"The inertia of history and its ability to correct itself are truly formidable! I never expected that after going around in circles, the Nassau-class Battleship would still appear. However, the Nassau-class Battleship I designed is undoubtedly far more powerful than the Nassau-class Battleship of the German Navy in history!" After leaving Wilhelm II's office and returning to his room, Oscar lay on his bed and spoke somewhat speechlessly.
Under the wise and mighty Wilhelm II's decision, the four battleships that Oscar's shipyard would build in the future were named the Nassau-class Battleships: the lead ship Nassau, the second ship Westfalen, the third ship Rheinland, and the fourth ship Posen.
Naturally, these four battleships would be used to offset the debt Oscar owed the royal family. As for the Next-class Battleship Oscar had promised to donate to the navy, it could only be pushed back. He would donate one of the even more powerful next-class battleships to the German Navy. This would undoubtedly cost Oscar even more. However, by then, his fortune would be even more substantial. He would not care about such a small sum at all.
After Christmas, Oscar became busy. Wilhelm II formally sent someone to transfer the Imperial Shipyard to him. When Oscar signed his name on the transfer documents, it meant that he had become the owner of the shipyard. In addition, the loan of 120 million Mark was transferred into Oscar's account. However, Wilhelm II imposed strict requirements: the money had to be used for the expansion of the shipyard and was strictly forbidden from being used elsewhere. Oscar naturally had no objections.
As for candidates to manage the shipyard, Wilhelm II told Oscar to seek out Essen von Jonath. Essen von Jonath recommended someone to Oscar: Brutt. He was forty-two years old this year and had originally been the deputy director of Germaniawerft. However, he had resigned because of certain matters. Still, there was no denying his ability to manage a shipyard.
Introduced by Essen von Jonath, Oscar met with Brutt and subsequently decided to hire him as the director of the German Shipyard under his name. What delighted Oscar was that Essen von Jonath had not left Germaniawerft alone. He had also brought along a group of key personnel in management and technical fields. This undoubtedly saved Oscar a great deal of trouble.
Given that the Imperial Shipyard had suffered losses year after year, Oscar would not keep a single member of its original management. He had originally been worrying about how to patch up these holes, but Brutt's appearance undoubtedly solved all these problems.
When the ownership changed hands, Oscar also changed the name of the Imperial Shipyard to German Shipyard. It bore the same style of name as the German Welfare Lottery Company. In the future, Oscar would establish even more enterprises, such as German Automobile Manufacturing Plant and German Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, forming an industrial group under the German name.
Just after New Year's Day, Oscar and Brutt boarded a train bound for Danzig. This trip to Danzig was precisely to fully take over the Imperial Shipyard, which had already been renamed German Shipyard.
"Your Highness, I have carefully studied your design blueprints for the Nassau-class Battleship. I must admit that this is an epoch-making design. However, turning those new technologies into reality will probably be extremely difficult." Brutt was somewhat worried.
On the Nassau-class Battleship designed by Oscar, the Triple Turrets, oil-fired boilers and Steam Turbine, as well as the All-big-gun Armament layout, were all new technologies. Even large shipyards would find it difficult to immediately adopt these technologies, let alone the German Shipyard, whose foundation was still that of a medium-sized shipyard. Even after expansion, its strength would remain limited.
Oscar nodded. "I know, but we still have enough time. The shipyard expansion will begin immediately. That way, construction can start in the second half of the year. If our technical capabilities are insufficient, that is not a problem. We can slow down construction. As long as it enters service before 1908, that will be enough. We can immediately purchase the necessary technologies or develop them ourselves. As for talent, we can poach from the major shipyards. So long as they have genuine ability, we can hire them with high salaries."
"Your Highness, if we do that, I'm afraid we will further offend the other shipyards!" Brutt frowned.
"Rest assured. Very soon, they will no longer have the energy to target us. And the navy will recognize us as well. By then, we will receive a steady stream of naval orders, while they can only watch." Oscar wore a smile.
He believed that as long as their Nassau-class Battleships succeeded, many people would be slapped in the face—especially that bunch from the Naval Technical Committee. The navy would naturally favor placing orders with their shipyard. If the other shipyards wanted to obtain orders, they would have no choice but to come begging to them.
"Understood, Your Highness." Brutt nodded. Since Oscar had already made his decision, Brutt only needed to follow it.
The Friedrich Imperial Shipyard was located on the left bank of the Vistula River, facing Schichau Shipyard from afar. Both shipyards had histories of more than a century and were originally Prussian royal properties. Schichau Shipyard was later sold externally and, after two large-scale expansions, attained its current scale. Although the Friedrich Shipyard had also undergone two expansions, its business philosophy had clearly failed to keep pace with the tide of history. Even now, it was only a medium-sized shipyard with slightly more than three hundred workers.
After Oscar and Brutt arrived, they immediately convened a meeting of the shipyard's managers. Those mediocre and idle members of management were almost entirely purged, leaving behind only a handful of truly capable people. As for the ordinary workers, only a very small number of troublemakers were dismissed. The rest remained employed, which allowed the workers to breathe a sigh of relief. After the shipyard was transferred, they had feared losing their jobs. Fortunately, the shipyard's new owner, Prince Oskar of the German Empire, did not seem to be a cruel man.
After staying at the shipyard for two days and handing its future development responsibilities to Brutt, Oscar left the shipyard and returned to Berlin. He still had other matters to attend to.
"Although the German Shipyard is still a money-devouring beast right now, before long, all of Europe will be shaken by it. The fate of the German Empire may perhaps be changed because of it."
On the return train, Oscar thought to himself. This shipyard would soon begin building more New-style Battleships for the German Navy in an unceasing stream, and even aircraft carriers and submarines, helping Germany turn the tide of war.
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