Submarine Design

"Excellent! Excellent!" Jin Rongjia became more and more excited as he thought about it. "No wonder you were so eager to push forward with the nuclear reactor project—it's for providing underwater propulsion for the Pansy!"

"Yes, preparations for the Pansy's refit are already underway."

Mentioning this matter gave Su Ming a headache.

"There's a mountain of work to do: submarine tests, operator training—the workload is immense."

"That means the progress is very fast." Jin Rongjia's face was full of smiles. "It won't be long before the satellite deployment in the other world is completed?"

Su Ming nodded.

Compared to the previous large-scale relocation of resources, followed by the establishment of an Arctic base and the reassembly and debugging of the Vermilion Bow, this approach is much more efficient.

The new plan is to move the launch pad directly to the Arctic.

This reduces the time by more than just a little bit!

"We should be able to make video calls soon." Su Ming was also looking forward to that moment.

"Pretty!"

Jin Rongjia clapped his hands suddenly, excitedly stood up and paced back and forth a few steps, almost bumping his head into the door.

He was already pondering how to report this exciting progress to the board of directors.

Jin Rongjia suddenly remembered the question from the very beginning.

"That's not right."

He stopped and turned to look at Su Ming.

"Since you already have the Pansy, why bother building a conventional submarine?"

"Scouting the way, investigating the waterway." Su Ming gave him a somewhat disdainful look. "You really came from the submarine force?"

Sailing the Pansy directly into a deep-sea area with completely unknown hydrological conditions is no different from blindly rushing into a minefield.

Seafloor topography, seawater density variations, temperature stratification, ocean current structure----

Is it because there aren't enough places where things could go wrong?

"Haha, I got a little too excited, a little too excited." Jin Rongjia finally realized what he had done, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"You'd better find me an active-duty expert." Su Ming was blunt and didn't give him any face.

****

To everyone's surprise, the one Jin Rongjia temporarily assigned to the task was actually Dodder.

Don't tell me you've been on a submarine too.

Su Ming was a little annoyed, "Big sister, I'm serious."

"A senior submarine design engineer, I've been on submarines and participated in sea trials." Dodder smiled slightly, "Am I qualified?"

"You've really diversified your career path quite a bit." Su Ming was a little surprised.

"There's nothing I can do; my conventional submarine project team has been canceled."

Dodder also looked helpless, opened its notebook, and began loading relevant information.

"I never expected that even after being transferred to administration, I would be able to go back to my old profession."

Once the software had finished starting, she looked up.

"Alright, let's start discussing how to build this piece of junk."

Su Ming's lips twitched upon hearing this.

Why do these two seem to dislike conventional submarines more than the other?

Jin Rongjia also opened his notebook and began taking notes.

"I want the structure to resemble Albacore," Su Ming said, "Not something too fancy."

The Albacore that was stolen from United States has finally reached the point where it can be opened.

"Yes, Albacore are very strong fighters."

Dodder nodded in agreement.

Its teardrop shape was designed with underwater performance as a priority.

"On the contrary, the improvements we commonly see now, such as the elongated teardrop shape, cigar shape, and turtleback shape, are compromises and concessions made to meet operational needs and to accommodate more weapon mounting space."

"That's right, in terms of pure sailing performance and underwater top speed, the subsequent design is a step down," Jin Rongjia echoed.

"Wow, I've basically gotten my hands on a Collector's Edition Gold Card."

Su Ming made a half-joking remark.

Regarding batteries, we are already able to attempt production of lithium batteries.

19

He then proceeded to explain the current progress of the Ruby Base.

"I don't want this!"

Dodder, however, rejected the idea without even thinking about it.

You should just stick to using lead sulfate batteries.

"Why?" Su Ming asked, puzzled. "Isn't the energy density of lithium batteries three times that of lead-acid batteries?"

The Dodder looked at him with a hint of pity.

"We need to configure 50,000 high-capacity battery cells that weigh three kilograms each."

"Do you know what the consequences will be if even one of them disobeys?"

50,000 large battery cells?

Su Ming was speechless.

Lithium batteries are indeed tempting, but once thermal runaway occurs, they immediately become a bomb.

And it was a massive quantity of 50,000 piled together in a confined deep-sea environment!

"Or are you saying that your confidence in the hastily developed ruby-based battery manufacturing technology has reached this level?"

The Dodder added insult to injury.

"No, I don't even have the confidence to surpass Third Brother," Su Ming said frankly.

"That settles it then."

As she spoke, she wrote down a summary in the software.

"Energy storage system: 500 tons of lead-acid batteries."

"Diesel generator set power: 5 megawatts ---- Inverter power ----" She skillfully added the remaining parameters.

Su Ming was taken aback.

Five hundred tons of batteries, that many?

It can store approximately 22,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

As Dodder spoke, he generated performance data.

"Hmm, it's alright."

"Enough for this submarine to travel at full speed for an hour."

Su Ming was completely shocked.

"----Did you miscalculate any unit?"

"The mackerel has two propellers with a total power of 30,000 horsepower, and a maximum underwater speed of 33 knots (approximately 61 km/h)."

The Dodder didn't even raise its head.

"That's the level of consumption. Five hundred tons of batteries are only enough for one hour of operation, that's correct."

The battery life of a conventional submarine, when operating at maximum propulsion power, is calculated in minutes and seconds.

Once the battery is depleted, it can only float to the surface and have its diesel engine started to recharge.

As for why the diesel engine wasn't operated underwater—

A five-megawatt diesel generator set is not a household appliance.

It consumes 250 cubic meters of air per minute.

The amount of cargo carried by the submarine wasn't even enough to stuff under a fingernail.

In 2003, a submarine was charging on the surface when it was affected by large waves, causing the diesel engine's ventilation pipes to shut down.

While the submarine remained intact and afloat on the surface, all crew members perished due to lack of oxygen.

****

"I understand." Su Ming sighed.

"Removing one set of thrusters would be pointless anyway, it's like installing one without any benefit."

What is the maximum speed?

"If the power is halved, the top speed will drop to twenty-six knots (about 48 km/h)." Dodder rattled off the answer without hesitation, clearly very familiar with the topic.

"What about the range if the speed drops to eight knots?" Su Ming continued to ask.

Once the speed drops to eight knots (about 15 km/h), the power required for propulsion will fall to about one thirty-second of the maximum power of a single engine.

"Including the life support system, it can probably sustain itself underwater for about 64 hours," the Dodder replied.

"That means two and a half days, a 960-kilometer flight." After hearing this, Su Ming could only let out a long sigh, "What a waste!"

"That is!"

Dodder and Jin Rongjia responded simultaneously, clearly pleased that Su Ming had reached a consensus with them.

"Do you want me to install an AIP for you?" Dodder asked.

AIP (Air-Independent Propulsion) means that the submarine carries its own liquid oxygen to dive.

It generates electricity underwater using liquid oxygen and fuel, thereby increasing its range.

Of course, this extra battery life is a one-time use; once the liquid oxygen is used up, it's gone.

"Need not."

Su Ming, then shook her head.

"Resources should be prioritized for the Pansy's refit."

"The Albacore' has a range of 960 kilometers, which is sufficient for a pioneering exploration vessel."

He pondered for a moment, and finally made his decision.

"That's settled then. Following this direction, refine the submarine configuration plan."

****

Dodder looked at the currently compiled parameters.

"A 960-kilometer one-way voyage is not enough to cross the sea beneath the ice sheet."

"Are you planning to charge it underwater using the Pansy's nuclear power units?"

"Yes." Su Ming nodded. "Let the mackerel accompany the Pansy as a wingman in the deep sea to ensure the safety of the main ship."

"That's indeed a good idea." Dodder nodded in approval, continuing to add to the plan for the underwater docking and charging system.

In the deep sea, you can never be too cautious.

"When necessary, Pansy and Albacore can even serve as backups for each other and act as lifeboats."

The Dodder looked up and asked Su Ming one last question.

"How many people do you plan to carry on this submarine?"

"Miao Xin will be the main pilot, accompanied by seven to eight support crew members, controlling undead creatures to assist," Su Ming said. "Is that possible?"

"For this scenario, this staffing configuration shouldn't be a problem."

I will increase the level of automation in the design.

As Dodder spoke, he wrote down on the design outline:

One crew living quarters, with an area of 3.5 square meters.

Su Ming initially only glanced at it.

But the next moment, the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was off.

"I said I wanted to arrange seven or eight people," he corrected.

"That's right," Dodder confirmed naturally. "One crew cabin is 3.5 square meters in size and can fit up to twelve people."

Su Ming's eyes widened in surprise.

"You wouldn't even have enough room to sleep, let alone hang yourself with a rope!"

"Don't listen to her nonsense," Jin Rongjia interjected. "It's not that crowded."

He exposed the Dodder.

"A living quarters this size should normally only accommodate nine people."

Su Ming wondered if he and these two were simply not on the same wavelength.

"Six beds, the people on duty take turns sleeping there," Jin Rongjia explained earnestly. "Only nine people are arranged, this effectively avoids situations where there are more people in the living quarters than beds."

"----Is the space in a submarine really that outrageous?" Su Ming was truly shocked this time.

"The total volume of a submarine is only one-third that of a surface ship of the same displacement, and that's after deducting all the essential equipment." Dodder sneered, "It's already a great favor that there's even a place to squeeze a person in."

"Moreover, each bed is only about 1.6 meters long and 40 centimeters wide, with less than half a meter of height between it and the ceiling," Jin Rongjia added, a hint of lingering fear on his face.

"Exactly!" Dodder was practically oozing resentment. "Even a woman like me can't stretch my legs out when I sleep!"

"And they'll be staying for a whole month!"

"When we first came ashore, the military police always avoided us."

"Otherwise, they would have been taken advantage of for nothing!" Jin Rongjia recalled.

"Let's give them some more space," Su Ming sighed after hearing this. "This is too much suffering."

"Okay."

Dodder reluctantly agreed, typed on the keyboard, and changed the living quarters area from 3.5 square meters to 5 square meters, and the height from 1.8 meters to 2 meters.

Then, I changed the name to "Deluxe 9-Person Suite".

Su Ming was speechless for a moment.

Jin Rongjia patted the Little Spiky Head on the shoulder.

"So when I heard you were going to develop conventional submarines, I thought you were just going to have to put up with something difficult."

Su Ming raised his hand and patted his shoulder.

"I haven't settled accounts with you yet, you fraudulent expert."

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