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Chapter 1209 New Steamship Order

On the calm surface of the Bohai Sea, a steam iron-clad ship emitting black smoke was sailing against the wind, and the Qinglong flag hung on it fluttered in the sea breeze.Behind the steam ironclad ship, there is a white wave mark.

"fire!"

When the steam ironclad sailed into the sea without fishing boats, the naval officer gave the order to bombard.

boom!boom!boom!
The 40-pound guns on the ship's side were fired in sequence, and a salvo came down. The smoke from the gunpowder covered the upper deck, seriously affecting the sight of the naval officers on the upper deck.

But for these naval officers of the age of galleons, the white smoke from black powder was commonplace.

"The range of the [-]-pound gun is indeed the same as that reported by the arsenal, but we don't know the hit rate. We will test its accuracy when we practice."

Nelson put down the telescope, and he was able to judge the range of the artillery by the water column stirred up by the shell in the telescope.

"In order to make this warship stable and reliable, our shipyard has carefully studied its ability to resist wind and waves. The structural strength should be lower than ordinary storms. Unless it encounters hurricanes and murderous waves, it will not be easily destroyed. Destroyed. There are still watertight compartments on the bottom floor, even if some compartments are flooded, they can still sail to nearby ports." The engineer of the ironclad ship said triumphantly.

Building this kind of ironclad ship for war gave them a greater sense of accomplishment than building a giant cable ship like the Vostok.

Military ships often require stronger hulls, and the performance also requires the limit that current technology and materials can achieve.

"In order to operate this ship, the Ministry of the Navy has drawn troops from various fleets to form the ship's operating team. Next, we need to fine-tune it."

Admiralty officers went around the ship to see if the planned manning was redundant or missing.

"At this time, our Nanyang Fleet is assisting the No.12 Corps in Nanyang to launch an offensive against the indigenous kingdoms. At the same time, we manage the fleets of various provinces and countries that trade in Nanyang, wipe out the native pirates in Nanyang, and send a squadron to the Mughals. Therefore, the subordinates believe that this ironclad ship should belong to our Nanyang Fleet to help us complete complex tasks.” Naval officers from the Nanyang Fleet took the lead in vying for the ownership of the first ironclad ship.

No one will doubt the combat capability of the strong ship cannon after seeing the real thing.

"The Beiyang Fleet wants to maintain our navy's prestige in the Yellow Sea and the Sea of ​​Japan, and deter the treacherous Japanese warriors. It also needs a warship that makes them desperate. I see an ironclad ship that should be given to our Beiyang Fleet." Zheng Zhilong, who returned from Koryo, also joined the battle for the ironclad ship.

The empire has four fleets, and each fleet wants to be the first to own such an ironclad ship in order to enhance the prestige of its own fleet.

The topic that the senior officers of these fleets often get together is to compare the number of ships and the weight of the cannons of each other's fleets, and the hottest thing in front of them is this ironclad ship. Bragging in front of officers for years.

"The matter of building a steam iron-clad ship was proposed by me to the military master. Now that the iron-clad ship is built, theoretically it should be allocated to our Zhili fleet to protect the safety of the imperial capital in Weihaiwei."

Nelson also had the cheek to take the steam ironclad.Owning an invincible battleship is undoubtedly the lifelong dream of all admirals. He really doesn't want to give up the only steam ironclad ship in front of him easily to his subordinates.

"The commander-in-chief has already competed in person, how can we fight?"

"The Zhili Fleet already has several powerful sailing battleships, including the Victory, and several other sailing battleships that are only one size smaller than the Victory. Our other three fleets can't compete."

Zheng Zhilong and a group of naval officers from other fleets are all envious of the Zhili fleet. The Zhili fleet is almost all sailing battleships of later generations. If this ironclad ship is incorporated into the Zhili fleet, then the Zhili fleet and the other three fleets The gap between them is widening.

The Minister of the Navy also served as the commander of the Zhili Fleet. Nelson wanted to win this ironclad ship for the Zhili Fleet, but no one really could beat him.

"After half a month's training in Dalian Port, the crew will go to Tianjin Wei to wait for the military lord to review, let the military lord name the ship, and at the same time, the military lord will distribute it. What do you think?" Although Nelson is jealous of the ironclad ship, he still wants to capture it in a fair way.

"That's good." Many officers replied.

Although Chu Yun might favor Nelson, who was absolutely loyal to him, the people in the other three fleets thought that there was still a chance to assign this ship to their own fleet.

"My lord, are you still satisfied with this ironclad ship?" The director of the first shipbuilding factory came over and asked.

"Whether it is performance or design, we are very satisfied." Nelson did not reserve his praise.

"Then about the new order..." the factory manager greeted him with a smile.

The No. [-] Shipbuilding Factory focuses on the production of steamships and needs a large number of ship designers and skilled shipbuilders. These people have to eat. If they can't pay the wages, they may be poached by other rising shipyards.

And to keep the shipyards up and running, there needs to be a constant shipbuilding program.

"The Admiralty intends to order a steam trainer ship, two steam frigates of about 1200 tons, and four steam gunboats of about 400 tons from your shipyard. As long as you can produce them within three months to satisfy our Admiralty design proposal, then we will hand over the order of these 7 ships to you." Nelson said.

When the factory director heard that the Ministry of the Navy had taken down 7 ships in one go, his eyes lit up.

Although these seven steamships are much smaller than the Secret-class ironclad ships, the seven steamships together are still a large order.

"It shouldn't be a problem to complete the design of training ships, frigates, and gunboats within three months. We already have the manufacturing technology for 3000-ton ironclad ships, and we only need to divide designers into several groups to design at the same time. The training ships are used to Train sailors for ironclad combat, but what are the two 1200-ton steam frigates and four 400-ton gunboats used for? If the main purpose is known, our designers may include this consideration in the blueprint " asked the factory manager.

"It's okay to say, it's mainly used to patrol the coast of some important facilities in Southeast Asia, to prevent pirates from intruding on important facilities and ports, and to seize spice smuggling ships," Nelson said.

(End of this chapter)