Reborn in Brazil As a Plutocrat - Chapter 425

Chapter 425 Self-produced patrol boat

Fangyuan Group shipyard in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Fang Lang is leading a team to inspect the shipyard owned by his family. Because of the strong support of American Global Shipbuilding, this short-established shipbuilding company has directly become the largest shipbuilding company in Brazil and even in South America. factory.

There are nearly 30,000 professional shipbuilding workers, most of whom are German and Italian skilled immigrants from Europe and the United States, as well as a large number of Chinese immigrants and Brazilian natives.

Mainly produce 10,000-ton container ships, and there are as many as ten container ships currently under construction on the berth at the same time. Production orders have been scheduled for five years.

Due to the advancement of welding technology, Fangyuan Group adopted the most common shipbuilding method in later generations, so the shipbuilding speed is very fast. Although it cannot be compared with the Victory Ship during the American War, it only takes about two months to complete. Launch a boat.

This has reached the world’s advanced level in this era, and today Fang Lang brought a group of officers and soldiers of the aircraft carrier formation to visit, of course not to visit these 10,000-ton container ships.

“Boss, this is the 500-ton inland river patrol boat we designed and built according to your requirements. It is 56 meters long, 9 meters wide, 1.5 meters deep, and has an armor thickness of 35 mm.

Equipped with three diesel engines produced by Mercedes-Benz, with 3,900 horsepower and a maximum speed of 22 knots.

The front and rear are equipped with a 105mm gun, a 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, and 4 12.7mm heavy machine guns. ”

The general manager of the shipyard, Osman Aragon, pointed to an armed inland river patrol boat that looked very small beside the berth of many 10,000-ton cargo ships, and introduced it to Fang Lang.

Fang Lang carefully looked at this brand new inland river patrol boat in the berth, and asked the general manager of the shipyard with great interest:

“Oh! A Mercedes-Benz diesel engine? Is it made in the Mercedes-Benz factory in Brazil?”

As the general manager of the shipyard, Osman Aragon knew very well that the Mercedes-Benz factory in Brazil was originally introduced by the boss in front of him, so of course he knew what the other party was concerned about. He nodded and replied:

“Yes, it comes from the Mercedes-Benz factory in Brazil jointly established by our group and Mercedes-Benz. The horsepower of a single engine is 1,300 horsepower. Three engines are installed and a three-axle layout is adopted.”

Fang Lang nodded in satisfaction when he heard the words, and said to de la Torre and other officers beside him:

“Everyone go up and have a look. This can be regarded as the first modern warship built by us in Brazil.”

Then he turned his head and asked Osman Aragorn:

“By the way, how far is the cruising distance of this ship! Don’t be a short-legged general by then.”

Osman Aragon on the side smiled and said:

“Please rest assured, boss, this is designed and built according to your requirements. The cruising distance is 2,000 nautical miles. Although it is less than half of the entire Amazon River, it is enough to be used as a standing patrol force.”

Those who came with Fang Lang were all naval officers of the aircraft carrier fleet. Of course, they looked down upon such small boats that could not be called warships.

But I can’t stand it. This is the first armed patrol boat independently produced by Brazil! Look at the 10,000-ton giant ships around. With the experience in designing and manufacturing patrol boats, will it be possible to start producing and building larger-tonnage warships soon?

Although building patrol boats and building warships are two different things, it can’t stop everyone’s inner expectations!

So, everyone showed great enthusiasm for visiting this small patrol boat, climbing up and down, drilling in and out, pointing and pointing.

Seeing that everyone was watching lively, Fang Lang also went up to check it carefully, and then asked Osman Aragon:

“When can I go into the water for sea trials?”

“Of course it can be done at any time. In fact, we have already done tests. The firing of guns during the march is very stable, and it definitely meets the design requirements.”

Osman Aragorn replied without hesitation.

Hearing this, Fang Lang nodded and said to him:

“Then try it in the water. This afternoon, General Letta from the Logistics Department of the National Defense Forces will come to our factory to visit this inland river patrol boat. There will be no mistakes.

If this boat performs well, we may have a formal order soon. ”

Osman Aragon looked at Fang Lang in surprise and said:

“Boss, is it true? But the military did not entrust us to carry out research and development! Can the inland river patrol boat we designed according to our own ideas meet the requirements of the military?”

Fang Lang smiled and patted the opponent’s arm and said:

“Haha. Don’t worry! It doesn’t matter whether the military has approved the project. The key is that the military is in urgent need of such a weapon, and we just happen to have one. Isn’t this a hit and miss?

As for whether it is suitable or not, there is no need to worry about it. I personally participated in the design, and I have confidence in him. ”

In fact, as early as when the Eddie brothers announced their rebellion in the town of Bittencourt, Fang Lang had already determined that the Brazilian military must urgently need an inland river patrol boat that can maintain stability in the Amazon River and attack the enemy.

Otherwise, the few old antiques before World War I that the Brazilian Navy currently has on the Amazon River that are almost rusted out cannot meet the needs of the Brazilian army at all.

Maybe, the next time they want to launch an attack, the sailors responsible for the security of the Amazon River Basin will rebel, because letting them drive such a warship to fight the enemy will definitely cause strong dissatisfaction.

Combined with Fang Lang’s current influence in the Brazilian army and his relationship with General Leta, Fang Lang is not worried at all that the Brazilian military will not buy it.

With the guarantee from his own boss, Othman Aragon immediately smiled, and patted his chest to promise:

“Haha. Boss, don’t worry! I’ll get someone to arrange to go into the water immediately, and I promise not to lose the chain.”

After finishing speaking, he gave instructions to a staff member who was following him.

At the same time, Fang Lang said to his chief of staff de la Torre:

“how do you feel?”

Della Torre, who was looking down at the stern engine, looked up at Fang Lang and said with a smile:

“Boss, I don’t see any problems now, I still have to go into the water to try to find out, but I think this guy is good.”

As he spoke, he patted the Mercedes-Benz diesel engine beside him.

Fang Lang knew that the other party was from the old navy, and had his own criteria for judging the quality of the ship. However, this kind of inland river patrol boat was obviously the first contact with the other party, so he could not give an accurate evaluation.

But very satisfied with the three 1300 horsepower engines on board.

“Then you will take people up to test it later to see if it can meet the design standards. The inspection standard can be set higher, after all, this is the first warship produced by us in Brazil.

If this inland river patrol boat can meet our requirements, the next step is to let them start trial production of a destroyer. After all, there is still a very large shortage of destroyers for the Brazilian Navy. ”

Della Torre nodded when he heard the words, stroked the icy hull of the patrol boat with his hand, and said seriously:

“No problem, please rest assured, the boss, we are professional.”

Hearing the words, Fang Lang nodded with a smile, and continued to ask Osman Aragon:

“What about a small fast patrol boat?”

If you want to come and go freely in the complex Amazon jungle, it is obviously not enough to rely on this kind of patrol boat of about 500 tons. After all, many small waterways are obviously not suitable for this kind of boat to enter, and if you do it, you will run aground. Or after losing mobility, they were pressed and rubbed on the ground.

Therefore, at the beginning of designing the patrol boat, Fang Lang designed two patrol boats, one is a 500-ton inland river patrol boat, which is mainly used on the main road of the Amazon River, and can attack local ships remotely through artillery .

Or provide fire support to the army through 105mm artillery. After all, it is basically an impossible task to transport a 105mm howitzer into the jungle.

And it is obviously no problem to install it on the ship to provide long-range fire support.

However, if the patrol boat cannot enter the jungle, it will definitely not be able to effectively kill the enemies hiding in the jungle. Then this kind of 500-ton patrol boat may only be able to perform patrol tasks in the main river to restrict the activities of enemy ships. scope. In the end, it became a tasteless product that was tasteless and a pity to discard.

In this case, the appearance of a small fast patrol boat has become an inevitable choice. If he cooperates with a 500-ton patrol boat, the enemy will have nowhere to hide.

Osman Aragon, who was excited about the opportunity to win an order from the Brazilian military, heard Fang Lang’s words, a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face, and he said slowly with a little hesitation:

“Boss, this… We don’t have much experience in manufacturing this kind of small speedboat, although we have produced a prototype.

However, the pump jet engine you requested cannot meet your requirements for the time being. Therefore, in order to complete the trial production task within the time required by you, we still use the propeller technology.

Please rest assured, we are already organizing manpower to tackle the pump jet engine technology you requested! It is expected to be able to produce qualified finished products within two months. ”

Hearing this, Fang Lang’s brows were tightly frowned. Whether in his previous life or this life, Fang Lang has formed an indissoluble bond with ships, so Fang Lang still has some understanding of the pumping technology of ships.

The so-called pump jet is also called water jet propulsion. Different from the common propeller propulsion method, the thrust of water jet propulsion is obtained by the reaction force of the water jetted by the propulsion pump, and the jet is distributed and changed through the control rudder and reverse rudder equipment. The direction of the flow is used to realize the maneuvering of the ship.

This propulsion method is generally used on high-performance, high-speed ships, which can enable the ship to have excellent high-speed maneuverability, smaller turning radius when turning, and shallower draft.

Of course, it is not without disadvantages. For example, in waters with a lot of aquatic plants or debris, the inlet is prone to blockage and affect the speed of the ship.

As far as Fang Lang knows, this technology was invented as early as 1661, even 19 years earlier than propeller technology.

He didn’t expect that at this time, the fast patrol boat he wanted would be stuck with this technology.

Seeing the boss frowning, Osman Aragon quickly explained:

“Boss, I’m really sorry. Please listen to my explanation. Although the pump-jet technology appeared very early, the advantages of propellers and the shortcomings of water-jet propulsion have basically been recognized by everyone in recent decades.

Most countries in the world have given up the research on pump injection technology. We lack the necessary technical reserves for this technology, so this situation will appear now.

Please rest assured that after receiving your entrustment, we have hired more than 20 relevant experts from Europe and the United States to our shipyard for research.

Although I failed to produce a pump-jet engine that meets your requirements in time, after this period of research, I have explored some technical methods and applied for more than 20 related patents. It is expected that within two months Can make his performance meet your requirements. ”

Fang Lang, who was still a little dissatisfied at first, felt a lot more comfortable when he heard that Osman Aragon organized research by European and American experts and applied for more than 20 patents.

stepped forward and patted the other person on the shoulder and said:

“Oh! I have actually researched more than 20 patents. That’s good, that’s good. I don’t wait and don’t rely on it. I do my own research. This kind of spirit is commendable.

However, now our army really needs this kind of high-speed patrol boat very much. First, take us to see where is the sample boat we trial-produced. Make modifications. ”

This made Osman Aragon, who was a little nervous, heaved a sigh of relief, and hurriedly walked in front of Fang Lang and made a gesture of invitation:

“Boss, please come with me, our trial-produced high-speed patrol boat is currently being tested by the river.

Although the speed did not reach the 28 knots you requested, it still reached 24 knots, which can be regarded as a fast patrol boat,”

Hearing that the speed of 23 knots could be reached even with propeller propulsion, Fang Lang’s calm mind relaxed a little. While walking forward with Osman Aragorn, he asked:

“The speed of 24 knots is still acceptable. What kind of engine do you use?”

Seeing that the boss evaluated the speed as acceptable, Osman Aragon let out a long sigh of relief, and while leading the way, he turned his head and said to Fang Lang who was following behind him:

“We use two diesel engines from Porsche cars to power the boat. The output power reaches 325 kilowatts. According to our calculations, using this engine to power the water jet propulsion can completely make our ship high-speed. The patrol boat reached a speed of 28 knots.”

I didn’t expect that the speedboat used Porsche’s car engine technology. Fang Lang had to sigh. No domestic engine can provide it!

But he quickly thought of a problem, the engine of the car can be used on these small ships, what about the 10,000-ton giant ship!

“Oh! So our two patrol boats use our domestic diesel engines!”

“Yes, boss!”

“Then where are the engines used for these 10,000-ton container ships we are producing now?”

“Uh! Now our 10,000-ton freighter still uses low-speed diesel engines imported from GM in the United States. Brazil does not yet have the production capacity for such heavy-duty low-speed diesel engines.”

Hearing this, Fang Lang frowned, and said dissatisfiedly:

“Is there no relevant production capacity for Universal Shipbuilding?”

It can’t be blamed that Fang Lang doesn’t even know much about his company’s situation. It’s because his work is too busy to cover everything.

Hearing the boss’s inquiry, Osman Aragon shook his head helplessly and said:

“As far as I know, Universal Shipbuilding is now using low-speed diesel engines manufactured by General Dynamics. It does not have its own engine production capacity.”

(end of this chapter)