I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1416 The Future of the Navy

Marquis Lessar, an excellent naval commander, almost immediately understood the Crown Prince's intention and nodded repeatedly:

"The combined fleet can muster at least 25 battleships of the third class or above, which will greatly distract the British Navy."

He then added:
“Your Highness, I suggest that, based on this, the Admiralty could formulate an ‘operational plan’ for a joint fleet to launch a surprise attack on the British mainland or a large-scale attack on the St. George’s Channel, and then deliberately leak it to British spies.”

Yes, while the British fleet had a clear advantage in overall strength, the French navy had a unique advantage: it was relatively "idle".

Britain was extremely dependent on maritime trade, and at the same time, it needed to maintain its global maritime dominance. This resulted in every ship in the British Navy being extremely busy.

If the Franco-Spanish combined fleet now appears to be "about to do something big," the British will certainly have to send a similarly sized fleet to "closely monitor" them.

This will further reduce the number of warships the British Navy can use to blockade French and Spanish ports.

Adding to Joseph's plan to disperse shipping to more than 30 ports, it is foreseeable that many ports will be patrolled by only a few British frigates.

A blockade of this scale is so powerful that even armed merchant ships sailing in groups cannot withstand it.

Joseph sighed inwardly, thinking that people of this era were just not yet open-minded enough; otherwise, they would be just as ruthless as military experts of later generations.

He first affirmed the Secretary of the Navy's plan, then remembered something he was most concerned about: "By the way, how is the construction of the 'Decisive Battle' progressing?"

Marquis Lessar, who usually wore a pained expression when asked about this issue, surprisingly looked relaxed this time and said, "Your Highness, after using the steam forging machine, the shipyard has solved most of the core problems. According to Mr. Vockley's report, the first sea trial is expected to take place at the end of August."

Jean-Bernard de Vauclere succeeded Brøndeau as director of the Brest shipyard. Brøndeau died in his office at the end of last year.

“Very good.” Joseph’s eyes were also full of joy. “Please tell Mr. Walker that I will personally attend the maiden voyage ceremony.”

"It is an honor for all Brestians, Your Highness."

It's no wonder Joseph attached such importance to it, as the "Final Battle" was France's first steam-powered fourth-class battleship.

He originally thought that after solving the problem of high-powered steam engines, and with the experience of building steam frigates before, the ship should be completed quickly.

However, due to the adoption of advanced technologies such as iron keel, the "Decisive Battle" has been under construction for 1 year and 9 months since the design drawings were completed the year before last, during which time it has encountered many problems.

Large iron components, for example, often suffer from poor workpiece precision and severe deformation. More than 70% of the finished ship ribs, which are seven or eight meters high, cannot be properly installed on the keel.

Another issue is the rough riveting process, which makes the rivets easily loose or missing, resulting in the overall structural strength of the frame failing to meet the standards.

The problem of manufacturing precision for large metal parts was not solved until the shipyard obtained the steam forging machine developed by His Majesty the King.

On the other hand, the shipyard drew on the standardization experience of other industrial sectors—due to the shipyard's technological isolation, they were almost the last industrial sector in the country to complete standardization—and under Vauclell's impetus, they developed a complete set of production technology standards for rivet drilling, jacking, rivet molds, and even the craftsman's hammering methods, finally meeting the requirements for riveting strength.

As for issues such as the difficulty in accurately hoisting and positioning ultra-large metal components, the problem of the iron frame causing the ship's center of gravity to shift upwards, and the magnetic field generated by the steel frame after forging affecting the compass, these seem relatively insignificant. In short, this ship has spawned more than 70 patents to date.

Fortunately, all the problems have been resolved, and the "Decisive Battle" is about to be launched.

Joseph actually quite liked these technical challenges because they meant that even if the British learned about the concept of France's new warships through spies, or even obtained some of the design blueprints, they would not be able to replicate them in a short period of time.

Putting aside everything else, at the very least they don't have a steam forging machine.

If you use old-fashioned hydraulic forging machines, well, the Brest shipyard has already provided the answer with a yield of less than 30%.

After the "Final Battle" achieved its technological breakthrough, the subsequent mass production speed would be much faster.

At Joseph's request, the shipyard had prepared enough raw materials such as timber, steel, and rigging to build 15 warships of the same class a year in advance, as well as an excess of dockyards and shipbuilding craftsmen.

Of course, even so, the original plan to complete the construction of 40 "Decisive Battle-class" battleships in three years will be delayed by one to one and a half years.

Marquis Lessar seemed to remember something else and said with some worry:
"Your Highness, according to the intelligence we have obtained, the British are likely building a high-performance third-class battleship on a large scale."

"It is believed that this ship has significantly improved turning and speed compared to the existing three-class ships, and adopts a new gun mount, increasing firepower by nearly a quarter."

"In discussions among British Admiralty personnel, it was referred to as a warship 'intended to regain control of the Mediterranean'."

Joseph frowned: "It uses a steam engine?"

“It seems not, Your Highness,” said the Minister of the Navy. “The British should not yet be able to build a steam engine with more than 50 horsepower.”

Joseph sighed. "Then there's no need to worry too much. You should have faith in my... ah, in our designers."

As someone familiar with 19th-century naval warfare, Joseph knew very well that warships powered solely by sails were almost always at a disadvantage against those powered by steam engines.

Moreover, the "Decisive Battle" class not only featured steam engines but also revolutionary technologies such as iron ribs. In addition, it made up for shortcomings such as the lack of a copper-plated hull and the absence of heavy short-barreled guns.

Joseph was convinced that the fate of the French Navy, which had suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar and had since lost all maritime dominance, would be rewritten by this revolutionary new type of warship!

However, out of caution, Marquis Lesar did not dare to place all his hopes on the "Decisive Battle" class, and still suggested: "Your Highness, since the new ships are all made of iron keels, our warehouses have accumulated a lot of high-quality oak."

"Perhaps, they can be used to build a batch of traditional warships."

He was referring to oak, the wood used to make the keel of sailing warships. This type of wood is extremely rare, with strict requirements on the age of the tree, the straightness of the trunk, and even the absence of any blemishes.

Basically, out of every 3000 oak trees that have grown for more than 90 years, only one suitable keel can be found.

(End of this chapter)