Today I stumbled upon the news that after the defeat of Copenhagen in 1807, Denmark planted 90,000 oak trees to rebuild its navy, and the original Royal Forestry Service and now the Danish Forestry Service in 2007 informed the Ministry of Defence that the trees were now available. But this news inadvertently reveals the true meaning of a century-old navy.
In fact, the real meaning of "century-old navy" is biased from what everyone understands, which originally meant that in the era of sail warships, a tree grew into a plate that could be used as a ship berth, at least a hundred years. Oak trees that grow for hundreds of years and are more than 20 meters tall can produce a section of wood in the trunk that can be used to build the ribs of battleships. At that time, to build an Armada, think for yourself how many trees you need.
For example, the British "Victory" is made of oak trees that are more than 100 years old, and these oaks must be dried for 14 years after harvesting before they can be used to build warships. The purpose of aging treatment is to ensure that the oak does not crack, does not deform, and has dimensional stability. A total of 5,000 of these oak trees took 19 years to build. Because of this, the British set the oak tree as the "national tree", called the "royal oak tree". The old military song of the British Navy is called "Heart of oak trees". There was even a global embargo on timber on the European continent.
In the age of great navigation, for a country, the absence of forests means the loss of sea supremacy. A good fleet requires a good leader, a group of well-trained soldiers and a good ship of fine wood. Generals and soldiers are available at all times, but this good ship is not always available. Countries such as the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries, although they once dominated the ocean, but in the end they all made other people's wedding dresses, for no other reason - the trees were cut down.
At the beginning of the industrial age, the growth of strength was exponential. The late-developing industrial countries did not need to train sailors and captains for hundreds of years, nor did they have to cut down their own forests for great three-deck artillery battleships. As long as they dig out the steel and coal and oil underground, they can almost not take many years to gather giant ships.
During this period, for example, the old Imperial Japanese Navy was founded in 1872. After 22 years, he defeated the Beiyang Marine Division, and 31 years later defeated the Russian Navy. It had only been 50 years since it became recognized as one of the three giants of the navy to sign the treaty. Even in 1914 Japan needed to buy capital ships from abroad. How many years did it take until 1939 before the outbreak of World War II? The Japanese have created the most powerful Pacific Fleet besides the US empire, and it will take 100 years for the same size to pull the same size to Europe to stabilize Germany and Italy? Who would dare to say that the Japanese Navy at that time was not strong and not good at war?
The Second German Empire, from 1888 to its heyday in 1916, was only 28 years, which was the result of Britain's self-elimination advantage in the era of the dreadnought. Most of the time, investment and national strength are the decisive factors. Is the British Empire of the "Century-Old Navy" useful in the face of the crazy "Kryptonian Gold" of the United States, the rising star of World War II? The United States went from the ordinary navy of the great powers to the world's first navy in The Second World War.
The Red Navy, which made the West shudder in the 1980s, attacked everywhere in the world, and countless large-scale equipment mushroomed. The Red Navy is even strong enough to use it in Russia today, but the Soviet Union itself has not even lived to be 70 years old, so why talk about the "century-old navy"? And the Soviet Union seriously began to develop its navy in just two decades to become a terrifying force second only to the United States.
Why are so many people spreading this phrase to this day? Is it that they do not understand the power of modernization, industrialization? No, they're just pretending to be confused. Their subtext is very simple, nothing more than the short establishment time of the People's Navy, although it looks strong, in fact, it is strong in the outside. By the way blowing Japan/US Navy is invincible. There are not many well-known people pretending to be reasonable and shouting that the Beiyang Marine Division looks strong, or the whole army is destroyed.
The so-called naval power still depends on the stage of the development of the country's overall strength. China's development from the modern-level four King Kong Nimitz battle group to today's surface fleet comprehensive strength of the world's second, less than 20 years after the full count. What century-old navy? A hundred years is no longer a navy, but industry.
Author: Yang Fan