Ninety-four, Skagerak (7)
The British four "Queen" class battleships were indeed much stronger than the Germans, and the enraged Vice Admiral Betty led the fleet to entangle Hipper's battleship to the death.
Then the "Radetzky" was severely damaged, and the Austro-Hungarian War Cruiser, which was fighting the "War-Wey" and "Warrior" on its own, soon became scarred and the two rear main turrets were scrapped. The "Grand Duke Franz" was attacking the "Tiger" with all its might, hitting this tough battle patrol in succession, hitting it all over the body with fire, but this battle patrol built according to the standards of battleships was indeed much stronger than the "Lion" class, and still maintained its combat capability.
"Radetzky" also counterattacked the "war-weary" with all his might, but the British battleship, although it was also hit many times, continued to pursue the German fleet with all its speed.
Betty ordered the destroyer to launch a torpedo attack in order to hinder the escape of the Hipper's fleet, and the German destroyers caught up and charged the British battlefleet under the cruiser "Regensburg" to relieve the pressure on the Hipper's fleet.
The sea was now in chaos, and the destroyers of both sides were charging at the risk of a hail of bullets, and the capital ships of both sides had to turn their guns and use grenades to disperse these "little things". The destroyers of both sides launched torpedo attacks on each other at a distance of 10,000 meters, and it was difficult to see the effect, and all the torpedoes fired by the German destroyers missed, but the torpedoes fired by the British destroyer "Portard" had a result: one sank the V29 torpedo boat, and the other hit the "Seydlitz", and this unlucky battle cruiser was once again severely damaged.
Now the destroyers of both sides began to retreat after a scuffle, and Betty ordered the fleet to move at full speed in the hope of intercepting Hipper's fleet, but at this time, a shocking piece of news came from the cruiser "Southampton": urgent! The enemy's main fleet was found in the southeast and headed due north!
Now that the shape of the battlefield had changed suddenly, Betty finally understood that he had fallen into the trap set by the Germans in advance, and now his fleet had suffered a lot of damage, not only had he lost two main battle cruisers, but the rest of the battle cruisers were also scarred, and only 4 fast battleships were still fighting.
A row of plumes of smoke and masts rose from the sea level, and one after another the battleships of the main fleet led by Scheer appeared in view. Betty immediately ordered the fleet to turn around and retreat to the north with all its might, hoping to rendezvous with Jericho as quickly as possible.
Hippel now turned over, and he ordered the fleet to turn, reflexively kill, and stalked Betty to the death.
Betty's fleet now turned due north and came within range of the "Luzo". The sea fog was so calm in the North Sea that the five front main guns of the "Luzo" quickly locked onto the "Lion" headed by the leader. As the gun commander shouted out the firing command, the five 330-mm armor-piercing shells on the "Lu Zuo" were quickly discharged, and they flew across the sky like a broken bamboo towards the accelerating "Lion".
Two shells hit the Lion at the same time, and the battered and incapacitated patrol was hit again, and flames were again rising from its hull, and Betty had no choice but to give the order to turn northwest again.
Thomas's battlefleet scurried between the two battle patrol formations, and this time, a command error by the British saved Betty.
Or because of that damn command format, the "Lion" put a flag on it and ordered the entire fleet to turn. Its radio was now long out of service, and the signalmen still forgot to signal the "Barham" in the midst of the tense battle, so Thomas continued to lead his fleet south.
It wasn't until the "Barham" passed by the "Lion" that Betty again ordered him to turn with the flag.
Rear Admiral Thomas's rigid dogma saved Betty's life, but also sent himself into the fire pit. He was now sandwiched between Hippert and Betty, and the German war cruisers had to turn their guns against the four battleships.
Now Thomas had to turn while dealing with Hipper's attack, but the nearly ten minutes he had to sail south were fatal. By the time his fleet began to turn, Scheer's main fleet had already arrived, and the German battleships turned their guns and began to bombard the British battleships that were turning with all their might.
In this world, because the German battleships did not get out of the detour of the "hexagonal turret", the battleships had a certain increase in both the main guns and the speed. In the other world, the main guns of the German capital ships did not exceed 305 mm, and due to the push of Lee Haydon, the German capital ships were equipped with 330 mm guns from the "Helgoland" class, and the "King" class was equipped with 350 mm guns that could compete with the British 15-inch guns.
Due to the lack of defects in the arrangement of the main guns, although the displacement had to be increased by 1,500 tons due to the increase in the center of gravity in order to be stable, the German battleships had a qualitative improvement in defense, speed and firepower compared with the other world. Although the "Deutschland" class, the "Nassau" class and the "Helgoland" class can only run a maximum speed of 22 knots because they are equipped with reciprocating steam engines, the "Caesar" and "King" classes with steam turbines have more powerful power due to the increase in displacement, although the power of the guide zhì is insufficient because of the installation of a kerosene mixed boiler, but it is enough to run a high speed of 24 knots.
Again, Tirpitz refused to do away with the underwater torpedo tubes in the bow of the battleship.
But this speed was enough for Scheer to have enough time to get to the battlefield. Now running at the forefront were 5 Caesar-class battleships, and Scheer's flagship "Frederick the Great" took the lead, and when Thomas's fleet turned in turn, Scheer ordered to concentrate fire and bombard the turning point with all its might.
The timing was absolutely perfect, and in the twilight sun, the pale yellow horizon behind Thomas's fleet completely exposed the silhouette of his battleship. Scheer's fleet, however, was hidden under a gray canopy in the east, unable to be seen at all, and only occasionally when the setting sun broke through the clouds could the figure of the German battleship be outlined.
At 4:50, the "Barham" received two shells while turning, causing the mainmast to collapse and the radio was also unusable, and the "Warrior" behind it was lucky to escape the shelling because it was in the interval between the salvos of the German battleships when it turned. Subsequently, the "War Weathiness" was hit by three shells, and smoke suddenly rose all over its body.
Now the firepower of the main German fleet and the Hipper's fleet, which was advancing rapidly, was concentrated on the "Malaya" at the rear. From 5 o'clock, the battlecruiser "von . Morality. The Tann opened fire on it with the only remaining main turret, and then four "King-class" ships joined the bombardment, and at 5:15 a.m., five "Caesar" class ships joined the siege in turn.
The 31,000-ton battleship was constantly covered in a dense rain of bullets, with nearly 20 shells falling on its head every minute, and soon it was hit one after another. At 5:20 a.m., a large-caliber shell pierced the starboard side of the "Malaya" and severed the steam pipe, and the right side of the battleship was shrouded in a white steam. Subsequently, two more shells were hit on its rear deck, and its stern gun was paralyzed.
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