Rise of Rurik

Sea Monarch!

Otto had fantasized about her size more than once. Now that he finally saw this giant ship, he realized how naive his previous estimation was.

Because people cannot imagine things they have never seen or heard of.

He stood up holding on to the wooden staff, stepped on the cleared snow and compacted the land with his feet, and continued to marvel at the size of the ship.

"Two thousand pounds of silver coins, did you really spend the money to build a mountain?"

Rurik smiled when he heard it: "It is an unsinkable mountain."

"So, how will she enter the sea? I saw that the big ship is clearly lying in a huge pit. Is it impossible? Or is it possible to pull it out manually?"

"Haha, that's not necessary. Just look to the right."

Following Rurik's straight right arm, Otto saw a channel, which was now covered by ice and looked nothing special at first glance.

"What is that? A small bay?"

"It's a channel leading to the sea." As he said this, Rurik pointed at the "strange wall" built of wood and soil. "Look, that's the gate. At the critical moment, it will be smashed open with an axe, and the water will wash it away, so that the ship can float and enter the sea."

"Is this still possible?"

"That's it. Didn't we talk about it during the banquet?"

Rurik thought his father understood, but in fact Otto didn't understand at all unless he could conduct an on-site investigation today.

The dry dock shipbuilding method was too novel for Otto, who claimed to know a thing or two about shipbuilding. In fact, the same is true for the Hortra family. The second eldest son of the family, Stein, carried out this initiative under the instruction of Rurik. Even some so-called design innovations were drawn by Rurik himself. The two of them then detailed it. Let’s talk and come up with a plan.

In this way, Stein is not afraid of failure, and everything is borne by King Rurik. This is the king's promise.

The father and son kings, accompanied by their attendants, stood on the edge of the dry dock. When everyone knocked down, they could see the craftsmen who were still busy working under the deep pit.

"It's so cold, but they still work selflessly. Are there many young people?"

"They are all my people." Rurik sighed happily, "Just like I trained the blacksmith slaves, these young people are all my chosen children. They are my shipbuilders. When they learn the skills, I I can command them to build ships directly. I... don’t want to be manipulated by the masters of the Hotla family.”

"Hotra!" Otto couldn't help but repeat the name solemnly: "I remember he is in the capital. This old guy should still be alive, right?"

Rurik nodded: "Yes. It's just that he is too old. He doesn't even have the energy to attend our banquet. But he must see you this time."

"Is this why we're standing here waiting? Well, I can keep waiting."

At the same time, Stein was busy helping his old father put on thick clothes. When the old guy came to see him on a sleigh, the two kings had to wait for a long time.

The old man was wrapped up in a polar bear skin, and the white fur covered his aging and shriveled body.

Originally, this old man from Mälaren was going to spend his old age with his eldest son in his hometown of Rossburg. Since the largest ship in the kingdom had to be launched in the spring of 842, he came here to witness the grand launch.

The sleigh stopped in front of Otto, and the reindeer was still twisting its neck uneasily, as if it was frightened by the phantom of the big ship.

"Yes! It's the big leader. You are indeed here. Please atone for your long wait." The old man stood up with Stein's help. He wanted to salute the two kings, but Otto stopped him immediately.

"We are old friends. Let's take a look at this big ship!"

"Yes. This is a big ship that our family has devoted all its skills to build. With the blessing of God Thor, when the sea ice melts, it can be launched into the water."

Take a closer look at Hotela, who has been plucked. He is now almost seventy years old. He is not out of breath when talking, but his body is relatively weak. His once skillful hands now tremble a little when holding tools. After all, his strong arm muscles have inevitably shrunk a lot.

Here, Rurik could clearly see the existence of the elevator. Its essence is a squirrel cage elevator. With the successful attempt of the "timber elevator" in Ellenburg in the north, this type of equipment has a greater scale in engineering construction.

Otto knew what this behemoth was, and thought that he would have to rely on him to board the ship.

"Any description is worse than seeing it in person. Brother Hotla, I want to go up and have a look." As he said that, he pointed his big hand directly to the sky.

"Oh! I am your servant, and it is a great honor to call me brother."

"It's nothing. The Ross Navy is indestructible, and your family deserves all the credit."

The excitement of the spirit seemed to give new strength to the aging body. Otto was in an excellent mood, even though the sky was still silently falling with snow, his enthusiasm was like the July sunshine, and now his body was warm.

Squirrel cage cranes rely on ratchets and gears to slowly transport heavy objects to the uppermost deck of a ship.

There are two squirrel cage cranes serving this huge ship whose keel alone is close to 50 stikas, equivalent to about 48 meters.

Sea Monarch, according to Rurik himself, was the first galenic ship built by Rus.

What is a Galen ship, and what is the difference between it and the Karak-like ship of Ross's eight major battleships?

Such a huge ship has never appeared in Northern Europe, and any definition comes from Rurik's mouth.

The reason why she is huge is because the cabin alone has up to three floors!

The ceiling of the upper cabin is the surface deck of the ship.

At the beginning of the period, the largest ship in Ross, taking the Aurora as an example, had only one large inner cabin, and the deck was equipped with a forecastle and a stern building.

The Sea Monarch has undergone a large-scale upgrade based on the construction technology of the Avora. The spliced ​​keel has been lengthened, and the sun-dried oak ribs are densely arranged.

On the first deck, oak beams are connected to one rib on the left and right using a mortise and tenon structure. Each beam is also connected by longitudinal wooden beams to ensure the strength of the entire structure. Finally, oak planks are laid. Since this layer is basically used for shipping goods, the boards must have a strong load-bearing capacity, and strong oak boards are the best choice. This deck divided the bottom and middle compartments, and according to Rurik's requirements, the bottom compartment was divided into up to ten watertight compartments.

This was actually the first time that the Russians built a ship that used a large number of watertight compartments. It was not even built to prevent the ship from running aground and sinking, but to enhance the strength of the bottom of the ship.

More wooden beams pull on the left and right ribs of the ship, and the wooden beams are forcibly pieced together into vertical wooden boards. According to the cross-sectional drawings provided by the Hotla family, the bottom warehouse of the big ship can have as many as ten "strong wooden shells". The frame structure ensures as much as possible The most important thing is the strength of the bottom warehouse.

On the second deck, the wooden beams still play a role in pulling the ship's ribs to further enhance the overall structural strength. However, the wooden boards laid are already common pine wood, so cost issues really need to be considered in this regard. This deck separates the second and third floors.

The third deck separates the third floor of the ship and the open space on the top. The biggest problem is that the length of the ship's ribs has reached the limit. For this reason, the shipbuilders have to mortise and tenon each of the ship's ribs. The newly added oak parts were installed restrainedly on the ship's ribs. According to the cross-sectional sketch, the third-level cabin of the ship is trapezoidal, so that the deck stepped on by the third level is larger than the top deck.

The core of the bottom of the ship is a huge assembled keel. The bottom is solid, and the top begins to converge significantly. The overall plane plan resembles the structure of a tumbler.

This was intentional. After all, she was building an unprecedented large ship. Based on past experience in building large ships, her main purpose was to transport cargo and troops, and safety considerations were the top priority. As for its speed, the tall masts are enough to give it super driving ability. People believe that the speed is definitely enough.

There are two large bases installed in the keel. The bilge compartment has been greatly strengthened, and these two bases have been strengthened to the extreme.

At that time, installing the mast of the large ship became a lively event, and thousands of people came to watch the fun.

The squirrel cage crane lifted the prepared giant redwood piece by piece, and then carefully inserted it into the two prepared bases.

Nordic redwoods are known for their tall and straight trees. They are widely distributed and are perfect for building houses and large ships.

The redwoods to be used as masts had been in stock since the excavation of the dry dock began. The bark of the tree was peeled off, and the surface was treated with a scraper and polished. It was left to stand for more than two years before the installation work began. If it can be dried for ten years, it is the best shipbuilding material. However, it had to be installed. Firstly, Ross couldn't afford to wait, and secondly, leaving it alone for two and a half years made the Hotla family feel that time had passed.

The big ship has a main mast and a jib mast. Secondly, there are bow masts and stern masts installed obliquely, but these are smaller in scale.

Because the big ship has reached a certain level, it is still impractical to use triangular Latin sails.

The mainmast and auxiliary mast are equipped with sail beams to hang the huge scale sail. It is completely fixed, and the mainmast and the auxiliary mast also need to be driven by a manual winch. The mainmast has two sails, the largest one needs a winch to be retracted and retracted, and the jib sail on the upper level completely requires manpower.

The compound mast still has two sails, and its area is much smaller than that of the mainmast. Retracting and lowering the sails requires manual operation of the pulleys.

The bow mast is "lying", and its existence is to catch the wind from the lower part of the ship. It has only one side and is installed on the only cross member. This special sail can only be lowered when sailing at full speed is required.

The most special thing is the stern mast, which is equipped with the only triangular Latin sail on the ship. From the jib, the big ship has a minimum ability to sail against the wind, but the displacement of the big ship is too large, and no one expects it to really have navigability against the wind. The biggest significance of this jib is to correct the ship when sailing. heading. After all, the ship is so big that it is difficult to turn quickly simply by relying on the stern rudder. It is better to use the special function of the triangular Latin sail to assist.

There are three winch systems in the big ship, one is to control the raising and lowering of the mainmast and mainsail, one is to control the free retraction and expansion of the anchor, and the other is to control the stern rudder.

The cast iron gears are specially made. With the existence of this system, one person can control the steering of the huge rudder, but the operator needs to keep rotating the wheel to achieve four or two movements.

No, Rurik Otto and others are already standing on the top deck. The workers here have been busy. Huge sails are piled on the deck. They are putting cables in a large number of reserved holes. Even if the nobles climb on The ship was inspected and these people were still busy working.

Rurik looked at the sky, staring at the top of the mast, and was delighted to see that an observation tower was indeed installed there.

Taking a closer look at the deck, he urgently needed to get to the lower level to take a look.

Porthole windows are specially reserved on the third floor, and it will be completely dark when you reach the second and lower floors. The design requirement for the two lowest floors is to transport goods, while the third floor is mainly for transporting people. The reserved portholes not only allow personnel to view the scenery, but also serve as shooting holes for torsion slingshots.

Is there any other force that dares to fight the Ross Navy at sea? It's like a mountain floating on the sea. Even if the rope ladder is lowered, people sitting on a traditional long boat have to climb for a while before they can get on the boat.

The Sea Monarch canceled the forecastle and continued to retain the stern. The reason for this is precisely because the rudder winch system and the stern mast take up a lot of space. Secondly, the captain's cabin is located here, which is the most important cabin in the whole ship. Rurik also has selfish motives. When he needs to sail on this new flagship of the Russian Navy, he must live in the best room to spend the slow sailing. boring days.

When Otto got older, he walked along the wooden ladder to the bottom. Here he could still hear the ding-ding-dong-dong sound.

"What are you doing? Is anyone else digging at the bottom of the ship?" he asked.

Stein hurriedly explained: "In order to prevent the ship from bumping around on the sea, we are currently busy installing the bilge keel."

"Oh? When I first came here, I saw someone busy under the pit. They seemed to be nailing some boards. Could this be it?"

"Exactly," Stein added.

The so-called bilge keel is to deliberately install a bulge on the side of the bottom of the ship. The so-called deliberate increase of sea wave damping, the bilge keel is accompanied by ballast stones. In order to make the ship more stable and safe, it is better to sacrifice some speed.

However, the length-to-width ratio of the entire ship is still somewhat imbalanced. On the one hand, the Hotla family is very radical in accordance with Rurik's requirements, and on the other hand, it is very conservative.

Compared with the Aurora, the spliced ​​keel has grown by nearly 20 stikas, and the length has increased by as much as the same amount.

Because the Hotla family cannot make a product with a maximum width of 10stika (

The maximum width of the ship appears on the second deck, and it converges to a maximum of 8 stikas on the top deck. On the stern deck, the length-to-width ratio is narrowed down to this, making this large ship appear quite slender.

Everything started from big trees, iron ore, linen and wool, countless ordinary things, and finally turned into such behemoths in the hands of skilled craftsmen.

Otto began to feel that she was more than just a two thousand pound investment, that she was huge on the outside and delicate on the inside.

It is really appropriate to call it the monarch of the sea.

The crane slowly lowered the visiting king to solid ground. Otto was so satisfied that his legs even trembled with excitement.

He had to hold his son's shoulders and smile to cover up the uncontrollable trembling of his lips.

"Hotra, you...your family is a hero. You! God Thor really gave your family strength."

Of course, Hotela himself was also surprised. The construction of the big ship was completely coming to an end, and all that was left was time to install various superficial facilities. It turned out that there was plenty of time, and the launch and seaworthiness in April would not be delayed at all.

For the first time, Hortra simulated the identity of an outsider and re-examined his family's giant ship. He recalled that three years ago, he took on this epic task on behalf of the whole family. Now the actual operation is entirely due to the huge number of troops sent by his second son and Rurik. apprenticeship.

It no longer matters whether the disciples are taught to starve the master to death, because today's big ships are full of new technologies.

Hearing Otto's praise, Hotela couldn't help but feel happy at the same time.

"What if the ship suddenly leaks after the gate is opened and the water is released? What if it rolls over after entering the ocean? If so, I would be embarrassed even if I die to apologize!" Hotla did not dare to put it in the wrong place. He expressed the worries in his heart without daring to displease the two kings.

But he is indeed a devout believer in God Thor. He stayed in the capital this winter and went to the Great Temple many times to pray in front of the gilded statue of God Thor.

There is even a small altar not far from the dry dock, which enshrines a silver-plated iron statue of the god Thor. The statue particularly emphasizes Thor's hammer. People regularly pray to the statue on the spot for the safety of the project and the future of the sea. Try it safely.

So, can the Sea Monarch take over the historical responsibilities of the old flagship Aurora immediately after being launched?

There was no possibility of failure in Rurik's mind.

He saw the current situation of the big ship with his own eyes and directly told himself that success was inevitable.

Of course, huge ships require more people to operate them. In an era without electric motors and internal combustion engines, there were not even steam boilers. The steering of such a large ship, the retraction and release of anchors, and the raising and lowering of sails all require manpower, which means a large number of sailors are needed.

"In the new war, this big ship does not have combat and transportation capabilities. I must train new sailors and expand the navy's strength."

Rurik is already starting to do this.