Chapter 175: From "Weiyuan" to "Fujing"

As early as the winter of 9069, shortly after the launch of the "Mae Yun", the workers, technicians and foreigners of the shipyard began to draw and study the 150-horsepower steam engine and supporting boilers that were later installed on the "Fubo". The drawing work was carried out by the "Drawing House", which was located on the upper floor of the engine workshop. Under the guidance of the foreigners, the drawing students sketched various total score drawings in detail one by one, and the completed drawings were handed over to the wood mold workshop to "carve wood to make a full set of molds". Then according to the mold, the finished product is made by the iron striking and foundry, and finally polished and assembled in the turbine workshop. When assembling the steam engine in the turbine shop, the water tank shop next door is also replicating the two sets of boilers. In the spring of 9071, the first good news was reported in the water tank workshop, and two square low-pressure boilers were successfully made, rolled out along the rails leading from the water tank workshop to the slipway, and hoisted into the "Yongbao" hull on the slipway.

After the launch of the "Yongbao" carried out a voyage test, the speed was measured to be 10 knots when the wind and tide were headwind, and up to 13 knots when the wind was downwind, which was not much different from the "Wan Nianqing" and "Fubo" that used imported steam engines of the same power. ”

In just a few years from "Wan Nian Qing" to "Fubo" and then to "Yongbao", the 150-horsepower steamship of the Shipmaster has gone through the construction of ready-made ship materials purchased in full accordance with foreign drawings, to the design of its own, to independent manufacturing, and finally to the localization of core components. The steam engine, the crystallization of science and technology in the steam age, has now been born in the hands of the Qianguo people themselves.

Lin Yiqing couldn't help but feel emotionally in his heart when he learned that the shipmaster of this era was able to produce his own steam engine.

Ten years ago, Qianguo was still struggling with the trauma caused by the Anglo-French troops coming to the outskirts of Beijing and burning down the Qingqi Garden and the alliance under the city, but now it has won the laurels of the steam age, and in Qianguo, which has no modern industrial base, this achievement is tantamount to a great technological revolution.

The great success of the "Yongbao" with the "heart" of a dry country has greatly encouraged the whole shipyard. Since the Anti-Smoking War, the Qianguo people, who have felt the power of Western science and technology, have always dreamed of having the same strength as the Western powers, and "mastering the skills of the Western powers to control the country" as a way of self-improvement, but most of them have implemented it through the purchase of "tools", and few people dare to try the method of making weapons that seems to be tantamount to seeking skin with the tiger and directly learning the secret skills from the foreigners. However, through a set of effective contract norms and monetary incentive mechanisms implemented by foreign technicians, coupled with the efforts of officials, technicians and workers, the Harbour Administration finally succeeded in realizing this dream.

At that time, while building the follow-up ships of the "Fubo" class, the Harbour Administration began the construction of a new type of ironwaki wood-hulled cruiser -- the "Weiyuan" class after intensive preparations.

The "Weiyuan" ship is the first iron-ribbed wood-hulled cruiser built by the shipyard, with a standard displacement of 1,700 tons, and is a pure warship that completely abandons the idea of "dual-use weapons and business", with a length of 71 meters, a width of 10 meters, a draft of 5 meters, and a power of 250 horsepower steam engines from Kangbang, equipped with 2 190 mm mast main guns and 7 140 mm guns, of which the bow is a 140 mm gun and a 190 mm mast gun, a total of 6 140 mm guns on both sides, and a 190 mm main gun at the sternIn addition, the "Weiyuan" was equipped with 6 extremely powerful melee weapons - "Lin's machine guns", which was the most powerful warship built by the Harbour Administration at that time.

Judging from the appearance, the "Weiyuan" ship is different from the flying scissor head used by the previous shipmaster warships, which is a typical crashing head, and it is the French Navy's signature "big nose" crashing horn head at that time, and the 6-meter-long big nose collision angle looks domineering. The speed of the "Weiyuan" is 14 knots, and it is also second to none in the shipyard. The "Weiyuan" ship, which adopts a new technology and is equipped with a new steam engine, has aroused the envy of many governors. However, it was not immediately transferred. The reason for this is that the central center deliberately wanted to let the French see the progress of the shipbuilding industry of the Qianguo, so it specially allowed Lin Yizhe to take the "Weiyuan" ship ("this time the envoy went to the foreign ocean, he did not need to lease a foreign ship, but could go to the ship 'Weiyuan'", a newly built ship of the shipping administration), in order to show his strength to the Western countries. The "Weiyuan" became the first steam warship of an Eastern country to reach Europe, and took part in the grand parade held in Prest, the new French emperor Napoleon IV, for the coronation.

Soon after the completion of the "Weiyuan," the "Chaowu" and "Chengqing" warships, both of which belonged to the "Weiyuan" class, were also launched. The "Chaowu" and "Chengqing" warships are the same as the "Weiyuan" ships in terms of appearance, design, and various sizes. In addition, all the keels and iron ribs used in the "Chaowu" and "Chengqing" warships were copied by the Qianguo technicians themselves, and the power models selected were also the same as those of the "Weiyuan" warship, and the Kangbang-type steam engine on the ship was also built by the Qianguo workers themselves. The two ships are completely national products. Shen Baozhen said proudly in his recital to the imperial court: "As for the two ships of 'Chaowu' and 'Chengqing', the ribs, engines and all the parts required on the ship are all imitated by domestic workers in the new style of foreign countries, and they are made by themselves, which is the same as those purchased from foreign countries. ”

After the completion of the "Henghai" and "Kangji" ships, both of which belonged to the "Weiyuan" class, they were transferred to Beiyang together with the "Weiyuan" at the request of Li Shaoquan, the governor of Zhili, and became the first batch of main warships of the Beiyang Naval Division.

Despite the great achievements, the shipyard under the leadership of Lin Yizhe did not stop at the development of new ship types, and thus on the basis of the "Weiyuan" class, the "Fujing" class light armored cruiser, an epoch-making warship, was born.

In order to deal with the two ironclad ships of the Japanese Navy, the "Dong" and the "Longxiang," Lin Yizhe asked the chief engineer of the ship, Da Shibo, to urgently revise the design of the "Weiyuan" class, to equip the "Weiyuan" class with armor for the second subsequent ships of the "Weiyuan" class, "Fujing" and "Jianjing," and to convert them into light armored cruisers. Therefore, Dashbo revised the design, laying a layer of 75 mm thick armor steel plates around the hull, and adding two layers of steel plates to some key parts to make the armor thickness reach 150 mm, which can resist the bombardment of large-caliber guns. What is particularly rare is that according to the design of Dashbo, the Qianguo workers also made a special thickening of the hull plate, and deliberately made the outer edge of the hull plate and the armor plate flush to make the hull stronger.

Because he had a very deep understanding of the pervasiveness of the Japanese very early on, and in order to ensure that he would be able to take the lead in the future war against Japan's invasion of Mowan, Lin Yizhe adopted the strictest secrecy measures for the construction and installation of armor on the "Fujing" and "Jianjing."

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