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Part One Twenty Years Chapter 11 The Moment That Changed History (9)

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    (To summarize the previous mistakes, the Monarch in the previous chapter should be the battleship South Africa; the propellant magazine should be under the ammunition magazine, except for those cheating things from the British Empire; in fact, it is even a loading room in the gun well, although there is a small amount stored there.  For the propellant, please refer to Seydlitz in the Battle of Jutland. Even if it is penetrated, there seems to be no explosion problem; I will study whether the 13.5-inch green bomb can explode Nassau.)

    "("King of the North Atlantic" Section 7, The End of the Union Flag[1])

    With the bombing of the battleship Neptune as a watershed, the British completely lost the initiative in the naval battle of the Orkney Islands.  In addition to the 15-inch heavy artillery group of the Fourth Battle Fleet at the front of the battle line, which can put a certain amount of pressure on the Germans, the Royal Navy is completely in a passive situation.

    In fact, in the battle to focus on the German First Division, both Commander David Beatty and the Second Battle Fleet tried their best.  They sank the battleships Rhineland and Posen, and damaged the battleships Nassau and Wester**. If Heidi Sealem had not decisively given up the temptation to annihilate a British combat detachment, they could even have completely destroyed it.  Annihilate the first detachment!

    The story ended abruptly when the first team of the German First Reconnaissance Group, the three Mackensen-class ships, turned their guns. Even though the British had been infinitely close to annihilating an entire squadron of their opponents, even though the British had turned out countless evidence after the war to prove that they  You can sink that damn battle squadron, but failure is failure. Cold data will never deceive history, and history will never pity the losing side.

    After the plan went bankrupt, the Royal Navy also fought against three German battle squadrons (one of which was disabled).  They tried to fish in troubled waters, but the Germans taught the self-deceiving Royal Navy a lesson by sinking the battleship HMS Neptune.

    13:06.  The battleship Neptune sank, and the bloody fact woke up the British.

    The battleship Neptune was the only lucky one in the financially troubled British Empire to pass the shipbuilding budget in 1908, and therefore became the "lonely fighter" in the English people's mouth.

    Of course, the ¡°lonely fighter¡± is not ¡°alone.¡±

    Although there is only one Neptune-class battleship, it has 10 twin-mounted 50-caliber 12-inch main guns for firepower, 5-10-inch waterline protection with main armor, and the forecastle ship shape is obviously similar to the Bellerophon before the British Empire.  -class battleships and St. Vincent-class battleships are of the same origin, in a sense.  The Neptune-class battleship is an improved version of the Bellerophon class.

    The performance of the "Lonely Fighter" during World War I did not deserve the title of "Fighter".  The Neptune star battleship's performance in the Battle of Jutland was mediocre. However, after this battle, the British Admiralty spent money to divide the two turrets that affected the firing range of the main gun in the middle part into two diagonally connected turrets in the middle part.  The flybridge and boat decks of the three partial superstructures were slightly improved before the venture was lost in the Battle of Orkney.

    Just like the Joe V-class battleship HMS Daring that struck a mine and sank in northern Scotland in November 1914, the Neptune was damaged due to poor watertight design, quality-problematic watertight compartment blast doors, and the common watertight compartment transverse contact doors on early British battleships.  It was sent into the muddy seabed of the North Sea by several German armor-piercing shells that did not hit vital locations.

    And before the battleship Neptune sank.  The Royal Oak, the flagship of the First Battle Fleet, sank as the sixth British battleship lost due to ineffective damage control.

    After the end of World War I, it soon became apparent that the 13-inch side waterline belt main armor of the Queen Elizabeth-class fast battleship, the predecessor of the Queen-class modified battlecruiser, was seriously insufficient when fully loaded.  The truth comes out.  Therefore, in the difficult years when the British Empire's finances were in jeopardy and the Nelson-class battleships, L3 plan battleships, and G3 plan battlecruiser plans were all axed, the Revenge-class battleships have always been regarded as the conscience ships of the British Empire.

    For the Revenge-class battleship.  British designers did not ruthlessly arrange five twin-mounted 42-fold 15-inch main guns on a hull with a standard displacement of less than 26,000 tons and a length of 192 meters like the Joe V-class battleship.  The Joe V class became the worst domestically sold super-dreadnought in the British Empire in terms of protection, watertightness, and anti-sinkability. The battleship HMS Audacious was sunk after being hit by a mine in northern Scotland, and Ajax was  The battleship was on its retreat from the Battle of Jutland.  Killed by a German cannon shot from a distance.

    Since the naval designers of the British Empire rarely showed their "paper fanatics" wantonness, they only arranged four 15-inch guns on the hull of the Revenge-class battleship with a standard displacement of more than 28,000 tons and a length of 190.3 meters.  Most of the excess tonnage was used for armor weight, and the Revenge-class battleships obtained a relatively considerable 13-inch waterline main armor, making their capital ship protection level unprecedentedly close to that of the Germans.

    But this kind of protection still could not withstand the fierce German artillery skills.  First naval battle in OrkneyDuring the exchange of fire, the super-dreadnought was hit twice and suffered moderate damage. The upper armor belt on the side sides was damaged, and there was slight water seepage in the bow compartment.  In the second round of firefights, the battleship encountered a two-minute straddle attack from two German Mackensen-class battle cruisers equipped with 380mm heavy guns.

    In a two-minute span, the two battle cruisers launched a total of 96 380mm armor-piercing shells at the British, and most of these shells directly hit or formed extremely powerful near-misses.  Although the Royal Oak battleship was not sunk immediately, it only managed to stay on the sea for three or four minutes longer due to its large tonnage, rigorous watertight design and good anti-sinkability.

    An episode worth mentioning is that both Vice Admiral Cecil Burney, the commander-in-chief of the First Battle Fleet, and Rear Admiral Yukos, the captain of the battleship Royal Oak, safely evacuated the fallen super-dreadnought, making Germany's first  The detachment commander, Vice Admiral Ingar Hardy (posthumously), became the highest-ranking naval officer killed in action during the First World War.

    After the sinking of the battleship Neptune, even though the British knew that they could not take any advantage in the battle line bombardment, they still had no choice but to give up their plan to annihilate the first German squadron and continue to attack the Nassau and West.  The ** meant that there was no defense line in front of the gunfire of the five German battleships and three battlecruisers, turning oneself into a moving target for the German gunners.

    ¡®We should not take any chances in the face of the Germans¡¯ efficient gunnery.  ¡¯ Vice Admiral Doverton Sturdy, commander of the Second Battle Fleet, commented on their tactical actions.

    Although Lieutenant General Sturdy¡¯s decision was impeccable at the tactical level, it had no bearing on the overall situation at the strategic level.

    At this time, the Royal Navy has fallen into a difficult situation.  David Beatty originally expected that the Second Battle Fleet could completely annihilate the German First Division, allowing the understrength Grand Fleet to free up an entire battle squadron at a key position, and throw them into a one-sided battle at the end of the battle line.  , even if it cannot gain an advantage, it can at least help the main fleet of the Grand Fleet to hold on until the moment Lampard's fast fleet arrives on the battlefield.

    But now, the Second Battle Fleet has only sunk two Nassau-class battleships and damaged two others.  Although the heavy damage is infinitely close to sinking, after all, the value of annihilating the first German squadron and severely damaging the first squadron are completely different. At least the German battleships Nassau and Wester** can still manage their battle lines.  Support, tilt the Fire of Vengeance with the remaining 280mm main gun.

    After the plan to completely annihilate the First Squadron went bankrupt, the British re-adjusted their firepower channels: the First Squadron's four battleships, Joe V, Monarch, Hercules, and Goliath, fought against the German Second Squadron, and the Second Squadron lost the battleship Neptune.  The First Team of the German First Reconnaissance Group, as for the 280mm main guns of the two Nassau-class battleships of the German First Team, they had no more energy to deal with it and could only selectively ignore it.

    Both the British First Battle Fleet and the Second Battle Fleet were in big trouble. The rout spread from the end of the British battle line to the middle. What was even more terrifying than this was the deceleration order issued by General David Beatty.

    David Beatty explained this order that almost ruined the British Empire at the House of Commons hearing on the Battle of Orkney:

    'Around 12:50, good news came one after another. The staff told me that the rear fleet sank two Nassau-class battleships in succession, and Sir Doverton Sturdy of the Second Battle Fleet told me that the Royal Navy might gain more.  many.

    I interpreted Sir Doverton Sturdy's words as being able to annihilate the first squadron, which gave me hope of breaking the Royal Navy's passive situation, because just five minutes ago, Rear Admiral Lampard reported that he  The fast fleet is likely to arrive at the scheduled battlefield in the northern part of the Firth of Forth in one hour and twenty minutes.

    So just like the Battle of Skagerrak, I once again modified the strategic goal of the Grand Fleet, from holding back the Germans as much as possible to must holding the Germans back.

    Yes, I only changed one word in the telegram, but the situation became completely different.

    At this time, our battle line from the Revenge at the forefront to the Endurance at the end was fiercely exchanging fire with the Germans. I think the loose formation formed by the Grand Fleet due to previous mistakes was not conducive to battle line command and engagement.  , so the fleet was ordered to slow down, to be precise, the fourth battle fleet was slowed down.

    The First Battle Fleet has been crippled by the Germans, and they have almost lost their speed; the Second Battle Fleet is focusing fire on the Germans, and we cannot ask them to suddenly change their speed and continue to bombard the Germans while rolling violently.  So I could only slow down the fourth battle fleet at the front and shorten the gap between each battle squadron.

    "With such a simple order, we who originally wanted to hold back the Germans were dragged to death on the battlefield'

    PS: I shamelessly made up the word count, and I will make up for it with at least 3,600 words for the next chapter.
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