Life of Being a Crown Prince in France - Chapter 1276 - 1181: Navy Expansion Plan

Chapter 1276: Chapter 1181: Navy Expansion Plan

Joseph was somewhat puzzled: “The hardness of brass shouldn’t be this low, right?”

Sane hurriedly said: “Your Highness, if we increase the zinc content, it can indeed improve hardness, but it also causes ’porosity phenomenon,’ so…”

Joseph thought to himself that they were using low-zinc brass; they really weren’t stingy with the budget.

The price of copper is several times higher than that of zinc.

He sighed and said: “What you’re referring to is ’dezincification,’ meaning the zinc in the alloy is oxidized as an anode. Actually, adding a small amount of tin can prevent dezincification.”

Sane immediately connected the dots: “It’s about sacrificing tin to protect zinc?”

Joseph rubbed his forehead: “No, tin uses atomic bonds to ’hold onto’ zinc, preventing it from easily falling off…”

Sane merely nodded continuously, displaying a look of having “given up on treatment.”

While they talked, the carriage passed by the busy slipway.

Joseph turned his head and saw in the distance a Third-class Ship hoisted high, with hundreds of craftsmen like little spiders “clinging” to the hull, continuously hammering rivets to secure large sheets of copper.

As the “ding ding dang dang” sound gradually faded, the carriage stopped in front of the shipyard’s main design office.

Called the “design office,” it was actually a three-story building with over a hundred rooms, where the shipyard’s designers and craftsmen met daily to discuss and refine the blueprints.

The newly appointed Navy Minister, Marquis de Lassalle, along with the Navy Shipbuilding Director Borda and other officials, had long been waiting at the door. Seeing the Crown Prince step out of the car, they immediately approached to greet him.

Without a band around, Joseph contentedly nodded to Marquis Lassalle as he led them into the conference hall on the second floor of the design office.

Sane excitedly whispered to Borda and others in the rear about the plan to replace iron ribs.

Joseph gestured for everyone to sit and first looked at the engineering director of Brest Shipyard, Nicolai Blondo: “Mr. Blondo, if we start building Fourth-level Steam Battleships immediately, how many can be completed each year?”

Blondo had prepared in advance, and immediately responded: “Your Highness, if we pause all other ships above Third Level, we can complete 3 to 4 ships each year.”

In recent years, due to ample funding, the shipyard basically constructed one Third-class sailing battleship annually. After all, ocean escorting still can’t do without these heavy battleships for now.

Joseph nodded: “If funding is sufficient, how long would it take to expand production?”

Blondo’s eyes immediately gleamed; the shipyard was finally about to work hard!

“Expanding docks two and three would take about 5 months or so. New dock plans have been made on the southern side of the shipyard, and if there’s enough workers, production can start in about a year.”

Joseph asked again: “What would the output be then?”

“Annually, we can build 7 Fourth-level Ships, Your Highness. Or 3 Third-class Ships.”

Joseph still wasn’t completely satisfied: “Can it be faster?”

He estimated at least 25 Fourth-level Steam Battleships were needed to directly confront the British Navy in the Atlantic Ocean and around 40 were needed to hold an advantage.

If Brest Shipyard could deliver 7 per year, Toulon Shipyard could probably reach an annual production speed of 4 at most. After all, its main focus was on building small and medium-sized combat ships suitable for the Mediterranean Sea, and more than half of steam frigate production was here.

As for Rochefort Shipyard, producing 1 Fourth-level Ship a year was considered good, given it is a private shipyard.

Blondo was somewhat troubled: “This, may not be easy, Your Highness. If we continue to expand, we’d have to build docks two kilometers away on a beach, but it’s currently barren land and would take over two years to be operational.”

Just then, Sane suddenly interjected: “Mr. Blondo, I think it might be possible to achieve annual production higher than 8 ships.”

“Oh? Please share your reasons.”

“The Crown Prince and I just discussed the technology of using iron ship ribs,” Sane said, “If trial construction is successful, it can greatly reduce the time needed for wood usage.”

“But the rust problem…”

“The matter has already been resolved by His Highness.”

Blondo, also knowing the industry, was suddenly filled with pleasant surprise.

Shipbuilding timber isn’t just used straight from cutting down trees; it must be air-dried for a long time first, and during processing, openings mean having to pause and wait for drying at those parts.

But if using iron ribs, as long as supply from the steel plant keeps up, the time to erect the framework can be cut to 50% of the original.

Sane continued: “I just thought, the keel could also be reinforced with long iron bars, making the selection of keel materials much freer.”

Materials for a warship’s keel are extremely particular; it must match the natural curves required for the keel as any manual bending would reduce its strength.

This made finding suitable timber extremely troublesome and costly.

But if reinforced with iron materials, less bulky wood can be used and drying time is shorter.

Sane just felt after resolving sea corrosion issues with iron products, the world seemed a lot broader.

Blondo nodded at him, then looked at Joseph: “Using the technology Mr. Sane mentioned, Your Highness, it should be possible to achieve annual production between 8 and 9 ships.”

He cautiously added: “But this requires significant funding, including expanding docks and construction costs.”

Joseph nodded, “What is your estimation on the cost requirement?”

Blondo thought briefly and said: “The expansion would require about 9 million francs. And each Fourth-level Steam Battleship costs approximately 1 to 1.1 million francs.”

“Yes, and please hold on,” interjected Borda, who hadn’t had a chance to speak, “In the future, all cannons on battleships may be replaced by iron ones, which could reduce each ship’s cost by approximately 200,000 francs.”

Joseph knew Widirina had already begun attempts with the Rodman casting method, expecting a resolution within half a year, so he nodded: “Then let’s calculate each at 900,000 francs. The initial construction plan for Brest Shipyard is—14 ships.”

Everyone in the conference hall widened their eyes.

These are Fourth-level Battleships, not escort ships.

Building 14 new ones in one go!

You should know, the Dutch Navy’s current main force is only 6 Fourth-level Ships.

Brest Shipyard would be constructing two-and-a-half Dutch Navies’ worth at once!

They didn’t know, Toulon Shipyard had 7 ships on its task list as well. Even Rochefort had to construct 1 to 2 ships.

Blondo’s voice trembled slightly: “Then, it requires a total of 21.6 million francs of funding…”

Joseph nonchalantly smiled: “The shipyard will receive 10 million francs of funding within the next few months. The Treasury will continue appropriating funds over the year.

“The Navy has been impoverished for many years; now you can really go all out.”