Chu Yun and his group visited the Imperial Shipyard again. They checked the new ships and some new technologies used in the shipyard. Not only weapons, but also the performance of the ships has also undergone tremendous changes, which is reflected in the use of more advanced marine steam engines as new power.

Once industrial technology is mature, it will make progress faster than Chu Yun imagined.

While they were looking at the new ships and new technologies of the Imperial Shipyard, the Admiralty also provided the Imperial Shipyard with orders for two armored cruisers, building small and medium-sized ironclad ships between 1,000 tons and 3,000 tons. Compared with the Dahan-class battleship, the cost and maintenance cost is lower, but it is enough to maintain maritime hegemony. Blasting bombs can easily ignite wooden ships, and the large-caliber armor-piercing bombs make the hull of the wooden ship as fragile as tofu.

Larger caliber and artillery and research on torpedoes are more like fighting against oneself.

A steam ironclad ship entered the dock of the shipyard at this time, making Chu Yun and others look at the ship.

The black hull has four Chinese characters "General Fu Bo" painted with white paint.

This is the earliest steamship used for military purposes, the first test ship of the main ironclad ship, the General Fubo, who participated in two Mediterranean wars and made great achievements in the fleet of the Jiuzhou Army.

Seven years ago, General Fubo underwent an overhaul, replaced the steam system, and continued its service life for seven years.

However, the appearance of General Fubo here means that it will either undergo a second overhaul or...

Zheng Zhilong said: "I almost forgot that General Fubo has been in service for 20 years and has undergone overhaul in the middle. Now the hull is aging, so the Admiralty Department decided to retire it to the Imperial Shipyard for modification. Perhaps it can also become an oil storage tanker or perform other tasks, and it is more likely to become a target ship."

Chu Yun felt a little indescribable when the first military ironclad ship was retired.

Technology has improved so much that ships have been replaced with generations.

However, as the first iron-clad ship, Chu Yun had inexplicable feelings for it and always felt that it would be a pity to use General Fu Bo as a target ship for experimental cannons and torpedoes.

"After all, General Fubo is the first iron-armored warship arranged by our fleet. After working hard for twenty years, it can block artillery and transform it into a sightseeing ship for future generations to visit, so that future generations can pay attention to the ocean." Chu Yun wanted to keep General Fubo.

"There is no problem at all. If you don't have to go to sea frequently, the loss will drop a lot, and you just need regular maintenance." said the factory manager.

"Let's open it to the public after a while." Chu Yun strives to preserve such a precious ship as a future exhibition to witness this history of gaining maritime hegemony.

However, it is not possible to open up to the outside world for free so soon, otherwise the design details and secrets of the steam iron armored ship will be spread. Although the General Fubo, the first-generation test ship, has been much behind in technology, any Western European country that has mastered this technology can become the first maritime country in Europe with this technology. This is the power of technology.

The General Fu Bo, who originally planned to be a target ship, was retained because of Chu Yun's words.

Before it is open to the outside world, it must enter the dock and close it for a period of time, and nail the artillery door inside it so that it cannot be used.

In fact, the 68-pound cannon used by General Fubo is already behind the naval guns, and it was damaged by external factors such as seawater and rain when he was in service for many years. It is not a pity to scrap these cannons as exhibition items. Even if they are not exhibited, they will only become scrap iron, and it will be quite costly to re-melute them.

General Fubo slowly sailed into the dock, and Chu Yun looked back at it. The elders of this iron-clad ship with great military achievements ended. It was not until the real battleship was built that it appeared in front of the world again and became a tourist destination in Dalian Bay.

Because other kingdoms cannot obtain the production and manufacturing technology of steam iron armor from China through official channels, they often observe the structure of the iron armor ship of General Fubo in the name of visiting and try to imitate an iron ship similar to General Fubo.

"Its retirement will also mean that our national strength will be stronger." Chu Yun saw the General Fubo for the last time. This ship stayed in Dalian Bay forever and will be transformed into a living museum in the future, telling future generations what happened in the era of the Iron-Crafted Ship.

"In the future, the officers and soldiers of the Navy will be proud of it." Zheng Zhilong said from the side.

After Chu Yun and others visited the Empire Shipyard, they had a dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Many officers wearing the uniforms of the admirals came to the restaurant here, which shocked the restaurant's shopkeepers.

Although there are many people from the Navy Department now appearing in Dalian Bay, this group of people is quite famous.

"These people don't know what they are from. Maybe they are from the Beiyang Fleet or the Zhili Fleet. Are they here to buy or repair the ship again?"

"We still have to entertain these big men. If they hadn't fought bravely on the sea, where would we have a stable life? And they are our usual big customers. This is the most important thing."

The shopkeeper and a group of waiters and chefs whispered in the back hall. They were all amazed by the identity of Chu Yun and his group.

Some naval officers explained the situation of the five fleets to Chu Yun: "Of the five fleets, there may be only the Mediterranean Fleet, because it was established at the latest, so there was only one iron-armored cruiser of about 3,000 tons. Currently, the five fleets have a total of 4 main battleships, the older generation of "Huo Qubing" and "Wei Qing". They are also facing the risk of retirement. After all, they are more than ten years old and may be used as coach ships or transformed into oil tankers in the future. After all, they are giant ships with a displacement of 9,000 tons. Such ships are very rare."

"Are Huo Qubing and Wei Qing also facing retirement?" Chu Yun couldn't help but sigh that time passed quickly. How long has the first batch of ironclad ships been built? Unexpectedly, they will almost all be retired. The Oriental passenger ship has also turned into a scrap ship after seven years of operation. "Let the two ironclad ships, 'Han Wen' and 'Han Jing', perform their missions instead. Are the two main ironclad ships too few?"

"The number of the two main ironclad ships is indeed a little less. With our size, I guess there is no problem even if we raise eight main ships." The officers of the Navy were full of enthusiasm for building ships, so they naturally hope that the more ironclad ships they under their command, the better.
Chapter completed!