African Entrepreneurship Record

February 1899, Pemba Port.

At Pemba Port, a group of German Navy personnel were engaging with the East African Navy officers. They were not very interested in the East African warships but had come specifically for the East African submarines.

Leading the delegation was Tirpitz from the German Navy. Minister of the Navy Tirpitz was visiting the East African Navy primarily to strengthen naval cooperation between the two nations, with the most important goal being for East Africa to open some ports or colonies for the German Navy’s daily training or as a foothold.

However, while in Bajamojo City, Tirpitz learned from a German entrepreneur about the existence of East African submarines, which prompted him to temporarily decide to visit Pemba Port for inspection.

After gaining consent from the East African Navy and government, Tirpitz and his party arrived at the southern Pemba Port, which was currently the only home base for the East African submarine force.

Of course, East Africa was willing to honor Tirpitz mainly because of his special status; otherwise, as a strategic weapon Ernst valued highly, it would not have been demonstrated to outsiders.

Tirpitz, full name Alfred von Tirpitz, was appointed by William II in 1897 as Minister of the Imperial Navy. In a previous life, he was known as the father of the German Ocean Navy, having said, ”Without a strong navy, Germany’s role in the world would be like a mollusk without a shell.”

Undoubtedly, Tirpitz was one of the main executors of William II’s grand naval plan. Now, this creator of the German Ocean Navy was visiting East Africa for the first time, leading the development of the German Navy.

It was to be expected that Tirpitz had an eye on East Africa. As one of the world’s naval powers, the East African Navy inherently held certain appeal. Moreover, the East African Navy possessed advantages the German Navy lacked, notably the abundant overseas bases and favorable geopolitical position of the East African Navy.

East Africa directly faced two oceans, especially having great deterrence over the Eurasian passages in the Indian Ocean—second only to the British Royal Navy in strength in the Indian Ocean region.

East Africa also possessed multiple colonies in the Pacific region, which the German Navy currently lacked, especially given the awkward position of the German Navy under William II’s world policy. Even if new warships were built, it wouldn’t change the unfavorable geopolitical situations for the German Navy.

In the absence of colonies and overseas bases, even if the German Navy had a large number of warships, they could only have an impact in Europe and couldn’t achieve the global influence like that of the British and French navies.

Just like a certain great power from a previous life, even though their naval strength reached the second strongest in the world, they couldn’t venture into the Baltic Sea to slap Lithuania.

From a global perspective, there was no better partner in the eyes of the German Navy than East Africa, which was the reason why Tirpitz focused on East Africa.

”The East African Navy’s submarines look impressive; I personally believe that submarines play a role in ocean strategy no less significant than surface vessels. I just wonder about the specific performance of your naval submarines?”

Having initially witnessed the East African vessels, Tirpitz gained great interest, his intuition suggesting that the massive vessel before him was absolutely unusual. From the portion visible above water, he estimated the displacement to be at least over a hundred tons.

Clearly, East Africa was not building such a massive thing as a toy. Thus, Tirpitz initially surmised that East African submarines likely had strong combat capabilities.

As early as the Franco-Prussian War period, Tirpitz had developed a keen interest in the potential power of submarines in warfare, given that the Prussian Navy was weak at the time. During the Franco-Prussian War, the Prussian Navy mostly had to endure staying in ports, warily guarding against the French Navy passing through the English Channel—a very embarrassing situation for the Prussian Navy.

Under such stifling circumstances, Tirpitz naturally sought ways to address how the Prussian Navy, in a disadvantaged position, could respond to the powerful French Navy. Submarines clearly had a certain role, given their functions were significantly different from surface vessels.

”Our research on submarines began over ten years ago; currently, the technology is quite mature, utilizing internal combustion engines for power. I believe there shouldn’t be any other country in the world with similar submarines,” said Colonel Clintman, East Africa’s submarine fleet supervisor, with considerable humility.

In a previous life, Germany developed a diesel engine specifically for submarines only by 1913. East Africa significantly accelerated this process as it held top expertise in the domain of the internal combustion engine. With early planning and Ernst’s emphasis, East Africa became the first to unveil the military submarine internationally, assembling the world’s earliest submarine fleet.

In fact, as early as 1720, the Russian Nikonov, under the support of Peter the Great, built the first military submarine. However, after the passing of Peter the Great, Russian naval support was withdrawn.

Over the next couple of hundred years, while attempts were made to breakthrough submarine technology, the impact was negligible. Suitable propulsion for submarine underwater long-distance travel awaited the maturation of diesel engines, electric motors, and other technologies. Fortunately, East Africa excelled in these areas, enabling the rise of East African submarines upon technical maturity.

”The current Nautilus can routinely reach depths of sixty to seventy meters, with a surface displacement of over two hundred tons. It’s capable of long-distance travel, but the fault rate is quite high. Previously, our East African submarine, Klo, went missing directly.”

The Klo, in fact, wasn’t commissioned by the Navy but was an experimental product of the Soron Lake Submarine Research Institute, sinking in Soron Lake during its eighth sea trial due to a malfunction. Due to Soron Lake’s depth, it was never retrieved.

Currently, the East African Navy has only four submarines, with the oldest having been in service for just three years. The East African submarines previously underwent an iteration, making the current Nautilus and other three active submarines technically quite mature, though Colonel Clintman didn’t fully disclose this to Tirpitz.

Even if relations between Germany and East Africa were good, Colonel Clintman couldn’t be generous enough to reveal the core data of East African submarines to the Germans. The previously mentioned numbers were quite conservative, mixing in data from the previous generation of East African military submarines.

Yet, this still caught Tirpitz’s interest, regardless of East African submarine technology. The fact that they could be used in combat was already remarkable. Moreover, East Africa had even formed a dedicated force for submarines.

”Colonel Clintman, without a doubt, your submarines could candidly be said to be the most advanced globally.”

Tirpitz expressed such a sentiment mainly owing to how well East Africa kept their secrets. Given that he only learned of this situation now, other countries might have similar projects.

In reality, the ”exposure” of East African submarines was unavoidable unless the East African submarine fleet stayed hidden in Pemba Bay all the time, yet Pemba Bay’s depth wasn’t suitable for submarine training and operations. Thus, submarines that frequently operated in the Indian Ocean were bound to be discovered.

The German merchant who reported this to Tirpitz was one such person, having inadvertently spotted a surfacing East African submarine during a business trip to Bela Port.

Naturally, he didn’t know this submarine belonged to the East African Navy, since no other countries aside from East Africa currently had naval submarine forces.

When he met Tirpitz in Bajamojo, he inadvertently recalled the submarine and thus reported it to Tirpitz, reasoning that, given its appearance in the East African coastal waters, it was most likely belonging to East Africa.

Had an ordinary person received this information, they might not have taken it seriously and soon dismissed it. However, Tirpitz was no ordinary person. His interest in submarines was unmatched among naval leaders worldwide.

Germany’s ”unrestricted submarine warfare” from a previous life was indeed his brainchild. Sadly, despite this, it did not alter the fate of the German Navy.

Of course, Tirpitz’s concerns were somewhat excessive, as only East Africa had governmental emphasis on submarine technology globally. Yet, avenues of exploration in submarine technology by individuals or groups in other countries were not rare.