Chinese cruiser Number 68

Number 68, also known as the Monfalcone large cruiser, was a planned, unique, armored cruiser ordered for the Republic of China Navy. The ship was never completed due to the start of World War I and was eventually scrapped. The ship was not given a name, being known only the yard construction number, 68.

Background
In 1911, the fledgling Provisional Government of the Republic of China had inherited a small, obsolete navy from the former Qing Dynasty. The Qing Imperial Chinese Navy had been in the midst of a naval rearmament, dubbed the "New Fleet Programme" since 1910 until the Xinhai Revolution overthrew 268 year old Manchu rule. The new Yuan Shikai-led government quickly embarked on acquiring a loan of $125 million from the six great powers to stabilize the shaky economy and to rearm the Republic of China Navy. While funding for the already under construction Chang Feng-class destroyers and two of the three Chao Ho-class cruisers was tentatively secured by 1913, several ships under construction which had been ordered under the previous Qing government were sold off. These ships were light cruiser Fei Hung which was sold to the Kingdom of Greece, and the destroyers Lung Tuan and Ching Po  were sold to Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy respectively. One of the few diplomatic successes was a counter-proposal from Arnhold, Karberg & C., based in Berlin and active in China since 1866, for a loan for torpedoes. This relationship continued into March 1913 with Arnhold, Karberg & C. eventually bringing in arms manufacturer Škoda Works of Pilsen and three Austrian banks for a two consolidated loans of £3,200,000. The first loan of £1,200,000 would be for six destroyers from AG Vulcan Stettin and twelve smaller destroyers from Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT). The second loan of £2,000,000 would be for artillery from Škoda. The terms of the new loan were harsher than the original $125 million loan from the great powers, with 6% interest and to be paid off completely in four years.

Immediately after signing the agreement though, the Chinese Navy, under Minister of the Navy, Liu Guanxiong, became convinced that cruisers would be better to acquire rather than destroyers and on June 13, submitted a request for three 4900 LT ton cruisers armed with four 203 mm guns each. AG Vulcan immediately backed out of the deal as it was uninterested in building cruisers, while STT was uninterested in building the small destroyers. In order to salvage such a large deal, Škoda became a majority shareholder of the new Cantiere Navale Triestino (CNT) shipbuilding company in Monfalcone to fulfill the order. On June 27, 1913, the director general of Škoda informed the Chinese Beiyang government that the first loan was reduced to £870,000, which would only be enough to build one large cruiser rather than three. Škoda recommended that instead, for the same amount of money, CNT could build three, small 1800 LT cruisers. While initially this was rejected by the Chinese Navy, after additional funds were clawed back from renegotiating the £2,000,000 loan for artillery became available. On August 26, 1913, an agreement on the terms of the first loan was made, for three 1800 LT ton cruisers which would become the Number 64-class cruisers. The agreement on the second loan was made on October 20, 1913, for thirty six field guns and seventy two mountain guns from Skoda, and one 4,800 ton cruiser built to a revised September 1913 specification.

Construction & Design
As part of the second loan, work on the unnamed Monfalcone type large cruiser took place after the three Monfalcone type light cruisers (as they are referred to in Conway's) to and would be assigned to construction yard number 68, which is how the cruiser would be identified as no formal name was given to it yet. Preparations for the large cruiser was done by the end of March 1915, although only 184 tons of steel was on site when the ship was laid down on 15 April 1915, with a planned launch for April 1916 and completion by Autumn 1917. No surviving documentation of the state of the works for turbines and boilers are known from this time which were under construction by Ganz & Danubius AG. Construction and payments from China for the ships would continue right up to the Italian entry into World War I on May 23, 1915. The shipyard was abandoned and the city was captured by the Italian Army on June 9, 1915. Meanwhile, in Pilsen, minimal effort was made to complete the 203mm guns at the Skoda factories as there was little hope of delivering them. After the crushing Austrian victory at the Battle of Caporetto, Monfalcone was recaptured by the Austrians in late October 1917, and would remain in Austrian hands until the end of the war. The Austro-Hungarian Navy officially requestioned the incomplete large cruiser with new specifications. These new specifications, set out in April 1918, was for a revised armament of eight single 15 cm/50 guns, two 9 cm/50 anti-aircraft guns and two double 450mm torpedo tubes. Despite the plans by the Austrians, no new work was made on the ship.

The Number 68 cruiser was a unique ship in terms of layout with a mix of older, conservative and newer, advanced design elements. Modern Parson steam turbines were chosen over older reciprocating steam engines, but retained a pre-dreadnought style mixed battery, with a heavy Secondary armament. In older source material such as Conway Publishings Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 the specifications of the Number 68 was listed with a length of 137 m, a beam of 14.7 m, and a draught of 4.9 m. The armament was given as four twin mounted 203 mm/L50 guns, twelve single 120 mm/45 guns, ten single 10 47 mm/50 AA guns, four single 37 mm/42 anti-aircraft guns, sixteen single 13.2 mm/42 machine guns, eight single 7.9 mm/80 machine guns and two, single 450 mm torpedo tubes. The ship was protected by a 60 to 100 mm armour belt, a main deck of 25 to 63 mm, and 100 mm turrets and control tower. The Engine output in Conway's is given as 37,000 shp. Military historian René Greger, in the March 1997 edition of the Italian military history magazine STORIA militare expands on the older Conway's book after finding the original drawings and documentation on the development of the Number 65 armoured cruiser which differ on several details on the ship.

Fate
After the end of the war, Škoda, now in the newly independent nation of Czechoslovakia, still remained the primary shareholder of CNT and reapproached the Chinese government for the sale of the cruisers. While no longer interested in completing the smaller cruisers, negotiations between China and Škoda resumed in 1919, for a new, improved, heavy cruiser design based on the materials of the Number 68 cruiser for China. The death of Yuan Shikai in 1916 had thrown China in chaos, the Republican government fractured and what was known as the Warlord Era of China had begun, with powerful local military strongmen building regional fiefdoms. Engulfed in turmoil, China was unable to afford the new, revised heavy cruiser design. The offer was declined, and the ship and materials were scrapped in 1922.