on an ironclad battleship

His Majesty the Emperor, accompanied by the marshal, carefully inspected one gun emplacement, one gun emplacement, and even personally tested the weight of the 203-mm shells and the firing explosive packs wrapped in silk, and exchanged views with the burly and majestic ammunition loaders.

The 8-inch gun has almost reached the extreme of manual loading.

Larger caliber artillery needs hydraulic mechanical assistance, and needs to be equipped with bilge ammunition depots, mechanical lifting mechanisms and bomb delivery mechanisms, which are a complete set of sophisticated mechanical devices, and the purchase cost of its guns has doubled.

Even if the Imperial Royal Navy purchases it at a relatively favorable price, the price of a super-large caliber gun will not be less than 6.2~65,000 yuan, and the equipment cost of four main ship guns can almost build a "Tornado" class cruiser, which shows its high price.

Today

The layout of Tang-style warships has become an important trend in the development of the world's navies, and its representative technical characteristics have three points;

First, the only way to drive the propeller is to use a steam engine to drive the propeller, which has many characteristics such as simplicity, practicality, and low cost.

Second, special attention is paid to the performance of long-sea navigation, drawing on the design of migrant ships, the hull is relatively wide and heavy, the living facilities of the crew are complete, and the power compartment is equipped with oil-fired boilers is a typical feature.

Third, compared with the ships of the same type in the world's naval powers, the firepower configuration of their main guns and auxiliary guns is generally weak, and dozens of artillery pieces will not be arranged at every turn, but each artillery piece is technologically advanced, and its striking power cannot be underestimated.

Just like the armored cruiser "Tornado" in front of you, with a total full displacement of 4980 tons, it is armed with only 4 8-inch main ship guns (203 mm) and 10 7-inch secondary guns (178 mm).

Compared with the same type of Britain, France and other warships, the number of guns is small, and the caliber is small, but because of the use of the world's top level of artillery technology, the power is not inferior at all, and even the armor-piercing power is still excessive.

The British Royal Navy is very covetous of the advanced artillery technology of the Tang Empire, but the two sides have not yet negotiated.

The battleship turned around, and Emperor Richard was about to go down to the engine room to take a look, which made Marshal Pan Hengchen panic at once, and hurriedly raised his hand to salute and persuade;

"Your Majesty; The space in the engine room is small, the working environment is harsh, and the air is dirty. ”

"What nonsense? Could it be that I can only look at the glamorous deck operations, but I can't go deep into the core of the ship? When Richard was stopped, he looked displeased and turned back to the others and asked; Do you think so too? ”

"The ministers ask Your Majesty to take care of the holy bow, don't get into danger!" All the ministers responded in unison.

Richard's brows furrowed suddenly, and he rebuked unhappily;

"It's ridiculous!

As the king of a country or the commander of an army, there is never a noble person who cannot go deep into the front line to inspect, soldiers can go, officers can go, then the marshal can also go down, and the emperor can naturally go down.

The division of labor in the army is not about dirty or not?

The engine room of a ship is one of the most core departments, it is like the heart of human beings, providing a source of power for the navigation of the ship, and is one of the components of the combat effectiveness of the entire ironclad ship, which is closely inseparable.

You in the Royal Navy don't want to artificially divide the work of the ships into 369 classes, and although the officers and men who come out of the engine room are covered in putty, their contribution is noble and pure, as unadulterated as gold.

Are you willing to come down and see yourselves, anyway, the engine room is small, and it can't take up so many people, I will definitely go down, and no one can stop me. ”

With that, Richard walked down the ladder by the hatch.

"Weichen greets Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty, long live, long live!"

Richard was stunned as soon as he stepped out of the engine room, and dozens of officers and soldiers in front of him who were only wearing sleeveless short coats knelt on the ground in unison, many of whom were already in tears, still muttering excitedly; "Your Majesty, we will die without regrets."

"All Aiqing is flat, no courtesy!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Long."

At this time, the smoke in the engine room is steaming, and the temperature is quite high, about 20 degrees outside, but the cabin is not lower than 35 degrees Celsius.

The arms of the big men here are covered with shiny and black beads of sweat, which is the fly ash that flies after the bilge burns and sticks to the body, and the oil and gas that is not completely burned by the heavy oil is scattered, and the environment can be said to be quite bad.

In this era, the machinery was stupid and clumsy, and the sealing was poor, and most of the black smoke from the boiler combustion could be discharged from the chimney, and a small part remained at the bottom layer.

This bilge would be better if the ship was open, and there would be a cool sea breeze blowing into the cabin along the pipes, removing the sultry air and the dirt mixed with the e-liquid.

I am afraid that the ship will stop at the dock and not leave, and the oil, gas and soot that have settled in the bilge will have nowhere to go, so that it can only accumulate more and more, making people feel like they are walking through the black fog, and they are really fluttering.

The Tornado-class cruiser was equipped with eight high-pressure oil-fired boilers to drive two three-expansion steam engines to drive the propellers, and two diesel-connected generators in the engine room to provide engine room lighting and signal signals throughout the ship.

Just think about it

With 8 boilers in such a small environment, two large steam engines, generators, and various high-pressure pipelines, hundreds of manual valves, several coal conveyor belts and some necessary equipment, and dozens of young men, how cramped and crowded should this power cabin be?

Starting the steam engine is a very difficult thing, first the boiler is pressurized, and then the auxiliary engine is started to drive the main gear to rotate, so that the two steam engines can be started successively, and this process takes several hours.

Once it is started, it is impossible to turn off the ignition and it is always working until the whole voyage is returned to the dock to anchor.

In the entire ship, the engine room has the largest number of officers and men, the most tiring work, and the highest requirements, and just a hundred steam control valves make people dizzy.

His Majesty the Emperor's thoughtful words deeply touched the officers and soldiers on the ship, so they knelt down to thank them.

"Let's set sail first." Richard commanded, and Marshal Pan Hengchen waved his hand and immediately went to execute.

The officers and men in the engine room immediately took action, only to hear a loud "bang" and another loud "bang", and the contact plate of the two thick propeller propeller transmission shafts as large as a small round table top pressed tightly on the rotating power take-off plate, driving the propellers of the propeller shaft to rotate.

There was an obvious movement under the soles of the feet, and the ship had slowly left the dock.

Eight sailors threw off their arms and began to add coal to the boiler, while several non-commissioned officers opened the valve to output high-pressure steam, and they needed to keep the pressure output of the boiler balanced.

While the officers and soldiers were in control, Richard walked up to the working three-expansion steam engine, looked at it and asked; "What about the power output of this machine? Is it reliable and durable? ”

Marshal Pan Hengchen stepped forward and replied respectfully;

"Your Majesty;

The ship is equipped with the second generation of high-power three-expansion steam engines improved and developed by Chang'an Heavy Machinery Factory, each with a rated power of 3,800 horses, two with a total of 7,600 horses, and a cruising speed of 11~12 knots.

The supporting boiler can be used to support combustion with heavy oil to push the warship section to a high speed of 16 knots in a short time, and the maximum time is not more than 6 hours.

After years of technical improvement, this steam engine has eliminated the disadvantages of being easy to stall, and the longest stable working time has reached 37 days, which can be said to be the best steam ship power in the world today.

Especially in terms of stability, compared with the British steam engine that turned off at both ends in three days, the technical level is much better, and it has been unanimously highly praised by the officers and men of the turbine.

Even as a power for higher-level warships, Wechen believes that it is a qualified choice. ”

"Well, in the process of use, we must constantly put forward suggestions for improvement, so as to prompt the steam engine manufacturers to improve the process, improve the production level, and provide better power units for the Royal Navy. For example, in the future...... Is it possible to use a single steam engine to power an entire ship? ”

"Weichen understands, and he must keep in mind His Majesty's teachings."

"These high-pressure oil-fired boilers ......," Richard shook his head when he looked at it, and the eight or ten large boilers in a row in the engine room were indeed spectacular, but they were also too laborious.

Each boiler is equipped with at least two boiler soldiers, who take turns to use large shovels to feed coal into the boiler, and when sailing at full speed, two people need to go on it together, tired and sweaty.

Today's level of mechanization is low, and the use of manpower is the easiest way to save money, and this will be the case for the next 100 years, and it cannot be changed for the time being.

The successive naval battles of the North American Wars showed; The demise of the main gun layout and the advent of the era of rotatable naval guns.

The rotatable naval guns commonly equipped with the Tang Empire have been tested by war and have been proven to be an advanced and effective development direction, and have been generally accepted by the world's advanced naval countries.

The most obvious example;

It was during the North American War that the British Royal Navy was slow to respond due to the insistence of the conservatives, and the conservatives within the Royal Navy stubbornly rejected any warships that did not match their perceptions, and until 1859 were still developing the "Barrier" class sail battleship, which was a hybrid battleship with an 8000 horsepower steam engine as auxiliary power, but the main power was still a wooden sail battleship wrapped in ironclad armor, and used the traditional three-deck gun door layout.

Until 1861

The Royal Navy was very shocked to find that the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire was killing all the old northern sail warships in North America, and the French Navy started a full 10 "Provence"-class ironclad ships, all of which adopted a rotating turret design.

The report of the Royal Naval Observing Group also confirms; In previous naval battles, the rotating turret had an unrivaled superiority.

The British Royal Navy hurriedly compared its warriors with the "Provence" class on the opposite side, and its heart suddenly cooled in half.

I can't fight, I can't run, and I haven't resisted the other party, so I think it's going to be over, so I hurriedly stopped the construction plan of the "Barrier" class sail battleship, canceled the upper gun deck for the first 4 ships with a high degree of completion, and made significant technical changes.

However, the final product was not satisfactory, because it was a combined drive of sails and steam power, and the "Barrier" class sail battleships also inherited the characteristics of extremely complex deck layout, small and cramped space, and extremely poor continuity of ocean voyages.

I wanted to take care of both, but I couldn't take care of both.

When His Majesty the Emperor and Count Pan Hengchen and a few others came out of the bilge, they couldn't help laughing when they looked at each other's disgraced faces.

Said; "Hahaha...... Pan Aiqing didn't do much when she went down to the bilge, but on the contrary, she seemed to be vigorous, if she sang on stage, she didn't need to put on makeup, so it was just right. ”

"Wechen is fortunate to be able to accompany the holy bow, don't say that there is only soot, and there is no frown in the water and fire."

"Then freshen up for a while and then continue?"

"Thank you Your Majesty for your understanding, Weichen dares to disobey?"

"Hahaha...... Good. ”

After leaving the dock, the huge ironclad cruiser "Tornado" galloped towards the deep blue Pacific Ocean in the distance, followed by two "Qiuyue"-class ironclad destroyers, and the three battleships sailed out of the bay in the shape of "Pin" and plunged headlong into the vast Pacific Ocean......

After freshening up, I used some refreshments.

Accompanied by everyone, Richard came to the command tower with great interest, and sat in the only command position in the command tower, while Marshal Pan Hengchen stood on the side, diligently introducing the new technology used by the ship.

The ironclad ship has been fully equipped with wires and electric lights, and uses the most advanced telephone technology in today's scientific and technological circles, which can transmit orders to the engine room and various gun emplacements in the first time, greatly improving combat efficiency.

In 1859, the German inventor Johann Philippe Les invented the first telephone device, which could transmit sound up to 100 meters away, but only in one direction.

The military of the Tang Kingdom was keenly aware of the military value of this technology, so they purchased a patent and conducted in-depth research, and soon applied the telephone device to the ironclad cruiser "Tempest".

And this is the world's first warship equipped with a telephone, and it works very well in practical applications.

"The military application value of this technology is very high, if there is telephone technology during the North American war, the command can send an order to all divisions and regiments to coordinate the combat operations of the entire battlefield, which will undoubtedly improve the response speed of the entire army." Richard nodded in the affirmative, then added;

"The fly in the ointment is that it can only be a one-way call, and this technology should be further improved to achieve the effect of two-way talk.

That's the case

The higher authorities can issue orders and get feedback from the front-line troops at the first time, so that the operational plan can be adjusted in a timely manner, and the military value will be even greater.

The Secretariat noted that this scientific and technological development would be followed up on a priority basis to see if it could be used for civilian purposes in the future. ”

"Wechen obeys." Zheng Yuan, the head of the secretariat, replied respectfully.

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