Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 682 - 591: The French Navy’s Holiday

Chapter 682: Chapter 591: The French Navy’s Holiday

Joseph’s design for Sane was obviously excellent, as he had directly copied it from the famous “Napoleon” battleship which debuted half a century later.

Although the “Napoleon” was the first sailing battleship in the world equipped with a steam engine, its overall structure was very reasonable thanks to the meticulous design by French designers.

This was also the most comprehensible for French designers attempting their first design of a sailing battleship with a steam engine. After all, subsequent designs, while becoming increasingly sophisticated, were also harder to fully grasp.

Furthermore, Joseph actually had a model of the “Napoleon,” which he himself had assembled, so he was quite familiar with the internal structure.

Sane’s ship was based on the light escort ship “Huge Wave” from the Seven Years’ War period and underwent minimal modifications, so the preliminary design was completed in just a few months.

Sane pointed with a slender wooden stick at the lower deck in the rear section of the design diagram, explaining to the officers, “The quarters for the sailors have been moved to a position further forward and expanded and reinforced to install two steam engines.

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“They can provide more than 100 horsepower of thrust, and just by using the propeller, the battleship can reach speeds close to 8 knots. With the sails used at the same time, it can achieve a navigation speed of 12 knots!”

All the officers showed excited expressions.

You must know, even in the Atlantic Ocean, the British fleet’s main forces—the third-class battleships—could hardly reach a speed of 10 knots. Escort ships could indeed approach 12 knots with a strong tailwind, but in the Mediterranean Sea, their speed would have to be reduced by as much as 30% to 40% because the Mediterranean experiences only light breezes throughout the year.

Even the favorite galleys of the Mediterranean, capable of 11 knots at their extreme output, couldn’t maintain this speed during prolonged voyages.

Therefore, France’s new ship was going to be an existence no one could catch up with in the Mediterranean!

Sane continued, “The original gun ports on the sides were reduced by eight to make room for coal storage. Oh, and there are coal bunkers in the lower deck as well. All the fuel added up can support the battleship for 900 nautical miles.

“Of course, if maintaining top speed all the time, it can only travel 570 nautical miles.”

This range was not extensive, but for the narrow Mediterranean Sea, it was pretty much enough. You must know, the distance from Toulon to Tunisia is only 400 nautical miles.

And during non-combat periods, it is entirely possible to sail using only the sails to save fuel.

However, Brest Fleet Commander Roger Fier frowned slightly and interrupted the designer, “Mr. Sane, a light escort ship usually carries between 28 to 30 cannons.

“Your ship has eliminated eight gun ports, so that leaves only 20 cannons. Pardon my directness, but such an armament configuration seems a bit weak.”

Joseph answered with a smile, “General Roger Fier, in fact, the ‘Light of the Mediterranean’ has only 17 cannons.

“But you need not worry, because it isn’t meant for traditional broadside battles.

“Do you remember the navy’s new tactical regulations? The ‘Ranger Tactics’ that the staff office is compiling? They are to be adapted for use with the new battleship.”

Roger Fier had read an early draft of the “Ranger Tactics” and vaguely remembered it being a skirmish-oriented tactic.

Following the Crown Prince’s cue, Sane pointed to the stern section of the design diagram, “The gun room here will undergo some modifications to accommodate the installation of three 24-pound long cannons.

“The side gun ports will be fitted with six 18-pound long cannons, four 12-pound cannons, and four 32-pound carronades. There are no bow cannons.”

Roger Fier quickly understood; the ship’s heaviest firepower was arranged at the stern, ready to turn tail and run at any moment!

If you dare to chase me, I’ll bombard you with stern cannons.

France’s long-barreled cannons always had a range advantage, although this was proven to be of little use in the fleet engagements during the Seven Years’ War, yet when placed at the stern, they could achieve a unique effect.

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He could already imagine French steam sailships using their speed advantage to linger around English battleships. Once the British caught up, they would immediately flee while keeping their distance within the range of their long cannons.

The British bow cannons couldn’t reach the steam sailships, but the French stern cannons could keep on firing.

While three cannons might not deal a devastating blow to the enemy ship, they could still inflict some damage. Little by little that damage would force you to return to port for repairs. And who knows, one lucky shot might hit a vital spot like the mast, and that would be a major gain.

In fact, the “Light of the Mediterranean” had another advantage unknown to him, which was the ship’s agility in turning due to its screw propeller.

Because the thrust from the screw propeller is deflected by the rudder behind it, generating lateral thrust that is much quicker than a sailship relying solely on rudder movement to divert water for turning.

This way, even if the “Light of the Mediterranean” used its broadside to engage the enemy, it could quickly turn to position its stern towards the enemy and fire while fleeing. In the meantime, the sail-powered battleships would still be sluggishly turning, and during this time they would have already taken several rounds of cannon fire.

Nearly two hours later, Sané had given a general introduction to the new-model escort ship.

A group of navy officers listened with shining eyes. The French Navy had been suppressed by the British for so many years; at least this time they could launch a counterattack in the Mediterranean!

Full of anticipation, the Navy Minister looked towards Joseph and asked very respectfully, “Your Highness, Crown Prince, may you reveal to me how many such escort ships the navy will receive?”

Joseph replied without hesitation, “Twenty.”

Several senior naval officials’ eyes brightened, for this number had reached what they had hoped for.

One should know that over the past three years, the navy had only built one third-class battleship, one fourth-class battleship, and four escort ships. It was practically like being a beggar.

Meanwhile, the British fleet had added one first-class ship and one second-class ship, three third-class battleships, and seven cruising escort ships. They had so many light escort ships that they couldn’t be bothered to count them all…

This was despite the British slowing down their shipbuilding because they saw that the French Navy wasn’t constructing many ships.

After three years of hardship, the French Navy could finally afford to be a little more affluent.

Especially the Marquis of Castries, who was so excited he felt a tingle in his nose.

But Joseph continued, “After the ‘Light of the Mediterranean’ class is launched, Mr. Sané will immediately start designing a new type of steam-powered escort ship based on the ‘Virgin,’ using three steam engines for propulsion.

“This class of ship will comprise twelve vessels.”

Upon hearing this, the Marquis of Castries was so thrilled that he could barely breathe. The “Virgin” was a 32-cannon escort ship, much larger than the “Light of the Mediterranean” and capable of being equipped with 32-pound cannons, which were a threat even to battleships.

And to build twelve at once!

He suddenly asked Joseph with some nervousness, “Your Highness, building so many at one time, won’t it reduce the number of capital ships being constructed?”

Escort ships, while cheaper, wouldn’t come cheap either with such a number and new technology involved.

Joseph smiled and shook his head, “Don’t worry, these new-type escort ships are all funded by additional grants from me.”

No wonder he was so generous. Just yesterday afternoon, he had received a confidential letter from Carolina in London, stating that the “project” there had garnered over one million British Pounds in funding.