The torpedo target is not an ordinary target, but a ship!
Just after New Year's Day in 1866, an old wooden-hulled cargo ship floated alone on the sea off the coast of South China. This abandoned wooden-hulled cargo ship was specially purchased from Buenos Aires for testing purposes.
Although it was not an iron-hulled ship, in order to achieve the test effect, it was dragged into the dock before and a two-inch-thick iron plate was nailed directly under the waterline of the ship's plate.
On this day, the weather was fine. Zhu Xianhai, who was on the small steamer, even felt that this was a "destiny moment"!
It's time to decide the fate of the Royal Navy!
"let's start!"
Following his order, a steam boat sailed towards the target.
"Chairman, this ship is a temporarily improved launch ship. It uses compressed air to launch the 16-foot-caliber No. 13 product. Its thunder head is equipped with 67 pounds of picric acid explosive! The power is extremely amazing, even for a large ship of 10,000 tons.
I can’t resist one.”
Although Speidel's tone was a bit exaggerated, Zhu Xianhai did not refute, he just said with a smile.
"Then let's see with our own eyes!"
When he finished speaking, he picked up the telescope and watched the small steamboat sailing towards... It seemed a bit close!
At most, it’s only more than a hundred meters!
This distance is basically the distance of a bayonet.
Is it possible that it is the legendary cannon and bayonet?
Suddenly there was a "bang", a muffled sound came from the launch tube of the small steamboat, and a black figure rushed out of the launch tube.
Steam bubbles rising on the sea surface - According to the technical requirements of "Special Product Mission No. 13", torpedoes use aerodynamics, that is, compressed air is used to drive the engine. This was also the power of the first generation torpedoes, which were still used until World War I.
Torpedoes were widely used.
"Chairman, did you see it? 10 knots! Its speed is a full 10 knots!"
Compared to Speidel's excitement, Zhu Xianhai was stunned.
Just this... just this excites you?
It’s only 10 knots, is this...is this a torpedo?
Looking at the bubble wake of the "rapidly" heading ship, Zhu Xianhai was a little speechless.
The next moment, there was a loud noise on the sea surface, and a huge water column exploded from the port side of the target ship. The water column was hundreds of meters high, and it looked like it was going to swallow the entire target ship.
.
When the water column fell, everyone looked at the target ship in stunned silence - only to see a gap of at least four or five meters in size on the water surface. The gap below the waterline was even larger, and seawater was constantly pouring into the ship.
The target ship quickly sank into the sea in just a moment...
Looking at the faint yellow on the sea... everyone was stunned!
"Chairman, this, this..."
Even the technicians in the Tenth Research Laboratory were shocked. They did not expect that such a "special product" could be so powerful!
It blew up and sank an armored ship in one fell swoop!
"My lord, my lord..."
Swallowing his saliva, Sun Hu was speechless for a while. This thing was too scary!
It simply subverted their understanding.
"Yes, with it, we, we don't have to worry about foreign warships anymore!"
Compared to the joy of others, Zhu Xianhai shook his head and said.
"Not yet. The speed of 10 knots is too slow. At most, it can only hit a stopped warship. If the warship is fast enough, it will not be able to hit it accurately. Also, its range, how far is this distance?
?”
"150 meters!"
"too close!"
When Zhu Xianhai said these words, he didn't know that in another world, White's first torpedo shooting distance was only 134 yards, that is, less than 120 meters, and the target was also a wooden merchant ship.
, directly blasting a large hole more than six meters wide in the ship's deck.
The 150 meters in Nanhua... is already a very astonishing distance!
"150 meters. Not to mention cannons, even rifles can hit this distance. Using a torpedo boat to launch a lightning strike is too close and the risk is too high."
"Chairman, based on the hundreds of tests we have conducted in the past, the average performance is that the speed is between 10-11 knots and the range is about 500 meters."
Speidel was a little unhappy. In his opinion, this could be a miracle.
"If the distance is any further, it will definitely yaw. If two missiles are launched at the same time, at a distance of 300 meters, the hit rate will be about half, which should be enough."
“We don’t want enough!”
Zhu Xianhai shook his head and said.
"We need a secret weapon to defeat the enemy at sea. Its current performance is indeed excellent, and it is an amazingly powerful weapon. However, we need a better and more perfect weapon, 18 knots! Find a way first
To achieve this goal, as for other problems, improve it little by little! I think I will wait for your good news..."
When making these demands, Zhu Xianhai did not feel that his demands were too high. Only with demands can progress be achieved. Why did torpedo technology advance rapidly in history? To put it bluntly, it was because of the Germans, French, British and Austro-Hungarians.
The technological competition between them, well, they all bought their technology from White.
These countries each improved their own products, which stimulated that guy Whitehead to continuously improve his products - Robert Whitehead was definitely a good profiteer. After he invented the torpedo, the navies of various countries quickly discovered the huge potential of this weapon.
, so "Secret" became very popular. But as a shrewd businessman, Whitehead refused to sell "Secret" exclusively to any country. Instead, he sold it to any country willing to buy it.
Of course, after these countries purchased Robert Whitehead's technology, they invested manpower and financial resources to improve it. They competed with each other and learned from each other, which ultimately led to the rapid advancement of torpedo technology.
Of course, Zhu Xianhai could not sell his trump card to any other country. He was still waiting to use torpedoes as a "secret weapon" to stab the British Empire when necessary.
Sold to foreigners?
Wouldn't that be courting death?
Without pressure, there is no motivation, so we must encourage them to actively improve it. Only in this way can we obtain weapons with the best performance.
Of course, just spurring is not enough, material rewards are also needed. Even if this idea was originally proposed by Zhu Xianhai, it was also the mechanics in the research laboratory who helped him realize it. If you want the horse to run, you must let the horse eat.
Grass.
So Boss Zhu gave each of them a bonus of one thousand silver dollars as soon as he opened his mouth! This is almost equivalent to their annual income. As for Speidel and several mechanics who played an important role, the bonus was doubled directly.
Shang Zhu Xianhai has always been extremely generous...