Great warships

Everyone in the shipyard could see the black smoke coming out of the chimney. Many of them stopped what they were doing and stopped to watch with complicated eyes.

Although Mingzhou Shipyard has built many aircraft carriers, this one is the most special because it was built for the Eastern Navy, and because it is a super aircraft carrier with a full load displacement of more than [-] tons, which is completely comparable to the Kitty Hawk class!

Now, the boiler is fired, and this aircraft carrier has taken a new step!How can this not cheer everyone up, this aircraft carrier is one step closer to serving!
In space, a satellite passed by and took a clear picture. Soon, the photo of the aircraft carrier with the boiler smoking appeared in Swift's hands.

"The boiler is smoking, which means that their main engine has started to ignite. However, it is the first time for the Orientals to build such a large aircraft carrier. They estimate that there is still a lot of work to be done. A brand new aircraft carrier will take a long time from sea trials to service. Look at France, how many years of tinkering, the aircraft carrier of the Orientals will not be too fast." said Brian, the assistant next to him.

"No, that's because the French are too procrastinating." Swift said with a sullen face: "The Orientals will not be so procrastinating. Their power system is from the previous aircraft carrier, which is very reliable. Their catapults and blocking devices A large number of tests have been carried out at that training base, and successful projects have been transplanted to various radars on the ship island. Dongfang people always work very quickly, and maybe it will take a year for sea trials to be officially put into service. "

"How is that possible, even we can't be so fast."

"Yeah, we can't be so fast, but the Orientals may, after all, the Orientals have been creating miracles." Swift said: "Soon, we will face the threat of this big guy."

"Then what do we do?"

"How do I know!" Swift's face became more and more gloomy. Over the years, he has been watching Dongfang's strength continue to grow. He has also done many things, but none of them helped.

United Kingdom.

"Huh, isn't it just a one-time ignition? What's all the fuss about? The 002 aircraft carrier in the East can't be compared with our Queen-class aircraft carrier at all! Our aircraft carrier is the most advanced! We have all-electric propulsion, and we have four A gas turbine!" Benjamin said with disdain.

"Report, Your Excellency Benjamin, the Congress has just rejected the budget request for our aircraft carrier, and hopes that we can reduce it to two gas turbines." At this moment, the subordinate came over and said.

"What? Our aircraft carrier has been built in sections, and now we want to modify the design plan?" Benjamin was dumbfounded at the moment: "Besides, if the two gas turbines are removed, the speed of our warship will drop significantly!"

"It has already been demonstrated over there. Anyway, we are taking off with a ski jump, and there is no problem with reducing the speed. We can even take off vertically in the end." The subordinate continued: "However, the research and development of the gas turbine has encountered some problems, and the quotation is also increasing. The higher the price, the financially unbearable, and this is the only way to go.”

Benjamin said with a dark face: "These idiots, why can't they come up with qualified gas turbines? It's really embarrassing to us! The [-]-megawatt-class gas turbines of the Orientals have already been installed on the warships, and ours is still under development. Moreover, our warships It's already being built, it's a joke!"

"We can't compare with Dongfang. Our gas turbine quotation is now twice as expensive as Dongfang and is still under development. So, if we want to get four gas turbines within the existing budget, we may be able to purchase them from Dongfang."

"Purchasing from the East? How is it possible! We, Great Britain, actually want to purchase gas turbines from the East?" Benjamin said angrily: "What are you thinking about?"

"However, we originally thought that it would be very simple to improve existing aero engines. But now, the investment in R&D has reached [-] million pounds, but we still have not seen results. They continue to ask for additional funds. With these R&D funds, , we have been able to purchase enough gas turbines. Now, continuing to spend money is still a bottomless pit, and we don’t know whether the quotations will increase further in the future. In this case, it should be the most economical for us to outsource.” The men were still very worried.

If you can develop successfully by yourself, who is willing to outsource?Isn't this something that can't be helped? Besides, it costs too much money. Except for the two aircraft carriers, other warships are still useless!

"No, we absolutely cannot source from the East."

"What if we buy from Ermao?" the subordinate continued to ask.

Dongfang's [-]-megawatt gas turbine was not independently developed, but developed together with Motor Sich. Therefore, if it is purchased from Motor Sich, this embarrassment can be avoided.

Benjamin shook his head: "No, of course not. Motor Sich Company is already an empty shell. Currently it only has the ability to repair engines. All gas turbines must be produced by Tianjiao Aviation, that is, produced on Dongfang's production line. Our aircraft carriers are absolutely There cannot be a single part made in China! Otherwise, it would be a shame for us. In the future, we will still be able to sail freely around the world and go to the East. Can we drive a warship in the heart of the East? No matter how much we spend, We have to develop our own research and development, this is a political issue and cannot be changed!"

So, the subordinates could only shut up.

"Report, the sections constructed at Portsmouth Shipyard have been completed and shipped to Rosyth Shipyard for final assembly!" At this moment, a piece of good news came, and Benjamin immediately became excited: "That's great. , Great, our shipbuilding industry is so advanced! I want to see it myself!"

After the aircraft carrier drawings were frozen, the construction started. Stimulated by the aircraft carrier from the East, the British funding was received in time, and the various shipyards were naturally operating at full capacity. After all, a deposit was required to build the ship, and the final payment would not be made until the segmented construction was completed.

Especially the Rosyth Shipyard, which undertakes the final assembly task, is even more anxious. They spent a lot of money to buy the gantry cranes, and they have to sell the gantry cranes after the construction of the aircraft carrier is completed. The easier it is to break the chain.

There are two extremes in the construction of the British aircraft carrier: the construction of the hull is very fast, but the engine has been unable to complete the research and development. If it is not done, it will be like the launch of Ah San’s aircraft carrier. However, many warships do not install the main engine when they are launched. Yes, just cut it off when needed.

When Benjamin came to Rosyth Shipyard, he was immediately attracted by the huge blue gantry crane on the slipway.

"Your Excellency Benjamin, welcome to our Rosyth shipyard." The person in charge of the shipyard, Lambert, greeted him and said excitedly: "This is our Goliath gantry crane, the largest gantry crane in Europe! This gantry crane was just installed a month ago."

Lambert was very proud.

Shipyards that can undertake the task of final assembly must purchase gantry cranes. Therefore, their little-known Rosyth shipyard became the final assembly plant of aircraft carriers, because they spent their own money to buy this gantry crane. They also spent a lot of money for the gantry crane. Energy, including during transportation, in order to pass the Forth Iron Bridge along the way, they also precisely controlled the time of low tide to pass, and increased the ballast water tank.

This huge gantry crane is 68 meters high and 120 meters wide, spanning the berth and the adjacent area. After the giant sections are transported, the gantry cranes can be used to move the giant sections to the berth, align them precisely and then close them.

"Well, yes, this is the pride of our shipbuilding industry." After Benjamin finished speaking, he looked at the boom on the gantry crane: "What is the symbol of ZPMC?"

"Zhenhua Heavy Industries."

Benjamin was immediately bored. He actually forgot that such a large gantry crane cannot be built in Europe. This thing was purchased from the East.

At this moment, someone cheered and looked towards the distant water: "Come, come!"

The huge red-painted section floats on the water, and the transfer vehicle with countless tires below it is placed on a flat-bed tugboat as a whole. Two tugboats are dragging it forward and backward, slowly driving it over.

This scene is very shocking. Even Benjamin feels a sense of excitement from the bottom of his heart. Did you see it?Only Great Britain can build and transport such giant segments!

"What is being transported now is the 02 section built by the Portsmouth Shipyard, weighing 01 tons. It will be docked with our [-]-ton section [-]." Carroll, the project director on the side, said: "This It will be a major milestone in the history of our aircraft carrier construction!"

"Yeah, after the six giant sections are closed, our aircraft carrier will take shape." Lambert continued: "Then we will close the other sections, including six middle sections, 6 sides The platform section and two island superstructures, so that the complete Queen-class aircraft carrier is built."

The main section of the aircraft carrier is the six sections of the lower hull, but there are other small sections that are assembled together after construction to form the Queen-class aircraft carrier. The entire construction process is as simple as building blocks.

Benjamin nodded: "I hope that our queen-class aircraft carrier will be completed as soon as possible! We want to prove our strength to the world!"

From the section, you can see the cross section of the aircraft carrier. This giant section is divided into seven layers. Of course, this is not all. After all, this is just under the hull, and the hangar and deck above it have not been stacked on top of it. There will be more. There are compartments and pipes in the exposed places. It looks very complicated.

An aircraft carrier is not something that others can build casually, it is a very complicated piece of equipment!
The tugboat landed, and the transporter started to start. This transporter was also specially built for transporting giant sections, with a length of more than 100 meters and countless tires underneath, just like a centipede. The chassis was very low, there was no cab, and it was operated by remote control.

The moving speed of this kind of transport vehicle is very slow, and a normal and healthy snail can climb it. Fortunately, the moving distance is not very far. When it reaches the berth, the huge gantry crane starts working for the first time.

When building sections, various steel plates must be used and a crane is required. However, there is no need for this giant crane that can lift sections of more than [-] tons. Now, this is the first time that this huge gantry crane has been officially operated.

The [-]-ton section, the huge monster, slowly left the transport vehicle under the suspension of countless steel cables, and went to the first section built on the berth.

This is a great moment!

The camera is snapping photos, and the camera lens is also staring at the giant segments. This spectacular scene can only be seen when building an aircraft carrier!
There are hundreds of thousands of tons of civilian ships, but there is no need to build them in sections like this. They can be built directly in towers. Only aircraft carriers, and aircraft carriers with very urgent construction deadlines, are needed. Of course, another reason is that this big cake needs Many shipyards are divided together. If the segmented construction model is not used, only one or two shipyards will eat the meat, and the other shipyards can only watch helplessly.

As if knowing everyone's expectations, the huge segments moved to the slipway little by little, and then were placed on the brackets below, perfectly aligned!

"Great!" Benjamin was the first to applaud, and then applause rang out over the entire shipyard, resounding through the sky, announcing the strength of Great Britain's shipbuilding industry!
Since the completion of the Invincible class, no aircraft carrier has been built here. Moreover, the Invincible class has a displacement of only [-] tons, which is not a large warship at all. This is the first time they have built a giant ship with a displacement of [-] tons. This is a new beginning, their empire on which the sun never sets has not ended, they are still very strong!

The whole process lasted for more than half a day, and now, the sun has slipped to the west, dyeing the distant sea red.

Just when Benjamin was about to leave, a man came over anxiously and looked at Carroll, the project director in charge of docking: "Mr. Carroll, there is something wrong with the docking."

"what is the problem?"

"The error of the butt joint of the keel exceeded 10 millimeters."

"what?"

At first, Carol was a little disapproving, but when she heard the news, she could no longer control her shock and said loudly, "How can there be an error in the keel? The outside of the hull looks completely connected!"

Sectional construction can greatly speed up the construction progress, but it puts forward higher requirements for construction accuracy. If the accuracy is insufficient, large errors may occur during docking!

If it is an ordinary steel plate, there may be a way to remedy the error, but if there is an error in the keel, it will be fatal!

In the old wooden ship era, the most important part of a ship was the beam laid longitudinally from front to back. It had to withstand the longitudinal bending moment of the ship. Due to the complicated manufacturing process of wood, from cutting down the trees to making the keel, it was often necessary to use several time of year.

In the era of steel ships, the hull looks like a layer of steel plates. If it is a small ship, it really doesn’t need anything, but in order to ensure the strength of a large ship, it still needs a keel. The common ones are square keel and flat keel. The keel is on the outside and protrudes from the bottom of the ship. It can ensure the structural strength of the hull and reduce the roll of the hull during sailing in wind and waves; but it is easy to be damaged when an accident occurs, so most of them use flat keels. The steel plates are on the outside. It is placed inside the hull, because the keel is not much thicker than the hull steel plate, so some people think that modern ships have no keel.

Large ships must also set up two watertight bottom girders symmetrically on the left and right sides of the center line of the flat keel, and form a box-shaped structure with the inner bottom plate, ribs, etc., thus forming a box-shaped keel.Not only can pipelines and cables be laid in this space, but it can also be used as a channel for inspection.

For the 6-ton queen-class, the keel is very important and indispensable. However, no steel factory will make a keel several hundred meters long at once. The keel is segmented. Welding in the shipyard increases the length, so warships built in sections can naturally have their keels butt-welded.Under the monitoring of modern equipment, it can be guaranteed that the welded part has the same strength as other parts.

But what if the docking error is large?
This is a big problem!

Lambert on the side immediately said: "It's definitely not our segmentation error. Ours was built directly on the berth. It is completely accurate. It must be the segmentation error of the Portsmouth Shipyard!"

Lambert, who has been to the East, has also learned the ability to play football. Now that there is no investigation conclusion, he immediately cast aside his responsibility: "The construction section of the East Shipyard is next to the berth. It was hoisted with a gantry crane, and the sections we built were in different shipyards. After they were built, they had to be loaded on ships and then transported. During this process, the stress would definitely be released, leading to deformation!"

"No, it's definitely not our problem!" The technician from the Portsmouth Shipyard immediately shook his head: "We have already considered stress relief, even if there is an error in ours, it was caused during the lifting process Transformation is the responsibility of your Rosyth shipyard!"

"Shut up!" Seeing these people arguing, Benjamin immediately turned gloomy: "Isn't it just an error of ten millimeters? Do you need to be so anxious? Carol, is there an easy way to solve this problem? ?”

Although Benjamin is the leader, he does not understand technology. At this time, it is obvious that Benjamin has not realized how big a trouble this is!

"No," said Benjamin.

"Why is there no more? With an error of ten millimeters, can't we weld an extra ten millimeters of keel on both sides and then connect them?"

To put it simply, it means that there is no alignment, and an extra piece is tied to the side to increase the width.

"Of course not. This is the keel. It must be a straight line. If it is misaligned, it will not be able to release the torsional moment caused by waves and other waves to the hull during navigation, and it is likely to crack at this place."

split?Benjamin felt his eyelids jump up. Does this seem serious?

"Can you remove the problematic section and replace it with a new one?"

Anyway, they are all welded together. Since there is a problem with this piece, just cut it off and weld it again!

"Other parts are OK, but not the bottom of the ship. If we want to dismantle this place, we need to turn this 180-ton structural member [-] degrees so that the bottom of the ship is upward."

In the past, tower shipbuilding was done slowly from the bottom up. The foundation must be laid well, and there must be no problems with the bottom of the ship. Once there are problems, there is no way to repair them.

The bottom of the ship is the stress-bearing part. If this structural part is turned over, it will definitely still deform after it is welded and then turned back over!

"Then how to fix it?" Benjamin realized something was wrong.

"The best way is to create a new one."