Chapter 739： There is no steering wheel?

When it was decided to use upper-edge slant sails, Marin set out to transform the ship immediately. Because it has not yet been finalized, Marin has targeted the transformation of the ship and has targeted 250 armed merchant ships with a displacement of 250 tons. Moreover, this kind of boat, Marin is also the most.

However, in order to achieve the desired results, Marin personally came to the Emden Shipyard to supervise and guide the shipbuilders to transform the ship. However, out of safety, Marin decided to start with the sails of the rebuilt mast. As for the front mast, it will remain the same for the time being.

The reason for this is that although Marin knows the principle of the upper edge truss sail, he has no experience in how to control the upper edge truss sail. After all, China is a country that has closed its doors in the era of great navigation. When sail warships became popular, it was the Manchu dynasty in China. When Huaxia overthrew Manchuria and began to see the world, the era of sailing was over.

Therefore, not to mention that China has a long history, but few people understand Western sailing, nor do they have the tradition of sailing. The ships that Marin had seen in later generations were all driven by diesel engines. Or, it was small enough to paddle. In other words, Marin is only a theorist and has never had practical experience in sailing boat manipulation.

As a result, he can only use his mouth. It is up to the sailors to figure out how to control the upper edge slant sail. In this context, it is more risky to replace the sails on the boat with upper-edge slanted sails. The safest one is to experiment with the mast near the stern. Even if it's not just a question, it's a big deal ...

The manufacture of the upper edge truss sail is very simple. With the guidance of Marin's theory, find a few craftsmen to build a batch of copper rings connecting the mast and the sail bar, the upper edge truss and the sail. The reason why copper rings are used instead of iron rings is because copper is not afraid of water.

After it was built, Marin arranged the craftsmen to connect the thick copper ring with the wind rod and the upper edge girders, and connect the copper ring with the sail. Then, first put the thick copper ring with the sail rod down from the top of the rear mast, and then put on a series of thin copper rings connected with the sail. Then, put on a thick copper ring connected to the upper edge diagonal truss. However, before the upper edge girders were fitted, the craftsmen still installed a vertical upward guide on the wind rod. There are two copper rings connected to the upper edge diagonal truss. The thick copper ring covers the mast, and the thin copper ring covers the guide rail ...

Finally, a jib was placed over the upper edge girders. The spinnaker is close to the mast, and there is a string of thin copper rings. The copper ring on the top is connected to a pulley at the top of the mast via a rope, so that the sailor can raise the sail below, just like raising the national flag.

...

However, when the rear mast of the 250 armed merchant ship was fitted with the upper edge slant sail and tested for the sea, Marin discovered another serious problem-there are no steering wheels like steering wheels in this era ...

In the impression of Marin, the sailing ship during the big voyage was led by a captain who controlled several sailors, who pulled the steering wheel there. The captain often yells — passwords like “Left Rudder, 20”, “Right Full Rudder”, or “Full Rudder”. Then, the first officer supervised several sailors to turn the steering wheel ...

Before, Marin had also sailed on a sailboat, but he didn't go to the stern to see it. He thought he used a steering wheel there. But this time when he specifically discussed with the old sailors how to control the upper edge skewer sail, Marin accidentally came to the place where the stern controls the rudder, only to really see how the sailors of this era control the rudder ...

Malin looked dumbfounded as the captains cried and commanded the sailors to play "crowbar" there, controlling the hull steering instead of pulling the legendary rudder wheel ...

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, thinking he must have seen a fake sailing. However, the picture remains ...

I saw four strong, bare-chested sailors. Under the supervision of the first officer, they vigorously pulled a long crowbar vertically connected to the rudder below. When it was turned, it also made a "creak" sound. The four strong sailors also sweated on their heads and shouted trumpets in their mouths, as if struggling.

"It's so hard to turn the rudder?" Marin asked Captain Kidd, who accompanied the inspection, in surprise.

Kidd nodded and said:

"Well, that's how hard it is. This is okay. The wind and waves in the North Sea are still fair. If there is a big wind and waves, the force required to pull the vertical tiller is greater, and the four strong men may not be able to pull it. This kind of 250-class ship is better. For 500-ton class ships, because the rudder is bigger, heavier and harder to pull, it usually takes 6 to 8 strong men to pull the vertical rudder. "

"I wipe ..." Marin suddenly burst out. However, no one can understand this Chinese-style foul language.

"It seems that the upper edge skewer sail is not the most important. It is the most important thing to get a steering wheel first."

Marin watched the scene of manipulating the vertical rudder for a while, and really felt strenuous. Seeing the scene of four sweaty men tired and sweating, Marin felt it was a waste of manpower. According to the captain, these four strong men are still the first one, and they will find another four sailors in a few hours ... In this way, just turning the rudder requires a lot of sailors. Resources ...

So, after the ship docked, Marin immediately sent guards to find some mechanical experts. Da Vinci had been sent by Marin to North America some time ago to test the use of a steam engine to drive the water pump for irrigation. Therefore, Marin can only return second and find some other machinery experts.

Speaking of mechanical experts, who can compare with watchmakers in this era? These people can play with small gears, and they are the most proficient in machinery. Of course, some senior blacksmiths must be equipped to build the equipment they need.

After several large watchmakers hired from Italy arrived, Marin gave them the task of making a mechanical system that could turn the rudder by pulling the wheel. Moreover, it is best to be able to be pulled by one person ... Not only that, Marin also requires that the entire system be as simple as possible, and that it needs to be protected against seawater corrosion. For example, iron parts cannot be used to avoid corrosion and rust by seawater ... For this reason, craftsmen unanimously decided to use corrosion-resistant copper to make gears and other parts ...

For this system, Marin attached great importance to it and offered a high reward of 1,000 gold coins per person. Although the rewards are high, Marin thinks it is worth it. Because this means a lot to the great nautical.

You know, it is very inconvenient to control the rudder with the vertical rudder. Not only is it difficult, but the steering angle is also very small, at most 5 degrees. This also caused the hull to turn slowly. If you encounter a shoal or reef, if you turn slowly, you may still encounter it. Therefore, Marin requires that the new steering wheel must be able to turn the rudder more than 30 degrees ...

After making these requests, Marin left first and returned to Aurich. With the efficiency of these watchmakers, Marin estimated that a reliable steering wheel could not be produced in a short time. It is not difficult for them to take out the steering wheel, after all they are professional. However, it is difficult to produce a reliable and durable steering wheel. Because it is unreliable and durable, it takes a long time to test before it can be finalized.

So ~ www.novelhall.com ~ This time Abben took the fleet to build the city and port on the Pacific side of Panama. I am afraid that these people will not be able to wait for the mature steering wheel to be pulled out.

However, fortunately, the control of the upper edge slant sail is very simple. Although Marin didn't understand it himself, those old sailors had basically figured out how to operate the upper edge skewer sail. With some details left, Arben's fleet can continue to test during the voyage. Anyway, only the upper edge slant sail is used for the rear mast of the stern, which does not affect the overall situation.

In this way, Aben's fleet, a total of 10 250-class armed merchant ships, full of personnel and supplies, embarked on a journey to Panama City.

In addition to the task of arriving in Panama City to build a city and build a port, they also have the task of building a transit station on Santa Maria Island near Concepcion along the way.

After all, from Grenada to Panama City, the voyage is too far away and a transfer station for fresh water is needed. In the future, the development of Chile's saltpeter may also need to be used as a springboard.

Therefore, on this voyage, when passing Santa Maria Island, Abn will leave a small group of people and build a small bunker on the riverside of Santa Maria Island. In the future, this bunker will be expanded into a transit port, dedicated to replenishing freshwater food to ships passing by ...