I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1183 Training Ship

The eyes of everyone in the conference room instantly burned with fervor.

They all seemed to see that the era that would belong to the French Navy was not far off.

Joseph only announced the total number of warships to be built here. After the Toulon shipyard calculates the budget for expanding the dock and the cost of building the ships, the Admiralty will sign a formal agreement with the shipyard based on this.

The construction cost of Toulon may be slightly higher than that of Brest, but the extra expense is perfectly acceptable in order to achieve strategic surprise.

Joseph estimated that the total investment for building 25 fourth-class steam warships would be around 3500 million francs. To reach 40 ships, only an additional 1300 million francs would be needed—the shipyard construction would be completed, thus reducing the construction cost.

Of course, this only covers the construction costs. The costs of maintenance, operation, and personnel training will be equally staggering.

Joseph was prepared to invest 8500 million francs in the navy over a period of two and a half years.

It's impossible to dominate the oceans without spending a fortune.

If we defeat the British navy, we can earn back this money tenfold or even a hundredfold!
As for the source of funds, it depends on the implementation of the loans arranged by Joseph and the war bonds.

After Joseph finished explaining the naval expansion, he looked at the Minister of the Navy and asked, "Marquis Lessar, how is the expansion of the Le Havre Naval Academy progressing?"

Yes, more than half a year ago, he had the Navy Ministry begin expanding the only military academy in France capable of training naval officers.

Marquis Lessar hurriedly replied, "The expansion plan was completed two months ago, Your Highness. It has now reached a scale of recruiting 120 officer cadets and 380 non-commissioned officer cadets annually."

Joseph did a quick calculation: a Tier IV warship requires 15 lieutenants and 45 petty officers, so a year's worth of naval academy graduates are only enough to equip 8 warships.

In addition to the officers promoted by the navy each year, it is estimated that the number of officers needed for 12 fourth-class ships will be sufficient.

Joseph's goal was to build 40 Tier IV warships in two and a half years, which left a significant shortage of officers. It's important to understand that military academy officers graduate in three years (junior officers) and one and a half to two years (sergeants), meaning those enrolling next year won't be ready for combat yet.

In fact, the Naval Academy has more than doubled its enrollment—previously, only about 50 junior officers graduated each year.

Joseph thought for a moment and said to Lyssal, "Could we reduce the teaching time in the school by half?"

The latter waved his hands repeatedly: "Your Highness, this will definitely seriously affect their combat capabilities."

Joseph nodded: "Yes, they lack theoretical knowledge, but we can let them spend the other half of their time on the ship for practical training, where they can be directly trained by senior officers."

"In addition, we can recruit trainees from sailors who have been at sea for a long time. They have rich sea experience and will learn command skills much faster."

Marquis Lessar paused for a moment, then said, "Extended shipboard training can indeed speed up the training process, but it requires a significant increase in the time warships spend out of port... probably more than four times."

Naval warships spend most of their time at anchor—these money-guzzling vessels burn through cash relentlessly once they set sail. A fourth-class ship leaving port requires three to four thousand francs just for supplies. And the costs of ship inspection, wear and tear, and repairs are even greater.

Training students on warships costs more than ten times more than studying at a military academy.

Joseph was about to say "at any cost" when he suddenly thought of a special type of military equipment from later generations—trainer aircraft.

This device doesn't need the combat capabilities of a real fighter jet, or even to fly very fast, but its cockpit and instruments are designed to mimic a fighter jet as closely as possible. This allows pilots to familiarize themselves with the operation of a fighter jet.

Trainer aircraft cost less than one-fifth the price of fighter jets, so students can use them for practice without feeling the pinch. Therefore, could we also develop some "trainer ships"?
For example, large civilian paddle steamers could be modified to resemble the cabin layout of warships, and a dozen or so cannon ports could be added.

These ships cost around 40,000 to 50,000 francs each, and even with the conversion costs, they wouldn't exceed 60,000 francs. They are also lightweight, making them very fuel-efficient for sailing.

Meanwhile, due to the large number of civilian ships, they can be inspected and maintained anywhere at a very low cost.

Using such ships to train students will drastically reduce costs.

After the trainees become familiar with the training ship, they will undergo several months of training on the actual warship, after which they will be able to participate in naval battles.

Joseph told the Minister of the Navy about his idea, and the latter's eyes lit up immediately: "That is indeed a brilliant idea, Your Highness."

"We can even buy some old ships to use. And the Toulon shipyard can complete the cabin conversion in just half a month. Oh, their dock can fit five paddle steamers at a time and start construction simultaneously."

"Moreover, we can also use this method to train sailors in port."

"For example, if you can get a subsidy of 8 francs for a week of training on a training ship, there should be quite a few people willing to come."

Ordinary sailors in this era were recruited temporarily before the war, and the navy had only three or four thousand standing sailors.

After each voyage, the sailors on merchant ships would rest in port for a period of time. Sending them on "warships" for training during this time would certainly make them more combat-effective in future battles than those who had just been transferred from merchant ships.

Currently, France has a large fleet of steam paddle steamers in the Mediterranean, so there is no shortage of ordinary sailors. If there is a real shortage of manpower, they can even recruit from Genoa—Italian sailors are very willing to work on French ships because the pay is higher.

Joseph nodded: "You've reminded me that we should take this opportunity to increase the number of standing naval personnel."

"In particular, positions such as engine room, steering room, and mechanic should ideally be filled entirely by regular military personnel."

"Please have someone assess the specific recruitment scale and then submit it to me."

With the advent of steam-powered warships, the professional requirements for sailors increased significantly compared to sailing warships, making it more reliable to use professional soldiers to operate the warships.

Putting aside other issues, if an inexperienced sailor were to accidentally press a button on the steam engine, the entire ship could lose power.

Moreover, professional sailors have much more time for combat training than ordinary sailors, which further enhances the overall combat effectiveness of the navy.

As for military spending, even if 1 more professional naval soldiers are added, the annual expenditure will only be four to five million francs.

Compared to the exorbitant investment required to build warships, this amount of money is nothing.

"Yes, Your Highness."

The Secretary of the Navy did a rough calculation and then continued:

"Your Highness, then we'll refit 15 training ships first. That should be enough for the next six months. We'll see how things go after that..."

Joseph said, "Then we will place orders directly with the shipyard that produces steam paddle steamers and build a batch of training ships that are closer to warships in all aspects according to merchant ship standards. It doesn't matter if they are a little more expensive."

(End of this chapter)