The name of the first civilian shipyard that Ernst visited was the Bartecum shipyard, which, according to the person in charge, was a small town in the East Frisian archipelago on the northern coast of Germany, which is also the origin of the shipyard's name.

In East Africa, especially in the east, there are many place names with the suffixes of root, den, and fort, which are similar to those in South Germany, but East Africa rarely has such official names.

But it is not for nothing, for example, the original Rufuma River is the border between East Africa and the Portuguese colony of Angola, and there are many military strongholds, so there are many places with the suffix "fort".

Many of the names in East Africa are copied and pasted directly from Germany, so it is not surprising that the Bartecum shipyard used such a name.

"Your Highness, our Bartecum shipyard specializes in small and medium-sized fishing boats, and it is considered to be one of the top shipyards in East Africa in this field, with about 40 fishing boats per year, with a total tonnage of more than 2,000 tons, which are specially supplied to fishermen between the Pemba Strait and the Zanzibar Strait."

It is true that the hulls that Ernst saw in the shipyard were not very large, so this production was considerable, because the field of civilian ships in East Africa was not thriving in the first place.

This can be seen from the eating habits of East Africans, although East Africa has a vast sea area, but the demand for seafood and the population of East Africa do not match, if East Africa is a landlocked country is still said in the past, but East Africa is indeed a two-ocean country.

On the contrary, the shipbuilding industry in the inland lakes region of East Africa is very developed, especially the shipbuilding industry in the Great Lakes region, near which is an important grain production base in East Africa and a production area of cash crops such as rubber.

Or in Mwanza City through the feeder railway to the city along the central railway, mainly for the domestic market, as for the export in Dar es Salaam City on the cost is not cost-effective, unless it is to Australia or South America, Dar es Salaam City has an advantage, but Australia in this era is a big prison, and South American products are similar to East Africa, the two sides compete more.

"Last year, the total number of registered ships along the coast of East Africa exceeded 7,000, which is the result of more than ten years of accumulation, but it is still far from the gap between the maritime powers." said the head of the Bartkum shipyard.

Of course, this data does not include the Hexingen Ocean Trading Company, as well as the number of merchant ships in Zanzibar, plus the number of East African ships in the two is still more than 10,000, many ships in Zanzibar are flying the flags of Oman and other countries, and the ships of the Hexingen Ocean Trading Company have more vests.

"Well, the exploration of the sea is inseparable from ships as tools, and the shipbuilding industry is also part of the strength of East African countries, you must guard against arrogance and rashness, be down-to-earth, step by step in technology, overcome difficulties, and accumulate valuable experience for the East African shipbuilding industry." Ernst encouraged.

The Bartecum shipyard is the leading shipbuilder in East Africa, with the Bagamoyo shipyard being the leading shipbuilder and the two shipyards of the Heixingen Ocean Trading Company leading the civil ship sector.

Therefore, a lot of the technology of the Bartecum shipyard is the result of the spillover of the previous ones, while the East African shipbuilding technology comes from Europe, and the technology of Baltecum has changed hands again, so it is not very advanced.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, we also want to make some progress in this regard, but unfortunately we can't do it, there are only three technicians in our factory, and they are all invited from Austria at a high price, and the rest are experienced old shipwrights, but their experience is passed down from generation to generation, and there is more than enough success, and innovation is insufficient, so it is really difficult for us to engage in technology, and honest imitation can barely keep up with the pace."

Ernst: "You don't have to worry about this, everything is difficult at the beginning, the development of the shipbuilding industry in East Africa has not been a few years, and now the shelves have been built, this is progress, first eat the technology in your hands, there will be more talents in the future, there will be no problem, don't think about becoming a fat man in one bite." ”

If you want to talk about the difficulties of the Bartecum shipyard, it was really difficult when the factory was just built a few years ago, after all, it was poor and white, and now it is much better than the vast majority of shipyards, not to mention how rich it is.

Because it is a state-owned enterprise, enterprises such as the Baltecum shipyard have also been able to enjoy the government's financial allocation in recent years, so the development is still very good, at least in terms of workers' welfare and treatment.

"The shipbuilding industry has undergone earth-shaking changes, that is, in recent decades, it is mainly a huge development in power and materials, so you also have to adapt to this change, as far as I know, 60% of the core equipment in our factory is imported from Europe, you can start from a simple point, even if you can't do it, at least understand the principle, it is best to develop the advantages and disadvantages, fill your own shortcomings."

It is indeed difficult to let the Bartkum shipyard develop and design itself, but the current technical barriers are not very high.

For example, Watt, the improver of the steam engine, was an engineer who was born as a worker, and although there is a lack of high-level talents in East Africa, there are still some talents with a secondary school education, and they have also received relatively modern knowledge.

Like many employees of the Bartecum shipyard, in addition to skilled shipbuilders, many newly recruited employees and apprentices have a secondary school education, and at worst a primary school education, if they can combine knowledge and work, they can also find and solve many problems, that is, the problem of high probability.

Ernst then went to several shipyards, and the shipyards in Bagamoyo included not only sea vessels, but also ships used on inland waterways, after all, the city of Bagamoyo was at the mouth of the Lower Rhine.

In particular, Ernst was interested in a military-industrial shipyard, attached to the Bagamoyo shipyard and a subordinate unit of the Bagamoyo shipyard, which worked on submarines and had not yet finished it.

Needless to say, the role of submarines in the military field is now in the eighties of the 19th century, which happens to be an important window period for submarine research and development, because other countries do not attach importance to the role of submarines.

East Africa is not too late to start in this field, the current test machine has been able to dive about five or six meters, if now increase research efforts can not achieve corner overtaking!

Ernst plans to make submarine research and development independent as a key project of the East African Navy, to tap more talents from the German region, and East Africa also has a natural experimental base.

Lake Soren (Tanganyika) is very suitable as a place for submarine development, with an average depth of more than 500 meters and a maximum depth of more than 1,470 meters, second only to Lake Baikal, which was an important nuclear submarine experimental base in the Soviet Union.

In addition to the depth of Lake Solon is slightly worse than Lake Baikal, all other conditions are above Lake Baikal, after all, Lake Baikal in Siberia depends on the Siberian Railway, and Lake Solon is located in the hinterland of East Africa, the future infrastructure will not be bad, next to Kigoma, Bujumbura, Mbeya are important cities in East Africa, Mbeya City is currently the center of heavy industry in East Africa, can provide support for submarine research at any time.

(End of chapter)