Chapter 63: The Sail Battleship
The two found Charles, and Xia Nan encouraged: "Mr. Charles, you have worked hard!" ”
Charles's face was a lot haggard, and the whole project was controlled by him, which was really hard. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. biquge。 info But he is in good spirits, as an ordinary shipwright in the Royal Dockyard, he can personally direct the construction of a shipyard that ranks among the best in Europe, this sense of accomplishment cannot be replaced by anything, not to mention a considerable remuneration.
He smiled and said to Xia Nan and Lin Weiye: "Hard work is hard work, I have accepted your reward, I have to do what I have to do." The dockyard has been completed, the materials are ready, and the construction of the first ships can be started before Christmas. Do you want to build a transport ship first, or a galenic ship? ”
Xia Nan didn't even think about it, "Build a Galen ship first, don't be too big for the time being." Our shipwrights were not familiar with the structure of the Galen ship, so they built the smaller ones first, and then the larger ones when they were skilled. ”
Charles nodded, "Your shipyard, you have the final say." If you don't have any special requirements, I'll draw the 500-ton Galen ship from the Royal Dockyards, which is already a very mature ship type in the UK. ”
Lin Weiye interjected and said, "Mr. Charles, when you draw the design drawings, can you let me participate in the observation?" ”
Charles looked at him in surprise, "Why not?" But you know how to build ships? ”
Xia Nan remembered that this guy had claimed to have studied the warships of the Sail Age, but it was difficult to say whether the boast on paper could be applied to practice. But since he was able to build a flintlock pistol, maybe he could also help in shipbuilding. He replied instead of Lin Weiye: "Yes, Lin is very interested in your European sail warships, so let him help you." ”
Charles shrugged and nodded in agreement. Now the relationship between the employer and the employed, who pays and who speaks the most, although out of the pride and pride of the craftsman of the Royal Shipyard did not believe that this fellow, who seemed to have never touched a ship, would know how to build ships.
It wasn't long before he realized that he was wrong, and he couldn't have been more wrong.
At the beginning of the 17th century, when naval warfare was still in the transition period of broadside and artillery battles, and the tactics of the battle line had not yet been produced, the design of the English Galen was still not completely detached from the inherent thinking of the 16th century, the hull was slightly thin, the hull thickness was average, the stern retained ornate statues, and the bow and stern towers were still high - although Sir Hawkins had made significant improvements since the time of Queen Elizabeth by lowering the bow and stern, especially the bow tower.
It was this relatively long, fast, maneuverable Galen ship that defeated the Spanish Armada of vintage Clark ships.
In Charles's opinion, although the tonnage of the British Galen ship is smaller than that of the Clark ship of the Spanish Armada, it is fast and maneuverable, and it is already a very good ship type, but Lin Weiye's suggestions are a bit crazy in his opinion, such as the simplified bow superstructure will shrink until it is level with the ship's side; Completely abandon the ornate reliefs on the stern of the ship - this made Charles feel uncomfortable, the reliefs on the ship have been around for hundreds of years, both religious and peace, after all, in this day and age when ocean voyages were very dangerous.
The core basis for Lin Weiye's suggestions is that the future naval battle will be the era of artillery warfare, and all the design of warships should be carried out around artillery battles, and whoever has a more flexible ship and is more suitable for shelling will have the balance of victory in naval warfare favored. Simplifying the superstructure and discarding the ornate and heavy reliefs, these measures optimized the position of the center of gravity of the battleship, lightened the redundant load, made it more flexible and suitable for naval artillery warfare. Of course, as a modern person from the 21st century without Western religious beliefs, Lin Weiye has no love for these pompous statues, and there is no psychological burden to remove them.
Charles had to admit that this statement was very reasonable, after all, the British Royal Navy defeated the aging Armada by relying on the flexibility of the warships and non-contact artillery bombardment tactics, and if the tactics of broadside warfare and ship sea tactics were used, the defeat would definitely be the Royal Navy.
After Charles accepted this idea, Lin Weiye put forward a series of suggestions for improvement that surprised Charles, but after careful consideration, he felt that it was reasonable: greatly increase the number and area of sails, especially longitudinal support sails, to adapt to changing wind directions; The steering wheel has been changed from a cumbersome vertical tiller to a steering wheel, which makes it more convenient and flexible to adjust the course; The internal structure was optimized and the hull was thickened, which was enough to withstand the attack of the 24-pounder gun.
The improvements proposed by Lin Weiye are all carried out around one purpose: to make the battleship more flexible and mobile, all for the purpose of artillery warfare.
When it comes to professional issues, Charles is very interested, he and Lin Weiye have a detailed discussion, design a more flexible, more suitable for artillery warfare ship type, displacement of about 500 tons, and on the basis of the 500-ton Galen ship, draw a 1,000-ton warship sketch, for the future construction of large Galen ships to make technical reserves. He was amazed by Lin Weiye's forward-looking and advanced consciousness of ship design, and also agreed that future naval warfare would inevitably enter the era of artillery warfare.
And Lin Weiye also fully satisfied the ultimate wish of veteran military fans and hardcore sail warship fans - to personally participate in the design of sail warships.
He understands the technology and knowledge accumulated by his predecessors for centuries, and from a theoretical point of view, it can be said that he stands on the shoulders of giants. From the 17th century to the 18th century, until the advent of the steam ship, the sail warship underwent great changes, and every time a new period of time appeared, the purpose of the change was to revolve around artillery warfare.
He often studied the improvement of these techniques in forums and people, but only stayed at the stage of lip service.
Now, through the hands of a real shipbuilding professional, the design concept of the 18th and even 19th century sail warships has been transferred to the early 17th century, surpassing all the warship designs of this era, and only Lin Weiye himself can appreciate the wonderful taste of this.
It's a pity that the brocade clothes are not enough for outsiders, and he said to Xia Nan that he doesn't understand these things at all, and he can't say it to Charles, so he can't explain that he is a crossing party!
After the design of the 500-ton Galen ship was finalized, the next step was the training and integration of the shipwrights in Diaolou Village. In accordance with the model of the steel mill and the arsenal, the craftsman classification system and the quality control system were introduced, and more than 100 shipwrights were assigned to different jobs according to their respective areas of expertise. In the past, these shipwrights were a few people leading apprentices to build ships alone, limited by manpower and technology, and could only build dozens of tons of fishing boats, but now they are subdivided into keels, masts, decks, ship boards and other positions, each doing their own thing, and the overall structure and progress are controlled by Charles. This method of construction is several times more efficient than the method of working alone in a small workshop.