C845 The first Iron-armored Ship

The dry dock was over a hundred meters long and thirty meters wide and nine meters deep. In the distance, there was a water gate blocking the river, and when the ship was finished, they would naturally be able to enter the river and head towards the Baltic Sea.

A pitch-black metal monster was quietly lying on a densely packed concrete stand. 90% of the ship's hull was already completed. Only a few tasks were left to be done, and quite a few sailors were still training on it.

"This warship has yet to be named. According to his design, it should be at a tonnage of 2300 tons. Our code name for him is the mother ship of the Iron-armored Ship type, which is 76.2 meters wide, 11.6 meters wide and 4.57 meters deep. "He might not be as strong as England's Warrior, but he's not weak at all …"

Prince Karl led the group down the dry dock. Everyone's palms touched the rough surface of the boat and the exquisite paint on it. They were all stunned by this big guy.

In this era, it was normal for Sail battleship to discharge six to seven thousand tons of water. The British Warrior Iron-armored Ship even managed to discharge nine thousand tons of water, but the pure steel warships and the wooden Sail battleship were two completely different beings.

It was even more valiant and powerful. The murderous aura was like a real substance rushing over. Humans were born with an adoration towards large metal objects, not to mention this kind of military weapon.

"Two months ago, we took advantage of the darkness of night to get into the Baltic Sea to adjust our seaworthiness. The maximum speed of this warship was 18.5 knots and its cruising speed was also around 10 knots. It's too fast, it's already a miracle for a warship to have such a speed …"

In the middle of nineteenth century, the average speed of sail battleship s was around 10 knots, with a maximum of 15 knots. This was because the design of the ship was right there, no matter how fast the ship was, there would be danger, and there would be no guarantee for the battle.

The battleship was not a scissor boat, but it did not have a high speed of 20-30 knots.

Just as Prince Karl was introducing the people, a man's smile appeared on the deck. "Hello, your Highness. I have been waiting for you for a long time. When Cai Bixia saw him, she immediately laughed and rushed forward to shout, "Professor Kevin, I see you again …"

Kevin was a senior engineer in the Voltaire Shipyard, and also a designer in the Ship Design Institute. He majored in ship design in Prussia, and had studied profound knowledge about it with Kevin for half a year.

"Oh, isn't that the little angel of the East? My child, I have prepared the best hamburger sausage for you, it was personally made by my wife … "

As the design engineer for the entire battleship, Kevin's introductions were naturally more professional than Prince Karl's. "Combat power?" Do you not believe in our Prussian industrial power? I feel that Eastern Prime Minister Xiao is definitely the most discerning person. What our German Federation lacks the most is coal and iron … "

"Do you know why our railways and locomotives came so late? Because we have no shortage of steel and coal, we have a lot of expertise in this field... "

"Two 210-millimetre Krupp cannons, the bow is equipped with double units and the stern is a single unit. The special steel used is completely customized. I can guarantee that you won't consider the problem of the rifling until after 200 shots from these three cannons …"

"The auxiliary weapon system is also very advanced. Two Armstrong breeches, one on the left and one on the right, defending the two sides of the battleship. The caliber of the cannons also reaches 152.4 mm, eight 57 mm rapid fire gun s, six 37 mm machine guns …"

"If you don't find the fire enough, we can also equip up to eight Gatling heavy machine gun s … And last of all, a 45,72mm torpedo launcher... This is simply a heavy firepower fortress on a sea. Even the Royal Navy does not have this kind of battleship … "

Kevin rubbed his hands together and said excitedly, "We have finally walked to the top of this era... I have witnessed the birth of an entirely new marine age! "

Everyone present was excited by Kevin's words. They had all gone through very systematic naval knowledge training before, and even Shi Dakai, who had always been the king of land battles, had been mending the knowledge of the navy for the past two years.

Everyone knew what the series of parameters that Kevin had mentioned meant. High speed, high firepower, high defense … This was a battleship that stood at the forefront of the times. It had been ahead of the British battleship for almost 30 years.

If there was anything wrong with this battleship, it could be said that it had no sail, no skilled sailor could handle it, and all sorts of precise tools were used to work together to eliminate the problem.

The last item was the high price. The 1.9 million silver construction cost made the King Yi and Prince Karl, who had seen much of the world, a little scared.

"No, no, no …" "You should not be considering things like this. More than half of the 1.9 million is in research funding. Don't blame us for spending so much money. We need innovative thinking in so many places …"

"Does the power increase have to consider the airtight performance of the steam cylinder? You can't use manpower to rotate the turret, can you? How should the hydraulic transmission system be arranged? "We even need to carefully study the formula for the antirust paint on the armor …"

"After this battleship travels far, I will take with me all the advantages and disadvantages to start the production of the second battleship. I estimate that the second battleship will at most cost 1 million silver taels …" "By the time Prussia and the Ryukyu's industrial systems begin to adapt to the new equipment, our costs will continue to decrease..."

"How about 800 thousand silver?" I can only guarantee this much for the lowest price. It really isn't expensive … "Think about it carefully. It's not expensive at all. 800 thousand silver taels and you want it to be 260 thousand pounds. This is already the lowest price …"

Kevin was as pitiful as a child. This battleship was an epoch-making miracle to him, and his name was destined to be immortal together with this battleship.

Whether it was 800 thousand silver or 1.8 million silver, none of these were things that the King Yi could decide. The Sino-German Foundation was Xiao Letian's industry after all, and after a few years of operation, the German Foundation had already reached the gigantic scale of 8 million silver. Although it could not compare to the Jewish Consortium in Europe, it was still a very big professional foundation.

But is 8 million silver really enough? Xiao Letian had told the King Yi before, that this Iron-armored Ship was not the final destination and was only the starting point. The 2300 model ships only appeared for two reasons, one was to train soldiers, and the other was to bully the weak navy.

As long as this type of battleship appeared in the world, with the industrial strength of English and French, America and Russia, they could easily create it. If he wanted to not be surpassed by others, he would have to constantly improve on this model.

This was the path of no return for an arms race. In the sail battleship era, a battleship made from oak could theoretically last for 300 years, like the Constitution of the United States, which could sail from 1798 until 2012.

But Iron-armored Ship couldn't do it. This kind of terrifying sea monster, once it appeared in the ocean, would cause the world's cruelest arms race. It wasn't a competition that the super powers couldn't even afford to play.