At the beginning of the 20th century, the main guns of the vast majority of dreadnoughts could only be loaded with ammunition in a horizontal position, and Britain and Germany, which were in the leading position in mechanical and electrical technology, were no exception, but in the waters of Jutland, there was a difference in the firing rate of two fleets that were quite similar in construction time, size and tonnage, and even cost, so that on one British battleship, no matter how hard the British gunners tried, they had to face the rapid enemy fire. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The reason for this is that the German Navy in this period chose high-speed light bullets that can ensure the range and accuracy of their main guns, and when the caliber of the main guns is smaller than that of the British dreadnoughts, the weight of the shells and propellants is lighter, and it is naturally easy to carry and load, and the German dreadnoughts have a high degree of electrification of the firing system, the turret rotation and the lifting ammunition feeding device is electrically operated, and the main guns are lifted by hydraulic devices independent of each other, and are equipped with special reset indicators. After the shells and propellants are lifted to the turret through the supply channel, they will also be transported into place through a set of auxiliary systems, which greatly reduces the manual operation and ensures a continuous high rate of fire during the battle. Of course, all electrically and hydraulically driven systems have a backup manual operating system, and if the ship's electrical control system fails in battle, the gunners can only operate the guns in the most primitive way, and the rate of fire can be imagined.

As the British feared, not a single battleship had finished reloading and firing a fourth salvo, and the Germans were the first to strike, and a neat and vast orange-red flash appeared again on the left, that is, in the south-west. In an instant, a terrifying number of shells flew across the sea in the light of searchlights, and smashed into the British battleship groups lined up in columns with an astonishing sound, covering one British dreadnought after another with columns of water, and only a few shells landed on the sea a little further from the target - this fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Bernie began to face an unprecedented grim situation!

Nassau and Helgoland, the German dreadnoughts equipped with triple turrets, were much inferior in defense to the later Caesar and Nassau, and their speed was not fast enough, and what really stood out was the density of fire from their main gun salvos. At a combat distance of about 4,000 meters, once the target is formed and a relatively stable firing state is maintained, they can play an amazing hit effect, and although these 11-inch caliber armor-piercing shells cannot penetrate the key defensive parts of the British dreadnought in one go, but in the case of two, three or even more shells hitting the target at the same time, even if the British Navy's newly built super dreadnought arrives, it is difficult to be safe and sound under this almost terrifying strike.

The Gorgeous, which was in the middle of the British fleet's battle column, was the first British capital ship to experience this horrific scene, having been wounded in the previous round of shelling by the German fleet, and this time by four German shells in one go. One shot landed on the waterline next to its bridge, and three shots hit its foredeck intensively, and the front main turret, which was already inoperable, failed to withstand the continuous bombardment of German 11-inch armor-piercing shells, the turret was damaged, the combatants were killed and wounded, and the propellant that was stranded in the turret was also ignited, causing a small explosion, and the flames spread along the hoisting canister to the ammunition depot. The bow of the ship was shot into the water, and the ammunition depot of the front main gun was damaged, but this time it was a blessing in disguise and a fatal explosion was avoided.

For about a while, the "Palerophon", "Neptune" and "Giant" of the British fleet were also hit by more than two German shells, but the damage to the turrets and the endangerment of ammunition depots, as in the case of the "Magnificent", did not reappear. Unlike the British battlecruisers with "thin skin and big stuffing", starting from the "Dreadnought", the dreadnought battleships of the British Navy all have strong protection capabilities, they use first-class Vickers carburized steel armor, turrets, engine rooms, ammunition depots, conning towers and other key parts of the armor are extremely thick, and pay attention to the attack of explosives in the water at and below the waterline. Most of their deck armor plates are arranged in multiple layers, the cabins are miniaturized and watertight to improve the watertight structure to increase the buoyancy reserve, and the support walls between the compartments are reinforced steel to improve the strength and toughness of the compartments. The number of watertight doors has been reduced as much as possible, and the traditional bow ramming angle has been eliminated, and these measures have had a significant effect on improving the protection capability of the warship, especially the anti-sinking ability.

The fierce and accurate fire of the German fleet did not sink or force any British dreadnoughts out of the battle, but by the time the smoke of the gunfire had cleared, two British dreadnoughts had already been set on fire, many searchlights had been destroyed, and the effect of aiding sighting and interfering with hostile sights was greatly diminished. To reverse this unfavorable situation, Vice Admiral Bernie issued a lightning strike command from his flagship to the accompanying destroyer fleet and sent four armored cruisers of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron to join the artillery battle.

When the German fleet shelling returned to the surface of the water, the British dreadnoughts finally began to shoot. The "Courage", "Collingwood" and "Avant-garde" opened fire first, their shells still straddle their respective targets, with "Courage" having one hit and "Collingwood" having two. The German dreadnought "Westphalia" was hit again, the twin auxiliary turret located in the middle of the starboard side was penetrated and there was a violent explosion, and the water pump on the starboard side for fire extinguishing and water supply was also damaged, causing the fire to be difficult to control for a while, and the German crew had to close several passages to prevent the flames from spreading along the ship's passages to more cabins.

After that, the "Giant", "Neptune", "Bellerophon", "Magnificent" of the British fleet opened fire one after another, but under the pressure of the rapid shelling of the German fleet, their round of fire was rather hasty. In addition to the turrets, which were malfunctioning or damaged and could not fire properly, the "Gorgeous" and "Palerrophon" had other main guns that failed to fire in a unified salvo. As for the "Dreadnought", which suffered a devastating blow from the firing command room, it was obvious that there was also a problem with the communication system on the ship, and its main guns had to fight on their own, and before it had time to fire its two main turrets, the fifth round of shelling by the German fleet was already in full swing!

In a naval battle in which steady play prevailed over everything, the mentality of the German naval personnel was on a par with that of their opponents, but the tight organization combined with the outstanding features of the ships themselves gave them the opportunity to gain the upper hand in this battle. Although the two fallen dreadnoughts "Rhineland" and "Posen" could only fire at the British fleet 6,000 meters away from the front main guns, and the "Westphalia", "Nassau", "Oldenburg", and "Helgoland" in the battle column also lost part of their combat effectiveness due to turret damage, the firepower output of this German dreadnought formation was still more neat, dense and accurate than that of the British fleet opposite. The British dreadnought "Gorgeous", which was targeted by the "Thuringia", suffered another blow, this time, two German armor-piercing shells hit the rear of its bridge and the No. 2 chimney respectively, although these two non-vital parts, but the explosion of the shells caused a fire, and the resulting black smoke became thicker and thicker, which soon affected the observation and shooting of the naval guns, and its appearance of bruises further weakened the confidence and morale of the British fleet participants.

The Collingwood, which had just fired a gun on the German ship, was quickly responded to by its opponents, and the St. Vincent-class dreadnought was more than 800 tons heavier than the Parerrophon-class of the same fleet, but the defensive configuration was almost unchanged, but the 12-inch naval guns with a larger diameter were used, and the number of 4-inch secondary guns was increased. During the battle, a German armor-piercing shell penetrated the hull of the ship through the uppermost deck on its port side, causing damage to two secondary guns and damage to part of the deck building, and also ignited the spare propellant of the secondary gun, and the flame invaded the boiler compartment through the pipes supplying the boiler gas, causing a group of oil-fired boilers to be unable to function normally; Another armor-piercing shell hit and pierced the waterline armor behind the ship's side, where the heavy fuel tanks were fortunately full, thus absorbing most of the blast's energy without causing further damage......

In the raging waters of Jutland, the Anglo-German naval battle formations composed of eight dreadnoughts each seemed to be opponents in the ring, each swinging their fists to the best of their ability. After a few rounds of grappling, each of them was injured and hung up, and the hidden worry of being hit by the opponent always exists. If this continues, the two sides will eventually be able to distinguish the winner and loser, but it will inevitably be a hard battle. The British destroyers attacking in formation were like arrows chasing souls, and the detachment of large German torpedo boats that came out from behind the formation was just a throwing knife with a bloody throat, and they did not directly engage in the middle of the battlefield, and the British destroyer group rushed to the front of the German fleet and the German lightning strike formation attacked the middle of the British fleet.

Under the guidance of the searchlight, the medium and short-range interception firepower of the two battlefleets and the accompanying cruisers were extremely accurate, and the rising and tumbling waves on the sea surface were like an impermeable fence, and it took great courage to rush head-on, and in the situation of not being desperate, the lightning ships on both sides did not need to desperately fight to the death, they fired torpedoes one after another at a distance of two or three thousand meters, although such an attack was not a fatal move, it was enough to make the two battleship groups of great value take it seriously. As soon as the torpedo trail was seen speeding on the sea, the battleships of both sides, which looked thick in the face of artillery fire, turned in advance, and they lost the best position and angle for salvo fire, and the subsequent artillery fire was no longer as dense and accurate as before. The two fleet's most damaged warships, the British "Gorgeous" and the German "Westphalia", were given a precious respite, and the crews joined in the firefighting and repair and rescue of their comrades. After avoiding the torpedo attack, the dreadnoughts of both sides regrouped into the battle column, and since the two fleets were still within range of each other, the battle did not stop, however, the change in the situation on the battlefield made it difficult for them to continue to divide the superiority in a fair duel - the six most elite dreadnoughts of the German High Seas Fleet appeared at the northern end of the battlefield, and they fought at high speed to the front of the British fleet's course, cutting off their retreat and seizing the T-head position, and the intention was very clear, and almost at the same time, Another fleet also appeared to the north of the battlefield. They have St. George's Cross flags on their masts, chimneys emit unusually thick black smoke, and their stocky hulls have the typical lines of traditional capital ships of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

(End of chapter)