On the waters outside London Harbor, dozens of senior naval officers and several government officials aboard the first-rate ship of the line Royal Monarch watched the strangely shaped warship nearby race past, trailing billowing black smoke. At once, they broke into applause and cheers.
Pointing at the odd vessel, Sir Hope personally explained it to the assembled Big Shots:
"The Comet is fitted with two 52-horsepower steam engines and uses an unprecedented underwater propeller propulsion system. With a favorable wind, it can reach an astonishing speed of twelve knots. Even without wind, it can still advance at eight knots.
"It is also armed with twenty-eight guns, surpassing similar French warships in both speed and firepower.
"We need only build more than thirty such warships, and the French Fleet will lose its speed advantage in the Mediterranean Sea."
The United Kingdom officials applauded again, nodding repeatedly at one another.
Since last year, nothing but bad news had come from the battlefield. The army had been beaten into a sorry state by the French, and even the Mediterranean Fleet had been driven out of the Mediterranean Sea.
Now, at last, there was hope of avenging old wrongs and settling old scores!
James Fox, leader of the Whig Party, waved his hand and shouted:
"I believe we should not be satisfied merely with driving the French out of the Mediterranean Sea. We should build even more advanced warships—at least fifty—and wipe out the Toulon Fleet completely!"
Recently, he had been riding high in political circles. His greatest rival, Pitt the Younger, had resigned out of remorse over the unfavorable war against France and fiscal problems.
At present, his party could stir the winds and summon the rain in Parliament, and the King was very likely to appoint him the next Prime Minister.
Once