Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1600 Three Ironclad Ships

"This ironclad ship Weiqing is similar to its sister ship Huo Qubing in performance, but there are still some differences. Its full-load displacement is close to 9400 tons, while Huo Qubing is 9200 tons. Weiqing has a draft of 8.2 meters and is divided into 92 horizontally. Watertight compartment. It is a bit bulkier than the Huo Qubing, and has better defenses, but it is slightly inferior in speed, with a speed of less than 14 knots on steam power alone."

A steam ironclad ship was slowly sailing out of Dalian Bay with billowing black smoke, and beside it were two small frigates as escorts. They also had chimneys and exhaust pipes, emitting black smoke.Compared with the big ship, the small boat seems to have shrunk a lot.

The Navy has proposed a ten-year armament plan. As the steamship technology becomes more and more mature, if you do not pursue the construction of more advanced steam systems or ship structures, the speed of building steamships with the current requirements will only become faster and faster.As long as the funds and raw materials are in place, the shipyard can produce a steamship like a stream.

Generally speaking, the current speed of steam ships is similar to that of ordinary sailboats, and they only have advantages when using two kinds of power drives at the same time.

"These three steamships will be incorporated into the Zhili Fleet to escort the Lord Lord to Europe. Our Zhili Fleet has always thought that it is the most powerful of the four fleets, guarding the Yellow Sea, but in fact it has been a long time. The experience of naval battles may not necessarily match the Fourth Fleet's combat effectiveness," Nelson said.

Because he was summoned by the system and could guarantee absolute loyalty, Chu Yun had always arranged for him to lead the Zhili fleet to station in Weihaiwei and Lushunwei to guard the capital and prevent other fleets from attempting to do so.

But this also means that the troops defending the capital have enjoyed a long-term peace instead. The soldiers at the bottom are basically replaced by newly recruited sailors, and the sailors who joined the army at first either became naval officers, or were discharged from the army because they could not keep up. Township.

In other words, the soldiers at the bottom have no actual combat experience, and in a generation or two, the officers may also lack the experience of actually experiencing the battlefield.

"Don't worry, I believe that our soldiers are usually trained, and when a war breaks out, they have experienced one or two wars, and they are veterans. As long as we build warships much faster than the enemy, then we can defeat any The enemy." The director of the shipyard had a different philosophy than the Admiralty.

The Admiralty hopes that the soldiers and warships on hand are in the best condition, but the Imperial Shipyard is different. It believes that logistics is the kingly way. It only needs to build ships faster than the loss of warships when the war breaks out. Can drag the opponent to death.

Nelson didn't object either. Having a strong shipbuilding capability is of course part of the navy's strength. Fighting wars is all about logistics. As long as the opponent can't break through the island chain and enter the mainland, they can continuously build ships to go to sea to fight.

"Then, the officers and soldiers of our Zhili Fleet will drive away the three ironclad ships. The final payment of 10 taels of silver, our Admiralty, will directly send people to Kyushu Bank to go through the formalities and row them to the shipyard." Nelson said.

"Hey, we found that there is not much difference between the ironclad ship and the sailing warship. Most of the artillery is displayed on the side. Pay attention to the number of artillery, such as the pair of sister ships Huo Qubing and Weiqing, the artillery used for combat The number is between 24 and 28. But one problem is that the weight of the guns in the arsenal is getting bigger and bigger, from the previous 2-ton naval guns to 4 tons, and then to 9-ton guns. It is necessary to provide continuous firing shell systems for such guns It makes it difficult for us to design the structure of the ship. Try it, if the arsenal produces a 25-ton cannon, and 20 such cannons are forced into the ironclad ship, wouldn’t the weight of the cannon itself be as high as 500 tons? Excluding the supporting ammunition supply system and the weight of the shell itself, why would it take 25 people to operate a 25-ton cannon? Such an ironclad ship would be so huge that it would never be built. So future warships will definitely be divided into main guns And the secondary guns, the secondary guns are on the side, and the main guns are on the bow and stern, the number of the main guns is not many but the most important." The factory director said.

"Then what do you think of the shipyard?" Nelson was secretly surprised when the director said that the Imperial Arsenal was developing a 25-ton artillery.

What is the concept of a 25-ton naval gun!
Nelson couldn't even imagine that a ship could carry such a heavy artillery!
"We are researching how to protect the main guns placed on the deck while allowing them to gain a greater perspective. I am thinking that in the future, large-caliber artillery battleships will be the world, and the technology of gun bays and turrets is particularly important. The side guns can rely on The frontal armor protection, and the main guns on the upper deck need to build special turrets or gun bays for them. Of course, the side guns are the most practical at present. Rifled guns are installed in front of the door, and simple guns are used to protect it." The factory manager said.

"Whether it is a shipyard or an arsenal, I am surprised by the progress of technology." As a naval commander in the era of sailing battleships, Nelson was deeply surprised by the rapid development of technology.

You must know that when Nelson lived in 1800, the whole world was still in the era of sailing battleships, and the current technology of shipyards was probably in the 1860s, which means that in less than 70 years, it has become the era of steamships!
In the eyes of future generations, this kind of progress is not surprising. Isn't it that the power has changed from wind to steam, and the hull has changed from wood to steel?However, if you look at the progress of your descendants from the position of Nelson's predecessors, you will feel extremely miraculous. After only one or two generations, the warship has undergone earth-shaking changes.

In front of the ironclad ship, the wooden ship looks so weak.

The iron-clad ship Weiqing took two younger brothers with a displacement of about 1000 tons to 2000 tons, and then slowly returned after a circle outside Dalian Bay. Basically, the acceptance was correct.

The residents of Dalian Port are no strangers to these gray monsters that often appear in the harbor. The shipbuilding industry has become the mainstay of the economy here, and it is also the largest industrial sector in the area.Not only military ships are produced here, but civilian sailing and steamships are also produced here.

Satisfied, Nelson left Dalian Bay with three steamships, and headed to Weihaiwei's Zhili Fleet General Base to meet more than a dozen sailing warships including the Victory and the Constitution, as well as several supply ships and troop carriers.This time the Zhili fleet, which had been silent for a long time, came out in full force.

Even if they leave this sea area, no one can threaten the capital from the sea, because in this era, there are only some ships that can sail on the ocean in Europe.

(End of this chapter)