The efforts of the submarine force in the Indian Ocean can be seen by everyone in the navy. The continuous sinking of merchant ships shows the full power of this force.
Although submarines have shown full power as a new weapon, for many naval officers and soldiers, a man's romance still requires cannons and giant ships.
Therefore, we are full of expectations for the commissioning of the most powerful battleship in the world, the Roma.
King Carlo also had the same expectations, and he was personally present at the commissioning ceremony of the Roma.
Located in the Taranto military port, a mighty and huge warship is parked at the pier. Its eight powerful 380mm main guns represent its powerful firepower.
A grand service ceremony is being held on the shore. Red carpets, ribbons, salutes and other items for the ceremony have been prepared. There are chairs placed on both sides of the red carpet, with naval officers and visiting guests sitting on them.
Guests, they all came to watch the commissioning ceremony of the Roma.
Directly in front of them, Carlo held a golden key representing the Roma and handed it to the captain of the Roma, Lieutenant Colonel Pineu.
"Captain Pineu, I will now hand over the Roma to you. I hope that you will make repeated military exploits in the following battles, let the world know about the ship, and let history leave its name and yours."
Captain Pineu excitedly took over the keys representing the battleship from the king, and he said forcefully, "All the officers and soldiers of the Roma will live up to the expectations of His Majesty the King, and will also make the world remember the name of the Roma."
Captain Pineu was so excited not only because he became the commander of the Roma, but also because he was recognized for his hard work over the years.
Captain Pineu is 47 years old. He is not a brilliant genius. He graduated from the Naval Academy in Livorno with a middle-to-lower ranking.
Moreover, he didn’t have many outstanding performances during his service, but he didn’t make any mistakes either.
Please note that this is very telling, because he served as a destroyer captain, cruiser captain, and later became the first mate of the battleship Dante, and his performance was also very good.
Captain Pineu is the kind of person you give a task to. Although he will not perform amazingly, he will not fail to complete it, so you can trust him. So when choosing the captain of the Roma, the Navy
The department is particularly interested in this quality of his.
After becoming the tentative captain of the Roma, Pineu diligently led the officers and soldiers to familiarize themselves with the battleship. After the war broke out, Pineu worked hard day and night to make plans to speed up the officers and soldiers' familiarity with the battleship and various trainings.
Work. Judging from the white hair on his head and the wrinkles on his head, it is believed that he is in his fifties or close to sixty years old.
But all the hard work is worth it at this time, which is why Pineu is so excited.
For the excited Captain Pineu, Carlo immediately patted him on the shoulder to show encouragement. Carlo then participated in the ribbon-cutting and shook hands with the officers and soldiers of the Roma. Only then did the service ceremony come to an end.
However, although the ceremony was over, Carlo did not leave. He talked with the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Yagier, and the Commander of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Leifer (who was promoted after the Battle of Sirte).
"How is the repair of the damaged warships of the Combined Fleet going?"
Carlo was very concerned when he first arrived and assembled a combined fleet of the best of the Italian and Austrian navies.
"Your Majesty, the repair work of the damaged warships is currently being carried out overtime. It will take another month for the Leonardo, the Giulio, and the Petrarch to return to the fleet, and it will take three more for the Dante and the Intrepid.
It will take months to repair. The United Forces will need two months, and the Istvan will need another four months. The main reason is that the production of parts from Austria-Hungary is slow, so the repair work is not as fast as our own warships. It is expected to take another four
Within months, we will regain the initiative at sea."
This majestic combined fleet now only has two or three kittens left, which are no match for the current Allied Mediterranean Combined Fleet.
What's going on?
Because Britain jointly formed this combined fleet with warships from three countries: Britain (6 battleships (2 seriously damaged) and 1 battlecruiser), France (3 battleships), and Japan (3 battleships and 2 battlecruisers).
It can be said that this fleet is no weaker than the Mediterranean fleet before the Battle of Sirte, and is even stronger. But even so, the three-nation joint fleet has no intention of showing its presence in the central waters of the Mediterranean.
There are two reasons for this. On the one hand, the fleets of the Three Kingdoms need to be integrated. After all, no one is familiar with them before. They don’t even know the fighting style and personality of their teammates, so they rush to find their presence. Isn’t this a taboo for military strategists?
In addition, the ubiquitous Italian airships in the Battle of Sirte made people very fearful. Under the meticulous care of the opponent, every move of the fleet was in the eyes of others, and half of the battle was lost before it was even fought.
Before the numerous enemy airship reconnaissances have been dealt with, the precious warships of the Three Kingdoms should not make waves first.
Of course, the Italian Navy also knows that the enemy's strength is growing, but they do not think that the other party can compete with them. On the one hand, the four Rome-class ships will be put into service this year. With the four 380mm large tubes, they can let the other party know what it means.
Firepower output.
In addition, the alliance of the navies of the three countries seems to be an increase in strength, but it is not easy to integrate well. The warships of the three countries have different standards, as well as training, regulations, passwords, etc., so if this can be integrated in a short time, only
God has to be there in person.
"Very good. I hope our navy will continue its efforts and surpass the results achieved in the Sea of Sirte."
"Your Majesty, please rest assured that our navy will achieve great results again."
As the commander of the combined fleet, Leifer immediately agreed.
"By the way, what are those German naval officers doing here?"
At this time Carlo remembered the German naval officers in the row at the ceremony, so he asked.
"Your Majesty, this is a German submarine officer. After seeing the achievements of our submarines in the Indian Ocean, the German Navy wants to learn from it. Presumably after winning the Battle of Dogger Sandbank, the German Navy will have more ideas."
Admiral Yagier, the Minister of the Navy, answered Carlo's question. As for the Battle of Dogger Sands he mentioned, it was a naval battle that took place between Britain and Germany in the Gulf of Helgoland a week ago.
Before the start of this naval battle, Germany first sent out patrols to attack cities on the east coast of Britain, and then deliberately appeared on Dogger Sands and attacked British ships (mainly fishing boats) in the waters. The British Navy immediately dispatched Lieutenant-General Beatty
The battle patrol formation he led planned to sink these patrols that dared to attack.
However, Betty did not know that the battle patrol formation led by Hipper had already been waiting for him here.
When Betty was about to teach the German patrol, Hipper appeared with a battle cruiser. As for why this happened, it was to prevent Betty from becoming suspicious. But if Hipper was found in front of him with a battle cruiser, then
No matter how much the opponent likes fighting, they still have to be suspicious, which may very well lead to the failure of the battle plan.
As for the three cruise ships, as long as they can defeat the British Home Fleet, all the sacrifices will be worth it.
Sure enough, when he was about to attack the armored patrol and saw the German battle cruiser, Betty was ecstatic because he thought it was Hipper's battle cruiser coming to pick up the armored patrol.
So as soon as possible, he sent a report to Jellicoe, saying that he had caught the German battle patrol formation on Dogger Sand Bank, hoping that the main fleet could attack and sink the opponent, and he would entangle the opponent.
Betty's telegram shocked Jellicoe. Unlike Betty, who was bold and adventurous, Jellicoe was quite cautious. When Betty set off, he ordered the battleship to light a fire to warm up and be ready to set off at any time. So what are you waiting for now?
Hurry up and stand up for your subordinate.
In addition to dispatching warships, he also ordered airships from the east coast to immediately conduct reconnaissance on Dogger Sandbank, which can be described as extremely cautious.
But while he was still halfway there, Betty sent him a telegram, claiming that he was luring German patrols over and hoped that he could prepare for the encirclement.
Betty's telegram made Jellicoe's eyes darken, because he knew this person's character very well. If he didn't suffer a loss and couldn't defeat him, how could it be a temptation? Instead, he should pursue the victory.
However, although he and Betty were not in conflict, considering the situation of the battle, Jellico agreed to do what the other party said.
As a result, the huge battleship formation was divided into three directions and moved forward. As long as the German battle patrol came over and Betty entangled it, it would never be able to escape.
At about four o'clock in the afternoon, a battle patrol appeared on the sea ahead. This was the battle patrol led by Betty, and the only smoke column behind was probably the German battle cruiser.
The Betty battle cruiser formation was indeed not good. It set out with five battle cruisers, but only four came back (the New Zealand was sunk). Among them, the Princess Royal looked like it had been severely damaged due to the thick smoke billowing from it.
After going out for a stroll, one person died and the other was seriously injured. At this time, Jellicoe had the urge to beat Betty up. But how to make up for the losses at this time was the key.
So Jellicoe immediately ordered each formation to accelerate immediately and rush towards Betty's formation, which was fighting the enemy ships forward and backward.
However, at this time, a telegram was sent from the airship. A large number of German battleships were found twenty nautical miles behind the German battle patrol, and they were judged to be the main force of the High Seas Fleet.
Jellicoe was shocked when he saw the news. At this time, he had no way out. If he avoided the battle, he would lose all the battle patrols. At this time, Jellicoe could only issue the order to fight.
He currently has 17 battleships in his hands, while the opponent only has 14. Why should he withdraw due to his superiority? You will only know who will lose and who will win after fighting.
As for the German side, General Ingenohl finally caught the British by surprise. How could they miss it? So a head-on battle began on the Dogger Sandbank.
The naval battle started at five o'clock in the afternoon and lasted until about eight o'clock in the evening.
In more than three hours of fighting, Germany lost two battleships, two battlecruisers, and a large number of small and medium-sized battleships. The total tonnage lost reached more than 90,000 tons, and there were more than 5,000 casualties. Almost every other main battleship was injured.
As for the British, they lost five battleships, three battlecruisers, and the same number of small and medium-sized battleships. The total tonnage lost reached 170,000 tons, and there were more than 10,000 casualties.
The main reason for all this is that on the one hand, the British were not prepared enough, and the response turned into a big war. This was not only a problem with people's mentality, but also a lack of preparation.
In addition, the British's artillery shell penetration depth is not good enough. Although it was exposed as early as the Battle of Sirte, it is impossible to solve this problem within two or three months.
On the other hand, German battleships have excellent performance. After absorbing the technology of Italian battleships, German battleships are more powerful. Of course, in addition, Germany also learned a lot from the previous Battle of Sirte, and also found that there are many British
Problem.
In addition, Lieutenant General Scheer, the commander of the battleship formation, boldly adopted approach tactics during the battle, shortening the battle line between the two sides to a distance of 7,000 meters.
Under such a desperate fighting style, the British battleships were the first to be overwhelmed. If it weren't for the cover of small and medium-sized battleships, and the high seas fleet was afraid of causing unexpected losses, otherwise the home fleet would have lost more battleships. (After all, you hit him.
One punch can seriously injure him, and one punch from him can kill you)
Germany won the Battle of Dogger Sands, pulling out another layer of the Royal Navy of the British Empire.
