Chapter 69 New Toys for the Military Part 3 (Imperial Ruthenian Navy)

Alexander looked at his wristwatch as he listened to General Zhukov’s report.

“I’ll meet the Chief of the Navy and the Dubin Central Design Bureau in five minutes, do you have any questions regarding the new program for the Army?” Alexander asked, glancing at Zhukov.

Zhukov shook his head “My questions are answered in the paper, I have no further questions,”

“Excellent!” Alexander clapped as he stood up, prompting Zhukov to do the same.

Alexander offered a handshake to which Zhukov warmly returned with an equally sincere smile.

“Let’s hope that with these changes, it’ll make the Army formidable,” Alexander said with a firm shake in the hand before he let go.

“I’ll do everything in my power to execute your vision, Your Majesty,” Zhukov solemnly nodded in acknowledgment.

…

As Zhukov left the meeting room, Alexander returned back to his seat where he heaved out a sigh, rubbing his temples as he did so. The whole meeting took almost two hours which mostly consisted of questions and answers. Nevertheless, it achieved one of his plans for the Imperial Ruthenia Armed Forces; the plan of strengthening his Army in order to protect the interest of the Empire and its sovereignty.

The Great War hasn’t occurred in this world but Alexander knew it would be an inevitable conflict, a devastating one, that would surely drag his Empire into it. After all, Ruthenia is a major player in Europa. If they were to lose in that war, there is no guarantee that his family will be safe, a possibility that he fears.

To prevent it, Alexander has to be ahead of all in terms of economy and technology.

While waiting for his next meeting, Alexander prayed to the almighty to give him ten or fifteen years of peacetime.

After praying to the almighty, Alexander began preparing the papers and the blueprints that he’ll present in the next meeting. This time, it’ll be the modernization of the Imperial Ruthenian Navy.

…

Five minutes later. Admiral Kuznetsov, the Chief of Naval Operations, and an elderly navy-blue-haired man entered the meeting room.

The elderly’s hair caught his attention. Has hair dye already popularized in this world where any person could use it?

Alexander rose from his chair as Admiral Kutnetzov and the elderly man approached him.

They bowed deeply and intoned, “Your Majesty, we’ve arrived.”

“You’re just in time,” Alexander said, gesturing to the chairs opposite the table, “Please sit down Admiral Kutnetzov, and…what’s your name sir?”

“I’m the Head of the Dubin Design Bureau and also the President of the Admiralty Shipyard, Andrei Serebyakov. It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty,”

Alexander raised a brow “What did you just say?”

Andrei’s body stiffened as soon as he heard Alexander’s words laced with a sharp tone.

“Uhm..what…do you mean Your Majesty?” Andrei stammered, “Did I perhaps offend you or something…”

“Your surname, Serebyakov, are you related to Lady Elaina Serebyakova?” Alexander asked, ignoring Andrei’s question.

Andrei froze for a second before slowly nodding ‘Yes…she’s my daughter…”

“Daughter? Your daughter works in your company as a secretary there right?” Alexander followed another question.

“Do you two know each other, Your Majesty?” Admiral Kuznetsov asked, clearly confused with what was going on here.

“No, we do not,” Alexander answered firmly. “Anyways last question, is your hair dyed?”

“Uhm…no,” Andrei answered. “They are natural, Your Majesty.”

Alexander arched his brow, “Natural, you say?”

He quickly went into pondering mode. Navy-blue hair is something that does not naturally occur in human hair pigmentation. There are only two types of melanin that give a hair color; Eumelanins and Pheomelanins. Eumelanins give hair dark color whereas Pheolmelanins give hair light color.

Does this mean that there are elements or substances in this world different from his world? If that is the case, he just learned something new. The implications of this information are high as there might be something in this world new to him.

He can deal with that later, for now, he has a meeting to conclude.

“Sorry for the delay,” Alexander said, snapping out of his reverie. “I apologize for the sudden question, Sir Andrei,”

“No…it’s fine, Your Majesty.” Andrei nervously rubbed the nape of his neck.

Alexander smiled and waved his hand “Let’s start the meeting.”

Taking their seats, Alexander began.

“So, what does the Navy need?”

Admiral Kuznetsov fixed his tie before answering.

“Well, Your Majesty, due to the recent war with the Yamato Empire, our entire Pacific Fleet was shattered. Hence the Department of Navy proposed an immediate replacement of every single warship that was lost in the war. This is to safeguard the interest of the Ruthenia Empire in the Far East,” Admiral Kutnetzov continued.

“We would also like to upgrade and modernize all of our warships in the Northern Fleet, Baltic Fleet, and the Black Sea Fleet. This is to catch up with the major powers, especially the Britannia Empire and the Deutschland Empire who are currently locked in a naval arms race. This is also to prevent another terrible loss during the Yamato Empire,” Admiral Kutnetzov concluded his introduction.

Alexander leaned back to his seat, hands folded “So what you are saying, Admiral…we lost against Yamato in naval combat because our warships are outdated or obsolete. Is that what you’re telling me?” Alexander questioned.

Admiral Kuznetsov gulped as he realized his mistake. It was like he was blaming the ships for the loss of the Ruthenia Empire.

“As far as I know, the Yamato Empire’s warship isn’t that ahead much technologically advanced than us,”

Despite the freezing weather in St. Petersburg, beads of sweat trickled on Kutnetzov’s forehead.

“I believe what contributed greatly to the loss of our fleet in the Pacific is the inexperienced sailors and the admiral in charge making mistakes,”

Kuznetsov nodded his head silently, agreeing with his remarks.

“I guess we have to fix the internal affairs of the Navy before we head on procuring ships. Because even though we give the navy a new ship, an advanced one. It’ll be meaningless and useless if the sailors aren’t trained properly, don’t you think?” Alexander added.

“I admire your insights, Your Majesty,” Kutnetzov replied earnestly.

Alexander smiled wryly and passed a document to Admiral Kuznetsov. This will be a new program in the Navy.

Just like the Imperial Army, Alexander pursued radical change in the Navy. The new boot camp training course is similar to the United States Navy. A ten-week program designed to make a civilian into a full-pledge sailor of a battleship, aircraft carrier, destroyer, cruiser, and submarine.

Alexander gave Admiral Kutnetzov the time he needed to read the new program plan.

“This is an excellent and detailed course, Your Majesty. Who wrote this?”

“That isn’t your concern for now. What I want is you implement that in the Navy right away,” Alexander said flatly.

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

“Now, let’s discuss the new ships the Dubin Research Bureau has come up with…”

Admiral Kuznetsov shot Andrei a meaningful glance. Andrei understood it and began acting at once.

He reached for the tube that contained the blueprint of the new warship. He grabbed what was inside and unfurled it. He then carefully laid it out on the table, “This, Your Highness, will be the new battleships I designed to counter the G3 battlecruiser of the Royal Navy and the Bismarck class of the Imperial Deutch Navy…the Imperial Aleksándr battleship,”

Alexander leaned over the table to see the blueprint with great interest.

“It was named after you, Your Majesty,” Andrei said, smiling.

“What are the specifications?” Alexander asked.

“Your Majesty, the Imperial Aleksándr battleship displacement is 59,950 tons, length of 269.4, a beam of 38.9 m, and a draft of 10.4 m. For the armor, the battleship belt armor size is 180–420 mm, 25–155 mm for the main deck, 230–495 mm for main turrets, 425 mm for barbettes, 75–365 mm for bulkheads, and a 425 mm for conning tower. Three geared steam turbines and six triangular-type boilers with a total power of 201,000 horsepower and a speed of 28 knots. The cruising range is 7,680 nautical miles at a speed of 14 knots,”

Alexander’s brows furrowed as he noticed something.

“Is this right?”

“What do you mean, Your Majesty?”

“There are major flaws in your design,” Alexander said as he looked closely at the schematics of the battleship.

“Your Majesty?” Andrei tilted his head to the side.

“How big the high wave can this ship handle?” Alexander asked.

“High wave?” Andrei repeated.

“In terms of the size of the hurricanes that occur 8 times a year with an average wind speed of 40 meters per second is generally no problem. But in the case of low pressure and the intense conditions in the Barents Sea, the waves from all directions converge at once. In this case, the wave height may develop beyond expectations…”

“What are you talking about, Your Majesty?”

“In the case of an intense weather condition in the Barents Sea, the waves can be up to 30 meters high. That wave can engulf the ship. Now, the design of your proposal has a huge impact on this level. There may be a lack of predictability in the shear force generated by the hull,”

“Shear force?” Admiral Kuznetsov stepped in and asked.

“The shear force is a force that causes the hull to snap out of shape. To understand this, let’s think of a scissor. Imagine the directions of the high waves are the blades of the scissor and the battleship as the paper. The paper will be snipped,” Alexander explained.

“Do you mean…the battleship is going to snap due to the high waves?” Kuznetsov asked.

“Yes…although the scheme of the ship was covered with thick armor in the center the weight distribution will leave the bow and stern vulnerable. When a huge wave hits those spots, the ship will crack and sink,” Alexander finished.

“If that were to happen, it would be a disaster since building one battleship cost a lot of money,” Andrei’s face turned grim as he realized the flaw in his design

He then gulps and looks up at both Admiral Kuznetsov and the future Tsar of Ruthenia, realizing that he not only made a blunder in front of his boss but his boss’s boss. He sweats as he realizes such a crucial mistake will not only end his career but his reputation as a ship designer. To advertise an expensive naval ship that will sink by just leaving the shipyard to the Tsar of Ruthenia is tantamount to the betrayal of his country. An offense that would have led to his execution and brought shame to his family name.

Alexander noticed Andrei’s change of emotion and sought to resolve it. Before the ship designer collapses into a begging mess, not unlike when he saw generals and officers who were punished by the late Tsar.

“Fear not Andrei. It is a good thing your plans are still on paper and the mistakes were found before building began.”

Andrei wiped his brow with his sleeves, but the fear is still evident in his eyes.

“As I just said,” Alexander continued. “It’s a flaw. No one said that flaw can’t be corrected. By looking at your design, I already factored the high wave to derive a formula that will find the optimal solution between the shear force and the

equilibrium distribution of weight.”

“That’s correct,” Alexander confirmed. “Which brings me to my next topic. I have a design here made by some ship designers who wished to remain anonymous. May both of you have a look at it?”