The Anlan, with a full load displacement of more than 3,000 tons, is an old ship that was launched in the 29th year of Chengshun. In order to reduce operating costs, the steam engine used is a double-expansion steam engine.
At the same time, like many contemporary ocean-going ships, because it was very troublesome to replenish coal overseas at that time, many places simply did not have coal replenishment; another reason is that the steam engines in the 1920s were still slightly lacking in stability... Ships vs. steam engines The stability requirements are much higher than those of a steam engine on a train!
Steam engines on trains generally only run continuously for a few days at most, and they can be inspected directly every few hundred kilometers. If any problem occurs, it can be repaired on the spot. If it doesn't work, you can just replace the locomotive without too much delay. thing.
However, on the sea, especially ships sailing in the ocean, the steam on them needs to run continuously for more than ten days or even one or two months... For example, on ships crossing the Pacific, there is no place in the middle for you to stop. Let the steam engine rest for a while... You have to cross the Pacific Ocean directly in one go. At most, you will simply stop at a few supply ports along the way to perform simple maintenance while replenishing coal and other supplies.
The conditions for use of shipboard steam engines are too harsh, but the technology is limited... To be honest, early steam engines had a lot of problems. Although most of the time there were no problems, they would occasionally give you a problem.
Once a problem occurs, the steam engine power will be lost.
In order to prevent the ship from losing power after a steam engine failure or failure to obtain timely replenishment of coal overseas, the early ocean-going steam engine ships were basically all motor-driven ships, including warships.
By the way, coal was quite expensive in the early days. When traveling across the ocean, turning on the steam engine and spreading the sails could save some coal consumption...
It's just that the sails in this kind of motor-driven sailboat are different from those ancient sails that required a large number of sailors to control like the indigenous people. Instead, they are laid out in various ways such as mechanical transmission, making the control of the sails more scientific and labor-saving, and often connected. A small auxiliary steam engine is installed, and the auxiliary power of the small steam engine is used to control the sail, thereby saving the number of crew members and reducing operating costs.
If something unexpected happens to the auxiliary power, then you can also directly use human power... Anyway, they are all mechanical structures, and if the auxiliary power fails, then you can directly use manual labor. A group of people crazily turning special disc grips can also provide a certain amount of power. Then control the sail through the mechanical transmission structure... It's just that the control is not very flexible, and it can only be regarded as an emergency measure.
In order to better adapt to mechanical sailing, reduce the weight of the sail rig, strengthen the structure, obtain a larger sail area, and also reduce costs, the masts on the sail rig are not supported by traditional tall trees, but directly used The steel pipe.
The above-mentioned motor-driven ships were also the common model for most ocean-going ships in the Chu Empire in the 1920s and 1930s.
Steam engines and sails coexist, and new technologies are used to make sail control easier and more labor-saving.
Even now in the 1940s, many small and medium-sized ocean-going ships are still motor sailboats... It's just that at this time, the sails on the newly built motor sailboats are actually not used as the main power output, but as a power source. This kind of backup power is used, and the sails are not opened on weekdays, and will only be opened when necessary!
And some cutting-edge ocean-going ships that run safer routes simply cancel their sails completely.
On the one hand, it is due to technological progress that steam engines are more stable and will not malfunction. Secondly, the Da Chu Empire is expanding overseas very quickly. It has established a large number of supply ports all over the world... even in remote areas like Africa. If you go around Africa, you can find at least twenty supply ports that can provide coal. These are relatively large ports that specialize in providing huge material supplies to large ships passing by.
More so if it is a small port servicing nearby local ships.
Finally, and most importantly, as the Chu people have been mining coal crazily all over the world, the price of coal has continued to decline over the past two decades... and now it has dropped to a point where it is considered cheap.
The shipowners picked up the abacus and calculated, and found that using pure steam engine ships is more economical than using motor-driven sailing ships... For example, the purchase cost of pure steam engine power is lower because it lacks a set of sail equipment; another example is that there is no The number of crew members can be further reduced by equipping the sails with equipment;
Add the two together, and the cost savings are considerable.
The above three factors combined eventually led to the fact that after the 1940s, except for some special circumstances, the new ships ordered by most shipping companies in the Chu Empire were basically purely steam-powered ships.
There’s no reason, it’s just that this kind of boat saves money!
Of course, we are only talking about civilian ships here, and for military ships, more performance requirements and preparations for emergencies are considered. The military does not care much about the increased cost of sail equipment, but in terms of manpower, the crew on the warship is already There is no shortage of people.
Therefore, even the latest Longchuan-class frigates and even the Yangzhou-class cruisers with a larger tonnage that can reach 3,200 tons in full load still use sail power.
Well, the above mentioned only refers to ocean-going vessels, not including offshore and inland river vessels!
As for offshore and inland river ships, they actually entered the era of pure steam engines even earlier. Beginning in the 1920s, when high-pressure steam engines were first developed and applied to ships, quite a few of the inland river ships that appeared were powered by pure steam engines. .
After a few years of transition, by the time the 1930s began, basically all inland river vessels in service in the mainland or directly-administered territories were purely powered by steam engines...
This is mainly because inland river vessels in the mainland or overseas territories can easily obtain coal supplies without worrying about running out of coal... As for the cost factor, there is a special situation, that is, there is a problem of upstream navigation for inland river vessels. ...Sails actually don't play a very important role in many cases. In the past, there were no steam engines so they could only be used reluctantly, but even so, trackers were still needed in many cases...
But with the advent of steam engines, it was trivial for inland river ships to sail upstream... Moreover, inland river ships were originally relatively small, and they were also more sensitive to the cost of the ship... Many shipowners were not willing to install another steam engine after installing it. To install a sail rigging system, the number of sailors also needs to be increased.
With this ability to control sails, people can make river boats powered by pure steam engines run back and forth again...
Therefore, inland river vessels have already achieved basically pure steam power a long time ago.
The offshore ships are similar, but they are not as exaggerated as the inland river ships. There are still some sailboats.
The development of ships and shipping in the Chu Empire was highly connected to the domestic technological progress and overseas expansion speed of the Chu Empire.
Huge market demand has promoted technological progress, and technological progress can open up more markets.
The motor-driven sailing ship Anlan was part of the Chu Empire's efforts to open up overseas markets... It is precisely with ocean-going ships like the Anlan that travel around the world that they can continuously transport many agricultural and livestock products and industrial raw materials from overseas back to the country, and bring domestic products back to the country. of industrial products are shipped for sale around the world.
There were no accidents in the coal, fresh water, and food supplies of the Anlan at Kara Port. There was no pirate attack that the crew was worried about, and the price was not cheated... On the contrary, the charges at Kara Port were relatively low, and the coal and food supplies were relatively low. The supply of materials is lower than that in Ghana City. Although there is an additional service fee for sending supplies to the sea, it is not much.
Overall, Qian Liqun was quite satisfied with the supplies this time.
After the supply and settlement were completed, the Anlan set sail again, but this time the sails on the Anlan had been lowered, the huge steam engine main engine was started, and it sailed towards the north with a faint white smoke.
When leaving, Kara Port gave Qian Liqun and the others a lot of introduction materials about Kara Port, and said with a smile that they should promote it to other captains...
Naturally, Qian Liqun did not refuse. It was just a little effort anyway. When someone asked in the future, he would just say it casually.
Anyway, supplying supplies here at Kara Port is generally relatively affordable.
He was thinking that he could also go to Kara Port for supplies on his return trip... As a private ship owner and captain, he still had to save money.
The supply cost at Kara Port was relatively low, so he would naturally be happy to come back.
On the shore, Chen Jingyun and a few people watched the Anlan slowly leave on the sea, with a smile on his face... This time the Anlan came to Kara Port for supplies. After Chen Jingyun learned the news, he took it seriously and personally took charge. The command arranges ships to transport coal, food, fresh water and other supplies, and the prices are often favorable.
The purpose is to leave a good impression on the Anlan and open up the situation so that more ships will come to Kara Port for supplies in the future.
As for whether the price of supplies is low, will they lose money? This is purely a worry. Many supplies in Kara Port, including coal, are actually very low cost... The coal mines are owned by the family, and the food is grown by themselves. , Tamsui is free of charge.
The price is lower, and although the profit is less, it is still a lot. In real terms, the profit is probably much higher than that of the supply business at the Ghana Port next door.
Who asked Chen Jingyun to do business without capital...
The coal mines are owned by the family, and the miners who dig the coal are all prisoners of war who don't even need to be paid. The coal is also transported on their own ships, and the porters on the dock are also prisoners of war who don't need to be paid.
His business is the kind where you might make money, but I definitely make more than you do.
Chen Jingyun hoped that more ships would come to Kara Port for replenishment, and his hope was not in vain... Four days later, another ship passed by. On the one hand, it needed to replenish coal, and on the other hand, it was also because the price here was cheap. , and because there is actually a hotel here where you can take a rest.
The port staff of Kara Port who came to promote business showed a look that only men know how to do, and said that their hotels in Kara Port can also provide various services of the green small building. The service staff are both women from West Asia and European ones. The women on the other side...are abundant in quantity and of high quality.
The person soliciting customers was still smiling: a pair of blond twins had arrived in the hotel a few days ago. Their looks and figures were...
It's hard not to be tempted by these various conditions, plus the crew on the ship and the escorting armed personnel are very confident... They firmly believe that even if the other party is a pirate, they can escape unscathed.
Where does confidence come from?
It is a large ship of more than 5,000 tons. This time it is sailing to Europe. It is equipped with two 55mm civilian naval guns and three hand-cranked machine guns. The armed personnel of the maritime security company are too lazy to consider whether Chen Jingyun and the others are evil. He is really malicious, it is not that difficult to directly bombard the port!
To be honest, if this thing is placed at the port... I don't know who will rob whom.
Naturally, Chen Jingyun didn't want to engage in any kind of piracy and robberies... Even if he robbed them, he would still be robbing the natives. He would only attack Chu ships if his brain was burned out. That would not be courting death.
Do you really think that these Chu civilian ships are weak targets for everyone?
Taking a step back, even if you successfully hijacked the ship, you really think that the Chu Empire Navy is a lie. It won’t be long before the battleships of the Chu Empire Navy will come to Kara Port and bombard Kara Port... He The Kara Hotel that Chen Jingyun finally spent a lot of money to build will be reduced to rubble in minutes.
Chen Jingyun just wanted to start a port service business honestly, and then make some money to subsidize the development of the plantation.
His West African kingdom has begun to plant various crops on a large scale, and a large amount of land has been cleared by prisoners of war and planted according to the plan.
If nothing else goes wrong, by the end of the year, his West African kingdom will be able to harvest a batch of grain and cotton and other fast-growing crops.
Look for more next year.
By then, the export of these cash crops will become the economic pillar of the West African Kingdom together with port services.
It's just that the development of agriculture also requires money... Even if the labor force for farming is free, the construction of agricultural tools, transportation tools, building materials, etc. required for agricultural development all require money.
In a tiny kingdom like the West African Kingdom that even needs to import iron nails, the foreign exchange required for development and construction is huge.
Therefore, in the early stage, port services, a business that can bring in quick money, must be worked hard to get started.
The price must be advantageous, the service attitude must be good, and the supplies must be sufficient!
The efforts of Chen Jingyun and others were not without consequences. After the initial hard work of sending fishing boats directly to the sea to solicit customers, a boat finally came to Kara Port for supplies.
Coincidentally, this is the first Anlan to come to Kara Port for supplies...
(End of chapter)
