Marcel of the Jeune Ecole - a French AAR

[maxnacemit]

Game settings are 100% research rate, historical resources, large fleet size, manual build of legacy fleet. The legacy ship designs were made with Jeune Ecole philosophy in mind, so the fleet has no Bs, for instance. If you think I got it wrong - write it in the thread.

CHAPTER 1: The Admiral is dead, long live the Admiral!

Marcel Charner disembarked from his ship - armoured cruiser Bruix, pride of the French navy - in a good mood. He recently received a dispatch from the Marine Nationale general staff stating that he was being promoted to General-Admiral of the Marine Nationale. Charner recommended his first mate as the capitain of the ship and mentally prepared himself for his new responsibilities. He entered the General Staff building, taking some time to find his room, and finding his flag lieutenant, holding a sizeable stack of papers there.

- What's in these papers, Jean?

- Oh, there's a lot. Specifications of the ships of the Navy. Financial records. Engineering Commitee reports. Intelligence service reports, of course. What would you like to start with?

- I'll take the ship specifications.

Jean gave him some papers from the stack, and Marcel dived into them. The Marine Nationale consisted of 4 armoured cruisers, 4 protected cruisers, 11 fleet torpedo boats and 6 colonial gunboats.

Armoured cruisers:

The Montcalm-class was the newest class of armored cruisers in service. Charner was until recently a capitain of one of these, so he knew the ship's quircks. The 13-in guns, while respectable in caliber, had an atrocious fire rate and horrible armor penetration(the latter point, though, applied to all naval guns in the world at the time). The guns were intended to deal crippling damage to enemy cruisers and battleships. The ship itself was very underarmored, because the design board wanted to achieve a high speed, allowing the ship to outrun all enemy battleships by a comfortable margin. 2 ships of the class were serving in the Marine Nationale, and another one was under construction.

The Dupetit-Thouars armoured cruisers were conceived as heavy raiders, so they sacrificed some speed to make their engines more reliable and increase the ship's coal storage spaces. They also mounted torpedoes and a secondary battery of 180mm Mle 1899 guns, intended to be more powerful than the usual 150-mm secondary battery of the Montcalm-class. 2 ships of the class were active - one in Northern Europe, one in French Indochina - and none were currently being constructed.

Protected cruisers:

The Sfax-class protected cruisers were designed as fleet light cruisers, destroying enemy destroyers and engaging their capital ships with torpedoes. Unfortunately, they were quite old, so the power plant could only keep the ship steaming at 22 knots, which was way too slow for Charner's taste. Three of these ships were serving with the Marine Nationale.

The Forbin-class light cruisers were designed to complement the Dupetit-Thouars class as raiders. Their engines were made for reliability, but the fuel stores were relatively smaller, the reasoning for that lying in the fact that France was a reasonably global empire, which allowed the ships a lot of friendly ports to replenish their fuel stores in. The design was recent, so only one ship of the class was comissioned, while another one was in construction.

Light forces:

The Durandal-class, classified as "destroyers" by foreign observers and as "fleet torpedo boats" internally, were made with one and only one goal in mind: torpedo runs on capital ships. They were reasonably fast for the job, steaming at 27 knots, though such a speed significantly shortened the range of the ship. The ships had 3 above-water torpedo tubes and 2 3-inch guns for defence aganist enemy destroyers. Charner liked the ships - he started his service at one of them, and he saw the power of torpedoes in a recent war with the Netherlands. Eleven ships were serving in the fleet, and five more were under construction.

The Diamant-class gunboats were made for showing the flag in the distant colonies and protecting French trade there in case of a war. They housed a detachment of marines and were armed with 4 5-inch guns. Not much more could be said about the vessels as they rarely participated in naval engagements. Six were serving in colonies in the South Pacific, West Africa and the Indian Ocean.

After looking through the ship designs, Marcel saw a common theme in a lot of them. The ships were quite well-armed, mounted many torpedoes and were faster than the competition. Seeing that, he knew what he will say to the Engineering Committee...
- Jean, I want to meet with the head of the Engineering Commitee. We need to rearrange our research priorities.
- I can take you to him. The building he works in isn't far away.
Leonard Cecile was a middle-aged man who graduated from Ecole Polytechnique. He had a reputation as a capable engineer and, crucially, as someone who could organize other engineers for them to work effectively. It didn't come as a surprise to the French public when he was made Chief of the Engineering Committee of the French Navy.
- Good evening, Leonard. How's it going?

- The young engineers are definetely more politicized than I used to be, but it's fine. As long as they don't go to demonstrations, I don't care about their political priorities. Also, should I congratuate you on your promotion?

- Thanks. I have some words on what the Navy needs... Firstly, better torpedoes. Our whole strategy relies on raiders and torpedoes, and even raiders carry quite a lot of torpedoes, so better torpedoes are crucial. Secondly, better fleet torpedo boats and light cruiser designs. Thirdly, turrets. Light turrets now are unreliable, and it limits the firepower of our ships. Lastly, we need to find a way to make submarines like the CSA prototypes, but better. I read about one of the CSA's boats sinking an enemy battleship, and that was long before the modern torpedo was invented. With torpedoes. submarines could be even more deadly.

- I'll relay this to the departments and rearrange their funding. You seem to be a quite enthusiastic admiral if you already have all these ideas on your first day in office.

- You're quite an enthusiastic engineer too. Guess both of us just found what we love doing most.

After the talk with Leonard, the only thing left to do was a meeting with the Intelligence Service. Marcel decided to meet them the next day and started thinking about possible naval enemies of France. "Great Britain is close, but its navy is way too strong. I wouldn't like to fight them. Germany is more comparable with us in terms of their naval power, and they're technologically advanced, so we will spy on them and make some war plans aganist them. Things are relatively peaceful with Italy and Austro-Hungary, and Japan is too far away to matter."

[maxnacemit]

CHAPTER 2: Just give me war already!

The year 1900 was very peaceful for the French. In February, the General Staff of the Marine Nationale created a fleet tactics department. Charner just left it to its own devices, unconviced that they will advance the French fighting capability. The Intelligence Department was instructed to focus their espionage efforts on Germany and Great Britain, and that brought fruit after just a month when a French spy got his hands on the blueprints for a new German battleship.

The ship's design philosophy was directly opposite to the French principle of bringing superior speed and firepower to the engagement. Its guns were just 9 inches in caliber, smaller than the guns of most armoured cruisers in servce globally. The ship's armor was quite thick, however, but Charner knew that armor doesn't help when the ship is being torpedoed from all directions. The secondary battery consisted of rather powerful 180-mm guns, which was a concern. Overall, Charner didn't feel that this ship couldn't be dealt with by the present-day Marine Nationale. In April, Marcel ordered to suppress all propaganda of the Socialist Party in the navy after he found out that they're the favourites of the upcoming elections and their victory could lead to reduced military spending. In May, he was called to the Prime Minister's office after the PM returned from a state visit to Germany.

- Good morning, mister Charner. As you know, I've recently visited Germany. They offered me some solutions to the Alsace problem and tried to convince me that their colonial expansion will be peaceful. I don't believe that, though, so I want to know: do we really need to reduce tensions with them or can we expect to win a war with them?

- I don't know much about the state of the Army, but the Marine Nationale will be able to beat their fleet soundly. So I think we need to increase military spending and prepare for conflict with Germany.

- That means we can stop the negotiaions regarding the status of Alsace. I hope you keep your promices if war comes.

And it seemed that war will come soon, as in June Germany attempted to send an expeditionary force to Iceland when a disputed election result there caused a civil war. The French sent an ultimatum, and the Germans withdrew their force, but it seemed war was imminent. The resulting increase in the naval budget allowed Charner to order another Montcalm-class cruiser right after four Durandal-class fleet torpedo boats were commissioned. In July Germany increased naval spending, and Charner thought that war will come until the end of the year, but intelligence clarified the situation. The Kaiserliche Marine used these money for constructing many large-caliber coastal batteries. That discovery, however, led to the Parlament voting for a reduction in naval spending in December, right after the Forbin's commissioning. Charner recommended the Prime Minister to decline an alliance with the United States in the same month, afraid that the Marine Nationale's funding will be cut even further. The Prime Minister called for a disarmament conference after he declined the alliance, but it ended without any results. In April 1901, Charner ordered new docks as the Marine Nationale had some free money after most ships were placed in reserve. In May, a sharply worded note to Italy was sent after their spy was caught in Paris with detailed descriptions of French coincedence rangefinders. Improved hydrostatic valves for torpedoes were also introduced, giving French torpedoes slightly better range. In July, after another disarmament conference and another round of reductions in naval spendng(at this point Charner joked about finding a hitman for the deputy of Parlament who had the idea of reducing naval budgets), a breakthrough came. Cecile reported that a group of engineers managed to replicate the Confederate submarine, and fitting it with a second hull(which the group named "pressure hull") allowed the submarine to survive diving and surfacing. The group started work on a prototype for a small submarine armed with torpedoes, but they didn't know when the submarine will be ready for production. Charner hoped that war will come early enough so that the navy isn't stripped of funding but late enough so that at least some submarines will be ready.

[prophetinreverse]

Question, how can you avoid the hits to prestige that will come from having no battleships in service?

[maxnacemit]

I guess CAs count as Bs sometimes... I didn't have any problems with the lack of Bs.

[oldpop2000]

Jeune Ecole or as it was called, the Strategy of the Weak, was basically a naval strategy based on commerce raiding, torpedo boats and submarines. It was only used for short periods of time in naval history.  It was never a recipe for victory. IMHO, nations with small budgets for the navy would use this strategy but not large naval budgeted nations. This strategy is generally considered a strategy that shifts the nations needs from command of the sea to just attrition.

Update: I have started a game in 1900 as Austria-Hungary. I am currently in 1903 with a fleet based on Jeune Ecole. I have 10 coastal submarines being built and some new 600 ton destroyers. Here is the current fleet. This is just an experiment for me.  My strategy and operations will be based on avoiding fleet battles, which will cost me points but maybe my commerce raiding and submarines might compensate. I am building a prototype light cruiser for long range commerce raiding. I have eliminated two midship 6 inch guns to get the longer range. 

[oldpop2000]

As an aside, here is an interesting article about Jeune Ecole from the Naval War Colleger - digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=nwc-review

[oldpop2000]

I just finished my first war in around 1920 against Great Britain. Initially they gained the point lead but my submarines eventually gained the upper hand and due to riots about food etc. they gave up. I learned that light cruisers are not good raiders, so in my next game I will use armored cruisers and AMC's. But submarines are the answer. I will now scrap the light cruisers designed as surface raiders.

[maxnacemit]

CHAPTER 3: IT ESCALATED QUICKLY, BUT ENDED EVEN QUICKER

In April 1902, in response to a similar effort by the British, a naval construction program was authorized by the Parliament. The Prime Minister wanted the Marine Nationale to build battleships, while Marcel believed the future lay with heavily armed cruisers, and so the Jeanne d'Arc class was born.

The ship's armor was rather thin by battleship standards - just 8 inches, tapering down to 7 inches closer to the ends of the ship. It, however, mounted a heavy secondary battery of 8 250-mm Mle 1899 guns and 4 330-mm guns as primary armament. The ship's speed was also closer to cruisers than to contemporary battleships at 22 knots. Charner believed the ship was a compromise stronger than either a cruiser or a traditionally armored battleship. One ship of the class was ordered. The construction program also included 4 new Carabine-class fleet torpedo boats.

These torpedo boats were a direct improvement over the Durandal-class. They were faster and carried more torpedoes into battle. Charner was very hopeful about the future of the vessels despite the fact that their range was rather short, like on the Durandals.

In June, a fleet excercise was held to give experience to the ships' crews, check their readiness level and hone the French tactics of engaging capital ships with fleet torpedo boats and light cruisers. As the Jeanne d'Arc was far from completion, the Dupetit-Thouars was chosen as a ship whose role was "enemy battleship", and 2 Durandal-class fleet torpedo boats were its escorts. 6 Durandal-class torpedo boats were making a torpedo run - with training torpedoes, obviously - and a Sfax-class cruiser was leading them so that the effectiveness of submerged torpedo tubes could also be evaluated. The attacking Durandals missed the launch window on their first attack run, as did the Sfax, but after the Sfax turned away and the Dupetit-Thouars started pursuing it, the capitain of the fleet torpedo boat division saw an opportunity and moved in at flank speed. The Dupetit-Thouars didn't turn away in time, and a training torpedo hit was recorded by observers aboard the ship. Thei calculations showed that the ship would have to slow down to 15 knots. After that, Sfax made its second torpedo run. Another hit was recorded, and the Dupetit-Thouars stopped, as the second training torpedo hit the ship in the engine room. A third torpedo hit, made by the fleet torpedo boat Framee, ended the excercise for Dupetit-Thouars as it was considered sunk at this point. Still, despite only one Durandal being lose during the torpedo runs, Charner considered the excercise to be a failure. Out of 15 torpedoes fired by the attacking ships, only 3 found their target, while all torpedoes were fired at short range. After the excercise, Charner ordered the Ecole Navale to significantly expand courses on torpedo warfare read to its students. The armoured cruiser Chanzy was commissioned in July, being the first ship in the French fleet to feature a double bottom, which was recently developed by the Engineering Committee. In August, after relations with Italy took a turn for the worse, Charner recommended the Prime Minister to take a hard line in the upcoming talks regarding commerce in the Mediterranean Sea. The next spark igniting the French-Italian relations came when the Italian somehow estabilished control over Norway, whose president recently died under mysterious circumstances, faster than the French. Charner ordered a squadron consisting of a Dupetit-Thouars-class cruiser, three Montcalm-class cruisers, a Sfax-class cruiser and six Durandal-class fleet torpedo boats moved to the Mediterranean to be ready for war with Italy. In November, when Marcel was visiting the Ecole Navale with a lecture on modern fleet tactics, he overheard some last-year students discussing a plan to blow up an Italin battleship at anchor. After thinking about it and deciding that it might work, at the same time weakening the Regia Marina and strengthening the Marine Nationale because of the budget increase he would get in case of a war, he invited the students to tell the plan to the Intelligence Service. In December, the plan was executed, but, as Charner found out, it wasn't perfect. The operatives left tracks leading to France, and he was being attacked both in the French and Italian press. Moreover, they blew up an armoured cruiser instead of a battleship. Still, the plan was executed, and war with Italy broke out.

The Italians were aggressive as they knew the Marine Nationale had no battleships and thought that it would guarantee the Regia Marina an easy victory. So they sortied to attack the French southern coast in January of 1903 with their whole fleet - 3 battleships, an armoured cruiser and six torpedo boat destroyers. The French squadron intercepted the Italians near Marceille, and Sfax opened the battle with a torpedo run on an enemy armoured cruiser, which was scouting for the Italian fleet. After Sfax closed to 400 yards, the ship's capitain ordered to fire the starboard torpedo tube. Sfax's torpedo hit, but the Italian cruiser wasn't noticeably damaged. It just retreated towards Italy at 15 knots. Sfax continued its pursuit of the Italian cruiser even after three battleships of the Regina Margatita class appeared, sending its escorting fleet torpedo boats to deal with the battleships. The battleships' escorting destroyers made the torpedo run incredibly risky for the French, so, after losing two fleet torpedo boats, the division commander ordered a retreat. Sfax's torpedo attack was more successful - after one more hit by a French torpedo, the Italian cruiser was dead in the water. Satisfied with this, the French cruiser's capitain headed for the battleships, which already entered a gun fight with the French cruisers. Both the battleships and cruisers were damaged when Bruix was hit by a torpedo launched from an Italian battleship. After that, the French increased their distance from the Italians so that they could relay the enemy's position to the Durandals while staying relatively safe. Night fell, so the commander of the fleet torpedo boat division decided it was time to act. The armoured cruisers relayed the Italians' last known location to him, and soon he saw a Regina Margarita's profile, which fortuntely wasn't obstructed by enemy destroyers. Durandals rushed in and released their torpedoes. Framee hit the front end of the enemy ship, and after that, the Italian battleship simply ceased to exist. Even Charner on the bridge of Montcalm, this time in the role of admiral rather than a ship capitain, several miles away, felt the shock from the explosion. The fleet torpedo boats retired, and just one boat didn't return from this run. The surviving boats were out of torpedoes, though, and so Sfax started searching for enemy battleships in the night. Three or four hours later, he succeeded, seeing another Regina Margarita in front of him. Sfax launched a torpedo from the forward launcher, then approached a slowed-down battleship and finished it with a torpedo from the port tube. The enemy destroyers saw Sfax, but failed to hit it with torpedoes. When the sun rose above the Mediterranean, two out of three Italian battleships and their last armoured cruiser were sunk, while the Marine Nationale lost Bruix and three fleet torpedo boats. The victory allowed the French to estabilish a naval blockade of Italy, so all ships assigned to raiding duty were put on trade protection. Charner also ordered the marines to prepare a plan for the invasion of Sardinia.

In March, the French were almost ready to invade. A convoy of marines was moving from Algeria to Marceilles for training, when it was attacked by the last remaining capital ship of the Regia Marina. The armoured cruiser Chanzy, protected cruiser Tage, of the Sfax class, and three fleet torpedo boats met the last Italian battleship. At first, it seemed that Durandal was set up for a successful torpedo run, but the ship's helmsman failed to avoid the Italian battleship. Durandal, a fleet torpedo boat 1/25 the displacement of the battleship, instantly smashed its whole bow. The impact forced the Italian battleship to stop, however, which allowed Tage and Framee to make their torpedo runs. Only Tage hit the battleship, but it was unable to steam at full speed after the torpedo hit and thus was easy prey for the Framee, who put a second torpedo into the Italian ship's side, sealing its fate. This didn't happen. however, before the Italian set Chanzy on fire. The convoy was rescued, and the last Italian battleship was sunk, but Chanzy also burned down.

The rest of the war was pretty uneventful as the Italian navy lost all its major surface units. In April, reliable pendulum mechanism was introduced, further improving the performance of French torpedoes, and in June a British spy was caught. Charner didn't want to draw Britain in the war, so the spy was quietly exchanged for a French spy captured in Britain. In September, the blockade finally forced the Italians to accept peace. France got Sardinia and Rhodes in the treaty. The end of the war caused a budget cut to the Marine Nationale, but Charner was confident that, if the fleet was placed into reserve, Jeanne d'Arc and the Carabines could be commissioned without delays.

[maxnacemit]

CHAPTER 4: FINALLY RESPECTED

The Marine Nationale finished the war in a much better state it used to be in. Despite the postwar budget cut, the naval budget of 1903-1904 was larger than it used to be before the war, when the socialists cut it three times, stating that a fleet of torpedo boats wouldn't be wastng so much money. Charner's prestige also was at an all-time high. He was frequently invited for interviews by French newspapers, which he used to promote his views on naval doctrine domestically. Charner wondered why the capitains of fleet torpedo boats didn't get much credit for the victory - after all, they played a part in the sinking of all four large Italian ships sunk during the war. In late October, Leonard Cecile invited Charner to Dunkerque for the sea trials of the first French coastal submarine.

What Marcel saw was a small boat, much smaller than even the Durandal-class fleet torpedo boats, with four torpedoes suspended outside the hull. The recent war with Italy had shown the world the power of such small vessels, so Charner asked Leonard:
- How fast does she go?

- I'd say... 10 knots while she's surfaced and five or six underwater. She isn't a Durandal placed below the waves. She's a silent hunter, lying in wait for its prey then releasing its torpedoes quickly and unexpectedly.

- That would necessiate a change to our tactics, but it's fine. Anything that's capable of sinking a battleship while not being a battleship is good.

- Do you want to come aboard? We tested the thing multiple times, so it shouldn't sink right here and now.

- Why not?

Charner and Leonard entered the boat, meeting one of the engineers who helped the submarine concept materialize there. The space inside the boat was quite cramped, and pipes were everywhere. The largest compartment of the boat was occupied by a steam engine, presently rotating the shafts of two electric motors which had wires leading to an accumulator and the propellers.

- Bonjour, Amiral Charner. The boat is ready to sail out now, but we really need officers capable of commanding them. We had to ask the Ecole Navale for five ensigns as the capitains of the first boats, and they needed to be taught a lot.

- I guess your group could make a course for the Ecole Navale. Their teachers can explain anything navy-related to a monkey, or an Italian.

- Mechanics are also sorely needed. The power plant is quite temperamental, and we need to prepare it before we submerge. Speaking of which...we're submerging now, so expect sailors running around.

The boat stopped, and an ensign, accompanied by two sailors, went down the stairs leading from the bridge to the boat.

- Submarine ready for trials, Admiral Charner!

- Great. We can submerge now, right?

The ensign gave an order to one of the sailors, and Charner heard water flowing into the space between the pressure hull and the inner hull of the boat. The quiet humming of the electric engines signalled that Charner and Cecile were currently moving underwater, while the boat's capitain remained focused on the map and compass. The boat was to rendezvous with the Sfax, towing a torpedo target for the trials. After two long hours underwater the submarine finally surfaced. Sfax was about 200 meters ahead.

- Great job at navigating the boat, ensign.

- Thank you, sir. It's hard to do without being able to see anything on the surface, but definetely doable.

Marcel only said "Hm" while Cecile jotted something down in a notebook he seemed to be carrying everywhere. After just two months, the Engineering Committee came forward with a proposal to make new boats equipped with a periscope, which was promptly adopted by the Marine Nationale. The engineers also found a way to place medium-caliber guns in wing turrets without destabilizing the ship, which, combined with the new 200-mm Mle 1903 guns, gave birth to the Amiral Charner class of armoured cruisers.

The ships were designed to evaluate the idea of a uniform main-caliber battery and give French shipyards experience building ships equipped with modern machinery. Triple-expansion engines with side drums allowed the ship to reach a speed of 24 knots. Charner was reluctant to the idea of naming the ship "Amiral Charner" and was noticeably relieved when he found out the design board meant the 19th-century admiral. The design studies started in January, but no ship was laid down until July, the navy being short on money due to Jeanne d'Arc's construction. Still, in May a French gun company presented 330-mm guns significantly better than the guns the Marine Nationale's ships fielded, which were immediately adopted and fitted to all Montcalm-class cruisers currentl in service. With the money freed up because of these refits, one ship of the Amiral Charner class was laid down in July. In December, Jeanne d'Arc was commissioned and immediately sent back to the shipyard to be refitted with 330 mm Mle 1904 guns and central firing, and the armoured cruisers were refitted with a central firing system.

The year 1905 was relatively peaceful until July, with reports reaching Charner concerning mostly technological advances of the French navy. In July, however, German-backed Croatian nationalists captured a Serbian town and massacred civilians there. Charner released a sharply worded statement criticizing German support of such barbaric actions, and tensions between the two countries significantly escalated. Diving planes were introduced for use in submarines, and Charner ordered 10 modern coastal submarines for use aganist Germany in case of a war. In September, the Navy League collected money across the country for a battleship, and Charner reluctantly ordered one more ship of the Jeanne d'Arc class. Seeing the opportunity for more construction, though, he also laid down an Amiral Charner-class cruiser and six Carabine-class fleet torpedo boats. Finally, in February of 1906, war broke out between France and Germany.

[maxnacemit]

CHAPTER 5: GERMAN NAVY IS THE WURST

The Germans didn't repeat the Italian mistake of underestimating French naval power. In February, right after the war began, a German task force consisting of two Wettin-class battleships, a Nymphe-class protected cruiser and three V1-class destroyers sortied to sink Jeanne d'Arc close to her base in Brest. The battleships didn't see the French force until about 14:00, when sunset was just two or three hours away. When the French saw the German scouting cruiser, their own Montcalm-class cruiser startd pounding the German ship with 330mm shells. Improved guns and fire control meant that two 330mm shells were sent at the German every two minutes rather than every five, and the shells had a much higher chance of finding their target. Montcalm separated the German cruiser from the battleships, while Sfax and the Carabines were preparing for the torpedo run on the coming battleships. When Charner saw that the German destroyers were few in number, he immediately ordered a torpedo run. The Germans tried to escape when they saw a line of Carabines rushing at them at their flank speed of 28 knots, but their own speed of 18 knots was nowhere near enough for that. A dozen of miles away, Montcalm was done hammering the German cruiser after Nymphe was dead in the water, and Montcalm joined the pursuit of the German battleships. The Carabines made a great torpedo run aganist Wettin, with two of their torpedoes striking the German battleship amidships. The second battleship managed to repel the fleet torpedo boats with the fire of its battery, however, and the surviving Carabines lost sight of it when night came. The French force unsuccessfully searched for the second German battleship for the remainder of the night. Still, the battle was a major success for the Marine Nationale as the sinking of Wettin allowed the French to estabilish a naval blockade of Germany.

In February, the Engineering Departmnt delivered the first steam turbines suitable for use on warships, and two designs making use of them were drawn up.

The first was the Dunkerque class of new big-gun ships. The naval ministry introduced a new classification of "battlecruiser" for such ships, possessing the armament of a battleship and the speed of a cruiser. It was essentially a lengthened hull of Jeanne d'Arc with a reduced secondary battery and steam turbine propulsion allowing a maximum speed of 25 knots. Charner had the concept of such a vessel in his head for a long time, but it could only materialize now, with recent advances in naval propulsion.

The second project was the Surcouf class of torpedo cruisers. Charner noticed during the war with Italy that most torpedo hits on enemy battleships were made by cruisers, not fleet torpedo boats, so he wanted a cruiser dedicated to torpedo attacks. Surcoufs carried five submerged torpedo tubes and were designed for a speed of 25 knots, which was the top speed at which these tubes could be fired, accordin to calculations by engineers. They were upgunned relatively to the similarly small Forbins, as 120mm guns were considered inadequate aganist anything but destroyers. The ships' armor could barely hold splinters from high-explosive shells, but even such meager protection was a lot better than what could be used on fleet torpedo boats.

In March, the Germans attempted to sink Jeanne d'Arc again. This time, their task force included an armoured cruiser, two Wettin-class battleships and, again, a number of V1-class destroyers too small for the force of Carabines the French were fielding. The armoured cruiser appeared first in the sights of French capitains, and Jeanne d'Arc moved in together with the Montcalms to separate it from the rest of the German fleet. A division of Carabines, consisting of three boats, approached the German cruiser from the other side. Victoria Louise couldn't escape now, squeezed between the 330mm guns and torpedoes of the French. The Carabines rapidly closed in, and the German cruiser, struck by two French torpedoes, started to sink.

When the German battleships approached, an exchange of fire started between the French and German big-gun ships. It didn't do much damage to either side, but it distracted German gunners, allowing the French flotilia of Durandals to approach the German battleship. Nine torpedoes were fired when the torpedo boats' capitains decided they were close enough, and two of them hit the German battleship. The French were now out of torpedoes, but the last remaining German battleship was outgunned. It signalled its own destroyers to make a torpedo run on the French, who turned away, not wanting to be defeated with their own tactics. The Durandals and Carabines distracted the German destroyers with gunfire, but the sun was setting, and one of the German battleships managed to escape.

After the battle, Charner received a report from a spy in Germany stating that the Nymphe, presumed to be sunk a month ago, was actually merely damaged and undergoing repairs. "Why the hell don't their ships sink?!" - thought Charner. - "We could probably do the same, if we improved our damage control...". And so he called Leonard, asking him to increase funding for the damage control department. Charner also ordered new docks in March, preparing the shipbuilding industry for new, bigger battlecruisers. In April, design stuidies on the Surcoufs were completed, and two ships were immediately ordered. Capped AP shells were also introduced, which increased the French gunners' chances of penetrating thick German armor.

In May, the Germans conducted another coastal raid, this time near the west coast of France. Jeanne d'Arc was present, as were six fleet torpedo boats and both Sfax-class protected cruisers. The German force consisted of a battleship and two protected cruisers, the cruisers protecting the battleships from French torpedo boats. And so the battle started with a gunfight. Gunnery ensign Abelard Martel, commanding an intermediate-caliber gun, was quite bored. He knew that the German guns aren't good enough to penetrate Jeanne d'Arc's armor, while German armor is good enough to protect even aganist 330mm Mle 1904 guns with capped shells. He ordered another salvo and, after hearing two explosions - a small one and then a huge one - he gaped in amazement. When he looked out of the turret, he saw the German battleship split into two even pieces, and both were rapidly sinking. "But...how?!" Then the epiphany came.
- Congratulations, guys. We have just sunk one of Germany's last two battleships.

And so what could be an indecisive naval action due to bad weather preventing a French torpedo run was turned into a decisive victory. After the battleship's sudden explosion, the German cruisers turned north, increasing the distance between each other so that the French had to choose which one they want to sink. The French chased the cruiser closer to the French coast down and pounded it with gunfire for five hours, stopping only when the German ship ceased moving. After that, the French force started searching for the second German cruiser, but failed to find it during the next six hours, when Charner called off the search, confident that the German ship is now so far away that attempting to catch it now would be a waste of coal. As Charner found out later, this cruiser also survived, which didn't exactly help the reputation of big-gun ships in the naval ministry. After the battle, a German submarine torpedoed Montcalm. Despite the efforts of the crew to control the damage, the cruiser sank. The survivors were picked up by other French cruisers, but Charner asked the Engineering Committee to come forward with possible solutions to the submarine problem.

In June, the last surviving German battleship tried to raid French coastal shipping near Dunkerque. One of the French merchants refused to stop and relayed the battleship's location to French forces located nearby. The fleet rushed in at flank speed and saved the merchant, drawing the battleship's fire to itself. The German battleship continued on its way towards Dunkerque despite being shot at, probably hoping to find more merchants. Forbin charged in and launched its torpedoes, and leaving the sinking battleship instantly became the German crew's first priority. Forbin, however, got hit in the engine room by a 9-inch shell from the battleship and stopped. The rest of the fleet started searching for German light forces, while Forbin limped at 3 knots towards Dunkerque. The German battleship slipped beneath the waves while Forbin was still steaming at 3 knots and attempting to control the flooding caused by the hit from the German battleship. Still, Forbin made it to port, while the torpedoed German ship didn't. A Dunkerque-class battlecruiser was ordered in June, when the design studies were completed.

After the loss of their last battleship, the Germans became much less willing to engage the French fleet in battle. In August, Amiral Charner was commissioned, and in September, three cruisers of the Montcalm class together with the fleet torpedo boat Balliste raided Helgoland. The French force was approaching at night, and Ballsite's capitain saw a silouette in the night...a silouette resembling a German armoured cruiser. The German capitain, however, seemed to have no idea of Balliste's identity and was punished for his mistaked when his ship was hit by three torpedoes from Balliste. Launched at point-blank range, they had no chance of missing their target. The raid continued, but the French saw no other big ships. They, however, managed to sink two German convoy escorts and two merchants. After the battle, the only capital ship left in the Kaiserliche Marine was the armoured cruiser Victoria Louise. Nine coastal submarines and three Carabine-class fleet torpedo boats were ordered in September, and a new model of torpedoes developed for the Marine Nationale came with significantly larger warheads than previously used. In October, Victoria Louise, sent to raiding duty by the Germans, was interned in an American port due to lack of fuel. In November, coastal submarine prototypes with endurance significantly better than on currently serving submarine models were presented by the Engineering Committee.

Since September, the Kaiserliche Marine was attempting to wage a trade war aganist the French. This effort wasn't quite successful, chiefly because of the blockade which prevented raiders from getting into the Atlantic to sink French shipping there or in other parts of the world. Still, when a report came of a large German raider being sighted in the Bay of Biscay, Amiral Charner and Dupetit-Thouars moved to the area where the ship was last seen. They were escorted by three Durandal-class fleet torpedo boats in case the raider turned out to be some armoured cruiser the French didn't know about. The sky above Biscay was dark and stormy when Harpon reported contact with an unknown ship. The force accelerated to flank speed, and then Amiral Charner and Dupetit-Thouars's capitains understood that they weren't seeing a typical raider. In front of them, a German battleship was steaming. Harpon was quite close to the ship when the capitain understood what exactly is passing by him, and he immediately ordered the starboard torpedo tube to be fired. The stormy sea didn't allow the German ship to accelerate, while night was obscuring the torpedo launch, and a torpedo from Harpon hit the German ship, which immediately stopped. Harpon turned around and fired both remaining torpedo tubes at the German at 300 yards. Two more explosions rocked the German battleship, and it sank in just 10 minutes. Improved signals were presented by the fleet tactics department of the naval ministry in December, apparently because reports of multiple signalling errors during important battles reached it. Charner was happy to adopt the new signals, hoping that it will help avoid such errors which could sometimes force important ships into danger.

In January, Cecile presented the "Anti-Submarine Weapon Mle 1907" to Marcel.

- Isn't it a boat, Leonard?

- It is. A sailor boards this boat when a submarine is seen, armed with a standard-issue Army rifle. Modern submarines are slow, so even oars will permit him to chase down the submarine. After that, he shoots the rifle through the pressure hull of the boat, sinking the submarine and flooding compartments inside.

- It doesn't sound plausible. You should definetely increase the funding of the ASW department or create it, because you seemingly don't have any.

In April, the Flamberge class of torpedo boat destroyers was conceived. Charner knew that the Kaiserliche Marine was reduced to a bunch of light cruisers and destroyers and deemed such vessels necessary to protect French armoured cruisers aganist torpedo attacks by enemy ships.

The ships were armed with 102-mm guns but retained the torpedo tubes of the Carabine class, which served as a basis for their creation. They used steam turbines to steam at 28 knots, being able to chase down most enemy destroyers while having a heavier armament. Such a speed also allowed them to carry out torpedo runs, despite the ships not being designed for such a role. Four ships were ordered in May, despite the popular protests in Germany suggesting that the end of the war is in sight. In August, a flotilia of French torpedo boats encountered a lone German battleship near Brest. The ship was named "Elsass", probably to offend the French, and Charner joined the celebrations when it was sunk by the torpedo boats.

It was the first German battleship armed with large-caliber guns, and it was sunk just a month after it was commissioned. With the German fleet sunk and no ships coming off German slipways in sight, the French armoured cruisers in Northern Europe were sent to trade protection duties, as the German raiders were becoming a nuisance. In October, an offensive by the French army turned into a complete disaster, which gave Germans some hope, but they were losing the naval part of the war too badly. In November, the second ship of the Amiral Charner class entered service. It was named Chanzy after the cruiser lost during the French-Italian war. Design studies also started for a battlecruiser armed with a large number of 330-mm Mle 1904 guns, which culminated in the Lyon class.

The Lyon class took the British idea of the dreadnought battleship and applied French ship design philosophy to it. The resulting ship was armed with 8 330-mm guns, four of which were located in wing turrets. Steam turbines allowed the ship to reach a speed of 26 knots. The ship was rather thinly armored, however, with its belt being merely 8'' thick. It comfortably outran any ships in service or under construction and possessed very respectable firepower.

The second ship of the Jeanne d'Arc class was scrapped when the design studies were complete. Its construction was already put on hold due to financial difficulties, and ships like Lyon would entirely obsolete Jeanne d'Arc. In December, Surcouf was commissioned, and sea trials showed that the ship was faster than expected, which was a welcome surprise. Torpedo aiming systems for submarines were introduced, and a class of 10 submarines featuring them was ordered. Design studies also started for a fleet scouting cruiser of the Coetlogon class.

Coetlogons were based on the Sfax class of cruisers, but their engines weren't as focused on reliablity. This allowed the ships to reach a speed of 27 knots, which was deemed fast enough for scouting duties. The armament didn't change relatively to the Sfaxes, and the ships retained submerged torpedo tubes. In February of 1908, the lead ship of the class was ordered, and in March, the first Flamberge-class torpedo boat destroyers were commssioned. The war with Germany continued without much naval action, the French were just enforcing the blockade and waiting for the Germans to starve. In April, the Germans finally had enough of the blockade, and a peace treaty was signed, with France gaining the majority of German colonies in Africa.

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CHAPTER 6: GLORY TO THE VICTORS

The peace terms with Germany greatly favoured France. Resources from Cameroon and Tangayika fueled an economic boom. In May, a French spy managed to get the blueprints for Germany's new battleship, which was to be constructed as a part of their naval rearmament program.

Although the German vessel was classified as a dreadnought, Charner was reluctant to call it so. He was quite sure that political concerns caused the Germans to armor their ship so heavily there was no weight left to place a decent main-caliber battery on the vessel. Still, the armor was a concern as Schwaben was completely immune to the fire of French battlecruisers, and the German ship was fast enough to have good chances of severely damaging torpedo cruisers on their runs. Dunkerque was commissioned in November, but Charner held no illusions regarding the future of the ship if it ever met a modern battlecruiser in battle. In January of the new year 1909 a French spy was caught in Britain. Massive celebrations honoring him were held when he returned from the British embassy, declared persona non grata there. The British expressed their concern, but relations with them stayed relatively warm. In Februrary, ten modern coastal submarines were commissioned, and a Surcouf-class torpedo cruser was ordered to use the money previously paying for their construction. Charner also ordered bigger docks to be able to keep up in the dreadnought race by constructing bigger and more heavily armed battlecruisers. In May, the right parties in Parliament passed a bill significantly increasing funding for the armed forces, including the Marine Nationale. When Charner was approached for comments by the press, he replied that such increases are very welcome as they will ensure the safety of France. The budget increase allowed Charner to order the fourth ship of the Surcouf class and five more coastal submarines. In August, Charner authorised French armaments companies to sell anti-submarine nets to the Japanese as he was confident France and Japan have no colliding interests. In September, another civil war broke out in the Balkans, filling France's coffers with profits from weapon sales to all sides of the conflict. The Italians were outraged with what they saw as the French making profits from instability at their doorstep, but nobody in France really listened to their opinion. Charner knew that they have a dreadnought and a battlecruiser in construction, but he saw Lyon, currently in construction, to be superior to the Italian designs. In October, the Parliament increased naval spending again because of tensions with Italy, and Charner ordered four more coastal submarines. In the end of 1909, preheater for torpedoes was introduced, greatly increasing their range.

In January of 1910, 125-mm guns were presented to Charner. Marcel was very satisfied with their specifications, and development of a class of destroyers armed with these weapons started.

The Epieu class was, in essence, an upscaled Flamberge. The guns were bigger, the ship itself was faster, and all torpedo tubes were centerline mounts. The coal bunkers were also larger than on the Flamberge, which greatly improved the ship's endurance. The ships were intended to screen the French battlecruisers from enemy destroyers, so they were classified as "destroyers" both internally and internationally. In February, Coetlogon was commissioned, and increases in naval budget allowed Charner to order another Lyon-class battlecruiser together with four Epieu-class destroyers. In August, a regatta was held in Japan. A well-trained French crew was sent there and won the prize. Charner chose not to appease the host nation by instructing the crew to finish behind them as Japan was far away, and relations were in a good state. In September, an Italian spy was caught in France. When the Italian government was asked for an explanation, the Italians answered that their arrested citizen was a restorateur planning to open a pizzeria in Paris, which obviously didn't satisfy the French. In November, the cruiser Cosmao, of Surcouf class, was commissioned. Sfax-class cruisers were deemed useful for trade protection duties and were refitted with central firing, while both Forbin-class cruisers were scrapped as possessing neither speed nor firepower necessary for modern cruisers. In January of 1911, a force consisting of the Dunkerque, Jeanne d'Arc with escorting destroyers and both Dupetit-Thouars cruisers moved to the Indochina Squadron participated in the evacuation of French citizens from China following an uprising by the communists there. Statements condemning this display of French force were issued by Germany, Italy and Great Britain, but Charner was praised in the French press for the move. 3 Epieu-class destroyers were commissioned in January, and 2 more were ordered. The liberals in parliament, however, slashed military budgets. Charner was outraged in the press interviews, stating that such moves by the government will spell doom for French souvereignity. Nevertheless, the budgets were gone, and only the end of refits of Sfax-class cruisers allowed Charner to balance the budget. Another dock size increase was ordered in March to allow the drawing of larger battlecruiser designs.

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CHAPTER 7: ITALIANS DON'T LEARN

Chanzy was sailing at full speed. Several Carabine-class fleet torpedo boats were closing in, and training torpedoes were fired. When the Carabines turned away, observers aboard Chanzy prepared to record hits. French torpedo boat crews were well prepared, it seemed, as four torpedoes hit the moving cruiser out of nine that were launched. The cruiser reduced speed to allow the stokers to rest and clean the grates, when an explosion was heard near the engine rooms. The capitain reacted quickly, putting the ship to battlestations, sending damage control parties to patch the hole made by the torpedo and sending the destroyers out to find the submarine. Damage control work meant that Chanzy was only moderately damaged. As the excercise was held in the Mediterranean, an ultimatum was issued to the Italian government demanding an investigation of the Italian submarines' action by the French. The Italians rejected the conditions in the ultimatum, and a squadron consisting of Dunkerque, Jeanne d'Arc, Pothau, Amiral Charner, Coetlogon, the Surcouf-class and Sfax-class cruisers and all three Epieu-class destroyers was sent to the Mediterranean. The Italians declined battles despite having the technological advantage - while Lyon was only commissioned in June, the Italians alrady had a modern battleship of the Francesco Carrciolo class and a battlecruiser of the Lepanto class. In June, Chanzy was repaired from torpedo damage and sent to the Mediterranean aganist the Italians. Design studies also started for a battlecruiser making use of recently developed triple turrets and 380-mm Mle 1911 guns.

The Lille class was armoured slightly better than the Lyons, with its armoured belt being 9 inches thick. It was also a knot faster, and its armament of nine 380-mm Mle 1911 guns was placed in three triple turrets on the ship's center line. One was located in front of the conning tower, one was behind it and one turret was placed on the cut-down quarterdeck of the ship. The secondary battery consisted of eighteen 125-mm Mle 1910 guns. The ships' gun caliber was only rivaled by British designs, but the British ships usually carried six guns rather than nine.

In July, the Italians sen two of their armoured cruisers to raid French coastal shipping near Corsica. The mission didn't end well for the Italans, as one cruiser was sunk and another severely damaged by torpedoes from Epieu-class destroyers. The French protected their merchants and suffered no losses. A design based on the Epieu but having all guns in centerline turrets for better broadside firepower was presented in July, and the resulting class of destroyers was named Francisque.

The ship's torpedo tubes were rearranged, but, overall, it didn't change much compared to the Epieu class. A blockade of Italy was estabilished when the armoured cruisers were sunk. In August, a cruiser engagement happened near Algeria. No ships were sunk, but the fact that a Surcouf-class cruiser was able to repel a much larger vessel was attributed to the French side's superior accuracy during the battle, so the funding for fire control department was expanded, slightly reducing the budgets of the torpedo development section of the Engineering Committee. Four Francisque-class destroyers were ordered as destroyers were urgently needed in the Mediterranean aganist both Italian capital ships and Italian destroyers. In September, Lyon's crew finished their training and the ship was moved to the Mediterranean, together with Surcouf. The French ships already there raided Sicily and almost missed an Italian armoured cruiser because of heavy rain reducing sighting range to merely 4000 yards during the day. While the French force, consisting of both Amiral Charner-class cruisers, a Sfax-class cruiser and several destroyers, was sinking a merchant, the Italian cruiser sailed in. Very soon, the cruiser's capitain regretted his decision as his ship was torpedoed, ravaged by 200-mm fire and then torpedoed again - the French didn't presume a ship sunk until they saw it sink after the war with Germany. In October, Lille and four colonial gunboats with slightly improved ASW capabilities in comparison to the Diamant class, were ordered. In November, a sighting of Lepanto was reported by a French submarine's capitain. Lyon and Dunkerque, escorted by two torpedo cruisers and fleet torpedo boats, sortied out to catch and sink it, but weather considerably worsened, so the French force saw Lepanto in the middle of a storm, so the Italian battlecruiser was able to escape when night fell. In December, the French received a report from naval intelligence stating that Francesco Carrciolo has a mission of intercepting a convoy supplying Sardinia to cause unrest among the population there. The intercepting French force consisted of Lyon, Dunkerque, Jeanne d'Arc, two Surcouf-class torpedo cruisers and destroyers. When the Italian battleship was sighted, Surcoufs accelerated to their flank speed of 26 knots. The Italian battleship didn't make any attempts to evade the charging cruisers, its capitain probably thinking that the French cruiser capitains are suicidal and continuing on his way towards the convoy. Two torpedo hits came as a surprise for him, but there was little he could do with disabled electric power, flooded engine rooms, and two huge holes in his ship.

In June, double torpedo mounts were developed by the French, and development of Pistolet-class large fleet torpedo boats started.

The Pistolets had their gun armament reduced to two 125-mm guns to fit six torpedo tubes in three twin mounts aboard the ship. The ships could steam at 31 knots to maintain their speed advantage over modern battlecruisers. Four ships were ordered in February. In March, the French attacked an Italian convoy going from Taranto to Lybia near Malta. When Lepanto was seen among the ships escorting the convoy, the French force's commander ordered a charge by the Epieu-class destroyers present. Lepanto got hit by four torpedoes from Coetlogon and the destroyers, and the convoy, left without a escort, was completely destroyed. A French submarine also sunk an Italian AMC in March, making it the first sinking of a warship by a submarine in history. 1912 started with a French raid on Taranto. An Italian protected cruiser was sunk, but it damaged Coetlogon with a torpedo. Fortunately, Coetlogon was saved by damage control efforts by its crew, but the fact that the Italian cruiser was faster than even the Surcoufs came as a nasty shock to Charner. An agent in Germany managed to get the blueprints for their Zahringen-class battleships in January, and this was a ship Charner was very concerned about.

The German vessel was armed with 10 356-mm guns using a cross-firing arrangement. The ship's belt was 14 inches thick, and Charner was sure that Germans also found a way to protect their vessels from torpedoes. Charner couldn't say that the vessel would obsolete Lille before its completion as the 380-mm guns had a chance of getting through the armor, but he was inclined to say that the best French strategy in case of meeting the ship would boil down to "battlecruisers run, destroyers charge in, everyone hopes for the best". At least the ship's speed was just 19 knots, which made Zahringen much slower than every single ship in the Marine Nationale constructed since 1900. In July, one of the last Italian large surface ships - the armoued cruiser Vettor Pesani - was sunk by Pothau. The French ship was patrolling for raiders and noticed the Italian vessel. Vettor Pesani attempted to run, but Pothau was 2 knots faster and carried 250mm guns similar to Jeanne d'Arc's secondaries. Vettor Pesani was chased down and sunk near Algeria. A British spy was also caught aboard Lyon, making notes about Italian tactics and charting the ship from inside. Since war was going on, and Charner wasn't sure the British won't pass the information to the Italians - which, despite France having warm relations with Britain, would be expected as the British tried to maintain a balance of power in Europe - the spy was publicly tried and sentenced to death.

In November of 1912, Charner received a report from Cecile which stated that the Engineering Committee had developed a lighter-than-air controlled aircraft which they called an airship, and that airships fit for reconnaisance duties were being produced already. Charner ordered a construction of airship bases in both Sardinian ports. In January of 1913, naval budgets were increased, and Charner ordered 4 coastal submarines and 4 Pistolet-class destroyers. In February, however, prototypes of medium-range subs were developed, so coastal submarines were to be phased out. Nevertheless, construction of coastal submarines continued, and five new medium submarines were ordered. In April, representatives from French aircraft companies offered a joint naval aviation department to Charner. The admiral agreed to the proposal and gave the new department much funding from the Marine Nationale's research budget. Design studies also started for a large destroyer, which resulted in the Hache class.

Hache was considerably larger than any of the preceding destroyer designs. It used the increase in tonnage to fit more torpedo tubes in relation to the Pistolet class while retaining the 31-knot speed and the 125-mm gun armament.

In June, the French forces raided Italian coast to destroy an Italian submarine resupply base. The base was destroyed, and two Italian protected cruisers were sunk by Amiral Charner-class cruisers. In September, the Italian regime, racked by popular unrest, chose to proceed with peace talks with the French. The peace terms were harsh for the Italians, with the French taking Libya and Norway, which was the apple of discord in French-Italian relations since the first war.

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CHAPTER 8: FLYING WITH HAPPINESS

In October of 1913, plotting tables were issued to gunnery officers of the Marine Nationale to further improve their accuracy. In November, the newly elected prime minister offered Charner to hold a regatta to bolster French international standing - and Charner was certain the Prime Minister was keen to bolster his ratings with entertainment for the masses. Marcel didn't want to spend the precious naval budget on such affairs, so no regatta was held, and the prime minister had to weather the next elections on his own.

In February of 1914, Cecile reported that some Army airplanes were successfully launched off an old barge. Recovering them was difficult, however, so the planes were supposed to land on ground bases for the time being. Charner was excited by the development, but for him it was too early to say anything about the prospects of aircraft-carrying ships. What Charner could say is that the Dupetit-Thouars class of cruisers needs decommissioning as they couldn't be refitted into a decent ship at any cost as the hulls were just too slow. So Gallee-class protected cruisers were developed as a replacement for the Indochina Squadron.

The Gallee-class ships were to be moderately armoured and armed with 4 200-mm guns to be able to penetrate raiders' armor. Speed was also given some priority as the ships were expected to be chasing down raiders who made it to the waters of French Indochina. A detachment of marines was carried aboard for colonial duty. Two ships were to be constructed to replace both Dupetit-Thouars-class cruisers.

In June of 1914, Charner ordered another dock increase. The Parliament wanted to institute social programs to care for the unemployed and disabled as the navy mostly abandoned its Jeune Ecole roots, but widespread protests organized by the Navy League prevented any such programs from even being considered. Five first French medium-range submarines were commissioned in July of 1914. In Sepember, an industrial boom combined with the completion of Lille and three more medium-range subs allowed design studies on a battlecruiser armed with 10 360-mm Mle 1919 guns arranged for maximum firepower to start.

They resulted in the Nancy class. The ships could fire all ten of their guns to either side, and their armour was better than Lille's armour. The 360-mm guns could punch through more armor than the 380-mm ones, so Charner considered the ships to be more powerful than the Lille in all metrics. Four more Hache-class destroyers were laid down in September, and in January Nancy, the lead ship of her class, was laid down. Jeanne d'Arc and Montcalm were mothballed due to the ships becoming increasingly obsolete aganist modern battlecruisers and too slow for modern battles. In April, the Naval General Staff created an amphibious operations department. Since the only untaken colonies which could reasonably be reached by an invasion were British, and Charner had no plans to go to war with Great Britain, the department's funding was severely cut multiple times and sent to the Engineering Committee. A rebellion in Puerto Rico also happened, unexpected by analysts worldwide. It seemed the protests erupted on their own, with no one to lead them. The Puerto Ricans just demanded that Americans be gone from their country. In May of 1915, the Engineering Committee found a way to build planes capable of taking off from and landing on water. Airbases were then constructed in Dunkerque and both Sardinian ports, and a request was put forward for a flying boat-type aircraft fit for sea patrol duties. In July, cadets were graduating from Ecole Navale, and a son of a deputy of Parliament particularly keen on reducing naval funding was one of them. Charner ordered Dupetit-Thouars to be the ship used for the cruise. The move was understood in the Parliament, and despite France losing some of its international prestige, the Marine Nationale's funding was increased. In October, US forces were forced to withdraw from Puerto Rico as the rebels proved to be masters of guerilla warfare. The Cuban president had the bad luck of complaining about American forces withdrawing through Cuban territorial waters. When a Cuban coastal battleship fired at American troop transports, a war plan aganist Cuba was activated. Their president was deposed in less than a week, and a pro-American regime was installed. In January, the Fleet Tactics Department introduced manuals on mine use for the crews of light cruisers and destroyers. The naval secretary wanted twelve new mine-carrying destroyers to test the capabilities of the new weapon, and  Hache-class destroyers were redesigned to use 102-mm guns and mines. The result was the Stylet class of large fleet torpedo boats.

The ships still carried 10 torpedoes, and less powerful guns were seen as a price to pay for the installation of mines, which had the potential to greatly increase the class's potential aganist enemy large warships. In February of 1916, twelve ships were ordered, intended to be used aganist Germany, which was, in Charner's opinion, the most likely opponent in a future war. German battlefleet was restored, as was its national pride, and revanchist sentiments were strong, with parties getting seats in the Reichstag promising to return colonies lost during the Franco-German War to Germany. In April, the Americans changed the regime in Venezuela, which was the last example of their gunboat diplomacy. Charner didn't want to get France involved in affairs on the other side of the globe, so the French ships recognized the new regime as the lawful government of Venezuela. The MB.40 flying boat became ready for service, and three 20-plane squadrons of flying boats were created, one on each airbase. In August, Charner gave the green light to a technology sharing agreement between French and Austro-Hungarian firms, which, he hoped, would advance French torpedo technology. The development of above-water tubes suitable for use on light cruisers made a concept of a torpedo cruiser much more appealing than it used to be. The Marine Nationale used such vessels with great effect in the Second French-Italian war - they sunk the Italian dreadnought - and Charner knew above-water tubes would make them even more deadly as the ships would be able to go faster and fire spreads of torpedoes.

The Linois class was the first proper torpedo cruiser developed by the Marine Nationale. The ship was very lightly armoured, with its armor being barely sufficient aganist splinters, but it could achieve the same speed as the newest destroyers while carrying twelve topedo tubes, four 125-mm guns and having higher chances of surviving their attack. One ship was ordered as a part of the naval rearmament program passed in November of 1916, with two more set to be ordered after the Gallees' commissioning. The ships would not be ordered, however, until December of 1917, with the Prime Minister's desire to have two more Nancy-class battleships being responsibl for the delay. Gallees were commissioned in July of 1917, the same month as the principle of director firing was presented by the Engineering Committee. In October, Diamant-class colonial gunboats started their refits, improving their guns and putting depth charge racks on the ships for the ships to be more capable ASW vessels. In December, construction of the battlecruiser Marceille was halted due to financial difficulties caused by a recent economic crisis and the resulting budget cut, which couldn't be mitigated by a plot with the steel manufacturers to influesnce the Prime Minister into increasing funding for the Marine Nationale. The plot was described in detail by German journalists, however, which caused an increase in tensions with the country,

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CHAPTER 9: BALKANS EXPLODE LIKE SHIPS

In March of 1918, Nancy was commissioned. A war broke out in the Balkans, and French support for Serbian forces predictably increased tensions with Germany and Austro-Hungary. The completion of Nancy allowed the Marine Nationale to order eight more medium-range submarines and a Linois-class torpedo cruiser. Dupetit-Thouarses were finally sent to the breakers despite the very real risk of war as the French had enough modern units. The Marine Nationale was mobilized to be ready for war with Germany as tensions were extremely high. In April, the first air-launched torpedoes were introduced, and Charner issued an order to expand the airbases on the northern coast of France and request proposals for torpedo-carrying planes to serve at these bases. In July, a Serbian port was bombarded by a German battleship supporting Croatian forces. The French government issued an ultimatum to the Germans demanding removal of all German forces from the Balkans. The Germans declined, using the ultimatum as a warning and sending their battlefleet to attack the French fleet in the Bay of Biscay.

The Germans arrived to Biscay at night on the 15th of July. Shortly before dusk, observers aboard Lille saw an unknown ship a dozen or so miles directly ahead. Night was coming, so the French battlecruisers couldn't fire their guns at the Germans. Instead, the battlecruisers turned 90 degrees to keep themselves out of the engagement, and their escorted destroyers moved towards the location of the ship at flank speed. In about half an hour, the French destroyers' crews could see a huge German fleet sailing near them. Fortunately, the ships the French ran into were two new German battlecruisers of the Von der Tann and Seydlitz classes. Unfortunately, as soon as the German battlecruisers were recognised, they started firing their secondaries at the French destroyers, and German destroyers attempted to separate the French from the battlecruisers. The Germans failed, as the battlecruisers were hit by four torpedoes each and came to a dead stop, but the German's fire fatally damaged two modern Hache-class destroyers. The French destroyers turned towards their own coast to look for more enemy capital ships - they were numerous, so almost all of them had torpedoes left on board. Going south, they saw another fleet of German ships. When Zahringen was recognised, sinking the German battleship became the flotilia's top priority. French destroyers charged in again, enduring fire from battleship secondaries and destroyers, losing two more of themselves, and having three ships severely damaged - but Zahringen, pride of the Kaiserliche Marine, was hit by two torpedoes and began to noticeably slow down. The German destroyers retreated for some unknown reason, and Charner decided it was time to send his capital ships to the engagement. The surviving destroyers were signalled to screen the battlecruisers as they had fired all of their torpedoes, and the French ships accelerated to full speed. Two hours later, a large German ship steaming at 10 or so knots was seen from Lille. Since the ship was unescorted, orders were given to open fire and sink the ship. Lille's 380-mm guns firing from merely 3000 yards could penetrate almost any armour found on a warship. Zahringen - and the ship was recognised as Zahringen - was dead in the water after several hits by 380-mm shells, and, after ensuring that the German battleship sank and picking up the survivors, the French continued to search for the remains of the German fleet. Unfortunately, no fleet could be found, and the damaged destroyers began to sink as they couldn't contain the flooding caused by hits received during their torpedo runs. When morning came and no German ships could be seen, Charner ordered the fleet to return to port.

The battle was an astonishing success for the Marine Nationale, as three enemy capital ships were sunk and the German battlefleet was halved in one battle. The French leveraged their naval superiority in Europe to estabilish a blockade of Germany, and submarines were ordered to seek and destroy German warships. It was also the only major battle of the war, as a French raid in July didn't encounter any major units of the enemy. The only way in which the battle was distinguished was that the first submarine sinking of a purpose-built warship occured after it -a French submarine torpedoed and sunk a German destroyer returning to Helgoland. A minesweeper conversion program was started in July, but it didn't bear fruit as the German and French governments came to a resolution of the conflict in September. Despite the Germany losing a major fleet battle, the German army managed to arrange a passage through Belgium for themselves, which they used as leverage at the negotiating table, so Germany ended up paying minor reparations to the French and removing its units from the Balkans.

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CHAPTER 10: A TRANSFORMATION AWAITS

In October, the battlecruiser Marceille, of the Nancy class, was scrapped due to the navy being stripped of funding after the war. The Engineering Committee also found a way for planes to take off from ships, which was a novel technology with great potential as it allowed the French to build ships functioning like torpedo boat tenders of the 19th century, with the "torpedo boats" being much faster and possessing a greater range. So plans were drawn to convert Jeanne d'Arc into an "airplane tender". In December, the naval secretary wanted Charner to order eight new cruisers, so new gun cruisers of Jean Bart class were developed.

The ships were the first ships to be classified as "light armoured cruisers" by the Marine Nationale. Most of their armament, consisting of six 150-mm guns, was placed on the centerline. The navy was persistently underfunded, however, so the first ships of the class were ordered in March of 1919.

In January of 1919, the German troopships approached the Gibraltat Strait. The French forces in Algeria were put on high alert and a note was sent, but the Germans had no intentions of invading Algeria. Instead, they headed for Morocco, which, as French intelligence found out too late, was experiencing a period of civil disorded after the authorities arrested an imam popular among the locals but opposing the local ruler. The Germans intervened, scattered the rebels with an expeditionary corps and took over the government. French intelligence services were heavily criticized in the press after the second missed opportunity to take over a rich colony. In May, Lille started to be refitted with a director firing system. Two old armoured cruisers were also scrapped that month - Bruix, the sole surviving ship of the Montcalm class, and Pothau, a cruiser armed with a 250-mm main battery. In June, the Parliament authorised an increase in naval budgets due to rising tensions with Germany, and in September Charner recommended the government to spend more on the Marine Nationale to avoid another war. The money meant that Jeanee d'Arc could start her airplane tender conversion in October. In November, bigger docks were ordered and new torpedoes were introduced, with a warhead made of TNT instead of guncotton. In December, an Italian cruiser arrived to bring the king of Italy to Christmas celebrations in France. Upon seeing it, Charner said: "If this is thir finest ship, it's no wonder they can't win a naval war!" The statement was broadcast by global press, so tensions with Italy notably increased. In January, the Prime Minister returned from a visit to Germany. Charner, confident that the German navy is no match for the French ships, recommended the PM to arm for conflict with Germany to defeat them for the third time. Three submarines were ordered with the new money. In March, an improved torpedo-protection system was developed by the Engineering Committee, which was designed to protect aganist modern torpedoes with 200 kg of TNT in the warhead. In April, the last ordered cruiser of the Linois class, the Amiral Cecile, was commissioned, and development of a better torpedo cruiser making use of recently developed triple torpedo mounts started.

The Alger class continued using the protected cruiser armour layout despite using oil-fired engines which allowed a maximum speed of 32 knots. The tradeoff for achieving such a speed was in the firepower of the ship, as its armament didn't change in comparison with the Linois class. It was basically a slightly faster Linois with torpedoes arranged for a smaller number of larger spreads.

In June, an uprising in China was suppressed by a strong French expeditionary force, which caused an international outcry, led by France's rivals - Germany and Italy. They accused the French of atrocities, which didn't exactly improve relations. A spy discovered in Italy was hanged by the Italian side, which caused a French boycott of Italian goods, causing tensions to skyrocket. Charner believed that war was imminent and ordered an expansion of airbases in Sardinia to accomodate torpedo bombers in addition to the patrolling flying boats. In August, three submarines were commissioned and new Fauconneau-class destroyers were developed.

The ships mounted three 102-mm guns, two of which were a superfiring pair. The ships were the first destroyers of the Marine Nationale with oil-fired engines, and they were designed to be useful both aganist other destroyers and aganist capital ships.

In September, representatives from Italy offered the French to reduce their naval spending in the interest of peace. Charner wasn't inclined to do so, so he recommended the Prime Minister to hold a disarmament conference instead. Despite no agreement being reached, mostly because of the revanchist Germans, tensions with Italy considerably lowered. Tensions with Germans, however, were as concerning as before. An Alger-class torpedo cruiser and three Fauconneau-class destroyers were ordered. In November, high-angle mountings which could potentially be used aganist aircraft were developed for 76-mm and 102-mm guns. Despite the French being the only nation in the world with a ship undergoing airplane carrier conversion, it was a welcome development as land-based planes were omnipresent. In December, 460-mm guns were developed. However, the new battlecruiser developed in February of 1921 mounted "merely" 410-mm guns.

The Marceille class was armored better than all preceding battlecruisers and was armed with 8 410-mm guns. Many anti-air machine guns were installed on the ship, and its secondary battery consisted of 102-mm guns in high-angle mountings. The ship was designed for using a director system. Its underwater protection was also improved, which would have allowed the ship to survive hits by French torpedoes. One vessel was to be ordered as such battleships were way too expensive for Charner's level of funding.