Chapter 1007 Warship

Though various reactionary academic authorities had raised countless objections to muzzle-loading rifled cannons—particularly the "fatal" flaws inherent to all muzzle-loaders, such as slow firing rates and oversized footprints—the Planning Bureau remained unconvinced. At this stage of development, such shortcomings posed no existential threat to the Navy in combat.

The Armstrong breech-loading cannons with screw-thread breeches that the Ordnance Department currently produced in limited quantities for coastal artillery had proven disappointing in practice. The breech-locking mechanism was especially troublesome, requiring hammers to achieve a proper seal. Apart from the convenience of loading from the breech, they offered no obvious advantages over Dahlgren rifled cannons in loading speed, range, or accuracy—yet demanded far greater manufacturing complexity.

As for truly mature, reliable interrupted-screw breeches, those would inevitably require rubber and asbestos for manufacturing gas-sealing plugs—materials the Industrial Department had long struggled to produce.

Some had proposed alternatives: a breech mechanism using horizontal wedge breeches with metal gas rings, which required no rubber and lay within current industrial capacity. Yet once again, the Dahlgren cannon prevailed on grounds of process simplicity and material availability. The Planning Bureau ultimately approved experimental manufacture of two cannons using the horizontal wedge design, but clearly had no intention of mass-producing them anytime soon.

At a General Staff Equipment Department meeting, Planning Bureau representative Sun Xiao explained the rationale for choosing Dahlgren rifled cannons: "Since the Navy, using sailing warships armed with smoothbores, never complained about slow cannon loading, we believe that equipping hybrid-powered warships with rifled cannons—whose range and accuracy far exceed smoothbores—will pose no serious problem."

Behind the Planning Bureau's frugality lay the steel industry's capacity bottleneck. Though the Manzao Steel Complex's blast furnaces and open-hearth furnaces had begun production, output remained unsatisfactory. The shortage of qualified workers and administrative personnel severely constrained further expansion.

Lin Shenhe parked his bicycle outside the work shed and dismounted. In an open area nearby, specialized racks displayed a row of newly produced Dahlgren cannon barrels. Though cast from iron, their surfaces were regular and smooth. He touched the barrel and muzzle, then used his bicycle lamp to peer inside, examining the rifling. The craftsmanship from the Machinery and Metallurgy departments grew more impressive by the day.

The Manzao Industrial Complex could now produce excellent quality pig iron. Using reverberatory furnaces to refine molten iron, they manufactured superior cannon-casting material—before Lingao had its own blast furnaces, imported pig iron for cannon casting had undergone the same reverberatory furnace refinement.

Further off, piles of gun carriages, rails, and metal fittings awaited installation, their metallic surfaces gleaming faintly under dim lighting.

Inside the work shed, smoke hung in the air. Blueprints lay spread across tables where several people huddled in discussion.

Lin Shenhe greeted Zhou Ke and the others.

"Muzzle-loaders really are inconvenient to load," Zhou Ke remarked. Though no naval expert with little weapons knowledge, anyone who walked the deck and studied the cannon and layout drawings would quickly grasp the problem.

After firing, muzzle-loading cannons had to be retracted onto the deck before sailors could reload. Each barbette therefore required dimensions exceeding the combined length of barrel and carriage—a gun position's diameter measured at least five meters, a footprint far larger than breech-loaders demanded.

"No problem," Lin Shenhe replied. "Whatever issues muzzle-loaders have, they're still rifled. Besides, cannon modification is straightforward. If Dahlgren cannons work and prove adequate for now, that's enough."

"I understand the Planning Bureau's constant demands for savings, but they should still consider going all the way. We can't always be doing technical upgrades..."

Lin Shenhe chuckled softly. "Going all the way? Let me put it this way—if everyone hadn't been clamoring so loudly for explosive shells, rifled cannons, and cartridge rifles, the Planning Bureau would probably be preparing to conquer the world with twelve-pounder smoothbores and Minié rifles."

"So frugal..."

"I understand Wu De's thinking," Lin Shenhe said. "Everyone just wants satisfaction without caring how to achieve it or what happens afterward—he's conducting revolution through thrift."

"Didn't expect you to have such a big-picture view," Zhou Ke observed.

"Not at all—where would I have such perspective? Just sharing thoughts casually."

"Let's tour the ship," Zhou Ke suggested. "Inspect the situation on-site." He picked up the telephone and cranked it twice: "Turn on the lights at the naval pier."

Minutes later, every electric light on the naval pier blazed to life. Though the intensity still wasn't sufficient to illuminate every angle of the ship, one could at least discern objects' outlines without stumbling.

Under the lights, the hull surface showed irregular patches of dark black—the handiwork of inexperienced painters applying tar paint. The hull was constructed from lychee wood imported from Guangdong, Vietnam, and elsewhere—extremely sturdy. From the exterior, nothing betrayed that the internal ribs and keel were iron. All lay hidden beneath the hull planking.

On deck, three masts rose tall against the night sky. The 1630-class's three composite masts stood shorter than its prototype's—the Navy simply couldn't train enough sailors skilled at climbing rigging and handling sails aloft. So the rigging had been simplified wherever possible, with steam auxiliary machinery replacing manual work on the halyards.

The rigging stood fully installed. White canvas lay furled; jute halyards crisscrossed the masts, each rope darkened with tar. Lin Shenhe inadvertently reached out to touch one.

"Don't touch—they're covered in tar!" Zhou Ke warned quickly.

Lin Shenhe started and withdrew his hand. The deck beneath his feet was coated with the same dark substance. Even so, beautiful wood patterns remained visible under the lights.

"Made from imported Southeast Asian teak," Zhou Ke said. "Quite luxurious."

Lin Shenhe remained unfazed—warship decks built from teak were nothing remarkable. Battleships and aircraft carriers of the twentieth century still used this precious wood for their decking.

The 1630-class featured an island layout. The single smokestack rose from the island's center; black-painted with yellow marker bands, it bore the ship's only bright-colored markings.

Gun bases for the barbettes already occupied their designated positions, awaiting the rails, gun carriages, and barrels that would be installed first thing the following morning.

Since the 1630-class was a sail-steam hybrid, the three masts severely limited cannon firing arcs. The foremast and mainmast stood directly before the main guns' muzzles, preventing both main guns from firing directly forward or aft. Due to hull structure and center-of-gravity considerations, both main gun barbettes were positioned relatively near the ship's center. Zero-degree fire at bow and stern therefore fell to secondary guns mounted on both beams. The only way for the 1630-class to deliver maximum firepower remained the traditional broadside salvo.

Lin Shenhe knew the cannon positions like the back of his hand—he had participated in discussions about cannon layout. There had been heated arguments about the 854 and 901's configurations. The final 854 Modification scheme still referenced the layout from that model's original blueprint, with slight modifications.

The ship's armament consisted of one barbette each on the bow and stern deck centerlines, each mounting a 130mm caliber Dahlgren rifled cannon. Gun casemates were set amidships on port and starboard, mounting one 75mm caliber Dahlgren rifled cannon each—six secondary guns total. For auxiliary weapons, four typewriters were positioned on deck along both sides. All cannons used circular rail rotation, slide recoil, and manual traverse and elevation mechanisms.

According to black powder destructive power tests conducted by the Navy and Ordnance Department at the range, effectively destroying contemporary galleon oak hulls while maintaining shore bombardment capability required shell charges of approximately two kilograms of high-density pressed black powder. Combined with filling coefficients, fired explosive shells weighing 25-35 kilograms corresponded to calibers above 120mm—hence the ultimate selection of 130mm rifled cannons.

The barbettes themselves lacked armor protection; only steel shields defended them. On the entire 1630-class, only the magazine received a thin layer of steel plate protection. The boiler room relied on coal bunkers flanking both sides for defense.

Normally, barbettes used foldable canvas awnings to shade against sun and rain, removed during combat.

"The 1630-class is still a bit small," Zhou Ke said with some regret. "Otherwise we could use fully enclosed turrets and install mechanized loading equipment."

Lin Shenhe shared the sentiment—the ship's modest tonnage actually limited naval cannon size. With Lingao's current industrial capacity, manufacturing 200mm-plus muzzle-loading rifled cannons presented no difficulty. However, since 130mm cannon shells represented the limit for manual loading, larger cannons required mechanically assisted loading systems—which also demanded sufficient ship space.

He walked into the bridge. Most equipment had already been installed, though some advanced navigation equipment remained "under development," with only installation positions reserved. The marine chronometer was still one brought from the old dimension. He noticed the 1630-class's bridge also had a dedicated fire control director tower. Climbing up, he found it empty inside—nothing but tables and chairs, no fire control equipment.

Zhou Ke explained: The original plan called for artillery observation mirrors, rangefinders, calibrators, and mechanical ballistic computers.

"What—" Lin Shenhe's mouth nearly fell open in surprise. He had assumed they were simply preparing "fire control equipment" like telescopes and rangefinders. He hadn't expected "advanced equipment" like ballistic computers—truly advancing by leaps and bounds.

(End of Chapter)