At the end of their visit to England, Frederick III and his party returned to Germany, disembarked from Wilhelmshaven and returned to Berlin by train, but Jochen did not return to Wilhelmsport not long after, and the steam turbine test ship was due for sea trials.

The test ship, which Jochen named the Turbonia as a tribute to history, was identical in all respects to the German Navy's newest Type 1895 ocean-going torpedo boat, except for the absence of guns and torpedoes. The power system is 4 Sannikrovt water-tube boilers, 4 steam turbines driving 4 3-blade propellers.

This is not only Germany's first steam-turbine ship, but also the first 4-shaft drive ship, and today will be her first full-speed voyage. On the dock where the Turbonia was docked, Parsons, one of the designers of her power core, was also nervous, pacing the deck with some anxiety.

And his collaborator, Tesla, was very calm, watching his partner spin around in front of him, and couldn't help but speak: "Charles, don't walk around like this, I'm almost dizzy." ”

"Nikolai, what if you can't reach the output power when sailing? What if it suddenly fails, this is the first time that a steam turbine has been used as a ship power, and it is a 700-ton hull, so it should be run on a smaller hull to test its stability. ”

"Don't worry so much, we've done a lot of preparation, we have to be confident in our own design, and even if something goes wrong, it's not a big deal, that's normal, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's normal, but I don't want her to mess up, and if it works, do you know what that means?" Parsons said with some emotion.

"It means that in the future all the high-speed small ships of the German Navy will use your design, and then you will succeed. Come on, Charles. You've been successful enough. A relaxed voice suddenly interjected.

As soon as the two turned their heads, they saw Joheng coming over with a smile, and immediately straightened up and saluted: "Your Highness." Jochen waved his hand to signal that he was not polite, and then continued to tease Parsons: "Aren't you successful enough that the generators you and Nikolai designed are now being used in the power stations that have been built and are being built and under construction throughout Germany and the United States?" ”

"Your Highness, you have praised me falsely, and it is you who gave me the opportunity and supported me." Parsons responded humbly.

"But a person who doesn't have talent, even if he has the opportunity and support, won't succeed." Jochen continued to compliment.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your trust. That's why I want to get it right the first time. Parsons replied.

"Don't worry, if it succeeds, then I will come to inspect as the chief of staff of the Admiralty, and you will get an order from the Navy." Jochen joked: "If it fails, I'll look at my investment as your investor, and I'll make additional investments to get you to complete it, and then let it pay off for me." ”

"I hope to get orders from the Navy and at the same time get money from investors." Tesla on the side also made a joke, and all three of them laughed. At this time, the Turbonia sounded its whistle. She's about to set sail.

"Let's get on board." Jochen said.

"Your Highness, please first." Parsons and Nikolai bowed sideways.

The dispatch efficiency of the water-tube boiler is high, it only takes 20 minutes from the fire to the voyage, and there is no longer such a rush to death that the sailors have burned for half a day. Although the Navy's new cruiser is not yet complete, the high efficiency of the water-tube boiler has been an excellent validator.

On July 12, 1897, the sea off Wilhelmshaven was breezy and exceptionally refreshing, and although it was not calm, the sea conditions were good. It was a good weather for the sea trials of the ships.

At a designed cruising speed of 14 knots, the Turbonia runs very smoothly. Shipyard crews record the amount of coal burned at cruising speed. After arriving at the intended test area, the most important test will begin.

Several sections of pillars of varying distances have been placed in advance, and the time it takes for the Transnia to sail past them will be used to calculate her speed. The first stage of the post is used to calculate the acceleration performance of the Turbine, and the second stage is used to calculate the top speed of the Turbo.

As the black smoke erupted from the chimney, everyone on board felt the Turbonia's speed increase rapidly. Accelerating from a cruising speed of 14 knots to maximum speed, the splash of the bow split became larger and larger. The wind was getting stronger, and Jochen's mood was getting better.

After all, the Turbonia is only a small 700-ton ship, and the freeboard is not high, and when it gradually reaches its maximum speed, the splash of the bow split is almost level with the height of the deck. Splashes of water wet the deck, hitting the hull and shattering droplets wet the clothes of the people on deck. But everyone's mood was bright and uplifting.

As the Turbo passed the first pillar of the top speed test at full speed, the recording crew on the observation ship not far away pressed the timer.

There were no breakdowns that Parsons feared, and the Turbonian sailed very smoothly. In just 10 nautical miles between the two pillars, the Turbonia completed in 20 minutes and 28 seconds, with an average speed of 29.3 knots! After calculation, Parsons' steam wheel output 13,000 horsepower more than he expected! The results of such a trial made everyone very excited.

What's more, at maximum speed, the Transplania's navigation is still smooth, although not without vibration at all, but it is much better than the reciprocating steam engine, which makes you shiver.

It can be said that the first performance of the steam turbine was perfect, although a series of follow-up tests were required to continue sailing at maximum speed, maximum endurance, seaworthiness in high sea conditions, etc. But with a speed of 29.3 knots and smooth operation, the steam turbine can already be proven to be excellent.

At this time, the Type 1895 ocean-going torpedo boat had been in service for some time, and this enlarged version of the Type 1889 ocean-going torpedo boat was equipped with three 88-mm rapid-fire guns, and the No. 2 gun position was installed on the tail platform originally equipped with 37 mm rapid-fire guns, thus forming a tail knapsack with the No. 3 gun position, but in exchange, the number of 37 mm rapid-fire guns was reduced by one.

Three twin 450 mm torpedo tubes made the torpedo more powerful, so the Navy, which was satisfied with the use of the torpedo, decided to place an additional order and planned to build 16 more ships, for a total of 32 ships. Jochen decided to go back and get at least half of the 16 new ships to be fitted with steam turbines for larger application tests.

If the request for full equipment is likely to be objected by some as unreliable, but only half of the equipment, or a quarter of the entire 32 Project 1895 ocean-going torpedo boats, should not be much resistance as a test of the new system.

Although the German Navy was stubborn, it was not willing to spend this money and take this risk if it was not enough to test small ships with some new equipment.

The Germans experimented with steam turbines in their own navy no later than the British, and some of the 45 Type 1889 large torpedo boats built over a period of more than four years, from 1899 to 1904, were equipped with steam turbines.

The Bremen-class small cruiser Lübeck, completed in 1905, was also equipped with a steam turbine, but it was only about 1-2 years later than the British. However, the Germans did not expand the application of steam turbines during this time period. This led to a distrust of steam turbine performance within the Navy.

Jochen was naturally able to guarantee that this would not happen again, and Jochen, who had rushed back to Berlin with such a purpose, immediately went to the Admiralty and informed Muntz of the results of the first trial voyage of Turbonia.

"Average speed 29.3 knots?! Constant sailing for more than 20 minutes?! Smooth operation at top speed, no extremely violent vibrations?! If we can really achieve this kind of performance, why do we only install half the number? All the second batch can be installed, and if nothing else, we are going to build a third batch in the next naval program, which can also be installed. Muntz's answer startled Jochen.

This is the stubbornly conservative Germans? This is the Germans who cling to mature technology? Jochen asked in disbelief, "Why don't you test it on a small number of ships first?" Do you want to promote it after determining its performance? Is this the first time that our Navy has used a completely new power system? ”

"Your Highness, the basic specifications of your test ship are the same as those of the Type 1895 ocean-going torpedo boat, right?" Muntz naturally knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince attached great importance to this new technology: "As long as there is no problem with the operation of that test ship, there should be no problem with our ocean-going torpedo boat." Our second batch of construction is ready to start before the end of this 10-year program, and we have one more year to test your Turbonia. If the performance is excellent, why don't we just embrace the technology? ”

At this time, Jochen was speechless, in fact, what he did not consider was that no matter how rigid the Germans were, they were not unsympathetic. Jochen's technological foresight from an early age convinced the Crown Prince's technical acumen within the Navy.

A technology that His Royal Highness attaches great importance to, even if it is brand new, must have extremely high development prospects, so as long as this technology can meet the requirements of the navy, then why say no?

If you can prove that this technique is really bad, then forget it, if you can't prove it, then why bother talking to the future emperor? And Muntz has been in contact and cooperation with Jochen in the past 10 years, and perhaps he himself is not aware that his judgment of Jochen has almost obeyed his words.

Since the Admiralty had so generously agreed to his request, Jochen was ready to take his leave satisfied, but was immediately stopped by Muntz: "Your Highness, the design department has just submitted a new design for a small cruiser, would you like to take a look?" (To be continued......)