Wild North America 1846

Adhering to the concept of overtaking in corners, Richard's planned construction of the Tang Kingdom's naval fleet abandoned the sail battleships that were labor-intensive, time-consuming, material-intensive, and labor-intensive, and instead directly entered the field of revolutionary steam ironclads.

these past few years

With the increasing popularity of the trans-North Pacific golden route, the development of trade, transportation and fisheries, the shipbuilding industry in the Tang Kingdom is developing in full swing. In addition to the three major shipyards (Chang'an, Los Angeles and Seattle) under General Heavy Industries Holdings, private shipbuilding companies are also springing up like mushrooms after a spring rain.

As it develops, it shows an ascendant trend.

By the end of 1849, there were five domestic shipyards with the capacity to build 5,000-ton immigration ships, and dozens of ships of various types were under construction, involving cargo ships, immigration ships, cruise ships and other fields. It was the fastest-growing heavy industry industry.

Shipbuilding is hard to say, easy to say.

After more than 300 years of development of sailing battleships since the Age of Discovery, by the mid-19th century, the navies of the world's powerful nations had formed, with the British Victory, Surprise, and Endeavor, the American Constitution, the French Lafayette, and the Spanish

The heyday of the sailing battleships was represented by giant maritime ships such as the San Felipe and the Swedish Vasa.

These are all famous ships of the era that played an important role in the history of Western maritime colonization or participated in famous naval battles. The construction process is complicated, the wood consumption is huge, and the construction cycle is also very long.

The ancient Ou Ming family of shipbuilding craftsmen has passed down their craftsmanship for tens or hundreds of years. The craftsmanship is constantly improving, and the internal divisions are very detailed, forming many categories.

The shipbuilding construction period can be as short as five or six years, or as long as more than ten years. Each sailing battleship is a national treasure built by a powerful naval power with all its efforts, and its status is very important.

The most famous HMS Victory of the British Royal Navy was Admiral Nelson's ship in the Battle of Trafalgar. It has a displacement of 3556 tons, a load capacity of 2176 tons, a total length of 69.2 meters, a width of 15.8 meters, a draft of 8.8 meters, and a crew of 850 people.

, equipped with 104 artillery pieces, is a first-class battleship.

Although the ship has been decommissioned, as a witness of the Royal Navy of the British Empire's glorious rise to world dominance, it has always been docked in the dry dock of the Portsmouth Naval Port Museum in the UK for future generations to admire.

Take the USS Constitution, the largest sailing frigate in the U.S. Navy, as an example. The construction of the ship cost 1,500 giant oak logs, has a displacement of 2,200 tons, a total length of 62.2 meters, a width of 13.6 meters, a draft of 6.85 meters, a crew of 400, and is equipped with 36 artillery pieces.

, belongs to the sailing frigate.

Why does such a large tonnage only belong to sail frigates?

This is because the era of sailing battleships is divided based on the gun deck and has nothing to do with the size of the displacement. First-class sailing battleships generally have three layers of gun decks, while frigates only have one or two layers.

In this area

The Tang Kingdom did not have a long historical heritage, nor did it have a detailed classification of shipbuilding craftsmen. It was limited to repairs and other maintenance services. It was not feasible, or almost impossible, to build a main sailing battleship of two to three thousand tons.

The field of testing the construction of small ironclad ships is different. From a technical point of view, there is no problem in realizing a small ironclad patrol ship with a displacement of 500 tons.

Two medium-sized horizontal steam engines produced in the UK and a power system composed of six boilers can produce 920 horsepower, enough to propel a small iron-clad patrol ship with a displacement of more than 550 tons to a high speed of 16 to 17 knots.

This kind of speed is the top speed of a ketch, which is known for its speed, when going downwind for a short period of time, but the armored patrol ship can maintain it for a long time, with obvious advantages and disadvantages.

Such a warship is equipped with seven new cannons (note, it is planned to use the breech-loading cannons developed by Colter Arms Company, three on each side of the ship, and one on the bow). The firepower is fierce enough, and it will become the coastal patrol of the Tang Kingdom.

the main force.

In the Seattle Shipyard

Richard saw the experimental ironclad "Fen Yong" under construction. The ship has a displacement of 555 tons, is planned to be equipped with 7 artillery, has a speed of 16.5 knots, and has a crew of 64 people.

Now the keel of the ship has been laid, showing a rough appearance. Since it is the first experimental steam ironclad ship, it is not technically mature.

Richard saw many problems during the inspection, and had to remind the ship designers from the perspective of a bystander to make them avoid detours as much as possible.

"When you were designing the ship, did you consider that the naval officers and soldiers would be on long-term patrols, eat, clothe and sleep on the ship? Why not? Properly divide the command module, accommodation module, power module and weapons compartment? Instead of just making do with one in the east and one in the west.

?Is it hard to do that?”

"In ship design, designers should try their best to bring in, if you are a ship commander or a crew member, is the maintenance of the power cabin convenient and simple? Is the fuel coal available nearby? Is the design of the living cabin reasonable, the command cabin

Is the field of vision broad? These are all practical issues that need to be considered.”

"Let's just talk about this ship. As a warship, we must consider the issues of battlefield first aid and anti-sinking after being hit by enemy fire. Sail warships use a multi-compartment design to enhance anti-sinking. Why is such a good design not reflected?

come out?"

"There is also the design of the entire ship. An overly sharp bow is indeed conducive to high speed, but it is not conducive to the setting of the main gun on the bow, nor is it conducive to violent pitch and attitude control during navigation. It is equivalent to directly abolishing the function of the bow gun.

The powerful power, which one is better and which one is worse, needs further verification and balance."

"Just think about it with your buttocks. Is there any ship in ancient and modern times with such a long and slender bow?"

"Stop talking nonsense. The construction of this ship will stop now. Completely revise the design drawings. Implement the requirements I mentioned one by one. Check for omissions and fill in the gaps. Try to improve the construction drawings before starting construction."

Seeing the long, sharp bow design, Richard couldn't help but have the urge to vomit. He had insights that were unmatched by others in his past and present lives. He knew that even if this thing was built, it would definitely be a failure.

The designers and senior management of the Seattle shipyard were so sprayed that their faces turned red and they were sweating profusely. They knelt down in panic and begged for mercy.

Richard walked away unhappy, having serious doubts about whether they could do this groundbreaking ship design work.

After careful consideration

He could only resort to military tender documents to search for the magic weapon of excellent design solutions from Europe.

Richard's move was to bring together outstanding European ship designers for his own use to make up for the gaps in his country's technical capabilities. It can be said to be "borrowing a chicken to lay an egg."

Soon after

The tender document for the "Fen Yong" class patrol ironclad ship was released. The Navy of the Tang Dynasty required that the class ship should have a design displacement of between 550 and 600 tons, be suitable for sea conditions below level 4, have a range of 1,700 nautical miles, have excellent seaworthiness and habitability, and meet long-term requirements.

Coastal patrol cruising needs.

1. Cancel the design of sails and side paddle wheels, and use propeller power as the only main power.

Second, the power component is driven by two British medium-sized steam engines, equipped with 6 boilers and corresponding pipeline instruments, with a total of 900 to 950 horsepower.

Third, the design of two transverse compartments and multiple longitudinal compartments meets the anti-sinking requirements of 2 to 3 adjacent compartments being flooded and the ship not sinking.

4. The zoning design of the power cabin, coal-fired cabin, accommodation cabin, command cabin and weapons cabin has simple and clear requirements and is suitable for the needs of long-term sea life.

Fifth, the 74 officers and soldiers on the ship must ensure that each person has a bed. The captain has a separate living space of no less than 1.5 × 1.8 meters, and the space should be utilized as rationally as possible.

Sixth, the ship is equipped with a 30-pound naval bow main gun and six 12-pound side guns. It requires reasonable division of areas. It can still maintain a stable hull and have better seaworthiness under relatively harsh sea conditions.

seven,……

The military has listed as many as 17 stringent design requirements, involving advanced indicators such as ship type, waterline, high speed, seaworthiness, multi-compartment partition design, etc. How to choose among them is a big problem.

High speed and seaworthiness are conflicting requirements. The multi-compartment partition design seriously conflicts with the requirement of having a bed for each person, so a balance point needs to be found.

After reviewing it, Richard agreed to release this demanding military tender to Europe, but in terms of the reward for the final winning bidder, he increased the reward amount from 2,000 pounds to 5,000 pounds, more than doubling the amount.

Naturally, the military had its own calculations and felt that the reward of 2,000 pounds for the winning design was not low.

Richard still adheres to his usual style of doing things, either not taking action, or taking action with brutal, direct and irresistible actions.

The reward of 5,000 pounds for the winning design plan is enough to make the top ship designers in Europe flock to it, give up arguing, immerse themselves in the studio, and submit excellent design drawings with obedient hands.

The high design fee of 5,000 pounds is not easy to get. Once selected by the military, the designer must come to the Tang Dynasty to clarify the original intention and answer questions one by one on the design ideas and overall considerations in the construction of the first ship.

For example, why does the overall ship type adopt this solution? What are the advantages and disadvantages? How much living space can be increased? Is it more conducive to the multi-compartment anti-sinking design requirements? Can the loss of speed be compensated, etc.?

After this

Designers must also cooperate with the military's requirements to fine-tune and improve the overall design, and help the shipyard with subsequent construction work, mainly providing technical guidance.

After the ship is launched for sea trials, all design indicators can reach the military's satisfaction, and then the designer can receive the final remuneration paid by the military.

The whole process can take at least one or two years, or at most longer.

It is undeniable that intellectual property rights are worthless in this era.

The huge remuneration of 5,000 pounds was enough to make the best ship designers in Britain, France, the Netherlands and Prussia bow their heads and compete to present the best designs.

Once accepted, it would be a sure thing to bring his family to the Tang Kingdom.

If the Datang Kingdom provides generous benefits, such as arranging a generous professor employment contract at the California Institute of Technology, then it is not impossible to settle in the Datang Kingdom.

Whether they are Europeans or Americans, they will never have trouble with money. This is almost certain.