1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 73 Steamship

Four steamships with a displacement of over 1,000 tons stood tall in the Port of San Francisco, and all the small boats were overshadowed by their majestic appearance.

The three large steamships that have completed the handover have their new names, namely California, Oregon, and Nevada.

As civilian ships, large steamships of more than 1,000 tons in 1850 were truly behemoths, representing the most advanced shipbuilding technology of this era.

There are only a few shipyards in the entire United States that can produce large steamships. With these three large steamships, Global Shipping Company has stepped into the threshold of a large shipping company in the United States.

Although steamships had temporarily emerged in 1850, it often took a long process for new things to replace old things, just like the dispute between fuel vehicles and electric vehicles in later generations.

At this time, most of the ships sailing on the sea were sailing ships and sail-steam hybrid ships equipped with steam boilers.

Due to the immature technology of early steamships, boiler explosions occurred frequently, and people still remained skeptical about the safety and reliability of steamships.

Even the U.S. Navy during that period was still dominated by sailing warships. There were only 16 steamships of various types, 9 of which were mini steamships, with a displacement of no more than 500 tons. To make it sound more beautiful, the U.S. Navy called them

It is an advanced small destroyer.

To put it bluntly, they are just offshore patrol boats. Like the U.S. Army at the same time, the U.S. Navy at this time was not considered powerful when looking at the world.

But whether you are strong or not depends on who you compare with. Compared with the British and French, you are indeed a younger brother among younger brothers, but if you compare with those small sampans of the Japanese shogunate, then you are a father among fathers.

"This boat is so big and stable!"

Thinking of the painful experience of taking the Cape Town, this was the most intuitive feeling that the California brought to Deng Wenyu.

"In the future, our San Francisco shipyard will build steamships that are more advanced and larger than this!"

Liang Yao stroked the railing of the California, and the ships in the port docking area, like his subjects, prostrated under the California.

The displacement of the California is as high as 1,400 tons, which is about 200 to 300 tons higher than the displacement of the Oregon and Nevada.

"California, with a total deck length of 71 meters, has two huge walking beam engines with a piston stroke of 3 meters, and a total of 4 huge boilers, each with a diameter of 3 meters.

This is currently the most advanced steam engine in the United States! This ship was designed by Mr. Vanderbilt himself. For being able to design such an advanced and avant-garde pure steam-powered ship, Vanderbilt deserves to be a commodore."

Sven was very excited. He changed his old slovenly image, specially shaved his beard and put on a brand new captain's suit.

"Whether it is the California or the James Day, these ships are nothing more than Mr. Vanderbilt's practice work. Mr. Vanderbilt's proudest work is the North Star, which is still lying in the dock."

Liang Yao stood with his hands behind his hands, letting the salty sea breeze blow on his face.

"If all three ships are used to carry passengers, how many people can they carry?"

This is the issue that Liang Yao is most concerned about.

"Excluding crew, the California can carry 420 passengers, the Oregon can carry 380 passengers, and the Nevada can carry 360 passengers."

Although he had just taken over the ship not long ago, Sven already knew the data of the three ships very well.

"Such a big ship can only carry so many people?"

Liang Yao frowned and said that he was not satisfied with the result. According to this passenger capacity, he would have to make two trips back and forth to transport the two thousand laborers needed by Vanderbilt.

And his original intention of buying these ships was not to transport labor to Vanderbilt.

"If you don't consider the comfort of the boat, it's no problem to double the passenger capacity. This is a purely steam-powered ship!" Sven said.

"Is there a danger of overturning due to overloading?" Liang Yao asked.

"As long as you don't load too many goods, it will be absolutely fine!" Sven assured him, patting his chest.

Liang Yao nodded with satisfaction: "After arriving in Guangzhou, recruit some Chinese sailors on the spot. We will have many such steamships in the future."

Sven did not have much resistance to Liang Yao's request. In the past, when he was at the Danish Asia Company, the Danish boss preferred to use Danish sailors. Later, when he arrived at the British Steamship Company, the British boss also preferred to use British sailors.

Liang Yao is Chinese, so it is reasonable to hire some Chinese sailors, and it is not an excessive request.

"Understood, boss." Sven nodded, and then asked eagerly, "When will the fleet leave for Guangzhou?"

Looking at the vast Pacific Ocean, Sven is gearing up to conquer the ocean in front of him. This is the largest ocean in the world, and it is also the most dangerous ocean. Only the bravest fleets and captains have the courage to cross the Pacific Ocean.

"Is there enough fuel on board?" Liang Yao asked.

"Plenty of fuel!" Sven replied.

"Get enough supplies ready to go."

"It's just that this is illegal immigration after all. If the Qing government interferes, what should we do?" Sven said what he was most worried about.

Originally carrying dozens of Chinese gold prospectors, the Cape Town used small boats to bring them up secretly.

He now has to transport more than 2,000 illegal Chinese immigrants at a time. With such a huge momentum, he will definitely not be able to hide it from the local magistrates.

"I will send someone to bribe the local magistrate, and I will also select a few people from the immigration hostel who are proficient in English and Chinese to assist you."

Liang Yao said that people who have no money need to immigrate secretly. As long as they are given enough money, those officials of the Qing Dynasty have no bottom line at all. They are officials just to make money and will not be embarrassed by gold.

The next day Vanderbilt was gone, but not completely gone.

Vanderbilt left his right-hand man Nigel in California to take charge of the California Shipping Company and to prepare for the establishment of the Western Mining Company, a mining company led by Vanderbilt. The main shareholders were those in Vanderbilt's circle.

Old boy.

Before arriving in California, Vanderbilt's idea was to put Coney in charge of the California Shipping Line, hoping that Coney could gain training from it.

It's just that Coney's performance really disappointed Vanderbilt, and Vanderbilt didn't want to make the same mistake again. So he changed his mind.

No matter how rich the Vanderbilt family is, it is not such a waste. After careful consideration, Vanderbilt decided not to let Coney get involved in the affairs of the California Shipping Company. Instead, let Coney learn something from Liang Yao honestly.

When the second son of the dignified Vanderbilt family attacked others, Coney naturally refused to do it, but in the end Coney succumbed to Vanderbilt's fist.

(End of chapter)