Chapter 275

Haite is really short of money.

With his intermittent confession, Lorraine suddenly reacted that it was not the first time he heard his name.

Navy revitalization plan.

When she first went to New Orleans, Katrina bought a piece of information that seemed insignificant in old Bart's mouth.

[Jefferson suffered a political defeat in Boston. Because of the active performance of the French navy in naval warfare, the U.S. Navy revitalization plan he supported lost the majority support of the Continental Congress]

[his good friend Edmund Haite fell into an economic crisis. Two new destroyers under construction at Haite dock were discontinued, and Jefferson may face charges of wasting taxes]

Jefferson in this information undoubtedly refers to Mr. Thomas Jefferson, governor of Virginia.

He and Haite are good friends. Haite fell into an economic crisis because the United States abolished the ship building contract

But Lorraine couldn't understand why the governor of Virginia had to support the revitalization of the navy in Massachusetts, and even got into trouble.

Are there any dry stocks?

Lorraine, who had just opened her eyes, was very relaxed and asked questions without much thought.

Haite looked even more embarrassed.

"I didn't expect you to know so many things..." he said quietly. "In fact, Mr. Jefferson is not my good friend. Our friendship ends in knowing each other. What he really wants to help is General Robert Smith, the core cadre of democracy in the Continental Congress and the supervisor of the Charles River formation of the Navy."

Lorraine thought of the sampan governor he met in the old North Church yesterday. He was very young and kind, but he didn't seem to talk much. Lorraine didn't leave any impression on him except polite greetings.

But not remembering Smith doesn't mean Lorraine doesn't understand the bends.

The implementation of the Navy revitalization plan can enhance Smith's voice in Boston, just like Adams's efforts to help Hamilton in Baltimore, are based on the political strategy of expanding group influence.

The difference is that the Continental Army has an absolute advantage in Baltimore, so federalism has succeeded, while Boston has mixed people. No matter who doesn't want the Smith family to dominate, the revitalization of the navy has died, and democracy has naturally failed.

What should I say? This is politics.

Lorraine just suddenly became interested in the two so-called new destroyers and wondered what ship replaced Liang Jingru, which gave the Democrats the courage to think that Boston could be integrated through a few ships.

"Mr. Haite, if it's not troublesome, I'd like to visit the destroyers abandoned by the U.S. Navy."

"That..."

"Is there any difficulty? Did the United States still regard the two warships as private property after the contract was revoked?"

"That's not the reason, just..." Haite sighed dejectedly. "Forget it, please follow me to dock 1. When you see the real object, you can understand my mood."

Haite's mood

Soon, Lorraine was in the huge No. 1 dock of Haite shipyard.

This is probably one of the most advanced construction docks in the world, including dry dock, wet dock, supporting water warehouse, land warehouse, office area, processing area and new steam engine room used to replace manpower.

In his impression, Lorraine's last sight of a dock of this level goes back to his hometown, the Royal Navy dock in Plymouth, England, which is also recognized as the world's top dock.

Both sides are very similar in size. The length of dry and wet docks reaches 80m, which can accommodate the construction of the top-level first-class ships. The water tank is larger enough for two first-class ships to berth. The towering 70m high water gate can also meet the needs of this ship type for mast height.

This made Lorraine begin to doubt the American saying that the so-called "new Destroyer" would not be the code name of the class I ship made by the United States?

Walking forward, they soon came to the dry dock.

There is a huge skeleton lying on the shipbuilding platform, including keel, frame and part of the hull and bottom deck below the waterline. It is like walking into the grave of a giant. Under the erosion of time, only the prestige of the past is left.

Shaped ship materials are scattered around the skeleton. They are classified one by one. The only problem is that there is no one, and there are no workers in the whole dock.

Lorraine's eyes widened.

"This is..."

"This is the new ship originally ordered by the Navy."

"How long is she?"

"It is 62.2 meters long, 13.6 meters wide, with a length width ratio of 4.5, a design draft of 6.8 meters and a drainage capacity of 2200 tons."

"First class ship? Or second class ship?"

Haite shook his head nostalgically: "it's neither a class I ship nor a class II ship. We're just a private shipyard. Even if we spend a lot of money to rebuild the top dock, we don't have the confidence to build more than two layers of heavy artillery tanks."

"Her design has only 44 shipborne guns, 28 main guns and 24 pounds, and 10 auxiliary guns and 12 pounds. With two bow guns and four stern guns, her firepower is slightly higher than that of the current mainstream patrol ships, and she barely reaches the top in the fields of level 4 and below."

Lorraine frowned: "don't you think it's a waste of such a big physique?"

Haite smiled, desolate, proud, confident, as if there were other unspeakable emotions.

"Although her firepower is disappointing, it is because the United States can only build 24 pound guns. Moreover, in our design, her speed is nearly 13 knots. As long as she runs, no warship in the world can catch up with her."

"Speed type... Is it, road label?"

"As a warship, many of the detailed designs explored by the road label were finally rejected, but a few traces left, such as the bermudization of sails, the Baltimore ship type, the addition of wing sails and the lengthening of bowsprit, can still make her the fastest warship in the world! A pocket battleship with real goods and real prices!"

Pocket... Battleship

Looking at Haite's crazy face, a dangerous idea began to sprout in Lorraine's heart.

Pocket... Battleship!

……

"I'm going to buy Haite shipyard."

After saying goodbye to Haite and returning to the bunker, Lorraine kept calling all the sailors and urgently convened the interim Board of directors of the General Chamber of Commerce.

The sailors were not surprised by the call.

After all, they suffered a big loss last night. The Jackdaw was hammered on the berth by Shengsheng, but they didn't even know who the opponent was.

With Lorraine's temperament, this scene must be found.

Even if he was about to swallow it for some reason, Drake's pampered core sailors were ready to persuade him, because the dignity of the pirate flag could not be desecrated!

They waited and waited, anger lingering in their hearts, humiliation fermenting in their souls.

Then they finally waited for Lorraine's call, but

Excuseme？

Did the chairman go to inspect the investment project?

Is the project promising? Is the annual return high? Will the shareholders be satisfied? Is your brain broken?

Without saying a word, acharin slapped him on the table: "Captain, shouldn't our current topic be something else?"

"Others?" Lorraine tilted her head innocently.

"Like last night!"

Lorraine suddenly realized and asked, "find it, kill it and pay for it with blood. Is there any other way to deal with that thing last night?"

"Er..."

There was silence.

Only then did the sailors react that the doomed answer did not need to be discussed, but only action.

Lorraine waved his hand and asked acharin to sit back.

"Since you all care about last night, let's say a few words."

"First, mentality. The planner did a good job last night. We should be convinced."

"Second, emotion and anger can't solve any problems, but will affect judgment, so we need to vent last night."

"Third, action. The enemy is dark and I am clear. It is useless to say more about the so-called plan."

"Fourth, first of all, we are outsiders in Boston. If we want to act, we must first rely on a certain force, which is the least likely to be associated with that force."

"Five, retreat. On the day when the action always results, before that, we should first consider the retreat, that is, the problem of the ship."

"Six, finally, Boston is unstable and may fall at any time, and our identity is very sensitive. So we have to make ourselves safe before taking action."

"The above six......" Lorraine looked around the audience. "Any questions?"

Shake your head

"In that case, let's start today's board meeting. I'm going to buy Boston Haite shipyard..."