Time was fleeting, and the day of the scheduled attack on Fujian was getting closer and closer, just when the Qiongzhou battalion was preparing for the war and was about to leave for Fujian, Charles personally ran to the South Park to report the good news. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

"General, the 1,000-ton battleship has been built, and as long as it is equipped with the right naval guns, it can be put into battle at any time."

In the summer, Nannan's spirits were lifted, and the war was imminent, and the two warships, which had been built for more than a year, could finally be launched, and the battle of Fujian had another heavy bargaining chip.

"Let's go, let's see."

Next to the dock, Xia Nan looked up at the majestic hull and said, "I'm going, the displacement is twice as large as the Wuyi class, why does it feel bigger than the three Wuyi class?" ”

"Although the displacement is only twice as large, the cabins are twice as large, the gun deck has been changed from single to two, and the number of masts and sails used has also increased exponentially, so it looks more than twice as large," Charles explains. ”

The battleship in front of me was four stories high, and if you count the height of the mast, it was nearly eight floors, which was a behemoth in the era of wooden ships.

Summer Nan walked around the dockyard in amazement, and was very proud that his shipyard could build such a huge ship. In the process of observation, he found a layer of brass-colored metal wrapped below the waterline of the hull, and asked curiously, "Is this copper?" ”

"Yes, it's copper."

"What's the use of wrapping a layer of copper, bulletproof?"

Charles laughed: "Such a layer of copper skin is not effective against shells over 18 pounds, its main role is anti-corrosion." ”

"Embalming?" Summer Minami's eyes widened.

"Yes. The general hull is made of tar as a preservative, tar is a pine dry out of the resin, has anti-corrosion, water insulation, moisture insulation, rapid drying, high temperature resistance and strong adhesion and other effects, as a preservative, it is generally coated on the joints and ropes of the hull plank. For warships under 500 tons, the use of tar is more than enough, but for warships of more than 1,000 tons, adding a layer of copper is a common practice in the royal shipyards, in addition to preventing corrosion, it can also improve speed and performance. ”

Although he didn't know much about the principle, he guessed that the increase in speed was related to the friction coefficient of the metal itself. He didn't pay too much attention to this issue, but focused his energy on the two rows of dense gun windows on the side, and asked excitedly: "Charles, can you tell me how many gun emplacements a battleship of this class has?" ”

Charles said proudly: "Thanks to Lin's suggestion, the new hull design can accommodate more naval guns than the same class of warships in Europe at the same time, excluding the small cannons such as pursuit guns and gyroscope guns in the bow and stern, a total of 44 naval guns can be installed on both sides." ”

"44 doors? If I'm not mistaken, the gun emplacements of the Wu Yi class are 28, so the firepower has almost doubled? ”

"You're right, General. Such a ship is top-notch even in Europe, let alone in the Far East, and for pirates who still use cold weapons, the firepower of such a ship is more than the combined fleet of pirates. ”

Xia Nan was overjoyed when he heard it, the heavy artillery giant ship is the only magic weapon to dominate the ocean!

However, he immediately remembered the bombardment that still only heard its sound and could not see it, and shook his head regretfully: "If only Lao Lin could have good news for me." ”

Charles asked, "Are you talking about the 32-pound guns that Lin mentioned?" I am also looking forward to its appearance, only such a heavy artillery can be worthy of such a great battleship. I've heard that his experiments are nearing completion, and he just needs to refine a stable set of data and methods so that the future casting process can follow the plan. Why don't we go and have a look? ”

Summer South followed Charles to the Arsenal with anticipation. Lin Weiye was not surprised to see their arrival, and asked with a smile: "Are you here to urge the goods?" Rest assured, two prototype guns have been cast, there are no problems in the preliminary tests, and now they are waiting for further testing on the battleship, as long as there are no obvious cracks, it means that it has been successful. ”

Xia Nan was surprised and delighted, and couldn't help complaining: "Okay, you old forest, the guys have all made it, why don't you tell me, I have been worried about it, I can't eat well and sleep well." ”

Lin Weiye said: "I am in a scientific, serious and pragmatic manner. Although the two prototypes were cast, they were made on the basis of scrapping seven or eight barrels, and the scrap rate was as high as 80%, which was not what I wanted. I will report back to you when the most accurate data must be tested, so that each step of the water cooling process that lasts for tens of hours is accurate to the minute, and the yield rate is increased to more than 70%. ”

Xia Nan was in awe, and such a solid work attitude couldn't help but be admired.

"You've worked hard. I would like to think that it is not difficult to copy the fruits of other people's labor, but I didn't expect it to be so complicated. ”

Lin Weiye sighed: "Just like I know how to fire glass, but I can't make flat glass and telescopes, it is not enough to know the principle, which is much more difficult than casting a small cannon such as a 12-pound mountain howitzer." It took Rodman ten years to test out a scientific and effective method - although several of them were interrupted due to lack of funds, and too much time was wasted - I was lucky to be able to do it in less than half a year. ”

Xia Nan asked tentatively: "So can these two guns be moved to the ship for testing?" When will two thousand-ton warships be officially equipped with bombardment? ”

Lin Weiye replied: "The test of the sample gun can be carried out at any time, and the official installation is not a big problem. For the first time to use such explosive shells on ships, both gunners and commanders need a process of adaptation and running-in, and each thousand-ton warship will be equipped with 4 guns for the time being, and when the casting technology is mature and the officers and men are also adapted, the proportion of bombardment guns can be appropriately increased. With the current conditions, if there are more, you can't build more, but you can still get seven or eight cannons. ”

Xia Nanxi said: "So I can rest assured." ”

On the second day, the two sample guns were moved to the "Lingao" for live firing to test the effect. Lin Weiye, as the chief technical officer, repeatedly told William and others, who commanded the test: "You must remember the essentials of safe operation, explosive bombs are no better than solid bullets and shotguns, and operation mistakes will make the entire ship reimbursement." ”

William was born in the real navy, and he didn't need Lin Weiye's advice, and he also knew that the immature explosive bomb was a potential safety hazard to the ship itself.

"General, as the leader of this army, you can't take this risk, it's better to stay on the shore and be safe."