I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 818: The British Navy's Enterprising Spirit
To be honest, the damage suffered by these warships has little impact on their combat capabilities, but they cannot be left alone.

For example, if a piece of the side deck is broken, then that part of the hull will not be able to bear the load.

When a wooden warship turns or faces the waves, the hull will deform slightly, and the structure around the breach will be subjected to very large structural stress. The hull structure near the damaged location will age quickly and become scrapped.

Just like when we tear plastic packaging, if the outer packaging is intact, we can't tear it open even if we use a lot of force. But if we cut a small hole on the edge, we can easily tear it open from there.

Therefore, although these warships do not seem to be seriously damaged, they must return to port for repairs, otherwise the original small problems may become major projects that require replacing half of the hull.

Lord Hood could not help but think of the losses suffered by the Mediterranean Fleet in this operation.

One third-tier and one fourth-tier battleship were severely damaged.

One cruiser and three frigates were sunk.

"Heavily damaged" is a term used in naval warfare, meaning that the ship is no different from a piece of junk except that it is still floating on the water. It usually takes at least four months to return to the port to complete emergency repairs.

This loss is actually not worth mentioning, but the more serious situation is that 18 third-level battleships, 20 fourth-level battleships, and almost all cruisers and frigates were slightly damaged.

With so many warships in need of repair flooding into the port of Gibraltar at once, there would definitely be a severe shortage of shipyards and shipbuilding craftsmen.

The entire repair process will take at least half a year - if the two ships that were severely damaged are not counted.

That is to say, before that, the Mediterranean Fleet will only have a dozen third-level battleships available!
Not to mention the French Fleet of Toulon, even the Spanish Fleet could bully them...

Lord Hood just felt extremely aggrieved.

Even during the Seven Years' War, when he was fighting the superior French fleet in the Atlantic, he had never felt so aggrieved.

He stared blankly out the porthole for a long time. Finally, he sighed heavily, returned to the table, and began to write a report to the Admiralty, requesting the Mediterranean Fleet to return to Plymouth Port for repairs.

There are more shipyards and craftsmen there, which can shorten the repair time to less than 3 months.

Just as he finished writing the last word and was about to sign his name, he heard a dull thud from behind the fleet.

He was experienced and was sure that it was not the sound of a cannon. He immediately frowned and rushed to the command cabin.

Before Lord Hood had even crossed the corridor between the second decks, his staff officer came rushing up to him, sweating profusely, and said, "General, the Gunsmoke just exploded!"

Hood's mind suddenly buzzed.

The so-called sympathetic explosion refers to the explosion caused by the ammunition stored in the cabin being hit by enemy artillery fire. Because the explosion point is inside the hull, it usually causes extremely serious damage.

The Gunsmoke is a fourth-class battleship that was only completed and commissioned in February last year. After the explosion, it is basically certain that it will be removed from the battle sequence.

Hood came to the command cabin and saw thick smoke rising from the sea on the east side without a telescope. The "Gunsmoke" was burning violently.

Further away, more than a dozen French warships were circling and firing cannons in celebration.

The staff officer continued to report: "Just now, two French cruisers hit the starboard side of the 'Gun Smoke'. Unexpectedly, it caused a secondary explosion..."

This situation is actually extremely rare, because the gunpowder is piled on the inside of the gun deck and there is a layer of wooden shell in front of it, which makes it usually difficult to hit.

Hood suddenly remembered that two holes had been blasted into the starboard side of the Gunsmoke last week. If a shell happened to hit through the damaged part this time...

With a grim face, he said to the herald officer: "Send a frigate to rescue people." An hour later, the "Gunsmoke", with its frame burned, completely sank into the Mediterranean Sea, becoming the first battleship to be sunk in this naval battle.

At noon the next day, the British Mediterranean Fleet slowly entered the port of Gibraltar.

A sense of relaxation and security welled up in Hood's chest. He suddenly felt that this port was more lovely than ever before, so lovely that he wanted to burst into tears.

……

London.

Number 10 Downing Street.

Little Pitt closed the application for the Mediterranean Fleet to return to Plymouth Harbor for repairs and looked up at the Secretary of State for Naval Warfare: "General Jervis, what is the Admiralty's opinion?"

Jarvis said with some difficulty: "Prime Minister, at present, it is very necessary to return to the mainland for repairs."

Before Pitt the Younger could say anything, the Home Secretary, the Duke of Portland, asked anxiously, "During this period, we will have almost no fleet available in the Mediterranean?"

Jarvis sighed and nodded, "Indeed."

"So who will escort our merchant ships?" The Duke of Portland almost shouted, "The French fleet will tear them apart!"

"This..." Jarvis's voice became weaker and weaker. "I can only suggest that merchant ships do not enter the Mediterranean Sea for the time being."

"How can this be possible?! Do you know how much trade we have in the Mediterranean? Oh, God! We invested so much money in the navy, but in the end we were driven out of the Mediterranean in disgrace!"

Pitt motioned for him to calm down, and then said to Jervis in a serious tone: “I can ask merchant ships not to enter the Mediterranean for the time being.

"But once the fleet is repaired, what plans does the Admiralty have for dealing with the French?"

The latter sighed again and said with a bitter face: "The French fleet has never engaged us in a head-on battle, but has used a kind of flexible small boats to harass us continuously. If it were in the Atlantic, we could still use the wind to deploy tactics, but in the Mediterranean..."

"So what is your conclusion?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Pete, but it's difficult to launch an effective counterattack in the short term."

The Duke of Portland was keenly aware of his choice of words and immediately asked, "What about the long-term countermeasures?"

Jervis placed another document on the Prime Minister's desk: "We also plan to build a batch of steam-powered warships. This is the development plan of Chatham Shipyard."

Chatham Royal Dockyard is a famous shipbuilding base in London, where the famous ship "Victory" was built.

Jervis continued, "With our country's shipbuilding capabilities, as long as we invest enough money, I believe it will only take one to one and a half years for our steam battleships to surpass those of France."

To be honest, Britain is indeed conservative in other aspects, but its navy has always been very good at learning new technologies.

Historically, most of the warship technology innovations made by Spain and France were ultimately realized by the British.

In fact, at this time, British shipyards had already begun using steam engines for tasks such as lifting wood.

It can only be said that they encountered the "bug"-like existence of Joseph, which temporarily caused them to lag behind in warship innovation.

(End of this chapter)