Chapter 588 Strategic Materials (Requesting Double Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 589 Strategic Materials (asking for double monthly tickets)

The "Indomitable" was slowly towed to the dock, and everyone was silent.

Joseph took Borda, Sane and others to board the ship for inspection, and saw that the steam engine had broken the crankshaft due to overload, lying there like a deformed monster.

And the stern cabin was full of flying wood fragments, which should be the main shaft that broke due to severe vibration.

He made detailed measurements and records, left the ship and prepared to return to the design room, and saw Murdoch running over excitedly, breathlessly saying: "Your Highness, Your Highness, 5 hours!"

"What 5 hours?"

Murdoch turned and pointed to the hull laboratory in the distance: "The new propeller has been running continuously for 5 hours without any malfunction!"

Joseph was overjoyed and hurriedly took a carriage with everyone to check.

In the laboratory as big as a basketball court, there was a glass "big fish tank" more than one person tall and filled with water.

The LJ52 steam engine on the side was roaring, driving a cylindrical wooden shaft into the "fish tank" through a set of gears. The propeller at the end of the bearing stirred up a lot of bubbles, but it was only slightly vibrating, like a beast held down by a hunter.

Murdoch signaled to his partner Sander who was adding coal to the steam engine.

The latter glanced at the clock and said, "5 hours and 36 minutes. Everything is normal."

Cheers suddenly broke out around, and designers and technicians clapped their hands to celebrate: "Thank God! Finally succeeded!"

"I knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's design would succeed."

"This thing can make our warships at least ten years ahead!"

Joseph's face was also full of surprise, and he turned to Murdoch and asked: "Did Mr. Garman use any new technology?"

Yes, after the propeller vibrated continuously, he invited his father's master Mr. Garman, the top watchmaker in France.

Let Garman use the technology of processing watch bearings to make propellers. This is the highest processing precision that can be achieved in this era.

Murdoch nodded: "Yes, Your Highness, Mr. Garman said that he improved the polishing method and changed the wood used for the main shaft."

"Oh?" Joseph was a little surprised that Garman actually knew about materials science. "What wood did he change?"

"I didn't ask him about this."

Joseph said to Emman: "Please invite Mr. Garman."

Half an hour later.

The watchmaker looked at the propeller that had been running safely for more than 6 hours, and excitedly made the sign of the cross on his chest: "Thank God! You must have guided Miss Berenice to me!"

Joseph blinked: "Miss Berenice?"

Borda said hurriedly: "Your Highness, that seems to be the maid assigned to Mr. Garman by the shipyard."

Joseph looked at Garman: "Mr. Garman, did the maid help you with your work?"

"Yes, Your Highness." The latter nodded vigorously, "You mentioned before that the main shaft should be made of wood with uniform wood and as high hardness as possible.

"I subconsciously muttered this after dinner last week. After hearing this, Miss Berenice told me about an extremely hard wood - Guaiac wood."

"Guaiac wood?" Joseph felt that the name seemed to have been heard somewhere.

"She said that it was the hardest wood she had ever seen. The natives of Jamaica used this thing to make the shaft sleeves of oars. And she happened to have a piece at home."

Garman said, looking at the still spinning propeller: "That's it. I didn't care at first, but when I saw the wood, I immediately realized that it was definitely the best spindle material!

"It is not only hard and not easy to deform, but it also oozes oil by itself. You can even use it to make a spindle without additional lubrication.

"I processed it into a spindle, and I didn't expect it to be really useful! "

Joseph suddenly had an idea. It can seep oil by itself and is very hard. This seems to be the "life-saving shaft of the destroyer" mentioned in the news in later generations.

He remembered that the news said that the destroyer imported by the navy of a certain country at that time had a design defect, which caused the main shaft to wear easily, but it could not buy imported parts. Finally, the old craftsman used a kind of wood that can seep oil by itself to make the main shaft and replaced it, and solved the problem himself.

He forgot the name of the wood, but it is very likely this guaiac wood.

If this thing can be used as the main shaft of a warship of three or four thousand tons in the future, it must be more than enough to deal with the frigates of less than four hundred tons in this era.

Joseph thought: "It seems that the previous vibration problem is not only due to the insufficient processing precision of the propeller, but it is also likely to be accompanied by slight deformation of the main shaft under the action of rotation, resulting in asymmetric force on both sides. "

Chief designer Sane continued: "It is also possible that the hardness and deformation resistance of the main shaft are too strong, coupled with self-lubrication, which makes up for the problem of propeller processing precision. "

Joseph immediately realized that this guaiac wood would become a strategic raw material.

He hurriedly asked Emman to call Miss Berenice and asked, "Where did you get that piece of guaiac wood?"

The maid seemed very nervous. After she stuttered for a long time, Joseph finally understood that her father had been a sailor in the Caribbean. Because he saved a Jamaican businessman, the latter gave him a large piece of spice, which was the guaiac wood.

After her father returned home and learned that this thing was very valuable, he kept it at home as a decoration until it was bought by Garman.

Joseph immediately gave her a bonus of one thousand francs and instructed the intelligence agency to tell her and her family about the confidentiality regulations.

Then, Joseph found another botanist and asked about the origin of guaiac wood.

"Your Highness, as far as I know, this thing should be produced in Jamaica." The latter said, "Occasionally, a spice or medicine merchant brought it to Europe for sale."

"Jamaica?" Joseph frowned immediately.

That was a British colony. It seems that it is necessary to stock up a batch as soon as possible before the British understand its use.

A week later, the shipyard bought a few more guaiac wood from the medicine market. After processing it into a full-size main shaft, Garman installed it on the "Indomitable".

The midday sun shone on the calm sea surface of the Bay of Brest, and the "Indomitable" appeared in front of everyone with a brand-new power system.

This time it took only 25 minutes to cleanly surpass the paddle boat used for comparison testing, and sailed for 4 hours before finally stopping due to a steam engine failure.

At this time, the paddle boat had been left behind by it for more than 20 kilometers.

This time, Joseph looked at Murdoch and smiled, "Then, it's up to you. At least you have to ensure stable operation for a day without any malfunction."

He did not blame Murdoch. After all, the high-pressure steam engine technology has only been developed for more than a year, and this is an ultra-high-pressure version. It is rare to have the current stability.

The latter looked at Sandel and said uncertainly, "Your Highness, this may take about two years. After all, such a high-pressure model is rarely used in other places."