Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 24: Steam Engine and Carronade

Joseph looked into the eyes of the Navy Minister, seriously, “I assure you, fast within a year, slow within two or three years, the construction of this ‘fantasy’ warship can begin.”

Castri was greatly surprised, “You, you mean that? How is that possible…”

Joseph took a sip of tea, reiterating, “It’s true, I am fully confident.”

“So, don’t continue to waste money on manufacturing the existing warships, at most in two or three years, they will all be junk!

“You won’t have to wait too long. I will make a trip to Brest Port soon, and then you will understand everything,” he said.

He was so certain because the steam engine had already been invented by then, the craftsmen and their skills were mature, and the only thing missing was the low power due to poor design. But this was not a problem at all for Joseph, not to mention Watt’s minor improvements, he had seen even more perfected steam engines.

Castri felt dizzy, his mind jumping back and forth between doubt, excitement, and wild imagination, to the point where he didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Joseph then advised, “You go first to coordinate with the Shipbuilding Bureau to start preparing craftsmen and raw materials; the trial production of the new ships will be a complex process.”

“All right,” Castri found himself starting to believe the Crown Prince, after all, that dreamlike warship was too tempting, “I will go to the Shipbuilding Bureau right away.”

He suddenly looked intently at Joseph, his voice trembling somewhat, “Your Highness, please be sure to keep your promise!”

“Rest assured,” Joseph spoke and then remembered something else, “Oh, and when you go back, you can gather craftsmen to make a type of large-caliber, short-barreled cannon.”

“Ah?”

“Just extend the existing mortar cannon,” said Joseph, “It should fire projectiles over 60 pounds, but the barrel and the charge are less than half of that of a cannon, so it’s light and will not be too difficult to process.”

Castri, in surprise, asked, “Your Highness, that cannon must be very powerful, but the range is definitely very short. What is the use of that?”

Joseph smiled slightly at him, “Wait until I get to Brest Shipyard, and then I’ll tell you.”

In fact, this was the “Carronade” that later caused the French Navy a good deal of trouble in the Battle of Trafalgar.

The current French Navy always had a misconception, that was, they blindly emphasized range.

According to the ideal scenario, if my range is long, then I can hit you, and you cannot hit me, wouldn’t that mean I’m sure to win?

However, this was where the theory of the French Navy was detached from reality. In the age of sailing warships, ship maneuverability was not very good, and it was difficult to keep both sides within your maximum range at all times.

And then there was the problem that solid shot was insufficiently powerful; at long range, it was hard to seriously damage enemy ships.

In actual naval battles, most of the ships were going at it face-to-face, as if they wanted to press their cannon muzzles into the enemy captain’s quarters and fire away.

At that time, range was meaningless; whoever had the larger caliber cannons was the boss!

The British understood this point and directly abandoned range to develop heavy cannons with large calibers and short barrels—the Carronade.

But in this life, it was France’s turn to be the first to equip its navy with this potent weapon!

After repeated communications with the Navy Minister and making sure he had no objections to his plans, Joseph personally escorted him out of the drawing-room.

No sooner had Joseph caught his breath than Eman approached briskly, bowing, “Your Highness, Marquis Saint Priest requests an audience.”

Joseph hadn’t expected the Minister of War to be so impatient, but that was just as well, as he wouldn’t have to write that document himself.