Chapter 588: A Three-Year Pact with the Minister of the Navy
Brittany, a northwestern province of France.
On the north shore of Brest Bay, the Brest Shipyard, nearly as large as a small town, buzzed with activity, like a swarm of ants that had sniffed out syrup.
Over a thousand workers transported raw materials on wooden tracks, or used massive tools to cut timber, or assembled ship hulls on towering wooden frames. Everywhere, large funnels continuously belched thick smoke, staining half the sky a grim gray-black.
After nearly three years of quiet, Brittany's largest shipyard finally welcomed a long-awaited period of bustling activity.
Because His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, had arrived.
At the shipyard's dock, Joseph and dozens of others raised their telescopes, gazing at two ships on the nearby sea, occasionally exchanging comments.
Among them were high-ranking naval officers, including the Marquis de Castries, Minister of the Navy, and Roquefeuille, Commander of the Brest Fleet, as well as a larger group of warship designers led by Borda, the Inspector General of Naval Construction, and the top warship designer Jacques Sané.
It was a gathering of all the elites in French naval construction.
Soon after, a melodious bugle call echoed, and Joseph watched as the two ships slowly began to move.
The ship on the right was smaller, appearing to be an ordinary 24-gun light frigate named the "Indomitable." However, the towering funnel in its mid-to-aft section indicated it was anything but ordinary.
Indeed, this was the world's first steam-powered warship, freshly converted.
It was equipped with the latest LJ52 High-Pressure Steam Engine from the United Steam Engine Company.
This 'performance beast' could produce up to 52 horsepower, far ahead of its time, easily outclassing its British counterparts, which could barely muster 20 horsepower.
It was currently in the testing phase, so only one engine had been installed.
Once all technical hurdles were overcome, two engines would simultaneously propel the warship. A robust power of over 100 horsepower would enable a light frigate to exceed 12 knots with a favorable wind.
Bear in mind, on the calm waters of the Mediterranean Sea, this speed was almost like flying!
Normally, only 30-ton small boats could barely achieve this speed with rowers exerting full effort. Even frigate-class oar-and-sail vessels could only reach a little over 10 knots.
As for sailing warships, they moved at a snail's pace in the Mediterranean, simply because there wasn't much wind. Even ordinary oar-and-sail ships could outmaneuver them completely, let alone steam-powered vessels.
On the sea, the oar-and-sail vessel quickly cut through the waves and sped off.
After falling behind by three to four hundred meters, the "Indomitable"'s funnel began to emit more and more black smoke, and its speed steadily increased. The gap between it and the oar-and-sail vessel finally stopped widening.
After nearly twenty minutes, the rowers on the oar-and-sail vessel clearly began to tire, while the "Indomitable" maintained its speed and started to close the distance.
The spectators on the dock immediately revealed expressions of delighted surprise.
Chief designer Sané exclaimed sincerely, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was right. Excellent propulsion can indeed be achieved without paddlewheels."
Borda, the Inspector General of Naval Construction, immediately nodded, "If we had followed our initial design, the hull would have gained over 30 tons in weight. The speed would have dropped significantly."
Two months prior, upon hearing Joseph's intention to use a steam engine for propulsion, they immediately proposed using paddlewheels. This involved installing two massive, waterwheel-like wooden wheels on either side of the hull, with the parts of the paddlewheels above the waterline encased in oak to resist cannon fire.
This was the most developed solution. Although paddlewheel ships hadn't yet been deployed, the theory had been proposed, and some had even built models.
But Joseph decisively rejected this design.
Paddlewheels were inherently very heavy, and with bulletproof casings, much of the steam engine's power advantage would be negated.
Moreover, paddlewheels presented a very large target. Even with wooden casing protection, they could still easily be destroyed by enemy cannons. As part of the propulsion system, if the paddlewheels malfunctioned, the captain could essentially order the ship abandoned.
He then introduced the ship propeller, common in later eras, giving rise to the "Indomitable" test vessel before them.
The Marquis de Castries, Minister of the Navy, looked at the Crown Prince with profound gratitude.
He had waited three long years since the Crown Prince promised him advanced steam ironclad battleships. During these three years, the navy had launched hardly any battleships or larger vessels.
Just when he thought he would have to wait another three years after the initial three, the Crown Prince suddenly arrived in Brittany.
And then, true enough, he had produced a steam-powered ship.
Watching the "Indomitable" steadily close in on the oar-and-sail frigate, he couldn't help but clench his fists, declaring excitedly, "If we had 20 such warships—no, just 15—we could challenge the British fleet in the Mediterranean!"
Although steam power could currently only propel light frigates and couldn't directly engage proper battleships, its high speed and endurance would allow them to wage a war of maneuver against the British. Through containment and harassment, they could wear down the British fleet, eventually forcing it to withdraw from the Mediterranean.
General Roquefeuille was about to concur when he suddenly saw the "Indomitable"'s hull shudder through his telescope. Then, the black smoke from its funnel gradually vanished, and its speed quickly decreased.
Moments later, a technician from the "Indomitable" rowed a small boat to shore, approaching Joseph with a strained expression. "Your Highness, the propeller experienced violent vibrations again.
"This time, even the main shaft snapped..."
Joseph immediately frowned.
This was the fifth time the vibration problem had occurred.
When he first arrived at the shipyard, he had thought that by simply scaling up a model ship he'd played with in his previous life a hundredfold, he could create a steam-powered vessel. He hadn't realized it would be nothing like that.
Take this propeller, for example. He only remembered its approximate shape. But the precise blade angle, how the blades should be twisted, and even what materials to use—all had to be figured out from scratch.
Although after repeated attempts by the technicians, they had managed to resolve the aforementioned technical details—such as using beech wood for the propeller, employing four blades, and so on—and quickly produced the first physical propeller.
However, from the moment the propeller was connected to the steam engine, it had been plagued by severe vibration issues.
After research and analysis by Joseph and the technicians, they concluded that the issue was likely due to insufficient manufacturing precision—the propeller's sides couldn't be perfectly symmetrical, leading to vibrations during high-speed rotation. A phone's vibration motor operates on this very principle.
Joseph pressed a hand to his forehead and shook his head. He finally understood why early steamships all used paddlewheel propulsion; it seemed it was because they couldn't manufacture suitable propellers.
He exchanged glances with Borda and the others beside him, wondering if they truly had to resort to paddlewheels.
Comments