Chapter 237 Victory Port Shipyard (2)

If we only look at the technical reserve level of the production and manufacturing department, even if the shipyard is not the strongest at present, it can at least be ranked in the top three. There are already serious shipbuilders like Yue Zhiyun and Sun Changmi who graduated from Maritime University.

Construction professionals, navigation experts with rich practical experience such as Wang Tom, as well as a group of local shipbuilders who have been networked through various channels after time travel, plus a large amount of modern ship information in the database, as well as a large number of people within the time travel group

As a keyboard expert, it can be said that the pure technical strength is already very strong, far higher than other competitors of the same era.

The Executive Committee has also given high expectations and support to the development of new sailboats. All raw materials needed by the shipyard will be given priority. If you don't have it, you will buy it. If you can't buy it from outside, you will make it yourself. If you can't make it yourself...

...Then let’s consider revising the plan. In short, as long as the executive committee can get it, the shipyard can have whatever it needs.

But perhaps it is precisely because the technical concept is too advanced compared to the level of its contemporaries that the development process of the No. 1 test ship was full of various controversies. Not only the executive committee, but almost everyone involved in the development of the ship type

, all hope to make the test ship perfect and fully functional from the beginning, and to overwhelm its contemporary maritime opponents in terms of shipbuilding technology.

The wish is beautiful, but the reality is cruel. Although everyone is very clear about the development direction of shipbuilding technology in the next few hundred years, it is a pity that it is limited by the current manufacturing level and material limitations. If you want to build an all-powerful ship in one fell swoop,

It is simply impossible to build an iron-clad giant ship. The only thing the Ministry of Shipping can do is to build a powerful and easy-to-operate wooden sailing ship based on the wooden structure and sail power, and as much as possible based on the shipbuilding knowledge brought from later generations.

. Participants belonging to different groups also put forward various requirements or suggestions for this ship. As a result, the Ministry of Shipping's construction plan began to be prepared before the crossing, and it has been revised again and again recently.

, it has been difficult to decide on the final plan.

Not long after the shipyard was built, the Ministry of Shipping had already submitted a report to apply for the construction of another test ship at the same time. Because there are too many technical solutions at present, some of them cannot be put into construction on the same ship. One ship alone cannot handle the construction.

Plans were tried one by one. The executive committee believed that it would be too expensive to build two large ships at the same time, so a large number of small test ships were later built. Of course, these ships would not be wasted after they were built. After verifying the plan

It was converted into a fishing boat and allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture, or it was converted into a training ship and provided to the military camp to train future naval crews.

In order to develop the sailboat development plan, countless technical seminars have been held within the Ministry of Shipping, and even the executive committee has held several special seminars. However, in the final result of each discussion, no one can convince anyone, and public opinion

Opinions gradually formed into several major factions.

The most vocal group is the Chinese sailing group. This group's opinion is that the hull of the new sailing ship should still adopt the traditional pointed bottom shape of the Chinese sailing ship and retain hull structures such as watertight compartments. Only the bow, stern and sail rope system should be retained.

Technical improvements are made based on the experience of later generations. People who hold this view account for the majority of the development of new sailboats. They believe that the hull shape and hull structure of Chinese sailboats have represented the future development direction of shipbuilding technology, and have also been widely used.

If these mature construction solutions are not adopted, it will undoubtedly be a step backwards in shipbuilding technology.

Another group of people believes that we must face the reality of this historical period. Western sailing ships can travel around the world, and they also have certain technical advantages. New sailing ships should learn from them. The cannon in the belly of the ship is Chinese style.

This can never be achieved with a sailboat, because a Western sailboat has a round bottom that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. There is enough space in the hull to hold so many cannons, and this weight can also stabilize the hull. But the Chinese sailboat wants to

If there are a large number of artillery on the ship, they can only be concentrated on the upper part of the hull. Not only will the center of gravity be too high and the loading capacity of the artillery will be very limited, but also when the fire is concentrated on one side of the ship's side, the recoil will cause the ship to lose balance, even if it does not roll over.

Capsizing will also greatly affect the seaworthiness of the ship and the accuracy of gunfire.

However, people who hold this view are generally keyboard experts. Although their voices are loud, they cannot actually provide much theoretical basis. Most people just want to realize the gunboat doctrine in their minds - naval warfare in this era,

Shouldn't it be like Pirates of the Caribbean, approaching each other and bombarding each other with shipboard cannons? Since we have the advantage in our own artillery technology, we should put densely packed artillery on the ship, regardless of whether they are East Indian, West Indian or pirate ships.

When you encounter a team, the best way is to focus your fire and sink the opponent.

With the gradual implementation of various experimental plans, the Chinese sailing school gradually began to gain the upper hand, and the technical debate gradually shifted from the debate among the shipbuilding technology schools to the debate on various technical details, such as whether to use horizontal sails or longitudinal sails.

Soft sails or hard sails, whether a square stern is needed, whether the hull ribs need to be steel-structured, whether the bottom of the ship needs to be clad with copper, how to arrange the propulsion device for steam power in the future, etc.

Once such debates over technical details arise, it is more difficult to unify opinions than debates between schools. There are often many improvement plans proposed for a small technical detail, and the Ministry of Shipping needs to verify these plans one by one.

It took a lot of effort. For this reason, the frequency of technical seminars at the shipyard has also greatly increased, from twice a week to the current level of at least once every two days. Yue Zhiyun and Sun Changmi

The white-faced scholar who was still a little green when he came to Guangzhou is now tanned like black coal. Together with Wang Tom, who has become dark and shiny due to his long-term life at sea, he is known as the "Three Blacks of the Shipyard"——

Basically, the three of them can be regarded as the main technical backbone of the new sailboat development project.

When Li Nai arrived at the shipyard, everyone was also holding a new round of technical discussions. The meeting place was located under the work shed where materials were piled. Everyone sat down on a wooden pier and began to discuss the technical details that had not been discussed yesterday.

Although everyone present saw Li Nai coming in, no one advised him to leave - Yue Zhiyun also represented the Ministry of Shipping because he had to hand over the second-hand ship and crew they brought from Guangzhou to "Furuifeng"

Went to the reception banquet held for Li Nai yesterday. Tao Donglai said hello to him specifically. If Li Nai has nothing to do, he can come to the shipyard and let him see what he wants to see and listen to what he wants to hear. Shipbuilding

This highly professional business is not something a master like Li Nai can understand by just listening, and there is no special need to keep it secret.

Therefore, everyone just glanced at Li Nai, then turned around and concentrated on the discussion, and then heard Yue Zhiyun say: "The truck this morning has delivered the newly processed steel connectors from Tian Du. We can go back and directly

Load it onto the ship. Although this ship is too late to use steel keels and ribs, the use of these steel connectors can effectively strengthen the hull."

"What about the steel hollow mast we ordered? Can Tian Du deliver it as scheduled?" Sun Changmi asked with squinting eyes, holding a cigarette butt in his mouth. He spread his legs like an old farmer in the countryside.

Squatting on the side of the road, Li Nai, who was watching, would have almost mistaken him for a local naturalized citizen if he hadn't been wearing a hooded short shirt only worn by Haihan people.

"The mast is too big." Wang Tom shook his head and took over the conversation: "I contacted Roger yesterday. The plate rolling machine used in the metallurgical workshop was not so big. I'm afraid it needs to be divided into multiple sections for processing. However, there are also technical problems with welding. Using the old-fashioned

They use forge welding to process it, but they are worried that the finished product may not meet the strength requirements, so they are still trying to find a way to solve it.”

"Didn't we bring welding tools?" Yue Zhiyun asked in shock.

"Bakesi said that the reserves of flux-cored welding wire and high-pressure gas cylinders are limited. We will use less now. It is best to think of other processing methods." Wang Tom explained.

"We didn't prepare these things just for the present use. Why save at this moment!" Yue Zhiyun complained angrily: "Without a steel mast, we can't significantly heighten the mast. If we don't raise the mast,

How to use the newly designed sail gear!”

Sun Changmi advised: "Mr. Bai is right. Even if one or two masts are processed, it will only solve temporary needs. In the future, we will still have to face the same technical problems when finalizing and mass production. Of course we can solve them now."

It’s the best.”

Li Nai couldn't help but interrupt when he heard this and asked: "Why build a heightened mast?"

"The higher the mast, the larger the sails can be hung, so that the efficiency of wind power utilization will increase... Do you know what utilization efficiency is?" Yue Zhiyun couldn't help but ask after half of the explanation.

Li Nai nodded and said: "I understand a little bit, please continue."

"Today's sea-going ships use wind power as the main power, so the utilization rate of wind power by the sails is the main factor affecting the forward power of the ship. To solve this problem, we designed a new sail, mast and rigging structure.

The utilization rate of wind power will be much better than that of the existing Fuzhou or Guangzhou ships...of course, including those Galen ships of the foreign devils." Yue Zhiyun proudly explained to Li Nai: "The Chinese style of longitudinal sails is used.

The sails of a sailboat are easy to control and can flexibly take advantage of various wind directions. However, the disadvantage is that the sails are few and small, and the actual effective area affected by the wind is not large. Western-style sailboats that use square sails have high enough masts, so they use

The sail area can be larger, but because the mast is too high, it is not easy to reef and raise the sail. Moreover, the high mast must be equipped with various stays to ensure its stability, which greatly hinders the rotation angle of the horizontal sail.

"

Li Nai half understood what he heard, and asked with some confusion: "I have seen Western sailing ships many times. The sails are numerous and dense, which seems to be enough to make up for the shortcomings of the sails' poor rotation."

"That's just a look." Yue Zhiyun continued to explain: "Western-style sailboats have great limitations in design, because they blindly increase the area of ​​​​the wind, but their sails do not utilize the wind power efficiently.

It's not as high as it looks. When going downwind, the stay sail, the gaff sail, and the mainsail block each other, because the presence of the stay blocks the rotation angle of the main sail. In crosswinds and headwinds, you can only rely on the stay sail to take advantage of the wind, which is efficient.

In terms of ease of operation and flexibility, it is far more flexible than a Chinese sailboat.”

"Since Mr. Yue thinks that Chinese sailboats are so easy to use, why did no one in the past increase the sails by raising the mast?" When Li Nai asked this question, he fully exposed his layman nature.

"There is no way to add a stay to a schooner, otherwise the only advantage of flexibility will be lost. Moreover, Chinese sailboats are all sharp-bottomed ships. If the mast is too high, the center of gravity will be unstable." Of course, Yue Zhiyun was also aware of Li Nai's ignorance.

, now he explained confidently and boldly: "Moreover, the sails of Chinese sailboats are too heavy. Increasing the area will increase the weight. A mast that is too high may not be strong enough and will easily break if the wind is strong."

Li Nai then suddenly realized: "That's why you want to build that hollow steel mast. It is to reduce the weight of the mast, increase its strength and height, and thereby increase the area of ​​the sail."

Li Nai was quick to draw inferences, and Yue Zhiyun immediately gave up the idea of ​​explaining it to him in detail. The technological innovations used in the masts, sails and rigging of the new sailboat were far more than just steel hollow masts, but

Only this item has the highest technical content and is the most difficult for outsiders to imitate, because it is difficult to reach the level of the Cross Group in terms of metal processing methods. As for other detailed improvements, a discerning person will probably be able to understand the secrets after seeing it once.

.

The Ministry of Shipping has made far more technical improvements to the upper deck facilities than the hull itself. The most important thing is the redesigned sail system based on modern mechanical principles. This new system adopts some features of both Eastern and Western sails, but overall

It is very different from it, and it can be said to be another black technology tool that spans the ages from the Time Travel Group.

Early sailing ships used the dynamic wind pressure generated by the wind blowing directly on the sail during the forward process, while modern sailing ships use the pressure generated when the airflow flows through the arched sail surface. This static wind pressure is

The driving force generated on the sail is much greater than the dynamic wind pressure. This principle sounds difficult to understand and is so abstract that it is difficult to intuitively imagine, so it has not been applied to the design of sailing sails at this time.

It was not until 1726, a hundred years later, that Daniel Bernoulli from the Swiss Bernoulli family proposed the "boundary layer surface effect", that is, the greater the flow rate of the fluid, the smaller the pressure, and the smaller the flow rate of the fluid, the greater the pressure.

This great discovery was later named the "Bernoulli Effect" by the scientific community. It is also one of the most important theorems of fluid mechanics. It was widely used in the manufacturing of ships and aircraft in the following centuries. Even football matches

The banana ball phenomenon in football can also be perfectly explained by the "Bernoulli effect" - due to the rotation of the football, the air flow speed on both sides is inconsistent, so it will deflect to the side with greater flow speed.

The horizontal sail structure used in Western sailing ships can only use dynamic wind pressure, which means that the cooking area that occupies most of the sail can only be used under the conditions of tailwind or sidewind, otherwise the wind will not provide power but

It will become resistance. Although the gaff sail can utilize part of the static wind pressure, its twisted shape and limited area make its actual effect very limited.

Although Chinese-style sailboats can take advantage of the static wind pressure effect by relying on a relatively flexible sailing method, the design starting point of Chinese-style sailboats is for easy and efficient operation rather than for the Bernoulli effect. In addition, the height of the mast cannot

With larger sails, this relative technical advantage becomes extremely limited in practical applications.

The Ministry of Shipping put a lot of thought into the design of the sails and verified no less than ten plans before finally finalizing a sail design that was closer to a modern sailboat. This design uses a longitudinal sail structure, but it does not use

Chinese-style hard sails are soft sails, but the difference from Western-style horizontal sails is that curved bamboo spokes are added to both sides of the sail surface. There are ropes in the middle of the spokes that pass through the sail surface to fix the position. The sail is exposed to the wind.

The arching will be limited to the curvature of the spokes. This structure is different from the single-sided spoke fixation of Chinese hard sails.

Such an arched sail can make full use of static wind pressure and rotate flexibly. It can effectively use crosswinds or even headwinds to provide forward momentum. The efficiency of wind power utilization is far higher than that of traditional Chinese and Western sailboats. And with this

After the sail, there is no need to install auxiliary sails such as stay sails on the ship. Sailing is much simpler than that of a Western-style sailboat. Calculated based on the same sail area and external wind conditions, the Ministry of Shipping believes that the new type of sail is designed based on fluid mechanics.

The sails are at least one-third more efficient than the original Chinese and Western sails, and after using the new rigging pulleys, the number of sailors required will not increase much more than in the past. This also means that

Under the same conditions, the speed of sailboats using new sails will also be greatly improved, which just meets the requirements of the Executive Committee for sailing convenience and increased speed.

Of course, this does not mean that the new sail is perfect and can be immediately applied to existing sailboats. First of all, the production of canvas is a huge problem for the current Chuan Chuan Group. Currently, Chuan Chuan Group does not have a textile industry

, 90% of the fabric is imported from the outside world, and the remaining 10% comes from the Jibei cloth supplied by local indigenous people and the cross-country group’s own reserves. However, the existing external purchase channels have not found fabrics that are truly suitable for making sails——

At least according to shipyard standards, there are no qualified products yet. The sails of the No. 1 test ship will be made using inventory canvas brought from later generations. However, the inventory is limited after all. If you want to make this on a large scale in the future,

When growing sails, sooner or later you have to face the problem of raw materials.

Secondly, this design has only been used on test ships with extremely small displacement. It will take time to verify whether it will achieve the expected results when used on large ships, and what technical problems will arise that need to be solved during use.

Just fine.

After writing this chapter, I would like to make some small talk. My knowledge about sailing boats is extremely limited, and I am just a keyboard nerd. In order to write this chapter, I also read a lot of information, and there must be many fallacies in it. Please be gentle with your words, ship experts. I am indeed

I have tried my best. But what I want to say is that the debate on technical details only exists in the book, just like the debate over which type of gun the Time Travel Group should develop first, and whether it should produce breech-loading weapons right away.

The upgrade of the technology tree is only to serve the plot and promote the development of the story in the book. It is useless to pursue the rationality of its details too much - time travel is inherently unreasonable. Of course, if there are major fallacies in the technology upgrade,

Everyone is still welcome to point out the small details that do not affect the development of the plot and let them pass by. After all, this book is not an encyclopedia-style guide to technological development. Finally, I would like to thank the various experts who have provided a large number of reference materials on the Internet. There are too many people.

I can't thank you enough.
Chapter completed!