Armor Plate tenders requested

[Darman]

Britain is seeking tenders for the delivery of 13696 tons of 9" armor plates, 712 tons of 2" armor plates and 8832 tons of 6" armor plates, compound (1890) steel or better.  Delivery to be the first half of 1902. 
The Royal Dockyards will accept various quantities in quotes tendered. 

This is for discussion, if any is warranted.  If you want your quotes to be private then feel free to PM them to me.

Edited to correct a mathematical deficiency on my part, the 23,240t total still stands. 

[Walter]

*looks at spreadsheet*
China has 10750 tons avaliable in H1/1902 which could be turned into armor plates (1890). The 1250 tons used in that HY could be added, but only if the price is right (i.e. the 1250 tons will be more expensive than the 10750 tons).
If it works out (with your plans), China could deliver a similar amount in H2/1901.

[The Rock Doctor]

That's a lot of armor plate...

[Darman]

That's a lot of armor plate...

Its only 16% of the BP cost of the entire project....

[Walter]

That's a lot of armor plate...

He needs it for that class of 13 battleships. :)

[The Rock Doctor]

That's a lot of armor plate...

Its only 16% of the BP cost of the entire project....

*Runs and hides*

[snip]

Will my three battlewagon a year program be enough to chalenge the RN?

[Darman]

Will my three battlewagon a year program be enough to chalenge the RN?

8 laid down all at once was a bad idea. Their completion will be staggered of necessity.  I'm thinking the RN will be laying down no more than 4 capital ships a year from now on. 

[Walter]

If you do not mind that the armor plates are stamped with 'Made in <enter nation here>', it should not be too much of a problem to build 8 battleships at once. ;D

[Darman]

Britain will be seeking tenders to supply armor plating (1890 tech level) for delivery in the second half of 1902 to the tune of:
9" plate: 7364.25t
6" plate: 4747t
2" plate: 378.75t
total: 12,490t

[Kaiser Kirk]

Hmm,
Italia is currently exporting HQ steel products to unspecified NPCs to earn foreign currency at a rate of $1.25 per 1,000 tons.
So far this has totaled 12,020 tons of HQ steel products.  Sadly, she's only been able to afford to use 11,450 tons on her own navy.

Presumably she's been exporting such things as the Armstrong guns from Pozzuoli, the historical Guiseppi Garibaldi ACs, and..
the world best Terni KC armor plate.

Hmm, my budget "tinkering" sheets project that in H2/01, H1 & H2/02, I'll be selling another 9,390 of HQ steel products to earn foreign currency. Plus or minus a little.

Oh dear, where was I going with this ?

[Walter]

Kirk, where you are going with this is where you are being forced to go I guess.

Looking at Italy's numbers, with a baseline H1/1901 military budget of $12.47, when you subtract all the upkeep costs from that number, you are left with a mere $4.49 and 8 BP to spend on research, construction, repairs, etc. So that really limits the amount of BPs you can spend on your navy and it forces you to sell some of your BPs to the NPCs in order to gain cash.

With China in H1/1901, I'm left with $22.12 after subtracting my upkeep costs so I can actually spend all my BPs on naval construction and have some leftover cash... but in reality I am currently busy upgrading all my army units to 1895 level and they require a lot more $$$ per BP ($8/BP for infantry and $24/BP for cavalry/specialist) than naval construction ($1/BP) which results in me being forced to sell about 90% of my BPs in order to finance those upgrades.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Darman and I were discussing a deal, but he went silent.
It's funny, Italy has a smaller navy and much much smaller army than historic, but is broke.
My best guess is that OTL, they basically ran a military focused budget, because they certainly didn't do much infrastructure investment.

I should get back to posting thursday myself.

[Walter]

It's funny, Italy has a smaller navy and much much smaller army than historic, but is broke.

I consider the current situation tight.

If you sold all your BP and your military expenditure is more than your military budget, you've got a crisis.

If you sold all your BP and your military expenditure is more than your civilian and military budget, you're broke.

[The Rock Doctor]

It's a not as tight from my perspective, but I find my construction planning over the next few years is hampered by my knowledge that turbines and all-big-guns are coming along in 1905 or so.