German Shipyard

"The inertia and self-correcting power of history really are formidable! I never thought that after all this twisting and turning, the 'Nassau-class' battleship would still appear. But the 'Nassau-class' battleship I designed is undoubtedly far more powerful than the German Navy's historical 'Nassau-class'!" After leaving Wilhelm II's office and returning to his own room, Oscar lay on his bed and said somewhat speechlessly.

Under the wise and mighty decision of Wilhelm II, the four battleships that Oscar's shipyard would build were named the 'Nassau-class' battleships: the lead ship Nassau, the second ship Westfalen, the third ship Rheinland, and the fourth ship Posen.

Of course, these four battleships would be used to offset Oscar's debt to the royal family. As for the next class of battleships Oscar had promised to donate to the Navy, that would have to be postponed. Among the next, more powerful class of battleships, one would be donated to the German Navy. This would undoubtedly cost Oscar even more. But by then, Oscar's wealth would be far greater. A little money like that wouldn't bother him at all.

After Christmas, Oscar became busy. Wilhelm II formally transferred the Imperial Shipyard to Oscar. When Oscar signed his name on the transfer documents, it meant he had become the owner of the shipyard. Additionally, a loan of one hundred and twenty million Marks was transferred to Oscar's account. However, Wilhelm II imposed strict requirements: this money must be used for the shipyard's expansion and was strictly forbidden for any other purpose. Oscar naturally had no objections to this.

Regarding the selection of management for the shipyard, Wilhelm II told Oscar to seek out Essen von Jonath. Essen von Jonath recommended a candidate for Oscar: Brutt. He was forty-two years old and had originally been the deputy director of Germaniawerft. However, he had left due to some matters. But his ability in managing a shipyard could not be denied.

With Essen von Jonath's introduction, Oscar met Brutt and subsequently decided to hire him as the director of his German shipyard. To Oscar's delight, Essen von Jonath hadn't left Germaniawerft alone; he had also brought along a group of management and technical core staff. This undoubtedly saved Oscar a great deal of trouble.

Given that the Friedrich Imperial Shipyard had been losing money for years, Oscar wouldn't keep a single one of its original management. He had been worried about how to fill these gaps, but Brutt's appearance solved all these problems.

When changing ownership, Oscar also changed the name of the Friedrich Imperial Shipyard to German Shipyard, the same name as the German Welfare Lottery Company. In the future, Oscar would establish more enterprises, such as German Automobile Manufacturing Plant, German Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, and so on, forming an industrial group under the name of German.

Just after New Year's Day, Oscar and Brutt boarded a train to Danzig. This trip to Danzig was to fully take over the Friedrich Imperial Shipyard, now renamed German Shipyard.

"Your Highness, I have carefully studied your design drawings for the 'Nassau-class' battleship. I must admit, it is a groundbreaking design. However, turning those new technologies into reality will likely be very difficult," Brutt said with some concern.

In Oscar's designed 'Nassau-class' battleship, the Triple Turrets, oil-fired boilers and Steam Turbines, as well as the All-big-gun Armament deployment, were all new technologies. Even for the large shipyards, immediately implementing these technologies wouldn't be easy. Let alone German Shipyard, which was still a medium-sized shipyard at its core; even after expansion, its strength would be limited.

Oscar nodded: "I know, but we still have enough time. The shipyard expansion will start immediately. That way, by the second half of the year, construction can begin. A lack of technical strength is no problem; we can slow down the construction pace and have them in service before 1908. The needed technology can be purchased immediately or developed in-house. As for talent, we can poach from the major shipyards. As long as they have real skill, we can hire them with high salaries."

"Your Highness, this might further offend the other shipyards," Brutt frowned.

"Don't worry, they'll soon have no energy to target us. And the Navy will also recognize us. By then, we'll get a steady stream of Navy orders, while they can only watch," Oscar said with a smile.

He believed that as long as their 'Nassau-class' battleship succeeded, many people would be proven wrong—especially those in the Naval Technical Committee. The Navy would naturally favor placing orders with their shipyard. The other shipyards, to get orders, would have no choice but to come begging to them.

"Very well, Your Highness." Brutt nodded. Since Oscar had made his decision, he only needed to follow it.

The Friedrich Imperial Shipyard was located on the left bank of the Vistula River, facing the Schichau Shipyard from afar. Both shipyards had over a century of history and were originally Prussian royal properties. Later, the Schichau Shipyard was sold off and underwent two large expansions to reach its current scale. Although the Friedrich Shipyard had also undergone two expansions, its management philosophy clearly failed to keep up with the trends of history, and it remained a medium-sized shipyard with just over three hundred workers.

After arriving here, Oscar and Brutt immediately called a meeting of the shipyard's management. The mediocre management layer was almost entirely purged, leaving only a few truly capable people. As for the ordinary workers, only a handful of troublemakers were fired. The rest were retained, which relieved the workers. After the shipyard was transferred, they had worried about losing their jobs. Fortunately, the new owner of the shipyard, His Highness Prince Oskar of the German Empire, didn't seem to be a harsh man.

After spending two days at the shipyard and entrusting the future development responsibilities to Brutt, Oscar left the shipyard and returned to Berlin. He had other things to do.

"Although the German Shipyard is still a money pit right now, soon all of Europe will be shocked by it. The fate of the German Empire may well be changed because of this."

On the return train, Oscar thought to himself. This shipyard would soon begin building more and more New-style Battleships for the German Navy, and even aircraft carriers and submarines, turning the tide of the war for Germany.