Chapter 207: Suspended Tile Armor
Okabe Igen, in a sense, was an engineering dog who relied on technical expertise when faced with problems.
He didn’t rush to discuss his son’s enrollment with Yuan Ye. Practical work came first, so he took his son and apprentices to the small workshop assigned to them, where they tinkered for seven or eight days. Following Yuan Ye’s requirements, they produced a large batch of “models” and enlisted the help of the guard force for some experiments before finally notifying Yuan Ye.
Yuan Ye arrived immediately. Upon entering, he ignored the models of “Ma-bune ships” and “Kan-sen ships” and his gaze immediately fell upon several “Large Ataka Copper Ship” models.
These Large Ataka ship models were all similar, placed together on the table, looking like a pile of wooden crates.
The sides of these ships were covered with thick wooden plank walls protecting the oarsmen, with smaller gunports and arrow slits on the plank walls. The upper deck was open and protected by a low bulwark—actually an extension of the side plank walls.
In some models of the “Large Ataka ship,” there was a similarly sturdy “cabin” on the deck, or simply a watchtower with a vertical top.
There wasn’t much difference in the propulsion systems, apart from oars, there were masts. A large, rigid sail was hung on the mast, adorned with a printed, painted Gourd Pattern emblem.
Additionally, Yuan Ye tested it: the mast of the “Large Ataka ship” could be folded down from the center, and extra protection for the protruding oars could be achieved by supporting bamboo curtains hung outside the ship’s sides.
These scale ship models were all exquisitely made, fully showcasing Okabe Igen’s excellent woodworking skills. If he had lived in the Modern Era, with his skill in making models, earning a million a year would not have been a dream.
If he had even started a live stream, people might have begged him to help them make things.
Yuan Ye watched intently, and Okabe Igen carefully observed his expression. Seeing a smile appear on his face, he was immediately relieved and began to meticulously explain the differences between these ship types and their advantages and disadvantages in naval combat.
Yuan Ye listened patiently for a while. He wasn’t in a hurry about these matters; he still needed to consult with Navy instructor Yu Da, Grandpa A Man, Izumi Heiji, and others regarding the ship types. He politely waited for Okabe Igen’s explanation to conclude and immediately pointed to the side of the model, asking, “Regarding the method of plating the hull with copper, has Lord Okabe solved it?”
“Your Highness, please look!”
Okabe Igen was well-prepared and confidently called for his son and apprentices to bring over a large frame, which displayed a small section of “copper-plated side armor” simulated according to Yuan Ye’s requirements.
Yuan Ye’s gaze became even more focused. He took a closer look and noticed that this copper-plated armor was not a flat piece but was hung in layers, with the edge of the upper layer slightly covering the top of the lower layer, like laying tiles, giving it a scale-like beauty.
It was very beautiful; the copper sheets were smooth and regular, neatly arranged, and gleamed with a golden hue, giving it an artistic feel, but… it wasn’t the armor he had imagined!
He didn’t want flashiness or beauty; he wanted practicality!
He pondered for a moment and asked tactfully, “Can’t these copper sheets be nailed directly on?”
“No, Your Highness. We tried, and nailing them directly caused too much damage to the hull. Seawater would seep into the hull through the nail holes, causing the wood to rot easily, and…” As Okabe Igen spoke, he ordered his son and apprentices to bring another frame and pointed to it, saying, “As you can see, direct nailing results in very poor defensive capability.”
Yuan Ye immediately bent down to examine the directly nailed armor. He saw that the thin copper sheet had a large hole from a Matchlock Gun, directly exposing the wood underneath. To defend against Matchlock Gun bullets at close range, the fine iron plates on typical Armor required a thickness of 2-3 centimeters. Now, switching to copper and reducing the thickness by nearly ten times was like having nothing.
Moreover, he had provided Okabe Igen with four specifications of iron and copper plates, and like Kuki Yoshitaka in history, Okabe Igen had chosen the thinnest one, which was 0.3 centimeters thick.
Yuan Ye pondered for a moment and asked, “Can’t the armor be made thicker? There’s no need to consider the cost; Wanjin can afford tens of thousands of catties of copper…”
Okabe Igen would not compromise on technical issues and became much bolder, immediately interrupting him, “No, Your Highness. If the armor is made thicker, the ship’s speed will decrease significantly.”
“What is the current ship speed?”
“Currently, it is estimated to be only two-thirds of a normal Atakebune ship. If the armor is made thicker, the speed will only be slower.”
So that’s how it is…
Yuan Ye nodded gently and calculated in his mind. A normal Atakebune ship, with favorable wind and current, could travel about 9 knots per hour. Now, the speed of the “Large Ataka Copper Ship” was only two-thirds of that, which was 6 knots per hour. Against the wind and current, it would drop by almost half, only 3 knots per hour, comparable to the speed of a sea turtle coming ashore.
And 6 knots per hour at sea was already extremely slow, offering only marginal maneuverability. If the armor were ten times thicker, reaching 3 centimeters, the ship would likely sink upon launch.
Even if it didn’t sink, it probably wouldn’t move, becoming a floating copper coffin.
Without a steam engine, building an ironclad ship is indeed a bit difficult…
Yuan Ye gave up. Some things couldn’t be achieved by imagination alone. He immediately discarded the idea of nailing copper sheets. Okabe Igen, seeing his serious expression, became uneasy. After all, Yuan Ye’s intention for plating the ship with copper was primarily to prevent fire attacks, with no high requirements for defending against Matchlock Guns. His emphasis on this point seemed somewhat superfluous. On one hand, he wanted his work to be more perfect; on the other hand, he felt that Yuan Ye treated him as a National Scholar, and he also hoped the ship would be powerful enough to help Wanjin win battles.
He hesitated for a moment and said hesitantly, “If Your Highness doesn’t care too much about the hull’s defensive capability or its lifespan, then direct nailing is actually possible…”
Yuan Ye snapped back to attention and quickly waved his hand, “No, no, no, no need. I don’t understand these things. Everything will be based on Lord Okabe’s opinion. It’s excellent that it can improve defense against Matchlock Guns. You’ve been very thoughtful.”
Being able to prevent fire and also withstand Matchlock Gun fire would definitely provide a significant advantage in naval exchanges. What fool would refuse?
But, could this actually work?
As he spoke, his gaze shifted to the “suspended tiled scale armor plates,” and he asked with concern, “Can this layered suspension defend against Matchlock Gun fire?”
“Yes!” Okabe Igen also had a flash of inspiration when he remembered this craftsmanship. He immediately had someone bring over another wooden frame and pointed to it, saying, “Please look. I had your guards test it with Matchlock Guns, and the effect was even better than expected. It wasn’t penetrated even at a distance of forty ken.”
“Not penetrated even at forty ken?” Yuan Ye didn’t understand ships or armor, but he knew the power of his own Matchlock Guns. If Wanjin’s Matchlock Guns couldn’t penetrate at forty ken, then with the haphazard imitation Matchlock Guns in the hands of ordinary Water Bandits, even at a close-range firing distance of thirty ken, it could still be defended against.
However, with the same copper plate thickness, direct nailing couldn’t defend, but suspension could. What was the reason for this?
He looked closely at the impact points for a while and found that the “tiles” in the impacted areas of the armor had only dented, not actually penetrated. He was decent at physics, and after thinking it over, he understood: the suspended, tiled armor layers overlapped, dispersing the impact force. The armor plates also had an inclined angle, so the Matchlock Gun bullets couldn’t exert force directly and were deflected.
This was truly a stroke of genius, possessing a peculiar beauty that turned the impossible into the possible.
Looking at it this way, Okabe Igen was quite capable. He might even be better than the “Large Ataka Ironclad Ship” created by Kuki Yoshitaka. Hiring him was truly worth every penny.
Yuan Ye asked himself, he would never have thought of such a method. Instead, he became interested in this ancient “suspension armor.” After fiddling with the “model” for a while, he sincerely praised, “How did you come up with this method, Lord Okabe? It’s truly amazing!”
Okabe Igen was very honest and did not take credit for himself, shaking his head, “Your Highness is joking. This is the overlapping joint method from the Fifteen Arts of Woodworking. I merely applied it to ships.”
A mortise and tenon structure?
No wonder not a single nail was visible…
Yuan Ye pulled hard a few more times and saw that the armor didn’t budge. He was relieved and immediately agreed, “Then let’s proceed like this for now. We’ll build the ship and see the results later.”
…
With the armor issue resolved, the biggest challenge for the “Large Ataka Copper Ship” was solved. Yuan Ye then invited Navy instructor Yu Da, the knowledgeable Grandpa A Man Izumi Heiji, and the main Military Officers of the Navy to form an “expert review panel.” From a practical combat perspective, they finalized the ship type for the “Large Ataka Copper Ship.”
It would be a firepower-oriented vessel, 30 meters long and 13.8 meters wide, equipped with 6 small-caliber cannons, 6 Matchlock Guns with small flags, 20 armed sailors, and 40 armed oarsmen. The sailors and oarsmen would handle the ship’s daily operations and, when necessary, grab Sabers and spears, put on Armor, and act as front-line spearmen for boarding or landing operations.
Of course, the current Wanjin Navy was essentially a large transport fleet, lacking sufficient combat personnel. The troops needed to be rapidly expanded, and Yuan Ye put all these on the agenda. The Army was not of much use now; all the Matchlock Gun soldiers with small flags would directly learn to swim and be transferred to ships, with the Army filling the vacancies slowly.
At the same time, the Wanjin Shipyard was finally established, with Okabe Igen as its first director. It was expected that the first experimental “Large Ataka Copper Ship” would be delivered in five months.
