Chapter 1438 Now we can only return

Chapter 1438 Now we can only return

After entering the room, Li Wanbing took out the flashlight he had prepared long ago from his pocket, and began to search around the power cabin with a sense of ownership.

Compared with traditional mechanical transmission, a large number of gear/bearing equipment are eliminated, so the power compartment design of Type 45 is quite simple. Two sets of basically identical equipment are placed in two completely independent compartments, which maximizes the damage resistance and ease of maintenance. It can be said that the design is quite well considered.

However, BAE was apparently only concerned with mechanical issues when designing the system, forgetting that the two sets of equipment were ultimately managed by the same integrated power system, so it did not set up additional backup for this unique and critical central node.

This led to the embarrassing situation of the entire ship Courage losing power.

But then again, we can’t erase the bright spots of some subsystems just because of the overall failure, so Li Wanbing still wrote down some key parts.

Although Balam looked unhappy, he still needed help from others, so he couldn't say anything. He could only hope that the cable connection work on the deck could be completed as soon as possible, and not let these two fools run around in the engine room again.

Coincidentally, at this awkward moment, a series of footsteps were heard outside the cabin door.

Soon, a man dressed as an officer opened the cabin door, came to Balam and whispered something.

The latter finally breathed a sigh of relief and said:

"Colonel Li, my deputy captain just had someone report that the deck operations have been completed and the external power supply route can be switched at any time."

He thought that the two Chinese people in front of him would definitely find an excuse to delay for a while, but he didn't know that the task they had received also required the system to be restarted before it could continue.

Therefore, Li Wanbing turned the flashlight to the officer without hesitation:

"Have you confirmed that the adapter is properly installed? If the problem occurs again during the restart process due to the difference in power specifications, the consequences will be even more disastrous."

The other party saluted him:

"It has been checked on a physical level, but whether it is feasible or not needs to be further confirmed after the external power is connected."

When it comes to power facilities, especially when it comes to complex standard conversions, no one can guarantee the results until the switch is actually turned on.

If it was on their own ship, Li Wanbing would have to go and see it in person to feel at ease.

But now it was an asset of the British Navy anyway, and Baram and his men would definitely pay more attention to it. Moreover, he had a more critical task to complete later, so he had already handed over the command authority of the ship to the chief engineer, so he didn't ask any more questions, but simply nodded:

"As long as you think the conditions for execution are met, we can cooperate with the transmission of electricity at any time. The specific instructions can be issued by Major Li Qi who came with me just now..."

The actual troubleshooting of the Courageous is divided into two steps. First, the normal operation of important systems on the ship, such as lighting, communications and power control equipment, must be restored through external power supply, and then an attempt must be made to restart the diesel engine and gas turbine.

Otherwise, let alone other things, the fact that messages have to be conveyed between the cabins and the ship's deck depend on signalmen alone is enough to cause high blood pressure.

Then there was another period of silence in the darkness.

Fortunately, this time, the situation began to change after just a few minutes.

First, several red lights suddenly lit up on the dark control console, and then the fluorescent lights on the ceiling and walls lit up one after another, causing everyone who were accustomed to the low-light environment to raise their hands to cover their eyes.

Then, the sound finally came again from the ship's communication equipment, which had been silent for several hours.

It was just a passage in Chinese that sounded like a mantra to most people on the ship:

"Political Commissar, Lao Yang, the parameters here are judged to be powered on normally. What is the situation in the cabin below?"

Li Wanbing looked around the main engine room again before taking the communicator from Balam:

"Lighting and communications have been restored, power control equipment..."

He glanced at the console again. There were still only a few red lights on, and all the screens were still dark.

Obviously, the power outage on the entire ship caused a huge problem, and it was not something that could be restored autonomously by connecting to external energy sources:

"It's powered on, but it still needs to be handled manually..."

"..."

While the two were talking on the phone, Balam next to them couldn't help but rolled his eyes.

Of course, it’s not because of Li Wanbing or Li Qi.

It was because of the Admiralty gentlemen in London——

Asking the other party to change into British naval uniforms and board the ship was obviously because they did not want this embarrassing news to spread too widely, and it would be best to keep it within a small circle.

But as the saying goes, official history may not be correct enough, but unofficial history is definitely unofficial enough.

Not to mention how loud the noise a helicopter landing on the deck would make, this call alone was enough to make many low-ranking officers on the ship realize that several Chinese were helping them solve the power problem.

After secondary processing during the process of word of mouth, who knows what kind of weird version might be produced, which would further affect morale.

It would be better to admit the incident, as long as the impact does not spread beyond the navy.

Think about the big commotion during the Sea Wave 97 mission, but in the end the news was kept under control...

Of course, no matter how much you complain in your heart, you still have to execute the orders from above, no matter how many loopholes there are.

So Baram stopped thinking about the morale issue and immediately called the chief engineer of the Courageous and asked him to bring a few technical sergeants to prepare for restarting the power system.

"But……"

The chief engineer pointed at Li Wanbing and Yang Huailei who were strolling around.

Although they were wearing Royal Navy uniforms, their Asian faces could not be hidden.

"The people who have come into contact with them so far are only officers. If the sailors also learn about the situation, the development of the situation will probably be difficult to control..."

Balam simply gave up and said:

"I can't worry about that. Restoring our own power is the most urgent task. Besides, our superiors haven't specifically asked us not to allow our sailors to have contact with the Chinese..."

It should be said that the degree of automation of the Type 45 and the training level of the Royal Navy are quite good.

After the external power supply was restored, the chief engineer, with only three people, completed the self-inspection and restart of the integrated power system in just five minutes.

When the screens on the console lit up at the same time, Li Wanbing and Yang Huailei were reluctant to even blink, for fear of missing out on any crucial content.

The technical staff on the Courageous were not prepared to avoid them because of the captain's poor performance. They just followed the requirements of the emergency operation and boldly opened the control program to restore the operation of the diesel engine and gas turbine.

However, what appeared the next second was not a graphical UI, but a series of errors and alarms that dazzled everyone.

Balam's heart was in his throat:

"Can the power be restored as planned?"

As a captain, he has of course also worked in the engineering departments of other ships.

But the Brave's power form is unprecedented, and the failure it encountered today was too bizarre, so he still needs to rely on the advice of professionals.

The chief engineer looked at the screen for a while, then shook his head with a somewhat unfriendly look:

"The system prompts that there are problems with the cycle parameter settings of the two WR-21 gas turbines. They need to be initialized and recalibrated. However, our ship's engine crew has not received any training in this area. We can only give it a try, and the success rate cannot be guaranteed..."

Upon hearing this, Li Wanbing, who was not far away, wanted to stop it directly, for fear that the other party would choose to initialize and restart, and then all the data he needed would be lost.

However, considering the previous agreement of "not interfering in the decision-making of the British ship", they were frozen in place for a while, and were in a dilemma.

This time, it was Yang Huailei, who had been silent before, who reacted faster:

"What about the diesel engine?"

After asking, he added:

"The external power supply of our ship will also cause some equipment to be in an overloaded state, so the restart process cannot be delayed for too long."

This is of course pure nonsense, just a random excuse to allow oneself to intervene.

The chief engineer of the Courageous replied:

"The diesel engine can be restarted..."

Yang Huailei quickly interrupted the other party:

"Then why not isolate the operating parameters of the gas turbine and restart the diesel engine alone to restore the low-speed sailing capability? This way, after you return to the port, the system supplier will be able to determine the problem and propose improvement plans."

The minimum requirement for the Type 45 destroyer to perform its mission normally is to have a gas turbine that can operate normally. If there are only two diesel engines, it can only move at a very slow snail's pace, and most of the shipborne weapon systems cannot be put into use.

In other words, the only option left was to interrupt the mission and return home in disgrace.

Balam looked hesitant, and it was obvious that he wanted to struggle some more.

But at this time, Li Wanbing also interrupted:

"Starting the gas turbine requires a high level of power supply. For the sake of the power safety of our ship, I ask you to start the diesel engine first, and then use your own power for subsequent attempts."

That being said, the so-called "experimentation with autonomous electricity" is actually impossible.

If the system crashes again, everything will be over.

At this point, Balam was forced into a corner with no other way out.

"Let's follow your advice..."