Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 433 Submarine Design
Chris and Benoit crouched down, almost with their eyes pressed against the wide desk, staring intently at the drawings Harvey spread out, with expressions of deep thought.

"Sir, this... this is the new military ship you designed?" Benoit stood up and cleared his throat with dignity. "Excuse me, this doesn't conform to the conventional ship structure at all..."

It was pointed at the front and round at the back, and thick in the middle... The whole thing looked like a large spindle with a corner cut off. The key point was... This thing actually looked like a fully enclosed design. The two of them looked around but couldn't see where the deck was.

The new ship was about twelve meters long in diameter, but its middle section was nearly six meters wide. It looked much thicker and bulkier than the ironclad ships sailing on the Ralph River, and was no different from a slightly elongated turtle shell.

The most special thing is that in the entire hull structure drawings, the new ship is split into several partition modules. Each module is equipped with a mouth and a docking slot, as if the complete hull can be directly assembled like building blocks.

Chris, a long-time servant of Harvey's, was accustomed to frequently coming up with wild ideas and creative concepts. He could see many clues in the blueprints. "A fully enclosed deck would effectively defend against enemy attacks, but it would also obstruct vision. Furthermore, if the ship were constructed entirely of metal... not only would its draft be too deep, but its load capacity and speed would also be a major issue."

Harvey remained calm when his subordinates pointed out the direct design flaws and functional issues. He smiled and said, "These problems can be solved. This is indeed the new warship that will soon be put into trial production."

As for why it's designed to be fully enclosed... Harvey lightly traced the design with his finger and said solemnly, "I want it to be able to not only navigate the surface normally, but also dive underwater and conduct underwater combat... That's why I'm going to name it a submarine."

Submarine? Underwater combat?

Chris and Benoit looked at each other, too shocked to say a word.

The Chief Alchemist immediately recalled the recent emergency meeting of high-level officials. He swallowed hard and whispered, "You... you designed this new type of ship specifically to deal with the alien enemies that might come from the frozen sea?"

Harvey nodded and didn't explain any further.

Shallow-water gunboats like submarines and ironclads have similar design flaws. When equipped with a single magic power engine, speed and flexibility become the most significant disadvantages - when empty with only the necessary fuel and crew, the average speed of navigation is less than ten kilometers per hour. Later, after being modified to carry two magic naval guns, plus the addition of gun crew soldiers and ammunition reserves, the speed actually dropped below six kilometers per hour, making it a real iron turtle on the Ralph River.

The main reason is that the ironclad ship itself is too heavy when used to transport people and goods, so it takes advantage of the convenience of being able to break ice and does not care much about speed. However, if it is used directly as a warship, it will naturally appear bulky and unsuitable.

Besides, at the moment he was not afraid of the aristocratic regimes and the church's judicial army south of the Divine Ridge Mountain. What really made him feel like a thorn in his side... was the alien invaders who seemed to be thousands of miles away, but were actually no different from being right in front of him.

Those who have not yet truly understood their origins and have no idea of the direction of the "technology tree" of ethnic development...skinned monsters!

Fortunately, we are all carbon-based creatures, and we will die on the spot if our necks are broken or if we are shot through the body.

In this way, Harvey had confidence and reliance - since all the fear came from insufficient firepower, why not just try his best to improve the firepower coverage and weapon range.

……

After discussing the submarine design, Harvey and the two chief alchemists had a quick lunch and then hurried to the shipbuilding workshops along the Glacier River. The Ministry of Construction was constructing and expanding a more comprehensive deepwater warship dock next to the civilian shipyard. Thanks to the Glacier River's origins in the towering Divine Spine Mountains, its powerful currents and sharp icebergs have carved a wide and deep channel. The middle section of the river alone is nearly a hundred meters deep, perfectly meeting the standards and requirements for submarine development and testing.

"Sir, how do we transport the submarine built in Spark City to the Ice Sea Base?" Benoit couldn't think of a viable solution. "Even if we follow the glacial river with its countless tributaries, I'm afraid we won't be able to reach the frozen land."

Moreover, even if the most powerful planetary teleportation array was installed, it would be impossible to teleport a hundred-ton armored submarine, let alone drag it into the water with manpower alone.

Harvey chuckled and slowly explained, "So I designed it to be modular. Simply put... all its components will be manufactured in Spark City, then transported via teleportation array to the Ice Sea Base for on-site assembly and launch."

The modular design approach also takes into account the waterproof and airtight performance of the submarine. Assembly and welding alone cannot guarantee 100% watertightness, so thin steel plates coated with rubber fruit paint are welded into independent hollow boxes, and then the boxes are combined and spliced together to form the main structure of the submarine.

This building block-like method of shipbuilding does not require consideration of draft depth and balanced keel, and has nothing to do with traditional shipbuilding techniques. All Harvey needs to achieve is to ensure that the submarine can rise and fall normally, and when encountering enemies in the water, the naval soldiers responsible for driving the ship can control the ship-borne magic cannon to attack.

As for the power part, Harvey decided to continue using the propeller propulsion technology of the ironclad ship. The power unit was directly upgraded to the level of being able to carry three magic power machines, and the diving and surfacing were completely controlled by mechanical gears. The split hollow box in the submarine was used to realize the functions of filling water for diving and draining water for surfacing.

This aspect naturally needs to rely on the alchemy laboratory team led by Chris and Benoit to complete.

In the arduous task of perfecting the design drawings and building the first experimental ship, Harvey generously gave the laboratory the highest authority to freely allocate important strategic materials, and all municipal production departments must cooperate unconditionally.

……

The two alchemy chiefs held the blueprints and left the City Lord's Mansion with full confidence under Harvey's gaze.

Harvey finally squeezed out a moment of free time and returned to his study to start working at his desk - writing the so-called naval training materials.

With his half-baked level as a "keyboard military enthusiast", it is almost impossible for him to complete a set of military theory teaching materials that are both common sense and professional.

There is no problem with partially following the army's standards in daily military training, but it involves the driving and operation of military ships, surface (underwater) combat programs, the use and maintenance of shipborne weapons and equipment, technical training for various shipborne positions... and even the hydrological and meteorological characteristics of the combat area.

Harvey felt a splitting headache as he looked at the spread-out white paper, and called the guards guarding the door.

"Go quickly and bring Commander-in-Chief Pierce to see me."

(End of this chapter)