Starting from Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 534 - 51: Steel Giant Ship

The growth of the labor force is like fertilizer in the fields, spurring the development of everything on the island.

The students coming and going in the school are increasing in number, and the newly arrived indigenous people on the island gradually integrate here, passionately discussing chess, those incomprehensible ancient poems, and mathematical formulas, just like the seasoned veterans did before them.

Centered around Execution Square, small wooden houses, similar in shape but different inside, rise one after another.

In the lush primordial forest, many roads have appeared where no grass can grow due to trampling.

The size of the sheep flock is becoming larger and larger. The old shepherd Niu Yang, who manages the largest flock on the island from just over the hill, often drives an ox cart through the forest to transport barrels of fermented cheese and fresh milk to the port docks or factories.

Besides the ox cart, Niu Yang also commissioned the zebra to customize a "sheep cart" for him, powered by five gelded rams that have been trained since childhood, making them easy to handle.

Compared to those pedaling bicycles, both the large ox cart and the relatively smaller sheep cart seem more impressive.

Unfortunately, even if others envy them, they cannot have such privileges.

Currently, the island has a total of four cows. Besides the stud bulls and cows dedicated to breeding calves, the other two cows have their own tasks, either pulling carts or plowing fields. No matter how much sugar someone might offer, Niu Yang would never loan them out.

Moreover, Niu Yang is only responsible for helping the Leader manage the cattle and sheep, and he does not have the authority to do so.

...

Growing alongside the lives of the islanders is the giant creature in the shipyard.

Amid the flashes of light during welding, through the transportation by pulley blocks, in the baptism of workers’ sweat and the nurturing of Chen Zhou’s wisdom, it developed strong bones and muscles harboring immense strength.

On one side of the factory, the fire in the Forging Room is always red, unaffected by the rainy or dry seasons, ensuring the casting of the ship’s components.

Heavy and black metal parts are manufactured and shaped one by one on simple lathes and then transported to the shipyard, where they undergo further assembly amidst dazzling welding light.

Although the islanders usually refer to this big ship as the "Iron Bone Giant Ship," strictly speaking, it should be called the "Steel Giant Ship."

Modern steel outlines the entire internal framework of the ship, with every critical load-bearing point personally welded by Chen Zhou and his most trusted veteran workers. In special areas, even rivets and angle irons are used for reinforcement, ensuring the entire ship can withstand ocean storms and enemy artillery.

Under the "steel bones" protection, a colossal compound steam engine prominently stands at the bottom of the ship’s hold.

This steam engine uses multi-stage expansion technology, significantly improving thermal efficiency.

Its boiler is not the cumbersome cast-iron type from the late 18th century but a new model equipped with high-pressure steam technology.

If the steamships of the 18th century were still immature, too cumbersome, lacking flexibility, and weak in endurance, the "Steel Giant Ship" designed by Chen Zhou, based on the sophisticated steamships of the 19th century, could honestly be considered "Trisolaran Technology," overpowering the wooden sailing ships of the same era in every aspect.

Regarding the propulsion technology of this ship, Chen Zhou never considered using side paddle wheels from the beginning.

The propulsion technology of paddle wheel ships is inherently clumsy and bloated, and the paddle wheels on both sides of the hull become very obvious attack targets. Besides these two shortcomings, the maintenance of paddle wheels is also a considerable issue.

With so many flaws, when it comes to propulsion efficiency, paddle wheels cannot compare to the more concealed propeller.

Considering comprehensively, as a modern person, Chen Zhou couldn’t possibly give up the propeller for the paddle wheel as the ship’s propulsion method.

In theory, the "Steel Giant Ship" designed by Chen Zhou could operate on pure steam power, completely abandoning sails and becoming the first sail-less anomaly on the 17th-century seas.

However, Chen Zhou didn’t give up the redundant sails; instead, he equipped this ship with three large masts and even mounted a triangular sail at the ship’s stern.

On traditional multi-masted sailing ships, these complex sails are a significant challenge to the sailors’ proficiency in ship handling.

Once engaged in naval combat, requiring the ship to flexibly change direction, either to move away or to chase, any sailor’s mistake, and the opportunity will slip away instantly.

Currently, the islanders participating in sailor skill training have decent swimming skills but still fall short of being qualified sailors—

After all, they have only maneuvered canoes before and have never handled complex sailing ships. Without any experience, even with a top-tier multi-masted sailing ship, they would not be able to navigate the vast oceans.

This is also the reason Chen Zhou insists on constructing a steam-powered ship.

He simply couldn’t train a batch of qualified sailors.

The Spaniards, Dutch, or British, who dominated the seas in the 17th century, accumulated extensive experience in sailing ships, and competing in the same field with them, Chen Zhou felt he had no chance of winning.

However, it was different with steam-powered ships. In this uncharted territory, the ship he designed and built with his own hands would leave those who claimed to be invincible at sea utterly astonished.

Of course, before a battle, the enemy would not immediately understand the advantages and disadvantages of a steamship at first sight.

Thus, Chen Zhou installed sails on this ship that "doesn’t need sails."

The thick masts standing on the deck, aside from providing backup power for the ship when resources are depleted and fuel is exhausted, serve more to mislead the enemy.