Britannia's Fist: From Civil War to World War: An Alternate History by Peter G. Tsouras Page B

spoke in French. Hancock, not to be outdone, also switched, showing a remarkable grasp of French military terminology.
    “Yes, I’m afraid the French were the first to build a serious ironclad, but they were following the example of the British ironclad batteries in the Russian War of the last decade. But our
Warrior
class put theFrench right where they belong—in second place. The HMS
Warrior
and her sister-ship,
Black Prince
, were designed and built in record time. They are so superior to the French ships that there is no comparison. The
Warriors
are completely iron ships while the
Gloires
are wooden hulls with only ironclad casements.
Warriors
are almost 65 percent larger and are meant for open-ocean sailing whereas the Frenchies would have a hard go of it anywhere but the Channel and the Mediterranean. Our armament is clearly superior as well with twenty-six 68-pounders, four 70-pounders, and eleven breech-loading rifled 110-pounders of Mr. Armstrong’s manufacture against the French thirty-six 6.4-inch rifled guns. All the British guns are superior as is our powder, the best the world.” 21
    Sharpe thought that Admiral Dahlgren might disagree. He was not known as “the father of American naval ordnance” for nothing. His series of Dahlgren guns at IX, X, XI, and XV inches were considered by us to be the best in the world. The Royal Navy had tried to buy Dalgreen guns in large numbers, but the United States had declined to share such an advantage.
    Hancock continued, “There is another area in which we completely outclass the French—no private French foundry can roll the armor necessary for such a ship; a number of British establishments can do that with ease. The French simply do not have the iron industry to support Napoleon’s ambitions of an ironclad fleet.”
    Hancock’s tail was up as he listed every point of British naval superiority over the French, which had the unspoken message that that superiority applied to the United States as well. “Why, sir, if these facts do not impress you, perhaps the words of Mr. Dickens might give a more poetic impression. He said after a recent visit to the
Warrior
that she was, and I quote, ‘A black vicious ugly customer as ever I saw, whale-like in size, and with as terrible a row of incisor teeth as ever closed on a French frigate.’ Another gentleman described her as ‘a black snake among rabbits.’ Having seen her myself, I can attest that the Mr. Dickens has caught its menace most properly.”
    Sharpe was enjoying the class on British naval technology, all grist for his intelligence mill. He had concentrated so much on the Confederate Army that it was refreshing to learn about the service of another country. He had scrupulously forwarded every bit of naval intelligence that came his way to the Navy and had learned something by way of it. He prodded Hancock further. “And our ironclads?”
    “Why, sir, they are interesting designs, to be sure, but are dwarfed by the
Warriors
. Your
Passaic
class monitors have, indeed, proved to be a gallant, hard-fighting class but weigh in at 1,335 tons to the
Warrior
’s 9,210, and only two guns to forty. I wager that none of them would fare well in an open-ocean voyage either.”
    “I’m afraid you have me, Captain. I’m just a soldier and no naval expert.”
    Wolseley had been following all this carefully. His good eye widened a bit. 22

4 .
Gallantry on Crutches
     
WASHINGTON NAVY YARD, WASHINGTON, D.C., 8:00 AM , AUGUST 7, 1863
    The President’s carriage clattered through the Navy Yard’s brick gates to the precision salute of the Marine guards. Superintendent Hardwood was aware of Lincoln’s fascination for all things mechanical, and the Yard drew him like a magnet. It was an opportunity to polish the Navy’s reputation with a smart military display. He never did figure out that Lincoln simply didn’t care about that aspect.
    What Lincoln cared about was winning the war. He may have been a lawyer from the