Chapter 37: Inspection of the Shipyard
Chapter 37 Inspection of Shipyard
After the public trial assembly, Paul Greiman did not return to Lakeville right away, there were still many matters that needed to be taken care of, he decided to stay in Richland Harbor for a few more days.
For example, on the administrative side, the original old mayor of the town obviously couldn’t continue to serve in this position due to health reasons.
According to the tradition, the local people should be summoned to elect a local to be the new mayor, which is also a common practice in the northern territories, as long as the lords can collect enough taxes, levies and military service, they are very happy to put some of their small power to the local people.
Relatively speaking, if something happens at the local level, they will also use this as a way to avoid some of their responsibilities and obligations.
However, Paul did not intend to continue this tradition, he wanted to appoint his own people, the power to appoint and dismiss the various officials in the territory must be firmly in his own hands, so that his will can be carried out relatively effectively, paving the way for the expected series of reforms.
Of course, in view of the old mayor’s rich experience, Paul still left him a position of adviser, the salary is paid by him, counted in the financial expenditure of the lord’s house.
He then wrote to Chief Steward Ford to send two experienced and trustworthy men to Port Fullan as head and deputy mayor at once.
To his surprise, there was a small shipyard in Port Flanders, and it was the property of his own family, and the first moment he was informed of its existence, he led Schroeder, Bryce, and a host of other officers to visit it.
After the public trial assembly, the shipyard went on with its work, Paul and the others stood near the dock and watched from afar as the craftsmen went about their business, with the head of the shipyard carefully accompanying the gang of bigwigs from the sidelines.
“Is this the only type of ship we’ll build here?”
Paul asked with a frown, it seemed to him that the boats in the docks and the shipyard were somewhat similar to the Nordic Viking longships from the medieval times on Earth, with a single mast and one main transom sail, and a stiff sail at that, with the wind only playing a secondary role, and with most of the power coming from the oarsmen deployed on the boats.
The head of the shipyard, Rubin, respectfully replied, “Yes my lord, we only build this kind of ship in our shipyard at the moment.”
The little earl didn’t seem too satisfied.
Paul is indeed not very satisfied, in his thoughts, even if he can’t build a steam-powered ironclad now, he must be able to build a sailing battleship like the British Royal Navy’s HMS Victory, this kind of sloop and paddle sloop is just like a toy in his opinion.
He shook his head and said: “This can not be! The navy we’re going to form can’t go out to war in this kind of ship.”
The group of dryads around him were confused, “Lord Count, don’t all ships look like this?”
“We need warships with bigger hulls and more sails, with a longer endurance, the kind that can cross the oceans, not the kind that have to go back to the docks to resupply after less than a week at sea.”
He turned to Rubin, the head of the shipyard, and asked, “Do they use similar ships all over the world?”
Rubin thought for a moment and replied, “The whole world dare not say, as far as I know the places are basically like this, the details may be different, but the structure is similar, some big ships will have two to three masts.”
“Do they all use these rigid sails?”
“There are also soft sails used, for example, they are popular around Horn Bay.”
“Are there any advantages or disadvantages to each of these two kinds of sails?”
“Generally speaking, hard sails require less manpower to operate, and can be used on all eight sides to adapt to changing wind directions and complex sea areas, but they do not make enough use of wind power downwind, are slower, and are unsuitable for long-distance sailing. Soft sails, on the other hand, are lighter in mass, can make the mast taller, increase the wind area of the sail surface, and are suitable for long-distance sailing, but they are complicated to operate, are both cumbersome and dangerous when stowed, and have higher requirements for the quality of the sailor.” Rubin paused and continued, “Our northwestern coast region sea transportation is not very frequent, and generally sailing along the coastline, can always go ashore to replenish supplies, so popular this kind of easy to operate hard sails. Those countries in the south, such as the Horned Bay Alliance, their maritime trade is more developed and their shipbuilding technology is more advanced than ours, so they commonly use soft sails and have larger hulls.”
“Horned Bay Alliance ah …… I know.” Paul thought of that unlucky male child who was captured by pirates, wouldn’t he be the Horned Bay Alliance.
Rubin suddenly remembered something, and confessed, “My lord you wait for me for a moment.” Then he hurried back to his office and hurried over again, with a thick, large book in his arm.
He handed the book with both hands, “This is the information on all types of ships that I have compiled since I started in the business, and since Your Excellency the Earl is so interested in ships, looking at it might be fruitful.”
Paul took it and roughly flipped through a few pages, only to see that it was richly illustrated, recording every kind of ship that the shipyard head had learned about since joining the profession, with a wealth of information, including load capacity, draft depth, manning and number, voyage, materials used, and so on.
“Remarkable!” He sincerely exclaimed that this Rubin was really a talent.
Receiving his lord’s praise, Rubin was a bit coy: “Hehehe! Your Lordship has flattered me.”
Paul immediately announced to give him a reward of 10 silver coins, Rubin couldn’t believe his ears, his own little hobby in his day-to-day life had made him a little rich.
“What’s the largest ship you’ve ever built here?”
“The largest longboat ever built was nearly 30 meters in length and 70 tons in load.”
“How long does it take to build a ship?”
“Different ships require different durations, under the premise that the main materials are readily available, not to mention small ships, can be done within a month of catching up with the work, and if a large ship is urgently needed, within a quarter is about the same, but if it is the kind of strong and durable ship with particularly high requirements for quality, the keel and ribs are built, and then have to be left to dry out on the sill for a year before they can continue to be built. laying of the hull inside and outside, and the subsequent construction can only be carried out slowly and methodically, which will take a much longer time.”
“How many years have you worked in this shipyard?”
“I’ve been helping out here with my father since I was a child, nearly 20 years so far.”
“This place is always ‘patronized’ by pirates, isn’t it, and they didn’t give you a hard time?”
“The pirates also want to build and repair ships, but not much to make things difficult for us, and will give more or less some money, after all, still need to buy shipbuilding materials, tools, etc., sometimes so that they send ready-made, as to how to come, you know.”
……
The crowd looked at Paul and Rubin’s Q&A, and muttered in their hearts, “It looks like Lord Earl is determined to develop the navy, and this Rubin is afraid to be used in a big way.”
After visiting the shipyard, Paul bids farewell to Rubin and prepares to lead the crowd back to the temporary quarters located in the church in the center of the town, patting Rubin on the shoulder before leaving and encouraging him, “Do a good job, this shipyard will be of great use to me.”
Although a half-grown boy making such a gesture to a middle-aged man was a bit funny in the eyes of the onlookers, the shipyard supervisor was still moved to tears, and patted his chest and swore to the heavens that he would never let down Lord Earl’s expectations.
At the end of the Paul and instructed Rubin to use the weight of the ship after launching the sea water to measure the size of the ship, he still likes to use the concept of displacement, as to how to calculate it depends on the shipyard director himself.
(End of chapter)