Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 421 Submarine

Both industrial revolutions were initiated by Western countries, and the country's own industrial base was also established with the assistance of scientific researchers from Germany, France, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, simply following the Western countries and being a slavish imitator will always make it difficult to achieve great things.

"In today's world, Western countries dominate the field of science and technology. In major industrial fields such as steel and shipbuilding, China still needs to learn from the West. However, in some emerging fields, China should also use the technological foundation laid by the country's development over the past 20 years to catch up and strive to gain technological advantages in the competition with Western countries."

After the grand court meeting ended, irrelevant government officials were sent away, and the remaining dozens of people were all core senior military and political personnel of the local area.

"For example, underwater combat technology, in my opinion, is a very promising military field, and it is completely worth the government's investment in practical research."

As Li Mingyuan spoke, he looked towards Navy Minister Chen Sen, his questioning intent was obvious.

"According to His Majesty's instructions, the Navy Department invested funds and assigned dozens of scientific and technical personnel in 1882 to set up a submarine research department and began to conduct submarine technology verification research.
After seven years of research and experimentation, we have completed the construction of the first generation of domestic submarines based on the technology of the French "Diver" submarine and the British "Nordfeldt" submarine.

Because of his position as Chief of the Navy, Chen Sen, who had just been promoted to Lieutenant General, was very concerned about all internal affairs of the Navy. He was afraid that there would be omissions or negligence in his work, which would leave an impression of incompetence on Li Mingyuan and many of his colleagues in the Army and Navy, and thus lead to the loss of his position as Chief of the Navy.

"What are the technical capabilities of the indigenously built submarines? How long can they stay underwater?"

"Two first-generation submarines were built, using a dual power system of batteries and compressed air engines, with a diving depth of 16 meters, an underwater speed of 6 knots, and a cruising range of 70 nautical miles.

The water engine has a power of 58 kilowatts, a speed of 7 knots and a cruising range of 300 nautical miles.

Each submarine is equipped with an underwater torpedo tube and a Jianye 6-year heavy machine gun, and theoretically has the ability to launch underwater attacks on enemy naval vessels.

"The speed is too slow and the range is too short. It is impossible for the enemy's warships to float motionlessly on the sea surface, waiting for the submarine to attack."

Li Mingyuan was very dissatisfied with the performance of the domestically built submarines.

"Engine power is the main factor limiting the speed and endurance of submarines. You should communicate and exchange with researchers engaged in the field of internal combustion engine research, report the power system problems encountered during the experiment to them, and try to improve the mechanical power of submarine engines. At the same time, in the process of submarine construction, you should actively learn from and absorb the reasonable technical experience of Western countries, and dare to boldly try new designs and new solutions. For example, the description of submarines in French writer Nelson's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" is very novel and bold. You can all read this book, and then conduct verification experiments according to the double-hull structure described in the book to see if the performance of submarines using double-hull structures is better than that of single-hull submarines."

"Yes, Your Majesty. When I return, I will have Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues from Haiti translated and give a copy to each researcher."

Chen Sen replied respectfully.

"There is no need to be so troublesome. There are a batch of translated books in the Chang'an University Library. After today's meeting, you can just send someone to Chang'an University to borrow them." At the end of the 19th century, France and the United States were at the leading level in the field of submarines. Before the successful development of the Holland III submarine, the performance of those manufactured by French civilian scientists was generally more advanced than that of the United States and Britain.

In 1863, France built the "Diver" submarine, which was powered by a 58.8 kW (80 horsepower) compressed air engine, had a speed of 2.4 knots, could stay underwater for 3 hours, and had a diving depth of 12 meters.

In 1886, the British built the "Nautilus" submarine, which used battery power for propulsion, with a speed of 6 knots and a range of about 80 nautical miles.

The weapons used by early submarines were mainly timed explosive packs or mines hung on the hull. In 1866, the British R. Whitehead made the first torpedo. In 1881, the "Nordfeldt" submarine built by T. Nordfeldt and G. Garrett was equipped with torpedo tubes for the first time; in the same year, the "Holland" II submarine built by the United States was equipped with torpedo tubes that could launch torpedoes underwater, which was an important development in the history of submarine development.

It was after gaining a rough understanding of the current status of development in the field of submarines in Western countries that Li Mingyuan accidentally thought of the double-decker structure of submarines while reading Nelson's "Twenty Thousand Leagues in Haiti".

The double-layer structure of submarines was first designed by French scientist Laubeuf. Ten years later, in 1899, the first submarine with a double-layer structure, the "Navier", was launched in France. The difference between the "Navier" and other submarines is that the submarine is wrapped with an outer shell outside its inner shell. This makes the "Navier" have both an outer shell that looks like a torpedo boat and an inner shell designed according to the requirements of submarines. The crew and all equipment are installed in the pressure-resistant inner shell. The space between the inner and outer shells is used as a ballast tank to control the submarine's diving and surfacing. When the boat removes the water in the ballast tank, it can have good seaworthiness like a torpedo boat, making its surface speed reach 11 nautical miles per hour and its endurance is 500 nautical miles; when the ballast tank is filled with water, the "Navier" will be the same as the earlier submarines, its underwater short-distance speed can reach 8 nautical miles per hour, even if it sails underwater for several hours, its underwater speed can reach 5 nautical miles per hour.

The Navier submarine had the basic prototype of a modern submarine, but due to the limitation of engine power, the actual combat performance of the submarine was greatly reduced.

However, if the ideal scientific research progress of the Han Kingdom is followed, with the help of Li Mingyuan's guidance and the practical ability of Tesla and other experts, some advanced theories will be applied to the field of internal combustion engines in the next ten years. Then, it is possible to improve the diving speed and endurance to a higher level, so that it has the combat capability to launch attacks in offshore waters.

"Future submarines must be developed in the direction of ocean-going combat capability. Several or even dozens of submarines will be organized into a strategic unit, using radio as a communication channel to communicate with each other, and underwater torpedoes as weapons to attack enemy warships. The enemy's naval fleet will be defeated from underwater by encircling and attacking from all sides."

Li Mingyuan described the future combat mode of submarines to the officials and generals in the palace in a positive tone, and then continued: "Of course, based on the current technology, the navy's research focus is still on offshore attack operations, using submarines as short-range assault weapons, and trying to achieve the goal of severely damaging enemy warships anchored in the port in one battle. As for submarine tactical training and combat personnel training, preparations can be made now.
The Navy Department and the Navy General Staff will work together to select outstanding officers and graduates from the Navy's active fleet and the Naval Academy to train as submarine reserve officers.

"How to solve the problem of the positioning of the submarine force? Should it be included in the regular combat fleet sequence of the navy?"

Navy Minister Chen Sen asked a realistic question.

"The submarine force is an experimental force and is not currently included in the regular fleet sequence of the Navy. However, the officers of the submarine force are appointed and used in accordance with the standards of the regular fleet of the Navy, and their treatment is the same as that of officers of the same rank in the main fleet at sea."

Li Mingyuan pondered for a while and gave the other party a clear answer.

"Also, the submarine force will be temporarily organized according to squadron standards. The rank of the submarine formation commander will be equal to the rank of the commander of the three major naval squadrons. In the first phase, a submarine simulation exercise brigade will be established, with six first-generation submarines under its command. Then, after the technical performance of the submarines is improved, a certain degree of formation reorganization and expansion will be made."

(End of this chapter)