Chapter 197: The Shipbuilding Plan

Xiao Zishan and Fang Fei discussed and concluded that since it was already late November, and there were many things to do after the fleet’s return, including the “Plan, Do, Check, Act” cycle that President Wen constantly advocated, the whole process would take at least half a month. They also needed to transport infrastructure materials and necessary arms to the 852 Base in Hong Kong to ensure that the Hong Kong detachment could withstand any enemy counterattack.

With these calculations, Xiao Zishan believed it would be better to postpone the annual meeting until the end of December, to celebrate it along with the 1631 Gregorian New Year.

“You know, after more than half a year of trade blockade, many goods are out of stock. This month will give us some breathing room to replenish supplies, which will make holding the annual meeting more convenient.”

So, the annual meeting was finally scheduled for around December 26th. According to nearly three years of observations from the Gaoshanling Meteorological Observatory, the lowest winter temperature in Lingao during this era was around 9-10 degrees Celsius, usually occurring in mid-January. The average temperature in late December was still 17-18 degrees, sometimes even reaching 21 degrees, which was perfect for an outdoor party by the sea.

Within the Executive Committee, intense consultations were underway regarding the results of the Pearl River campaign, subsequent issues, and the strategic planning for the next year. Liu Xiang’s disappearance from the Pearl River estuary was a great surprise to the Executive Committee. They had not expected this great pirate leader, who had fought Zheng Zhilong to the end, to abandon his traditional territory and avoid battle so decisively. The Executive Committee was very worried, fearing that Liu Xiang would choose an opportune moment to launch a large-scale counterattack against the Hong Kong base. The Hong Kong base was still in its infancy, and both its sub-fleet and garrison were very weak. It urgently needed large-scale reinforcement.

The reinforcements sent from Lingao included not only cannons, soldiers, and building materials, but also a large number of skilled construction workers for the infrastructure construction of the Hong Kong port next year—wharves, jetties, warehouses, and shops. Si Kaide fought hard in every Executive Committee working meeting for the allocation of supplies and tonnage for Hong Kong. Although some materials could be procured locally from Guangdong, most of what Hong Kong needed still had to be shipped from Lingao.

The 700-kilometer sea route from Lingao to Hong Kong brought the construction of a large-scale fleet and convoy system to the agenda. The purely private shipping companies like the Gao-Guang Shipping Company could no longer provide cover. Liu Xiang and Zheng Zhilong could launch indiscriminate attacks on all ships on this route at any time.

On Hainan Island, besides Qiongshan, the northern counties had successively fallen into the hands of the Australian Song. However, the subsequent establishment of political power in each county required a large amount of maritime transport for personnel and supplies. The development of Sanya also continued to demand a steady stream of resources and manpower, which strained the shipping capacity. Except for the few months of the anti-encirclement campaign when foreign trade was interrupted and shipping capacity was ample, the demand for maritime transport had been high ever since the great victory at Chengmai. By October, even the previously unrestricted allocation of near-sea transport tonnage was brought under the unified management of the Planning Commission.

The tight shipping capacity made it increasingly difficult to rely on the navy’s small and medium-sized ships for cargo transport. The frequent voyages had worsened the condition of the ships and sailors, and the rate of maritime losses began to rise.

Expanding the fleet became a consensus within the Executive Committee. However, in the entire year of 1630, due to the war and the development of Sanya, the Financial Supervisory Department’s investment in infrastructure, the army and navy, and military facilities had taken up more than half of the annual budget, while direct spending on shipbuilding was almost zero. Lingao’s shipping industry was almost entirely supported by the maintenance and modification of old ships. Although in terms of scale, Lingao’s fleet was considerable, with 126 two-masted ships of over 100 tons, and 92 single-masted ships of 30-70 tons.

These ships were all under the control of the navy. Some were converted for use as fishing boats, some were armed with varying numbers of cannons and typewriters to become specialized gunboats, and others were lightly armed for various maritime tasks, including transport, patrol, and fishing. Their naming was simple, just the port of registration + purpose + number, such as “Lin-Te” (Lingao Special), “Lin-Yu” (Lingao Fishing), and “Lin-Yun” (Lingao Transport).

Twenty-one ships with a deadweight of 200-500 tons—large sailing ships like the Qionghai Coal—were given independent names and used as dedicated transport ships, especially for grain transport to Vietnam and supply transport to Sanya and Hong Kong. These ships were also lightly armed and had room for expansion, ready to be thrown into battle if necessary.

Besides these navy-controlled ships, there were also the ships of the Gao-Guang Shipping Company and the Hai’an Shipping Company sailing on the Guangzhou-Leizhou-Lingao route. These ships were controlled by the Colonial and Trade Department and managed by the Guangzhou and Leizhou stations, respectively. The Gao-Guang Shipping Company had 12 three-masted large Fuchuan ships, named with “Guang + Heavenly Stem” and “Gao + Earthly Branch.” These ships operated a regular mixed passenger and cargo service between Guangzhou and Lingao, which was very prosperous before the second anti-encirclement campaign. Before the start of the campaign, some ships fled to Lingao, while others were seized and confiscated by the government. Their business had not yet recovered.

As for the ships of the Hai’an Shipping Company, they were all smaller coastal salt boats, originally used mainly to transport Leizhou sugar to Guangzhou and other places. Besides sugar, they also handled short-distance sea transport of coal, timber, and agricultural products from Leizhou to Lingao.

Although most of the ships were managed and used by the navy, the allocation of transport tonnage was actually controlled by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission’s transport office had dedicated loading charts and tables, recording the logistics of various goods down to the hour.

After the navy’s Pearl River Estuary campaign, a large number of ships were diverted to serve as warships and transports, making Lingao’s shipping capacity even more scarce. The permanent stationing of two gunboat squadrons in Hong Kong further reduced the already overstretched naval fleet’s capacity.

Their Xunjing self-propelled deck barge had an astonishing carrying capacity, but it could only operate in coastal areas with good sea conditions. Its power system was a diesel engine, which had consumed a large amount of diesel after several transport missions to Sanya. As the only modern ship capable of transporting oversized, overweight, and over-length cargo, the Planning Commission could not bring itself to continue using it for routine cargo transport.

This grim situation led to the urgent shipbuilding proposal being raised again at a working meeting of the Executive Committee. Shipbuilding was not only to meet transport needs but also to expand the navy’s combat vessels. Chen Haiyang clearly pointed out at the meeting that the existing armed gunboats were too small in tonnage, which limited the number and caliber of the cannons they could carry. In particular, the 24-pounder carronades installed on some gunboats were, in Chen Haiyang’s opinion, of little significance due to their short range.

“The effective range of a 24-pounder carronade is only 100-200 meters. If we encounter a Western warship, we will be at a disadvantage in range. If we encounter a large pirate fleet like Liu Xiang’s, if the first volley doesn’t destroy the enemy ship and we can’t reload immediately, we will be overwhelmed in a boarding action.” Chen Haiyang mentioned that in the battles at Humen and in the Guangdong inner rivers, the gunboat squadrons equipped with carronades had to wait for the cannon squadrons to inflict damage from a long range before joining the battle to avoid being destroyed by the Ming army’s Hongyi cannons at close range.

“The carronade squadrons only demonstrated their devastating advantage in the Battle of Lantau Island, against a small group of pirates with very weak firepower and no numerical superiority. In the long run, the carronade squadrons can only serve as patrol or escort vessels.”

In addition, most of the gunboats in the gunboat squadrons were too small in tonnage to sustain prolonged combat. Some ships were of poor construction quality, and none had copper sheathing on their hulls. Shipworm and marine biofouling had become extremely serious. Chen Haiyang estimated that about one-third of the ships needed immediate maintenance.

“If we continue to use the gunboats for heavy transport and escort missions, we will soon face the embarrassing situation of having more than half of our ships under maintenance in the first half of 1631,” Chen Haiyang warned. “Shipbuilding, especially the construction of large-tonnage ships for long-term use, is imminent!”

“Our current situation of not distinguishing between transport ships and warships is not appropriate. On the surface, it seems like comprehensive utilization, but in reality, the ship modifications and allocations are all half-baked,” said Ming Qiu, the head of the Naval Operations Department.

The only ships in the Australian Song Navy that were truly converted or built as warships were the Zhenhai and Fubo, two two-masted gunboats, and the iron-ribbed, wood-hulled triangular-sailed patrol boats. But their tonnage did not exceed 200 tons, making them very small vessels. The Naval Operations Department concluded from their wargames that without the four 8154 cruisers, the Australian Song Navy could only maintain absolute superiority in small-scale battles. If they encountered a major maritime power like Liu Xiang or Zheng Zhilong, who could deploy hundreds of large ships at any time, the navy could not guarantee victory.

The navy wanted several large-tonnage warships, either sail or steam-powered, with armament, speed, and endurance at least on par with an early 19th-century frigate.

Finally, the navy proposed a request: to start construction of at least two 1000-ton three-masted sailing frigates within the 1630 fiscal year with additional funding, and to start construction of another 6-10 500-ton armed auxiliary vessels in the 1631 fiscal year.

“Obviously, this is a bit hasty,” Ma Qianzhu said slowly after Chen Haiyang finished speaking. “Large warships are, of course, very useful. But, even if we don’t talk about whether our technical capabilities and material reserves are sufficient to build such 19th-century frigates, the construction period for a 1000-ton ship would be at least a year, right?” He turned to look at Zhan Wuya.

“A three-hundred-ton wooden boat, with sufficient materials and manpower, would take about six months to build in a rush,” Zhan Wuya said. “But now that we can build iron-ribbed ships, the construction period can be further shortened. Three to four months, perhaps.”

“Obviously, what we need to build now are not such large ships—because we need ships that can be put into use in a short period of time, say, within two or three months,” Ma Qianzhu said. “Because the existing naval vessels will face major repairs and maintenance within six months, starting construction on ships that will only be ready in a year will create a gap in naval power.”

This was a clear opposition to the navy’s shipbuilding plan. For a moment, the Executive Committee meeting room fell silent. Chen Haiyang wanted to rebut, but Ma Qianzhu’s words were well-reasoned and supported by the industrial department.

Wu De said, “It’s too late to build large warships. I think we should first solve the transport capacity problem from the root.”

Fundamentally, the navy had too many tasks and was overburdened with transport missions, leaving no time for proper maintenance. Wu De suggested a crash program to build a batch of dedicated transport ships to replace the currently used gunboats, freeing them from their heavy transport duties.

“I don’t know much about shipbuilding, but we can refer to the American concept of Liberty ships and build a batch of standardized armed transport ships. At this stage, to speed up construction, we can limit the tonnage to 300-500 tons and use sail power,” Wu De explained his idea. “Of course, we can leave room for future installation of steam engines.”

“If we are to install steam engines, we can start with a smaller one, say 50 horsepower,” Wen Desi interjected. “As an auxiliary power for sail handling. With steam power assisting sail handling, it will greatly reduce the demands on the sailors’ skills and save a lot of manpower.”

Zhan Wuya said, “If we use an iron-ribbed, wood-hulled structure, it can be completed in about four months.”

Ma Qianzhu said, “That’s still a bit slow. It would be best if they could be put into use within two or three months.”

Wu De said, “My other proposal is to build barges.”

Wu De stated that he had conducted a study on the transport situation and found that a large part of the transport capacity was occupied by coastal transport, including short-distance bulk transport like salt from Maniao to Bopu. Although they used a convoy system, each ship actually sailed independently using its own sails.

Wu De proposed using the technologically mature steam-powered Daihatsu boats as tugboats and quickly building a batch of unpowered barges for coastal transport.

“An all-steel barge can have a capacity of over a thousand tons,” Wu De said. “We don’t have that much steel, so we can build iron-framed, wood-hulled barges, without even needing a deck. Each with a capacity of about 200 tons, a convoy of 10 barges.”

“In that case, the steam-powered Daihatsu boats won’t be able to tow them,” Wen Desi said.

“Then let’s build steam-powered tugboats!” Wu De said. “We can now self-produce 500-horsepower steam engines. Building or modifying a few coastal tugboats shouldn’t be a problem.”

Everyone agreed that this plan was feasible. Building a 500-horsepower steam engine was a relatively familiar task for the machinery department. As for the tugboats themselves, if the sea condition requirements were not high, the construction of small tugboats was not difficult and could be completed in about a month.

Regarding the navy’s proposal to expand its combat power, Wen Desi suggested restarting the grounded 854 Project. This large ship, originally intended to be the Empire’s first ironclad, had its keel laid and ribs installed before it was forced to be suspended due to excessive steel consumption. Since then, the 854 Project had been on display on the shipyard’s slipway like the skeleton of a prehistoric dinosaur.

To be honest, even with just the keel and ribs, the ship’s presence had already awed countless natives. They couldn’t imagine how these huge iron bones were made, nor could they imagine that they could be assembled by human hands.

The suspension of the 854 was largely due to the insufficient supply of steel materials. More importantly, there was a severe shortage of qualified riveters at the time. The few apprentices under Zhou Bili could barely manage to build boilers. To rivet a large ship hull on a massive scale was almost impossible, both in terms of technical difficulty and the number of workers required.

Although Wen Desi was resentful about the suspension of the 854 Project, shipbuilding was not just about blueprints. The technical level and processing capabilities of the workers were also important parts, so he had to accept this reality.

Now, Zhou Bili’s apprentices had accumulated considerable experience after mass-producing the so-called “bomb boilers” of the Mozi series. Although they still didn’t dare to rivet such a huge ship hull, they were quite confident in some hull components and marine boilers.

Based on the workers’ technical level, Wen Desi proposed a new 854-modified plan.

The so-called 854-modified plan was based on utilizing the completed parts of the 854 Project. The ship’s type and structure remained unchanged, but the construction process was technically simplified, changing the original all-iron hull to an iron-framed, wood-hulled ship. A wood-hulled ship was easier to maintain than an iron-hulled one, and its construction no longer relied on the unreliable riveting skills of the native workers, greatly reducing the demand for steel.

The official model name of the 854-modified was the 1630-class iron-ribbed, wood-hulled, clipper-bowed, steam-assisted-power sailing frigate. The design specifications were: displacement 1160 tons, length 70 meters, beam 9.9 meters, draft 6.25 meters. It would be equipped with a 200-horsepower steam engine, with a speed of eight knots (using steam power) and sixteen knots (using sail power), and a crew of 109. It had a full-rigged layout. The steam engine not only provided propulsion but also power for sail handling, greatly saving the number of sailors.

This type of ship was based on the steam-sail hybrid frigates of the 1860s. A warship of this tonnage was classified as a third-class frigate in the US Navy at the time. As a commerce raider, it was widely used in the American Civil War, with its presence felt in all major oceans of the world.