1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 237 Victory Port Shipyard ([-])
In terms of the technical reserve level of the manufacturing sector alone, even if the shipyard is not currently the strongest, it can at least rank among the top three.There are not only shipbuilding professionals such as Yue Zhiyun and Sun Changmi who graduated from the Maritime University, Wang Tom and other navigation experts with rich practical experience, but also a group of local shipbuilders who have been networked through various channels after crossing. , coupled with a large amount of modern ship information in the database, and a large number of keyboard experts in the Transit Group, it can be said that the pure technical strength is already very strong, far higher than other competitors of the same era.

The executive committee has also given high expectations and support to the development of new sailboats. All raw materials needed by the shipyard will be given priority in supply. If you don’t have any, you can buy them. If you can’t buy them outside, you can build them yourself. If you can’t make them yourself... ...Then consider modifying the plan.In short, as long as the executive committee can get it, the shipyard can have whatever it needs.

But perhaps it is precisely because the technical concept is too advanced compared with the contemporary level, on the contrary, the development process of the No. [-] test ship is full of various controversies.Not only the executive committee, but almost everyone involved in the development of the ship model hopes to make the test ship perfect and fully functional from the very beginning, and to overwhelm its contemporary maritime opponents in terms of shipbuilding technology.

Wishes are beautiful, but reality is cruel.Although everyone is well aware of the development direction of shipbuilding technology in the next few hundred years, it is a pity that due to the current manufacturing level and material limitations, it is impossible to build an iron-clad giant ship that will dominate the world in one fell swoop. The Ministry of Shipping The only thing that can be done is to build a powerful and easy-to-operate wooden sailboat based on the shipbuilding knowledge brought from later generations on the basis of wooden structure and sail power.Participants belonging to different groups also put forward various requirements or suggestions for this ship. As a result, the construction plan of the Ministry of Shipping began to be prepared before the crossing, and it has been revised again and again until recently. Still can't decide on the final plan.

Not long after the shipyard was built, the Ministry of Shipping had issued a report to apply for another test ship at the same time, because there are too many technical solutions, some of which cannot be put on the same ship for construction, and it is impossible to rely on only one ship. Try one by one.However, the Executive Committee believed that it would be too costly to start construction of two large ships at the same time, so there were a large number of small test ships later.Of course, these boats will not be wasted after they are built. After the plan is verified, they will be converted into fishing boats and allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture, or transformed into training boats for military camps to train future naval crews.

For the development of sailboats, the Ministry of Shipping has held countless technical seminars, and even the executive committee has held several special seminars, but the final result of each discussion is that no one can convince anyone, and public opinion Opinions also gradually formed several major factions.

The most vocal one is the Chinese sailing school. The opinion of this school is that the hull of the new sailing boat should still adopt the traditional pointed bottom shape of the Chinese sailing boat, and retain the hull structure such as watertight compartments. Only the bow, stern and sailing system Make technical improvements based on the experience of later generations.People who hold this kind of view account for the majority of the development of new sailboats. They believe that the hull shape and hull structure of Chinese style sailboats have already represented the future development direction of shipbuilding technology, and have also been widely used. A mature construction plan is undoubtedly going backwards in shipbuilding technology.

The other group of people believes that it is necessary to face up to the reality of this historical period. Western sailing ships can travel around the world, and there are also certain advantages in technology, and new sailing ships should learn from them.The cannons in the belly of the ship alone can never be realized by Chinese sailing ships, because Western sailing ships have a round bottom with a narrow top and a wide bottom. There is enough space in the hull to hold so many cannons, and this weight can also stabilize the ship. the role of the body.However, if a Chinese sailing ship wants to arrange a large number of cannons on the ship, they can only concentrate on the upper part of the hull. This will not only make the center of gravity too high but also limit the loading capacity of the cannons. Moreover, when one side of the ship's side fires concentratedly, the ship will lose its balance due to the recoil. , Even if it does not roll over and capsize, it will greatly affect the seaworthiness of the ship and the accuracy of artillery fire.

However, people who hold this view are generally keyboard experts. Although the voice is loud, they can’t come up with too many theoretical basis. Shouldn't it be like Pirates of the Caribbean, approaching each other and bombarding each other with shipboard guns?Since they have an advantage in their own artillery technology, they should fill the ship with densely packed artillery, regardless of whether they are East India, West India, or pirate fleets. If they encounter them, they should focus their fire and sink the opponent is the kingly way.

With the gradual implementation of various experimental schemes, the Chinese style sailing school gradually began to gain the upper hand, and the technical dispute gradually shifted from the debate of the school of shipbuilding technology to the debate of various technical details, such as whether to use horizontal sails or vertical sails, Soft sails or hard sails, whether it is necessary to use a square stern, whether the ribs of the hull should be equipped with steel structures, whether the bottom of the ship should be clad with copper, how to arrange the propulsion device for steam power in the future, and so on.

Once this kind of debate on technical details arises, it is more difficult to unify opinions than genre debates. There are often many improvement plans for a small technical detail, and the Ministry of Shipping needs to verify these plans one by one. It takes a lot of effort.For this reason, the frequency of technical seminars at the shipyard has also greatly increased, from twice a week in the past to at least once every two days at present.Yue Zhiyun and Sun Changmi, two white-faced scholars who were still a little green when they came to Guangzhou to report for duty, are now tanned like charcoal. Tom, known as the "three blacks in the shipyard"-basically the three of them can be regarded as the main technical backbone of the new sailboat development project.

When Li Nai came to the shipyard, everyone was holding a new round of technical seminars.The venue was set up under the shed where the material was piled up. Everyone sat down on a wooden pier and began to discuss the technical details that were not finished yesterday.Although everyone present saw Li Nai coming in, no one persuaded him to leave—Yue Zhiyun also represented the Ministry of Shipping because he wanted to hand over the second-hand ship and crew they brought from Guangzhou to "Fu Ruifeng". Went to the reception banquet held for Li Nai yesterday.Tao Donglai greeted him specifically, if Li Nai is free to transfer to the shipyard, let him see if there is anything he wants to see, and let him listen if he wants to listen. Shipbuilding is such a highly professional business, isn’t it? A master like Li Nai can understand it by listening to it casually, and there is no special need to keep it secret.

Therefore, everyone just glanced at Li Nai, then turned their heads and concentrated on the discussion, and then heard Yue Zhiyun say: "The truck this morning has delivered the newly processed steel connectors from Tian Du, and you can directly Installed on the ship. Although this ship is too late to catch up with the use of steel keels and ship ribs, the use of these steel connectors can also effectively strengthen the strength of the hull."

"What about the steel hollow mast we ordered? Can Tiandu deliver the goods as scheduled?" Sun Changmi asked with a cigarette butt in his mouth, squinting his eyes.He was squatting on the side of the road with his legs spread apart like an old farmer in the country. If he hadn't been wearing a hooded blouse unique to Haihan people, Li Nai who was watching would almost have recognized him as a local naturalized citizen.

"The mast is enough." Tom Wang shook his head and took up the conversation: "I contacted Roger yesterday. The plate bending machine used in the metallurgical workshop was not so big. I am afraid that it needs to be divided into multiple sections for processing, but there are also technical problems in welding. The old-fashioned They are still trying to find a solution for fear that the strength of the finished product will not meet the requirements.”

"Didn't we bring welding tools?" Yue Zhiyun asked in amazement.

"Beks said that the reserves of flux-cored welding wire and high-pressure gas cylinders are limited, so we need to use less now. It is better to think of other processing methods." Tom Wang explained.

"Aren't these things prepared for the current use? What's the point of saving?" Yue Zhiyun complained angrily: "Without the steel mast, we can't greatly increase the height of the mast, and if we don't increase the mast How to use the newly designed sails!"

Sun Changmi persuaded: "Boss Bai is right. Even if one or two masts are processed, it is only a temporary solution. In the future, we will still have to face the same technical problems when we finalize mass production. Of course we can solve them now." It's better."

Hearing this, Li Nai couldn't help interjecting and asked, "Why build a higher mast?"

"The higher the mast, the bigger the sail can be hung, so that the efficiency of wind power utilization will increase... Do you know what utilization efficiency is?" Yue Zhiyun couldn't help but ask back after explaining halfway.

Li Nai nodded and said, "I understand slightly, please continue."

"The current sea-going ships use wind power as the main power, so the sail's utilization rate of wind power is the main factor affecting the forward power of the ship. To solve this problem, we designed a new sail, mast and rigging structure. The utilization rate of wind power will be much better than the existing Fuchuan or Guangzhou Ship...of course, including those Galen boats of foreign devils." Yue Zhiyun explained to Li Nai very proudly: "Using the vertical sail Chinese style The sails of sailboats are easy to control and can flexibly use various wind directions, but the disadvantage is that the sails are few and small, and the actual effective area for receiving wind is not large. Western-style sailboats with horizontal sails have high enough masts, so they use The sail area can be larger, but because the mast is too high, it is not so easy to operate the sail, and the high mast must be equipped with various stays to ensure its stability, which greatly hinders the turning angle of the square sail. "

Li Nai half understood, and asked with some doubts: "I have seen the sailboats of the Westerners many times. The sails are numerous and dense, and it seems to be enough to make up for the defect of the sails not turning well."

"That's just what it looks like." Yue Zhiyun continued to explain: "Western-style sailboats have great limitations in design, because they blindly increase the area of ​​the wind, but the utilization rate of the sails on the wind is not as good as that of the wind. It is not as high as it looks. When the wind is downwind, the stay sail, the gaff sail and the mainsail cover each other, because the existence of the stay stays blocks the rotation angle of the main sail. When the side wind and the head wind can only rely on the stay sail to use the wind force, the use efficiency In terms of convenience and operation, it is far more flexible than Chinese sailboats."

"Since Mr. Yue thinks Chinese-style sailboats are so easy to use, why didn't anyone increase the sails by raising the mast?" Li Nai fully exposed his layman nature when he asked this question.

"Schooners can't add stays, otherwise the only advantage of flexibility will be gone, and Chinese sailboats are all sharp-bottomed boats, and the mast is too high, which will cause the center of gravity to be unstable." Of course, Yue Zhiyun also realized Li Nai's ignorance , and now he explained boldly: "And the sails of Chinese-style sailboats are too heavy, increasing the area will increase the weight, and the mast that is too high may not be able to support it in terms of strength, and it is easy to break when the wind is strong."

Then Li Nai suddenly realized: "That's why you want to build the hollow steel mast just now. It is to reduce the weight of the mast, increase its strength and height, and increase the area of ​​the sail."

Li Nai's drawing inferences from one instance to another was quick, and Yue Zhiyun immediately stopped the idea of ​​explaining to him in detail.The technological innovations adopted by the new sailboats in terms of masts, sails and rigging are far more than the steel hollow mast, but only this one is the most technologically advanced and the most difficult for outsiders to imitate, because it is very difficult in metal processing. Reach the level of the crossing group.As for other details and improvements, people with a discerning eye will probably be able to understand the secrets after seeing it once.

The Ministry of Shipping has made far more technical improvements to the upper deck facilities than the hull itself. The most important thing is the redesigned sail system based on modern mechanics.This new system adopts some of the characteristics of the Eastern and Western sails, but overall it is very different from them. It can be said to be another black technology weapon of the time-traveling group.

Early sailboats used the dynamic wind pressure generated by the wind blowing directly on the sails during the forward process, while modern sailboats use the pressure generated when the airflow flows over the arched sail surface. The driving force generated on the sails is far greater than the dynamic wind pressure.This principle sounds difficult to understand and is so abstract that it is difficult to visualize it intuitively, so it has not been applied to the design of sailboat sails at all in this era.

It was not until 1726, a hundred years later, that Daniel Bernoulli from the Swiss Bernoulli family proposed the "boundary layer surface effect", that is, the greater the flow velocity of the fluid, the lower the pressure, and the lower the flow velocity of the fluid, the greater the pressure.Then this great discovery was named "Bernoulli effect" by the scientific community. This is also one of the most important theorems of fluid mechanics, and it has been widely used in the fields of ship and aircraft manufacturing in the following centuries.Even the phenomenon of banana balls in football games can be perfectly explained by the "Bernoulli effect"-the football rotates and causes the air velocity on both sides to be inconsistent, so it will be deflected to the side with a greater velocity.

The horizontal sail structure used by Western sailing ships can only use dynamic wind pressure, that is to say, the cooking that occupies most of the sail area can only be used under the condition of downwind or sidewind, otherwise what the wind provides is not power but becomes a hindrance.Although the gaff sail can utilize part of the static wind pressure, its twisted shape and limited area make its practical effect very limited.

Although Chinese-style sailboats can take advantage of the effect of static wind pressure with relatively flexible sailing methods, the design of Chinese-style sailboats is designed for easy and efficient operation rather than the Bernoulli effect, and is limited by the height of the mast. With larger sails, this relative technical advantage is of limited practical use.

The Ministry of Shipping put a lot of thought into the design of the sail, verified no less than ten plans, and finally finalized the sail design plan that is closer to modern sailing ships.This design adopts the vertical sail structure, but it uses soft sails instead of Chinese hard sails. However, it is different from Western horizontal sails in that arched bamboo and wood spokes are added on both sides of the sail surface, and the middle of the spokes With the ropes threaded through the sail to hold it in place, the bowing of the sail when exposed to wind is limited to the curvature of the spokes.And this structure is different from the single-side spokes of Chinese hard sails.

Such an arched sail can make full use of the static wind pressure, and can rotate flexibly. It can effectively use the side wind or even the head wind to provide forward power. The efficiency of using wind power is far superior to that of traditional Chinese and Western sailboats.Moreover, with this kind of sail, there is no need to install auxiliary sails such as stay sails on the ship, and sailing is much simpler than that of Western-style sailboats.Calculated on the basis of the same sail area and external wind conditions, the Ministry of Shipping believes that the efficiency of the new sail designed based on hydrodynamics is at least one-third higher than that of the original Chinese and Western sails. With the addition of pulleys, the number of sailing manpower required will not increase much compared to the past.This also means that under the same conditions, the sailing speed of sailboats using new sails will also be greatly improved, which just meets the requirements of the Executive Committee for sailing convenience and increased speed.

Of course, this does not mean that the new sails are perfect and can be immediately applied to the sails that were used first.First of all, the production of canvas is a huge problem for the current time travel group.At present, the Time Travel Group does not have a textile industry. [-]% of the fabrics are imported from the outside world, and the remaining [-]% comes from the Jibe cloth supplied by the local indigenous people and the Group's own reserves.However, the existing external purchase channels have not found fabrics that are really suitable for making sails—at least according to the standards of the shipyard, there have not been any qualified products.The sails of the No. [-] experimental ship will be made from stock canvas brought from later generations.However, the inventory is limited after all. If you want to manufacture this kind of sails on a large scale in the future, you will have to face the problem of raw materials sooner or later.

Secondly, this design has only been used on a test ship with a very small displacement. It will take time to verify whether it will achieve the expected effect when it is actually used on a large ship, and what technical problems will arise during use. just work.

　After finishing this chapter, I will gossip a little.My knowledge of sailing is extremely limited, and I am just a keyboardist. I have read a lot of information in order to write this chapter, and there must be many fallacies.But what I want to say is that the debate on technical details only exists in the book, just like the debate on which guns should be developed by the time-traveling group first, and whether they should manufacture breech-loading weapons as soon as they come up. The upgrade of the technology tree It's just for the sake of the plot, to promote the development of the story in the book, and it's not beneficial to pursue the rationality of the details too much-the time travel is unreasonable.Of course, if there are major fallacies in technological upgrades, you are welcome to point them out, and let the small details that do not affect the development of the plot let it go with the wind. After all, this book is not an encyclopedic guide to technological development.Finally, I would like to thank all the great gods who provided a lot of reference materials on the Internet. There are too many people to thank them all.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)