Wild North America 1846

Chapter 390 Leading Technology Development

On the armored battleship

Accompanied by the Admiral of the Navy, His Majesty the Emperor carefully inspected one gun position after another. He even personally tried the weight of the 203mm artillery shells and the silk-wrapped launch explosive packages, and communicated with the burly and majestic ammunition loaders.

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

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

Even if the Imperial Royal Navy purchases it at a relatively favorable price, the price of a super-large-caliber gun will not be less than 62,000 to 65,000 yuan. The equipment cost of four main naval guns can almost build a "Tornado" class cruiser. It can be seen that

The price is very high.

to this day

Tang-style battleship layout has become an important trend in the development of world navies. Its representative technical characteristics include three points;

First, abandon the complicated sail power and side paddle wheel design, and 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, special attention is paid to the performance of long-sea navigation, and the design of the immigrant ship is borrowed. The hull is relatively large and thick, the crew's living facilities are complete, and the power cabin is equipped with a fuel-fired boiler, which is a typical feature.

Third, compared with the same type of ships of the world's major naval powers, their main and secondary guns are generally weak in firepower configuration, and they will not deploy dozens of artillery pieces at every turn. However, each of the artillery pieces is technologically advanced, and their strike power cannot be underestimated.

Just like the "Tornado" armored cruiser in front of me, with a total displacement of 4,980 tons, it is only equipped with four 8-inch main guns (203 mm) and 10 7-inch secondary guns (178 mm).

Compared with the same type of British, French and other warships, the number of cannons is smaller and the caliber is smaller. 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 greater.

The British Royal Navy is very covetous of the Tang Empire's advanced artillery technology, but the two sides have not yet reached an agreement.

The battleship circled around, and Emperor Richard was about to go down to the engine room to take a look. This made Marshal Pan Hengchen panic, and he quickly raised his hands to salute and persuaded;

"Your Majesty, the space in the engine room is small, the working environment is harsh, and the air is extremely dirty. I would like to ask Your Majesty to stay and do not dirty your holy bow. Otherwise, I will surely die!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I can only look at the glamorous deck operations, but can't I go deep into the core departments of the ship?" After being stopped, Richard looked displeased and turned around to ask the others;

"Do you think so too?"

"I beg your Majesty to take care of your holy bow and never venture into danger!" All the ministers saluted in unison in response.

Richard frowned immediately and scolded unhappily;

"Absolutely ridiculous!

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 to inspect. Soldiers can go, officers can go, then marshals can go down, and emperors can naturally go down.

Does the division of labor in the military depend on whether it is 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 an integral part of the combat effectiveness of the entire ironclad ship and is closely inseparable.

The Royal Navy should not artificially divide ship work into 369 levels. Although the officers and soldiers coming out of the engine room are covered in putty, their contributions are noble and pure, as free of impurities as gold.

Are you willing to come down and see yourselves? Anyway, the engine room is small and cannot accommodate so many people. I will definitely go down and no one can stop me."

After saying that, Richard walked down the ladder next to the hatch.

"I respectfully welcome your Majesty, long live your Majesty, long live your Majesty!"

As soon as Richard stepped out of the engine room, he was startled. Dozens of officers and soldiers in front of him, who were only wearing sleeveless short coats, all knelt on the ground. Many of them had tears streaming down their faces, and they were still chanting excitedly: "Your Majesty, you are wise.

, we will have no regrets even if we die."

"Everyone loves me, I am free of any courtesy!"

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."

At this time, the engine room was filled with smoke and the temperature was quite high. It was about 20 degrees Celsius outside, but it was no lower than 35 degrees Celsius in the cabin.

Every big man here has shiny black beads of sweat on his arms, which is caused by the flying ash from the burning bilge sticking to his body, and the oil vapor from incomplete combustion of heavy oil. The environment can be said to be quite harsh.

The machinery of this era was stupid, bulky, and poorly sealed. Most of the black smoke from boiler combustion could be discharged from the chimney, while a small amount remained on the bottom floor.

It would be better if the ship opened this bottom cabin, and the cool sea breeze would blow into the cabin along the pipe, and the stuffy air and the dirt mixed with smoke oil would be discharged.

Even if the ship is parked at the dock, the oil, gas, and coal ash deposited in the bottom tank will have nowhere to go. It will only accumulate more and more, making people feel like they are walking through black fog, and they are really floating.

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

.

Just think about it

Eight boilers are arranged in such a small environment, two large steam engines, generators, various high-pressure pipelines, hundreds of manual valves, several coal transmission belts and some necessary equipment are arranged in the middle, as well as dozens of

Guys, how cramped and crowded is this power cabin?

Starting a steam engine is a very difficult task. First, the boiler must be boosted, and then the auxiliary engine must be started to drive the main gear to rotate. Only then can the two steam engines be started one after another. This process takes several hours.

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

Among the entire ship, the engine room has the most officers and soldiers, and the work is the most tiring and demanding. Just hundreds of steam control valves can make people dizzy.

His Majesty the Emperor's thoughtful words deeply moved the officers and soldiers on the ship, so they all knelt down in gratitude.

"Send the order to sail first." Richard gave the order, and Marshal Pan Hengchen immediately went to execute it with a wave of his hand.

The officers and soldiers in the engine room immediately took action. They only heard a loud "bang" and another loud "bang". The contact plates as big as small round table tops on the top of the two thick propeller shafts were pressed tightly to rotate.

The power output disk drives the propeller shaft to rotate.

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

The eight sailors threw their arms away and began to add coal to the boiler, while several other non-commissioned officers opened the valves to output high-pressure steam. They needed to maintain the balance of the boiler's pressure output. There could not be more or less, and the pressure must be increased simultaneously.

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

Marshal Pan Hengchen took a step forward and replied respectfully;

“Start your majesty;

The ship is equipped with a second-generation high-power triple-expansion steam engine improved and developed by Chang'an Heavy Machinery Factory. Each engine has a rated power of 3,800 horsepower, and the two engines have a total power of 7,600 horsepower. The cruising speed is 11 to 12 knots.

The supporting boiler can use heavy oil to support combustion, pushing the battleship section to reach a high speed of 16 knots in a short time, up to 6 hours.

After years of technical improvements, this steam engine has eliminated the original problem of easy flameout. The longest stable working time is 37 days. It can be said to be the best steam ship power in the world today.

Especially in terms of stability, compared with the British-made steam engine that stalls every three days, the technical level is much better, and it has been highly praised by the engineering officers and soldiers.

Even if it is used as a power source for higher-level battleships, Weichen believes that it is a qualified choice."

"Well, during the use process, we must constantly put forward suggestions for improvement, prompting steam engine manufacturers to improve their processes, improve production levels, and provide better power devices for the Royal Navy. For example, in the future... can one steam engine be used to drive the entire ship?

Boat possibility?”

"Wei Chen understands and must bear in mind His Majesty's teachings."

"These high-pressure oil boilers..." Richard looked at it and shook his head. There were 8 or 10 large boilers in a row in the engine room. It was indeed spectacular, but it was also too labor-intensive.

Each boiler is assigned at least two boiler soldiers, who take turns feeding coal into the boiler with large shovels. When sailing at full speed, two people need to work together, which makes them sweat profusely.

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

The previous naval battles of the North American War showed that the demise of the port-type 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, and have 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. Conservatives within the Royal Navy stubbornly rejected any warship that did not conform to their perceptions. Until 1859, it was still developing the "bulwark" class sailing battleship.

This is a hybrid battleship, with an 8,000-horsepower steam engine as auxiliary power, but the main power is still a wooden sailing battleship wrapped in iron armor, and uses a traditional three-deck gunport layout.

until 1861

The Royal Navy was very horrified to discover that the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire was killing all the enemies in North America, beating all the Yankee sail warships to pieces, while the French Navy started construction of a total of 10 "Provence" class ironclads, all of which adopted a rotating turret design.

The report of the Royal Navy Observation Group also proved that the rotating turret has unparalleled superiority in previous naval battles.

The British Royal Navy quickly compared its own Warrior with the opposite "Provence" class, and suddenly felt a chill in its heart.

I couldn't fight, I couldn't run, and there was no opponent who could resist the beating. No matter how I looked at it, I felt that I was going to be doomed, so I hurriedly stopped the construction plan of the "Barrier" class sailing battleship, and canceled the upper deck of the first four ships with a high degree of completion.

The gun deck has undergone substantial technical changes.

However, the final product was not satisfactory. Because it was driven by sails and steam power, the "Barrier" class sailing battleship also inherited the previous characteristics of extremely complex deck layout, small and cramped space, and extremely poor sustainability of ocean voyages.

I originally wanted to take care of both ends, but ended up not being able to take care of both ends.

When His Majesty the Emperor, Earl Pan Hengchen and a few others came out of the cabin, they looked at each other's disgraced faces and couldn't help laughing.

Said: "Hahaha... Pan Aiqing didn't do much when she went down to the bilge, but she seemed to exert great force. If she goes on stage to sing, she doesn't need to put on makeup. This is just right."

"Wei Chen is lucky enough to be able to accompany Sheng Gong. Not to mention that he is just ashes, and he does not frown at all in water or fire."

"Then let's freshen up for now and then continue?"

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

"Hahaha...ok."

After the huge "Tempest" armored cruiser left the dock, it galloped towards the deep blue depths of the Pacific Ocean in the distance, followed by two "Qiuyue" class armored destroyers, and the three warships sailed out of the bay in a "pin" shape.

Plunge into the vast Pacific Ocean...

After freshening up, I had some refreshments.

Accompanied by everyone, Richard came to the command tower with great interest and sat down on the only command position in the command tower. Marshal Pan Hengchen stood beside him and enthusiastically introduced the new technology used in this ship.

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

In 1859, German inventor John Philip Rice invented the original telephone device, which could transmit sound up to 100 meters away, but it could only transmit in one direction.

The military of the Tang Dynasty 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 armored cruiser "Guangfeng".

This is the world's first warship equipped with a telephone, and the effect is very good in practical applications.

"The military application value of this technology is very high. If telephone technology had been available during the North American War, the headquarters could issue a single order to each division and regiment to coordinate combat operations on the entire battlefield. This would undoubtedly improve the entire army.

The response speed." Richard nodded in affirmation, and then said;

“The only drawback is that it can only make one-way calls. This technology should be further improved to achieve the effect of two-way calls.

In this case

Superiors can issue orders and get immediate feedback from front-line troops, thereby making timely adjustments to combat plans, and the military value is even greater.

The Secretariat will record that this technological development needs to be followed up to see if it can be applied to civilian applications in the future."

"I obey the order." Zheng Yuan, the head of the secretariat, replied respectfully.

(End of chapter)