Chapter 200: Shipbuilding

As they were talking, a stout man in his thirties entered the cafeteria. His imposing figure, knee-length shorts, short-sleeved T-shirt, a fanny pack and pistol holster strapped to his belly with a black nylon belt, and a straw hat perched on the back of his head all proved he was, without a doubt, an elder.

The native employees eating in the cafeteria were already used to seeing elders come and go. Several elders could be seen at the shipyard every day, guiding work at various construction sites and workshops.

He craned his neck, looking around, and suddenly spotted Jiang Ye and the others. His eyes lit up, and he waved his arm.

“Quick, a few people, come and receive the goods!”

Zhou Bili, picking his teeth, arrived at the shipyard’s dedicated station—essentially a special unloading platform—flanked by a few of his apprentices. On the tracks, a diesel locomotive was letting off steam. A few workers were climbing up and down, inspecting the engine. These diesel locomotives had now all been converted to run on gas, and the once-empty flatbed now sported a gas generator and a dedicated gas bag.

Of course, the Lingao-made gas generators and gas bags had their share of problems. Gas leaks were the most common and most serious issue. Fortunately, these locomotives were completely exposed to the open air, so minor leaks were not life-threatening.

A yellow lantern hung on the flatcar, indicating it was carrying oversized or special-spec cargo. At this moment, the flatcar was loaded with several huge mast timbers.

Large sailing ships had very high requirements for mast timber. The masts had to be straight and have a certain diameter. It was best to use a single, straight piece of timber. In Europe, shipbuilding materials mainly came from Eastern Europe, especially the forests of Poland and Russia. But along the coast of southern China, finding such suitable timber was very difficult. Traditional Chinese sailing ships rarely had such tall masts. Even the large timbers seized from Baitu Village were not sufficient to make such masts.

And among the timber brought from Vietnam and Sanya, there were also very few such large pieces. Although there was no lack of high-quality hardwoods like teak and nanmu, few could meet the height and diameter requirements for masts. In the end, Wen Desi decided to abandon the use of single-piece mast timbers and adopt the British practice of composite masts.

A composite mast, as the name suggests, is a mast made by joining multiple pieces of timber. Such masts are not limited by the size of the timber itself and can be made for sailing ships of basically any size. Of course, the overall strength of such masts cannot be compared to that of a natural, single-piece straight mast.

“After the British were cut off from their mast timber supply, they managed for a considerable time with composite masts,” Wen Desi said. “Until we can get more suitable timber, we’ll use composite masts.”

Even for making composite masts, it was best to use large pieces of the same type of wood. Wu Kuangming instructed the forestry department personnel to search the inventory for all suitable timber and to gather information from traders to find tree species that could provide a large and stable supply of large timber. The final conclusion was fir.

Fir is a softwood and not ideal for shipbuilding, but it is by no means unusable. In fact, most merchant ships along the coast of southern China in this era already used fir extensively due to the lack of large timbers from other hardwoods. The British had also used fir and pine extensively for masts and decks, reserving the best oak for the hull, keel, and ribs.

“Three fir mast timbers, the dimensions are…” He read the numbers on the delivery note. “You guys measure them and prepare to receive them.”

These large timbers had already undergone a series of preliminary treatments. The next step was to send them to the shipyard’s dedicated steaming kiln for processing. Hai Lin, who had delivered the timber, was an expert in wood treatment processes and frequented the shipyard. Zhou Bili was already very familiar with him. He casually handed him a cigarette.

“The fir this time is really big!” he said in casual conversation.

“Not big enough,” Hai Lin took the cigarette and consciously tucked it behind his ear. Smoking was not allowed on the platform; it was a rule. Steam locomotives were one thing, but gas-powered locomotives were quite dangerous and explosive.

“Of course, it would be great to have whole timbers. Now, hooping the masts has become a complicated job.”

“The biggest and best all went to the old emperor,” Hai Lin said. “Either for building palaces or tombs. The slightly lesser ones were all cut into sections for coffins.”

“If only we could get timber from Southeast Asia.”

“That depends on when our wise and brilliant Governor-General makes that great decision,” Hai Lin said sarcastically. “Come on, let’s go see the place where they hoop the masts. I want to see how they join these different-sized pieces of wood.”

In the large-span, iron-truss-structured metalworking workshop, steam filled the air, and carbide lamps cast a dazzling light. The thudding of two steam-powered forging hammers repeated one after another. The creaking of the overhead crane, the chants of lifting and lowering, and the sound of blacksmiths hammering forgings made the entire workshop feel alive.

In a corner of the workshop was the mast-hooping work area. The round timbers, with joints cut according to the optimal strength combination determined by CAD software, were already mounted on iron trolleys, interlocked and firmly fixed. For the interlocking technique, Wu Kuangming had incorporated some traditional joinery techniques to ensure a tighter fit. As required by the technical documents, the workers had already driven iron fasteners into the jointed parts to ensure the strength of the connection.

When Hai Lin and the others arrived at the workshop, the workers, under the command of Lu Youtian, were installing iron hoops on the composite masts. Installing iron hoops could ensure the strength of the composite mast to the greatest extent. Even single-piece straight masts had to be fitted with iron hoops.

The areas where the iron hoops were to be added had been marked with ink, with different numbers on them. Because the diameter of the mast was not completely uniform from top to bottom, each iron hoop was custom-made according to the dimensions of the location. The diameter of the iron hoop was slightly smaller than the diameter of the mast to ensure a tight fit once it was put on.

One by one, the iron hoops were being heated in the nearby heating furnace. The furnace used gas as fuel, which not only guaranteed the heat value but was also clean to use. The iron hoops were heated in the furnace to a red-hot state, so they could just fit onto the mast.

Lu Youtian stared at the industrial thermometer next to the heating furnace. Ever since this thing existed, the mysterious skills of the old craftsmen were worth nothing. In the past, he relied on looking at the color of the furnace fire and the workpiece, the temperature of his skin, and listening to the slight sounds from the furnace to judge whether the right temperature had been reached. This was the accumulation of his years of experience. Even if he was willing to teach, it was difficult for a young apprentice to understand and grasp it in a short time. Since the Australians had widely promoted this thick and ugly so-called thermometer, this secret that could only be understood intuitively but not explained in words had become worthless. The Australians had compiled a special process manual for each processed part and processing technology. For special processed parts, a process sheet would be sent along with the part. The workers only needed to check the process manual to know how much temperature to heat to, and then look at the thermometer display to achieve a level of precision in timing that was no different from him, the master craftsman.

This matter once made Lu Youtian very frustrated. But he quickly adapted to this new technology. After all, compared to the non-standard personal senses, this thing was more reliable. He also had fewer problems when processing and manufacturing workpieces.

“Get part number one!” He saw that the temperature had risen to the specified value and quickly shouted. His son, Lu Shouyong, a first-class mechanic in the metalworking workshop, quickly used a long-handled pair of tongs to take the red-hot iron hoop out of the furnace. Several other workers with tongs helped, slowly putting the hot iron hoop onto the mast. The surface of the mast where the iron hoop touched gave off wisps of white smoke and made a sizzling sound of burning. From time to time, flames would even flare up. When the iron hoop was finally in place and stuck, a small flame appeared around it. The workers quickly extinguished it.

“This thing is so damn cool to watch!” Hai Lin said with emotion. “Industry is about making the impossible possible!”

Then, the workers began to hoop the second and third ones. The entire mast-hooping job would continue until the next morning. The number of masts needed in the shipbuilding plan was not small!

“I heard the ships you build still use ropes for anchor chains?” Hai Lin asked Zhou Bili, who was observing the processing. “Why not use iron chains?”

Zhou Bili said, “This is to save iron—and also to save production time. Hand-forging iron chains is a very time-consuming task. In fact, iron chains are much better to use than anchor cables.”

“Didn’t the navy get the river-locking iron chain from the Pearl River estuary? Why not use the ready-made one?”

“I’ve seen that thing. The craftsmanship is too crude, and the iron material is not good. It was probably hastily made and is very brittle. It has probably been melted down by Ji Wusheng by now.”

“Iron is not a big deal, but what about the copper sheathing for the bottom of the ships? Wu De is probably scratching his head over that. Even though it’s copper sheathing, it still has to cover the bottom of a large ship.”

“Many of the bronze cannons seized from Guangdong this time have been melted down for copper sheathing.”

Sheathing the bottoms of all the ships with copper was not difficult in terms of process. What the Planning Commission found tricky was that copper, as a scarce metal in China, had a very limited stock in the warehouse. To meet the future needs of the electrical and electronics industry, the Planning Commission had to strictly limit the use of copper in all places. Even the wires used in the wired telegraph system were made of iron. Copper was only permitted for use in places where it was irreplaceable, including some refrigeration equipment, pipelines, telecommunications and electrical equipment, and valves.

To expand its copper reserves, the Planning Commission had in the past purchased Japanese copper from Guangdong at high prices. This copper brought them high economic benefits—about 20% of silver could be refined from it, but the increase in copper reserves was very limited.

Now that they needed to use copper to sheathe the bottoms of ships, whether the existing stock of copper was enough and how much reserve would be left was what the Planning Commission was eager to know.

Most of the copper stored by the Planning Commission was refined copper produced by pyrometallurgy, but there was also brass and bronze. The latter two mainly came from various spoils of war. Refined copper has excellent ductility, second only to gold and silver among all metals. The Planning Commission believed that if the copper plates could be made very thin, perhaps a small amount of copper could meet the demand.

“No need to use refined copper,” Ji Wusheng said at the planning meeting. “Brass is fine.” According to the information provided by the Great Library, the copper plates used for sheathing the bottoms of ships were generally tin brass, that is, a small amount of tin was added to brass.

Brass itself is a copper-zinc alloy. Zinc was widely used in ancient China, especially in coin casting, where it was often used as a filler. Therefore, the stock of zinc in the Planning Commission’s non-ferrous metal inventory was considerable. Much of it was not even intentionally purchased but was a by-product of refining from recycled copper coins and various household metal objects.

According to Ji Wusheng’s suggestion, a special type of brass was made for sheathing the bottoms of ships, with a ratio of approximately 65% copper and 35% zinc, the so-called alpha brass. This could maximize the reduction in the consumption of refined copper while maintaining basic performance.

“If the zinc content in brass is too high, the brittleness will increase, making it difficult to process with pressure. So 35% zinc is about right.”

Brass itself also has very good ductility. Modern industrial rolled brass strips can reach a thickness of 0.02mm. Lingao’s industrial system did not have such powerful equipment, but the people in the machinery department estimated that with the existing processing capacity, rolling to about 0.5mm was not a problem. This was much thinner than the copper sheathing used by the British in the past; what the British used was basically thin copper plate.

“Add 0.5% tin to alpha brass, and you get tin brass. This alloy has very good heat resistance and resistance to seawater corrosion, the so-called naval brass.”

Tin was also the most commonly used base metal in ancient China, and the Planning Commission’s inventory of it was even larger than that of zinc. Moreover, the amount used was negligible.

The Planning Commission approved the production plan for tin brass strips. The Lingao Iron and Steel Complex had a small-scale rolling mill with two hot rolling mills, which could easily hot and cold roll various steel plates and strips. However, Zhan Wuya decided to build a dedicated rolling mill for production. After all, continuous production in the steel manufacturing industry was a future trend, and it was impossible to temporarily shut down for conversion just because they needed to roll copper strips today.

Simply put, a rolling mill is a series of rollers with pressure increasing from small to large. The key here is the strength of the rollers themselves and the power level. These were not difficult for the Manufacturing Directorate, which could already mass-produce high-power steam engines and various grades of high, medium, and low carbon steel.

The only thing that was not ideal was the transmission gears and chains. The quality of these things was still not up to par, and their working life was very short. In some equipment with harsh working environments, the replacement frequency was even faster. It could only be said that they barely solved the problem of having something versus nothing. The scrap recovery warehouse of the metallurgical department was piled high with gears, bearings, and chains waiting to be remelted.

The rolling mill for producing copper plates was quickly manufactured with the cooperation of the people from the Machinery Industry Department. After a brief debugging, it was put into formal production. To ensure strength, although 0.1mm brass strips were rolled in trial production, the final decision was to use 1mm thick strips for the ship bottoms.

Rolls of tin brass strips were transported to the shipyard, where they were cut to a certain size and then nailed to the bottom of the ship piece by piece by workers with special brass rivets. The copper sheets overlapped to ensure that the wooden bottom was not exposed. The sheathing area had to cover the entire full-load waterline of the ship. This method could almost completely prevent the damage of shipworms, and even the attachment of barnacles and the like would be greatly reduced.

To prevent electrolysis between copper and iron in seawater, when sheathing the bottom of the ship with copper, the exposed iron frame parts on the bottom of the ship had to be covered with wooden planks first, and then filled and isolated with a mixture of human hair and tar to ensure that no electrochemical reaction occurred between the two. Even the rudder pintles had to be changed to brass pintles to avoid electrolysis.

A wooden sailing ship with carefully treated timber and a copper-sheathed bottom could last for 50-70 years with good regular maintenance, even 100 years was not a problem. Although the elders did not expect the 854-modified to serve for so long, everyone hoped that it could last for at least 10 years. Even if it could not be used as a warship, it could be used as a transport ship.

The Machinery Industry Department had sufficient technical reserves for steam engines and could mass-produce 12, 50, 100, 200, and 500 horsepower steam engines. Zhan Wuya, in accordance with the requirements of Wang Luobin’s standardization system construction, stipulated that all steam engines should adopt a fully standardized design. All common parts were to be manufactured according to unified standards and dimensions, and the tolerance should be minimized as much as possible—the latter was a goal that the entire Lingao industrial system was tirelessly striving for.

Marine steam engines are very different from ordinary land-use steam engines due to the different layout and propulsion methods of ships. The Machinery Industry Department also had to develop two different types of steam engines to adapt to paddle wheels—the so-called paddle wheel propulsion—and propellers, respectively.

“To be honest, developing a marine steam engine is not a problem,” Xiao Gui said after studying the line drawings of the 854-modified. “The problem is, what about the propeller?”

The advantage of paddle wheels lies in their simple structure, and there are no sealing problems during installation. The 854-modified was prepared to use a propeller, which involved the problem of dynamic sealing of the propeller shaft.

“This problem is very difficult to solve. At least I can’t think of how to solve it,” Xiao Gui said. “There are several ways of dynamic sealing. I’ve thought about it and can only think of using the packing method, filling the area around the propeller shaft with non-combustible packing that has a certain water absorption and expansion property.”

“I remember there’s something special about this rotating shaft,” Meng De suddenly remembered. “I’ve heard the old workers at the shipyard brag that older ships used lignum vitae bearings. This special wood bearing is extremely hard and doesn’t need oil for lubrication. It’s lubricated by water. The friction between the shaft and the bearing produces a smooth, water-soluble substance that can both lubricate the bearing and ensure that water cannot penetrate the shaft sleeve into the cabin. I heard him say that lignum vitae bearings must be kept moist during storage, otherwise they will crack when dry and affect their use, and the price is very expensive.”

“Lignum vitae? That sounds familiar. It seems we have it in our timber reserves,” Zhan Wuya remembered. Among the ship timbers seized from Baitu Village, there was so-called ironwood. He didn’t know if it was the same thing.