The shipyard has developed the latest technology not only on the main ironclad ships, but also on small boats parked in inconspicuous small docks.

Compared with the two steam iron armored ships "Emperor Wen of Han" and "Emperor Jing of Han" I just saw, there was only a poor small boat parked in the dock.

"This boat is 25.7 meters long, 3.3 meters wide, 1.57 meters of draft, and 32 tons of water displacement." The factory manager said, pointing to the inconspicuous boat.

In fact, this "small boat" is not very small, but everyone has just seen a 7,000-ton large-class battleship with a turret. At this time, when looking at the small boats as big as fishing boats, the sharp contrast always feels that the small boats are too cold.

Some of the naval officers who came here did not know the purpose of the boat, and they all guessed: "Is this an explosive ship or a landing ship?"

They carefully observed its structure and it was not like an explosive ship or a landing ship, nor a gun ship, because it didn't even have a gun.

"This is not a fishing boat, is it here to improve the food for our Navy?" said some naval officers half-jokingly.

But when they saw Chu Yun’s serious expression, they probably weren’t joking.

What secrets should be hidden in an inconspicuous boat.

"The torpedo boat, this is its name," said the factory director. "It is used to launch an immature weapon called a torpedo. According to the adult's vision, this is a confidential project and does not disclose even a little content to the outside world."

"Torpedo?! What is that?"

Many naval officers have never heard of this new weapon.

"Please look, this is a torpedo."

The factory manager asked the shipman to carefully carry a strange thing like an iron pillar, for fear that it would hit.

Everyone was even more confused. The appearance of this weapon was too strange.

Chu Yun didn't feel surprised at all, because this was a torpedo.

The first time the torpedo appeared in this world, it should be precisely in this secret dock, and Chu Yun did not intend to make it public.

Torpedo is a dangerous thing that can turn expensive ships into scrap iron, or allow outside military technology to stay at a relatively backward level, which is safer for China.

Compared with the Dahan-class ironclad ship, the torpedo is even more confidential. The Dahan-class ironclad ship has at least two to deter possible enemies and is active in various ports from time to time.

And torpedo technology may really be trained in the base and will not be known to others.

Maintaining the outside world at a low level of force is a good thing for the entire civilization.

Even most officers of the Navy did not know that there was such a weapon. If it weren't for the purpose of cultivating a group of soldiers who could operate torpedoes just in case, they might not be able to see it now.

Almost all the people present were Navy Lieutenant Colonel and above, and they were amazed by the weapons they didn't know.

The factory manager saw the doubts of others except Chu Yun and a few others, so he introduced to them: "You can understand this thing as a cylindrical shell that can be propelled in the water. The front is a thunder head, which is equipped with explosives and fuses, the middle is a compressed air compartment, which stores compressed air with huge pressure, and the tail is a twin-cylinder V-shaped engine, driven by a propeller blade, which is somewhat similar to the ship."

"It can sail 200 meters underwater at a speed of 6 knots. The torpedo's explosive power is strong enough to attack surface ships, and if hit head-on, it may be able to scrap the ironclad ship."

After hearing the factory manager's introduction to the torpedo, everyone roughly understood the principle.

Engines, explosives, and propellers form a new weapon!

This new weapon somewhat broke their imagination, and the shells could sail like ordinary ships and acted as Zuoying for explosives. This idea is really incredible.

"Can we see its power? The power of explosives in water will not be reduced?" some officers asked in confusion.

"No, on the contrary, the destructive power of explosives in water is greater than that in air. Isn't it unimaginable?" said the factory director.

The officers who only care about artillery have never compared the difference between gunpowder on and underwater.

According to common sense, explosives will be weaker underwater, but experiments tell them that this common sense is not so correct, and explosives will produce greater destructive power when exploded underwater.

"Not only can explosives explode in water, but it can cause even greater damage?"

"We need to see the power of torpedoes with our own eyes to believe in their role."

Even the senior officials of the Admiralty Department chose to see it as they were true. After all, torpedoes were beyond their previous understanding.

"It is very dangerous to conduct tests in the dock. We have temporary places for torpedo testing." The factory manager pointed at the boat. "This torpedo boat is specially used to launch torpedoes to attack enemy ships. It has torpedo tubes on it. We can take other boats to follow the torpedo boat to the test place."

Chu Yun and his group came to a steam passenger ship at the port. They followed a secret ship like a torpedo boat to a place in the harbor where they were also strictly guarded.

"According to the report you provided, the torpedo developed should not be practical, right?" Chu Yun asked the factory director on the passenger ship.

The factory manager quickly complained to Chu Yun: "What the lord said is right. The torpedo we produce has many shortcomings. First of all, the range is only about 200 meters, the torpedo speed is very slow underwater, and there are a lot of problems in designs such as fixed depth and heading control. If you want to hit the enemy, you need to get the torpedo boat as close as possible. However, a small boat worth dozens of tons will be quickly sunk by the steamship's ship's ship's shelling. As long as a 30-ton torpedo boat is hit by a main gun by a Dahan-class iron armored ship, it will cause unimaginable consequences."

"There are also the materials used to manufacture torpedoes for granted by nature. Although the steel is hard, it is not corrosion resistant. If it is often soaked in water, the thunder shell will inevitably be corroded. This defect is a headache for torpedoes that need to be frequently launched and recovered in water."

"That's why my subordinates think that there is no need to spend a lot of money on research on torpedoes and torpedo boats. Just use cannons directly for wooden boats. After comparison, it is more efficient to use cannons directly than torpedoes to hit the enemy's wooden boats."

Chu Yun listened to the factory manager expressing his thoughts silently.

The factory manager believes that the efficiency of torpedoes is not as high as that of naval guns. This is a pretty normal idea.
Chapter completed!