African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 506 - 184: Naval Confrontation

While East Africa and Mozambique were in preliminary skirmishes, the Western Indian Ocean region was also unsettled. Although naval battles were restricted due to a tacit understanding among four countries, warships from various nations still gathered there.

The main reason was that England and France wanted to support the Portuguese. If a naval war truly erupted, the Portuguese would certainly be heavily beaten by the East African navy.

As for the promises from both sides to avoid naval warfare, if things get really tense, you can’t say for sure. England and France must monitor the East African navy, so they dispatched five ironclad ships to patrol the Western Indian Ocean.

Among them, England sent four ships in one go, and France sent one ship. Of course, this number isn’t much for England and France, but it does have a certain deterrent effect on East Africa. Sometimes big countries only need to show their stance.

"Portugal hasn’t added new ships in recent years; their only ironclad ship has just been commissioned, probably without enough time for training. The fleet of the remote colony in Mozambique uses outdated sailing warships. Although they outnumber East Africa, their combat capability is far inferior, and their quality is poor," said French Navy Rear Admiral Belon.

British Navy Rear Admiral Frank: "That’s true, but the overall quality of Portuguese sailors should be slightly better than East Africa’s. Many of them are seasoned sailors who’ve roamed the seas for years. The East African navy has only been established for a few years, so in this regard, they can’t match a traditional maritime power."

This was the conclusion the English and French reached after observing the Portuguese and East African surface fleets. Although the Portuguese navy was poorly equipped, they were indeed adept at handling ships, and their crisis management experience was certainly adequate. However, the gap between ironclad ships and sailing warships is far from being bridged by personnel experience, so no one believed the Portuguese navy could rival the young East African navy.

Since the 1830s, when ironclad ships first appeared, they were often used as commerce raiders, but their initial and primary purpose was still to engage with ships of the same kind. This situation persisted until the end of the armament race in ironclad ship construction. Many countries used ironclad ships to escort large merchant fleets or control colonies far from the homeland, or they could do both.

But currently, only England and France’s navies reached this level, while other countries barely managed. The Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary, due to the limitations of their waterways, lacked the drive for development. Germany hadn’t yet embarked on a fervent shipbuilding path, and the navies of the United States and the Far East were about equal in strength.

The current state of the U.S. Navy was indeed lacking. Genuine attention in naval development would not come until after 1881. At present, even the United States Navy was weaker than the Empire of the Far East. Countries like Denmark and Chile were above the United States Navy.

In fact, during the American Civil War, the United States Navy had a short-term surge. The North massively built ships to blockade southern sea channels, while the South resorted to armed smuggling to break the blockade. By the end of the war, the U.S. Navy had over 700 various sailing warships, with five ironclad ships at the top tier.

However, this massive fleet dissipated with the war’s end. Americans sold most of these 700-plus warships to merchants, who refitted them into commercial vessels. Although some ironclad ships and fast warships were retained, due to long-term lack of maintenance and upkeep, they were left to slowly corrode over time.

This was tied to the United States’ geographical advantage, with no national defense pressure, leading to a lack of motivation for naval development. Compared to the navy, the U.S. Army was even more pitiful, with just a few tens of thousands of troops.

That’s why the U.S. military was always trying new ways to secure funding from Congress in the past; living so tightly during peace was indeed understandable.

On the contrary, East Africa took a different route. Also a large territorial country, East Africa had a far greater sense of crisis than the United States, maintaining a relatively high number of troops.

For instance, in terms of territorial expansion, the United States mainly relied on militias to eliminate Native Americans, while East Africa primarily used regular army forces to capture Black people, supplemented by militias. Especially as the East African army reached a substantial size, reliance on militias could be virtually disregarded.

East Africa’s industrial development also prioritized military industry, achieving self-sufficiency in the army and navy to a certain extent, with no outsourcing in the defense industry.

Recently, the East African navy has been quite special because the shipbuilding industry couldn’t meet the domestic navy’s needs, primarily purchasing from Austria-Hungary. However, with the Bajamojo shipyard’s technology maturing, it won’t be long before the East African navy transitions to independent development.

Of course, the most important reason is that the current naval scale is already fully sufficient. Any further development would indeed provoke the British.

Additionally, naval technology upgrades quickly. During this special period, if East Africa were to purchase a large number of ships, the East African navy would simultaneously have to retire this batch of ships at some future point. After all, ironclad ships don’t have long service lives; by the end of this century, these main naval warships could be replaced, so the East African navy’s gradual development is sufficient for now.

Currently, East Africa focuses on territorial defense, with no significant demand for sea power. Holding the home front is a victory. Yet, East Africa is innately endowed, with rapid naval development, though by East African maritime standards, it isn’t considered much.

In response to the joint naval exercises of the English, French, and Portuguese navies, East Africa couldn’t play ignorant and held a trilateral joint naval exercise with Austria-Hungary and Germany.

After all, in the four-nation conference, Austria-Hungary and Germany were partial to East Africa. So as the big and second brother, both countries’ navies also needed to support East Africa. East Africa deployed five ironclad ships, Austria-Hungary two, and Germany one. Currently, the naval strength of the three countries wasn’t that far apart, with Austria-Hungary first, East Africa second, and Germany third.

So the German naval generals participating in the East African exercise felt quite embarrassed because it was apparent that Germany should be the leading power according to the national strength of the Three Kingdoms. Yet it was excusable that Austria-Hungary was stronger due to its early advantages, but to find the East African navy also outpacing Germany was unthinkable.

In truth, whether the German navy could significantly develop depended entirely on whether the current German government wanted to invest or not, and clearly, Germany’s demand in this area was not high.

Shi Pei said enviously to his Austrian and East African colleagues, "The empire pays too little attention to the navy, to the extent that even East Africa has surpassed Germany. The status of the Imperial Navy is blatantly mismatched with Germany’s status."

Austria-Hungary’s Navy Vice Admiral Claire reassured, "Actually, the Austria-Hungary navy is the most pitiable among the three. At least you’ve been developing fast in recent years, launching new ships almost every year. The number of new ships in the Austria-Hungary navy is clearly not as much as yours."

The conversation between Austria-Hungary and Germany’s navies made Grand Duke Ferdinand a bit triumphant, though he humbly expressed, "East Africa’s geographical position is quite poor. Although the importance of the Western Indian Ocean route has declined with the Suez Canal opening, it’s still a region that various countries’ navies pay attention to. Plus, you have geographical advantages; we face the ocean to the east, so the pressure of maritime threats is higher."

Grand Duke Ferdinand’s words were truly Versailles. The statement that East Africa’s geographical position is poor was irritating. Could it be worse than being wedged between Germany and Austria in continental Europe? Moreover, directly facing the ocean is actually an advantage for naval development.

But not all of East Africa’s territory faces the ocean! For instance, Bemba Island, Zanzibar, Mafia Island, the Comoros Islands, and several small islets could serve to shield the homeland, far superior to Germany and Austria.