Chapter 1730: Intrepid Battleship

Where did the European plague come from? In fact, when the Italian sailor went to West Asia to transport the goods, the Asian mice mixed into the ship were brought to the ship and introduced to Europe.

Europeans had never seen the plague at that time, and naturally they could not talk about resistance. Then, tens of millions of people were destroyed. This is almost the same as the American Indians who have never seen smallpox. The millions of Taino in Haiti were directly exterminated by smallpox ...

Why can mice survive on Italian merchant ships? It is not that the ancients did not talk about hygiene. Especially the medieval Europeans, it was called dirty. They don't take a shower, they like to urinate and urinate everywhere, the city is made smelly, and the boat is not much better.

Because it does not pay attention to hygiene, the boat is naturally very dirty and messy, and it is not surprising that it is mixed with mice. Especially in the dark and dark bilge, the mice are hiding in the corners, which is very difficult to find.

From the beginning, Marin paid great attention to the sanitation on the ship. The military and warships applied for three orders, demanded good internal hygiene, and checked and evaluated.

In addition, Marin was the first person in Europe to promote cat breeding in this era. In addition to black cats regarded as ominous, Marin encouraged people in Beihai to raise cats and mice.

On the boat, Marin asked every boat to keep cats to catch mice. After all, some mice are easy to get into the ship with the cargo, which can be avoided without good internal hygiene. Therefore, keeping cats on board is an important way to deal with mice.

In addition, every ship in the North Sea country will be equipped with a small "V" trawl, the kind with a winch. This kind of trawl can catch hundreds of pounds of fish at a time, which can not only improve the diet for the sailors, but also keep cats.

As a result, the ocean-going vessels of the North Sea never lack food, only fresh water and vitamin C ...

...

As for the firepower on the ship, Marin looked at it. The lower artillery deck was mainly a 32-pound Karen gun. Although this gun has a large caliber, it has a short barrel and a small total weight.

Although the range is not far away, if the 32-pound iron ball hits, at the level of the warships of other European countries in this era, it will not be able to eat around.

Moreover, the short barrel and light weight have another great advantage, that is-fast filling speed!

The short barrel makes it relatively easy for the gunner to load. And light weight, easy to carry, easy to reset. In this way, its shooting speed is much more convenient than those heavy guns.

According to the gunners' test, the average loading time of the 18-pound Hongyi cannon is about 2 minutes. The Karen naval gun only needs half the time to complete the loading ...

The only problem is that large-caliber guns consume too much gunpowder. Beihai is now able to make guns and can not afford gunpowder ...

Fortunately, Marin is now buying more Egyptian slaves and camels to send to Chile to expand the production and transportation of saltpetre mines there. As long as the output of saltpeter comes up there, these Karen guns will be able to bombard enemy ships ...

...

After visiting the entire warship, it was Marin ’s turn to designate the warship.

Marin asked for detailed data. The entire ship had a displacement of 1,000 tons, a double-layer artillery deck, and 50 guns, which was very in line with the standards of the British sailing ship class 4 in the 18th century.

The British Class IV ship has a capacity of 350, but New York ’s Long Island Shipyard has a relatively tight staffing of 320. After thinking about it, Marin agreed with the New York Shipyard's proposal. Because, he is short of sailors now ...

A fourth-class ship requires 320 people, and 20 ships require 6,400 sailors! And now, the 30 500-ton warships in the North Sea are equipped with 5,400 sailors. In addition to the thousands of sailors on the hundreds of 250-class armed merchant ships ... Marin suddenly felt that there were too few sailors in the Beihai ...

At this time, his desire to annex England was more urgent. Because there are enough sailors in England. Unlike the German side, it mainly relies on the Frisian, the only nautical race in Germany (the Dutch do not count).

Fortunately, Marin now confuses the Dutch nobles to play enclosure and raise sheep. Perhaps it will not take long for a large number of Dutch people who have lost their land to accept their recruitment to become sailors for themselves.

Today, there are mainly two types of ships in the Beihai State-the 500-ton class "Hoffman" class warship, and the 250-ton class "250" class armed merchant ship. Among them, the naming of 250-class armed merchant ships is very sloppy. Of course, it is also a transitional model and is not valued.

This thousand-ton battleship is obviously very important. In Marin's plan, it will build the first batch of 20 ships and become the main battleship of the North Sea Navy.

There are 20 thousand-ton main battleships, together with 30 500-ton "Hoffman" class main battleships, the combination of these 50 super battleships can basically defeat any European country. The premise is that there is enough ammunition ... But with the expansion of Chilean saltpetre production, the days when these warships can let go of their hands and feet and shoot hard can not be far ...

You know, this is a battleship covered with stainless steel and steel! Even the British did not reach this level in the 18th century. At most, the British only covered the warships under the waterline. Moreover, only the main battleships have this treatment. Ordinary battleships are bare under the waterline ...

Because the performance is too powerful, Marin feels that this kind of battleship should be invincible. However, if it is named as "invincible" level, it is too hateful, not in line with Marin's low-key character.

After thinking about it, Marin decided to name the warship "Dreadnought", or "Dreadnought" for short ...

This name was regarded as the main giant battleship during the First World War. During World War I, the Fearless Ship was actually an invincible main battleship. Other types of warships can only bow their heads in front of the fearless ship ’s cannons and new armor.

It can be said that the fearless ship was synonymous with invincibility at sea.

And what about this thousand-ton warship of Beihai? Although the technical level and combat effectiveness are far less than the fearless ship of World War I ~ www.wuxiaspot.com ~, in this era of backward technology, this kind of warship covered with stainless steel plates and large caliber heavy artillery can indeed be regarded as invincible at sea. hand. With the title of "Dreadnought Ship", this name has not been disgraced.

After all, this type of warship covered with stainless steel plates on the side, the protection in this era is comparable to the one-stop fearless ship using the new armor, so it is so resistant to beating ...

The Karen gun on the battleship ... well, in this era is also equivalent to the deterrent effect of the main gun of more than 300 millimeters on the fearless ship. After all, Karen guns are only used to fight wooden boats. And the giant main gun of more than three hundred millimeters, is fighting the opponent's composite steel armor ...

Moreover, the term "intrepid ship" is also more modest than "invincible" or "victory". Don't be afraid, just be bold and brave. The names of "invincible" and "victory" are too arrogant and easily beaten by the crowd ...

...

Therefore, this new thousand-ton battleship covered with stainless steel sheet and steel plate was happily named Marin as the "Dreadnought" class battleship. But in fact, the volume of this kind of battleship is equivalent to that of the British fourth-class ship in the 18th century. The only thing stronger than the fourth-class ship is probably stainless steel armor ...