods into the same market at once?

Even if there are large merchant ships, they can only fight for orders. This list is not easy to put together, it is impossible to have so many orders, just in time for delivery.

Moreover, not all orders can be put together. Many commodities still have rigid requirements for transportation conditions.

For transportation companies, it is more economical to use a 10,000-ton merchant ship rather than often dissatisfied with the use of a 30,000-50,000-ton merchant ship.

The same is true for steel. Most countries purchase up to 8,000 tons a year, while countries that consume hundreds of thousands of tons or millions of tons can basically produce themselves.

Even if there is an order, it is usually purchased in batches according to the actual situation. After all, steel is going to rust, and if you buy too much at one time, you may fall into your own hands.

The ore is not much better. The bulk is the bulk. The problem is that the demand in various countries is small!

In the era of free trade, for many countries, it is more economical to purchase finished products directly on the market instead of purchasing ore for refining.

This is also true for Britain. Except for the high demand for steel and the need to build a local factory for refining, all other rare metals are bought directly.

Different from later generations, even ”aluminum” is a rare metal these days, and Britain consumes 8,000 tons at most every year, so you can still do it yourself.

From the original time and space until 1913, Britain's aluminum production was only more than 7,000 tons. Large-scale industrial production happened in the middle and late twentieth century.

Other rare metals, not to mention. Many of them only exist in laboratories, and there is no industrial application at all.

The market demand is too small to accommodate too many companies. Capital is profit-seeking, and naturally no one will do business that loses money.

The oil that will be consumed the most in later generations, and now only more than 30 million tons of oil is extracted a year, most of which are produced and sold in Shenra.

Even if a large oil tanker is needed, this kind of business is internally digested, and the order is impossible to fall into the hands of the British shipyard.

The same is true for agricultural products. The Shinra family dominates, and transportation is handled by itself. There is no opportunity for British shipyards to intervene.

The only markets are other people’s dishes. Without sufficient market orders, British shipbuilding companies will naturally not build a pile of large docks.

If it is not for the purpose of proving its strength to the outside world, it is necessary to have the ability to build large-scale commercial ships. With the ethics of capitalists, it is estimated that the few large docks will not necessarily appear.

Prime Minister Campbell scolded angrily: ”I don't want to hear any explanation. The problem now is that we need to build warships, but the production capacity cannot meet the demand.

Isn't your Admiralty all eating idle food? Why didn't you report such a big problem in advance?

Now there is a problem, how do you plan to end, the enemy will not give us so much time to prepare! ”

Regardless of how many reasons there are, the Admiralty cannot shirk the blame for this situation.