322: Chapter 322 This is a real steamship!

The Signalman standing on the deck of the steam ironship sent a flag signal toward the shore, asking whether to set sail.

Zhongli Wei and Ouyang Feng both looked toward Zhao Fusu.

"Mhm."

Zhao Fusu nodded slightly.

The Signalman standing on the shore immediately signaled back.

The engineer in charge of operating the steam ironship shifted into forward gear.

The boilers and Steam Engines used for the steam ironship were all manufactured by the Great Qin Academy of Sciences.

With the experience of building Steam Engines for numerous steam trains, they were able to create a Steam Engine specifically for the steam ironship.

In terms of size, the Steam Engine used for the steam ironship was much larger than those for steam trains. The technical requirements were also significantly higher.

Elder Mo and the others also put in a lot of research before they finally developed it.

They also arrived at the banks of the Wei River, watching the steam ironship prepared for its official test, feeling somewhat anxious.

They had already started the Steam Engine mounted on the steam ironship multiple times.

However, they didn't know if any issues would arise while it was operating on the steam ironship.

Without testing, they simply couldn't be sure.

Inside the steam ironship, technicians responsible for monitoring the Steam Engine's operation were checking various parameters, such as the boiler's water level and pressure.

As for the propulsion system, Steam Engine-driven wheels were installed on both sides of the ship.

As the Steam Engine was shifted into gear, the two large wheels began to rotate.

Blades were attached to the outer circumference of the rotating wheels, turning them into rotating paddle wheels.

Propelled by the paddle wheels, the steam ironship began to move forward.

"This is what a true steamship is!"

Zhao Fusu couldn't help but exclaim as he watched the scene.

The two large wheels used by the steam ironship were called paddle wheels, so it was also known as a paddle steamer.

paddle wheel propulsion was more advanced than tools like bamboo poles, oars, and sculls.

However, its structure was still cumbersome, and its efficiency was relatively low.

Especially when encountering wind and waves, if the paddle blades were partially or fully exposed above the water, the vessel would be hindered by the wind and unable to sail steadily.

Furthermore, the paddle blades were extremely prone to damage during use.

In contrast, propellers were lightweight, highly efficient, simple in structure, sturdy, and submerged deep underwater, making them well-protected and less likely to be damaged.

The reason for not using a propeller wasn't that Zhao Fusu didn't want to.

Rather, the design blueprints for the steam ironship he obtained through his check-ins used paddle wheels.

He could only hope that the design blueprints for steam ironships obtained from future check-ins would use propellers.

Despite the massive size of these two wheels, their propulsion efficiency was far inferior to that of a propeller.

One must realize that a small propeller could provide massive thrust to a steam ironship!

The reason for this is that the thrust of a propeller is proportional to the product of mass and acceleration in the water.

In other words, the thrust a propeller can generate is not directly proportional to its size; unlike an airplane, a larger size doesn't necessarily mean more power.

A propeller that is too large would actually hinder the vessel's operation.

For instance, the two large wheels currently used by the steam ironship are too massive; besides the significant loss in transmission power, the faster the steam ironship travels, the greater the loss becomes!

Zhao Fusu was not satisfied with this paddle-wheeled steam ironship.

However, Xu Fu, Zhongli Wei, and Ouyang Feng were all very excited when they saw the steam ironship cover a great distance in the blink of an eye.

For such a massive and heavy hunk of iron to move so quickly was truly extraordinary!