1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 610 How about you steal again?

The gunfire rumbled in the San Francisco Shipyard. After a burst of intensive gunfire ended, Liang Yao and Sven, who came to the shipyard for inspection, accompanied by Jeremiah, the shipyard director, stepped forward to inspect the 6-inch caliber, 32 times The 5-inch armored iron plate hit by the Sacramento naval gun.

I saw that the armored iron plate was hit by shells with craters of varying depths. A few shells were stuck on the armor plate, but none of the shells could penetrate the 5-inch armor plate.

"The armor-piercing projectiles fired from the main guns of the Pioneer-class ironclads cannot penetrate a 5-inch-thick iron plate at a distance of 500 meters." Jeremiah said with a frown, "These armor plates used as targets are all cast by ourselves. Come out. The metallurgical technology of Britain and France is superior to ours. For the same thickness of armor plate, their armor plate strength should be a little higher."

For large warships, 500 meters is already a very close combat distance. Even the main gun of the Pioneer class at this distance cannot penetrate 5 inches of armor, which shows that in actual combat, it is difficult for the Julang class to defeat the British Warrior class ironclads and the French Glory-class ironclads pose an effective threat.

The Warrior-class 110-pound main gun and the Glory-class 164mm main gun can penetrate the Pioneer-class 108mm (4.25 inches) main armor at this distance.

"Compared with the Warrior-class and Glory-class, our Pioneer-class iron-clad ships have no advantages at all?" Liang Yao looked at the photos of the Warrior-class and Glory-class sailing in his hand, with a look of worry on his face.

It has only been less than four years since the Vanguard class was launched. Facing the main ironclad ships just launched by Britain and France, it has already lost its technical advantage.

"It's not impossible. According to the information we got, maybe our naval guns fire faster than theirs." Jeremiah thought about it before he came up with the only advantage of the Pioneer class.

"The rate of fire is fast, but it can't penetrate the opponent's armor. What's the use?" Liang Yao put away the photo and sighed softly, "In a confrontation with armored bombs, there are only two ways to gain the upper hand. One is Stack thicker armor, and the second is to use cannons with stronger armor-piercing capabilities.”

"Your point of view is really to the point." Jeremiah was convinced. Although Liang Yao was not a specialized shipbuilding expert, he was not a complete layman either.

"The maximum speed of the Pioneer class is only 12.8 knots, and according to the intelligence collected, the maximum speed of the Glory class and Warrior class are both faster than the Pioneer class. Therefore, the existing Pioneer class armor plate is thickened and upgraded. , is not feasible and would greatly increase the weight of the Pioneer class."

Jeremiah disapproved of increasing the weight of the Pioneer class. The Pioneer class's full load displacement of 4,600 tons had overwhelmed the steam engine, which was already underpowered.

Continuing to increase the weight will only further worsen the Pioneer-class maneuverability and further shorten the range. Gaining weight rashly without improving the power system is treating the symptoms but not the root cause.

"Then do we have naval guns that can penetrate 5-inch armor plates?" Sven asked with great concern.

Since it is impossible to thicken and strengthen the existing armor of the Pioneer class, we can only work on the naval guns.

"Yes, yes, the Sacramento Arsenal is also capable of mass-producing this type of naval gun. Naval guns are not our shortcoming." Jeremiah said, "But naval guns with stronger armor-piercing capabilities also have larger caliber and weight. A larger ship is needed to carry a larger naval gun, and to drive a larger naval gun, a large steam engine with more power is needed."

"After going around and around, the problem still comes back to the steam engine." Sven looked at Liang Yao, paused and said, "Boss, I heard that you stole the Sacramento cannon from the British, how about you steal it again? "

"What was stolen? Can you speak? I rescued this from the fire before the fire." Liang Yao rolled his eyes at Sven angrily.

"Saved from the fire a few months before the fire?" Sven showed a very shameless smile.

"At this time, at that time, I was able to get drawings and even prototype cannons from Armstrong's factory. That was because the British did not realize the importance of the cannon developed by Armstrong, which was a big mistake. "Liang Yao didn't want to talk nonsense with Sven and said very seriously.

"The ironclad ship is different. All countries know that the ironclad ship is the most important weapon of the country. It is extremely unlikely to obtain relevant technologies through unforeseen means. Furthermore, the ironclad ship is much more complicated than a cannon. Even if you get the blueprints, you Can it be built exactly according to the drawings? Even if it is built, can it be guaranteed that the ship can be put into use immediately without problems? "

Jeremiah and Sven bowed their heads in silence upon hearing this.

This is a systematic project. Even though Jeremiah was the top shipbuilding expert in the United States at this time, he also had successful experience in successfully manufacturing ironclad ships. But he could not guarantee that he could follow the drawings and build an ironclad with performance comparable to that of Britain and France.

Unless the British and French shipbuilding experts and engineers involved in manufacturing ironclads are packaged together with the drawings, maybe there will be a chance.

"As for the large ironclad ship, your shipyard will continue to explore. I will also think of a solution, but you'd better not have too much hope." Liang Yao said to Jeremiah. The relative weakness of maritime power has once again become a problem. It took away a piece of his heart.

This is the 19th century where technology is changing rapidly and changing with each passing day.

The Pioneer class was obviously the most advanced ironclad four years ago, but in the blink of an eye this throne changed hands.

In Western Mexico, William Hawke, deputy to the Governor of the Territory of Western Mexico, organized local militia after receiving instructions from Liang Yao. Chen Bing conducted live-fire exercises with the US-Mexico border all day long. It has caused panic among people on Mexico's northwest border.

As Liang Yao expected, the Mexican government did not dare to ask Britain, France and Spain to mediate because it owed more foreign debt to Britain, France and Spain.

To settle the matter, the Mexican government quickly agreed to mortgage the port of Verabrus to California.

On December 6, 1860, South Carolina held its state legislative election as scheduled.

On December 15, the new South Carolina Assembly held a special session. On December 17, the South Carolina Assembly voted 172 in favor, 0 against, and 0 abstentions to officially announce its withdrawal from the Union without hesitation.

After South Carolina announced its withdrawal from the Union, other southern states were also ready to move.

It's just that the degree of movement varies from state to state.

More radical states, such as Georgia, also announced that the Georgia Legislature would hold a special session in a week to discuss whether Georgia should remain in the union.

The more conservative southern states, such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia, and Texas, still maintain a wait-and-see attitude.

These moderate southern states, with the exception of Texas, are basically southern states close to the north.

Among the southern states, the most important state is undoubtedly Virginia, a state with outstanding people. The founding fathers of the United States, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, were all Virginians. Of the first five presidents of the United States, four were Virginians.

Furthermore, Virginia is also the most economically developed and most populous state in the South.

Therefore, whether from a political or economic perspective, Virginia's attitude is particularly important to the South.