Napoleon leaned over his desk, his eyes fixed on the table being pushed by the men working for Sane. He knew that beneath the concealing curtain lay the future of the French Navy. The anticipation was building inside him as he was eager to see what Sane had come up with.
The men stopped, their synchronized movements coming to a halt as they positioned the table precisely in the center of the room.
He nodded at Sané, signaling for him to proceed.
With a flourish, Sané stepped forward, his hands steady as he grasped the edges of the curtain.
"Your Excellency," Sané began. "I present to you the future of the French Navy."
With a swift motion, Sané whisked the curtain away, revealing the magnificent creation that lay beneath. Napoleon gasped slightly and his eyes widened in awe.
Before them stood a scale model of a ship like none other. Its design was a marvel of engineering, too advanced from its time. The ship was sleek, with a streamlined hull that promised unmatched speed and agility on the open seas, instead of a mast, it was a chimney that dominated the center. And in the fore and aft part for the ships were twin long-muzzled barbette.
There's no mistaking it, without his intervention, a French Naval Engineer, came up with a design similar to the pre-dreadnought battleships.
Napoleon was speechless, literally. He stared at it for a second without his eyes leaving it. As seconds passed by, Napoleon's admiration towards the engineers of France were growing exponentially, and it was not an exaggeration.
"Your Excellency, behold the future of our naval fleet. Instead of traditional wind propulsion, we've harnessed cutting-edge technology – the steam engine, to be precise, an expansion steam engine. This marvel boasts three shafts, each equipped with triple-expansion steam engines, driven by a total of 20 water-tube boilers, capable of generating an impressive 14,350 horsepower. The vessel measures 117.7 meters in length, with a beam spanning 20.3 meters and a draught of 8.4 meters.
Now, for its armament, we've equipped it with formidable firepower – two twin 305 mm guns, accompanied by ten single 138.6 mm guns and eight single 100 mm guns. And when it comes to protection, with the invaluable assistance of the Ministry of Science, we've developed armor that can withstand direct hits from enemy main armaments. The belt boasts a thickness ranging from 110 to 400 mm, the decks are fortified with armor measuring 55 to 90 mm, the barbettes with 270 mm, the turrets with 320 mm, and the conning tower with a formidable 326 mm of protective plating.
Based on our meticulous calculations, this vessel is projected to achieve a maximum speed of 18 knots and boasts an impressive range of 3,650 nautical miles."
"That's like many times better than our current ships of the line," Decrès exclaimed.
"Ships of the line would be rendered obsolete once this ship is introduced to the world," Sane confidently said. "We must build this ship, Your Excellency, for I am sure that other nations, especially the Russian Empire, were also planning on constructing their own steam-powered warships."
"There's no doubt about that," Napoleon concurred. Given the fact that they had perfected the steam engine design, it was evident that other nations were also exploring its various applications, including marine propulsion. According to his intelligence reports, the British had been the first to experiment with steam-powered vessels. However, after the British Empire's defeat to France, most of its naval engineers had recognized that their ship designs were unlikely to come to fruition due to the economic turmoil in Britain. As a result, they sought opportunities in other countries instead.
"So this is the ship that will replace the ships of the line," Napoleon said and continued. "But what about those other two?"
"Ahh…this here Your Excellency is the smaller and faster version of this ship," Sane paused, realizing something amiss. "I should come up with a name for our new capital ship…Oh…how about cuirassé?"
The word cuirassé has a lot of different meanings, it could mean dreadnought, battleships, ironclad, et cetera. But the more fitting name for the ship is dreadnought.
"Okay that'll do," Napoleon said. "Please continue where you left."
Sane nodded. "Your Excellency, this will be the frigate, and this other one here is a merchant ship that can carry more cargo than our current merchant ships. All of which are powered by steam engines."
Napoleon rubbed his chin as he contemplated. He couldn't still move on by the fact that Sane was able to conceive such a futuristic design, though there would be some flaws in it as it was experimental and prototype, it was nevertheless, impressive.
He made a promise to himself that he would witness a battleship before he perished in this world. After all, a battleship was the greatest symbol of an empire, and not having one would be a lifelong regret. However, there was a looming problem; as soon as other nations witnessed France unveiling these colossal, metal-armored ships, a naval arms race would undoubtedly ensue.
Heck, the Russians may have already started. In that case, he'll have to construct a countermeasure for these battleships. One countermeasure is torpedoes. Historically, torpedoes are any underwater self-propelled explosive devices. It existed during the American revolutionary war and way back in the early seventeenth century. A submarine would carry the explosives and attach it under the hull of the ships of the line.
Given the current technological advancement that swept France in the last fifteen years, it can undoubtedly build submarines built in the late nineteenth century. Electric motors are introduced and there are already experiments on the Ministry of Science about the prospect of oil as an alternative for coal.
Of course if he were to introduce submarines or torpedo ships, he'll have to introduce a countermeasure for it, and that would be a destroyer.
In the past few days, Napoleon had prepared himself for this meeting. He drew schematic diagrams of different classes of warships that they could build once the modernization plan for French ports were completed.
"Sane, how long would it take for you to build those ships should I decide to commission one?" Napoleon asked, his tone serious.
"Hmm…factoring the refurbishment of the ports, I would say about three years. And per three years we could build up to 30 ships per major port. It all depends on the sizes."
"Well Sane, you know the situation of France, to maintain our empire we need a strong navy. I may not look like it but I'm also a naval enthusiast and have come to draw my own design."
Napoleon returned to his desk and grabbed a blueprint underneath. Sane looked curiously at the rolled scroll of the blueprint that Napoleon produced.
"Here it is," Napoleon handed it to Sane.
Sane grabbed and unfurled the blueprint. The moment his eyes lay upon the schematics, it widened.
"Your Excellency…this…it's elegant! It's detailed, elegant, and bigger than what I have originally designed," Sane exclaimed.
"If we are going to introduce a new kind of warship where all European powers are planning on making their own, ours should be better and bigger. The bigger the ship, the more it damages our enemy, psychologically."
Napoleon also handed Sane another batch of blueprints, all which are warship design.
"Can it be built? It's not that much of a difference to the ships that you presented to me," Napoleon mused.
"We will do everything we can, Your Excellency," Sane replied and continued. "How many ships do you want us to build anyways?"
"Oh about that…" Napoleon hummed aloud, after seriously considering it, he answered. "To be honest I don't know, how about to be followed? Let's focus on modernizing our ports first and then build one ship for every class and then we discuss from there."
Sane couldn't hide his concern. "If we go through that process, Your Excellency, we won't see a batch of warships in the next five years."
Napoleon's expression softened into a knowing smile. "That's alright. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will our navy be. We'll take our time and ensure that when those warships do set sail, they'll be a force to be reckoned with."
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