The Fisherman Who Never Catches Fish-Chapter 405 - 239: Advanced Shipbuilding Technology! (Seeking Subscription)

Underneath the sea, this wooden shipwreck was still very well preserved, with the wooden structure suffering hardly any damage.

The wooden boards, soaked by seawater, were still very sturdy.

It was possible that the whole shipwreck could be salvaged, and after repair, might even sail again.

This offered immense research value for numerous cultural relic researchers.

They could use this opportunity to study the grand occasions when Zheng He sailed to the West during the Great Ming Dynasty and the shipbuilding techniques of that time.

These were excellent subjects for research.

This well-preserved Great Ming Treasure Ship was indeed a rare find.

In the past, there had been salvaging of old shipbuilding sites from the Great Ming Dynasty, but compared to this complete ship, there was no comparison.

The shipwreck was a 2,000-material vessel and featured a "sharp bottom and wide top" structure, with the bow raised and the stern high.

This hull shape performed well in terms of stability in harsh sea conditions, and at the time, the ship’s bottom ballast was loaded with rocks and earth, making it arguably the most stable of its time. To enhance stability further, the Great Ming Treasure Ship also used water wood and lay waterboards along both sides. These side-facing boards further reduced the ship’s swaying motion.

The ship’s structure also boasted a unique feature at the time, which was the presence of multiple transverse bulkheads dividing the hold into several small compartments segmented by function using wooden boards, sealing them individually. This not only strengthened the ship’s structure but also provided subdivision for watertight anti-sinking capability. Researchers estimated there were about twenty-five such compartments, which accounted for the ship’s capacity to carry many items and maintain stability, while also explaining why these items were still well preserved.

The 2,000-material sea ship was constructed entirely of wood.

The shipbuilding technology of the Great Ming Dynasty had evolved to include shovel nails, iron clamps, shovel nails, and leech nails, enabling complex wooden structures to be easily assembled, clamped, and reinforced through various types of ship nails without falling apart.

The fundamental model of the 2,000-material Great Ming Treasure Ship was a Fujian ship with a broad flat stern and a small square bow.

Its architectural form was that of a tower ship, which had a deckhouse at the center of the main deck forming a stern house, equipped with side walls, three layers in the stern, and two layers of permeable structures in the bow. From the bottom of the hold to the deck, it had a total of five levels.

The bow of the ship prominently featured a majestic tiger-head relief, and at the front sides of both hulls, there were solemn flying dragon reliefs or murals, with phoenix murals at the back, and above the stern board was painted a soaring Roc.

Would you say this is valuable or not?

The movement of wooden sailing ships on the sea primarily relied on sails harnessing wind power and sailors rowing. In these two critical components of the propulsion system, the Great Ming Treasure Ship employed unique designs.

Unlike the segmented soft sails used by European ships at the time, the Great Ming Treasure Ship utilized a rigid sail structure with stiffening rods. Although these sails were heavy and took more effort to raise, they achieved a high wind efficiency, enhancing the ship’s speed. Moreover, the masts were not equipped with fixed beams, allowing flexibility to adapt to sudden changes in weather on the sea, enabling efficient use of wind from various directions. Distinct from ordinary oars, the Great Ming Treasure Ship had long oars installed on both sides and the stern. These long oars, which moved deep in the water and involved multiple people swinging, rotated partially underwater like modern-day propellers, pushing the ship with high efficiency. In windless conditions, they could maintain considerable speed, and their small water-contact area outside the ship was suitable for navigating crowded and narrow harbor waters.

As people salvaged this shipwreck and analyzed its structure, they ultimately discovered the key reason for its sinking.

Mainly, it was due to the crew’s operational errors.

Operational mistakes, combined with the shipwreck occurring when the ship hit a reef during its maiden voyage, still in the exploratory stage of its route when it suddenly encountered heavy winds, caused the ship to capsize without time to properly repair the ship, leading it to sink.

However, although the ship sank, the crew was unharmed, as they were all separately rescued onto other ships. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

This incident also served as a lesson for the fleet, and such scenarios were avoided afterward.

Researchers soon discovered something quite special among the salvaged items from the shipwreck—Bivalve Shell Glass.

This was equivalent to the ship’s light source, foregoing the use of open flames for illumination, crucial since the ship’s wooden structure was highly susceptible to fire. Improper use of fire could lead to instant, unsalvageable combustion.

There was no way to intervene in time.

Thus, the fleet had strict regulations regarding the use of open flames, which could not be used whenever desired, unlike today when lighting a cigarette with a lighter is simple.

Just as in a cotton mill, you wouldn’t be allowed to use fire easily, and even static electricity had to be well-protected.

These bivalve shells, each piece chosen for its smoothest palm-size surface, were cut into neatly rectangular shapes, polished smooth and flat, with the bivalve thickness only 0.1 millimeters and very transparent; however, the original curved patterns on the shell’s surface remained clear, while the other side exhibited the unique pearlescent luster of the inside of the bivalve.

Craftsmen would install these polished bivalve pieces into the wooden grid windows of the treasure ship measuring 6-7 centimeters in width and length, not only blocking waves and rain but also lighting up the interior. Before the use of glass, this kind of lighting in ships was very innovative.

This was a significant discovery, and a very special treasure, certainly one of the most intriguing items on the ship.