Admiral Codrington on the battleship Revenge has discovered the chaos in the transfer area at sea, but the experienced admiral will not panic. Because he was very familiar with the performance of torpedo boats and torpedoes.
In the past two years, due to the popularization of small steam turbines, first-class industrialized countries such as Ming Dynasty and Great Britain have begun to equip high-speed torpedo boats driven by steam turbines. The fastest speed has reached 34 knots and 35 knots. The impact is of course amazing. However, torpedoes driven by compressed air run very slowly, usually only 6-7 knots, and their range is also very short, usually within 1,000 meters. At this distance, even a torpedo boat running to 35 knots can easily be hit by small and medium-caliber artillery mounted on a large warship.
So Admiral Codrington calmly ordered: "Every ship turns on its searchlights, fires its artillery freely, and makes every effort to prevent the torpedo boats from approaching the transport fleet! Strengthen the search alert to the north to prevent enemy ships from the Persian Gulf from coming over for a sneak attack!" "
As the admiral's order was issued in the light language, the large and small cruisers, destroyers, and small artillery installed on the transport ships in the Indian fleet were all directed by the suddenly lit searchlights to attack the fast-moving ships almost simultaneously. The approaching torpedo boat opened fire!
The lights were shining, the shells were raining, and water columns were rising into the sky along the route of the torpedo boat's impact! Occasionally, a 9.2-inch or 10-inch shell fired by a first-class armored cruiser fell, and the water column stirred up was like a wall of water. Fragments of the shells roared and danced on the sea, but those small torpedo boats were still moving straight forward at a top speed of 34 knots!
Wang Zuo took the lead and stood in the cockpit of the torpedo boat with his chest held out. He personally held the steering wheel and steered the torpedo boat through the water columns while squinting to look for the largest individual among the chaotic ships of the Royal Indian Navy. The goal. He only has two precious steam gas torpedoes, which are treasures enough to sink a battleship! It would be a waste to use them to deal with destroyers of several hundred tons. Why would they have to sink a cruiser of two to three thousand tons, right? It would be even more beautiful if it could sink a larger first-class armored cruiser. If it really doesn't work, we have to send away a large troop transport ship.
Originally, the Royal Indian Navy ships on the sea did not dare to turn on the lights, but occasionally turned on the searchlights, so Wang Zuo and the others did not know which ship was the most valuable. But following Admiral Codrington's order, the sea was full of second- and third-class cruisers that turned on their searchlights and let themselves fly. There were even a few Shannon-class and Northampton-class cruisers that could be considered first-class cruisers according to their tonnage. The Dun-class and Arrogant-class armored cruisers bravely "stepped out" to protect the troop carriers filled with Indian Asan infantry.
Wang Zuo has already set his sights on a Northampton-class armored cruiser with a standard displacement of more than 7,500 tons. This is the second type of steam-powered ironclad built by the British Empire after the end of the Napoleonic War. Although it is equipped with a steam engine capable of providing 6,000 horsepower, But it still retains three tall masts that can be used to hang the sails. There is also a unicorn-like bow mast on the bow, and there is a powerful ramming horn on the underwater part of the bow!
This very mighty-looking ironclad ship was not afraid of the torpedo boats approaching at high speed. It did not bother to hide the huge hull in the darkness. Instead, it turned on all the searchlights, pointed them at the torpedo boat driven by Wang Zuo, and fired. Dazzling lights came out!
The torpedo boats caught by the searchlights are live targets. Although the accuracy of naval guns these days is relatively poor and cannot hit the torpedo boats three or four thousand meters away, at a distance of 1,000 meters, various types of weapons on the side of an armored cruiser can be seen. It is not difficult for artillery combined to sink a small torpedo boat. With the Northampton-class's speed of 13.17 knots, it is not a big problem to avoid a 6.5-knot compressed air torpedo.
Therefore, this suicide torpedo boat assault launched by the Ming army has failed!
"The Ming army's raid has failed!" Admiral Codrington saw that the beams of light emitted by the searchlights had locked onto more than ten torpedo boats. He finally breathed a sigh of relief, showed a relaxed smile, and said to Elfin next to him. Stone said, "Colonel, it looks like we'll be taking Muscat soon!"
Just when Admiral Codrington was full of confidence and expected that the Ming Navy's attack had failed. The torpedo launchers under Wang Zuo were already in position, and their torpedo boats struck from a 65-degree angle. The torpedo tubes on the boat were turned sideways at an angle. A sailor behind the torpedo tube, who was responsible for aiming, put half of his body outside the small torpedo boat. He squinted his eyes and tried hard to aim the tube four to five kilometers away. The large warship outside was shining its searchlight on itself. All I saw was that he was holding a red flag in his hand, heavily under his command, and shouting at the same time: "Let go!"
A torpedo soldier in charge of launching immediately shouted: "Torpedo, launch!"
While he was shouting, his two hands had simultaneously pressed down the wrenches on the two torpedo tubes, one on the left and one on the right. Only two "bang bang" sounds were heard. Under the influence of air pressure, two 530 mm steam gas torpedoes were sprayed out of the thick launch tubes and plunged into the undulating sea water. The torpedo motor drove the propeller installed at the tail to start rotating at an extremely fast speed. Driven by the propeller, the two torpedoes were quickly accelerated to a high speed of 40 knots!
This is an incredibly high speed, and what’s even more incredible is that this kind of torpedo propelled by the power of an internal combustion engine can actually hit 5,000 meters away! You must know that today's battleship main guns are not very accurate at a distance of six to seven thousand meters. The ideal artillery battle distance between battleships is within 5,000 meters!
After the two 530mm torpedoes were launched, the torpedo boat driven by Wang Zuo suddenly lightened up and jumped up, becoming much faster. But without torpedoes, Wang Zuo would be seeking death if he continued to charge with a torpedo boat. The most important thing now was to feel like he was running away. So he immediately turned to the helm and steered the torpedo boat in a different direction, preparing to go around the stern of the armored cruiser in front of him and then escape from the battlefield to the north.
It was not only Wang Zuo's torpedo boat that turned at the same time. Almost all the torpedo boats on the sea turned at the same time and started the full-speed escape mode.
"Did they run away?"
Colonel Elphinstone, who was holding a telescope to watch the torpedo boat being blown up, showed a look of disdain as he spoke.
He actually escaped from the battlefield! There is simply no regard for the dignity of soldiers. The so-called military force of the Ming Dynasty seems to be nothing more than this.
Admiral Codrington sighed: "What a pity."
As soon as he finished speaking, something happened suddenly that made everyone stunned.
Just as the Ming Army torpedo boats on the sea turned around one after another, a huge water column suddenly rose up from the starboard midship of the Northampton armored cruiser with a standard displacement of more than 7,500 tons, and there were flickers of fire in the water column.
In the diffuse mist, Codrington could only see that the 7,500-ton ironclad ship that once made Rakshasa, Prussia, France and Austria deeply feel that the British Royal Navy was invincible had not had time to show off its powerful firepower. , it began to roll over at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then sank at an extremely fast speed. Just as the Northampton was sinking rapidly, one, two, three, and four loud bangs were heard from the sea. ring!
Then came the exclamations of the people on the bridge of the battleship Revenge.
"God! The Shannon"
"Manniu"
"Oh my God, the Oxford. It's gone too!"
"Oh, look, the Plassey, it seems to have been hit by a torpedo too!"
How can this be? Codrington couldn't believe his ears. Two armored cruisers, one second-level cruiser, two third-level cruisers, a total of five cruisers, just like that?
Codrington quickly raised his telescope and looked around on the sea. After a quick look, he found that there were really three or four very large ships in the sea transfer area, either flipping over and sinking, or turning upside down. Dive into the water, or the butt of the ship enters the water. The lightest case is that the ship body is tilted severely but it is recovering its balance. It should be filled with water to the other side.
But even so, Codrington inexplicably lost 2 armored cruisers and 2 third-level cruisers.
"Come on, Admiral," Elphinstone's voice trembled, "Are we going to retreat?"
"Retreat?" Codrington looked at Elphinstone with a livid face. "If you retreat now, won't the Royal Navy sacrifice its life in vain? Now, let your people land quickly! I need to capture Muscat!"
"Yes, Your Excellency, General!"
(End of chapter)
