Chapter Twenty-Five: Pressing Onward

October 1st marked the commencement of construction for the battleship "Frederick the Great" at the Wilhelmshaven shipyard. Despite numerous design flaws—most notably its slow speed—this vessel, being the first major warship built by the German Empire in recent years, was given considerable attention. On the day of the groundbreaking ceremony, Emperor Frederick III, Empress Victoria, Crown Prince Wilhelm, and various members of the royal family attended in person, along with imperial officials such as Chancellor Bismarck and the Minister of Naval Warfare, von Chengqian. Frederick III himself presided over the ceremony. Two years later, Crown Prince Wilhelm smashed a bottle of champagne against the bow, sending this towering giant into the embrace of the sea.

Von Chengqian was particularly moved during the ceremony. This was the first warship he had personally crafted since arriving in this era. Although he knew there would be more ships to come, as the founder of a new maritime power, von Chengqian found himself especially invested, more so than anyone else.

The launch of the "Frederick the Great" sparked a wave of excitement internationally. British newspapers, while paying close attention, couldn't resist mocking the Germans for their lack of naval understanding, scoffing at the enormous expense poured into a battleship slower than a turtle. The Times offered the most pointed critique: the "Frederick the Great" could neither defeat nor outrun the Royal Navy's main battleships and would have neither the chance to win nor escape in a sea battle, making it a ship of no value.

The British had reason for their arrogance. Yet other nations joined the chorus—French and Russian papers loudly disparaged the "Frederick the Great," and even Italian newspapers spared no mercy.

Did these countries really have grounds to mock the German Empire? Perhaps France did, having once possessed the world's second-largest fleet, and still maintaining naval strength superior to Germany. As for Russia and Italy, they had no qualification to ridicule the German Empire.

One thing was undeniable: the "Frederick the Great" ignited a new wave of shipbuilding, serving as a warm-up for the naval arms race a decade later.

That same month, the Royal Navy proposed constructing battleships with all heavy guns. Soon after, France, Russia, and Italy rolled out similar shipbuilding plans, and even the Ottoman Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire followed suit. However, the technical level at the time was insufficient to build a true "dreadnought."

Upon recognizing the technical difficulties, the Royal Navy was the first to step back, reducing the scale and technical standards of its new ships. They continued to use triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines and equipped them with thirty-caliber heavy guns, ultimately building only one ship due to budget constraints.

While the Royal Navy retreated, the German Empire’s navy pressed forward. When drafting the next year's budget, von Chengqian seized upon the successful launch of the "Frederick the Great" to propose building another battleship. Though Bismarck opposed the idea, believing there was no need to rush fleet expansion, Emperor Frederick III was dissatisfied with the "Frederick the Great’s" performance and felt it necessary to construct a more advanced and powerful warship.

Ultimately, with Frederick III’s support, the construction of the new battleship was confirmed. The imperial government allocated 1.2 million marks, with the Ministry of War contributing another 600,000 marks, to build a super ironclad in the 1890 fiscal year.

To show his support, Frederick III named the ship "Emperor Wilhelm," after his father—the founding emperor of the German Empire.

In other words, Frederick III named the yet-unbuilt warship after his father, the empire's founding sovereign.

Then, Crown Prince Wilhelm voluntarily donated 100,000 marks to the ship. With the emperor personally naming the vessel and the crown prince leading the donations, a wave of enthusiasm swept the empire; within a month, the Ministry of War received 1.4 million marks in contributions. Though only a few came from commoners, over a million citizens participated in the fundraising.

With funding secured, everything else became easier. At year’s end, von Chengqian recalled Tirpitz to handle the daily administrative affairs of the Ministry of War, while he himself went to the Wilhelmshaven shipyard.

Though only a few months had passed, many of the issues encountered during the design of "Frederick the Great" had been resolved.

The Krupp Armory's development of 350mm giant guns proceeded smoothly, though these guns were only thirty calibers long and their armor-piercing power was seriously lacking. Von Chengqian sought a gun with greater penetration, commissioning Krupp to develop a forty-caliber 300mm naval cannon. The triple turret's development was also progressing well; even if it couldn’t be fitted to "Frederick the Great," it would certainly be available for "Emperor Wilhelm."

Unexpectedly, with the Ministry of War’s financial backing, the Mannes Steelworks made some progress in surface carburized armor steel, with several young technical experts coming up with ingenious ideas and working toward mass production.

Yet, while designing "Emperor Wilhelm," there remained an insurmountable challenge: the power system. Though von Chengqian had pointed imperial engineers toward water-tube boilers and steam turbines, technical breakthroughs required a solid foundation, something the empire lacked. Not only during the design phase—even three years later, when "Emperor Wilhelm" was completed—the empire still hadn’t made significant progress with water-tube boilers and steam turbines. It would take another decade, around the turn of the century, for Germany to produce usable steam turbines.

Through designing "Frederick the Great," von Chengqian gained a deeper understanding of warship design. The first consideration in designing a ship is the power system: first, set the desired output power based on performance targets, then determine the number of boilers and engines required, thus defining the tonnage consumed by the power system. The remaining tonnage is allocated to armor and armament, shaping the overall design.

An underperforming power system means more tonnage is consumed, requiring other systems to be streamlined.

"Emperor Wilhelm" had a total allocation of 1.6 million marks, with construction costs around 1.3 million after deducting design expenses. This set the standard displacement at roughly 14,000 tons.

From displacement alone, "Emperor Wilhelm" was far superior to "Frederick the Great," allowing more tonnage for armor and firepower.

The problem was, "Emperor Wilhelm" could not be a main battleship with a maximum speed of only twelve knots.

To convince Chancellor Bismarck, Frederick III insisted that "Emperor Wilhelm" must reach the average speed of contemporary battleships—sixteen knots.

With tonnage and speed defined, it could be estimated that "Emperor Wilhelm’s" power system would need at least 16,000 horsepower. Given that hull design would be influenced by the layout of armaments, the power system’s output should be slightly increased.

At 18,000 horsepower, "Emperor Wilhelm" would require sixteen boilers and four triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines.

Including the 1,500 tons of coal needed for a range of 3,500 nautical miles, the power system consumed 5,000 tons. Subtracting the 4,500 tons for the basic hull structure and several hundred tons for other equipment, only 4,000 tons remained for armor and firepower—hardly sufficient.

Trade-offs were inevitable in the design.

Should firepower be sacrificed, or armor?

If firepower was sacrificed, "Emperor Wilhelm" would be limited to two triple turrets, each armed with 300mm long-barreled guns, making its firepower inferior even to "Frederick the Great." If armor was sacrificed, "Emperor Wilhelm," equipped with three turrets, would have protection inferior to the "Saxon" class.

Most engineers at the time believed firepower should be sacrificed.

Even with only two triple turrets, "Emperor Wilhelm" would have six main guns—average for contemporary ironclads. Some proposed a design with three twin turrets to improve turret survivability in combat.

Yet von Chengqian insisted on sacrificing armor.

Undoubtedly, his view was ahead of its time—far ahead. The number, arrangement, and installation of turrets directly determine the hull structure, which is hardest to modify during later upgrades. So, in von Chengqian’s eyes, sacrificing armor meant "Emperor Wilhelm" could, in future upgrades, be rejuvenated.

Simply put, once the power system improved, it would be possible to increase displacement by upgrading the power system without compromising other aspects, thereby thickening armor for greater protection while preserving firepower.

Would this design pass Frederick III’s scrutiny?

After all, this was a battleship ordered personally by the emperor, named after the late sovereign; if it ended up as a mediocrity, there would be no way to answer to the emperor.

This time, von Chengqian played a little trick.

According to his requirements, "Emperor Wilhelm" was designed as a three-turret battleship, uniquely featuring two turrets forward and one aft—two turrets ahead of the forecastle, the third behind the secondary bridge, with the front two turrets in a superimposed arrangement. As for armor, von Chengqian required only key protection for turrets, conning tower, magazines, boiler rooms, and engine rooms.

Clearly, none of the engineers at the time endorsed this design.

Apart from vital areas, "Emperor Wilhelm" was virtually unarmored, vulnerable even to the guns mounted on small boats.

Von Chengqian paid no heed; upon receiving the design sketch, he submitted it to Frederick III.

Fortunately, the emperor knew little about the navy and nothing about battleships, unable to spot the issues—especially with the armor protection data deliberately omitted by von Chengqian.