Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 167: Chapter 138: Investing in the Shipyard (Part 2)

If purely comparing numbers, no country can surpass the British Empire. The British have the entire India to exploit without restraint, and the wealth India provides allows the British to spend freely on military expenses.

The few opportunities to surpass the Royal Navy, or rather the opportunities to pose a greater threat to the Royal Navy, might come when the main battleships undergo updates and replacements.

Currently, the main battleships of various countries are Ironclads. The future naval updates will occur twice: the Ironclad will be upgraded to Pre-dreadnought Battleships, and Pre-dreadnought Battleships will be upgraded to Dreadnoughts.

The Pre-dreadnought Battleship will emerge in about ten years. By then, Spain will have a certain scale of industry and economy and will be able to increase its investment in the costly naval sector.

The Dreadnought will be born in 1906, more than 30 years from now. Thirty years is enough time to transform Spain into an industrial and economic powerhouse. As long as Spain can plan ahead in the area of Dreadnoughts, it will become one of the naval powers of the twentieth century.

Although the British Navy has always maintained the world’s leading position, the French have closely followed, steadily occupying the second spot in the world.

This is also why the French became the hegemon of Europe. Before the Franco-Prussian War, France, whether in the army or navy, was the most powerful nation on the European Continent.

But after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the focus of French construction has shifted from a balance of naval and land to prioritizing the army.

There are naval construction plans, but compared to the Germans, who have insulted France once, naval competition with the British is not that important.

Of course, more importantly, in the naval competition with Britain, France fundamentally has no chance of winning. Anyway, France firmly sits at the second-place position in naval power, and currently, no country can surpass them.

Although the German threat on land is substantial, their navy is almost nonexistent. The French Government has also assessed Germany’s potential for growth, confidently concluding that even given ten years, Germany will not be able to surpass France in naval terms.

Indeed, even given five years, Germany’s navy may not even match Spain’s.

Yes, Spain is currently ranked among the naval powers.

The reason is simple. In the early 19th century, in terms of colonial scale, Spain was regarded as the world’s third-largest colonial empire, with Mexico, Argentina, and other vast American countries as its colonies.

Spain’s colonies were spread across Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia, naturally requiring a strong navy to protect these colonies.

If it were the early 19th century, Spain’s navy could even firmly hold the third-place position worldwide. But amid political turmoil and successive losses of American colonies, Spain could not afford the costs of a vast fleet.

From the mid-19th century until now, over 20 to 30 years, Spain has not made significant investments in the navy and has fallen from being the third naval power to the top five.

Although it claims to be one of the world’s top five naval powers, a naval power like Spain still has a considerable gap compared to England and France.

It is undeniable that, as the former Sun Never Sets Empire, Spain has an extremely strong foundation in naval affairs.

During its prime, Spain possessed the world-dominating Invincible Fleet, making its navy the number one in the world.

However, after being defeated by the British, the Spanish Navy has continued to weaken, and the name of the Invincible Fleet has vanished.

The Spanish Navy mainly consists of old, outdated warships, with few Ironclads, and many are even Sailing Warships.

Nevertheless, Spain still has a considerable foundation in the shipbuilding industry. The reason Carlo believes Spain can become a new naval power with the upcoming updates and replacements of main battleships is precisely due to the strong foundation of Spain’s shipbuilding industry.

Moreover, Spain has already received industrial assistance from Austria-Hungary and cooperation intentions from France.

If these two countries’ experience in the military shipbuilding industry can be integrated, Spain’s military shipbuilding sector will also see considerable advancement.

Although the current Spanish Government has no demand for warship construction, this does not mean that other countries worldwide lack the need for shipbuilding.

Carlo’s expectation for Spain’s military shipbuilding field is to explore as many orders for military ships from other countries worldwide as possible when there is no domestic demand.

This won’t only allow Spanish shipyards to receive more revenue; it will also enable them to accumulate more experience in the military shipbuilding domain, preparing for the future grand construction of the Spanish Navy.

After all, if these military shipyards remain in deficit, reducing scale and bankruptcy are inevitable.

If the military shipbuilding industry in Spain is significantly affected, the Spanish Government may need to reorganize more extensive shipyards when planning for naval development in the future, undoubtedly wasting much time.

Before the 18th century, Spain’s military shipbuilding industry was scattered across various regions, with no sizable shipbuilding center.

But after the 18th century, Spain’s military shipbuilding industry was integrated into various shipbuilding centers, forming four representative large military shipyards.