Chapter 1849: "Black Pearl" and "Captain Jack"
It is not a matter of urgency to transform a 250-class armed merchant ship into a sail paddle boat. The most important thing at present is to transform one or two British pirate ships out of revenge for the Portuguese.
I don't know what kind of psychology, Marin is very interested in the transformation of this pirate ship. So he personally came to the Emden shipyard to participate in the transformation of the British Kirk sailing ship.
The English-style Kirk sailing ship is basically similar to the German-style Kirk sailing ship, because the Kirk sailing ship was originally learned by the British from the Hanseatic League. Therefore, it is not difficult for Marin to bring the Kirk sailboat.
In the dock, a Kirk sailboat of more than 200 tons is resting on the stand. The water in the dock has been drained to facilitate the craftsman's transformation.
Since it is a pirate ship, speed is naturally a priority. Therefore, Marin waved his hand directly:
"To increase the height of the mast, use a larger area of high-strength sisal sails!"
This is the simplest decision. A sailboat. If the area of the sail is large, the natural speed will be faster. In addition, Marin pointed to the bow and stern command:
"The mast at the stern is replaced by a spinnaker, so that the side wind can be used!"
This was the usual practice for later full-load sailing, so as to improve the wind utilization rate. In addition, this is also to prepare for the interception of Portuguese transport ships.
Because, when the Portuguese merchant ships returned to their country, they must have gone north along the African coast. The north-south routes often come from the side, and there are very few positive tailwinds.
Therefore, it is actually more appropriate to use spinnakers on the routes back to the Portuguese merchant ships. So Marin continued to order:
"The two masts in the front are also ready to replace the large spinnaker ..." If the wind is really coming from the side, it is the most correct way to use the spinnakers.
In fact, the Beihai country has a superior slanted sail that is superior to the jib. However, the upper marginal truss sails of the North Sea State are being kept secret, and the use of such advanced sails is only allowed in the unmanned area of the Atlantic Ocean. When you arrive in a crowded area, you have to change to ordinary sails.
Moreover, this time the pirate ship was to pretend to be a British pirate, so naturally such advanced things could not be used. In addition, Marin did not want the Portuguese to learn this kind of sail.
Therefore, Marin can still use old-fashioned sails. However, the area has been increased a lot, and the material has also been replaced with sisal reinforced sails.
In addition, the stern part is also equipped with a very easy-to-use steering wheel system to facilitate rapid steering of the ship.
...
The next part is the hull part, because the time is tight, it is definitely too late to adjust the keel and thicken the side. Therefore, Marin directly adopted a simple and rough approach-the ship was covered with white iron sheet, and a total of three layers were nailed ...
The three layers of tinplate may still be difficult to resist the heavy shells of the lizard cannon. After all, the impact of that type of shell can easily smash the side shell structure under the protection of the iron sheet. However, the Folang machine gun used to resist the Portuguese was no problem.
Portuguese merchant ships are generally equipped with Fran cannons. Only a 12-pound main gun will be installed on the main battleship. For general merchant ships, it is almost the same as equipping several three-pound Fran cannons, with a maximum of 6-pound class.
In this way, as long as three layers of tinplate are nailed to the side, there is no need to fear the blow of small caliber artillery on the Portuguese merchant ship.
In this way, the conversion of the ship is basically completed. Next, the craftsmen only need to use the same technique to continue to modify a few Kirk sailboats.
Then, Marin went to pick people ...
...
In order to pretend to be like a pirate, Marin really asked Kohler to instruct the North Sea country spies across London to recruit a group of reliable people with pirate experience to join the pirate ship.
These old pirates are familiar with the British pirates' methods, and they do not need to pretend to play in their true colors. The sailors under Marin only need to cooperate with them to perform and imitate their behavior.
Among them, a middle-aged pirate leader named Jack aroused strong interest in Marin. Because, Marin actually found that the goods looked like Captain Jack in "Pirates of the Caribbean". However, he is not called Jack Sparrow, but Jack Vickers.
But Marin doesn't care so much, and they are pretending to be pirates this time, so naturally they don't need to use their real names. So, Marin waved his hand:
"In this way, during the robbery, you come to pretend to be the captain. From now on, you will be called Jack Sparrow. Everyone calls you‘ Captain Jack ’, so it ’s a happy decision!
Jack Vickers's face was dumbfounded—what if the surname was changed?
But thinking that this time he was going to pretend to be a pirate, he actually figured it out. It would be best if he didn't need his life. After all, the relationship between Britain and Portugal is good. If he used his real name and was sued by Portugal to London, he would be wanted in England.
Now that there is Captain Jack, there must be a corresponding ship. Therefore, Marin happily decided that this first pirate ship was called "Black Pearl" ...
"Captain Jack" and a group of hired English pirates looked at Marin in a daze, but after thinking about it, they accepted it. No way, Marin is their employer, is still a king, and others are so good, they can only accept, there is no confidence to refute.
Since it is the "Black Pearl", it would naturally be black. Therefore, Marin directly made the ship black as a whole, and even the white iron sheet was painted black, making the whole ship look black.
However, in terms of firepower configuration, Marin could not learn the "Black Pearl" and used 32 6-pound guns. Moreover, the small Kirk ship with more than two hundred tons does not have as many gun positions. In particular, there is no lower artillery deck.
Therefore, Marin can only adapt to the situation. According to the high ends of the Kirk sailboat, with the characteristics of the bow and the stern, a gun is installed in the bow and stern of the two parts, both of which are 12 pounds ~ www.wuxiaspot. com ~ Pirates often do not fight head-to-head at sea, because merchant ships often lack the courage and rigidity of pirate ships. Therefore, when fighting at sea, merchant ships often flee in front and pirate ships chase behind. Therefore, a main gun for the bow is necessary, and the side gun is basically useless.
Of course, there are times when the pirate ship is out of luck, for example, when encountering warships ... At this time, the pirate ship needs to rely on speed to escape. At this time, it is best to have a gun in the stern to stop the pursuit of the warship ...
Therefore, pirate ships often do not need any artillery on the side, only the artillery at the bow and the artillery at the stern. As for the side guns, they were only needed when the navies of the two countries were directly in front. Because the purpose of the navies of the two countries is to eliminate the opponents and will not run easily. There are many artillery on the side, which is often more advantageous and easy to sink opponents.
But the purpose of the pirate ship is to rob, not to sink the merchant ship. Therefore, side artillery is not required. If the merchant ship is sunk, who will they rob?
Therefore, Marin did not arrange a volley cannon on the side of the "Black Pearl", but only deployed three or four rear-mounted Francon cannons symbolically. This kind of Folang machine gun is used to frighten the people on the merchant ship after firing a few guns instead of sinking the merchant ship.
After the ship was converted, Marin patted Jack Vickers' shoulder and smiled:
"Okay, Captain Jack, take your men to practice at sea!"
...
