>>35529573Ah crap. For the longest time I assumed what's in the Navy section reflects the state of naval technology in 1120 VTE. So by the time the tri fleet visits (1127) the project would've gotten far along that they can build a man-o-war sized steamship.
Also they aren't metal hulled. I've always described them as being fitted with an armored belt, rest are still all wood. But I have thought of them having metal struts that connect the plankings like HMS Unicron.
I don't want to completely follow the speed and steps as it happened irl since there are some key institutional, cultural and philosophical differences between the British and the Republic so I had them practically use screws first rather than paddles.
The Hoshiyomi connection can be fleshed out later.
Here's how I imagined the timeline for the development of steam powered vessels would be till 1130.
>~1090 VTE Condenser steam engines(Watt engines) invented>~1100 VTE First riverine steam boat built and tested by state funded institution>1105 VTE Theory for later steam boat for navies starts to be developed>1112 VTE Various test starts to be conducted by the Navy, regarding the best method for propelling steam ships>1120 VTE Settled on screws being the best method moving forward>1123 VTE Project to build the current 2 steam ships start~Late 1129 VTE Testing all completed, report to be published next year
If possible I would like to get more into how various technology are developed, manufactured and fielded that tie into the various institutions in the Republic. See if it fits what you originally envisioned, since half the reason why I wrote about the test ships are to fit with what's already there in the Navy section of the lore.
