April 3, 1910. A huge ultra-dreadnought sailed quickly on the surface of the sea, constantly dodging the Blue destroyer fleet and torpedo boats attacking from both directions, under the cover of the surrounding destroyers. WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY, THE RANGE OF TORPEDOES HAS BEEN INCREASED TO BETWEEN 4 KM AND 6 KM, AND THE SPEED IS BETWEEN 30 AND 40 KNOTS, AND THE TONNAGE OF THE MINE-STRIKING SHIP HAS ALSO INCREASED, AND IT CAN FIRE FOUR 21-INCH (533MM) TORPEDOES OR SIX 18-INCH TORPEDOES AT ONE TIME. In the battle of the fleet, the role of torpedoes began to gradually increase, in the Sino-Russian war, the Russian torpedo boats have delayed the attack of the Chinese Navy several times, for the survival of the fleet shed the last drop of blood, although in the end can not save the entire fleet, but the Russian Navy lightning formation is still widely praised by European countries. The Chinese Navy's cross-lightning strike tactics were also imitated by Western countries. In this North Sea exercise, the confrontation with lightning strike formations will be one of the important subjects of the exercise.

In this exercise, in order to highlight the maneuverability advantage of high-speed warships in the face of lightning strikes, the British Royal Navy specially arranged for the newly commissioned Super Dreadnought Bold to participate in this exercise, the warship has a maximum speed of 22 knots, a normal displacement of 23,000 tons, a full load displacement of 25,700 tons, and is equipped with 10 343MM45L main guns, 16 4-inch guns, 3 21-inch torpedo tubes, plus a large number of small-caliber rapid-fire guns. The thickness of the waterline armor is 12 inches to 8 inches, the front of the turret is 11 inches, and the side and turret armor is between 10 and 6 inches. After entering service, this battleship was called a classic of the British Royal Navy by the Admiralty, achieving the strongest combat effectiveness with the smallest tonnage. THE DAREDEVIL'S FIREPOWER WAS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE GERMANS' 25,000-TON SHIPS, WHICH HAD ONLY EIGHT 350MM GUNS AND WAS FASTER. As for protection? THE BRITISH STILL HAVE AT LEAST 300MM ARMOR THICKNESS ON PAPER, AND OF COURSE, ONLY THEY KNOW HOW HIGH IT IS.

Everything went according to the script of the exercises, and under the cover of 4 destroyers, the behemoth hid from the attack of torpedo boats in the distance. In order to ensure the accuracy of the lightning strike and the optimal attack surface, the eight torpedo boats participating in the attack broke through the interception of the four destroyers of the defending side under the cover of the destroyers. And 3 mine-striking ships ended up at a launch distance of 2KM! With the sound of torpedoes entering the water, 10 torpedoes formed two fans and rushed towards the target.

Ten torpedoes were fired at the capital ship at a distance of less than 1,500 meters, while the Dardemorte struggled to avoid the lightning strike. Three of them slipped away from the stern of the Daring, another two torpedoes did not move halfway due to a malfunction, and three torpedoes were simply probabilistic shots. Another torpedo hit the bow waterline armor of the Daring, but there was no fuse. So there was no explosion. It's just bounced off.

The last torpedo hit the amidships of the Bold! Rumble! With a loud bang, a column of water tens of meters high rose on the amidships of the Daring, and then, the battleship shook violently and began to tilt rapidly! In just a few tens of seconds, the battleship has already entered hundreds of tons of seawater!

"God, what the hell is going on?" Sir George Callaghan, the commander of the British Grand Fleet, who was observing the flagship of the Grand Fleet, the British King George V, said in shock.

"Maybe the torpedo was not kept properly, right? Some torpedoes are filled with picric acid explosives, which will deteriorate over time. And the sensitivity is very high, a strong impact can lead to an explosion. An official on the side said. But it shouldn't be too much of a problem. The torpedoes used this time had a relatively small charge, no more than 140 pounds of explosives. The power is very limited, even the Dreadnought can withstand it, and our new warship should not be a big problem! ”

"Lieutenant General Jericho, what do you think?" Sir Callaghan asked, turning his head to look at Jericho, whose face was grim and speechless. At this time, Jericho's protection was like petrification, his eyes widened and he looked into the distance through the binoculars, his hands were trembling, Sir Callahan said 3 times in a row, and Jericho didn't even react.

"The Bold is finished, its power compartment is flooded!" It took a long time for Jericho to spit out such words!

"What? That's impossible! How could the most advanced warship of the British Empire be sunk by a torpedo with a 140-pound charge? This is still the best defense of the hull amidships! Sir Callaghan snatched the telescope from the officer beside him, and looked at the beast struggling on the surface of the sea in the distance.

At this time, the angle of inclination of the Bold reached at least about 15 degrees, and the hole in the hull tear was faintly visible after the torpedo exploded. The chimney on the Bold no longer emitted a new smoke screen, which can be seen that the power system of the battleship has been shut down, and if a battleship loses power in a mine, it not only means that it cannot maneuver, but also means that the battleship cannot discharge the stagnant water in the hull. Without foreign aid, sinking is almost inevitable.

Soon, a telegram from the Bold confirmed this. "The battleship's side chord was badly damaged, the torpedo with the power of the explosion destroyed the mine-protection next door, a large amount of seawater poured into the hull, at least 4 large sub-silos had varying degrees of water ingress, the boiler compartment had been turned off, and the battleship lost power."

"How so? It's just a torpedo with a charge of 140 pounds! How so? Sir Callaghan kept questioning the officer next to him, and he couldn't understand why the most elite warship of the British Empire was so vulnerable! Even if the Seven Provinces fast battleship that was sunk by torpedoes in the Sino-Russian naval battle, after being crippled by various caliber artillery, and at the same time struggling on the sea surface after a total of 2 torpedoes with a charge of more than 200KG, it still struggled on the sea surface for a long time before sinking, and the Bold actually tilted seriously not long after being hit by the mine, and the damage management failed, what is going on?

"The lightning protection next door of the Bold is too thin, and the depth is seriously insufficient, the energy generated after the torpedo explosion can easily tear through the 20mm steel plate, the boiler room is not divided, once the water enters the fire. Other reasons need to wait for systematic research before deciding. Jericho said with a blushing face. At this time, Jericho really regretted it, he was just like to stimulate the Admiralty through this incident, but who would have thought about it, this time it was directly played big, and an old-fashioned mine with a 140-pound charge actually sank a super dreadnought! Thinking that the fleets he commanded in the future were all of this kind of goods, Jericho shuddered!

The quality of the British Royal Navy was still very high, and soon, when it was discovered that the Bold could no longer save itself, all the surrounding warships quickly approached, on the one hand, to pick up the wounded on board, and on the other hand, to send cables over to provide electricity for the discharge of the Daring. The battleship St. Vincent also approached quickly and then tried to tow the already badly damaged battleship.

On the other hand, the reporters who came with the ship to observe the exercise recorded this once-in-a-lifetime news, the British Imperial Fleet, the center of British public opinion, and the pride and pride of the British people, actually had such a big accident during the exercise. One can imagine how much of a reaction there will be if such news appears in the major newspapers tomorrow. Under the instructions of some people, the British Royal Navy did not interfere too much with this, and under the reminder of those who care, those reporters knew that the torpedo that sank this new warship of the Royal Navy was actually an old-fashioned torpedo designed in 1900 with a charge of only 140 pounds of picric acid explosives! Just 140 pounds of explosives cost the life of a super battleship! It's scary to think about!

Two hours later, with the help of the St. Vincent, the Bold was unable to return to the port——! The Royal Navy's most elite warship, the ultra-dreadnought, built at the instigation of Sir Fisher, finally ran aground on a shoal. Like a stranded whale. The officers and men of the British Royal Navy aboard the Bold left the battleship in tears, their hearts full of sadness and unwillingness. At this time, a wave is brewing that has swept across the United Kingdom. In the conference room of HMS George V. Callaghan, Jericho, Thomas and other senior officials of the British Royal Navy gathered here to discuss the aftermath of the incident. This matter is definitely not something that the Grand Fleet can suppress, and it may not be long before it will affect the entire navy.

"Have you found the cause?" Sir Callahan asked.

"The torpedo was not properly maintained, the picric acid charge was too sensitive, and with a little luck, this torpedo without a fuse exploded, and some of the torpedoes in this exercise belonged to the same model, and the same charge was used, and we need to investigate thoroughly to know the reason." Thomas said.

"That is, there was no mistake on the part of the parties who participated in the exercises in this accident? Is it to blame for logistics and torpedo producers? Sir Callahan said calmly.

"USING PICRIC ACID INSTEAD OF MORE STABLE TNT EXPLOSIVES IS INHERENTLY RISKY, AND WE HAVE REACTED TO THIS PROBLEM MANY TIMES, AND NOT ONLY TORPEDOES, BUT ALSO ARTILLERY SHELLS, OUR SHELLS OFTEN EXPLODE EARLY, AND THE PENETRATION DEPTH OF THE ARMOR-PIERCING SHELLS USED BY OUR NEW 343MM GUNS IS NOT EVEN AS HIGH AS THE PENETRATION DEPTH OF THE OLD 12-INCH ARTILLERY ARMOR-PIERCING SHELLS OF THE CHINA REPUBLIC." Thomas continued.

"Yes, everything is someone else, there is nothing wrong with the Royal Navy! But does anyone believe this? You see, this news will appear in the newspapers tomorrow, and soon the Admiralty and the Council will be questioned, have you figured out how to deal with it? Callahan said visibly excitedly.

"I think that, in any case, the best part of mine protection for a new warship loses power after being hit by a torpedo with a charge of only 140 pounds, and this mistake can really only be found by shipyards and design bureaus! At most, the Grand Fleet bears the responsibility for one improper maintenance, and the manufacturers who supply us with inferior warships and explosive torpedoes and shells are the culprits, and the officials who facilitate them, not a single one can escape! Jericho, who had been silent, said word by word.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward, and the book friend Yuren monthly ticket support ~~~~. (Also, historically, the Bold was indeed sunk by a mine.) The author does not make this up. (To be continued......)