Zhu Zhongliang attended the seven ceremonies held at the same time, and then began to visit everywhere in the shipyard.
The five ships that have been launched have all gone up to have a look in person.
I looked around inside the cabin, and several times I couldn't help but follow the crew saying:
"Spacious, really spacious, this is what Jingyuan is thinking.
"It's not like the designers at the Ministry of Engineering in the past, who were all picky.
"Those ships look depressing inside. Can the soldiers live comfortably? Can they display their combat effectiveness?"
Zhu Zhongliang complained carelessly, and the shipyard owners, managers, and craftsmen around him immediately echoed his words.
However, they couldn't help but complain and complain in their hearts.
Previous designers were stingy with tonnage. Isn't it because you have been stuck with your shipbuilding share?
Your requirements for naval ships are always sufficient.
So much so that in order to get your approval, designers try to reduce the tonnage as much as possible when designing new ships.
Looking back now, I find that everyone has gone astray.
It's not that you are stingy with the tonnage at all, it's just that the ships you designed in the past cannot satisfy you.
That’s why I never wanted to build it on a large scale.
Zhu Zhongliang stood in the combat commander of the dreadnought cruiser, looking at this place that could be used as the headquarters of the large fleet, and said:
"It's better to be bigger. The bigger the ship is, the easier it is to use. After all, the cheapest material on a warship is steel, right?"
The surrounding craftsmen nodded again and again. The most valuable thing on the battleship was the hull.
If there are no special regulations specifically limiting the size of battleships, designers usually tend to make the ship slightly larger as long as the basic design requirements and usage requirements are met.
Greater space redundancy allows for more reserve buoyancy, more fuel and ammunition reserve space, and more comfortable living space and facilities, which means longer sustained combat capability.
There is also more room for upgrades and modifications.
The service life of a warship starts with ten years. With the advancement of technology and the update of design ideas, the continuous improvement, transformation, and equipment updates during the use of warships have always been continuous.
There is no warship that is built and used in one go until it is scrapped, without any upgrades or modifications.
The relatively larger hull space also makes it easier for designers to perform, makes the construction of the shipyard more smooth, and finally makes the navy more comfortable to use.
Apart from spending more money, it can be said that everyone is happy.
Besides, even if you spend more money, it doesn’t actually cost much, it’s just mass-produced steel.
Of course, it can't be too big. If you have to add more engines in order to maintain the speed, it will be more than worth the gain.
While the craftsmen were feeling so emotional, they once again thought of Zhu Jingyuan far away in the Persian Gulf.
It would be better for His Highness Prince Dashi to order so many battleships in one go.
The design requirements and ideas he gave were all in the direction that everyone was happy with.
Zhu Zhongliang went around on several ships and returned to the rest room on land to rest for two days.
Then we started to visit the surrounding supporting factories.
What the shipyard is building are all integrated products of existing technologies, while the things in the supporting factories, in addition to existing products, also include products that are being developed and tested to prepare for the future. ….
There are countless civilian shipyards in the Ming Dynasty. Almost all coastal cities have large and small shipyards. There are also many inland shipyards in inland cities along the Yangtze River and Pearl River.
There are three large-scale military shipbuilding bases, namely Liaodong, Suzhou, and Guangzhou.
There are also two large shipyards in Edo (Tokyo) and the Lion City (Singapore).
However, the three large local shipbuilding bases all have complete warship construction industry chains.
Iron and steel smelting, armor forging, boiler production, turbine assembly, shells and charges, artillery and turrets, motors and cables as well as pipes, observation equipment and ballistic meters
Computing equipment, etc., the manufacturers corresponding to all the equipment required on the battleships are all distributed in several prefectures and counties around the area where the shipyard is located.
Liaodong, Suzhou, and Guangzhou each have an independent system, that is, three complete industrial chains.
In Edo and Shicheng, there are only large shipyards and conventional raw materials that can be produced in the surrounding areas.
But the core power systems, artillery and observation equipment must be supplied from the local industrial chain.
Among them, the industrial chain in Liaodong and the factories in Edo are directly managed by the Ministry of Industry.
The industrial chains in Suzhou and Guangzhou, as well as the factories in Lion City, are all subsidiaries of the royal consortium.
After Zhu Zhongliang left the shipyard, he first went to the nearby artillery factory.
I looked at all kinds of firearms and artillery, from small to large.
During the more than 30 years since Zhu Zhongliang was emperor, in addition to visiting the navy and army to express condolences, he could go around various warships and artillery and ask some simple questions superficially.
If you want to get in close contact with these things in a completely relaxed state, you only have the opportunity now.
The current minimum caliber of Ming Dynasty's firearms is 8 mm, followed by 12 mm, 16 mm, and 20 mm. There are a total of four calibers, each with a level of 4 mm.
The artillery caliber ranges from 40 mm to 240 mm, with each 40 mm level, and there are currently six main calibers in total.
These are the calibers used by cruisers, destroyers, gunboats, torpedo boats of all classes, as well as the army.
Above 240 mm is the caliber of the main gun of a battleship, and it is currently being expanded upward in steps of 60 mm.
300 mm is the current caliber, 360 mm has been developed, and 420 mm has been developed.
There is also data for calibers above 420 mm, but not for artillery, but for torpedoes.
Torpedo boats under 500 tons use 480mm torpedoes, and destroyers and cruisers use 520mm torpedoes.
The aviation torpedo currently being tested continues to use the lighter 480 mm caliber.
The Navy is developing a larger 600mm torpedo for use on destroyers and above.
Originally, the Ming Dynasty actually used many artillery calibers, and the original data was not as regular as it is now.
Mainly in the era of smoothbore cannons, it was customary to use the weight of cannonballs to express the level of artillery.
When entering the era of rifled guns, artillery caliber began to be used to indicate artillery level.
Using the original artillery direct conversion representation method, the directly formed artillery caliber figures are fragmentary.
Not only are most of them not integers, many of them even have decimal points. ….
The emperor at that time may have had obsessive-compulsive disorder. During that round of military industrial upgrading, he unified all artillery calibers.
Under the guidance of the artillery factory shopkeepers and craftsmen, Zhu Zhongliang paid special attention to several types of artillery being designed and tested.
Quad-mounted 40mm anti-aircraft guns, twin-mounted 80mm and 120mm high-level dual-purpose guns.
And the 420mm 50-fold naval gun under testing.
The old emperor stood in front of a gun barrel on the shelf, looking at the barrel that could fit an entire adult into it, looking at the smooth threads and gate, and curiously asked the shopkeepers and craftsmen of the factory around him:
"Now that this new artillery has been produced, has there been any actual testing? How was the testing?"
The factory worker came forward, cupped his hands and reported:
"Reporting to the Supreme Emperor, the barrels of the new cannons for trial production have been individually tested.
"Using a lighter artillery shell weighing 1,000 kilograms, the muzzle velocity can reach about 800 meters per second.
"Under these parameters, it can shoot more than 150 rounds stably and continuously.
"But Prince Dashi requested the production of cannonballs that weigh more than 1,300 kilograms, preferably 1,500 kilograms.
"It also has a muzzle velocity of over 760 meters per second.
"Let's try 1,300 kilometers
When carrying 5,000 kilograms of shells, an explosion occurred during the continuous firing test.
"To meet the requirements of His Highness Prince Dashi, we must continue to optimize the production process..."
The test data of the naval guns trial-produced by the artillery factory are similar to the early naval guns of the Lexington-class battleship cruisers, Nagato-class and Colorado-class battleships in 1918.
Zhu Jingyuan's request was based on the Iowa-class MK7 naval gun.
The MK7 naval gun is a 406 mm caliber, 1225 kg super heavy shell.
After scaling up to 420 mm, the weight of the artillery shell should be about 1360 kg.
Zhu Jingyuan gave a range between 1,300 kilograms and 1,500 kilograms, and went higher.
After hearing the craftsman's report, Zhu Zhongliang asked in surprise:
"Fifteen hundred kilograms of artillery shells? Is this standard a bit too high?"
The master craftsman of the artillery factory nodded in agreement and said:
"What the Emperor said is true, these 1,500 kilograms of artillery shells are more suitable for a main gun of about 460 millimeters.
"Putting it in a 420mm naval gun, it is an extremely overweight shell.
"One thousand three hundred kilograms can be considered a heavy bomb.
"The requirements for the barrel production process are too high. We estimate that we will have to knead this barrel for several more years..."
The old emperor had some doubts about Zhu Jingyuan's request, but he didn't show it on the surface.
Even if you want to discuss and inquire, you have to ask Zhu Jingyuan directly in private instead of complaining in front of outsiders.
This would reduce Zhu Jingyuan's prestige among these craftsmen, and even cause suspicion that he did not trust him.
So the old emperor just nodded slightly and expressed other thoughts while agreeing:
"We need to continue to explore the research and development of gun barrels and continue to explore the upper limit of the power of artillery of this caliber.
"The optimization of production processes must also continue. If there are new technological breakthroughs, the research and development of all naval guns will benefit.
"But looking at this trial-produced gun barrel now, since it can use one thousand kilograms of light artillery shells for continuous combat, it can already be used on battleships, right?
"Even if a 420mm naval gun uses lighter shells, the power is more than 360mm, right?
"Can the existing 40,000-ton warship be equipped with six to eight 420mm naval guns?"
The great craftsman explained to Zhu Zhongliang:
"It is designed to be installed, but only up to six cannons can be installed, and the firepower density will be relatively low.
"Moreover, the newly designed warship is a high-speed hull with a relatively long and narrow hull, which limits the use of large-caliber artillery. The key is that the turbine takes up a lot of tonnage and space.
"Forcibly installing an artillery piece of this caliber won't have a very good impact.
"To use the hull line of the new warship, and to be able to stably use the 420mm naval gun, the hull should be at least 50,000 tons, and preferably 60,000 tons.
"If it is a wide hull suitable for a speed of twenty knots, eight 420mm naval guns can be installed directly."
Zhu Zhongliang nodded slowly and said:
"That's right, the naval gun and the hull design must cooperate with each other. A bigger gun requires a wider ship.
"The 60,000-ton battleship happens to be Jingyuan's target ship..."
Wang Zixu
