My Italy

"Report, the distance is sixteen thousand meters."

"Fifteen thousand meters."

"Fourteen thousand meters!"

At this moment, on the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, the navigator continued to report the distance between the two fleets.

The sound of his report hit the hearts of Kaden and everyone in the command tower of the flagship Orion.

As the fleet commander, Cardon would stare at the incoming combined fleet with his binoculars without speaking. He was waiting for the opponent to enter the optimal range of the artillery.

Although the maximum range of the battleship's main gun has reached more than 20 kilometers, due to reasons such as observation instruments and artillery accuracy, generally speaking, the optimal shooting distance is 10-13 kilometers. No matter how far it is, in addition to the impressive hit rate of the artillery, the chance of penetrating the opponent's armor will be much smaller. Of course, it doesn't matter if your opponent is thin-skinned and big 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 the distance is too close, which will lead to hand-to-hand combat between the two parties. It is not easy to get out of the battle in time. In addition, the flexibility is poor and the turning radius is too large, which will increase the threat of torpedoes on small and medium-sized battleships. Therefore, generally speaking, in order to ensure sufficient maneuverability and tactical requirements, this distance is the best choice.

However, while General Kaden was waiting for the best shooting distance, his opponent, Lieutenant General Leifer, did not wait any longer. When the captain reported the distance of 14,000 meters, Leifer immediately ordered. "Order all ships to fire on the target."

Following Leifer's order, the battleships of the combined fleet immediately opened fire at the targets they had already aimed at.

As the Cavour fired its first semi-volley, within half a minute, hundreds of artillery pieces in the Italian-Austrian Navy sprayed out orange fireballs one after another, and a thunderous sound resounded throughout the battlefield, like a It was like the sound of war drums and roars before giants went into battle. The officers and soldiers involved in this naval battle were lucky enough to see what the firing of hundreds of large-caliber naval guns looked like.

Seeing that the enemy was the first to open fire, General Cardon knew that he could not wait any longer and announced the opening of fire. Not to be outdone, the Mediterranean Fleet also spurted out tongues of fire, and its shells attacked the combined fleet.

One by one, the dreadnoughts were spitting deadly flames at a long distance, and soon huge water columns rose up around the fleet, forming huge water curtains to cover the warships.

After the first round of firing, neither side achieved a shot, and the distance was still a little far away. This battle is destined to be a fierce battle. Whether it is the Italian-Austrian Combined Fleet, which is bent on gaining hegemony in the Mediterranean, or the Mediterranean Fleet, it will not be able to achieve its goal without severely damaging its opponent.

"Let's get closer and achieve victory as soon as possible!"

The roar of the naval guns made Leifer forget about other things besides the war at this time. Did he know that the other party had a fleet of reinforcements. If the Mediterranean Fleet is not severely damaged as soon as possible, then this will put the Combined Fleet in a possible dangerous situation. Therefore, out of desire for victory and full confidence in its own warships, the combined fleet shifted its course half a Luo classic to the right.

Facing the enemy who was gradually approaching, Admiral Cardon did not intend to give in at this moment, so the two sides got closer. As time passed, the distance between the two sides closed from 14km to 13km. At this time, the Italian Navy obtained The first hit in this naval battle.

"The Centurion has been hit!"

Following the direction pointed by the navigator, Leifer could clearly see through the telescope that the Centurion's No. 1 turret was covered in thick smoke and flames.

A 350mm shell hit the Centurion's 320mm thick turret at an angle of 80 degrees. At this distance, it is difficult for a 350mm shell to penetrate such a thickness of armor, but this shot still caused great losses to the opponent.

The fragments after the shell exploded 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 the baptism of a steel storm, large and small. Small shrapnel kept jumping and bouncing in the narrow and closed turret, occasionally knocking down officers and soldiers. The strong smell of blood and the wails of wounded soldiers instantly filled the entire turret, and the operation of the turret was temporarily suspended.

Once entering the effective shooting, it means that theoretically, the opponent will be hit continuously in future battles, and the current situation is completely consistent with the definition in the textbook.

Then the Centurion was hit three times by its opponent Duilio in just five minutes.

"The Italians' strikes were fierce and precise. The Centurion was hit continuously at a distance of 13 kilometers. First was the No. 1 turret. In less than a minute, the Centurion was hit by at least 5 shots!"

Afterwards, a British officer on the ship recalled with lingering fear.

Two shells hit the Centurion which was counterattacking almost at the same time. One shell penetrated the upper armor belt amidships and exploded between the two gun galleries. The shock wave formed by the powerful TNT explosive destroyed the armor of the two gun galleries from the side. The secondary gun weighing more than 5 tons was retreated from the gun mount, and the naval personnel next to it were directly smashed into pieces by the bent gun barrel. Got minced meat.

Another shell hit the main armor belt. The main armor belt, which is only about 305 mm thick, is not as strong as the turret. With a harsh impact, the hardened layer of the armor and the shell cap shattered almost simultaneously, and the sharp warhead rushed into the interior of the hull carrying a large number of fragments.

After penetrating the main deck, it finally exploded in the upper part of the power cabin. At this time, the upper part of the power cabin was just a layer of fragile structural steel. The powerful impact of the explosion shattered the ceiling of the power cabin into a sieve. Large pieces of steel plates cracked and shattered, and with bursts of heart-wrenching sounds, a hail of bullets swept across a boiler room. The stoker 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 was hit in the power compartment, causing its speed to suddenly drop from 18 knots to 16 knots.

Except for the Centurion, all the ships suffered more or less losses in this round of fighting, although of course they were not as miserable as the Centurion.

The Colossus suffered two shells, one hitting the main armor belt on the ship's side without being penetrated, and one hitting the No. 2 chimney causing a loss of vision. Collingwood was hit by two shells, causing only the loss of two secondary batteries. And the Montague, the Neptune...

The combined fleet was not without losses. The Petrarch, Giulio, and Dante were all hit by their opponents. However, since it failed to hit a vital point, the damage caused was not significant.

The main reason why the Mediterranean Fleet suffered far greater losses than the Combined Fleet, in addition to the disadvantage in the number of warships, was more due to the difference in artillery shells.

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

Although picric acid gained popularity at the end of the last century, picric acid has a fatal flaw: its sensitivity. Picric acid shells detonated earlier than the fuse due to the vibration on impact and were unable to effectively penetrate armor. TNT, on the other hand, can be delayed until the shell has penetrated and the fuze has expired before detonating, allowing it to attack weak areas behind the armor.

In fact, it is not that no one in the UK discovered this problem. As early as 1908, when Vice Admiral Jellicoe was the Third Lord of the Admiralty, he was aware of the problem of poor performance of related artillery shells and ordered the design of new artillery shells to begin. However, this work did not continue after he left office, and the new shells were not fully tested.

It can be said that the conservative style of the British Empire Navy caused hardships to frontline officers and soldiers.

However, the problem of artillery shells is not a concern for General Kaden. How to break the situation now is the key factor. His fleet was at a disadvantage and he had to think of a way.