Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 245 Launching

In Bopu Port, colorful flags are fluttering.

On the temporary viewing stand of the shipyard, all the officials who passed through the regime were well-dressed: all the committee members changed into more decent clothes in their luggage. There are more colors and more exquisite fabrics.

Regarding the issue of the official costumes of the traversers, a few days ago, Dan Pain Stars had made a proposal on the internal BBS.It is currently in the preliminary discussion stage.According to Wen Desi's experience, this kind of discussion will not be fruitful without two or three weeks.

"Ship Zero" stands quietly in the dock, the scaffolding on all sides has been removed, and the hull work has been completed, leaving only the deck facilities such as masts and sails that have not been installed.The steam engine in the dock is driving the water pump to inject water into the dock. As the chief designer of the ship, Wen Desi has mixed feelings about being able to guide the construction of a real sea ship: proud and uneasy.

Fortunately, Zhang Jiji, the shipbuilder, was there. Wen Desi took a look at Zhang Jiji, who was grinning from ear to ear. As the chief shipbuilder of the shipyard, he sat side by side with the boss of the Lin family on the viewing platform. It can be said that he is proud of the spring breeze-the successful completion of the zero ship means that his status in the hearts of the short-haired people has been greatly improved, and he has also received an extra bonus.

The technicians headed by Wen Desi originally had no confidence in shipbuilding. Although they knew a lot, many practical engineering and technical problems encountered in the shipbuilding process were actually solved by shipbuilders using traditional methods.The main contribution of the traveler is the overall conception and modern management methods, which can be regarded as a great integration of ancient and modern technologies and concepts.

A few days before launching, after removing the scaffolding, the shipbuilders carried out a general cleaning of the cabin, cleaning up the broken wood and scattered scattered tools and supplies to ensure that there were no redundant objects in the hull.Immediately, thick cables were used to connect the dock wall and the hull to prevent the hull from shaking after filling with water.

In order to reduce the weight of the ship and make it easier to float when the tide is high, most of the facilities on the ship are not installed, including masts, artillery and all ballast, which will be installed after launching.

As more and more water was poured into the dock by the water pump, many pieces of wood and the like floated up, and the ship began to shake slightly from side to side, but because it was tied by cables, the shaking was not large.The ship has been fully floated, and the cross-travelers watching around the dock couldn't help bursting into cheers—the first self-built large ship of the cross-state regime has finally launched.The native craftsmen didn't know why the group of short-haired people were so happy, so they also laughed.

"Untie the No. [-] cable on the port side!"

"Untie the No. [-] cable on the starboard side!"

……

"Untie the stern cable ten!"

Following Li Di's command command in the loudspeaker, nine of the ten cables on the ship were untied in turn, leaving only the No. [-] cable at the bow, which was tied to the bitt under the viewing platform.Just waiting to be finally cut off and put into the water.

The dock door of the dock was slowly opened, and the high tide sea water began to pour in, and the ship floated further, reaching the design draft.

With a burst of drumming, Mond, the representative of the Ministry of Sea Power, came to the ceremony stage with great excitement. He was wearing a borrowed snow-white British Royal Navy summer uniform, a golden ribbon, and a tribute to someone. Victoria Cross (high imitation) on loan from Medal Enthusiast.

Mond began to read the ship naming book with an excited and trembling voice:

“军舰镇海/1629年2月1日起工/今告其成/兹命名/1629年4月9日/海上力量人民委员陈海阳”。

The naming of the first self-built warship caused a small-scale discussion, and many people hoped to name it according to the naming method of the four majors.However, inside the navy, they don’t take it seriously: the four major fleets have no victories in themselves, and some of them are just the shameful history of being defeated and sunk, or surrendered and captured.

In addition to this controversy, most people don't know that Li Mei also approached the executive committee specifically, hoping to name the ship "Women's Cooperative"—the price is that the cooperative will be responsible for providing meals for the sailors on the ship for three years.She also made further suggestions, saying that in the future, the naming of ships can be carried out by bidding, so that local businessmen can also bid for the right to name the ship, and those who win the bid can name the ship for one year.

This proposal made the executive committee laugh and cry, and Chen Haiyang said jokingly:

"Then the navy is still in chaos. If it changes its name every other year, who can make it clear?"

"It doesn't matter, the hull number remains the same. No. 111 will always be No. 111. The government department will use the hull number to register. The name is just a vest, so you can change it at will." Li Mei's train of thought is really not a brainstorming, even the details have been thought out , As expected of a mall veteran.

In the end, the executive committee chose Zhenhai, a very ordinary traditional name, which mainly corresponds to "Fubo". Although the two ships are one Chinese and one western, and their structures are similar, they are similar in terms of their use and positioning: limited armed forces , taking into account the transportation.

Then, a ceramic vase flew to the bow, and the one who threw the vase was Li Mei. After her bid for the name of the ship was rejected, she took over the matter of smashing the bottle. Of course, it was partly sponsored—— The food for the ceremony personnel is the property under the name of the women's cooperative, provided by "Half the Sky", the most luxurious restaurant in Dongmen City-the banner of the women's cooperative and Half the Sky almost didn't reach the viewing platform.Even Ms. Du Wen, who is very, very appreciative of all the actions of the women's cooperatives, can't stand it anymore-how can this decadent capitalist business practice be used on such a solemn occasion.

As the vase was smashed, Wen Desi gave the order to enter the water. Under the command of the whistle of the water entry director Li Di, the workers immediately cut off the last tether.The Bopu coastal fort fired a salute, and then a motorized speedboat acted as a tugboat, carefully dragging the boat out of the dock.The whole launching ceremony is completed.

There is no ballast on the newly launched Zhenhai, and it is carefully towed to the side of the self-propelled flat barge.The flat barge will serve as a pontoon for outfitting the vessel.Its wide deck is full of equipment and materials, and a pole is also set up to hoist large equipment such as masts and artillery.

The smoke of the gun salute has not yet dissipated, and the craftsmen have flocked to the new ship to start the outfitting project-the executive committee is very urgent, the exploration and exploration are in urgent need of ships-in order to save the shipbuilding cycle, the bottom of the hull was originally planned to be clad with copper The idea was also cancelled.Of course they have the copper skin, but Wen Desi didn't know how to wrap the copper skin-this kind of craft that required a lot of time to explore was abandoned.

"The outfitting project can be completed within a week, and then go to sea. Hell, what is this?" Wen Desi watched the hot scene, and took out a small piece of brittle porcelain from his hat, "It's too dangerous. Where's Li Huamei? "

"In the shop, people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Trading Company, and the General Security Administration were talking to her," Ran Yaohui reported.

"How about the sailors on her ship?"

"There are ten people in total. Except for taking turns watching the boats, they spend their free time drinking, shopping and whoring in Dongmen City. There are no special circumstances."

"Hmph, she doesn't have a maid or anything by her side? A single woman, floating on a boat with this group of people for a few months, didn't give—— didn't give—"

"It seems that this woman is very strong. She is muscular and very agile. Ordinary sailors probably won't be her opponents." Ran Yao said his speculation.

"Those in the navy, did they drink drugs? I don't think this girl is very good, they are all delusional."

"In my opinion, it's because this woman fits their imagination, right? A female pirate, and she has the same name as Li Huamei in Glorious Voyage. It's a bit romantic. Also, I think this woman's appearance, words and deeds are very modern, More in line with everyone's taste."

Wen Desi nodded: "You are right. How was her visit on the Fengcheng ship yesterday?"

"It's shocking to see, but—"

"But what?"

Ran Yao recalled the scene when he accompanied Li Huamei on the boat yesterday—considering that there would inevitably be many questions after boarding the boat, he deliberately made assumptions about the questions she might ask, and unified the caliber of answers.The navy members who walked closest to Li Huamei were called one by one to the office of the Political Security Administration for individual talks and security awareness education.The crowd was told that even if they couldn't remember the caliber of the answer, it was certainly true to say, "I don't know."

Li Huamei's behavior after boarding the ship made them see nothing suspicious: running around on the deck, touching the huge anchor chain with her hands, and asking what the spinning thing on the top of the mast was, In the end, I had to climb up the mast to have a look, but after being persuaded by the escort that there was danger on it, I didn't insist anymore.She was very interested in the two fully enclosed lifeboats tied to the ship, so she got in and had a look... Naturally, she also wanted to know why such a big iron ship could float on the water instead of sinking, and how the iron ship relied on what to move forward.

Generally speaking, Li Huamei fits all the expressions of an ordinary person in this time and space in such a situation: curiosity, shock, envy and happiness.From Ran Yao's point of view, Li Huamei's behavior couldn't be more normal, she couldn't pick any thorns out of her normal behavior.

"But she showed no particular interest."

"What's the meaning."

"Li Huamei is interested in the ship itself, not in other things. Many of the questions she asked are very professional and have a good knowledge of navigation."

"That is, is she the captain? If you don't understand, you can't drive the boat here, right?"

"Is the purpose of her coming to Bopu for trade?"

"Yes, that was specifically mentioned in the Navy report. She is very interested in our products."

(End of this chapter)