Chapter 1416: The Future of the Navy
The Marquis de Lessart, a distinguished naval officer, immediately grasped the Crown Prince's intent, nodding repeatedly. "The combined fleet can mobilize at least 25 battleships of the third-rate or higher, which will significantly divert the British Navy's attention."
He then added, "Your Highness, I suggest that, building on this, the Admiralty formulate a 'battle plan' for the combined fleet to launch a surprise attack on the British mainland, or a large-scale raid on the shipping lanes of St. George's Channel, and then deliberately leak it to British spies."
Indeed, while the British fleet held a clear overall advantage, the French Navy had a unique strength: they were "relatively idle."
Britain was heavily reliant on maritime trade and also needed to maintain global naval supremacy. This meant every ship in the British Navy was exceptionally busy.
If the Franco-Spanish combined fleet now put on a show of "planning something big," the British would surely have to dispatch a fleet of comparable size to "shadow and monitor" them.
This would further reduce the number of warships the British Navy could spare to blockade French and Spanish ports.
Combined with Joseph's plan to disperse shipping across more than 30 ports, it was foreseeable that many harbors would only have a few British frigates patrolling outside.
A blockade of this scale wouldn't even be able to contend with armed merchant ships sailing in convoys.
Joseph sighed inwardly, 'People of this era simply haven't broadened their thinking yet; otherwise, their cunning could easily match that of future military strategists.'
The Marquis de Lessart used to wear a strained expression when asked this question, but this time, to Joseph's surprise, he looked relaxed. "Your Highness, after implementing the steam forging press, the shipyard has resolved most of the core issues. According to Mr. Vauclaire's report, the first sea trial is anticipated by the end of August."
Jean-Bernard de Vauclaire had succeeded Blondot as the director of the Brest Shipyard. The latter had passed away in his office late last year.
"Excellent," Joseph exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with delight. "Please inform Mr. Vauclaire that I will personally attend the maiden voyage ceremony."
"It would be an honor for all of Brest, Your Highness."
It was no wonder Joseph placed such importance on it; the Décision was France's first fourth-rate steam-powered battleship.
He had originally believed that after resolving the issues with high-power steam engines, and leveraging the experience gained from building steam frigates, this ship would be completed swiftly.
However, due to the adoption of advanced technologies like an iron keel, the Décision had already been under construction for one year and nine months since its blueprints were finalized the year before last, encountering numerous problems along the way.
For instance, large iron components consistently suffered from poor machining accuracy and severe deformation. Over 70% of the finished seven-to-eight-meter-tall ship ribs could not be properly fitted onto the keel.
Additionally, the rough riveting process led to rivets easily loosening or being missed, preventing the overall structural integrity of the framework from meeting standards.
It wasn't until the shipyard acquired the steam forging press developed by His Majesty the King that the precision manufacturing issues for large metal components were finally resolved.
On another front, the shipyard drew inspiration from standardization experiences in other industrial sectors – given the shipyard's technological insularity, it was almost the last industrial category in the nation to complete standardization – and under Vauclaire's impetus, a complete set of technical production standards for rivet punching, bucking bars, riveting molds, and even the hammering techniques of the craftsmen were established, finally meeting the requirements for riveting strength.
As for other challenges, like the difficulty of precisely hoisting and positioning extra-large metal components, the issue of the iron framework causing the ship's center of gravity to rise, or the steel framework generating magnetic fields that interfered with compasses after forging, these now seemed far less problematic.
In total, the construction of this ship had spurred over 70 patents to date.
Fortunately, all the problems had been resolved, and the Décision was soon to be launched.
Joseph actually rather appreciated these technical difficulties, as they meant that even if the British learned about France's new warship concept through espionage, or even acquired some of the design blueprints, they would be unable to replicate it in a short period.
For one, they certainly didn't possess a steam forging press.
As for using old hydraulic forging machines, well, the Brest Shipyard had already provided an answer with a yield rate of less than 30%.
And once the Décision achieved its technological breakthroughs, the subsequent mass production speed would be significantly faster—
At Joseph's request, the shipyard had, a year prior, already prepared enough timber, steel, sails, and other raw materials to construct 15 ships of the same class, along with excess dry docks and shipwrights.
Of course, even with these preparations, the original plan to complete 40 Décision-class battleships within three years would still need to be postponed by one to one and a half years.
The Marquis de Lessart recalled something else, expressing a hint of concern:
"Your Highness, according to intelligence we've gathered, the British appear to be mass-producing a new type of highly capable third-rate battleship. It's believed this ship boasts significantly improved maneuverability and speed compared to existing third-rate vessels, and it incorporates a new gun carriage design that boosts its firepower by nearly a quarter. Among British Admiralty personnel, it's being referred to as the warship 'intended to reclaim control of the Mediterranean.'"
Joseph frowned. "Is it steam-powered?"
"Apparently not, Your Highness," the Navy Minister replied. "The British haven't yet managed to build a steam engine exceeding 50 horsepower."
Joseph exhaled. "Then there's no need to worry too much. You must have faith in my... ah, in our designers."
As someone familiar with 19th-century naval warfare, Joseph knew perfectly well that purely sail-powered warships would stand little chance against steam-driven vessels.
What's more, the Décision-class incorporated not just steam engines, but also groundbreaking technologies like iron ribs. It also addressed previous shortcomings, such as lacking copper sheathing on the hull and heavy short-barreled cannons.
Joseph was certain that the historical fate of the French Navy, which suffered a devastating defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar and subsequently lost all maritime influence, would undoubtedly be rewritten by this revolutionary new class of warships!
However, the Marquis de Lessart, always cautious, didn't dare to place all his hopes solely on the Décision-class. He still suggested, "Your Highness, since the new ships all use iron keels, we have accumulated a considerable amount of high-quality oak in our warehouses. Perhaps we could use them to construct a batch of traditional warships."
He was referring to the oak wood used for the keels of sailing warships. This timber was extremely rare, with strict requirements for age, straightness of the trunk, and not even a single blemish.
Essentially, out of every 3,000 oak trees over 90 years old, only one suitable keel could be painstakingly selected.
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