27 August
The Vanderbilt takes a prize, this time effectively winning a jackpot - a British sail ship hauling coal to Alexandria. This vessel changes the plans of Vanderbilt's captain, and instead of making for Santorini he shapes his course for the small (and uninhabited) island of Despotiko, to fully coal up there and potentially use the collier (renamed the Centreville by her new commander after a coal town in eastern Pennsylvania) to fuel further raids.
28 August
Based on reports from the field, the decision is made to adopt the Terry and Westley-Richards for all British regular and militia cavalry. As such major orders are made for both weapons (about 25,000 each) subject to prompt delivery of installments.
In keeping with what is now standard British custom, the former cavalry carbines will be transferred to colonial use, with this resulting in an upgrade for Indian cavalry (among others). The switch to breech loading weapons also causes a rethink of standard cavalry doctrine, with one officer suggesting that the use of pack mules for spare ammunition should be considered on a per-troop basis (since a few minutes of firing with the Terry can consume large amounts of ammunition.)
1 September
HMS Hector is launched. Slower and cheaper than Warrior, she is nevertheless a rather better vessel than the Defence class and mounts two thirds the guns of Warrior (as opposed to less than one half as in Defence) in shore bombardment configuration; she also possesses the capability to switch to anti-armour configuration and mount more 68-lber guns at the expense of 110-lber guns. She also has a double bottom and good compartmentalization.
Hector is not an ideal ship - she is overweight by 300 tons, thus limiting her ability to carry coal and meaning some guns (and equipment) is to be left off - and in a sense she, like her sister and like some other ships still under construction, is a stop-gap until the completion of Minotaur (now halfway to being launched).
2 September
Vanderbilt successfully escapes from the attentions of HMS Iris, burning Welsh coal profligately to keep up full speed. Her captain aims for Heraklion until Iris is hull down and her smoke is invisible, then alters course to his actual base.
4 September
Complicated Senate and House election preparations take place in Kentucky. The Union elections are decried as illegitimate by the Confederates, who are busily setting up local elections, and the ballot paper situation can best be described as confusing.
5 September
About this date is when Reed invents the Breastwork Monitor. Already considered as the likely successor for Watts, he has been given the task of designing harbour defence vessels for Pearl Harbour which are capable of transitting the Pacific but still useful close in-shore.
The Breastwork design is his solution, and will become (after further refinement) the two ships of the Lava class - A'a and Pahoehoe, named by King Kamehameha on a visit to Britain. The basic concept is ingenious - the breastwork is essentially a superstructure, which raises the freeboard of the ships for transit without actually increasing the displacement by very much. (This superstructure does not extend to the provision of masts, so they are still required to travel in company with a collier to increase their operational range - a problem which Reed feels is worth the cost as these vessels will only ever make one long cruise.)
The most notable part of this design, however, is that the gun turrets are at either end of the superstructure - a feature which will make these ships the ultimate ancestors of all centreline armament battleships.
7 September
The crisis in Prussia escalates, with the Roon reforms formally rejected by the Landtag.
Wilhelm I feels himself unable to retain the confidence of the chamber, and informs his son that he is considering abdication. The Crown Prince (Frederick) is initially opposed, but at the same time he feels he may be able to resolve the deadlock - his discussions with his relative the Duke of Cambridge in Britain have given him some interesting ideas.
It is also clear that the deadlock is causing considerable stress to Wilhelm I.
9 September
While travel time means Bismarck is not up to date with the latest developments in the Prussian crisis, he can still see things are getting bad back home.
Meanwhile, in Havana, the main topic of discussion is the relative merits of uti possedis, status quo ante (and what that means for a civil war), popular sovereignty and cultural similarity as the basis for discussion for the peace treaties. Of note is that the British have dropped their claim to lower Michigan, and that the Union has admitted that retaining Indian Territory would be difficult even if the Confederacy is restricted solely to actively seceding states.
12 September
Abdication of Wilhelm I of Prussia in favour of his son. Frederick is to have a formal coronation later in the month, but his solution to the deadlock is already undergoing consideration in the Landtag - essentially, the conceit is that the fitter and more skilled Landwehr should be attached to individual formations of the regular army (for example, a brigade would consist of one regular regiment and multiple Landwehr regiments) with yearly refresher courses for the Landwehr on a seasonal rotation. The idea behind this is that this renders 'quick' offensive war difficult while permitting a general mobilization for defensive actions, and also ties together the regular army with the popular Landwehr - thus increasing regional loyalties and hence morale, while aiming for a commonality of skill. The staggered rotation of formations undergoing their yearly refresher course also means that the size of the army actually available to fight an invasion is generally undiminished, and that the mobilization pool is actually larger without requiring more time in the army for young men.
Artillery and regular cavalry are to be permanently maintained.
This solution pleases the Landtag as it effectively undercuts their greatest fear - that conservative elements in the army are planning on sidelining the liberal, broad-base Landwehr. The full manning of the artillery, generally the province of educated recruits, also provides for this.
Actual implementation is not so easy as the rosy picture presented by Frederick III, but the system is nevertheless generally considered workable.
