During dinner, Gregorio spoke to André about the development of Sun City. He told him his plans and expectations regarding it. André listened attentively and gave him suggestions on the points he believed convenient.
"How is commerce recently going in Sun City, Grandfather Gregorio?" Grace elegantly brought up a topic of conversation.
"Thanks to the marvelous inventions that come from Solomon City, commerce in Sun City progresses every day. Especially the porcelain and the copper mirrors are popular products that have turned Sun City into a commercial center of the region. Thanks to the new method of salt production, common people have an outlet in their economy. For the coastal villages, this large-scale method was of great help." Gregorio happily cited every point he believed important about Sun City.
"I am glad to hear that, Grandfather Gregorio. You know that all these methods were invented by André." With her elegant voice, Grace was showing off as if they were her achievements.
"Of course I know it, just as everyone in Sun City does. Therefore, in this city Lord André is the most loved and respected person."
"It makes me very happy to know that. This will make my work here easier and more fluid." André smiled happily upon learning this.
The dinner concluded pleasantly. Then André headed to his study, where some people were waiting for him.
"I see that everyone is here." André was the first to speak, relaxing the atmosphere of those present.
"My lord, I took the liberty of bringing them to your study. Allow me to introduce them: these are Roberto Gómez, the head of the Sun City shipyard, and this is Sebastián González, the best blacksmith of Sun City." Gregorio, who was among those present, spoke and introduced them.
Roberto was an old man in his sixties, but he still looked full of vitality. André learned that his entire life he had worked in the Sun City shipyard; he had seen innumerable ships be born and die. Sebastián was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a sturdy body, like almost all the blacksmiths André had seen since he arrived in this world.
"Very well, a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen." André greeted both with a smile.
"It is an honor to meet you, my lord. We have heard of your feats for a long time. Please do not hesitate to ask us for whatever you want." Both bowed and expressed their admiration for André.
"I am glad to hear that. Then let's get to the subject: I want you to build this for me. Be certain that it is only the first." André searched in his briefcase, took out the blueprints he had drawn, and handed them over.
"In this project I need the cooperation of both of you. I hope you take it with great seriousness." André warned with a serious face, making their faces become solemn.
What André handed to the two were the blueprints of two steel ships: one of cargo and one of war.
The model of the warship was the Napoléon, which was built by the French in the year 1850. The ship had 71.76 meters of length, 17.15 meters of beam, a depth of 13.04 meters, and 5.24 meters of draft. The vessel displaced 5,047 tons, of which 550 corresponded to the power plant and 927 to the coal. It possessed a complete set of sails that allowed deploying at full sail 2,852 m² of surface. André did not change the name of the ship when designing it: he believed that Napoléon was a great name.
The original armament was constituted by 90 cannons, arranged in the following way: on the first deck, 4 howitzer-cannons of 80 pounds (220 mm) and 32 of 30 (160 mm); on the second deck, 4 howitzers of 80 and 32 of 30. In 1858, the armament underwent a first modification: 88 pieces were installed, distributed in 4 howitzers of 80 and 30 cannons of 30 on the first deck; 4 howitzers and 28 cannons on the second battery; 20 howitzer-cannons of 30 and 2 rifled cannons of 30 on deck. In 1862, the armament was increased to 90 pieces, all of them of the new type: 36 rifled cannons of 30 on the first battery, 34 of 30 on the second, and 20 howitzer-cannons of 30 on deck.
André completely copied its design and had no plans to change the weapons configuration.
The model for the cargo ship that André designed was the Great Eastern, built by the British in the year 1858. The Great Eastern—210 meters of length by 24 of beam—was propelled by a mixed system: a propeller and two paddle wheels, conserving a considerable warlike rigging. Designed to transport four thousand passengers, the first-class accommodations were of a luxury unknown until then on board a ship. André liked this ship, which is why he took it as a model. The name of this ship he did change, giving it Demologos, in honor of another great ship that André liked a great deal.
The greatest technological innovation that was introduced in the Great Eastern was the concept of the "double hull." The ship had two hulls, one inside the other, separated by 86 centimeters. Between them there would be a reticular structure of iron beams, with a clear (separation between frames) of 1.8 meters. The interior hull reached up to one and a half meters above the waterline under maximum load conditions and was divided by two longitudinal bulkheads of 107 meters in length and 18 in height that, upon crossing with the transverse bulkheads, divided the ship into 19 watertight compartments. This distribution and the double hull turned the Great Eastern into an unsinkable ship.
After a long time, the two men were shocked by the designs that lay in their hands and looked at André with disbelief.
"My lord, I never imagined that a ship could be of this form. If this manages to be built, I believe it will have no equal in the world; but, with due respect, I believe this ship is impossible to sail." As he has built ships all his life, he could see great flaws in the functioning.
"What do you believe is the main problem?" André asked, evaluating the man.
"I believe that a ship made of steel and so large is impossible to sail, and I do not understand how that steam engine can move it." Roberto stated his doubts without reservations.
"Tell me, Sebastián, what do you think?" André did not clarify his doubts; instead he asked Sebastián what he thought.
"My lord, my doubts are the same. In addition, I have another: how will we manage to join so many steel plates? I am afraid there will be cracks everywhere and the ship will sink." As an excellent blacksmith, Sebastián asked a great question.
"For this I have the solution here. Look at it and study it. I want everyone who works on this to master this technique." André smiled and took a document from the briefcase, giving it to Sebastián.
What André gave him was the technique of hot riveting. To make this type of joints, the plates that had to be joined were perforated, reinforcing the splices and overlaps with equally perforated plates. Many times these additional plates came to represent up to 20% of the total weight of the structure. The rivets have a head already preformed in rounded shape and are placed preheated to a temperature of approximately 1,200 °C, passing them through the perforations and riveting the opposite face until conforming the second head. Upon cooling, its shank suffers a contraction that exerts a strong pressure on the elements that are being joined. This system of joining works by the enormous thermal expansion of steel, which allows that even relatively short elements such as the rivets contract significantly upon cooling from 1,200 °C to ambient temperature, thus achieving a perfect joint.
"I want you to study this technique well. As for your doubts, Roberto, they will be answered tomorrow: another person is coming from Solomon City and will work together with you on the beginning of the project while you familiarize yourselves with it."
Saying that, André took the initiative to leave the study first.
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