Clipper Ships and the Maid of Toulon

Watching Joseph and his party leave, Lucien let out a long sigh of relief. He patted his chest and said, "Thank goodness, Joseph was in a hurry. Alright, time for a holiday, it's dawn!"

After saying this, he suddenly turned to Napoleon and asked, "Napoleon, you said Joseph went to Toulon... Almost everyone in Toulon about Pauline's affair there, could it be...?"

Upon hearing this, Pauline also became nervous.

"It's alright," Napoleon said. "Joseph is a cautious and disciplined man. He's in charge of highly classified matters, which in itself means he can't just talk to the locals. The only people he interacts with are the researchers at the institute and the soldiers responsible for security. Those researchers are all from out of town; they don't know about this either. As for the soldiers, I've ordered them not to speak anything non-work-related to anyone involved in research. Besides, I've also told Joseph that there are still many security risks in Toulon due to Couthon's incompetence, so it's best if he doesn't leave the institute unless absolutely necessary. You know how... how cautious Joseph, so this adds another layer of security. Moreover, his institute isn't even actually located within the city of Toulon ..."

"Napoleon, you're truly amazing!" Lucien gave Napoleon a sincere thumbs-up. "Now I can sleep peacefully."

"Me too..." Napoleon said, "But Lucien, don't relax too much. Under the current system, Joseph gets a day off every ten days. Toulon and Marseille are so close, he might suddenly come back to check your work at any time."

Lucien shivered, then said, "At least not today. Ah, I'm going back to sleep..."

As Napoleon had predicted, Joseph actually had almost no opportunity to interact with the locals of Toulon. He didn't even go into the city, but went directly to a manor on the outskirts.

The original owner of this manor had already been sent to meet his maker by Couthon, and his manor was naturally confiscated by the Republic government. There are quite a few manors like this in Toulon. When the "Naval Research Institute" needed a place, this manor was chosen because it was the most suitable.

The so-called suitable conditions include the following points.

First, the estate doesn't produce much, so using it as a laboratory wouldn't harm production. Moreover, the estate is not only by the sea, but also next to a nearly enclosed bay, where a small dock could be built, facilitating both experiments and maintaining secrecy.

After confirming the location, the remaining tasks were to renovate the estate, build high walls around it, and prepare various supplies. These things had already been prepared before Joseph arrived. Joseph's current task was to get the organization up and running as quickly as possible and to produce one or two useful smuggling ships.

Upon assuming his post, Joseph immediately threw himself into his work and completed the first model of the world's first clipper ship in just one week. After undergoing pool testing, the model received unanimous praise from naval engineers.

This model differs significantly from other ships of its time. The first difference is its extremely slender shape. Ships of this era generally had a length-to-beam ratio of around 4. For example, the Royal Navy's Victory had a length-to-beam ratio of only about 4.3, and if the waterline section is included, the ratio is even lower at 3.8. Even cruisers, which were designed for high speed, generally had a length-to-beam ratio of only about 4.6. However, Joseph's model of this ship has an astonishing waterline length-to-beam ratio of 6.5.

According to the empirical formula obtained by Joseph in his experiments, such a length-to-width ratio can significantly reduce drag; at the same time, a longer length means that the ship can accommodate more masts and hoist more sails, and more sails mean greater power.

Less drag, coupled with greater power, naturally meant higher speed. If Joseph's calculations were correct, this ship should be at least a third faster than the Britain cruisers in the same wind conditions, making it virtually impossible to capture such a vessel at sea.

Of course, to achieve such performance, the ship was made to an extreme degree, and came at a great cost in many other aspects.

First, there's volume. Anyone who has studied a little geometry knows that the longer and thinner a ship's hull is, the smaller the ratio of its volume to its surface area. In other words, for the same displacement, such a ship has a much smaller volume and can carry much less cargo.

This type of boat, equipped with more masts and sails, raises the center of gravity and reduces stability, making it more prone to capsizing. To solve this problem, the height of other parts of the boat needs to be lowered, adopting a deep V-shaped hull. This increases the draft but also ensures the boat will be severely affected by waves—its deck will be the wettest of all boats. Additionally, oversized anti-roll fins need to be added, which will lead to another significant performance degradation: a severe reduction in maneuverability.

The ship's excessively large length-to-width ratio already makes steering difficult, and the addition of massive anti-roll fins further reduces its steering performance, making it exceptionally clumsy when turning. These drawbacks have been confirmed in tank tests. In short, this is an extreme design with both very obvious advantages and disadvantages.

However, "Anyway, this thing isn't meant for fighting, so it doesn't matter if it's not good at turning. As long as it can reach high speeds, what can those things that are a third slower stop it?"

Therefore, at least for now, if this ship can truly achieve the performance demonstrated by the model in the pool, then it is the ship that France needs most. Because it can easily evade the interception of the Britain and Spain and quickly smuggle in what the Republic needs most.

The ship model was completed, and then came the actual shipbuilding. The first ship, of course, wouldn't be very big, only about two hundred tons. Its carrying capacity was even more pitiful, a mere one hundred tons. Considering that it also needed to carry people and supplies, the actual usable carrying capacity was even smaller.

In order to test and finalize the design as quickly as possible, the ship was inevitably built somewhat hastily. But even so, it would have taken at least a month to complete the small boat.

Joseph really didn't know much about shipbuilding. So, at this time, Joseph found himself with some free time.

However, the presence of numerous rebellious groups hiding near Toulon frightened Joseph, making him too afraid to venture into the city to relax.

That day, the weather suddenly cleared up. Such a sunny day was quite rare, especially in the rainy month, particularly near the Mediterranean Sea. Joseph gazed at the rising sun and suddenly felt a strong urge to go for a walk. He thought, if he couldn't go into the city, a stroll around the area where the army was stationed would be nice for relaxation. He then remembered when he and Napoleon had come to France, they had taken a boat Upstream to the waters near Fort Mulgrave. The scenery there was beautiful, and now it was a military restricted area, inaccessible to others. Wouldn't it be wonderful to rest there, fish in the rocky bay, or something?

Thinking of this, Joseph couldn't stay still. He had a pass signed by Fouché, Napoleon, and Davout, which allowed him to go anywhere in the Toulon area. So he took a few men and, under the pretext of surveying the terrain, boarded a carriage and, escorted by a troop of cavalry, went fishing at Fort Mulgrave.

The Naval Research Institute was very close to Fort Mulgrave, only about half an hour's drive away. When Joseph arrived near Fort Mulgrave, he happened to witness a flag-raising ceremony taking place there.

The flag-raising ceremony at Fort Mulgrave is different from others. At the highest point of the fortress, a tall flagpole stands, and a soldier dressed in civilian men's clothing but wearing a long women's wig raises a tricolor flag under the watchful eyes of the soldiers.

"Huh? Why are they raising the flag like this here?" Joseph wondered, looking at the scene from afar. But there was no one around him who could answer his question.

When the carriage arrived outside the fortress, Joseph's orderly showed his pass to the guards. Soon after, the barricades were moved aside, and a major came out to greet him.

Joseph got out of the car and, accompanied by Major André, walked inside. As they walked, he casually asked, "Ah, Major, I just saw your flag-raising ceremony. It seemed different from other places. Could you tell me why there's a flag-raising ceremony like this here?"

The major hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Brigadier General, General Bonaparte has given orders that all your work is top secret, and for the sake of secrecy, we are not allowed to speak with you. I can only bring you in, and then I must keep my mouth shut."

Joseph was taken aback, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind, "Napoleon's order is very strange; it has a strong whiff of using public office for private gain. What exactly is he up to?"

However, knowing that he wouldn't get any answers by asking directly, he remained silent.

After circling the fortress, Joseph told the major that he didn't need his company anymore. Once the major left, he sent his orderly to inquire about the strange flag-raising ceremony. Then, he took his fishing gear, sat down on a large rock behind the fortress, and started fishing.