I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 592 From Frigate to Dreadnought

1 million pounds is roughly equivalent to 25 million francs.

This amount of money may not be a big deal for the British Royal Navy.

After all, the cost of a 74-gun ship, which is a third-class battleship, as the core combat force, is 60,000 to 70,000 pounds. Including training costs, military pay, dock costs, maintenance costs, etc., it is about 90,000 pounds. If you go out to sea for a battle, the cost will rise sharply.

So 1 million pounds can only build 10 third-class battleships, which may not be enough.

This may not be intuitive enough. For example, during the Seven Years' War, the British built 32 third-class battleships in one go, and there were also a large number of first- and second-class ships.

A million pounds is just a waste of money.

But what Joseph wants to build now is just a frigate. It is the lowest level among serious warships.

An ordinary 28-gun light frigate costs less than 10,000 pounds. Even a heavy frigate, or what the British call a fifth-class frigate, costs only about 18,000 pounds.

Of course, although the "Light of the Mediterranean" is also a light frigate, the cost has soared due to the use of new technologies.

Sane estimated that the cost would be close to 400,000 francs per ship, or 16,000 pounds.

After all, the price of an LJ52 steam engine is as high as 50,000 francs - there is no way, the application of the most advanced technology, and the production is very low, resulting in the price being unable to be suppressed at all.

Even the main shaft plus propeller, because they are all made with ultra-high precision processing technology, the cost of a set is 6,000 francs.

However, the total cost of building 20 "Light of the Mediterranean" class is only 320,000 pounds.

The subsequent heavy frigates with three steam engines may cost up to 30,000 pounds. 12 ships are 360,000.

The construction cost of the two-class frigate is a total of 680,000 pounds, plus the later training and use costs, it will cost about 850,000 pounds.

There was even more than 100,000 pounds left from the "fundraising funds" that Calona got from the UK.

This time, Joseph planned to invest all the money in the navy, and even add another sum. After all, history has proved that it is impossible to completely defeat the British without a strong fleet.

Joseph knew very well that the frigates alone could only harass the British navy in the "bathtub" of the Mediterranean and use tactics to drive it away.

But if you want to have a fleet decisive battle, you still have to rely on the powerful third-level battleships.

The displacement of the third-level battleships is as high as more than 1,600 tons, and at least a 400-horsepower steam engine is required to barely drive it.

The later Napoleon had a displacement of 1,870 tons, but was equipped with a 960-horsepower steam engine.

However, the Napoleon can achieve a speed of 14 knots, which is not necessary for the current naval battle. So Joseph planned to use 400 horsepower in the early stage to transition, and it would be enough to reach a speed of 12 knots.

After all, the current third-level ships can't even run 10 knots. 12 knots is 20% to 30% faster than the enemy, which can be called a crushing victory.

Joseph patted the Minister of the Navy who was still in ecstasy and had not recovered: "This is nothing. We will have a 'dreadnought' in the future. That is a warship that can defeat the British head-on."

Yes, he plans to use "dreadnought" to name the future steam-powered third-class ship.

The main point is to follow the British path and leave the British with no way to go.

And compared with the overwhelming advantage of the dreadnought before World War I over the battleships of the same era, the advantage of the steam-powered third-class ship over the sailing warship is not inferior at all.

The Marquis of Castries nodded excitedly again and again. Although he didn't know what the "dreadnought" was, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said it could defeat the British fleet, then it must be able to!

After all, His Royal Highness had just created such a magical warship as the "Light of the Mediterranean", and now he is completely a "little fan" of the Crown Prince.

However, Joseph also knew that France's current technical capabilities are still a long way from the "dreadnought".

At the very least, the power of the steam engine must reach about 200 horsepower, so that two units can barely drive the huge body of the third-level ship.

It is definitely a very difficult challenge to increase the current 50 horsepower to 200 horsepower. It is estimated that it will start with a brand-new steam engine structure design and break through a series of technical difficulties such as metal smelting, forging, finishing, and testing.

This depends on the efforts of the "Three Masters of Steam Engines" in France. All I can do is to provide them with research and development funding support. After all, Murdoch has long been told about the theoretical aspects.

However, once the 200-horsepower steam engine achieves a breakthrough, it can be directly used to develop trains. That is the biggest explosion point of the Industrial Revolution!

It was almost noon, and the Marquis of Castries and a group of officers and designers surrounded Joseph and went to the restaurant.

For the construction of the new battleship, Joseph had dinner with them almost every day, so that they could discuss at any time.

The laboratory was still some distance away from the officers' mess. Joseph said to Marquis de Castries beside him, "Although the new battleship has not been built yet, you must start crew training as soon as possible. After all, this kind of ship is completely different from any previous one."

Although the Navy General Staff has been established, due to the special nature of the Navy - a ship is almost an independent small society, especially when going to sea, the captain is the king, and the cohesion is very strong - so the General Staff is difficult to influence the Navy. At present, the recruitment of sailors and training are still led by the Minister of the Navy.

Marquis de Castries immediately bowed and said: "Yes, Your Highness, I promise to recruit enough crew members within 3 months. After another year of training, it should be ready for combat."

"Four months?" Joseph frowned slightly, "Why does it take so long? Doesn't the Navy have ready-made sailors?"

Marquis de Castries hurriedly explained: "Your Highness, even a light frigate requires 150 sailors. 20 ships means more than 3,000 people, which is difficult to recruit at once."

Joseph asked in detail again, and then he understood the current operation mode of the Navy.

It can be said that the navy soldiers and merchant sailors of this era are not interchangeable.

The Navy does not usually maintain a redundant crew team. When it needs manpower, it recruits on merchant ships and fishing boats.

Of course, sailors usually gather in places like taverns to wait for news.

The "unruly and freedom-loving" character of French sailors makes it difficult for the navy to recruit enough people.

In comparison, the British Navy on the other side is more experienced. Usually they send out spies to find out the basic information of sailors on merchant ships and fishing boats.

Once they need people, they will directly send soldiers to capture "strong men". After the sailors board the warships, they can't go home.

This leads to the mobilization efficiency of the British Navy being much higher than that of France every time a large-scale naval battle occurs.