Naval Battle (2)

The supercruiser HMS Cambridge County, leading the charge, naturally became the target of concentrated French Army fire. This was, in fact, the British Army purpose in sending the Cambridge to the front – to shield the Queen Elizabeth shells and cover its advance to a point where it could fire accurately while preserving as much combat capability as possible.

Britain "super cruisers" were all thinly armored and heavily armored. In pursuit of speed and to mount large-caliber guns, their Britain cruisers. Such armor was not very reliable even when fighting against ordinary armored cruisers, and against the armor-piercing shells of the 150mm long-barreled guns of France battleships, they were basically as thin as paper.

However, the rough seas and high winds of the North Atlantic Ocean actually helped her a lot. In the calm Mediterranean Sea, the 100mm guns of the France armored cruisers would have been enough to give her a hard time. These guns had limited power, but a high rate of fire, and they were like raining bullets. The Cambridge County was thinly armored and heavily armored, so even such shells could not stop it.

However, the situation is quite different in the North Atlantic Ocean. France ships have always prioritized high speed (even if they can't win a fight, they can still run away. Well, at least Joseph, who was in charge of military development, always emphasized speed, speed, speed!), but in ships, emphasizing speed performance often requires some sacrifices in other areas, such as stability.

Large ships like the "Imperial" and "Caesar" were one thing, but even supercruisers like the "Free Trade" weren't exactly known for their stability. As for the France armored cruisers, well, at less than two thousand tons full displacement, what stability could they possibly have? A little rough seas and the ships would routinely roll left and right by ten degrees or more. Under such conditions, hitting an enemy at a considerable distance was entirely a matter of luck, having absolutely nothing to do with the performance of the cannons themselves or the gunners' skill.

So although the France armored cruisers fired a volley of shells, the impact points were only about three kilometers apart, but many shells missed by more than a kilometer.

However, the 150mm guns on HMS Imperado and HMS Caesar proved more effective at this time. When the two sides closed to about two kilometers, Imperator achieved its first hit, with a 150mm semi-armor-piercing shell hitting the mast of Cambridge County directly, knocking off the mast and most of the funnel behind it.

The mast falling off is no big deal, but the blown-down chimney directly affects the boiler's combustion efficiency, leading to a decrease in power. However, at this point, this problem is not too significant either, because the Cambridge County still has a chimney, and besides, the Queen Elizabeth can only barely run at around ten knots, so the Cambridge County doesn't need to run at full power.

However, with the first hit, there was bound to be a second. Soon, during the second salvo from Imperator, another shell struck HMS Cambridge County.

This time, HMS Cambridge County's good luck seemed to have run out. The shell hit the bow section directly, easily penetrating the paper-thin armor before plunging into the main gun magazine...

On the bridge of Queen Elizabeth, Nelson saw the HMS Cambridge County suddenly shudder, and then a huge fireball suddenly emerged from below the deck of the Cambridge County, instantly engulfing the entire Cambridge.

Then fireballs and thick smoke rose upwards, and Nelson saw that the Cambridgeshire had broken in two in the explosion. The rumbling sound of the explosion then reached the bridge of the Queen Elizabeth, causing the windows to shake.

The Cambridgeshire sank into the sea almost in the blink of an eye, leaving only a large, foamy whirlpool on the surface.

Now it was finally the Queen Elizabeth's turn to face the France fleet's barrage of bullets, and the distance between the two sides had been reduced to about two kilometers. France shells began to fall continuously, with the 100mm shells from the France armored cruisers landing near the Queen Elizabeth and kicking up columns of water. The sea near the Queen Elizabeth was like a boiling cauldron.

"The France cannons have a really high rate of fire," Nelson said to his adjutant. "We've all misjudged the France firepower. They must have some kind of technological secret."

The France kept the hydraulic reset device for artillery extremely secret, to the point that even the invincible France army, apart from the navy, did not equip it with this device.

The Britain knew that French Navy guns were generally small-caliber, at least compared to the Britain 10-inch cannons. From this, they deduced that the France were pursuing a higher rate of fire. Furthermore, the France cannons had very long barrels; for example, their 150mm cannons had barrels over six meters long, even a meter longer than the Britain 10-inch cannons. Additionally, observations showed that the barrel walls of the France cannons were no thinner than those of the Britain 10-inch cannons—meaning that although the caliber was small, the chamber pressure they withstood was considerable. Such barrels were very difficult to manufacture, so despite their slender, toothpick-like appearance, the France cannons were definitely not cheap to produce. They might even have been more expensive than the Britain 10-inch cannons. At least, the one the Britain themselves were trying to build was.

Based on their understanding, the Britain also built a long-barreled 150mm gun. The final test results showed that this gun was only slightly weaker in armor-piercing capability than their 20-caliber 10-inch gun, but its rate of fire was significantly faster. Of course, the cost was also much higher; the price of two long-barreled 150mm guns was enough to buy three 10-inch guns. But this wasn't the most critical issue. The most critical issue was that this gun suffered severe erosion, and its lifespan was only one-third to one-quarter of that of the 10-inch gun. Considering this, the British Navy suddenly felt that the 10-inch gun was still more appealing.

So, although the Britain mocked the France naval guns in newspapers as being like toothpicks, utterly insignificant compared to Britain cannons, the British Navy never underestimated the France 150mm guns. However, even so, they greatly underestimated the rate of fire of the France cannons.

As the distance increased, even the guns of the France armored cruisers became more accurate. Just as Nelson was marveling at this, a 100mm shell struck the forward main gun turret of Queen Elizabeth. However, the 100mm gun was unable to penetrate the armor plates of the forward main gun turret, so the shell exploded outside the turret without causing any damage to the turret itself.

However, this doesn't mean the shell caused no damage. When the shell exploded, a shrapnel fragment flew over and shattered a window on the bridge.

"Commander," the adjutant said, "Please come to the command tower to direct the operation."

The command tower is a thick, armored box inside, where telephones can be used to communicate with other departments. It was designed to protect the naval commander.

"No, I'm not going," Nelson said. "My post is right here."

Although the command tower is equipped with various command and communication devices, it is impossible to see the situation on the battlefield firsthand. One can only rely on other people's descriptions to understand the battlefield, which would be very inconvenient to command from there.

More shells rained down. Another 100mm shell struck the hull of the Queen Elizabeth. However, aside from damaging the paint, this shell had virtually no other effect.

But then a 150mm shell struck the superstructure of the Queen Elizabeth. The shell entered from the right, passed through the empty crew quarters, smashed the liquor cabinet next to the bar, then passed through a cabin, drilled two holes in the funnel, and continued forward, landing in the sea on the port side.

Although the 150mm shell did not cause any real damage, its hit meant that the France battleship had its sights on the Queen Elizabeth and was about to engage in actual fire.

Sure enough, another 150mm shell struck the bow of the Queen Elizabeth. The shell penetrated the Queen Elizabeth's armor, then passed through a compartment and exploded in the passageway. The exact extent of the damage is still unclear.

Then another shell fired from the Caesar hit the Queen Elizabeth, penetrating the coal bunker and causing a fire. However, the Britain damage control was very effective, and the fire was quickly brought under control.

More 100mm shells landed on the Queen Elizabeth. These shells were not likely to penetrate the ship's armor, but most of the superstructure was unarmored. These 100mm shells were high-explosive shells, and they fell one after another, tearing the Queen Elizabeth's superstructure to pieces.

The continuous barrage of 100mm high-explosive shells caused multiple fires on the Queen Elizabeth, and the damage control personnel fighting the fires suffered heavy casualties from the subsequent shells. The fire gradually spiraled out of control and began to approach the command tower on the bridge.

Then another 100mm shell landed near the warship. Yes, this shell did not hit the Queen Elizabeth; it was a near miss.

In naval warfare, near misses can sometimes be more dangerous than direct hits because they explode in water, which is incompressible. Therefore, near misses from some large-caliber shells can even have an effect similar to a torpedo.

However, the 100mm gun is not a large-caliber artillery piece, and the near-miss power of its shells is quite limited.

However, the shell landed near the patch on the Queen Elizabeth. This patch was already large and flimsy, and after sailing such a long distance, it was already a bit shaky. At this moment, another shell exploded next to it, although it was only a 100mm shell, it still tore open the original patch, and seawater rushed in.