Chapter 1042 Tesla's New Toy (3rd update, please subscribe)
Xuanwu Lake of the Ming Dynasty.
It was not in Yingtian, and certainly not in Nanjing. Instead, it was a moraine lake formed by glaciers on the Patagonian Plateau. This lake, which covers an area of 1,850 square kilometers and is surrounded by the Andes Mountains, was discovered from the air by the floating troops during training. Before that, it had never entered the sight of the world.
Because it is far away from civilization, the water surface is wide and the lake is more than 586 meters deep, it has been a testing ground for naval underwater weapons in the past few years.
In fact, it is a torpedo testing site. When conducting fish tests here, there is no need to worry about the torpedoes getting lost at sea.
In fact, if there is a choice, the navy even wants to train troops here. But this is not the sea after all. Whether it is a destroyer, a torpedo boat, or a submarine, it needs to be trained in the ocean. Although the lake is big, it is not as big as the sea, and there are no strong winds and huge waves on the sea.
What is a torpedo?
It is the product with the longest confidentiality period in Daming Dynasty!
From the early models that entered service in 1867, the Ming Dynasty has eliminated no less than five generations of torpedoes.
The first generation of torpedoes had a speed of only 10 knots, and the eighth generation torpedoes had a speed of 20 knots.
From relying solely on coaxial counter-rotating twin propellers to resist rolling torque, to a new three-cylinder air engine, from being powered by compressed air stored in the torpedo with a pressure of only 370 pounds per square inch, to an air tank that can withstand an air pressure of 1,500 pounds per square inch.
It took the Ming Dynasty fifteen years to ensure that its torpedoes always maintained an absolute leading level. This lead was not just in the torpedoes themselves, but in many sub-technologies.
"Three-cylinder engine, high-pressure gas cylinder, plus gyroscope, this is the biggest advantage of our torpedo! Four years ago, we installed the gyroscope on the universal joint of the torpedo, and the rotor relies on the preloaded spring to make it rotate at a speed of 2400 rpm. The rotor has reached this speed before the torpedo leaves the barrel, so that the torpedo can maintain the direction it is aimed at before launching without being affected by the water flow. This greatly improves the shooting accuracy of the torpedo. The gyroscope can ensure that the torpedo will not deviate within a distance of 6500 meters... But our torpedo can only barely run 1000 meters at most!"
At the test site on the shore of Xuanwu Lake, facing more than a dozen naval officers, Nicholas pointed at the two launch tubes on the launch pad, looking extremely confident.
Last year, when Nanhua Company agreed to fund him to set up a laboratory, the "Imperial Central Laboratory" invited him. Facing the invitation from the "Imperial Central Laboratory", he chose to join without hesitation.
It was also here that he came into contact with torpedoes. Faced with this top-secret weapon, Nikolai immediately saw its shortcomings in performance.
“Range!”
Nicholas said to the officers present.
“That’s its biggest drawback.”
"This is a well-known fact. Now the company has successfully developed a new type of steel gas cylinder..."
When talking about steel gas cylinders, Starr, the Irish naval engineer who led the torpedo research at the time, looked very proud.
In fact, even now, the Ming Dynasty still has the most advanced bronze compressed air bottle technology in the world. Only the Ming Dynasty and Britain have the technology to cast and roll pressure vessels, but no company other than the Ming Dynasty has mastered the technology to manufacture steel pressure vessels. And it was under his strong support that the steel pressure vessel technology was successfully developed after five years.
"Steel gas cylinder? It's been eliminated!"
Nicholas's casual remark almost suffocated Speyer, but his next words immediately convinced him.
"No matter how far the gas cylinder develops, it is a weapon that is extremely easy to expose its existence. After all, when compressed air drives a torpedo, it will produce a large number of bubbles, and the bubbles will expose the existence of the torpedo, Colonel Mi, am I right?"
Colonel Mikun, who was sitting next to him, was the commander of the 3rd Destroyer Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet. Destroyers were the best at using torpedoes to attack, so they were naturally very familiar with torpedoes. This was entirely because Nicholas did not know about the existence of submarines. After all, even in the "Imperial Central Laboratory", no one would be allowed to access all the secrets.
"Indeed, bubbles do easily reveal the presence of torpedoes."
The colonel's answer made Nicholas nod.
"Range problem, bubble problem. That's why I proposed a new solution last year... electric torpedo!"
Pointing at the torpedo behind him, Nikolai introduced.
"Unlike air-powered torpedoes, electric torpedoes use lead-acid batteries to drive electric motors as their power. Because they are driven by electric motors, electric torpedoes do not need to exhaust air like air-powered torpedoes, so they naturally do not produce bubbles. Therefore, there is no obvious torpedo track when they are used."
Although lead-acid batteries and electric motors were used in submarines more than a decade ago, no one had ever applied them to torpedoes. Nikola's invention was more of an integration of existing technologies than an invention.
"At present, with the support of the 50-kilowatt power of the General-50 electric motor we are using, the model 1 electric torpedo has a maximum range of more than 4,000 meters at the fastest speed of 25 knots..."
“4000 meters!”
Spyle was shocked.
"How is this possible!?"
Compared with the speed of 25 knots, he was more concerned about the range of 4,000 meters.
What does 4000 meters mean?
This means that the Navy's destroyers, torpedo boats and submarines can carry out torpedo strikes on enemy ships at the edge of the engagement distance of the ship's guns! Unlike in the past, they had to approach a distance of several hundred meters to carry out torpedo strikes.
"If the speed is 20 knots, the range can reach 8 kilometers. Of course, this requires further improvement of the gyroscope. After all, with the current gyroscope technology, yaw will occur over 6,500 meters."
As Nikolai shrugged helplessly, Mikun, Speyer and several other naval officers walked up to the electric torpedo, looked at the open battery compartment and power compartment, and asked.
"So you have already conducted experiments in this area?"
"Sir, do you see that target?"
Nicholas said, pointing at a wooden boat target three or four kilometers away on the lake.
"It is 4,000 meters away from us. Please go to the platform above so that you can directly observe its track."
What to observe?
I can't see it at all!
Half an hour later, under the gaze of everyone, an electric torpedo, propelled by compressed air, flew out of the launch tube with a "boom". Although it caused some waves when it entered the water, it disappeared immediately!
“It’s gone!”
Mikun, holding a telescope, stood up quickly. Although he tried hard to observe the water surface, the torpedo disappeared without a trace.
There was no straight line formed by the usual boiling bubbles, and the surface of the lake was calm without a single ripple.
"Where is it? Where is the torpedo?"
Faced with everyone's astonishment, Nicholas took out a cigarette from the cigarette box, lit it, blew a smoke ring, and then spoke slowly.
"It's sailing in the water!"
It was sailing in the water, leaving no trace, just flying straight and silently towards its target...
A few minutes later, a huge column of water suddenly exploded on the calm lake surface!
At this moment, everyone was staring in amazement at the water column rising into the air, which could not calm down for a long time...
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
