"Report, the distance is sixteen thousand meters."
"Fifteen thousand meters."
"Fourteen thousand meters!"
At this moment, on the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, the navigator continued to report the distance between the two fleets.
The sound of his report hit the hearts of Carden and everyone in the command tower of the flagship Orion.
As the commander of the fleet, Cardon would stare at the incoming combined fleet with his telescope and never speak. He was waiting for the opponent to enter the optimal range of the artillery.
Although the maximum range of the battleship's main gun has reached more than 20 kilometers, due to observation instruments, artillery accuracy and other reasons, generally speaking, the optimal shooting distance is 10-13 kilometers. Any further away will cause the gun to hit
In addition to the impressive rate, the chance of penetrating the opponent's armor will also be much smaller. Of course, it doesn't matter if your opponent is thin-skinned and big stuffed.
As for the closer distance, of course, the hit rate and penetration rate are better, but the opponent's artillery also has this bonus. Of course, the main reason is that the distance is too close, which will lead to hand-to-hand combat between the two parties. It is not easy to get out of the battle in time. In addition, the flexibility is poor
, if the turning radius is too large, the threat of torpedoes on small and medium-sized battleships will increase, so generally speaking, in order to ensure sufficient maneuverability and tactical requirements, this distance is the best choice.
However, while Admiral Cardon was waiting for the best shooting distance, his opponent, Lieutenant General Leifer, did not wait any longer. When the Navigator reported a distance of 14,000 meters, Leifer immediately ordered:
."Order all ships to fire on the target."
Following Leifer's order, the battleships of the combined fleet immediately opened fire on the targets they had already aimed at.
As the Cavour fired its first semi-volley, within half a minute, hundreds of artillery pieces in the Italian-Austrian Navy sprayed out orange fireballs, and a thunderous noise resounded throughout the battlefield, like a
The officers and soldiers participating in this naval battle were lucky enough to see what the firing of hundreds of large-caliber naval guns looked like the sound of war drums and roars before a giant battle.
Seeing that the enemy was the first to open fire, Admiral Cardon knew that he could not wait any longer and announced the opening of fire. Not to be outdone, the Mediterranean Fleet also sprayed out tongues of fire, and its artillery shells attacked the combined fleet.
One after another, the dreadnoughts were spitting deadly flames at a long distance, and soon huge water columns rose up around the fleet, forming huge water curtains to cover the battleships.
After the first round of firing, neither side achieved a kill, and the distance was still a little far away. This battle was destined to be a fierce battle, whether it was the Italian-Austrian combined fleet, which was bent on gaining hegemony in the Mediterranean, or the Mediterranean fleet.
, you simply cannot achieve your goal without severely injuring your opponent.
"Let's get closer and achieve victory as soon as possible!"
The roar of the naval guns made Leifer forget about other things besides the war at this time. Did he know that the other party had a reinforcement fleet. If the Mediterranean fleet was not severely damaged as soon as possible, then this would put the combined fleet in a possible dangerous situation. Therefore
Out of desire for victory and full confidence in their own warships, the combined fleet veered half a mile to the right.
Facing the enemy who was gradually approaching, Admiral Cardon did not intend to give in at this moment, so the two sides got closer. As time went by, the distance between the two sides closed from 14km to 13km. At this time, the Italian Navy obtained
The first hit in this naval battle.
"The Centurion has been hit!"
Following the direction pointed by the navigator, Leifer could clearly see through the telescope that Centurion's No. 1 turret was covered in thick smoke and flames.
A 350mm shell hit the front of Centurion's 320mm thick turret with an angle of 80 degrees. At this distance, it is difficult for a 350mm shell to penetrate such a thick armor, but this shot still brought damage to the opponent.
There was a big loss.
The fragments after the shell exploded bent a gun on the turret, and the front armor also caused the armor back plate to crack. Although it failed to penetrate, the inside of the turret still experienced the baptism of a steel storm, large and small.
Small shrapnel kept jumping and rebounding in the narrow and closed turret, occasionally knocking down officers and soldiers. The strong smell of blood and the wails of wounded soldiers instantly filled the entire turret, and the operation of the turret was temporarily suspended.
Once entering the effective shooting, it means that theoretically, the opponent will be hit continuously in future battles, and the current situation is completely consistent with the definition in the textbook.
Then, in just five minutes, the Centurion was hit three times by its opponent, the Duilio.
"The Italians' strikes were fierce and precise. The Centurion was hit continuously at a distance of 13 kilometers. The first was the No. 1 turret. After that, in less than a minute, the Centurion was hit by at least 5 shots!"
Afterwards, a British officer on the ship recalled with lingering fear.
Two shells hit the Centurion which was counterattacking almost at the same time. One shell penetrated the upper armor belt in the middle of the hull and exploded between the two gun galleries. The shock wave formed by the powerful TNT explosive destroyed it from the side.
The armor of the two gun galleries was broken, and the secondary battery, which weighed more than 5 tons, was retreated from the gun mount, while the naval personnel nearby were directly smashed into pulp by the bent gun barrel.
Another shell hit the main armor belt. The main armor belt, which was only about 305 mm thick, was not as strong as the turret. With a harsh impact, the hardened layer of the armor and the shell cap were shattered almost simultaneously, and the sharp warhead was wrapped around it.
A large amount of debris rushed into the interior of the hull.
After penetrating the main deck, it finally exploded in the upper part of the power cabin. At this time, the upper part of the power cabin was just a layer of fragile structural steel. The powerful impact caused by the explosion broke the ceiling of the power cabin into a sieve. Large steel plates were broken and shattered.
, amidst bursts of heart-wrenching sounds, a rain of bullets swept across a boiler room. The stoker was swept away, and at the same time, several steam pipes ruptured and high-pressure water vapor with a temperature of hundreds of degrees spread in the cabin.
The Centurion was hit in the power compartment, causing its speed to suddenly drop from 18 knots to 16 knots.
Except for the Centurion, all the ships suffered more or less losses in this round of fighting, although of course they were not as miserable as the Centurion.
The Colossus was hit by two shells, one hit the main armor belt on the ship's side without being penetrated, and the other hit the No. 2 chimney causing the loss of vision. The Collingwood was hit by two shells, only causing the loss of two secondary batteries.
There's the Montague, the Neptune...
The combined fleet was not without losses. The Petrarch, Giulio, and Dante were all hit by the opponent. However, because they failed to hit their vital points, the damage caused was not significant.
The main reason why the Mediterranean Fleet suffered far greater losses than the Combined Fleet was not only the disadvantage in the number of battleships, but also the difference in artillery shells.
The performance of armor-piercing bullets in Italy and Austria is far better than that of British armor-piercing bullets. Italy used TNT-charged artillery shells (research results from Germany) as early as 1902, while the UK still uses picric acid composites.
Although picric acid shined at the end of the last century, picric acid has a fatal flaw, which is its sensitivity. Picric acid shells detonate earlier than the fuze due to the vibration during impact, and cannot effectively penetrate armor. Tnt, on the other hand, can be delayed.
It will not detonate until the shell has penetrated and the fuze has expired, allowing it to attack the weak area behind the armor.
In fact, it is not that no one in the UK discovered this problem. As early as 1908, when Vice Admiral Jellicoe was the Third Lord of the Admiralty, he was aware of the problem of poor performance of related artillery shells and ordered the design work of new artillery shells to begin. However, this work
It did not continue after he left office, and the new shells were not fully tested.
It can be said that the conservative style of the British Empire Navy caused hardships to frontline officers and soldiers.
However, Admiral Kaden cannot care about the problem of cannonballs. How to break the situation now is the key factor. His fleet is at a disadvantage and must think of a way.
