Reincarnated as Napoleon II-Chapter 105: What are the Ships

They were escorted to a more private room which kind of looked like a museum.

The moment they stepped inside, their eyes went to the displays encased in glass. Napoleon I moved first, boots echoing lightly across the polished floor as he approached the central pedestal. His attention locked onto the scale model resting under the lights.

The first was the Richelieu-inspired battleship.

The model sat nearly a meter long, mounted on brass supports. Every line of the hull had been reproduced in miniature, the long, clean bow, the armored deck stepped in measured tiers, the superstructure compact and purposeful. Even reduced in scale, it radiated mass.

Napoleon I leaned closer.

His gaze tracked the silhouette from bow to stern, studying the layout the way a commander reads a battlefield.

"The guns..." he murmured.

They were not arranged along the sides.

Instead, heavy turrets sat aligned along the centerline of the deck — forward and aft — each housed in armored casings that rotated on concealed rings. The barrels were elevated slightly, poised as if ready to fire over the bow.

Napoleon I straightened slightly, eyes narrowing.

"No broadside batteries," he said.

Napoleon II stepped beside him.

"Correct," he replied. "All primary guns are deck-mounted in rotating turrets."

Napoleon I circled the display slowly.

"With ships of the line," he said, "firepower lives in the flanks. You maneuver to present your side. Entire engagements depend on lining up broadsides."

He gestured toward the model.

"This ship doesn’t fight that way."

"No," Napoleon II said. "It fights forward, aft, or anywhere between. The turrets rotate independently. You’re no longer bound to a single firing arc."

Napoleon I stopped at the bow again.

"So the ship doesn’t need to expose itself," he said.

"It can engage while advancing," Napoleon II answered. "Or retreating. Firepower remains centered along the hull. Armor protection follows the same logic."

Napoleon I studied the turret placement again, imagining it in motion.

"The British," he said after a moment, "they’re modernizing as well."

"They are," Napoleon II replied. "But their current designs still lean on broadside concepts — heavier guns arranged to favor lateral engagements."

He tapped lightly on the glass above the French model.

"This design removes that limitation. Centralized turrets. Deck engagement. Flexible firing arcs. It’s built to counter anything relying on side-on doctrine."

Napoleon I nodded once, absorbing the implications.

His eyes shifted to the placard mounted beneath the model.

Specifications were etched into a brass plate:

Battleship

Displacement: 40,000 tons (standard).

Length: 247.85 meters.

Beam: 33.08 meters.

Draft: 10 meters.

Power: 6 × Fire-tubed boilers.

155,000 shaft horsepower (116,000 kW).

Propulsion: 4 × geared turbines & 4 × screws.

Main Armament:

— 8 × heavy deck-mounted guns in dual rotating turrets.

Secondary Armament:

— Dual-purpose deck guns for surface and aerial defense.

Armor Protection:

— Reinforced belt armor.

— Armored deck layers.

— Turret and magazine protection.

Crew Complement:

— Approx. 1,500 personnel.

Napoleon I read the figures in silence.

"Thirty knots..." he said quietly. "A ship this size moving faster than any ship I know."

Napoleon II silently watched his father who was awed by the design of the battleships. In his previous life, he had spent reading naval architecture and engineering about battleships, and he knew about the Richelieu Class battleship, it is said to be the best balanced design battleship on its time. Good thing he had accessed its schematics and blueprints which were archived in the naval forums. But of course modern systems such as radars and fire-control systems are still in the lab being experimented on and researched.

But he hoped it’d be implemented on the ship the moment they commission it officially.

"It’ll be the main flagship of the fleet, father," Napoleon II chimed in. "Let’s move on to the next type of modern warship shall we?"

"Flagship huh?" Napoleon I repeated. "Interesting. Let’s proceed to the next type you speak of."

Napoleon II walked over to the next display and this time, it was the battlecruiser, inspired by the Dunkerque design.

The model was slimmer at a glance.

Where the battleship radiated bulk and layered armor, this hull stretched longer and lower, its lines drawn tight. The bow cut sharper. The superstructure sat compact and clean, minimizing surface area. Like the battleship, its main guns were concentrated forward in armored turrets

Napoleon I stepped in beside him. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"This one feels... lighter," he said.

"It is," Napoleon II replied. "By design."

Napoleon I studied the forward turrets.

"Same deck gun philosophy," he noted.

"Yes," Napoleon II said. "But the purpose is different. A battleship is built to absorb punishment and hold the line. A battlecruiser trades some armor for speed."

Napoleon I glanced back at the previous model, then returned his attention to the new one.

"So this ship chooses when to fight," he said.

"Exactly," Napoleon II answered. "It outruns what it cannot defeat, and overwhelms what it can catch. Fleet screening. Fast strikes. Interception."

Napoleon I circled the display slowly, imagining formations again.

"In my time," he said, "you needed separate ship types for scouting, pursuit, and engagement. This... combines roles."

"It bridges them," Napoleon II said. "Not as durable as the battleship, but faster and still heavily armed. It’s meant to control distance."

Napoleon I leaned closer to the placard beneath the model.

Specifications were engraved cleanly into the brass:

Battlecruiser –

Displacement: 35,000 tons (standard).

Length: 215 meters.

Beam: 31 meters.

Draft: 8.5 meters.

Power:

— 6 × high-pressure boilers.

— 120,000 shaft horsepower.

Propulsion:

— 4 × geared turbines & 4 × screws.

Main Armament:

— 8 × heavy deck-mounted guns in dual forward turrets.

Secondary Armament:

— Dual-purpose deck guns for surface and aerial defense.

Armor Protection:

— Reinforced belt armor (reduced thickness for speed).

— Armored deck and turret protection.

Crew Complement:

— Approx. 1,300 personnel.

Napoleon I read through the figures, and nodded in satisfaction.

"What is next?" Napoleon I asked.

"Heavy cruiser."

Napoleon II stopped at the next pedestal.

Under the glass rested a third model, noticeably smaller than the capital ships but still imposing in its own right. The hull was lean, the bow flared just enough to cut heavy seas. The superstructure rose in stepped layers, radar masts and fire-control towers represented in fine detail. Triple-gun turrets sat along the centerline, two forward, one aft, giving the ship a balanced profile built around concentrated firepower.

Napoleon I bent slightly to study it.

"This one looks... practical," he said.

"It is," Napoleon II replied. "A heavy cruiser. Built to operate independently or alongside the battle line."

Napoleon I traced the turret arrangement with his eyes.

"Still deck guns," he observed.

"Yes," Napoleon II said. "Cruisers rely on flexibility. These turrets allow engagement in multiple arcs without committing the hull to a single orientation."

Napoleon I circled the display, noting the slimmer armor belt etched into the model’s plating lines.

"So this is not meant to stand in the line with the battleships," he said.

"No," Napoleon II answered. "It screens, escorts, raids, and hunts enemy cruisers. Fast enough to reposition, armed enough to dominate lighter ships."

Napoleon I nodded slowly.

"A ship that extends the fleet’s reach," he said.

"Exactly," Napoleon II replied. "It protects the capital ships, projects force ahead of them, and maintains control of sea lanes."

Napoleon I leaned down to read the placard.

Specifications were engraved beneath the model:

Heavy Cruiser –

Displacement: 17,000 tons (standard).

Length: 205 meters.

Beam: 21 meters.

Draft: 6.5 meters.

Power:

— 4 × high-pressure boilers.

— 120,000 shaft horsepower.

Propulsion:

— 4 × geared turbines & 4 × screws.

Main Armament:

— 9 × deck-mounted guns in triple rotating turrets.

Secondary Armament:

— Dual-purpose deck guns and anti-aircraft batteries.

Armor Protection:

— Belt and deck armor optimized for cruiser engagements.

Crew Complement:

— Approx. 1,000 personnel.

Napoleon II guided him to the next case.

The model inside was smaller again. The hull sat low and narrow, the bow angled aggressively forward. Gun mounts were spaced along the centerline, with torpedo tubes clustered amidships. Even in miniature, the ship suggested speed more than mass.

Napoleon I studied it in silence for a moment.

"This one looks built to run," he said.

"It is," Napoleon II replied. "A destroyer. Fast escort and attack vessel."

"What are those tubes?"

"Those are called torpedo tubes, for the torpedoes," Napoleon II said.

"Torpedoes?"

"It’s a new weapon we are developing. It’s one of the main weapons used to sink a ship. Well you’ll see it in the future."

Napoleon I looked at the specifications.

Destroyer –

Displacement: 2,500 tons (standard).

Length: 114 meters.

Beam: 12 meters.

Draft: 4.2 meters.

Power:

— 4 × high-pressure boilers.

— 60,000 shaft horsepower.

Propulsion:

— 2 × geared turbines & 2 × screws.

Main Armament:

— 5 × deck-mounted guns in single turrets.

— Torpedo launchers mounted amidships.

Secondary Armament:

— Anti-aircraft guns and depth charge systems.

Armor Protection:

— Minimal protective plating focused on vital systems.

Crew Complement:

— Approx. 300 personnel.

"Now for the last."

Napoleon II stepped toward the final pedestal.

The model inside the glass case looked nothing like the surface ships they had just examined.

Its hull was smooth and cylindrical, tapering cleanly toward the bow and stern. There were no towering superstructures, no exposed guns, no deck clutter.

Napoleon I slowed as he approached. "What is this?"

"A submarine," he replied.

"There are no guns," he observed.

"Not in the traditional sense," Napoleon II said. "Its weapons are internal. Torpedoes launched from the bow. It fights without being seen."

Napoleon I circled the pedestal slowly, his expression tightening as he imagined the implication.

"A ship that does not present itself," he said. "It attacks... and vanishes."

"Exactly," Napoleon II answered. "It disrupts supply lines, hunts warships, and denies entire sea routes. Surface armor means little when the attack comes from below."

Napoleon I stopped at the bow of the model.

"And it can remain submerged?" he asked.

"For extended periods," Napoleon II said. "This design is optimized for underwater speed and endurance. Batteries, electric propulsion, and streamlined shaping allow it to move efficiently beneath the surface instead of merely diving to escape."

Napoleon I gave a slow nod.

"So the battlefield is no longer just the surface," he said.

Napoleon II gestured toward the placard beneath the case.

Specifications were engraved in precise lettering:

Submarine – Type XXI Inspired.

Displacement: 1,800 tons (surfaced).

Length: 76 meters.

Beam: 8 meters.

Draft: 6.5 meters.

Power:

— Diesel engines for surface running.

— Electric motors for submerged propulsion.

Propulsion:

— Twin shafts with optimized underwater screws.

Main Armament:

— Bow-mounted torpedo tubes with internal reload capacity.

Operational Features:

— Extended submerged endurance.

— Streamlined hull for underwater speed.

Crew Complement:

— Approx. 60 personnel.

"The final question would be how long to construct those ships?" Napoleon I asked.

"I’ll be honest, it’ll take two to three years since this is a new class of ships," Napoleon II said.

"Two or three years," Napoleon I bit his lips. "We would be defenseless against the warships of other nations."

"We still have ships-of-the-lines in our active fleet, so that should serve as a deterrence to foreign navies. They’ll be active until they are fully replaced."

"Okay and how many of them would be built in that timeline?"

"Well not only the Brest are building the ships, there are Arsenal de Lorient, Rotterdam, Arsenal de Toulon, Arsenal de Cherbourg, and many more shipyards of France. So more ships are laid across France. I can’t give the exact numbers because these ships differ in design. I’ll get back to you on that, Father. But in the year 1832 or 1833, we might have ourselves a new modern fleet."