Wild North America 1846

Chapter 390 Leading the Development of Technology

Ironclad

Accompanied by the Admiral of the Navy, His Majesty the Emperor carefully inspected one gun position after another, and even tried the weight of the 203mm shells and the silk-wrapped launch explosive package with his own hands, and communicated with the burly and majestic ammunition loader.

The 8-inch artillery has almost reached the extreme of manual loading.

Larger caliber artillery requires hydraulic mechanical assistance. It needs to be equipped with bilge ammunition storage, mechanical lifting mechanism and ammunition feeding mechanism. This is a complete set of sophisticated mechanical devices, and the purchase cost of the artillery has doubled.

Even if the Imperial Navy buys it at a relatively favorable price, the price of a super-large-caliber artillery will not be less than 6.2 to 6.5 yuan. The equipment cost of four main naval guns can almost build a "Gust"-class cruiser. It can be seen that Its cost is high.

Today
The layout of Tang-style warships has become an important trend in the development of the world navy, and its representative technical features have three points;

First, abandoning the complicated design of sail power and side paddle wheels, the only driving method is to use a steam engine to drive the propeller. This technological trend has many characteristics such as simplicity, practicality, and low cost.

Second, it pays special attention to the performance of high-sea navigation, and draws on the design of immigrant ships. The hull is relatively large and heavy, and the crew's living facilities are complete. The fuel-fired boiler in the power cabin is a typical feature.

Third, compared with the same type of ships of the world's naval powers, the firepower configuration of its main guns and auxiliary guns is generally weak, and dozens of artillery pieces will not be deployed at every turn, but each artillery piece is technologically advanced, and its striking power cannot be underestimated.

就像眼前这艘“狂风”号装甲巡洋舰，共计4980吨的满排水量，只装备了4门8英寸主舰炮（203毫米）和10门7英寸副炮（178毫米）。

Compared with the British, French and other countries of the same type, the number of artillery guns is relatively small, and the caliber is relatively small. However, due to the adoption of the world's top artillery technology, the power is not inferior at all, and even the armor-piercing power is even better.

The British Royal Navy is very greedy for the advanced artillery technology of the Tang Empire, but the two sides have not reached an agreement so far.

Turning around on the battleship, Emperor Li Cha was about to go down to the engine room to take a look, which made Marshal Pan Hengchen panicked, and quickly raised his hands to salute and persuaded him;

"Qi Zou Your Majesty; the space in the engine room is narrow, the working environment is harsh, and the air is extremely dirty. I beg your Majesty to stop and don't pollute the holy bow, otherwise I will wait for death!"

"What nonsense? Could it be that I can only look at the glamorous deck operations, but can't go deep into the most core departments of the ship?" After Li Cha was stopped, his expression was displeased, and he turned to ask others; "Do you think so too?"

"Your Majesty, I beg you to take care of your holy bow, and don't get involved in any danger!" All the ministers saluted in unison in response.

Li Cha frowned suddenly, and reprimanded unhappily;

"Simply absurd!
Whether it is the king of a country or the commander of an army, there is no noble person who cannot go deep into the front line for inspection. Soldiers can go, officers can go, then marshals can go down, and emperors can go down naturally.

Is the division of labor in the army not about being dirty or not?
The ship's engine room is one of the most core departments. It is like the human heart, providing the source of power for the ship's navigation. It is one of the components of the combat effectiveness of the entire ironclad ship and is inseparable.

You Royal Navy should not artificially divide ship work into 369 grades. Although the officers and soldiers who come out of the engine room are covered with putty, their contributions are noble and pure, like gold without impurities.

Would you like to come down and see for yourself? Anyway, the space in the engine room is small, and it can't take up so many people. I will definitely go down, and no one can stop it. "

After finishing speaking, Li Cha walked down the ladder next to the cabin door.

"My servant welcomes Your Majesty, Long live Your Majesty, Long live Your Majesty, Long live Your Majesty!"

Li Cha was stunned just as he stepped down from the engine room. Dozens of officers and soldiers who were only wearing sleeveless short jackets knelt down on the ground in unison. , I will die without regrets."

"Everyone loves you in peace, no courtesy!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty Ron."

At this time, smoke was steaming in the engine room, and the temperature was quite high. It was about 20 degrees outside, but it was not lower than 35 degrees in the cabin.

There are oily and black sweat beads on the arms of all the big men here. It is the flying fly ash sticking to the body after the burning of the bilge, and the oil gas from the incomplete combustion of heavy oil. The environment can be said to be quite harsh.

The machinery of this era is big and clumsy, and the sealing is not good. Most of the black smoke from the boiler can be discharged from the chimney, and a small part remains at the bottom.

It would be better if this bilge was opened by a ship. There would be cool sea breeze blowing into the cabin along the pipes, and the stuffy air mixed with smoke oil would be discharged.

Even if the ship stopped at the pier and did not leave, the oil, gas and coal ash deposited in the bilge had nowhere to go, and could only accumulate more and more, making people feel as if they were walking through the black mist, and they were really ecstatic.

The "Gust" class cruiser is equipped with 8 high-pressure oil-fired boilers to drive two 3-expansion steam main engines to drive the propellers to work. There are also two generators connected to diesel engines in the engine room to provide engine room lighting and signal lights for the entire ship. .

just think about it
In such a small environment, 8 boilers are arranged, and two large steam engines, generators, and various high-pressure pipelines are arranged in the center, hundreds of manual valves, several coal conveyor belts and some necessary equipment, and dozens more Boy, how cramped and cramped is this power cabin?
It is very difficult to start a steam engine. First, the boiler needs to be boosted, and then the auxiliary engine drives the main gear to rotate, so that the two steam engines can be started successively. This process takes several hours.

Once it is started, it is impossible to turn off the engine. Unless the entire voyage ends and returns to the dock to berth, it will always be in working condition.

In the entire ship, the engine room has the most officers and soldiers, the most tiring work, and the highest requirements. Just hundreds of steam control valves make people dizzy.

His majesty's thoughtful words deeply moved the officers and soldiers on board, so they knelt down in gratitude.

"Let's send the order to sail first." Li Cha ordered, and Marshal Pan Hengchen waved his hand and immediately went to execute it.

The officers and soldiers in the engine room immediately moved into action, only to hear a loud bang, and another bang, and the two thick propeller drive shafts at the tops of the contact discs the size of a small round table were pressed tightly to rotate The power output disc drives the propeller shaft to rotate.

There was an obvious movement under the feet, and the ship had slowly left the dock.

Eight sailors threw off their arms and began to add coal to the boiler, and several other non-commissioned officers opened the valve to output high-pressure steam. They needed to maintain the balance of the pressure output of the boiler.

While the officers and soldiers were operating it, Li Cha walked up to the working triple-expansion steam engine, looked at it and asked, "How is the power output of this machine? Is it reliable and durable?"

Marshal Pan Hengchen took a step forward and replied respectfully;

"Show Your Majesty;
The ship is equipped with the second-generation high-power triple-expansion steam engine improved and developed by Chang'an Heavy Machinery Factory. Each engine has a rated power of 2 horsepower, and the total of two engines is 3800 horsepower. The cruising speed is 7600-11 knots.

The matching boiler can use heavy oil to support combustion, pushing the battleship section to reach a high speed of 16 knots in a short period of time, and the maximum does not exceed 6 hours.

After years of technological improvement, this steam engine has eliminated the disadvantages of being easy to stall. The longest stable working time has reached 37 days. It can be said that it is the best steam ship power in the world today.

Especially in terms of stability, compared with the British-made steam engine that shuts down every three days, the technical level is much better, and it has been unanimously praised by the engineers and soldiers.

Even if it is used as the power of a higher-level warship, Weichen thinks it is a qualified choice. "

"Well, in the process of use, we must constantly put forward suggestions for improvement, so as to urge steam engine manufacturers to improve their craftsmanship and production levels, so as to provide better power plants for the Royal Navy. For example, in the future... can a steam engine be used to drive the entire ship? Possibility of a ship?"

"My minister understands, and must bear in mind His Majesty's instruction."

"These high-pressure oil-fired boilers..." Li Cha shook his head after looking at it. It is indeed spectacular to have 8 or 10 large boilers in a row in the engine room, but it is also too labor-intensive.

At least two boiler soldiers are arranged for each boiler, and they take turns to deliver coal to the boiler with large shovels. When sailing at full speed, two people need to work together, sweating profusely.

Today's mechanization level is low, and using manpower is the easiest way to save money. This will be the case for the next 100 years, and it cannot be changed for the time being.

The previous naval battles of the North American War showed that the demise of the gun-ported main gun layout and the advent of the era of rotatable naval guns.

The rotatable naval guns commonly equipped in the Tang Empire have experienced the test of war and proved to be an advanced and effective development direction, which has been generally accepted by the world's advanced naval countries.

The most obvious example;
It was during the North American War that the British Royal Navy was slow to respond due to the persistence of conservatives. The conservatives in the Royal Navy stubbornly rejected any warships that did not match their cognition. Until 1859, they were still developing the "Barrier" class sailing battleship. This is a hybrid battleship with an 8000-horsepower steam engine as auxiliary power, but the main power is still a wooden sail warship wrapped in iron armor, and it uses a traditional three-deck gun port layout.

Until 1861

The Royal Navy was very horrified to find that the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire was killing all directions in North America, beating all the Yankee sail warships to the ground, and the French Navy started construction of a total of 10 "Provence" class ironclad ships, all of which adopted the rotating turret design.

The report of the observation group of the Royal Navy also proves that in previous naval battles, the rotating turret has unparalleled superiority.

The British Royal Navy hurriedly compared its warriors with the "Provence" class on the opposite side, and felt a bit cold in their hearts.

I can't fight, I can't run, and there is no opponent to resist the beating. No matter how I look at it, I feel that I am going to die, so I hurriedly stopped the construction plan of the "Barrier" class sailing battleship, and canceled the upper tier for the first 4 ships with a higher degree of construction completion. The gun deck has undergone significant technical changes.

But the final product is not satisfactory, because it is driven by the combination of sail and steam power, the "Barrier" class sail battleship also follows the previous characteristics of extremely complicated deck layout and narrow space, and the continuity of ocean voyage is extremely poor.

Originally, I wanted to take care of both ends, but I couldn't take care of both ends.

When His Majesty the Emperor, Earl Pan Hengchen and others came out of the hold, they couldn't help laughing at each other's disheveled faces.

Said; "Hahaha...Pan Aiqing didn't do much when she went down to the cabin, but she seemed to have put in a lot of effort. If she were to sing on stage, she wouldn't need to make up. This is just right."

"Wei Chen is fortunate to be able to accompany Sheng Gong, not to mention mere coal ashes, and he doesn't frown at all in water or fire."

"Then let's freshen up for a while before continuing?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding. How dare I disobey my orders?"

"Hahaha...Okay."

After leaving the pier, the huge iron-clad cruiser "Guangfeng" galloped towards the depths of the blue Pacific Ocean in the distance, followed by two "Akizuki"-class armored destroyers, and the three warships sailed out of the bay in the shape of "pin". Dive headlong into the vast Pacific Ocean...

After freshening up, had some refreshment.

Accompanied by everyone, Li Cha came to the command tower with great enthusiasm, and sat down on the only commanding position in the command tower. Marshal Pan Hengchen stood beside him, and introduced the new technology used by this ship graciously.

The ironclad ship has fully used wires and lights, and uses the most advanced telephone technology in today's scientific and technological world, which can transmit orders to the engine room and various gun positions in the first time, which greatly improves combat efficiency.

In 1859, German inventor Johann Philip Reiss invented the original telephone device, which was able to transmit voice 100 meters away, but only in one direction.

The military of the Kingdom of Datang was keenly aware of the military value of this technology, so it purchased the patent and conducted in-depth research, and soon applied the telephone device to the ironclad cruiser "Guangfeng".

And this is the first warship in the world to be equipped with a telephone, and it works really well in practice.

"The military application value of this technology is very high. If there was telephone technology during the North American War, the headquarters could issue a single order to each division, each regiment, and coordinate the combat operations of the entire battlefield, which would undoubtedly improve the entire army. The speed of response." Li Cha nodded in affirmation, and then said;
"The fly in the ointment is that it can only communicate in one way, and this technology should be further improved to achieve the effect of two-way communication.

In this case
The superior can issue orders and get immediate feedback from the front-line troops, so as to adjust the combat plan in time, and the military value will be even greater.

For the Secretariat's record, this technological development needs to be followed up, and we will see if it is possible to apply it to civilian applications in the future. "

"My minister complies with the order." Zheng Yuan, the head of the secretariat, replied respectfully.

(End of this chapter)