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Hello Don: Yes, a similar discussion ensued while Carl was building “Magenta”. He finally decided to leave the interior alone, except for the boat storage structures. There is a large opening at the stern end of the top deck to raise boats up from within. And as you can see on the side view of image 46 (at the top), there are several boats shown stored inside. Carl’s Magenta build report is here on this site, and his elaborate structure for the boat storage is worth looking at. I think the French Naval Architects created the unusual boat storage and deployment systems to frustrate the modelers of the 21st century.
Also the information you provided from the book by “Theodore Ropp, The Development of a Modern Navy” will be very helpful. The image you showed is one I had not seen before. It appears to be early in Neptune’s career, based on the paint scheme. Also, your notes from the book have corrected an error I have been making up to this point. Observers of this project may have noticed that I have been referring to the four main guns as 305mm (12-inch). As you pointed out, the guns were 13.4-inch guns, which would make them about 340mm. The French navy was not alone in the use of 13 inch guns at this time. If I am correct, the U.S. Navy used 13 inch guns on BB-1 Indiana, BB-2 Massachusetts and BB-3 Oregon.
“ . . . planning a removable superstructure to render it visible?” . . .
Indeed! Perhaps I need to give that some thought.
Mike
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