My Italian

"Report, the distance is 16,000 meters."

"Fifteen kilometers."

"Fourteen kilometers!"

At this moment, on the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, the navigator is constantly reporting the distance between the two fleets.

The sound of his report hit the hearts of everyone in Carden and the commander tower of the flagship Orion.

As the commander of the fleet, Admiral Cardon stared at the incoming United Fleet with a telescope, and kept silent. He was waiting for the opponent to enter the optimal range of the artillery.

Although the maximum range of the main guns of battleships has reached more than 20 kilometers, due to reasons such as observation instruments and artillery accuracy, generally speaking, the best shooting distance is 10-13 kilometers. No matter how far away, in addition to the impressive hit rate of the artillery, the chance of penetrating the opponent's armor will be much smaller. Of course, your opponent is thin-skinned and 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 too close distance will lead to hand-to-hand combat between the two sides, and it is not easy to get out of the battle in time. In addition, the flexibility is poor, the turning radius is too large, and the threat of torpedoes on small and medium-sized warships will increase. Therefore, in general, 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, Lieutenant General Lefer, his opponent, did not wait any longer. When the navigator reported a distance of 14,000 meters, Leifer immediately ordered. "Order the ships to fire on the target."

Following Laifer's order, the battleships of the United Fleet opened fire on the targets they had already aimed at.

Following the first round of semi-volley fire from the Cavour, within half a minute, hundreds of cannons in the Italian-Austrian Navy sprayed out orange fireballs, and the loud noise like thunder resounded through the entire battlefield, like The sound of war drums and roars before the giants fought was like a roar. The officers and soldiers participating in this naval battle were fortunate to see what the shooting of hundreds of large-caliber naval guns looked like.

Seeing that the enemy opened fire first, General Carden knew he couldn't wait any longer and announced to open fire. As a result, the Mediterranean Fleet, not to be outdone, also spewed out flames, and its shells attacked the United Fleet.

Dreadnought ships spit deadly flames from a long distance, and soon huge water columns rose around the fleet, forming huge water curtains to cover the battleships.

After the first round of fire, neither side got a burst shot, and the distance was a little farther. This battle is destined to be a fierce battle. Whether it is the Italian-Austrian United Fleet that wants to gain hegemony in the Mediterranean, or the Mediterranean Fleet, it is impossible to achieve your goal without severely injuring your opponent.

"Let's get closer and get the results as soon as possible!"

The roar of the naval guns made Lefer forget other things besides the war at this time. Did he know that the other party had a reinforcement fleet. If the Mediterranean Fleet is not severely damaged as soon as possible, then this will put the United Fleet in a possible dangerous situation. Therefore, due to the desire for victory and full confidence in their warships, the United Fleet turned to the right by half Luo Jing.

Facing the approaching enemy, Admiral Cardon did not intend to give in at this moment, so the two sides moved closer together. With the passage of time, the distance between the two sides approached from 14km to 13km. At this time, the Italian Navy gained The first hit in this naval battle.

"The Centurion has been shot!"

Following the direction pointed out by the navigator, Lefer could clearly see through the telescope that the No. 1 turret of the Centurion was covered by thick smoke and flames.

A 350mm artillery shell hit the front of the Centurion's 320mm thick turret with a fall angle of 80°. At this distance, it is difficult for a 350mm shell to penetrate such a thick armor, but this gun still caused a lot of damage to the opponent.

The fragments from the shell's explosion bent a cannon 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 a baptism of steel storm. Small shrapnel kept jumping and bouncing in the narrow and closed turret, sweeping down an officer and soldier from time to time. The strong smell of blood and the wailing of wounded soldiers instantly filled the entire turret, and the operation of the turret was temporarily suspended.

Once entering effective shooting, it means that theoretically speaking, 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 by its opponent, the Duilio, three times in a row.

"The Italian strikes were fierce and precise. The Centurion was hit consecutively at a distance of 13 kilometers. The first was the No. 1 turret. In less than a minute thereafter, the Centurion was hit by at least 5 guns!"

A British officer on the ship recalled with lingering fear afterwards.

Two shells hit the Centurion, which was counterattacking, almost at the same time. One shell penetrated the upper armor belt at the midship of the hull and exploded between the two gun galleries. The shock wave formed by the powerful TNT explosives destroyed the armor of the two gun galleries from the side, and the secondary guns weighing more than 5 tons were withdrawn from the gun mounts, while the naval personnel beside them were directly smashed into pieces by the bent gun barrels. Meat puree.

Another shell hit the main armor belt, which is only about 305 mm thick, but not as strong as the turret. Accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of impact, the hardened layer of the armor and the cap of the shell were shattered almost at the same time, and the sharp warhead carried a large number of fragments and rushed into the interior of the hull.

After breaking through the main deck, it finally exploded on the upper part of the power cabin. At this moment, the upper part of the power cabin was just a layer of fragile structural steel, and the powerful impact from the explosion smashed the ceiling of the power cabin into a sieve. A large piece of steel plate broke and shattered, and with a burst of piercing sounds, a rain of bullets swept across a boiler room. The fireman 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, which was hit in the power cabin, caused its speed to suddenly decrease, from 18 knots to 16 knots.

Except for the Centurion, in this round of engagement, all ships suffered losses to a greater or lesser extent, of course not as miserable as the Centurion.

The Colossus suffered two shells, one hit the main armor belt on the side of the ship and was not penetrated, and the other hit the No. 2 funnel, causing loss of vision. Collingwood was hit by two shells, resulting in the loss of only two secondary batteries. And the Montague, the Neptune...

The United Fleet is not without losses. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com Petrarch, Giulio, and Dante have all been hit by opponents. However, because it failed to hit the vital point, the damage caused was not large.

The main reason why the losses of the Mediterranean Fleet are far greater than those of the United Fleet is not only the disadvantage in the number of warships, but also the difference in shells.

The performance of the Italian and Austrian armor-piercing projectiles is far superior to that of the British armor-piercing projectiles. Italy used tnt-charged shells (from German research) as early as 1902, while Britain still uses picric acid compounds.

Although picric acid shined at the end of the last century, it has a fatal shortcoming, that is, its sensitivity. The picric acid projectile detonated earlier than the fuze due to the vibration on impact and could not penetrate the armor effectively. The tnt can be delayed until the shell has penetrated and the fuze has completed its detonation, which can attack the weak area behind the armor.

In fact, it is not unheard of in the UK. As early as 1908, Lieutenant General Jellicoe was aware of the poor performance of the related shells when he was the Third Secretary of the Navy, and ordered to start the design of new shells. However, the work did not continue after his departure, and the new shells were not fully tested.

It can be said that the conservative style of the British Empire Navy has caused hardships to front-line officers and soldiers.

However, the issue of the shells is irrelevant to General Cardon. How to break the game now is the key factor. His fleet is at a disadvantage and he must find a way.

(end of this chapter)