alternatehistory.com

13 July

An access agreement is negotiated between Poland (referred to in the documents as "Congress Poland" in order not to say for certain that the state is independent) and the Kingdom of Prussia, for access up the Motława river. This provides Poland with an important route to the sea.


15 July

Cowper Coles presents his design sketches for the Captain to the turret committee. Much to his disappointment, they do not immediately declare them a work of genius - instead finding exception with the freeboard, the rigging, various minor features and (especially) the strange-seeming turret design.
Coles' turrets here are essentially enclosures on the centreline of the ship, and in order to achieve this they surround the masts themselves - each mast pokes up through the middle of a turret, of which there are three, and the design thus allows for six guns to fire on the broadside or two directly ahead or astern.

The solution in Monarch is much simpler (the two turrets are at either end of the superstructure, with masts not constrained by turret placement), but does mean that there are blind arcs - in order to shoot on these arcs the guns would have to fire shells right through the masts.


19 July

A maritime accident takes place, where the Bohemian runs aground off the coast of Ireland in the middle of a storm. The ship's damage is too extensive to save her, and she breaks up after about an hour - during which roughly two hundred and sixty of the three hundred and twenty passengers are rescued.
Among those who does not survive is the author Charles Dickens, whose efforts to save his young lover Ellen Teman result in her survival and his death. The news of their relationship will cause something of a scandal in the Victorian world, though muted by the circumstances in which it has been revealed.


22 July

Napoleon III is apprised of the number of French soldiers who arrive in Mexico each year to keep up the French commitment there (replacing those returning home, usually as a result of some illness). The numbers are mildly worrying, though it does mean that much of the French army is gaining experience of dispersed deployment.


27 July

The Danish Army, after much consideration, determines to replace or augment their muzzle-loading rifles with a large supply of the Spencer repeating rifle. It is hoped that this transition will reduce the danger from future engagements with Prussian infantry, as it would permit Danish troops to produce a similar if not greater overall volume of fire.


30 July

Much to the surprise of some, President McClellan has been proving to be quietly competent. (Some are more surprised about the quiet than the competence.)
On this date, the first of the Long Island forts is laid out - these defensive works are anticipated to take several years to fully complete, on account of the many demands on the time of construction workers and the high level of quality required.


3 August

It is moved in Parliament that a committee on Army Reform should be established, particularly in light of the relative proximity of the expirations of the enlistments of most soldiers associated with the post-Crimea buildup (whose enlistments would end around 1867-8).


5 August

Ericsson is asked somewhat sarcastically if the Puritan can actually hit targets more than 300-400 yards away, a reference to how his Passaic design was found in later analysis to have a 15 inch gun slated for a port designed for a smaller weapon. This would completely prevent the gun elevating or being aimed, thus making it essentially worthless against distant targets - the first bounce of the cannonball would render it unable to penetrate even British armour of 1862, while a shell would be destroyed.
The engineer assures his questioner that the guns will elevate, and indeed that they will be quite accurate at long range. (This last is perhaps an exaggeration.)


8 August

The Duke of Cambridge is assured that he will not be forced to enact the recommendations of the Army committee - rather, that the committee will issue strong recommendations (and that any recommendations he strongly disapproves of will go to a full Parliamentary vote). This alleviates some of his worries.