In the eastern province of Brittany, France.
On the northern shore of Brest Bay, the Brest Shipyard, almost as large as a small town, bustled like ants that had discovered syrup.
Thousands of workers moved materials on wooden tracks, split logs with huge tools, or built ship bodies on towering wooden scaffolds. Large chimneys were everywhere, continuously spewing thick smoke, staining half the sky a grimy black.
This largest shipyard in Brittany had finally returned to busy life after being idle for nearly three years.
Because Crown Prince Joseph had arrived.
At that moment, on the dock of the shipyard, Joseph and dozens of others held telescopes, looking toward two ships on the nearby sea, occasionally discussing among themselves.
Among these people were senior naval officers including the Navy Minister, the Marquis of Castries, and the Brest Fleet Commander Roger Fier, with the majority being battleship designers led by Navy Shipbuilding Director Borda and the top warship designer Jacques Sane.
Truly a gathering of all the elite in France's shipbuilding realm.
Soon, as a melodious long trumpet sound echoed, Joseph saw the two ships slowly start to move.
The one on the left was a traditional paddle sail-type escort ship, now hoisting half its sails, its wooden paddles lifted high and then slicing into the water.
The ship on the right was smaller, appearing to be an ordinary 24-cannon light escort ship "The Indomitable". However, the tall chimney in the mid-rear of the ship indicated it was no ordinary vessel.
Indeed, this was the newly retrofitted world's first steam engine-driven warship.
Fitted with the latest model LJ52 high-pressure steam engine from the United Steam Engine Company.
This "performance monster" could output up to 52 horsepower, far ahead of its time, completely outclassing the British models that barely reached 20 horsepower.
Currently in the testing phase, only one engine was installed.
Once all technical hurdles were overcome, two engines would be used to simultaneously power the warship. Over 100 horsepower of strong power could allow the light escort ship to break through 13 knots of speed when sailing downwind.
In the calm Mediterranean Sea, this speed was practically like flying!
Usually, only 30-ton small boats, with rowers exerting full effort, could barely reach this speed. And paddle sail ships of the escort class could at most touch the edge of 10 knots.
As for sail warships, they moved at a turtle's pace in the Mediterranean, as there genuinely wasn't much wind. Even ordinary paddle sail ships could outmaneuver them as if "taking a dump" on their heads, not to mention steam-powered ships.
On the sea, the paddle sail ship quickly sliced through the waves and darted forward.
"Indomitable", falling behind by three to four hundred meters initially, emitted more and more black smoke from its chimney as its speed continually increased, and the gap with the paddle sail ship finally ceased widening.
Nearly 20 minutes later, as the rowers on the paddle sail ship evidently began to tire, "The Indomitable" maintained its speed and started catching up.
The spectators on the dock immediately showed expressions of delight.
Chief Designer Sane sincerely exclaimed, "His Highness Crown Prince was right. There's no need for paddle wheels to achieve excellent propulsion."
Shipbuilding Director Borda immediately nodded, "If we had gone with our initial design, the ship would have been at least 30 tons heavier than it is now. The speed would've drastically decreased."
Two months earlier, when they heard Joseph wanted to use a steam engine for propulsion, they immediately suggested using paddle wheels, which involved installing two sets of giant wooden wheels, like waterwheels, on both sides of the ship body, and encasing the part of the paddle wheels above the waterline in oak shells to protect against cannon shots.
This was the most mature plan. Although paddle wheel-driven ships had not yet been put to use, the theory had already been proposed, and some had even created models.
But Joseph decisively rejected this design.
Paddle wheels were already exceedingly heavy, and adding bulletproof casings would negate much of the steam engine's power advantage.
Moreover, paddle wheels were very large targets; even with wooden shell protection, they were easily destroyed by enemy cannons. As a critical component of the propulsion system, if the paddle wheels encountered issues, the captain might as well order the ship abandoned.
He then brought out the later commonly used marine propeller, leading to the creation of the "Indomitable" test ship seen today.
The Navy Minister, the Marquis of Castri, looked gratefully toward the Crown Prince.
After the latter promised to manufacture advanced steam ironclad warships, he had anxiously waited three years. Throughout these years, the navy had not launched any warships above the third-rate.
Just when he thought he would have to wait another three years after this one, Crown Prince Joseph suddenly arrived in Brittany.
And indeed produced a steam-powered ship.
He watched "The Indomitable", now rapidly closing in on the paddle sail ship, clenched his fists tightly in excitement, and said, "With 20 warships , no, just 15, we could challenge the British fleet in the Mediterranean!"
Although currently steam power could only drive light escort ships and unable to confront proper battleships head-on, by utilizing high speed and durability, they could completely engage in maneuver warfare with the British, using containment and harassment to exhaust the British fleet, eventually forcing them out of the Mediterranean.
General Roger Fier was about to agree, but suddenly noticed in his telescope that "The Indomitable" shook violently, then the black smoke from the chimney gradually disappeared, and the speed quickly slowed down.
In a moment, a technician from "The Indomitable" rowed a small boat to shore, his face grim as he told Joseph, "Your Highness, the propeller experienced severe shaking again.
"This time, even the main shaft broke…"
Joseph immediately frowned.
This was the fifth time.
When he first came to the shipyard, he thought by scaling up the model ships he played with in his previous life by a hundred times, he could create a steam-powered ship, but it turned out to be not that simple.
Take this propeller, he only remembered its rough shape, but aspects like the specific angle of the propeller blades, how the blade shapes twisted, or even which materials to use, all had to be figured out from scratch.
Although after repeated technical trials, they determined these technical details—such as using beech wood for the propeller, adopting a four-blade design, and quickly produced the first actual propeller.
However, when the propeller was connected to the steam engine, it was continually plagued by severe shaking problems.
Joseph and the technicians researched and believed it was due to insufficient machining precision— the propeller couldn't be made perfectly symmetrical on both sides, creating vibrations during high-speed rotations. The principle is similar to that of a mobile phone's vibration motor.
Joseph held his forehead and shook his head. He finally understood why early steamships used paddle wheels; it seemed they couldn't manufacture a qualified propeller.
He exchanged glances with Borda and the others beside him. Could they really need to use paddle wheels after all?