Great Power Industry: You're a private company building an aircraft carrier?

In fact, bulk carriers are quite different from other ships.

Bulk carriers have open decks to facilitate loading and unloading of cargo. In fact, they have almost no decks at all; there are no top decks or bottom decks, and the deck extends all the way to the bottom of the ship.

This means that without decks to reinforce the hull, the ship relies entirely on an outer shell to withstand torque. If it encounters a storm at sea and the hull cannot withstand the force, it will snap in two.

Such things have happened before. Back then, bulk carriers had a deadweight tonnage of 30,000 to 50,000 tons. A certain country, in a grandiose move, built a 100,000-ton displacement ship, which broke in two on its maiden voyage. For a long time afterward, no shipyard dared to attempt it.

It wasn't until the 1980s that bulk carriers began to increase their tonnage, especially the Capesize, which did not intend to pass through the Suez Canal, with the largest reaching over 200,000 tons.

Bulk carriers of around 10,000 tons are just the little brothers in this field.

But we can play with overload!

Our Eastern characteristic is overloading. A truck with a load capacity of two tons can carry twenty tons, and a bulk carrier that can carry ten thousand tons can carry twenty thousand tons!

Since it's a conversion of a warship, and the standards for steel used in warships are much higher than those for civilian ships, there shouldn't be any major problems.

……

In a private room of a bar near the headquarters.

Khmelnov raised his glass: "Come on, nephew, let's have a drink!"

"Come on, Uncle, let me toast you!"

Glug glug... After downing a glass of wine, Qin Chuan remained calm and composed, picking up the bottle to fill Khmelnyov's glass: "Uncle, our bulk carriers require a lot of strength, so those warships that have been at sea for thirty or forty years are unlikely to be able to operate again. If they encounter a big storm, they might sink."

"Yes, old warships can't be used; we have to choose those less than fifteen years old. Refitting them is a huge expense, and if they break down after only a few trips, we'll lose money."

"Don't worry, Uncle. If you trust me, have your nephew fix it!"

"You?" Khmelnynov's eyes widened. "Your factory doesn't seem to have a shipyard, does it?"

"Why use a dock? We can just dig a big pit on the beach, fill it with water, let the warships sail in, and then we can block the dike behind them and pump out the water. Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

Shipbuilding on the beach—that's the Russians' specialty.

Back when we were converting an Indian aircraft carrier, this was how it was done. There were no gantry cranes; we used tower cranes, and the process was similar to building a house.

"Our factory is all about collecting scrap metal," Qin Chuan said. "The scrap metal we dismantle will be used for renovation costs. If we lose money, my nephew will cover it; if we make a profit, it'll be his pocket money. What do you say?"

Khmelnyov nodded: "Okay!"

There are shipyards in the Far East. The Zvezda shipyard in Primorsky Krai is the largest shipyard in the Far East. However, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the shipyard has not had much business. The capable people have all left, and they are slow to do anything. I really don't trust them. It's more suitable to go to Qin Chuan.

"We should choose to modify warships that use boilers, that would be more cost-effective," Qin Chuan continued, "After all, gas turbines can only run on high-quality fuel, and the transportation cost for one trip might not even cover the fuel cost!"

Gas turbines are converted from aircraft engines. They are small in size, have high output power, and start up quickly, making them the best power source for warships. However, they consume too much fuel.

Aircraft engines run on aviation kerosene, which is expensive. However, warships, after modifying their combustion chambers, can also run on diesel fuel. Some countries have tried using heavy fuel oil, which is cheaper, but it causes too much pollution, requires frequent cleaning of gas turbines, and may even lead to premature failure.

Heavy oil is the lowest quality fuel, a waste product of petroleum refining. Using it to burn in boilers is a way to make use of waste. Boilers in most countries are generally ignited with diesel fuel, and once they are lit, they are burned with heavy oil, which is quite economical.

However, besides aircraft carriers, what else burns boilers?

Qin Chuan didn't mention the Sovremenny-class, but he put forward a whole bunch of restrictions: ship age, engine, displacement, etc. In the end, only the Sovremenny-class met the requirements!

Khmelnynov frowned: "Now that you mention it, our Minsk seems quite suitable, but... it won't be easy to get one cheaply!"

Qin Chuan was stunned. Dude, you're really something! I just wanted to hint at the Sovremenny-class destroyer, which has a displacement of 8,000 tons, but you actually mentioned a 40,000-ton aircraft carrier, or a heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser?

A moment later, he realized what was happening, smiled, raised his glass, and drank it all in one gulp.

Quickly calm down with some vodka; this old guy is incredibly bold!

At the same time, his mind was racing, and after careful consideration, he realized that what he had said could indeed be applied to the Minsk!

Back then, the Russian leadership always believed in the omnipotence of missiles and had no idea how to build aircraft carriers like the Americans, which greatly worried the navy, forcing them to take a roundabout approach to save the country.

First they built the 10,000-20,000-ton Moskva-class, then the 40,000-ton Kiev-class. The Minsk was the second ship of the Kiev-class.

It has a huge island superstructure on its right and a large number of weapons at the bow. From the right, it looks exactly like a cruiser. The left and rear are flight decks used to operate vertical take-off and landing fighters. However, due to the Yak-38's outdated performance, it quickly became an aircraft carrier that only carried helicopters and was used for anti-submarine warfare.

The Minsk was laid down in 72, launched in 75, and commissioned in 78. It once served as the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, along with the Novorossiysk.

In the 1980s, at the height of the Pacific Fleet's glory, the island nation trembled with fear. Some even wrote a war fantasy novel titled: Minsk, Attack!

Unfortunately, after the Red Empire was gone, the Russian Navy ran out of money. In 92, the Minsk was decommissioned, and in 93, its weapons and equipment were removed. Now, it's just an empty ship.

What to do with the empty ship is still a problem.

In fact, the third ship, Novorossiysk, was also decommissioned last year. However, the Russians did not want to decommission this warship, but because it caught fire and could not be repaired, so it was temporarily decommissioned. It may be repaired and put back into service in the future.

"Yes, it's not easy, but people can come up with solutions," Qin Chuan said. "For example, the Minsk, because it had been decommissioned and mismanaged, caught fire at the dock, and the raging fire completely destroyed the entire warship, causing it to sink..."

Yang Xue followed Qin Chuan, eating quietly without saying a word, but her heart was in turmoil.

The Minsk, once the pride of the Red Empire, has now been turned into private property by a few people through a conspiracy!

This is truly a tragedy for a nation!

Of course, this is just a tragedy for Mao.