By the time Li Xuan received the Hantong report from America, it had been more than a month.
And this is because the Navy's communication ships use relay transmission, and the Panama area directly conducts land transport transfers, without detouring through South America or passing through Africa.
At the same time, a number of the navy's most advanced communication ships carried out high-speed relay sailings regardless of cost. In this way, the news of the new South Port in the Americas could be conveyed back to Shanghai, the mainland, in just over a month, and then returned to Jinling by rail.
city.
The actual cost of the whole process is very high. If it is transporting ordinary goods, or even a warship executing a warship, it will not do this.
Currently, even within the Tang Empire, only the maritime communication lines established under the leadership of the Post Office and with the cooperation of the navy can achieve such a terrifying average speed.
The Post Office of the Tang Dynasty cooperated with the navy and deployed numerous fast communication ships around the world to transmit official documents from the Tang Dynasty to and from the world, a small number of precious or urgent goods delivered by the government, and urgent private letters.
, a small number of urgent goods.
In order to ensure that official documents from the empire, especially urgent documents, such as military information, can be delivered quickly, the Post Office has built and put into service numerous fast communication ships in the past few decades.
These fast communication ships range from early sail clipper ships, including horizontal sails and longitudinal sails, to sail clipper ships equipped with steam engines, that is, motor sailing ships, and to today's pure steam ships.
No matter what type of ships these ships are, they all have the same characteristic, that is, they are fast.
This kind of speed is not only reflected in the maximum speed, but also in the average speed.
Nowadays, the Datang Postal Department and the Navy require ocean-going fast communication ships to maintain an average speed of more than fifteen knots. Under special circumstances, fast communication ships can even reach speeds of more than twenty knots.
Last winter, during the voyage from Shanghai to Malacca, the Postal Service's fast communication ship created an extreme discipline of running a thousand kilometers a day. The average speed that day always remained above 23 knots.
It's just that the captain of the ship was dismissed after the voyage mission was over, because after this trip, his ship was completely scrapped...
Although the power system of the fast communication ship is good, and it is a type of small ship equipped with a large engine, it is impossible for the ship to maintain a speed of 23 knots all the time.
The idiot captain clearly knew that his ship could not withstand extreme speed navigation for a long time, and the communication ship did not undertake emergency tasks at that time, but only performed ordinary official documents and letter transportation tasks.
The captain was racing the boat purely for his own personal preference, and in the end he completely destroyed the power system on the boat, which was worth more than 100,000 yuan.
Normally speaking, fast communication ships mostly use relay methods to keep the average speed above fifteen knots.
However, even this speed is unique in the world. There are many warships in the Navy that can run more than fifteen knots, but it is basically impossible to maintain an average speed of more than fifteen knots for cruising. After all, warships need armor.
Naval guns are also needed, and although speed and so on are also important, they are not to the extent of pursuing extremes.
Unless there are special mission requirements, such as combat, the battleship will not run so fast.
As for civilian ships, the speed of most bulk cargo ships is actually very low, with an average speed of about seven knots. This is because these ships need to control shipbuilding costs and coal-fired costs.
Some fast ships that transport cargo, such as those that need to transport tea in a hurry, are very fast. The average speed of these cargo fast ships can reach more than ten knots.
Passenger ships are quite special. Some ordinary mid- to low-end passenger ships can only travel at a speed of about eight or ten knots.
As for high-speed passenger ships, their speeds can generally reach more than twelve knots.
But luxury liners with larger tonnage are much faster. The average speed of these luxury liners, well, or to be more precise, the cruising speed, is second only to fast communication ships.
The purpose of fast communication ships is to keep messages delivered quickly, regardless of cost to the Postal Service and the military.
As for luxury passenger ships, they transport only mid-to-high-end passengers, and the fares are very expensive. Therefore, there is basically no need to consider the cost of coal when sailing. At the same time, in order to compete and improve the company's brand, major shipping companies have
It is to spend a lot of money to build high-speed luxury liner.
A few years ago, the average speed of the New Pacific series of 10,000-ton luxury liner reached 14 knots.
In order to be able to run so fast, people directly installed the power system of a battleship of more than 10,000 tons, but the tonnage is smaller than the navy's battleship, and because there is no need to consider the defensive performance, the aspect ratio can be made larger.
As a result, the hull is relatively slender, so it is not surprising that it can reach such a high cruising speed.
How should I put it? If it were a long-distance sailing competition, all the current main battleships of the Navy would not be able to outrun these 10,000-ton luxury passenger ships.
The Nova, which Fung Shipping Company spent a huge investment of 3 million, has not yet entered service, but according to the designed theoretical speed, it is even more terrifying.
According to the design, when the Nova is loaded with rated passengers and cargo, with a full load of 30,000 tons, its expensive and huge power system can reach a maximum speed of 20 knots, and can maintain a cruise speed of 18 knots for a long time, and this
The power system was originally expected to be that of a military warship, and it could also carry out strong pressure ventilation. If forced ventilation is used, the maximum speed is estimated to be able to reach 21.1.
This speed can directly beat all luxury passenger ships and almost all civilian and military ships.
Among the battleships of the Tang Navy, the Xiyin-class cruiser, which is the fastest, has a maximum speed of only eighteen knots under normal pressure and only twenty knots under pressure. As for the cruising speed, let alone the cruise speed. In order to ensure the range, at most
Just keep it at 14 or 5 knots. If you run too fast, the amount of coal burned will be too much. The cruiser's small body of more than 2,000 tons does not have much space after it is equipped with naval guns, ship equipment, ammunition and food supplies.
Coal and water.
As long as the Nova starts running on the sea in the future, except for a few of the latest fast communication ships in the Post Office, there will be basically no ship that can catch up with it.
If it is a long-distance voyage, relying on the Nova's strong self-sustainability, even the Navy's fast communication ships will be unable to catch up.
This is truly the number one ship on Earth, and the Nova will probably be able to hold on to this title for several years.
If you don't count official ships such as battleships and fast communication ships, and only count ordinary civilian ships, regardless of cargo ships or passenger ships, it is estimated that it will be more difficult to beat the Nova's speed.