Chapter VIII The strength of the sea is the strength of the country
If you are rich, powerful, and powerful, no matter what era you are in, you will be relatively nourished, especially during the period of the Republic of China.
So when Zhou Wenhua experienced how many things he could do after having money, he was deeply touched.
So after he and General Manager Yang Junsheng completed their discussions and signed a shareholding contract, a cooperation contract, and an internship project contract,
He also received the warm reception from the other party again before leaving.
And got on the car and continued towards Jiangnan Shipyard,
There, through his father's relationship and the appointment of Butler Liu Xing, he was able to visit Ye Zaifu, the current chief engineer of Jiangnan Shipbuilding Institute.
As well as visiting his father's friend Chen Ziting, who works as an engineer at Jiangnan Shipyard and also holds some part-time military positions.
“Is this what it feels like to be rich and powerful?”
"If I didn't have the relationship with my father and the background of the Zhou family, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to enter the front door!"
"The current Jiangnan Shipyard belongs to the Navy and has been taken over by the Ministry of Navy!"
"And he has a military background!"
"I'm afraid ordinary people can't enter!"
Sitting in the car, Zhou Wenhua couldn't help but sigh at the various aspects of life in reality.
at the same time,
He is also very grateful that after his time travel and rebirth, he was able to be born into a wealthy family.
In the initial stage, it has already surpassed most people.
However, his thoughts quickly shifted to the materials needed for shipbuilding.
What materials are used to build ships?
There are carbon steel, titanium alloy, cast iron, marine steel, non-ferrous metals, aluminum alloys, brass, fiberglass, insulation materials, fiberglass, and their alloys, as well as marine profiles, plates, and pipes and other marine metal materials.
When Zhou Wenhua proposed the materials for shipbuilding in his heart,
In his mind, a lot of shipbuilding materials appeared, including those in later generations that used mixed materials such as fiberglass, foam and cork.
But in general, the most common main material for shipbuilding is steel.
Especially used in steel plates and high-strength steel for cruise ships.
Every safe and reliable ship that can float on the sea needs good steel to make the hull.
Different hulls and different ship types use completely different steel materials.
Even the submarine shell is made of top quality steel and needs to be manufactured through strict processing.
The deck steel used by aircraft carriers is even more demanding.
Because the aircraft carrier not only has to withstand salt and moisture, but also has to deal with the impact resistance of the carrier-based aircraft fleet taking off and landing, as well as the safety hazards of severe weather such as storms on the sea, and other issues.
Therefore, steel is the foundation for shipbuilding, and it is also the most important issue that needs to be solved.
The problem is that with the current domestic steel manufacturing technology during the Republic of China, it is completely unfeasible to produce large numbers of ships, aircraft, and submarines like those foreign countries or the Japanese army.
So after thinking about steel technology,
Zhou Wenhua also plans to find a way to learn the steel production technology, and he must have the ability to protect his technology from being taken away by other big families, or the army, or the Japanese army.
Marine steel refers to the steel used to manufacture the hull structure of seagoing ships and inland river ships, usually high-quality carbon steel and high-quality low alloy steel.
Therefore, Zhou Wenhua can also specialize in these two shipbuilding materials at the same time.
Including the manufacturing technology and mining technology of aluminum alloy, which is more expensive than steel and a good shipbuilding material, you also need to learn.
Especially now during the Republic of China, aluminum is also very scarce.
As for the glass fiber used in shipbuilding in later generations, if there is a way to learn it, it can also be considered.
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While Zhou Wenhua was thinking about various shipbuilding materials,
Jiangnan Shipyard,
Ye Zaifu, the current chief engineer of Jiangnan Shipbuilding Institute, and engineer Chen Ziting are also busy inspecting and maintaining the second warship 'Yongsui' and the 'Xianning' warship.
Although the Xianning warship has a displacement of just over 410 tons, which is smaller than the "Jiang Yuan" class gunboats equipped by the navy at the time, it is similar in design size to the Yangtze River gunboats used by the Japanese navy at the time.
Even in appearance, it is very similar to a battleship.
This is also the new Yangtze River gunboat that Chief Engineer Ye Zaifu described to the Nanjing government, and it was renamed Xianning, which means "peace in all directions".
This also reflects the mentality of the government represented by the chairman of the Nanjing Committee and the navy at that time, which hoped that the national army would be peaceful and that it could enter an era of peaceful development as soon as possible.
As for the second warship, the Yongsui, on April 20, 1930, when the Chairman of the Generalissimo rushed to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River for a western patrol, the Chairman's wife, Mrs. Song, personally used champagne on this ship.
The baptized warship was used as his ship for this western tour, taking the lead in starting the history of the first ship to go on overseas patrols.
While chief engineer Ye Zaifu and engineer Chen Ziting were busy directing shipbuilding employees and performing various maintenance tasks on the ship,
As Admiral Yang Shuzhuang who started the great wave of naval construction during the Nanjing government era, he was also the commander of the Second Fleet Chen Shaokuan, the Commander of the First Fleet Chen Jiliang, and the Commander of the National Army Training Fleet Li Jingxi also came to watch this event.
A one-time ship maintenance project.
Because for them, it is their happiest thing to witness their own Navy Ministry being able to build a second warship, so they pay special attention to the maintenance and repair process of the "Xianning" and "Yongsui" warships.
So whenever they have free time, they will come over to take a look and see if there is anything that requires their assistance to deal with it.
As the Fujian navy, they have finally managed to get rid of the previous frictions and conflicts with the navies of other factions.
After joining the Chairman of the Committee, he achieved many achievements and gained great trust from the Chairman. He was also specially appointed as a member of the Military Commission.
It was also because of this that they were able to have the money and opportunities to once again kick off the development of the domestic navy.
Especially in 1928, at the 32nd meeting of the National Government Committee, Commander Yangshuzhuang submitted a proposal called "Measures to Rectify the Navy".
The golden years of naval construction during the Republic of China also officially began slowly.
"Now we already have the Xianning, Yongsui, Yixian, He Minsheng, and Minquan warships. It can be said that we have started the wave of naval construction and are gradually on the right track!"
Looking at the maintenance ships in front of him, Commander Chen Shaokuan of the Second Fleet was the first to sigh.
For them in the past, owning their own domestically manufactured warships was simply a dream. Even when they were squeezed out by major factions, how to feed their own Fujian fleet was still a problem.
Although in the end they formed their own Marine Corps and captured Xiamen to stabilize their source of income and feed the fleet.
But if you want to build the warship you want, you would never dare to even dream of it.
But now they have many self-made warships all at once, so as senior officials of the Navy Department, they also lament that these are hard-won.
"Although we can now build the warships we want, it is far from enough to protect our sea areas. At least I want 10 shallow-water gunboats for use in the Yangtze River, and 3 cruisers and 4 destroyers for use in the open sea.
The proposals for major naval construction and development such as 2 submarines, 1 aircraft carrier, and 2 minelayers are still far away!”
"Not to mention competing with the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet and the foreign fleets!"
"When the sea is strong, the country is strong!"
"We still have a long way to go!"
"Remember arrogance!"
However, regarding Commander Chen Shaokuan of the Second Fleet, Commander Yang Shuzhuang shook his head and retorted.
"Yes! Commander!"
Commander Chen Shaokuan of the Second Fleet responded awkwardly.
He also felt that he had drifted a little just now,
Actually, he was secretly happy just because his Jiangnan Shipyard was able to build a few warships on his own.
It ignores the naval construction of the Japanese army and the strong industrial production capabilities of the navies of foreign countries, which are many times stronger than the shipbuilding factories on our side.