If possible, try to build a small shallow water gunship of hundreds of tons.

　　 Back then, if the shogunate had a dozen shallow-water gunboats between Uraga and Futtsu, it would be impossible for American warships to break the Futtsu Fortress and defeat the Shogunate.

　　 Since then, Chuemon has determined that even if the shogunate does not develop a large-scale navy, such shallow-water heavy gunboats that cooperate with the fort defense are still very necessary. It is best to arrange a dozen or so of them directly in Edo Bay. If fighting recurs in the future, the entire channel can be blocked to ensure the safety of Edo.

　　The Yokohama Shipyard, which is under this heavy responsibility, has now accumulated a lot of experience in building hundreds of tons of ships after experiencing the difficulties of the initial stage. With the technical support of university students returning from studying in the UK, the difficulty of building small warships has been greatly reduced. Moreover, after receiving so many orders from the shipping company, I have accumulated a little money and can set up a reward system.

　　 At that time, Tadaemon was still adhering to the navy, and proposed to the Yokohama Shipyard the design requirements for iron ribbed wooden shells and small guns. Taking into account the requirements for the defense of Uraga and Futtsu Forts, Tadaemon directly ordered Armstrong front-mounted rifled guns from the United Kingdom.

　　 Armstrong 110-pound (7 inches/180 mm) heavy artillery, designed in 1855, with a real caliber of 177.8 mm and capable of firing shells with a warhead weight of 90-109 pounds (40-50 kg). The barrel is 2.527 meters long, the muzzle velocity is 340 meters per second, and the effective range is 3,200 meters.

　　 For today's wooden hull ships, there is absolutely sufficient lethality. Even the "Glorious" ironclad ship that the French are now building may not be able to withstand the continuous bombardment of such heavy artillery. After all, the Glory was just clad iron plates on the hull, and it was just a basic version of the ironclad ship.

　　 can be loaded with such a cannon, which caused many major problems with the gunboat. Including the installation of the steam engine, the speed does not exceed 7 knots, and it has almost no ability to withstand wind and waves, and its seaworthiness is extremely poor. I can't go on any ocean voyages, maybe I have to stay in the calm Edo Bay for the rest of my life.

　　 After the early design plan came out, a group of people in the shipyard directly rejected it, and didn't show it to Chuemon at all. Oh, how do you say this...

　　The country was poor and weak, and finally got some funding, and began to design and build warships belonging to the shogunate. Witnessing Yingmi's ghosts and animals rampant in their own country's territory, threatening the emperor with strong boats and guns, these officials are also people with lofty ideals, and the kind of aggrieved heart in their hearts is really hard to restrain.

　　 I learned civil and military skills from foreigners. It was just when I was going to serve the general. I naturally hope that this ship can resist fighting, rush and run, and it is best to be able to single out the four thousand-ton British-meter warship.

is it possible? It's impossible to think about it!

　　Tadaemon, who knew that Katsu Kaishu should not be a waste, was puzzled, why the first draft of the design has not been handed in until now, and what went wrong. It wasn't until he went to the shipyard to interview him personally that he realized that these people were too high-spirited, hoping to become a fat man with one bite, and after many scraps of manuscripts, this led to the inability to deliver them all the time.

　　 So Tademon immediately decided to design and build the shallow water gunboat on the current berth. Of course, there was no problem with normal shipbuilding, and Chuemon only revised one part of the design draft. Don't use wheel paddles anymore, but use propellers to propel the entire gunboat.

　　 There must be technical problems, but the problems are not that big. In 1843, the U.S. Navy built the first propeller ship "Prinsedon". It was designed by Captain Alison. With the active promotion of Alison, the United States successively built 41 civilian propeller boats. , The largest displacement is 2000 tons.

　　 The "Great Eastern" under construction at this time is equipped with the world's largest propeller. It has a diameter of 7.3 meters, a weight of 36 tons, and a speed of 50 revolutions per minute. In Europe and the United States, the technology of propellers has actually matured, and the propulsion efficiency of propellers has approached or even surpassed paddle wheels. It has many advantages that paddle wheels cannot compete. Paddle wheels are disappearing. Valley

　　 It is also countries that have just started playing boats, such as Prussia and the Shogunate, who have not yet fully mastered the technology, and continue to play with steam paddle wheels.

　　 At this time in history, the "Xianlin Maru" built by the Dutch shogunate also used propeller propulsion, and all paddle paddles were discarded.

　　 So the shipyard again ordered propellers from the Dutch East India Company. Although the shogunate’s shallow-water gunboat, although it is not an international assembly, it is not entirely made in China.

　　 After working like this for more than a year, the artillery and propellers were all in place, but Chuemon was also enlisted from the navy and went on and off. Today, I really stopped by to take a look at the progress of the naval construction work I had previously supported.

　　 "When will it be launched?" Looking at the gunboat that should actually be ready for service, Chuemon asked this.

　　 "Just the last few days..." John Manjiro answered.

　　 Forget it, this boat is 390 tons in the sky. It is really too small to be any smaller. Even the mosquito cannon boats in history may not be comparable. The mosquito cannon boats are not only bigger than this, but the boats should also be bigger than this. It is also a shallow water gunship near the shore, this is also a younger brother.

　　 "Excellent, if the drill is successful, there will be more than ten ships, and there will be no more warnings in Edo Bay." But Chuemon was very happy.

　　 This is also a domestic warship. Today it can build 390 tons, and it will be able to build even bigger in the future. Step by step, one thousand tons to two thousand tons, there is always a time when it arrives. And this thing is very in line with the national conditions of Japan, and it can increase the defense of Edo Bay at a low price. It can also enrich the shogunate navy and train navy soldiers.

　　 "Oh, it's just that the boat is small, not as good as the British Eleven." Sheng Haizhou sighed beside him.

　　He was studying in the UK and he had seen the glory of the Royal Navy. The scene of the thousand sails racing is enviable. It was with such a powerful navy that British talents established an empire that never sets and maintained their hegemony on the entire earth.

　　 "Let's do it one step at a time..." Tadaemon patted Katsu Kaishu.

　　 Five days later, the first shallow-water gunboat designed and built by the Shogunate was launched at the Yokohama Shipyard, and all that was left was debugging. The shogunate did not have much reaction, but it was a small boat of more than 300 tons, and it didn't cost the shogunate any money.

　　 When I saw the report, I even thought that this was a training ship that was built by the shipyard when Chuemon was in office. Only the foreigners in Yokohama who had the heart to collect information from the shogunate carefully observed the launching ceremony. Of course, the shipyard itself also has Dutch and French engineers, and they each have someone to draw a sketch and send it back to China.