In the original history, ironclads were active in the second half of the 19th century and were the main warships in the heyday of Western colonists. The appearance of this kind of warships immediately changed the way of warfare on the ocean.
The first ironclads put into actual combat in the West were used by the French army in the Franco-Russian War in 1855. At that time, the French army put three ironclads called "floating batteries" into battle at the entrance of the Dnieper River. The exteriors of these ironclads were covered
Covered with a four-centimeter-thick steel plate, the Russian artillery was unable to effectively kill or damage the French warships. In the end, the French army won a great victory.
The brilliant achievements of the ironclads soon attracted the British to follow suit, and the British immediately invested in the construction of the Warrior-class ironclads, which were completed in 1860. From then on, the United Kingdom also had its own ironclads, which effectively prevented France from challenging Britain's maritime hegemony.
attempt.
In the following years, Western powers such as the United States and Russia began to build ironclad ships.
The original wooden warships were as fragile as paper in front of ironclads. Within a few decades of their advent, ironclads completely dominated the oceans at that time. It was not until metallurgical technology continued to develop and warships with all-steel hulls appeared that ironclads gradually faded out of the stage of history.
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Of course, the history of ironclad ships can be traced back further. According to records, wooden ships with iron hulls reinforced by iron sheets appeared in China during the Song Dynasty. The ironclad ships that have been proven in actual combat include those of the great Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga in the 16th century.
Ironclad ship.
During Japan's unification war, Oda Nobunaga built seven armored ships to help the fleet prevent fires. This kind of ship was 32 meters long, 11 meters wide, and the armor was 3 centimeters thick. It was considered the most powerful ship in Japan at the time.
The giant steel ship finally helped Oda Nobunaga defeat the more numerous enemies in the Battle of Kizukawaguchi.
However, Oda Nobunaga's ironclad ship was not a real ironclad ship and was quickly abandoned. The biggest problem with this type of ironclad ship was that it was too heavy to sail long distances. Therefore, Oda Nobunaga's ironclad ship was destroyed after a battle.
He disappeared and no one knew about him even in the Ming Dynasty.
But the Ming Dynasty is different from Japan. The Ming Dynasty has a long tradition of maritime trade, and its shipbuilding technology is far superior to Japan. The ships built by the Ming Dynasty are stronger and lighter. For example, Li Zhi's pointed-headed ship has a cargo capacity of far more than two hundred tons. Even if it is loaded with
After wearing two hundred tons of iron armor, he can still sail into the deep sea.
More importantly, Li Zhi had a steam engine. The surging power of the steam engine made the ironclad ship no longer bulky and could catch up with wooden ships using sails. With the steam engine, Li Zhi could build a real ironclad ship.
Li Zhi nodded towards Boss Wang and said: "Boss Wang, what we want to do is an iron-clad ship. Wrapping a wooden hull with iron armor is not only feasible, but also very practical. This new type of ship is modified on the basis of your five-thousand-material ship.
The shell is wrapped with a three-centimeter iron plate."
After hearing Li Zhi's words, Lu Hu and Gao Ligong's eyes lit up. Although they had never heard of iron-clad ships outside, Li Zhi's men were all smart people, and they could fully imagine what an iron-clad ship looked like.
If the large pointed boat made of five thousand materials was covered with a layer of iron armor, it would not be afraid of Zheng Zhilong's fire ship at all. The three centimeter thick iron armor could not be penetrated by the hook of Zheng Zhilong's small boat, and it would not be able to hook the big ship and burn it. Even if
Those fireships found other ways to burn the ship next to the ironclad. The ironclad was protected by a three-centimetre-thick iron armor, and the fireships could not easily burn the hull.
Moreover, with the protection of iron armor, the artillery on Zheng Zhilong's ship cannot penetrate the hull. Such an iron-clad ship is undoubtedly very powerful.
The eyes of the officials under Li Zhi were bright, and they looked at Li Zhi with a little more awe. Duke Jin had so many ideas in his belly, and every one of them was very practical.
Lu Hu thought for a while and said: "My lord, is this armor good or not? It can be made with our technology. How much iron does this ship consume? How much does it cost?"
Li Zhi did the calculation and said: "If the bottom of the ship is not covered with steel armor, I am afraid that a large ship with 5,000 pieces of material will need more than 400,000 kilograms of steel. According to the iron price of one cent and three cents per kilogram in Tianjin, this is more than 5,000 kilograms.
Two pieces of silver."
After a pause, Li Zhi said: "Although more than five thousand taels of silver is not a small number. But we need more than 20,000 taels of silver to build a ship. The additional armor cost of five thousand taels is still acceptable."
In fact, Li Zhi wanted to use steel to make the armor of the ironclad ship. If steel was used, or even the high-quality crucible steel produced by Li Zhi was used to make the armor, Zheng Zhilong's Hongyi cannon might not be able to penetrate Li Zhi at all.
The ship is armored.
However, the price of steel in the Ming Dynasty is too high. Even using the crucible steel produced by Li Zhi himself, the cost is five cents of silver per pound. If crucible steel is used to arm an armored ship, the cost of a bare armored ship will be more than 20,000 taels.
Silver. In other words, the cost of using high-quality crucible steel to make an ironclad ship can almost be used to make two ordinary ironclad ships.
Even if the ship's armor is made of ordinary iron, Zheng Zhilong's fire ship cannot burn it. Under such circumstances, the effect of two war ships is still stronger than one.
If Li Zhi develops cheaper steel in the future, it will not be too late to arm ironclads with steel.
After everyone heard Li Zhi's analysis, they were all thinking about the actual combat effectiveness of this armored ship, and their faces were full of expectations.
Li Zhi added: "This ironclad ship needs to strengthen the bow structure of the battleship. We need to install a sharp ramming angle on the bow."
Lu Hu's eyes lit up again and he quickly asked: "My lord, why is this?"
Li Zhi smiled and said: "We will install two large steam engines on an iron-clad ship. We expect it to travel much faster than a sailing wooden ship. Our iron-clad ship has a very strong armor and rushes over at high speed. The Zheng family's small
How can a wooden boat withstand it?"
Gao Ligong laughed loudly when he heard Li Zhi's words. He is a heroic person who has been traveling around the world since his youth. He has always liked novel things. Hearing that Li Zhi designed such an exquisite new warship, he felt that he had learned a lot.
It has grown again and I am very satisfied.
If you follow the Duke of Jin, you will have a bright future.
Lu Hu was a meticulous person, but he had many things on his mind. He pondered and said: "The design of the Duke is indeed exquisite, but there are two large paddle wheels on both sides of our ship. These paddle wheels are made of wood and can be easily destroyed.
.If dozens of small fireboats rush up to burn our paddle wheel, it will be difficult not to be burned by them."
"Once the paddle wheel is burned, our big ship will be unable to move."
"Paddlewheels are definitely a problem."
Li Zhi nodded and said: "In order to defeat Zheng Zhilong, it is time to eliminate the paddle wheel and make a marine propeller."
