Served at three o'clock in the morning!
.
.
.
The British Royal Navy's Sovereign-class battleship Revenge was hit in the third salvo of the Ming Dynasty naval formation. A 155mm armor-piercing projectile hit the building below the command tower of the Revenge without missing a beat. But it didn't break down, but exploded on impact!
This is because the armor-piercing bombs used by the Ming Navy were filled with picric acid explosives that were not sufficiently passivated. After a violent impact, these incompletely passivated picric acid explosives usually could not wait to penetrate the enemy ship. The steel plate exploded because the charge was too sensitive. The first explosion that knocked George Elu over was caused by this. However, this explosion theoretically cannot cause much damage to the sturdy Sovereign-class battleship.
The reason why it is said to be theoretical is because there is another very fatal and weird flaw of the Sovereign class. The two twin 13.5-inch naval gun turrets located at the bow and stern of the Sovereign class do not have top covers!
I don’t know what the British shipbuilding experts think? So many pounds have been spent, so much armor steel has been used, why not add a cover to the most important turret?
All secondary guns on the Sovereign level are protected by steel shields. There is basically no need to worry about shell fragments. Even if they are directly hit by a 155mm shell, they can probably withstand it. But the two huge turrets located at the bow and stern of the ship have no covers.
This is not the worst thing. The worst thing is that behind these two large forts are tall superstructures (front and rear command towers), which are very easy to hit. Originally, an armor-piercing bomb filled with picric acid that "exploded on touch" would not cause much damage to the Sovereign-level superstructure, but when the exploding shrapnel and burning fireball (picric acid has a certain arson effect) Things get serious when it falls from the sky and lands in a fort without a cover. Not only did they kill all the gun crew members in the fort, but they also conveniently exploded a 13.5-inch artillery shell that had not been filled into the gun barrel. This was also a picric acid shell, and the British picric acid explosive copied the Ming Dynasty's formula. , it is also easy to explode.
It was over now. A 13.5-inch picric acid shell exploded in the roofless turret, blowing away the two huge cannons and igniting two propellant barrels containing black powder and other miscellaneous things. It also stunned more than half of the officers and soldiers on the bridge behind the fort, leaving the formation without command for a while... Look, just to save a few bucks, it was like this, what about the British Empire?
However, after being blown up and burned, the battleship Revenge was in a mess. The bow turret was directly disarmed, and the "ship's head" was still burning... There was an ammunition depot under the "head"! This is going to burn up, and this Revenge is no longer available. The command center of the entire fleet was stunned and completely unable to issue orders. They could only rely on their subordinates to fight on their own.
However, the quality of the British Royal Navy officers and soldiers on the Revenge was still high. Although no one was directing them, the officers and soldiers responsible for damage control strictly followed the procedures to fill the ammunition depot under the bow turret with water to cool down, and the warship was saved.
However, after the bow of the ship was filled with water, the ship's speed inevitably slowed down, and the bow also sank, causing the ship's body to tilt forward, and it could only drive forward with its butt stuck out.
This arrogant Sovereign-class battleship only received one 155mm armor-piercing bullet, and it was "full of fire", its buttocks were turned up, and it could only sail crookedly. This embarrassing situation not only shocked the officers and soldiers of the British Royal Navy at sea, but also the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Navy.
Kingship...that's all?
The gunners of the Ming Navy are very clever. They can immediately see where the weakness of this "monarchy" level is? There is an uncovered turret on the upturned butt of the ship! Therefore, there was no need for Li Chenghui and Zhuge Weidao to give orders. All the 155 guns were aimed at the Revenge's raised butt.
24 155mm guns were followed by three rounds of bombardment, specifically hitting the "butt" of the ship. As expected, the "butt" of the Revenge was set on fire again. A 155mm armor-piercing bullet filled with picric acid fell directly into the fort and exploded with a "bang". Not only did it kill all the gunners, but it also exploded a 13.5-inch large artillery shell. Two cannons exploded, and a fire started... Picric acid has this characteristic, it is easy to explode and burn!
The experienced British sailors did not care about the lake, and filled the "butt" of the Revenge with water again... This time it was balanced, but the speed dropped again, and it could only reach 10 knots.
What is more troublesome than the decrease in speed is that this "European First Ship" with a full load displacement of more than 15,000 tons now only has five 6-inch guns on one side left to fight. Of course, it also has six small-caliber rapid-fire cannons and 12 torpedo tubes... But the small-caliber rapid-fire cannons cannot damage the Port Arthur and Vladivostok at all, and if the Revenge is used as a torpedo boat, it will too slow.
As a result, the Revenge could only fight bravely with five 6-inch guns... But that's not the most ridiculous thing. It was much stronger than the Indomitable. It also has at least five 6-inch rapid-fire cannons that can fire!
And the Indomitable, which was equipped with a diagonal turret and four 16-inch front-mounted rifled guns, was so embarrassing that it made people sweat. The rate of fire of the 16-inch front-loaded cannon is so slow that it can make people fall asleep. It takes ten or twenty minutes to fire one shot, and it is impossible to fire at all. It is completely unsuitable to be mounted on a battleship for naval battles. And it does not have a 6-inch rapid-fire cannon, only three 6-inch semi-rapid-fire cannons on one side for naval battles.
A large ship of more than 10,000 tons can only be fired by three semi-rapid-firing cannons. This "semi-rapid fire" is a retractable cannon. The theoretical rate of fire is one shot per minute, and the combat rate of fire is one shot every two minutes. Today's actual rate of fire is about one shot every three or four minutes...
Therefore, the Ming Navy simply ignored the Indomitable and continued to direct all its firepower at the Revenge.
However, except for the two large "uncovered" turrets at the bow and stern of the ship, the rest of the Revenge is extremely strong. Not to mention that the 155mm armor-piercing projectiles cannot hit it. Even if the 305mm main gun of the Hongwu Emperor class comes to hit it, it will not be able to hit it. It is difficult to penetrate the strongest side main armor belt of the Revenge - that is 457 mm of armor! Even the protection of the Revenge's superstructure cannot be penetrated by a 155mm gun.
Therefore, although the Revenge was covered in fire and black smoke was billowing from the concentrated fire of 24 155-gun guns, it was still fine and calmly fired back with 5 rapid-fire guns... from time to time. It can also hit the Port Arthur with one or two shots.
However, the British 6-inch artillery shells also have the same virtues as the Ming Dynasty's 155 mm artillery shells. They also explode on impact, and their armor-piercing capabilities are compromised. Moreover, the Lushun's protective capabilities are not bad. Although it is only a cruiser with a standard displacement of just over 5,000 tons, the armor steel plates it uses are the latest and best nickel alloy steel, so the vital parts of the Lushun are not so easily damaged. Puncture. After taking several 6-inch shells, it still looked like a "nothing ship".
Just when the exchange of fire between the two sides reached a stalemate, George Elliot and Charlie Elliot, the two unlucky guys who were stunned by the explosion of the 13.5-inch shell, had woken up. After discovering that they were still alive, the two brothers quickly helped each other to get up. He limped to the window of the command tower and took one look at the holes blasted out on the bow deck and the dead bodies strewn about. He already knew that "Monarchy" was terribly wrong.
Then he turned around and looked at the starboard side where he was exchanging fire with the enemy... He was completely suppressed and beaten. Fortunately, he was "thick-skinned". Although he was beaten with fire, he could still withstand it!
However, the few 6-inch guns seemed unable to do anything to the Port Arthur. The artillery of the three protective cruisers following the Indomitable could not reach the two Ming army cruisers. Because the distance was too far, the hit rate was very poor.
"The First Clan"
If we continue fighting like this, it seems like we will suffer too much.
Thinking of this, George Elliot shouted loudly to the dazed officers in the command tower: "Hang the flag and let each ship fight on its own!"
