Though cement ships had many advantages, with early cement-ship technology alone, the hull would probably have to be built extremely thick to solve the problem.
Yet this would further increase the ship's weight, severely weakening its cargo capacity and speed.
Both of these were in fact fatal flaws. Low carrying capacity meant reduced transport efficiency, while slow speed meant poor maneuverability.
From a commercial standpoint, that meant lower returns per voyage, longer turnaround cycles, and lower profits. After all, time was money.
From a military standpoint, it was even more fatal. As the saying went, speed was the soul of war; these lumbering things could hardly achieve that.
Worse still, they could neither pursue a routed enemy nor escape an enemy's pursuit. Unless neither side used tactics and chose to fight to the death without retreating, cement ships would find it difficult to display their theoretical combat power.
Furthermore, cement ships cast from reinforced concrete did indeed possess astonishing protection—but that was only true for the ships themselves. The crews aboard them were far from safe.
This was especially true for combat personnel on deck. When a cement ship was struck by heavy artillery, it would spray a vast quantity of lethal stone fragments, with power comparable to buckshot.
At least for the Austrian Empire at this time, there was no need to choose this shortcut.
Moreover, Louis Lambot was not particularly renowned. Though he had made some contributions to engineering and materials science, his actual profession was that of a farmer. He focused more on agricultural machinery, and his invention of the cement ship had been driven more by a burning passion.
After Napoleon III personally rejected Louis Lambot, he no longer concerned himself with affairs of state and nation. He chose to return to his family and spend