Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 340 Battleships and Steam Engines
Cavite Peninsula

The largest naval shipyard of the Chu State is located on the edge of the bay here. This place has a very long history of shipbuilding. There are 17 shipyards of varying sizes lined up along the west side of the sea.

Every morning and evening

The streets of this bay are bustling with people, most of whom walk and live around the town of Hawa near the shipyard.

Hava Town is also the largest town on the Cavite Peninsula, with a permanent population of over 3.1, more than half of whom work in the nearby shipyards, anchor chain factories, canvas factories and rope factories, making it very prosperous and bustling.

I heard that Hawa Town has applied to establish a county seat. Given the town's strong strength, it shouldn't be a problem.

At the shipyard dock

King Zheng Guohui of Chu saw the ironclad ship "Huashan" that had been assembled and built. The densely packed steel rivets on the black hull emitted a cold light under the sunlight, giving people a very reassuring feeling.

This was the first-class steam ironclad ship built by the Chu State with its own strength, with a displacement of 2355 tons. The subsequent "Hengshan" and "Songshan" were both under construction on the slipway, and their specific displacements when launched were slightly different, with an increase of one or two hundred tons.

It sounds very grand, but after actually inspecting the ship, it's just like that.

In the early days of ironclad development

All the equipment was quite simple. Taking the "Huashan" class armored cruiser as an example, it was equipped with three turrets, two in the front and one in the rear, all of which used circular armored enclosures.

The main gun is a 15-inch Dahlgren cannon. The barrel is slightly longer than the original one. After improvements, it can still have an armor-piercing power of up to 1200% at a distance of yards.

After the gun was fired, the full-power armor-piercing range of the shell extended from 100 yards to 750 yards, an increase of nearly % over the original range.

This is to transplant the advanced experience of the same type of Dahlgren coastal gun to naval guns.

As a result, the heavy-duty swivel base is twice as heavy as before, making it more solid and durable, but also more clumsy.

The crank that originally required two gunners to turn with great effort now requires the power of a small steam engine to turn the heavy gun mount.

The first layer below the deck is the gun deck, which is equipped with a total of 16 10-inch rifled guns on both sides, 8 on each side, plus two 18-pound rifled guns at the bow and stern, for a total of 23 guns on the entire ship.

Compared with the British armored sailing battleships that often had more than a hundred guns, the number of guns equipped was obviously too small.

But the problem cannot be viewed in this way
The Huashan-class ironclad ships were equipped with large-caliber guns with strong destructive power, and there were only two calibers for the main and secondary guns, which was different from British warships that were often equipped with four to five calibers of guns, and posed a greater threat.

British sailing battleships were equipped with more small and medium caliber artillery, including 32-pound, 18-pound, 12-pound naval guns, and even 8-pound salute guns, which were used for ceremonial purposes when entering and leaving the port for royal family and nobles.

This was not found on the Chu State's ironclad warships, which were designed purely for combat.

Another feature of the Huashan ironclad ship is that it is only powered by steam. The masts, sails and cable steering wheels have all been removed, and the deck appears simple and clean.

It does not follow the mainstream ship propulsion of today's world naval powers, that is, the dual-power configuration of sail and steam.

Some large British sailing steam battleships even adopted a three-power configuration with side paddle wheels, all of which were stacked on board.

The consequence of this is
The deck was very messy and crowded. The sail cables and the side steam paddle wheel control system were all arranged on the deck. It was simply a large-scale disaster scene.

Sailors could no longer run quickly on the deck, but had to carefully avoid piles of cables, various control levers and machine boiler pipes, and move through the narrow gaps on the deck.

Once it starts sailing, it will be even more troublesome.

When the steam engine that drives the paddle wheel on the side is working, it makes a huge and disturbing noise, the huge wheel creaks as it turns, and the steam engine produces large clouds of thick smoke that fills the deck.

The British sailors had to stay on the deck and operate the sails nervously. They were forced to cover their faces with wet towels and endure the choking smoke while working, and they complained bitterly about this.

It was equally crowded under the deck. The power and boiler of the ship's steam engine took up a lot of space, so a sufficiently large coal bunker had to be opened up.

This made the deployment of artillery a problem, and gun positions had to be set up wherever there was space, which exacerbated the disaster.

Therefore, after the first few ships were built, the three-power sailing ironclad ships disappeared amid complaints from officers and soldiers of the British Royal Navy.

Today, the vast majority of ironclad ships built by the world's naval powers are powered by both sail and steam.

The Huashan-class ironclad cruisers, planned for commissioning by the Chu State in late June 1869, completely eliminated sail propulsion. They were the world's first large-scale ironclad ships powered solely by steam, retaining the simple, crude design of American ironclads.

During the Civil War

Many American ironclad ships were powered solely by steam, but only one or two were built, which did not constitute large-scale steam ironclad deployment, and the definition was different.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu deliberately went down to the second floor below the deck to take a look. The cabins there were low.

Because of his tall stature, he had to keep his head down, otherwise he would easily bump into the steel frame of the cabin ceiling, which would definitely result in a bloody head.

Chief of Staff Wu Qingfeng, who was following nearby, kept nervously reminding, "Your Majesty, please be careful!" "Your Majesty, you... be careful not to get knocked over."

King Zheng Guohui of Chu smiled and said that it was okay, but when he turned around, he bumped into an even lower cabin door and grimaced in pain. This frightened Lieutenant General Huo Haisheng, who was following behind him, so much so that his face turned pale.

He asked hurriedly, "Your Majesty, your dragon body..."

"It's okay, it's my fault for being careless." King Zheng Guohui of Chu held his head and waved his hand.

Then he lowered his head and crawled into the officers' and soldiers' cabin. This narrow officers' and soldiers' cabin was divided into three layers of wooden beds, set up face to face, with a total of four beds, which could accommodate 4 sailors to rest.

There is a circular window as big as a washbasin at the top, and the light from outside comes in through this window.

Although it is not bright, it is basically enough.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu stretched out his hand to measure the beds. These beds were quite narrow and could only accommodate an adult lying on his back, making it difficult to turn over.

Fortunately, there was a wooden ladder at the foot of the bed and a baffle at the head of the bed. When the warship tilted violently on the sea, it was not easy for the sailors sleeping on the bed to fall off.

There is a large cabinet next to the door, divided into 12 doors, and each sailor has only one cabinet.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu pointed to the only small table in the cabin and asked, "How will we light the room at night?"

"In reply to Your Majesty, each cabin will be equipped with a wall-mounted kerosene lamp above the table." Lieutenant General Huo Haisheng replied quickly.

He stepped forward and pointed to an empty spot on the table at the top of the aisle, explaining;

“Right here is a fixed wall-mounted kerosene lamp, a common navy style.

This cabin is rather small and there are many people living in it.

Kerosene lamps still have a smell when they are lit, so only one can be lit, as long as it is enough for lighting."

"Well, the living conditions for the sailors are still quite difficult." King Zheng Guohui of Chu said with emotion.

Lieutenant General Huo Haisheng explained with a smile;

"Your Majesty's benevolence is deeply appreciated by all of us in the Royal Navy. We are more than ever ready to serve you, even at the cost of life.

The navy has been like this since the Age of Exploration. The current "Huashan" ship, in compliance with His Majesty's decree, has specially improved the accommodation conditions for officers and soldiers, and is already first-class in the navy.

Originally, the artillerymen slept in the gaps between the cannons, sleeping wherever there was space.

The other sailors used sleeping bags, hanging them between the masts, in strings like cocoons, and did the same in the cabins.

Sleeping on coal piles or next to boilers was common.

It is a great happiness to have a bed of your own.

This bottom hold is equipped with 14 sailors' cabins, providing 168 berths. Assuming two sailors share one berth, it can solve the accommodation problem of 336 officers and soldiers.

Including the officers' quarters, all officers and soldiers on board basically have their own berth, which is helpful for relieving fatigue during long-distance voyages. All the officers and soldiers are looking forward to boarding the new ship!"

After hearing this introduction
King Zheng Guohui of Chu also laughed and said to Wu Qingfeng and others around him;

"Our Chu State is a country of thousands of islands with a vast territory, and the daily patrol and surveillance tasks in the sea are heavy.

Therefore, when equipping warships, special attention should be paid to the rest conditions of officers and soldiers, so that the soldiers can eat well, sleep well, and perform their tasks with a better mental state.

We would rather equip fewer artillery pieces than not solve this problem.

A real war only happens once every few years, but long-term patrols on the coast are a day-to-day task.

We need to strike a good balance here.”

These words were not only spoken to the accompanying personnel, but also expressed hope for the Royal Navy.

Lieutenant General Huo Haisheng nodded repeatedly and replied respectfully, "We, your Majesty, will faithfully follow your Majesty's instructions. We will combine the vastness of our country's maritime territory to continuously improve the combat effectiveness of our ironclad warships while also improving the living conditions of our officers and men, so as to live up to your Majesty's high expectations."

"That's a very good thing to say." King Zheng Guohui of Chu smiled and nodded. After asking a few more small questions, he followed carefully out of the cabin with his head lowered.

When you get to the gun deck, it seems much more spacious.

The ship's 16 10-inch rifled guns are all in place. The black gun bodies are full of power and are mounted on heavy wooden gun mounts.

The wooden gun mounts were firmly tied with ropes as thick as a child's arm to ensure that they would not move out of position due to the shaking of the ship, so as not to squeeze the artillerymen.

This type of accident is very common and is one of the common accidents on warships.

The last place we visited was the steam turbine room. The Huashan ship was equipped with two horizontal steam engines produced by the Manila Steam Engine Plant, which were steam engines that had undergone certain technical improvements.

Each engine can provide 860 horsepower, and the two engines can provide a total of 1720 horsepower, driving the 2300-ton ironclad battleship on the sea at a maximum speed of 12 knots.

Each steam engine is equipped with two high-pressure boilers, a total of four coal-fired boilers, which can provide sufficient high-pressure steam for the steam engine when running at full capacity.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu inquired about the relevant situation of the improvement of the steam engine and ordered to increase the reward.

As long as there is an effective plan for major technical improvements to the steam engine, a reward of 500 to 1000 silver dollars will be given, with a maximum reward of 2000 silver dollars, to encourage the enthusiasm of technical experts.

This year

The purchasing power of one silver dollar was amazing, equivalent to one tael of silver. Because the price of rice was cheap in Chu, one silver dollar could buy 150 kilograms of rice.

15 silver dollars can buy a half-grown calf, and 10 silver dollars can buy a small donkey.

In the human market, 500 silver dollars can buy two good Chinese girls and 4 to 5 young indigenous girls.

In an average neighborhood in Manila, 500 silver dollars could buy three tiled houses with a small courtyard.

One thousand silver dollars could buy a blue brick courtyard house with left and right wing rooms, four main rooms, a neat back gatehouse, and rock slabs on the floor. It was already a very nice residence.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu did not understand technology, but the royal family was rich!

In this era, the status of European and American scientific and technological experts is not high. As long as they are hired with high salaries, any technical expert can be hired and they will serve wholeheartedly.

This is also the real reason why the Manila Steam Engine Works developed rapidly and reached a higher level than its contemporaries in the field of technology.

With generous financial incentives, the Manila Steam Engine Works made endless technological innovations. The large steam engines it produced were not only used on ships, but also on steam locomotives.

Steam engines were widely used in the mines, factories and even large royal farms of the Chu State, providing great support for the industrialization of the kingdom.

The steam engines of this era were quite backward and there was much room for improvement.

As far as King Zheng Guohui of Chu knows

Now the Manila Steam Engine Works, led by more than 10 British and American experts, is working on a high-pressure boiler capable of using heavy oil, which is a key piece of equipment for increasing the horsepower of steam engines.

The truth is simple

The calorific value that high-quality coal can provide is limited. If heavy oil is sprayed on the coal, it will definitely greatly increase the calorific value of the coal and improve the thermal efficiency of the boiler.

If heavy oil is used directly as fuel, the upper limit of calorific value will increase sharply, which is several times stronger than the best coal.

As the production of high-pressure steam increases, the horsepower of the steam engine naturally increases.

The difficulty of this technology is

Steel pipes and boilers that can withstand higher pressures are needed, which involves technological innovation in steel rolling mills. After all, there were no seamless steel pipes in those days.

The steam pressure is too high, and once the high-temperature steam in the pipe collapses, the sailors on the ship will be steamed to death in an instant.

But if we can complete the development of heavy oil boilers first, then increasing the horsepower of the steam engine will be as easy as pinching a snail with three fingers...very easy.

Increasing the horsepower of steam engines has many benefits. It means that larger steel ships can be built, and 14-ton ships are no longer a dream. Larger warships can also be built, increasing the speed to 15 knots, 16 knots or even knots.

Trains can run faster, mining machinery has more power, and production efficiency is higher.

By analogy, this will drive the further development of the steam industry, which is of great significance.

The Chu State is not short of oil now. In the Bandar Seri Begawan area of ​​East Malaya, oil seeps have been discovered right on the seashore, a large black area.

The news is now being strictly blocked and the British must not be informed, otherwise it will bring big trouble.

Everyone knows this thing is a real treasure.

how to say?

It is a huge fortune that is even more coveted than a gold mine. It is very likely that another war will be launched for it.

(End of this chapter)