Chapter 201: Paddle Steamer and Hidden Steamer (4K)

"Propeller-driven ship?"

Jeremiah fell into deep thought and then said after pondering for a moment. Google search reading

“Propeller-driven boats have many advantages over paddle-wheel boats, which have a heavy and complex structure and poor resistance to wind and waves.

The structure of propellers is relatively simple. The simpler the structure, the more reliable it is sometimes. Moreover, propeller boats also have great advantages over paddle boats in terms of wind and wave resistance and even speed. "

"Since propeller-driven ships have so many advantages, why doesn't the Polar Star use propeller drive?" Liang Yao continued to ask.

"Did you encounter any technical problems?"

As one of America's top shipbuilding experts, Jeremiah's understanding of paddle steamers and concealed steamers is quite correct.

"You are the second person to ask me this question. Before that, I also debated this issue with experts from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Commodore Perry also asked me this question."

Jeremiah said while looking at the huge paddle wheels on both sides of the Polaris.

“In order to arrange the paddle wheels on both sides, the paddle steamer made a compromise in the height of the drive shaft. The drive shaft of the beam steam engine is arranged relatively high, so the freeboard of the ship is also relatively high.

The propellers of concealed ships are all underwater, and the transmission shaft can be arranged lower. The horizontal reciprocating steam engine used in conjunction with the transmission shaft can also be arranged lower, lowering the center of gravity of the ship and improving the stability of the ship during operation. .

And if it is a warship, the power system arranged below the waterline is less likely to be damaged by local shells.

Commodore Perry liked that the freeboard of the concealed ship was lower than that of the paddle wheel, and the propeller hidden under the water was safer than the huge paddle wheel exposed on the water. Without the paddle wheels on both sides, more doors could be installed. Cannons increase the firepower of warships.

Of course, concealed steamships are also more maneuverable and are more suitable as warships than paddle steamers. "

Liang Yao of the U.S. Navy has learned specifically that under the auspices of Perry and Navy Department officials with strategic vision, the U.S. Navy's vaporization rate has been greatly improved.

However, the U.S. Navy's method of increasing the steamization rate is also very crude, that is, by equipping a large number of small steamships of five to six hundred tons, or even one to two hundred tons, to increase the navy's steamization rate.

The U.S. Navy does not have many steamships with over a thousand tons.

Therefore, although the vaporization rate of the U.S. Navy has increased, and the data on paper is very good, in fact, the U.S.'s ocean combat capabilities have not been much improved.

Large ships still rely on sail battleships to support their scenes. Even the sails of steam ships have not been cancelled. Sail sails are still retained on steam battleships as a backup plan.

In fact, there is nothing to criticize about this. Early steamships were not stable. Even the steam battleships of the British Royal Navy retained sails as alternative power to avoid being unable to move on the water after the east-west system was damaged. Become a living target for the enemy.

This is true for warships, and even more so for civilian ships. Many of the steamships Liang Yao saw in the New York port also retained sails and drove a hybrid power mode of steam power and sail power.

However, among the merchant ships traveling between various countries in New York Port, many merchant ships flying the British Union Jack flag have canceled their sails and completely use steam power to drive the ships, including hidden steamships.

This also shows from the side that the British steam engine technology and level are quite mature and they are very confident in their steam engines.

"The problem is the steam engine?" Liang Yao guessed the reason.

"Yes." Jeremiah said, nodding.

"I have tried to build small hidden ships. Although I have made some breakthroughs, there are still many problems that have not been solved. For example, my horizontal reciprocating engine is not powerful enough and can only drive a small ship of two to three hundred tons.

And I think the layout of the concealed ship is more advantageous in making large ocean-going ships. I am not willing to just build small ships.

The British are now able to build hidden ships with a tonnage comparable to the Polaris, and the technology is more mature than that of the United States.

The British Royal Navy is replacing a large number of concealed ships and rifled guns, and the French are not far behind the British in this regard.

In terms of ships, we in the United States have a first-mover advantage over the United Kingdom. We built the first steamship and the first concealed steamship, and also poached many shipbuilding talents from Europe.

And now we are being overtaken by Britain and France in shipbuilding. American shipbuilders should reflect on this. "

The advent of Liang Yao's Pioneer greatly narrowed the gap between the United States and traditional powers such as Britain and France in terms of train shipping. However, shipbuilders like them failed to narrow the gap with Britain and France in shipbuilding. This made Jeremiah Feeling a little guilty.

"According to my understanding, if you want to create an advanced concealed ship, you not only need to solve the problem of insufficient steam engine power, but also making a marine propeller is a technology. For example, the propeller's pitch, rotation angle, and materials are all very delicate issues. ." Liang Yao thought for a while and said.

"It seems that you have done your homework before asking me these questions. These are also the difficulties in making propeller ships."

Jeremiah was pleased that Liang Yao asked such a professional question. Liang Yao had such a serious spirit of seeking knowledge and a thoughtful mind.

“I am not an expert in marine propellers. Regarding the technical issues of marine propellers, you can ask Ericson and Claver for advice after you get ashore. They are two experts in this field and have the most patented propeller technologies.

If you want to build a dark steamship as quickly as possible, you can't get around the patented technology of these two experts. "

It is reasonable that the technical team he led could produce a groundbreaking locomotive like the Pioneer.

Jeremiah already knew that Liang Yao was about to take over Vanderbilt's shipyard. Liang Yao asked him about so many technical details of the dark steamship. He guessed that Liang Yao would try to build a dark steamship directly after taking over Vanderbilt's shipyard.

Liang Yao thanked Jeremiah, took out the notebook he carried with him from his pocket, and wrote down the names of Erickson and Clover in the notebook.

For the next two days, everyone on the ship fell into a carnival, celebrating and enjoying themselves, and no one realized that danger was quietly approaching them.

On the night of the third day, it rained heavily in the sky, and dense dark clouds covered the sky above the Polaris.

Vanderbilt Vanderbilt made a fatal mistake. He not only drank himself, but also allowed the crew on the Polaris to drink.

He will pay the price for his complacency.

Due to the very bad weather, the drunken helmsman did not notice that the Polaris had deviated from its course and was heading towards a reef area.

What's worse, the captain of the Polaris did not notice this fatal problem either.

Suddenly, the Polaris shook violently as if it had hit something.

The violent shaking shocked the people who were reveling on the ship, and also woke Vanderbilt up suddenly.

Vanderbilt took two steps at a time. On the shaking Polaris, his steps were still very agile, and he came to the cockpit as if walking on flat ground.

"Why is there a reef ahead? Has the ship deviated from its course? "

Liang Yao didn't drink much. When he felt the violent shaking of the ship, he immediately went to the cockpit to check what happened.

When he saw the situation in front of the ship clearly, Liang Yao's nerves suddenly tensed up.

In the waters in front of the Polaris, under the turbulent waves, hideous reefs were exposed.

These are just the reefs that can be seen by the naked eye. God knows how many reefs are invisible under the water.

"My God."

Vanderbilt, who has always been calm and composed, was shocked by this scene. He tried his best to sober himself up and calm down.

Vanderbilt didn't care to scold the crew on duty at this time. He took over the rudder and said to the shocked passengers while steering.

"Gentlemen, this is God's test for the Polaris. Crossing the reef area and being able to experience such an exciting voyage is a rare life experience. Now I will lead you through the reef area! "

As he spoke, Vanderbilt calmly steered the ship and sailed in the reef-filled waters.

Fortunately, Vanderbilt had traveled to this sea area many times in his early years, and he was quite familiar with it.

The materials used in the Polaris were also very solid. Although it hit the reef three times during the period, fortunately, the hull of the Polaris was strong enough to withstand these three collisions.

The more uncomfortable thing was that as a 2,500-ton paddle steamer, the Polaris was relatively heavy and had poor maneuverability.

Even though Vanderbilt's driving skills were skilled enough and he knew this reef area well enough.

But the slow-moving Polaris still hit the reefs. Vanderbilt had no choice but to All they could do was to try to avoid the reefs. If they couldn't avoid them, they would control the speed and angle of impact to reduce the force of the impact.

The crew and passengers on the ship could only pray to God, praying that the Polaris could leave the reef area as soon as possible and return to the predetermined safe route.

Finally, God took care of them. Although the Polaris was scarred by the impact of the reefs, it still left the reef area safely.

However, the paddle wheel of the Polaris was severely damaged. Even if the steam turbine was fully powered, the paddle wheel flapping weakly on the sea surface could not provide much power for the Polaris. The Polaris could only sail at 3 knots. The ship sailed on the sea at a snail's pace.

Fortunately, the weather improved the next day, and the Polaris met the naval fleet returning to the Baltimore Naval Base.

The fleet provided them with help, and several warships worked together to tow the Polaris back to Baltimore.

However, the dry dock at the Baltimore Naval Base was not open to civilian ships.

Liang Yao found out that Perry was the person in charge of the Baltimore Naval Base, so he sent a telegram to Perry asking him to allow the Polaris to use the Navy's dry dock at the Baltimore Naval Base for repairs.

Perry agreed to Liang Yao's request, but they had to pay a fee of $2,000 for the use of the Navy's dry dock.

This money was used as Of course, Vanderbilt was the one who paid for it. $2,000 was not a big expense for him, so Vanderbilt readily agreed to the request and paid $2,000 for the use of the ship on the spot.

Vanderbilt inspected the Polaris with great distress. Fortunately, except for the serious damage to the paddle wheel wing, which needed to be replaced, the damage to other parts of the Polaris was not serious and had not yet reached the point of breaking bones.

As long as there were enough people, it could be repaired quickly.

Hearing that the members of the Qing Dynasty's visiting delegation to the United States were also on the Polaris, Perry did not dare to neglect it and rushed to the military port of Baltimore as soon as possible to confirm the situation of the members of the Qing Dynasty's delegation.

After learning that no one of the Qing Dynasty's envoys to the United States was injured or killed, and only a few of them were frightened, Perry breathed a sigh of relief and informed President Fillmore of the news by telegraph.

But Perry couldn't help but teach Vanderbilt a lesson, blaming Vanderbilt for not rashly taking the members of the Qing Dynasty's envoys to the United States to sail.

Baltimore is the most important large naval base close to the US capital Washington.

The significance of Baltimore to the United States is equivalent to the significance of Lushun and Weihaiwei to the Qing Dynasty.

After the Second War of Independence, the United States learned its lesson and spent a huge amount of money to expand the Baltimore military port to ensure the safety of the capital Washington.

In the Baltimore military port, there are a total of 5 large ships of more than 1,000 tons, which are the main battleships of the US Navy. Perry's ship Mississippi is also among them.

In addition to the five large ships of more than 1,000 tons, there are also several small ships ranging from 400 to 500 tons to 700 to 800 tons in the port.

The American navy is well-trained, at least the American navy in the Baltimore Naval Port is like this.

The sailors wearing straw hats to protect themselves from the sun looked curiously at the Polaris, which had just been towed into the Baltimore Naval Port, but were soon reprimanded by their officers and returned to their respective posts honestly.

Those who were rubbing the deck continued to rub the deck with stones, those who were cleaning the guns continued to clean the guns, those who were changing the sails continued to change the sails, and those who were repairing the steam turbines continued to repair the steam turbines. Everyone was doing their job.

Everything in the naval port was very orderly, and even the sailors who were not on duty and went ashore for vacation with their collars open did not make trouble in the port.

The Baltimore Naval Port was under the charge of Perry. I think Perry was very good at military management and could make these sailors and naval officers obedient.

At this time, the American Navy had not yet expanded. Although it was small in scale, it was excellent and all were professional soldiers.

These American Navy soldiers and officers in the Baltimore Naval Port must be the essence of the American Navy.

Due to the small size and small number of navy personnel, the uniforms of the American navy before the Civil War were still very exquisite. Even ordinary soldiers could wear well-made dark blue sailor suits and beautiful dark blue pants, and wear a pair of leather shoes on their feet.

The uniforms of naval officers above the rank of petty officer are the same as those of ordinary sailors, but there are golden piping at the seams of the trousers. The thicker the piping, the higher the rank.

This is just their casual clothes. Liang Yao heard that ordinary naval officers all wear expensive tailcoats as military uniforms.

This alone is enough to make colleagues in the army envious.