I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 641 The Future of the French Navy

Joseph immediately said:

"Your outstanding work has made the navy's strength soar! From this month, your ratings on the Talent Committee will be raised by one level, and you will be awarded a special allowance by the Brest Shipyard."

Murdoch and the other two all showed joy on their faces, and bowed together and said:

"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

You know, a promotion by one level in the Talent Committee means a bigger villa, a more luxurious carriage, more maids, more income, and a very respected social status - according to regulations, His Majesty the King will regularly receive all talents above Class C every year and hold a cocktail party for them - this is an honor that many nobles cannot even dream of.

After Joseph had distributed the candies, he said seriously:

"Next, the development of the super-high-pressure steam engine will depend on you! I promise that when the 200-horsepower steam engine is developed, I will personally apply for the title of nobility for you."

Murdoch and others bowed again:

"Your Highness, please rest assured! We will definitely not let you down!"

Soon, Joseph boarded the frigate "Brown Crystal Stone" and sailed to the open sea outside the port.

Not far away, the "Light of the Mediterranean" blew its whistle. The black smoke from the chimney became thicker, and it was obvious that it was ready to set sail.

The first event was a racing display between the "Light of the Mediterranean" and the paddle boats.

In the past, a test ship equipped with only one steam engine was already able to leave the galleys far behind, and the new warships equipped with two steam engines were even more overwhelming.

In less than 15 minutes, the "Light of the Mediterranean" had opened up a distance of more than 600 meters from its opponent, which was beyond the maximum range of the 24-pound cannon.

In other words, if the "Light of the Mediterranean" passed by the side of an enemy ship, the enemy's artillery fire would not be able to reach it for a maximum of 15 minutes.

This is when facing a galley. If it is a pure sailing warship with a slow starting speed, it will probably escape the opponent's fire range in 10 minutes.

You have to know that the smoothbore cannons of this era had very poor accuracy, and a naval battle could take several hours to sink an enemy ship.

The 10 minutes almost flew by in a flash.

Joseph applauded the steam battleship with satisfaction. What he didn't expect was that the battleship that would compete with the Mediterranean Light was actually a huge third-class battleship, the Valiant.

The steam frigate was like a small toy in front of a third-class ship that was more than twice its size.

Joseph looked at the Marquis of Castelli:
"What is this demonstration?"

"Actual combat, Your Highness," said the Navy Minister. "As you said, with the right tactical support, our new frigates are capable of dealing with battleships in the Mediterranean."

"You did a great job," Joseph praised. Although he was the one who came up with this idea, the Navy completed the specific tactical design and trained sailors who could execute it in less than half a year. This efficiency was absolutely amazing. The long whistle sounded through the sky, and the "Light of the Mediterranean" took the lead and almost instantly left the huge battleship out of sight.

It took the "Brave" a long time to aim its bow at the "enemy ship" with its sails fully open, but the wind was not strong, causing the sails to hang lazily.

The "Light of the Mediterranean" maintained a sufficient distance and, using its advantage of fast turning, quickly turned to the bow of the "Brave", and then turned sideways, facing the opponent's bow with its side.

This is a typical "T-shaped horizontal" tactic - warships of this era are equipped with a large number of guns on the side, and only a few guns on the bow and stern. So if you can use your side to aim at the bow and stern of the enemy ship, you can create a situation of unilateral firepower output.

The guns of the Mediterranean Light began to roar, and the Valiant hurriedly turned the ship. However, when the latter's side was about to turn, the steam frigate immediately sped away at full speed.

Afterwards, the steam frigate made a circle, used its absolute speed advantage to again block the bow of the "Brave", and fired again.

The exercise lasted for more than half an hour. The "Light of the Mediterranean" was always in an advantageous position, forming a "T-shaped crosshead" four times and completing the shooting, while the "Brave" did not fire a single broadside salvo.

At the end of the exercise, a thick cloud of smoke belched out from the chimney of the Mediterranean Light and it sailed away. The third-class battleships tried desperately to catch up, but they couldn't even catch its tail smoke.

Joseph stood up again and led the applause. Other naval officers and people from the shipyard also cheered and applauded excitedly.

Everyone knows that at present, the third-class battleships are the absolute main force of the fleet - the first and second-class battleships are expensive and difficult to exert their firepower, so they are more of a symbol of the fleet, or used to charge the enemy with their sturdy hulls - in other words, France only needs to equip a large number of cheap and easy-to-build steam frigates to deal with the British main fleet in the Mediterranean!
At the current speed of the Brest Shipyard, it will only take about a year to build 20 "Mediterranean Light" class frigates.

Of course, it was difficult to sink the battleship with the firepower of the frigate, and at most it could injure it, but the British fleet had difficulty in resupplying in the Mediterranean - now, except for the west of Algiers, the entire North African coast was controlled by France. The British had to return to Gibraltar to complete the resupply. The French navy could resupply anywhere.

In this way, as long as France insists on fighting a war of attrition with the British fleet, the latter will soon be forced to withdraw from the Mediterranean due to the need for warships to return to port for repairs and lack of supplies.

After the maiden voyage ceremony, the naval officers excitedly talked about the future situation and left the port with the Crown Prince.

Joseph was listening to the naval shipbuilding director Borda introducing the construction plan of the steam frigate, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a uniquely shaped small boat parked in the narrow waterway on the north side of the port.

The ship had only a few sparse sails, but there was a waterwheel-like wooden wheel on each side of the hull, and a chimney stood in the middle of the hull.

"Steamboat?" Joseph pointed to the boat curiously and asked Borda, "Is that a test piece from the shipyard?"

The shipbuilding director was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said:
"Your Highness, it was built by a man named Geoffrey. He came to the shipyard two months ago with this ship and a design drawing, saying that he designed a new type of warship.

“We looked at his design and found out it was just a steam paddle steamer, so we didn’t use it.

“However, Mr. Geoffrey has a good talent for design and unique insights into steamships, so I hired him as a designer in the shipyard.

"Well, he saw your steam-powered battleship and never mentioned his little boat again."

Joffrey?
Joseph vaguely remembered that in the documentary about Fulton, the father of the steam paddle steamer, a Frenchman named Geoffrey seemed to be mentioned. He had built a steam-powered ship more than ten years earlier than Fulton, but because the French steam engine was so bad, he had to give up in the end.

(End of this chapter)