Chapter 1277: 1182: Training Ships

Chapter 1277: Chapter 1182: Training Ships

The eyes of everyone in the conference hall instantly burned with intensity.

It was as if they could all see that the era belonging to the French Navy was not far away.

Joseph merely announced the total number of warships to be built here. Once the Toulon Shipyard calculates the budget for the expansion of the dock and the cost of shipbuilding, the Navy Department will sign a formal agreement with the shipyard based on this.

The construction costs at Toulon might be slightly higher than Brest, but to achieve strategic surprise, this additional expenditure is entirely acceptable.

Joseph estimated that the total investment for building 25 fourth-level steam battleships would be around 35 million francs. To reach 40 ships, only an additional 13 million francs is needed—the shipyard construction is already complete, so building costs will subsequently decrease.

Of course, these are just the construction costs. Future maintenance, usage, and personnel training costs are equally staggering.

Joseph is prepared to invest 85 million francs in the Navy over two and a half years.

Wanting to engage in maritime dominance is impossible without spending money.

Once the British Navy is defeated, this money could be earned back tenfold or even a hundredfold!

As for the source of funds, it depends on the previously arranged loans and the execution of war bonds by Joseph.

After Joseph roughly explained the navy expansion matters, he looked at the Navy Minister: “Marquis of Salzburg, how is the progress of the expansion at the Le Havre Naval Academy?”

Yes, more than half a year ago, he had the Navy Department begin expanding the only military academy in France capable of training navy officers.

The Marquis of Salzburg hurriedly replied: “The expansion plan was completed two months ago, Your Highness. We have now reached a scale of enrolling 120 officer cadets and 380 noncommissioned officer cadets per year.”

Joseph mentally calculated that a fourth-level battleship requires 15 junior officers and 45 noncommissioned officers, so the annual graduates of the Navy Academy only suffices for staffing 8 battleships.

Adding to that the navy officers promoted each year, it is estimated to meet the needs for officers of 12 fourth-level ships.

However, Joseph wants 40 fourth-level battleships built in two and a half years; this officer gap is quite large. It’s important to remember that the academy’s junior officers graduate in three years, while noncommissioned officers graduate in one and a half to two years, so those enrolling next year won’t be able to participate in battle.

In fact, the Naval Academy has already more than doubled its intake; previously, only about 50 junior officers graduated each year.

Joseph thought for a moment and said to the Marquis of Salzburg: “Could the school reduce the teaching time by half?”

The latter waved his hands repeatedly: “Your Highness, this would certainly severely affect their combat capability.”

Joseph nodded: “Yes, it would lack the accumulation of theoretical knowledge, but they could spend the other half of the time interning on ships, with old officers directly training them.

“Additionally, we can recruit trainees from sailors with long sailing times. They have extensive maritime experience, and learning command skills would be much faster for them.”

The Marquis of Salzburg was momentarily stunned and said: “Extended internships on ships can indeed accelerate training, but this requires significantly increasing the time the warships are at sea… probably by more than four times.”

Most of the navy’s warships spend time anchored—the moment these money-burning beasts set sail, money is continuously spent. Just provisioning a fourth-level ship upon leaving the port requires loading supplies worth three to four thousand francs alone. The cost of inspection, wear and tear, and maintenance on ships is even greater.

Pulling warships out to train cadets costs over ten times more than school-based learning.

Joseph was about to say “at all costs,” but suddenly thought of a special piece of military equipment from the future—a trainer aircraft.

This thing doesn’t need combat capabilities like a proper fighter plane, let alone fly very fast, but the cockpit and instruments are imitations of a fighter plane’s as much as possible. This allows pilots to familiarize themselves with fighter planes by flying them.

And the price of a trainer aircraft is less than one-fifth that of a fighter plane, making it pain-free for cadets to practice with them.

So, is it possible to also make some “trainer ships”?

For example, use large civilian steam paddle ships for modification, mimicking the cabin layout of warships, and open a dozen or so gun doors.

These ships cost about 40 to 50 thousand francs each, and even with conversion costs, they wouldn’t exceed 60,000 francs. They have lightweight hulls that are very fuel-efficient.

And because civilian ships have large numbers, they can be inspected and maintained everywhere, with very low costs as well.

Using such ships to train cadets would significantly reduce expenses.

Once cadets are familiar with trainer ships, they can then train on genuine warships for a few months, and basically be ready to participate in naval battles.

Joseph conveyed the idea to the Navy Minister, who immediately reacted with a bright expression: “This is indeed an ingenious idea, Your Highness.

“We can even buy some old ships to use, and the Toulon Shipyard only needs half a month to complete the cabin modifications. Oh, their docks can accommodate 5 steam paddle transport ships at once for construction.

“Furthermore, we can use this method to train sailors in the port.

“For instance, supplement 10 francs for a week of training on a trainer ship, and quite a few may be willing to come.”

The ordinary sailors of this era were temporarily recruited before the outbreak of war; the navy’s standing sailors amounted to just three or four thousand people.

Merchant ship sailors would rest at the port between voyages, and this is when training them in “warship” exercises means that in future battles, they would definitely possess more combat prowess than those newly transitioned from merchant ships.

Now, France has a multitude of steam paddle ship commercial fleets in the Mediterranean Sea, so there is no shortage of ordinary sailors. If manpower is truly lacking, we can even recruit from Genoa, as Italian sailors are very willing to board French ships due to higher salaries.

Joseph nodded: “You have reminded me that we should take this opportunity to increase the number of regular navy personnel.

“Especially in areas like the engine room, steering cabin, or mechanical engineers; regular troops should be preferred for these roles.

“Please assess the specific recruitment scale and submit it to me.”

After entering the STEAM BATTLESHIP era, the professional requirements for sailors increased significantly compared to WIND-POWERED BATTLESHIPS, thus the use of professional soldiers in operating warships is more reliable.

For instance, an inexperienced sailor might arbitrarily press a button on a steam engine, possibly rendering the entire ship powerless.

Moreover, professional soldiers have far more combat training time than ordinary sailors, further enhancing the overall combat power of the Navy.

As for the military budget, even with an increase of 10,000 professional navy soldiers, there would only be an additional annual expenditure of three to four million francs.

Compared to the high costs of building warships, this amount is trivial.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The Navy Minister roughly estimated and continued: “Your Highness, let’s first modify 15 trainer ships; within half a year they should suffice. As for later circumstances…”

Joseph said: “Later we will directly place orders with the shipyards producing steam paddle ships, building a batch of trainer ships closer to warships in all aspects according to merchant ship standards, even if it means slightly higher costs.”