Chapter 642 The revolution of inland shipping (please ask for monthly tickets at the end of the month)
Joseph was still staring at the paddle steamer not far away: "Can that boat drive?"
Borda was unsure: "Maybe, I remember Mr. Joffrey said it could be used, but he used a tugboat to get it from the upper reaches of the Loire River to the shipyard, and it has been left there ever since. ”
"Please let Mr. Joffrey come to see me."
"Yes, Your Highness."
More than half an hour later.
Joffrey was obviously very nervous in front of the Crown Prince and nodded: "Yes, Your Highness, it can drive. I once drove it from Berry to Nantes."
"Very good." Joseph's eyes lit up, "Can you demonstrate it to me?"
"Here," Joe Frey looked confused, "Your Highness, there is something wrong with its steam engine. As long as it is repaired..."
"How long will the repair take?"
"5 days. But I don't have enough maintenance fees. You know, the price of LJ26H is unconventional and the maintenance fees are more expensive."
Joseph nodded: "I will help you pay the maintenance fee. So, is the design of this ship mature? Do you have the drawings?"
Joffrey looked a little embarrassed: "Your Highness, I actually designed a frigate powered by a steam engine, but it has not been completed yet. And the Navy doesn't seem to need that thing anymore. I mean, the 'Light of the Mediterranean' is far more powerful than My designs are much more elegant.”
"No, no," Joseph said immediately, "I don't need a warship, I mean, the ship parked at the dock."
Joffrey was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly and said: "Yes, Your Highness, I have been perfecting the 'Boroscafi' for several years, and it is considered relatively mature."
Today's France can provide him with reliable steam engines, so he did not give up halfway like in history, but successfully built a steam paddle steamer.
Joseph smiled: "What I need is a boat like this. Mr. Joffrey, you have done a great thing."
"But it can't compare to the 'Mediterranean Light'..."
"Paddle steamers have a simple structure, are much cheaper to build than propeller-driven boats, and are easier to maintain." Joseph said, "So it has its own stage. Oh, can you let me see its design?"
Yes, steam paddle steamers dominated river transportation in the 19th century. Even before World War I, there were many cheap and durable paddle steamers plying rivers around the world.
Joseph originally planned to have someone design a steam paddle-wheel-driven transport ship, but paddle-wheel drive and propeller drive are two completely different technical routes. Currently, designers at the Brest Shipyard are busy designing steam warships. , so the matter of the paddle wheel transport ship was temporarily put on hold.
But now Mr. Joffrey has designed a paddle steamer on his own, which is an unexpected surprise.
Not long after, the design drawings of the 'Poroskafi' appeared in front of Joseph.
This is a ship with a displacement of 70 tons, a length of 32 meters and a width of 7 meters. It is equipped with an LJ26H steam engine and has a design speed of 8.5 kilometers per hour. If its two small sails can be used, it can reach a speed of 9.2 kilometers per hour.
Joseph was a layman, so he turned directly to look at Polda, the naval shipbuilding director: "What do you think of the design of this ship?"
"Ah, to be honest, the overall design is a bit crude." Borda looked at the drawings carefully, "but the structure is quite reasonable, and the power arrangement is also very creative."
Joseph said: "So based on this, is it feasible to design a small transport ship?" "Yes, Your Highness, we only need to optimize the ship type and adjust the cabin layout, and there will be no problem in using it to transport cargo."
"Very good." Joseph's expression looked like he had been hit by a pie falling from the sky. "Please send an experienced designer to help Mr. Joffrey improve the design."
"I will do as you are told, Your Highness."
Joseph knew that no matter how talented a civilian designer like Joe Frey was, he would definitely not be able to match the top warship designers in terms of engineering practice. The two are most efficient when they join forces.
He looked at Joe Frey again: "I hope to see a design that can be put into production within three months. Can you do it?"
The latter did not expect that his "waste" design would be favored by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and immediately nodded: "Yes, Your Highness, I will do my best to do it!"
Joseph nodded: "If this ship satisfies me, I will invest 1.5 million francs to build a shipyard to produce this ship.
"And you will get 10% of the shares of the shipyard. Oh, the patent for the new ship is still yours."
Joe Frey was so excited that his breathing quickened. The shares plus patent licensing fee are at least 200,000 francs, and he will become a rich man overnight.
He almost shouted: "I swear, Your Highness, I will not let you down!"
Everyone present was shocked by the crown prince's lavish spending of millions.
Borda hurriedly suggested: "Your Highness, this kind of boat only requires an initial investment of two to three hundred thousand francs. Can you see if..."
Joseph shook his head decisively and said: "Thank you for your suggestion, but I need a very high output, maybe 1.5 million is not enough."
He knew very well how big a shock it would be after steam paddle steamers were put into river transportation.
You know, inland waterway shipping is different from sea transportation. There is almost no wind in inland waterways. Therefore, most of them are paddle boats, and some paddle boats must be towed by trackers when encountering special river channels. Not only is the speed very slow, but the labor cost is also high.
Steam paddle steamers solved these problems very well. The speed of 8.5 kilometers per hour may not seem like much, but it is much faster than human rowing, and it can maintain the speed for a long time, unlike paddlers who have to rest constantly.
In addition, steam ships can also get rid of the constraints of trackers. During peak shipping season, other shipowners might have to wait a whole day for a tracker, but the steamship would have arrived at its destination long ago.
This allowed the steam ship to transport two or more times in the same time as an ordinary paddle boat. Although it would burn a lot of coal, it also saved the labor of the oarsmen and trackers. Taken together, the transportation cost of steam ships will be reduced by half compared to the current level!
In the future, we can design a large river ship equipped with a 52-horsepower steam engine and a displacement of more than 90 tons, and the cost can be reduced further.
This is completely a dimensionality reduction attack.
It is foreseeable that when France's steam paddle steamers are put into production, all ship owners engaged in inland shipping will have to buy new ships, otherwise they will never be able to compete with others.
Joseph did not waste a minute and immediately asked Borda to recruit professionals and start planning the shipyard.
Building warships has always been a loss of money, and only civilian ships can make money. Joseph was thinking that if the income of the steam paddle shipyard was high enough, he could invest in and control the Brest shipyard and significantly reduce the construction cost of warships by expanding production.
(End of chapter)