There were two types of hovercraft.
One was a full hovercraft that used air propellers to move forward, with the propellers on the back of the hull.
This type of hovercraft was usually used for small and medium-sized ships. Since there was no power unit at the bottom of the hull, it could travel short distances in swamps, shallow water, ice, and even sand and mud.
The advantage of this structure was that it could be used for beach landing and was suitable for military use.
However, because the propellers were not in contact with the water, the power consumption was serious, and the range was short. The speed usually did not exceed 50 knots.
The Humpback Whale used another type of side wall. It relied on the lifting metal side wall to prevent air escape, minimizing the contact area between the hull and the water. The hull relied on the propellers to move forward in contact with the water.
This type of structure could not be used for beach landing, let alone in swamps or mud.
However, this type of structure was very suitable for large ships. At the same time, when the propellers were in contact with the water, the power consumption was greatly reduced. Whether it was speed or range, it was far ahead of the previous type. However, the technical difficulty of this type of structure was quite high. At present, there were no examples of ships that exceeded 2,000 tons in all countries.
In the cockpit, two Master Metal Experts stood at the power console.
With Ye Qing's order, the two auxiliary electromagnetic engines of the Humpback Whale were started. Under the waterline, the two full-motion water jet thrusters at the bottom of the hull slowly pushed the Humpback Whale out of the sealed berth.
The Humpback Whale could carry 20,000 tons of cargo. Even if it slowed down, the momentum it carried was extraordinary. For a moment, the waves inside the berth rolled and the torrents splashed.
When the Humpback Whale completely disappeared from the berth and entered the sea, it was unknown whether the world was trembling or the thunderstorm in the weather forecast was late.
Anyway, at the end of Longxi Bay, there was a sudden bolt of lightning that pierced through the sky. Dozens of seconds later, thunder rolled.
The song "Testimony of the Mountains and Seas", accompanied by the rolling thunder, spread in the cockpit.
After the rendering of Dolbit's sound effects, this was one of the few songs written by Xue Ninggong. It was a particularly majestic song. In front of the field of vision, there was thunder and lightning in the night sea and rugged rocks, making Ye Qing have an indescribable surge of emotions.
"Green Mountain swears, the sea with us."
"In this time, will time never change …"
"White clouds go, rivers flow forever …"
"Boom ~"
Another thunder. Ye Qing laughed heartily. "The target is the high seas. Full speed after leaving Longxi Beach."
"Yes, boss." The Master Metal Expert quickly entered a series of commands on the console. The next moment, the seemingly ordinary semicircular porthole glass in front suddenly changed its appearance.
They had turned from colorless to a faint green.
Standing in the cockpit and looking out, the pitch-black world outside the porthole had also changed color. It was similar to the green color of a night vision device, but its imaging effect was extremely clear. Whether it was the ripples on the surface of the sea or the exposed reefs, it was no different from looking at it during the day.
This was a laser night vision system. It could see further than the current mainstream night vision goggles. Even in an environment without any light source, it could still be used normally.
The porthole glass not only showed the image of the front, but also the images of the two sides and the tail of the Humpback Whale. At the same time, it also had an automatic target identification function and a heat source detection function.
When the third bolt of lightning flashed between the sea and the sky, the Humpback Whale had already sailed out of Longxi Bay.
In front of them was a vast ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see. Thunder and lightning intersected in the sky.
At this moment, the two main electromagnetic engines instantly exploded.
What was the concept of a single electromagnetic engine with a power of 200,000 kilowatts?
Take an aircraft carrier as an example. The USS Bush, the most powerful aircraft carrier in Nimitz, had a total power of 270,000 kilowatts. However, this was only the power of the nuclear reactor. After the water in the secondary circuit was heated, part of it was needed to generate electricity, and the rest was channeled into the gas turbine to drive the turbine shaft. The turbine shaft then transmitted the power to the wheel, and the wheel drove the propeller.
There was bound to be power loss when machinery worked. At the same time, when the large wheel set was started, it must be done step by step.
The cockpit conveyed the full speed command, and the command was fed back to the wheel set. First, the steam injected into the gas turbine would gradually increase. The turbine shaft rotated faster, and more power could be transmitted to the propeller through the wheel.
In the end, it took three to five minutes for the ship to reach its maximum speed. At the same time, the power of the propeller could not exceed 200,000 kilowatts.
What about the electromagnetic engine?
It was an all-electric transmission, and the nuclear reactor drove the ultra-supercritical unit. The unit was only used to generate electricity. From the static state to the electromagnetic engine's maximum speed, it only took two seconds.
Even if the ultra-supercritical unit was in a low-power state, when it exploded at full speed, it only needed two minutes of backup power to achieve power output balance.
Two 200,000 kilowatts electromagnetic engines erupted at the same time. The waves behind the Humpback Whale, which had been relatively calm, suddenly became like a row of depth charges had been thrown in. The waves surged to the height of dozens of stories. The front of the Humpback Whale's hull was also suddenly injected with a powerful airflow.
The airflow separated the flat hull from the sea. The airflow was compressed into a thin layer of high-pressure air by the weight of the Humpback Whale. The airflow escaped in all directions, lifting up more of the hull and trying to escape from the hull.
However, a layer of flexible metal side wall rose from the bottom of the Humpback Whale, preventing the high-pressure air from escaping.
Within two seconds, the two main electromagnetic engines accelerated from a static state to 30,000 rpm, driving the two full-motion water jet thrusters at the stern. At the same time, the Humpback Whale was like a supercar that had been ejected from its starting position, instantly breaking free of its reins.
At this moment, Ye Qing felt that the whole world, and every cell in his body, was roaring with the loud noise created by the electromagnetic engines.
Even though Ye Qing was sitting in a seat with a mechanical shock-absorbing function and was firmly fastened with a seat belt, Ye Qing still had the illusion that he was sitting on the Shenzhou No.5 Rocket.
The Humpback Whale accelerated from 10 knots to 130 knots in just ten seconds. In kilometers, it accelerated to 240 kilometers per hour in just ten seconds.
The huge thrust pressed Ye Qing firmly against the back of the chair. Ye Qing moved his eyes with difficulty and saw the two Metal Specialists firmly fixed in place like metal pillars. He also saw the percentage electronic power dial, the output power was fixed at 62%.
This was the maximum speed of the Humpback Whale's normal navigation, but it was not its maximum output power.
When fully loaded, this speed was its maximum output power, and it was also the cruising speed that it could maintain for a long time.
It couldn't be helped. Who asked it to be loaded with a nuclear power reactor?
In a short period of time, the Humpback Whale's speed could still soar, but that would severely damage the water jet propulsion system.
In the 130 knots mode, after half a minute, the discomfort on Ye Qing's body completely disappeared.
At the same time, the sea was still calm. After the Humpback Whale entered the state of full cruising, the entire hull was quite stable most of the time. It was just that the noise from the water jet propulsion system was particularly loud. If a ship came close, the people on the ship would definitely feel like they were watching the flood discharge of a dam.
At this time, there was no need to think about going out of the cabin to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the sea.
With Ye Qing's physique, as soon as he went out of the cabin door, he would immediately be blown into the sky by the oncoming wind.
The noise in the cockpit was isolated to an incredible extent. Only occasionally, when the Humpback Whale flew a short distance over the waves, could they feel the slight violent turbulence caused by the high-speed cruising.
In the dark night, the Humpback Whale was like an arrow leaving the bow, flying close to the sea.
Occasionally, a flash of lightning would cut through the sky, allowing people to see the Humpback Whale. There was no visible light on the entire body of the ship.
Ye Qing listened to the surging songs one after another, feeling the stimulation of power and speed.
At some point, a torrential rain suddenly fell on the Humpback Whale.
The heavy rain was like countless arrows, but it could not shake the Humpback Whale at all.
The specially modified automatic ship identification system was working non-stop, marking the ships within twenty nautical miles of the Humpback Whale. The ship's radar was also constantly searching for nearby targets. The electronic nautical chart constantly marked the location of the Humpback Whale according to its trajectory and inertia.
Modern ships used GPS navigation, but the Humpback Whale did not.
On the electronic nautical chart, the Humpback Whale avoided commercial shipping lanes and went straight ahead.
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
