Chapter 577 The Third Battle of the Strait of Otranto
It should be said that Emperor Yang's guess was very correct, because when he made this inference, the fleet attacking the Strait of Otranto had already arrived. Although this fleet, together with Italy's four Dante-class ships, had a total of sixteen battleships,
, but there are more than 400 light warships of various types, from cruisers to destroyers to torpedo boats with a displacement of only a few dozen tons. All the warships that Britain, France and Italy can collect in the Mediterranean are on the battlefield, not only surface warships, but even all French navy
The more than 20 Holland submarines we owned were also dispatched, and they were prepared to play a very large-scale wolf pack for the Oshi fleet.%
As for their opponents, if we only count the battleships, their strength is quite impressive. There are six United Forces class ships and two Salamis class ships. Regardless of the glorious record of the former with its heavy artillery and thick armor, one man can defeat ten thousand men.
, or the latter, the quality assurance from Yang's Shipyard and the invincible performance of those battleships with the same origin in various battlefields around the world have well made up for their numerical disadvantage. But if you include light battleships, this one
The strength of the fleet is relatively poor. Even the Austro-Hungarian Navy and the Greek Navy only have more than 80 cruisers, destroyers and torpedo boats in total.
So when the huge Allied fleet appeared on the sea in a mighty manner, the Greek fleet on guard outside the Strait of Otranto was immediately stunned.
"What do you mean? They are attacking the enemy fleet from the outside?" Admiral House, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian fleet who had just taken office, couldn't help but sneered when he looked at the telegram sent back by the Greeks in his hand.
"These despicable guys, they just want to make it easier to escape." The fleet chief of staff next to him said angrily. Anyone with some brains can see through the Greeks' pretense at a glance, but in this way, the power to guard the Strait of Otranto will be reduced.
It was further weakened, and the Austro-Hungarian navy now only had sixty light battleships.
"Don't worry about them, just do our duty." Admiral House said. Just as he finished speaking, a huge coalition fleet began to appear on the sea in the distance. Six United Forces-class ships
The battleships immediately adjusted their formation, staggering one hull one kilometer apart in a diagonal line in the narrow strait. At the same time, all cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats were preparing for a surprise attack behind the fleet, especially those equipped with a range of more than twenty
The seven light cruisers armed with spear torpedoes of 100 kilometers are even more ready. This is the magic weapon for the Austro-Hungarian Navy to win. The maximum range even exceeds 30 kilometers when sailing at low speed, which means that these torpedoes can attack outside the range of enemy naval guns.
, of course, in that case the hit rate will be very low.
Soon after the two sides discovered each other, they immediately started fighting. Because the strait was too narrow, the Allied fleet was also unable to maneuver. This was especially true for a fleet as large as theirs. If sixteen battleships lined up
In the battle line, even if they are several hundred meters apart, they cannot move like this. Moreover, if the sides are set out like this, they will easily become the target of those mysterious traceless ultra-long-range torpedoes. Therefore, relying on the numerical advantage,
The Allied fleet adopted the same attack method as the Austro-Hungarian fleet and lined up head-to-head. Both sides fought ship-to-ship. In fact, such a naval battle was purely about whose cannons were more powerful and whose armor was stronger.
This is the advantage of the combined force class. In the first ten minutes of the battle, the two sides poured artillery shells on each other in this boring way, from a distance of fifteen kilometers to within ten kilometers. Not only did the Allied fleet fail to attack Austria-Hungary,
The fleet was severely damaged, but one of the Dante-class ships on our side was severely damaged.
But then the real attack began. The first batch of thirty Allied destroyers and torpedo boats, like the Japanese kamikazes launching the attack, rushed frantically from the gaps between the capital ships, braving the intensive artillery fire from the opposite side.
Passed by. Trying to close the distance to three kilometers, and then launch deadly torpedoes at the optimal distance.
In the Austro-Hungarian fleet, which had been prepared for a long time, a group of light battleships of about the same number also rushed out. On the Combined Forces-class battleships, the 152- and 105-caliber secondary guns also began to target the Allied Powers.
The wolf pack opened fire, and the destroyers and torpedo boats burst into flames amid the explosions of shells, but the remaining ones continued to charge. At the same time, the Austro-Hungarian destroyers that rushed out from behind the battleships fired directly before they could reach the attack range.
After they launched the torpedoes, although they had not yet entered the optimal launching distance, the Allied destroyers and torpedo boats also launched torpedoes one after another. The tracks of steam gas torpedoes on the entire sea surface were intertwined, which looked extremely spectacular.
The light warships that had fired the torpedoes then turned around, firing broadsides at each other and attacking each other in confusion while beginning to retreat. Of course, there must have been a lot less people who could retreat at this time, whether it was the Allied Powers or the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Next, we can only look at those torpedoes. On the battleships of various countries, observers are staring at the sea with all their concentration, informing the control tower of the direction of the torpedo attack at any time and preparing to avoid it in advance, but the number of these torpedoes is too large
There were so many that there was no way to avoid it. One battleship in each fleet was hit by a torpedo, but the results were quite different.
The Prinz Eugen, which was hit by a 533 mm heavy torpedo, just jumped up hard, and nothing happened. However, the battleship Dante, which was also hit by a 533 mm torpedo, was
Two hundred kilograms of antimony charges blasted a large hole more than ten meters long in the bow of the ship. Then seawater began to pour in. In the first battle, the Italian battleship had to run sideways to study how to plug the hole.
This result made the Allied sailors very frustrated. However, because of the great significance of this battle, their light battleships launched a second round of attacks. This time it was larger and more organized, with light cruisers and destroyers in the attack.
They shot out from the gap between the battleships in the middle, while the numerous torpedo boats launched attacks from the shallow water areas on both sides. It should be said that this trick was very effective. After all, the number of battleships in the Austro-Hungarian fleet was too small. Attacks from three directions
They were exhausted. Although they tried their best to prevent an enemy ship from entering within five kilometers of the battleship, they still could not stop them from launching torpedoes. Hundreds of torpedoes were fired in volley and the target moved slowly, so the hit rate was also very high.
Remarkably, almost all of the six Combined Forces-class battleships were torpedoed.
However, what drove the Allied Powers crazy was that even the Prinz Eugen, which had been hit by three torpedoes, showed no signs of flooding.
What they didn't know was that the battleship was actually flooded, but the perfect watertight design solved this problem very well. This giant ship with a full load displacement of nearly 30,000 tons only had nine main guns, and its displacement was not as high as
Its Edward VII class can carry ten guns, and the fuel depot of this battleship is half smaller than that of the Edward VII class. All the reduced weight is used in armor protection and internal compartment design. As long as the ammunition depot does not explode, it will usually be very easy.
It is difficult to sink due to water ingress.
"Continue the attack!" Admiral May, commander of the Allied United Fleet, resisted the desire to throw things and gritted his teeth and issued the order to continue the attack. You must know that every time he attacks, he will lose at least a dozen or even dozens of destroyers and torpedo boats.
, in the attack just now, even a light cruiser was blown into two halves by a 356 mm shell. The torpedo boat sank okay, but the sinking of the cruiser was very heartbreaking.
When he said this, he did not notice that fifteen kilometers away, on an Austro-Hungarian cruiser, two huge-caliber torpedo tubes were aimed at the battleship Edward VII he was on. After passing by a specially hired Chinese torpedo
After the engineer confirmed, the Austro-Hungarian sailor next to the launch tube immediately pulled the launch wrench, and two 630mm heavy-duty spear torpedoes instantly flew out from the water and headed towards the British flagship silently.
At this time, the Allied fleet's third attack began. This time, in order to be able to rush closer and achieve a higher hit rate, all cruisers and destroyers were replaced. Using torpedo boats to attack such a fleet was no different from committing suicide.
Although it is small and difficult to be hit, this advantage is completely meaningless in the face of the rate of fire of those medium-caliber naval guns. The rate of fire of the 105mm naval gun can reach more than a dozen rounds per minute. It does not need to hit but simply explodes next to it.
It can capsize a torpedo boat.
A British heavy cruiser was rushing out at high speed and opened fire to provide cover for the destroyer. At the same time, it was trying to use its armor and size advantages to rush to a close range and fire a torpedo at the United Forces. Unfortunately, it hit a spear torpedo.
, the explosive charge of nearly half a ton was too cruel for such a small ship of only 7,000 tons. It almost blew up the entire ship in one fell swoop, and it began to sink at an extremely fast speed.
"Super torpedo!" On the Edward VII behind it, the sailors who saw this scene immediately let out heart-piercing screams, and then they all went crazy and ignored the shells flying from the opposite side, lying on the side of the ship and trying to
Looking for such a terrifying weapon, even Admiral Mei stared at the sea in a shameless manner. He knew very well that he was the target. This heavy cruiser was just the unlucky scapegoat, but it was impossible for the opponent to launch just one.
torpedo.
"Over there!" Suddenly a sailor exclaimed. The clear water of the Mediterranean Sea gave them a great help. A black shadow passing at high speed like a dolphin under the water was finally discovered, but unfortunately it was inevitable to avoid it at this time.
.
Amidst the screams, the huge torpedo hit the bow of the Edward VII. The explosion instantly tore a huge hole in the bow of the more than 20,000-ton giant ship, and seawater began to pour in crazily.
, at the same time, the fire also spread rapidly inside the cabin, and the shortcomings of the lack of sufficient watertight design immediately became apparent. The flames rushed almost unimpeded to the ammunition depot below the nearest turret No. 1. Under the desperate eyes of the damage control soldiers,
The child swallowed up piles of cannonballs. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!