Chapter 534: The Ironclad Era

Chapter 528 Ironclad Warship Era

The development of General Liang's rifle and machine gun was very successful.

In the end, Liang Yao named the General Liang rifle the General Liang M1857 rifle according to the naming convention of American weapons, and asked the Sacramento Arsenal to eliminate the problems of the trial-produced sample gun and launch a derivative model with a shorter gun body to facilitate the use of cavalry when riding.

Hand-cranked machine gun Since the US military did not have similar weapons before, Liang Yao named the hand-cranked machine gun more casually. Because of its lightning-fast firing speed and thunder-like power, in order to welcome the upcoming 1960s, Liang Yao named it the Thunder M60 machine gun.

Both weapons have not yet been put into mass production, but have already received overseas orders.

Liang Shaoqiong ordered 2,000 General Liang M1857 rifles and 400,000 rounds of ammunition on the spot to arm his direct troops.

The order totaled 60,000 US dollars.

In addition, Liang Shaoqiong also ordered 50 Thunder M60 machine guns and 100,000 rounds of ammunition, intending to try something new. The total order is 44,700 US dollars.

Liang Yao himself also ordered 10,000 General Liang rifles to replace the current Western Brigade and arm the Umbrella Company's mercenary troops.

As for machine guns, his current plan is to delegate equipment to the company-level troops to improve the firepower of grassroots troops. Of course, he also plans to add some machine guns to the Umbrella Company's mercenary troops.

Some things are more suitable for mercenaries than for regular troops.

Although the Western Brigade is no different from his private soldiers now, it is still the federal government's army in name after all, which is easy to involve diplomatic issues.

After Liang Shaoqiong and Liang Yao, uncle and nephew, placed the order, Sartre himself also placed an order for a batch of General Liang rifles to equip his manor guards, but the number was not large, only 200. The bulk of the orders still came from their uncle and nephew.

After receiving two such large orders, Sartre, the director of the arsenal, also fell into a happy trouble.

At present, the production line of General Liang's rifle has not been completed, and the daily output is only two or three at most. It takes time to build a new production line. Sartre asked Liang Yao whose order to complete first.

Liang Yao thought about it and let Sartre complete Liang Shaoqiong's order first.

First, if nothing unexpected happens, Britain and France will officially declare war on the Qing Dynasty in less than two months, that is, in May 1857.

The battlefields of the Guangdong Yong are basically in coastal areas, unlike the Hunan Army, which basically fights in inland provinces along the Yangtze River. Once the war breaks out, the British and French coalition forces will definitely regard the Guangdong Yong as the biggest threat, and then the Guangdong Yong will inevitably have a direct military conflict with the British and French coalition forces.

Liang Yao also took this opportunity to observe the actual combat performance of General Liang's rifle, and by the way, use the hands of the Guangdong Yong to bleed the human resources pool of Britain and France.

Secondly, for a brand-new weapon, the earlier the production batch is, the more problems there will be.

Liang Yao also has the idea of ​​using Liang Shaoqiong as a guinea pig.

The development of the army's weapons has achieved a historic breakthrough.

The development of naval warships has also achieved fruitful and gratifying results.

Since the launch of the Daring-class battleship in December 1853, the San Francisco Shipyard, a leader in the American shipbuilding industry, has fallen silent and has not produced any new products.

This once made his peers in the East doubt the research and development and manufacturing capabilities of the San Francisco Shipyard.

The factory director Jeremiah ignored the voices of doubt from the outside world, and did not respond publicly to this.

He knew that the best response was to come up with a brand new product to shut up those peers.

After four years of hard work, the San Francisco Shipyard finally launched their new product, the Pioneer-class, on April 1, 1857, the day of the State Day, as a gift for California's 7th birthday.

Hearing that a new ship was launched in California, Shen Baozhen deliberately postponed the date of returning to Fujian in order to see the so-called new battleship.

On April 1, 1857, the evening of San Francisco Bay was illuminated by a faint golden halo. A breeze blew past, and layers of golden ripples appeared on the calm sea.

Crowds holding high the American Stars and Stripes and the California Bear Flag gathered spontaneously on the dock, looking forward to the ironclad ships described in the newspapers.

The salty sea breeze that blew ashore from time to time stirred people's excited emotions.

There are only two countries in the world that can build steam warships of more than 4,000 tons, one is called England and the other is called France.

It is rumored that the tonnage of the warship that was launched on the Statehood Day will exceed 4,000 tons, and it will adopt a brand-new design, which is completely different from previous warships.

If this giant ship with a displacement of more than 4,000 tons succeeds in its first voyage, the United States will become the third country after Britain and France that can independently design and manufacture ocean-going steam warships of more than 4,000 tons.

The United States will also become the first country after the European continent to have the ability to manufacture this large steam warship.

What a proud thing this would be.

In this era, Europe is the center of the world, and the way Europeans look at Americans is like a glamorous city dweller looking at a rustic country bumpkin, full of disdain, contempt and contempt.

A huge black monster is lying quietly in the dock of the San Francisco Shipyard, and the hull wrapped in black armor plates flashes cold light in the reflection of the sea water.

"Set sail! Set off!"

With Liang Yao's order, the trumpeter blew the horn of departure, followed by the harsh whistle of the steam engine.

The winch rattled, this was the sound of the anchor chain being retracted, and a thick, tough rope was tightened and fixed with the concerted efforts of the sailors.

The gate of the dock was opened, and the Pioneer class slowly escaped from the embrace of the dock. Her huge body gradually slid into the sea, and the microwaves beat on the side, splashing crystal waves.

The water droplets hitting the side of the ship slid down the iron armor on the side of the ship's side, making a crisp sound, like the sound of nature.

This sound was obviously noise, but Liang Yao felt more and more comfortable the more he listened to it.

When Shen Baozhen saw an ironclad ship for the first time, he was like a country boy who had never seen the world. He ran around on the ship, looking here and there, wanting to imprint every detail of the ship in his mind.

This is a real battleship!

The designers of the Vanguard class proudly introduced this unprecedented steam battleship to the world.

Vanguard class ironclad ship.

It is 71 meters long and 15 meters wide.

Displacement: 4600 tons.

Power: a two-cylinder horizontal reciprocating connecting rod steam engine, a complete sail system, the sail adopts a three-masted sail structure, and the flue can be semi-retracted and retracted into the ship.

Maximum speed: up to 8 knots without using sails.

Endurance: 4,800 nautical miles/8 knots. With full coal at Pearl Harbor, it can reach Nagasaki, Matsumae (Hakodate), and even Shanghai.

Armament: The main armament is four 152mm (6-inch) 32-caliber Sacramento guns on the central axis. The guns are located in an armored turret on the central axis, which can be designed in different directions by rotating. The turret armor is 100mm.

The secondary guns are 24 100mm (4-inch) Sacramento guns arranged on both sides of the hull, 12 on each side. The secondary guns are installed on a 75mm protective armored rotating platform, which can rotate 120°.

Armor: The armor belt is made of multiple layers of stacked iron plates, with a total thickness of approximately 108 mm. Armor plates are installed horizontally and cover below the waterline of the ship to provide protection for parts below the horizontal line.

It can withstand solid shells fired by the mainstream naval guns of the Royal Navy (68-pound guns) at a distance of 480 meters.

Full ship personnel: 450 people.

The vanguard-class armor shone with metallic luster in the setting sun, like an invincible medieval knight wearing plate armor.

The two escorting ships have a displacement of about 1,500 tons. The later model of the Bold class is already the largest warship that the San Francisco Shipyard could build before.

At this time, the two bold-class ships looked very petite and cute against the vanguard class.

The bow of the Pioneer class is engraved with a lady gazing ahead with her head raised. This is Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea, believed by sea people in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places.

"It's Mazu! Empress Mazu!"

At Jinshan Bay Pier, a sharp-eyed child pointed at the brand new bow and shouted excitedly.

"This ship is so big!"

"He is really wearing a suit of iron armor, an armored ship! It is truly worthy of its name!"

"It's simply a fort that can move on the sea!"

"Fort? It's a fortress!"

"If I can see this ship in this life, I will die without regrets!"

Immigrants to California are mainly immigrants from Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang from the five opening ports. There are many believers in Mazu. After seeing the figure of Mazu's bow, many believers knelt down to worship their luggage and pray for blessings. Some people even went to buy incense and prepared to burn incense to worship.

"Set off the fire!"

Liang Yao looked at the waves of people on the pier and ordered a salute to be fired in celebration.

The gunners on the vanguard class had proud smiles on their faces and fired a salute.

Sven's eyes filled with excitement. Since the Umbrella Company set foot in Southeast Asia, the British East India Company's provocations have become more frequent.

The British East India Company relied on its strong maritime power and owned a large number of large armed merchant ships and warships with a displacement of more than 3,000 tons, and repeatedly launched attacks.

Although his Umbrella fleet faced provocations from the East India Company and even the Royal Navy warships, they upheld the spirit of the sword and did not flinch.

But courage cannot make up for the huge gap in strength. When Umbrella and the British East India Company clashed at sea, Umbrella was the loser most of the time.

Today I also have a big ship, how can I not make people feel proud?

Sven remembered the scene when the Governor of British Columbia passed by the coast of California when he was on his way to take office. At that time, they did not have a few decent ships. They unexpectedly encountered the British Governor's fleet at sea, and the other party actually ordered the ship to ram directly.

Damn it, if there had been these 4,000-ton armored ships back then, even ten of them wouldn't have dared to hit them! If you dare to bump into him, he will be smashed to pieces!

"Jeremiah, I want you to apologize. I always urged you to build a big ship, but you shut yourself up. I thought you couldn't build a big ship and avoided me. I didn't expect you to hold back such a big ship." Sven stroked the fort. He was wearing pitch black armor plates and was excited and incoherent.

"This is an ironclad. Okay, okay, what a beautiful ship."

"Jeremiah, you haven't told me the cost yet." Liang Yao recalled Jeremiah's introduction to the Pioneer class just now. Jeremiah seemed to have overlooked a very important issue, that is, the cost of the Pioneer class.

"$250,000 a boat." Jeremiah said with a smile, "How about that, cheap?"

Liang Yao couldn't believe his ears for a time: "It costs 250,000 US dollars per ship. Did I hear that right? The first Bold was priced at 370,000 US dollars."

"It was a different time. At that time, there were few skilled shipbuilders in California, and the wages were extremely high. In addition, steam engines, steel and other materials were very scarce." Jeremiah laughed.

"Now California is one of the shipbuilding centers of the United States. The cost of shipbuilding is no longer the same as when the state was first established. Now it only costs $90,000 to build a latest model of the Daring Class."

The same is true. Not to mention the United States, the shipbuilding technology of the European continent has also made great progress in recent years, especially in the years before and after the Crimean War. With the maturity of steamship manufacturing technology, the cost of manufacturing steamships has been greatly reduced.

Britain and France have also placed their bets on steam battleships in the past two years. Outdated sailing battleships are rarely built in Britain and France.

Liang Yao vaguely remembered that he spent 2.14 million francs (410,000 US dollars) to buy a 2,000-ton cruiser Roland from General Tromelin, commander of the French Pacific Fleet, as a facade.

Roland was a steam-powered wooden cruiser produced by France in his Lorient shipyard in 1845. When Roland was first produced, it was at the world's advanced level. It has only been 12 years, and the steam-powered wooden cruiser seems a bit outdated.

Before the Bold entered service, Roland was the flagship.

After the Bold, Roland was relegated to the second line soon. Although the San Francisco Shipyard subsequently renovated it and replaced it with advanced Sacramento guns to enhance its vitality, Roland has lost its position as a main battleship.

The 19th century was really an era of rapid change.

"You told me that this was a price to say goodbye to the Navy Department's order." Liang Yao sighed.

"Now even if the Navy Department wants to buy it, I won't sell it."

"How many ships do you want to order, sir?" Jeremiah asked expectantly.

"It depends on how many skilled sailors Sven can provide." Liang Yao looked at Sven.

He had just borrowed $7 million from the Dixie guys in the south, and he still had plenty of cash flow.

Moreover, unlike in 1853, he now had real overseas interests that needed to be maintained by a strong maritime force.

Hawaii, Borneo, Qing Dynasty, Japan, if you want to maintain your rights in these areas, you can't do it without a strong fleet.

Liang Yao was still willing to spend money on this.

It was just that a Vanguard-class ironclad ship required 450 crew members, and Liang Yao didn't know how many qualified crew members Sven could provide.

"8 ships! Give me some time! I can train more excellent sailors!" Sven said hurriedly.

"Then build 8 ships first. Can the shipyard handle such a large order? How long will it take to deliver?" Liang Yao was now a little worried about the production capacity of the San Francisco Shipyard.

"Yes!" Jeremiah said confidently, for he was afraid of missing this super order, which was a super large order worth $2 million.

"We can guarantee the delivery of 2-3 ships before Christmas next year, and the rest can be guaranteed to be delivered before 1860."

Jeremiah is already considering outsourcing some of the orders for the Bold-class to other shipyards, led by the Los Angeles Shipyard.

The shipbuilding industry in California is now quite developed, and there are three or four large shipyards that have the ability to build thousand-ton steamships.

"Then build eight ships first." Liang Yao said to Jeremiah earnestly.

"I am very happy that the shipyard has achieved such great success today, but I hope you will not be proud and complacent, and rest on your laurels. Keep up the good work and build bigger ships.

My expectation for the San Francisco Shipyard is to become the most powerful shipyard in the world, not California, not the largest shipyard in the United States, understand?"

"Yes! Your Excellency!" Jeremiah replied forcefully.

"The British and French have richer shipbuilding background and technical reserves than us, especially the British. They will never be willing to lag behind others in shipbuilding. I think it won't be long before they can build ironclad ships that are larger than ours, or even more than 10,000 tons." Liang Yao looked into the distance with a deep gaze.

"There is still a long way to go to catch up with Britain and France."

The next thirty years belong to the era of ironclad ships.

Although he took the lead in building ironclad ships, if he stopped there, his leading advantage that he had spent a lot of money to build would soon be lost.

On January 1, 1857, Stanislas Dupuy de, the founder of French ironclad ships, was appointed as the shipbuilding director, responsible for all shipbuilding work of the French Navy.

On December 26, 1859, the first French ironclad ship, the Glorious, was launched and put into use. The Glorious-class ironclad frigate is a 5,500-ton ironclad ship.

The French built three ships at once, namely the prototype ship Glorious, and the subsequent Invincible and Normandy. All three ships were completed and put into use before 1862.

As for the British, it was even more terrifying. The British's first ironclad ship, Warrior, was built at the Thames Steelworks Shipyard on May 25, 1859 and launched on December 29, 1860.

The displacement of the British's first ironclad ship reached an astonishing 9,137 tons, which was beyond the reach of all countries.

The Warrior-class ship Black Prince was built at the Glasgow Napier Shipyard on October 12, 1859 and launched on February 27, 1861.

Warrior and Black Prince ushered in the era of ironclad ships of the British Empire Royal Navy.

Many captains of the Beiyang Fleet, such as Lin Taizeng and Ye Zugui, had interned on the Black Prince.

The advent of the Vanguard-class ironclad made Californians proud. This was the first time they led a new era.

For the British and French, their feelings were more complicated and varied.

There was shock, disbelief, and vigilance.

Gibson, president of the San Francisco branch of the Barings Bank, was one of the first British to come to California. At this time, he was standing on the dock of the San Francisco Port and looking at the steel behemoth armed to the teeth on the surface of Jinshan Bay.

There is no doubt that this unheard-of ironclad ship is very advanced even in the Royal Navy's fleet.

At present, the Royal Navy has no corresponding warships.

This is the first time that the British Empire's navy has encountered such a situation in the two hundred years of dominating the global ocean.

This made Gibson, an Englishman, feel deeply frustrated.

Damn, these American country bumpkins can actually build a ship that they haven't built yet.

Gipson thought again that when he set foot on this land, it was still desolate, with a primitive and natural beauty.

Only seven years have passed, and San Francisco has become a prosperous metropolis with a population of more than 500,000.

Even if a city of this size is placed in the UK, it can be compared with other large cities except London.

The population size of major British cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham is similar to that of San Francisco, about 500,000 or 600,000.

However, the population growth of Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham has become very slow, while the population of San Francisco is still growing at a very terrifying rate.

It may only be a matter of time before San Francisco surpasses cities such as Liverpool.

Gipson glanced at the dock under his feet. In 1850, San Francisco still had only a small dock where even a thousand-ton sailing ship had difficulty docking.

Now the dock of San Francisco can already berth cargo ships of more than 10,000 tons, whether steam cargo ships or sailing cargo ships.

And there is more than one such dock in San Francisco.

Gipson has never seen another city that can develop at a speed comparable to San Francisco. Oh, no, Gibson has seen this city. He has not only seen it, but also visited it in person.

This city that develops faster than San Francisco is called Los Angeles. Oh, damn, it's a city in California.

"These country bumpkins are really impressive." Gibson asked his old French friend Le Goff beside him.

"What do you think? My old friend."

Le Goff is the president of the San Francisco branch of the Bank of France. Seven years ago, he came to this place full of gold at almost the same time as Gibson.

France is building ironclad ships. As a member of the upper class of France and a noble Parisian white flag, Le Goff knows this news.

At Christmas, he had a drink with his old friend, General Tromelin of the French Pacific Fleet.

As Parisian elites who are also drifting overseas, they have a lot in common and can talk about almost everything.

Tromelan once told him that the French Navy was developing a new-age steam battleship with a high armor rate and strong protection, which could withstand close-range bombardment of the British 68-pound naval gun.

When this battleship is launched, the French Navy will have the strength to compete with the British Navy.

Presumably, the new-age steam battleship Tromelan mentioned is the ironclad ship in front of him.

The ship that the French have not yet built was actually built by these American old hats.

If Tromelan was not at the Sarawak headquarters of the French Pacific Fleet at this time, but stood on the dock of San Francisco with him to observe this black steel behemoth, I wonder what Tromelan would think?

Le Goff didn't know when the French ironclad ship would be launched, but he knew that the British would soon start their ironclad ship plan. The British would never allow other countries in the world to have more advanced warships than them.

Sea power is the lifeblood of the British.

He also knew that the second and third ironclad ships would be launched soon.

A new round of maritime arms race has begun with the deafening whistle of the Vanguard class.

"It's not the Californians who are impressive." Le Goff sneered.

"Gipson, it's you, the British master, who have never looked at them in the right light."

"We look at you French in the right light." Gibson counterattacked.

"But you French people didn't bring out anything that scared us. The Californians here brought it out, and it's only been 7 years. This is really a scary place."

"It's not this place that's scary." Le Goff looked solemn.

"It's the people here who are scary, especially the general, our business partner."