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Part One Twenty Years Chapter 11 The Moment That Changed History (3)

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    (.)

    (I always subconsciously write 12 o'clock as 11 o'clock, what's wrong with me?)

    ¡°(Section 5 of "King of the North Atlantic", the fearless men who fell like meteors)

    After the sinking of the battle cruiser New Zealand, one of the most heroic maritime battles during the European War continued.

    The German battle line rushing over from the southeast of the North Sea stretched for more than ten kilometers, cutting out a beautiful arc with its apex facing north on the surface of the North Sea driven by strong winds.

    The front end of Germany's arc was barely level with the British Second Battle Fleet, which was running wildly along the peninsula's coastline towards the depths of the Firth of Forth. The five battleships of the Second Division of the First Battle Fleet at the top of the arc were turning and turning.  Due south of the three British left-wing detachments in the quagmire of change, they were less than 12,000 meters away from the British.

    The Ocean Fleet can finally exert its strongest strength.

    In the Yellow Sea naval battle between China and Japan in 1895, due to the lack of effective fire control and sighting methods, the artillery battle distance that relied on direct aiming and gunner experience was no more than three thousand meters; in the Tsushima naval battle between Japan and Russia in 1905, due to the early artillery command system,  appeared, the combat distance expanded from 3,000 meters to 7,000 meters; in 1906, with the completion of the British battleship Dreadnought, the navy's combat methods experienced profound changes. Naval experts predicted that the battle would be about 13,000 kilometers.  Explodes at a distance.

    After the outbreak of the European War, the combat distance was repeatedly refreshed. In the Battle of Ridland that broke out in 1915, the German and British battleships were still able to achieve results even though they fired at an ultra-long distance of 18,000 meters. And now,  The Ocean Fleet, which firmly occupied the horizontal head of the T, shortened the combat distance to less than 12,000 meters.

    At this distance, the 350mm main guns and 380mm main guns installed by the Ocean Fleet can blast any British battleship, and that is the Caesar-class, Helgoland-class battleships, and the Helgoland-class battleships.  The 305mm main gun equipped with the Moltke-class battle cruiser and the 280mm main gun equipped with the S¨¡o-class battleship also have great potential.

    Although in 1917.  As the protection strength of dreadnoughts increases and the combat distance increases, the two main gun calibers of 305 and 280 are widely considered by naval experts to be ineffective. However, at a distance of less than 12,000 meters, even if they cannot penetrate  The Royal Oak battleship has a low 13-inch waterline with main armor, but the German 305mm skl/50 main gun and 280mm skl/50 main gun can penetrate 10 inches and 8 inches respectively at a distance of 12,800 meters.  The penetrating power of the 1-inch homogeneous Knub steel plate is enough to destroy the British Bellerophon -class battleships and the Outlaw Canada -class battleships with only 710 inches of waterline armor.

    Perhaps the British who have installed the new armor-piercing projectile Greenboy can use the main gun of the same caliber to blast the 300mm waterline main equipment of the S¨¡o-class battleship and the 270mm main equipment of the Moltke-class battlecruiser, but the problem is to adopt steering and formation changes.  The British had no power to fight back at all. The British 1st and 2nd battle fleets that had formed a battle line could fight back with some main guns. The problem was that they could not avoid the trembling hulls from being bombarded by maintaining high speed.  The influence of jing degree.

    In the desolate North Sea, the German Navy, which touched the T-shaped crosshead for the first time, reached the perfect state of the T-shaped crosshead under the leadership of its genius fleet commander Heidi Silem.  A total of twenty-seven battleships and battlecruisers are lying on the way that the three squadrons on the left wing of the British Grand Fleet continue to move south. There is no need to consider the scope and sighting procedures of the main guns. They only need to use the maximum firepower density towards a general target.  direction, firing all the firepower of the battleship, concentrating the fire on the poor British.

    ¡®Close shot, 15 meters to starboard!  ¡¯

    ?? Several continuous balls of fire rubbed against the towering three-legged main mast of the battleship Magnificent.  Diagonally plunged into the starboard side of the battleship Magnificent.  In the blink of an eye, the 18-kilogram warhead of the German 350mm capped armor-piercing bomb exploded violently underwater.  Sea water expands under pressure.  Tons of seawater were thrown up into the sky, forming mushroom-shaped water columns, and then hit the sea heavily.

    The surging waves slapped the side of the battleship Magnificent. This giant ship with a standard displacement of 18,800 tons began to shake. The sailors in the cabin staggered and staggered, and the forward mainmast armored observation tower, which was the highest and had the largest rolling amplitude, was located on the Magnificent.  The lookout on board was almost thrown off the deck by the impact.

    The lookout huddled deep in the watchtower with lingering fear.  Trying to calm down his violently beating heart, at this time, another round of shelling came as scheduled.

    ¡®The Germans were firing like crazy, their 13.78-inch main gun maintained a firing speed of almost two and a half rounds per minute.  Try your best to focus fire on us.  This round of shelling that almost killed me had just ended, and the next round of shelling came again. The flagship of the Sixth Division, the South Africa, located on the left side of the Magnificent, was hit.

    At this time, we at the end of the fifth detachment have completed the turning action and are trying to increase the speed. The flagship of the sixth detachment, the Singapore, is closely chasing the pace of the Magnificent, barely completing the turn, and is only about seven meters away from us.A distance of more than a hundred yards.  Through the soot rising from the two chimneys behind the main mast, I vaguely saw a ball of fire smoke more than a hundred feet high erupting from behind the conning tower of the South Africa.

    The battleship South Africa is a big thing with a full load displacement of more than 30,000 tons. However, the navy is well aware of the internal strength of this behemoth.  I don¡¯t know whether this battleship was lit by firecrackers by the British or whether it just exploded and caught fire somewhere in the superstructure. I can only pray for the South Africa from the 100-foot-high forward mainmast armored watchtower of the Magnificent!  ¡¯

    At 12:29, the battleship South Africa was hit.

    Before the battleship South Africa was hit, this super-dreadnought ship, which upheld the "firepower first" thinking of a generation of Royal Navy people, had suffered a lot of near-misses, surging water columns and flying shrapnel. "The Soul of the Great Power Sea Chapter 11  The Moment That Changed History (3)" left the South Africa's unusually compact superstructure riddled with holes. In this round of shelling, three 280 mm caliber armor-piercing shells hit the South Africa.

    The first armor-piercing bomb penetrated the unprotected bow of the battleship South Africa, plunged into the sea far away, and exploded.  The hospital cabin located on the bow of the South Africa suffered a devastating blow. Three doctors and eleven sailors were killed on the spot. Moreover, due to the damage to the bow of the ship and the higher sea conditions in the North Sea, the battleship South Africa suffered a large number of casualties in the subsequent period.  Water intrusion seriously reduces the speed of the ship.

    The second armor-piercing bomb landed at a straight angle about 10 meters away from the port side of the South Africa. The relatively low mizzen mainmast lookout had just announced with joy, 'Close bomb.  10 meters¡¯ news on the port side, this 280mm APC armor-piercing projectile weighing 300 kilograms has playfully hit the road again.

    The extremely lethal armor-piercing projectile was bounced up by the sea water like a juggling act after contacting the sea level, forming a "water-drifting bomb" that was rare in the era of dreadnoughts. It hit the battleship South Africa with an extremely weird trajectory.  Has 7 inches of upper armor belt.  Fortunately, the armor-piercing projectile had already lost a lot of kinetic energy when it rebounded for the first time. When the armor-piercing projectile hit the 7-inch armor belt, it was bounced away again, without even a near-miss.

    "Compared with the first two armor-piercing bombs, the third armor-piercing bomb was much more powerful. This armor-piercing bomb accurately hit the bottom of the No. 2 chimney of the battleship South Africa.

    Unlike the protection concepts of Germany and the United States, even the main armor thickness of the side waterline belt, which forms the core of a battleship's protective strength, is extremely stingy. British naval designers have not considered the issue of chimney base armor protection at all.  As a result, the armor-piercing bomb penetrated the No. 2 chimney of the battleship South Africa and exploded.

    Thanks to the combat distance of less than 13,000 meters, the trajectory of this armor-piercing projectile is relatively straight, and it will not penetrate into the power compartment of the battleship "Great Power Sea Spirit" below along the chimney breach like the artillery shell with a large drop angle.  , but it cannot be said that this armor-piercing bomb was worthless. After all, the fragments caused by the explosion smashed the No. 2 chimney into a colander and triggered a fire and thick smoke that could not be diffused amidships of the battleship South Africa.  This makes this super-dreadnought ship that was once boasted by Armstrong Shipyard look extremely embarrassed.

    In an instant, almost half of the North Sea knew that the battleship South Africa had been hit.  Except for one main battery turret damaged.  A big hole was cut out in the waterline, leaving only the battleship Bellerophon, which was struggling to survive, and the battleship South Africa, which was busy taking care of itself. The telegraph room of almost every battleship in the Royal Navy was repeating the news that the battleship South Africa was about to die.  , the large fleet, including the battleship Revenge, suddenly lost its voice.

    Will the battleship South Africa become the fourth or even fifth Royal Navy battleship sunk in this naval battle?  If so, how can the Royal Navy, which has lost almost a squadron of battleships before it bites the Germans, have the courage to continue fighting?  if not.  Why has the battleship South Africa not yet sent a damage control report?

    In the memories of the Chief of Staff of the British Grand Fleet after the battle, their commander-in-chief David Beatty hid in the corner of the command tower and flipped through the damage control reports of the First Battle Fleet and the Fourth Battle Cruiser Fleet that had been piled up like a hill.  Smoked half a pack of cigarettes.  It wasn't until the confidential officer reported the news that the South Africa was slightly injured and that the fire amidships had been brought under control that Betty relaxed her brows that were almost tangled.

    At 12:32, the long process of turning and changing formations of the Grand Fleet finally came to an end. The battleship Indomitable, which the British had left at the very rear, walked out of the German fire circle with scars, and cautiously squeezed into the Royal Navy. It was loose and loose on the sea.  The battle line, which stretched for almost 20 kilometers, struggled towards the southwest.

    At this moment, several battleships and a battlecruiser appearing at the end of the British battle line looked extremely embarrassed: their majestic main guns were blackened by gunpowder smoke, and their seemingly solid superstructures and side armor were full of "entertainment"  Showing deep and shallow shrapnel scratches and large and small craters, the broken signal cables and colorful signal flags were flying randomly in the sky, brokenThe crane was hung upside down by a fixed steel cable and swayed under the side deck, and the scorched lifeboat would occasionally let out thick smoke.

    'Royal Oak was hit by two bullets, and the upper armor belt on the side was damaged. There was slight water seepage in the bow compartment, with more than 300 tons of water entering, and moderate damage; Canada was hit by three bullets, and two boilers and a coal storage bunker were damaged.  The ship was destroyed, the port generator set stopped running, the ship's speed dropped by four knots, 93 people were killed and severely damaged; Singapore was hit by three rounds, a port side gun profile gun was destroyed, the secondary battery magazine exploded, the left trestle was broken, and the ship  The stern exploded and caught fire, killing 103 people and causing moderate damage; the battleship South Africa was hit by four bullets, and the hospital cabin at the bow was penetrated. The amidships exploded and caught fire, killing 46 people and causing minor damage; Bellerophon  Five rounds were hit, the side waterline belt was damaged, the P turret was destroyed, the underwater ammunition depots of the P and Q turrets were filled with water, a total of more than 1,500 tons of water entered, the speed dropped by ten knots, and a total of more than 300 people were killed.  Severe damage; the Magnificent was hit by one shot, the upper deck on the port side was slightly damaged, no casualties, minor damage'

    The combat staff reported to Admiral Betty the battle damage situation of the First Battle Fleet and the Fourth Battle Cruiser Fleet. At this time, the command tower of the flagship Revenge was filled with an unspeakable and unspeakable emotion.  However, this sentiment did not last long, because the battleship Canada, which once escaped from the German siege, opened a new legend for the Ocean Fleet.  "(To be continued.)</dd>
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