Chapter 125 Is this the power of kings? (Third update, please subscribe)

Served at three o'clock in the morning!

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The Royal Navy's Sovereign-class battleship HMS Revenge was hit in the third salvo of the Ming Dynasty naval formation. A 155mm armor-piercing projectile hit the building directly below the command tower of the Revenge. However,

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 cannot wait to penetrate the steel plates of enemy ships.

The explosion occurred because the charge was too sensitive. The first explosion that knocked George Elliot over was caused by this. However, this explosion theoretically cannot cause much damage to the sturdy Sovereign-class battleship.

of.

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 and so much armor steel has been used, why not add a cover to the most important turret?

All the secondary guns on the Sovereign class 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 ones located at the bow and stern of the ship

The two huge forts 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, a "explosion" reloader

Picric acid's armor-piercing projectiles will not cause much damage to the Sovereign-class superstructure, but when exploding shrapnel and burning fireballs (picric acid has a certain arsonist effect) fall from the sky and land in the uncovered turret, things will become complicated.

It was a big one. Not only did he kill all the gun crew members in the fort, but he 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 was copied.

If you follow Daming's recipe, it will be easy to fry.

It was over now. A 13.5-inch picric acid shell exploded in the roofless turret, blowing away the two giant cannons and igniting two propellant barrels containing black powder and other miscellaneous items.

It also stunned more than half of the officers and soldiers on the bridge behind the fort, leaving the formation without a command for a while. Just to save a few people, it was like this. What happened to the British Empire?

As for the battleship Revenge, it was in a state of disarray after it was blown up and burned. The bow turret was immediately disarmed, and the "ship's head" was still burning, but there was an ammunition depot under the "head"! If it was going to be burned down, the Revenge would be destroyed.

It was no longer possible. And the command center of the entire fleet was stunned and completely unable to issue orders. The people below could only rely on their own efforts 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 in charge of them, the officers and soldiers in charge of damage control strictly followed the procedures to fill the ammunition depot under the bow turret with water to cool down, and the battleship 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 "stick its butt" forward.

This arrogant Sovereign-class battleship only took one 155mm armor-piercing round, and it was "full of fire", its buttocks were turned up, and it could only sail crookedly. This embarrassment not only made the British Royal family at sea

The officers and soldiers of the navy were shocked. Even the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty navy were stunned.

Is this all about kingship?

The gunners of the Ming Navy are very clever. They can immediately see where the weakness of this "Junquan" class is? There is an uncovered turret on the upturned butt of the ship! So there is no need for Li Chenghui and Zhuge to do anything.

After giving the order, all 155 guns were aimed at the Revenge's raised butt.

24 155mm guns were followed by three rounds of bombardment, specifically targeting the "butt" of the ship. As expected, the "butt" of the Revenge was set on fire again. A 155mm armor-piercing projectile filled with picric acid fell directly into the fort.

Inside, it exploded with a "bomb", not only killing all the gunners, but also detonating a 13.5-inch large artillery shell. First it blew up the two cannons, and then also caused a fire. This is the characteristic of picric acid.

, easy to fry, easy to burn!

The experienced British sailors did not hesitate and once again filled the "butt" of the Revenge with water. This time it was balanced, but the speed dropped again, and it could only reach 10 knots.

What is more troublesome than the drop 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 still has

There are six small-caliber rapid-fire guns and 12 torpedo tubes, but the small-caliber rapid-fire guns cannot damage the Port Arthur and Vladivostok at all, and if the Revenge is used as a torpedo boat, it is 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 had at least five 6-inch rapid-fire guns that could fire.

!

And the Indomitable, which is equipped with a diagonally connected turret and has four 16-inch front-loading rifled guns, is simply embarrassing and makes people sweat. The rate of fire of the 16-inch front-loading guns is so slow that it can make people fall asleep.

It fired for ten or twenty minutes, but it still couldn't fire at all. It was completely unsuitable to be mounted on a battleship for naval battles. Moreover, it did not have a 6-inch rapid-fire cannon, but only three 6-inch half-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-fire cannons. These "semi-rapid-fire" guns are retractable guns. 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

Just 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 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 155 mm 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 could also hit Port Arthur.

One shot and two shots.

However, the British 6-inch artillery shells 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 standard displacement ship of just over 5,000 tons.

It is a cruiser, but the armor steel plates it uses are the latest and best nickel alloy steel, so the vital parts of the Lushun are not so easy to be penetrated. After taking a few 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.

I limped to the window of the command tower and took a look at the holes blasted out on the bow deck and the dead bodies strewn about. I 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, but 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 guns of the three protective cruisers following the Indomitable could not reach the two Ming army cruisers because they were too far away.

The rate is terrible.

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!"
Chapter completed!