It is not a very urgent matter to convert the 250-class armed merchant ship into a sailing ship, and the most urgent thing at present is actually to transform one or two British pirate ships out to take revenge on the Portuguese.

I don't know for some reason, Marin is very interested in the transformation of this pirate ship. So, he personally went to the Emden shipyard to participate in the renovation of the English Kirk sailing ship.

The English Kirk sailing ship is actually basically the same as the German Kirk sailing ship, because the Kirk sailing ship was originally learned by the British from the Hanseatic League. Therefore, it was not difficult for Marin to get a Kirk sailboat.

In the dock, a Kirk galleon of more than 200 tons is resting on a stand. The water in the dock has been drained to make it easier for craftsmen to carry out the transformation.

Since it is a pirate ship, it is natural that speed takes precedence. Therefore, Marin directly waved his hand and said:

"Increase the height of the mast and use a larger area of high-strength sisal sails!"

This is the easiest decision, the sailboat, the larger the sail area, the faster the natural speed. In addition, Marin pointed to the bow and stern of the ship and commanded:

"The stern mast was changed to a spinnaker so that the wind from the side could be used!"

This was the practice of fully equipped sailboats in order to improve the utilization of the wind. In addition, it was also a preparation for the interception of Portuguese transport ships.

Because, when the Portuguese merchant ships returned home, they must have gone north along the coast of Africa. The north-south route is often a side wind, and there is rarely a positive tailwind.

Therefore, on the route of the Portuguese merchant ship returning home, it is actually more appropriate to use a spinnaker. So, Marin went on to order:

The two masts in front are also ready to be replaced with large jibs...... "If it is really a side wind, it is the most correct thing to do with all the jirs."

In fact, the North Sea Kingdom has a better upper rim jib than the spinnaker. But the upper edge of the blink boom sail North Sea State is being kept secret, and the use of such advanced sails is allowed only in the uninhabited areas of the Atlantic. When you go to a crowded area, you have to change it to a normal sail.

Moreover, this time the corsair was to disguise itself as a British pirate, so naturally it could not use such an advanced thing. In addition, Marin did not want the Portuguese to learn this kind of sailing.

Therefore, Marlin had to continue to use the old-fashioned sails. However, the area has increased considerably, and the material has been replaced with reinforced sails made of sisal.

In addition, the stern part is also equipped with a very easy-to-use steering wheel system to facilitate the quick steering of the boat.

……

Next is the hull part, because of the tight schedule, it is certainly too late to adjust the keel and thicken the side sides. Therefore, Marin directly adopted a simple and crude method - nailed the hull with white iron sheets, a total of three layers......

The three-layer white iron sheet may still be difficult to resist the heavy shells of the lizard cannon. After all, the impact of that kind of shell can easily smash the broadside structure under the protection of the iron sheet. However, the Franc cannon used to fend off the Portuguese had no problem.

Portuguese merchant ships were generally equipped with Furlong cannons. Only on the main battle ship will the 12-pounder gun be added. For ordinary merchant ships, it is almost the same to be equipped with a few more three-pound Furlong cannons, at most 6-pound guns.

In this way, as long as the side nails were nailed with three layers of white iron, there was no need to fear the blows of small-caliber guns on Portuguese merchant ships.

In this way, the refit of the ship was largely completed. Next, the craftsmen simply used the same technique to continue refitting a few Kirk sailboats.

Then, Marin went to pick someone......

……

In order to pretend to be a pirate, Marin really asked Kohler to instruct the North Sea spies in London to recruit a group of reliable people with pirate experience to join the pirate ship.

These old pirates are familiar with the methods of the English pirates, and they act in their true colors, so they don't need to pretend at all. Marin's sailors only need to cooperate with them and imitate their behavior.

Among them, a middle-aged pirate leader named Jack aroused Marin's strong interest. Because, Marlin actually found that this cargo looked quite like Captain Jack in "Pirates of the Caribbean". However, he is not called Jack. Sparrow, but called Jack. Wix.

But Marin didn't care so much, and besides, they were pretending to be pirates this time, so naturally they didn't need to use their real names. So, Marin waved his hand:

"In this way, when you are robbing, you will pretend to be the captain. From now on, your name is Jack. Sparrow, everyone calls you 'Captain Jack', and it's so happily decided! ”

Jack. Vickers looked confused - why did he even change his surname?

But thinking that this time he was going to pretend to be a pirate, he figured it out, and it was best not to use his own life. After all, Anglo-Portuguese relations are good. If you use your real name and are sued by Portugal to London, you will be wanted in England.

Since there is Captain Jack, it is natural that there must be a corresponding ship. So, Marin happily decided that the first pirate ship would be called the Black Pearl......

"Captain Jack" and a group of hired English pirates all looked at Marlin with bewildered expressions, but, after some thought, they accepted it. There's no way, Marin is their employer, or a king, and they can only accept it, and they have no confidence to refute it.

Since it is the "Black Pearl", it is natural to be black. Therefore, Marin directly asked people to paint the whole ship black, even the white iron sheet was also painted with black paint, making the whole ship look black.

However, in terms of firepower configuration, Marin could not learn from the "Black Pearl" and use 32 6-pounder guns. Moreover, the small Kirk ship, which is more than two hundred tons, does not have so many gun emplacements. In particular, there was no lower artillery deck.

Therefore, Marlin could only adapt to the situation, and according to the characteristics of the Kirk galleons with high ends and bow and stern, a gun was installed in the bow and stern, both of which were 12-pounders.

Pirates often do not fight head-to-head at sea, because merchant ships often do not have the courage to fight pirate ships. Therefore, in battles at sea, it is often the merchant ships that flee in front and the pirate ships chase behind. Therefore, a main gun in the bow of a ship is a must, and the side guns are basically useless.

Of course, there are times when pirate ships are unlucky, let's say, when they encounter warships...... At this point, the pirate ship needs to rely on speed to escape. At this time, it is better to have a cannon in the stern of the ship to stop the pursuit of the warship......

Therefore, corsair often does not need any guns on the side of the ship, only the guns in the bow and the guns in the stern. As for the broadside guns, they were only used when the navies of the two countries were just facing each other. Because, the purpose of the navies of both countries is to destroy the opponent, and they will not run away easily. There are more guns on the side of the board, which tend to have more advantages and can easily sink the opponent.

But the purpose of a pirate ship is to rob, not to sink merchant ships. So, broadside guns are not needed. If a merchant ship is sunk, who will they rob?

Therefore, Marin did not place a platoon of guns on the side of the "Black Pearl", but only symbolically deployed three or four rear-loading Furlong cannons. This kind of Franc cannon is more used to scare the people on the merchant ship by firing a few cannons after parallel with the merchant ship, rather than sinking the merchant ship.

After the ship was refitted, Marlin patted Jack. Vickers smiled over his shoulder:

"Alright, Captain Jack, take your men to the sea for some drills!"

……