Daming 1805

Chapter 228 The Core of the Battleship

Zhu Zhongliang walked around the artillery factory in Jiangnan, visited various artillery and turrets, and chatted with the craftsmen.

Before leaving, I sent a batch of red envelopes and condolences to the craftsmen, and went to the machine furnace factory the next day.

Cannon can only be used on artillery ships, while turbines and boilers can now be used on all ships.

At the same time, both the boiler and the turbine are in the stage of subversive innovation.

The original large water pipes, coal-fired boilers, and reciprocating steam engines, the entire system has entered a comprehensive phase-out process.

All new warships in the future will use small water tube oil-fired boilers with steam turbines.

Zhu Zhongliang first went to see the power system to be used on the new aircraft carrier and battleship.

This system was still in the laboratory stage before Taiping 34 years ago.

Those in charge of related research did not even think that they would need to be turned into the main power system immediately.

There were not many researchers responsible for the project before, and there was no clear work goal and progress.

It is to continue to try and explore, to find the most suitable design solution, to reduce the failure rate and improve the stability.

At the beginning of Taiping 34, Zhu Jingyuan asked all new ships to use this system.

The design and production plan of related systems have become the most important tasks to be completed within a deadline.

In the three main local industrial chains, the personnel of coal-fired large water tube boilers and reciprocating steam engines, except for the necessary personnel to maintain and deal with the problems of the existing ship power system, most of the others have been transferred to this project superior.

The three parts gathered in Suzhou Mansion, and first drove out the power systems for destroyers and cruisers as quickly as possible.

Under normal circumstances, the construction period of a [-]-ton destroyer takes one year, and it takes two years from construction to service.

But under abnormal circumstances, if you need to be in a hurry, it can be completed in three to five months.

Not to mention the [-]-ton ship, the historical battleship Dreadnought, with a displacement of [-] tons, was launched within five months of construction, and it took exactly one year to complete.

The way Daming is building ships now is abnormal.

The main task of the first two destroyers was to verify the hull shape and power system.

The two cruisers are mainly used to verify the actual combat effect of the dreadnought battleship's naval gun deployment.

They are all verification projects that need to produce results as soon as possible, similar to the nature of the Intrepid in history.

So the two shipyards completed the two destroyers and two cruisers in one year.

For the next four warships of [-] tons, the construction period will be extended to at least two years.

The power systems for these ships may not be installed until a year later.

Therefore, the power department has almost a year to summarize the experience of the previous four ships and optimize the final design.

When Zhu Zhongliang visited the workshop simulating the cabin environment, the master craftsman in charge of power system design introduced with emotion:
"Your Majesty, through the construction and testing of the destroyer, we have confirmed that His Highness Prince Dashi's judgment is correct.

"The fully sealed fuel injection combustion chamber allows the actual power of a single boiler to greatly exceed our initial expectations.

"What's even more amazing is that even the comprehensive energy consumption is much lower than the original idea.

"According to our calculations, that small cruiser of [-] tons can have a range of more than [-] kilometers even at a speed of [-] knots.

"This not only greatly exceeds the previous [-]-ton cruiser, but even surpasses many [-]-ton armored cruisers."

When Zhu Zhongliang heard this, he interrupted a few words:
"Because the energy density of fuel oil is higher than that of coal, the closed combustion chamber reduces energy loss.

"After the fuel is sprayed and atomized, it can be burned in the entire combustion chamber, which is much more efficient than the coal-fired flat furnace.

"The overall energy conversion efficiency is higher, and the range improvement is a matter of course.

"Moreover, the power of coal-fired boilers depends on the bottom area of ​​the furnace, and the power of oil-fired boilers depends on the volume of the combustion chamber.

"The plane of the boiler has become three-dimensional, so the oil-fired boiler can increase the power of a single boiler more conveniently"

The great craftsman immediately praised and said:

"What Your Majesty said is very true, that's the truth.

"The oil-fired boiler really surpasses the coal-fired boiler in an all-round way, leading from the actual performance to the convenience of replenishment.

"So we will make targeted adjustments to the boilers we prepare for the [-]-ton warship next.

"Continue to enlarge the volume of individual boilers while trying to pressurize the closed combustion chamber.

"Ensure the stable output of [-] horsepower per furnace, and use [-] boilers to realize the sailing of a [-]-ton warship at [-] knots.

"Strive to achieve a stable output of [-] horsepower per furnace to meet the power requirements of a [-]-ton, [-]-knot warship.

"The follow-up plan is to hit [-] horsepower for a single boiler and use eight boilers to complete the goal."

Zhu Zhongliang listened to the excited description of the craftsman, and said in a slightly reminding way:

“It’s better to be conservative on the issue of pressurization.

"It's best to do the land experiment first, don't put it in the belly of the ship right away, it won't be easy to take it out after putting it in.

"And the [-]-ton battleship is still early, so don't be so anxious, just take your time."

The craftsmen immediately agreed, and promised to be careful, to do land experiments first, to ensure stability before boarding the ship.

In fact, even if Zhu Zhongliang didn't remind, the craftsmen would do land experiments first.

But now there is no need to be serious with the Supreme Emperor in this kind of place.

The old man's reminders are also good intentions, everyone just understands it.

Zhu Zhongliang stayed in the machine furnace factory for two days, and then went to the aircraft factory that he cared about most.

First, I went to see the traditional factory of the Royal Flying Machine Company.

I went to see the assembly line factory that Daming Airlines is building.

Finally, I went to visit the nearest military airport.

He also observed the drill where land-based aircraft simulated attacking water ships.

Watch as planes drop bombs in the air and aerial torpedoes drop above the water.

Like the people in the military, Zhu Zhongliang was greatly shocked.

Zhu Zhongliang felt that the warship he was looking forward to would soon be realized.

When the two official aircraft carriers are built, the performance of the aircraft will be further improved.

By then, air strikes over the ocean should already be possible.

However, the aircraft carrier is about to be fully formed, so why does the kid insist on building a large gunboat?

Zhu Zhongliang thought about it for a while, and when he had time in the evening, he wrote a telegram himself.

While expressing my miss casually, I also wrote down the accumulated questions during my visit to Jiangnan and sent them to Zhu Jingyuan, who was thousands of miles away.

After Zhu Jingyuan saw his grandfather's telegram, he also fell into a short thought.

Under his own impetus, Daming's technological progress is a bit fast...

It was also because I thought about leaving the capital before, so I had a lot to mention to the craftsmen.

In fact, the threshold for many designs in history is not high. The key is to have someone think that they should do it, and find the key points and the most important direction to realize these designs.

And this information is the biggest advantage of the traveler.

Even if the traveler does not know too many technical details, even if it is just to guide the direction, leaving the specific design and exploration to the local craftsmen, it can also make a leap forward in science and technology.

Fully enclosed combustion chambers and pressurized boilers were French specialties during World War II.

The power density of French boilers in World War II was so powerful that they had no friends.

Richelieu-class battleship, six boilers provide 15 horsepower, and the total weight of the power system is [-] tons.

Yamato-class battleship, twelve boilers provide 15 horsepower, and the total weight of the power system is [-] tons.

This is a gap that approximates a direct doubling.

After World War II, fully enclosed combustion chambers were basically popularized in boilers, while booster boilers were mainly inherited in the Soviet and Chinese systems.

When Zhu Jingyuan introduced the idea of ​​the boiler system, he just casually mentioned this direction.

Unexpectedly, the craftsmen have already become a formal technical route and are about to implement it.

If you look at it this way, maybe [-] tons of aircraft carriers and battleships don't need to wait until ten years later.

Finally, regarding Zhu Zhongliang's question, Zhu Jingyuan thought carefully about how to explain to the old man:
Regarding the 420mm shell, at the current level, it can be used with a weight of 1100 kg.

But in order to exert the maximum power of this caliber, it is best to increase it to more than 1300 kg as much as possible.

1500 kilograms is an ideal goal, which is set based on the idea that those who seek the upper can get it, and those who seek the lower can get the lower.

As for the logic that the aircraft carrier is about to mature, but it still needs to continue to build battleships.

For a long time in the future, it will still be difficult for aircraft to obtain "the ability to appear on the front line at any time."

Battleships can always maintain a presence on the front line, and can bombard targets that need deterrence at any time.

I believe you also know that the normal state of war is not to fight each other face to face, but to threaten and counter-threat each other is the daily routine.

War itself is not the norm, and providing deterrence in a non-war state is also an important task of weapons.

For these similar tasks, battleships are currently doing much better than aircraft carriers.

And the aircraft is temporarily unable to fight at night and in bad weather.

The plane can choose to go out and beat others when the weather is good, but for the time being, there is no way to prevent itself from being beaten on rainy days.

If in this state, the aircraft carrier and the battleship meet alone, it will be an ugly death.

Therefore, the Dudu Mansion should formulate combat regulations, and the aircraft carrier must be accompanied by a battleship when going out.

Of course, technology is constantly developing upwards. When the aircraft carrier no longer needs the daily companionship of battleships, I will take the initiative to stop the design and construction of battleships.

After Zhu Jingyuan finished writing the reply, he checked and repaired it again, and handed it over to the book to send to Zhu Zhongliang.

Then he raised his head and looked at Liu Muyun who was sitting next to him.

This usually carefree girl has become a little awkward these two days.

He was always by his side, but he didn't talk much.

This style seems to be on the mind.

Zhu Jingyuan didn't know how to talk to girls, so he asked directly:

"So, what happened? Is there something you want?"

Liu Muyun hesitated for a while, and finally lowered her head and told the truth:
"Your Highness... My menstruation has not come, and it should be over according to the time, but there is still no movement. I am hesitating whether to see a doctor..."

Zhu Jingyuan was stunned for several seconds, then reminded in a daze:
"The menstruation does not come at all, is there a possibility that you have..."

Liu Muyun actually thought of this possibility, but he couldn't accept the result:

"It can't be so fast, I just have sex with... just once with His Highness..."

Zhu Jingyuan was also very surprised that he might have a child:

"It's an unbelievable result, but I can't think of any other possibility.

"We're probably going to have a baby, aren't you happy mother?"

Liu Muyun said rather melancholy:
"It's not that I'm unhappy, I just feel that it's a shame, just once, how can it be like this."

Zhu Jingyuan quickly understood Liu Muyun's state of mind, and then he couldn't help laughing:

"I feel bad too, but we have plenty of time in the future, so we need to inform mother first about this important matter."

(End of this chapter)