My Italy

The encounter of the Maria Teresa angered other warships in the Spanish armored patrol formation, and a more violent counterattack followed. The bombardment of dozens of naval guns put the three Pennsylvania-class ships into a difficult situation.

At a distance of three thousand meters, especially the 254mm 40L main guns fired uniformly on the two Garibaldi-class cruisers, the hit rate is astonishingly high.

According to subsequent statistics, in the close-to-hand combat with the Pennsylvania-class 3,000-meter gun, the hit rate of the 254mm main gun was as high as 26%. Of the 268 shells fired, 70 hit the target.

The hit rate of the three Pennsylvania-class patrol ships was much worse, with the hit rate of the three battleships being only 13.4%. Among them, the most threatening 305mm main gun fired a total of 42 rounds and hit 6, and the 152mm secondary gun fired 284 rounds and hit 38.

In terms of firepower projection and hit volume, the three Pennsylvania-class patrol ships are far from comparable to the two Garibaldi-class ships.

This also caused it to gradually fall into a disadvantage after sinking the Maria Theresa.

But sometimes, just looking at the hit rate is not enough, luck also plays a very important factor.

For example, now, a 305mm armor-piercing projectile fired from the USS New Jersey directly hit the gallery of a 140mm gun on the USS Vizcaya with a harsh sound that cut through the air. The shell penetrated the steel plate outside the gun gallery without any hindrance, and the flying fragments instantly killed everyone in the gun gallery.

Afterwards, the shell continued to move forward, and after successfully penetrating the cabin wall, it finally exploded at the bow flue. The huge explosive force directly destroyed the entire flue. The yellow smoke produced by the explosive and the black smoke pouring out of the flue instantly It filled the entire ship amidships, and thick smoke rose into the sky. Because the flue was destroyed, nearly half of the Biscay's boilers were forced to stop operating due to smoke exhaust problems, and the speed of the entire battleship was gradually reduced to about 13 knots.

"Let the Biscay evacuate immediately."

After seeing the speed of the Vizcaya slowing down, Colonel Ramos, who was leading the team, was shocked. He was afraid that this precious cruise ship would suffer the same fate as the Maria Theresa.

But it's not easy to leave. How could Colonel Simpson allow his prey to slip away like this?

"Concentrate your firepower and prioritize the opponent's Biscay."

Following his order, the guns of the three Pennsylvania-class cruisers were aimed at the Biscay. The shells fired by dozens of various artillery pieces directly covered the Biscay, and the water column of near-missed shells and the smoke from the explosion of the shells covered it like a curtain. As a cruise ship with a displacement of only 7,000 tons, it was completely unexpected to be targeted in this way.

Several rounds of 305mm armor-piercing bullets easily shredded the Biscay's armor, and the flying armor fragments directly cut off several steam pipes. What's even more terrible is that one of the shells exploded outside the boiler room. The huge explosion force directly shut down three boilers. This directly caused the Biscay's speed to immediately drop to 6 knots, and the ship's end had arrived.

While three Pennsylvania-class patrol ships were attacking the Biscay, the Spanish patrol formation's counterattack also continued.

"Hit the fire and kill the opponent's Colorado."

Seeing that there was nothing he could do, Colonel Ramos decided to prioritize the fire on an enemy cruiser. What he chose was the Colorado, which had fought against the Franciscos. This battleship had suffered considerable damage in the previous duel, so it was suitable for focusing fire.

In the concentrated fire of three Spanish patrol ships, the 305mm twin-mounted cannon on the bow of the USS Colorado was hit twice in three minutes and was immediately declared scrapped.

More shells still landed on the sides of both sides. After the Colorado's forward main gun was destroyed, three more armor-piercing shells chipped into its sides, one of which opened a large hole in the bow. Another round hit the main armor belt of the hull. Although it could not penetrate, it still caused the armor to crack and created a gap of several square meters.

Another shell directly penetrated the upper armor belt of the Colorado. After splitting 6 inches of the upper armor, the huge shell exploded near the hoist of a twin-mounted 152mm secondary gun, followed by raging flames and shrapnel. Together they destroyed the fragile protection near the projectile channel.

A fire dragon rolled in the passage. Although the ammunition depot had a fire door, the fire dragon still ignited the picric acid high-explosive shells accumulated inside the passage and on the gun emplacement. Then I saw a large piece of the Colorado's sideline suddenly torn off by a huge explosion. Steel, flames, gunpowder smoke and minced meat spurted out in an instant. The entire battleship was shaken like chaff by such a powerful explosion.

The large influx of seawater has caused the hull to tilt about 5 degrees. Several steam pipes were also ruptured by various shells. Colorado's speed dropped drastically, and its maximum speed could only be maintained at about 11 knots.

This is really a turn of events, and now it's Spain's turn to beat the loser.

"Kill the Colorado!"

Following the order of Colonel Ramos, the three-ship patrol became more powerful.

Among them, a 254 mm shell from Columbus officially pronounced the fate of the Colorado. This shell passed through the 6-inch armored belt at the stern and blew up the Colorado's wheelhouse to pieces. At this point, the Colorado, which had lost two-thirds of its firepower on the engagement side, was completely out of control. It was like a dead fish, struggling with its own power and ocean currents. Under the influence, it slowly floated on the sea. He couldn't go back, and even if he let it go, it would be sent to the depths of the ocean by the destroyer.

At this time, of the 10 ships patrolling on both sides, only 5 were left. This was a bloody battle.

Of course, the bloody battles in the armored patrol formation were brutal, and the battleship side was not bad either.

Compared with the direct movement dog fighting tactics of mounted patrols, battleship battles are much more rigid. Of course, the Turin class also has some advantages due to its speed advantage.

The 330mm heavy artillery and 203mm heavy artillery of the American battle fleet, and the 356mm heavy artillery and 152mm artillery of the Spanish battle fleet were spitting deadly flames at each other all the time. Both sides are trying their best to attack, and attack first is the only option for both sides.

With veterans who had been with the battleships for ten years, the Spanish fleet scored more effective hits. The Massachusetts was bombarded by the battleship Queen Isabel in just twenty minutes. He was hit by the 356mm heavy artillery at least 5 times! One of the rounds directly turned a twin-mounted 203mm turret into a burning torch, while the other round of a 356mm heavy gun blew the barrel of a 330mm gun into two pieces, and the rest was mostly hit on the top Deck location. Beat the three 4-inch cannons and numerous 6-pounder cannons on the side line into piles of scrap metal!

The situation of the Indiana behind it is not very good, because the freeboard is low, and every shell hitting the side of the hull is very likely to cause water intrusion. As a low-freeboard warship, the reserve buoyancy is small. It directly determined that it was very sensitive to water intrusion, and as more and more shells were fired, holes were opened one after another in the side string.

This America's first true battleship has tilted to the right, and its speed has gradually been reduced to about 13 knots! Fortunately, the firepower is pretty good, except that a twin 203mm turret was knocked off. At the same time, almost all 57mm guns were lost. Although the twin 330mm guns on the rear deck were not destroyed, they had to temporarily stop firing due to water intrusion.

As for the third Oregon, it is still enjoying a happy shooting practice without anyone taking care of it.

On the Spanish side, the situation of the Queen Isabel and Isabel II is relatively good. In addition to the inevitable fire accident, the loss in armament is that the two 152mm twin turrets of the Queen Isabel were destroyed. , a 152mm twin turret on the Isabel II was destroyed. In addition, the hits on the hull caused a certain degree of water intrusion. In particular, a 330mm shell hit the middle part of the hull, which cracked the joints of the entire armored belt. A crack with an area of ​​about 2 square meters caused the hull to collapse. A large amount of water entered, and the damage to the ship's shape also increased the resistance of the battleship, and deceleration was necessary.

The two Turin-class ships and the three Indiana-class ships still had an advantage. This was a result that no one expected.

"If I had known this was the case, I should have fought the U.S. Navy directly."

Lieutenant General Sedra looked at the situation in front of him with some regret. Not just him, no one thought that America's first battleship was so advanced that it could counterattack in a two-on-three battleship.

Well, in fact, the main reason for this is not only the design performance of the battleship, but also the human factor. For example, in terms of battleship performance, if the Turin-class combat effectiveness is calculated based on 100 points. Then the Indiana level only has 85 points. Of course, this is just a comparison of battleship performance.

Everyone knows that warships require the cooperation of many personnel. Only the more skilled the personnel are, the better they can bring out the performance of the warship. In this regard, the U.S. Navy officers and soldiers on the three Indiana-class ships have only served on the ship for three years at most. Moreover, in the past three years, they have not experienced any war training, and can only use 80% of the warship's performance at most.

As for the Turin-class, the ship is full of elites who have been tempered by many wars, and can exert 120% of the Turin-class combat effectiveness.

Based on this calculation of one plus one subtraction, it is very reasonable for the three Indiana-class ships to be at a disadvantage.

Of course, according to common sense, although they are at a disadvantage, the losses of the three Indiana-class battleships are not significant, and they can continue to fight the Spanish formation for another 300 rounds.

But at this time, an accident occurred on the battlefield. A 356mm artillery shell fired from the Queen Isabel hit the deck of the Massachusetts. With a sharp collision and the sound of steel plates twisting and tearing, the side of the Massachusetts The twin 8-inch artillery mount was torn open by a 356mm armor-piercing projectile. The hundreds of kilograms of artillery shells crashed directly into the shell hoisting channel under the 8-inch gun emplacement! The bomb hoist inside was blown into a pile of twisted metal, which was detonated together with the shells and propellant packs above.

After the first explosion, there was a loud noise, and an orange fireball shot out from the center of the bullet! The huge energy tore the entire front of the gun mount into pieces, and the upper 8-inch turret was also shaken. Then thick smoke and flames spread across the front of the battleship, and flames more than ten meters high rose into the sky. To make matters worse, the Americans did not follow the operational requirements. The high-intensity and tense battle made the Americans nervous and forgot to close the fire doors in the ammunition depot section during the transportation process. Then an even bigger fireball shot out, indicating that the ammunition depot had been detonated.

A huge gap was opened directly amidships of the USS Massachusetts, and turbulent water violently poured into the cabin. In just 10 minutes, the Massachusetts was filled with nearly a thousand tons of seawater. At this time, the Massachusetts was in unusual danger. It had tilted 15 degrees to the right, and due to the intrusion of seawater, the speed of the Massachusetts dropped to 10 knots. Fortunately, the power cabin was not affected, otherwise the Massachusetts would be dead.

"Have the Massachusetts evacuate immediately! Order the Oregon to take its place."

Seeing the desolate appearance of the Massachusetts, Rear Admiral Samplin was startled and quickly ordered the Massachusetts to evacuate.

After severely damaging an opponent's battleship, the Spanish battleship formation's confidence increased greatly. I want to continue to pursue the victory and make persistent efforts.

"Target the enemy Indiana and we'll sink them."

Following Vice Admiral Sedra's order, the two Turin-class battleships aimed all their artillery at the leading USS Indiana.

Everything was so skillful, ranging, then aiming the semi-volley, and after forming the fall shot, switching from slow fire to fast fire. The roar of eight 14-inch naval guns resounded throughout the battlefield, making people feel heart-stopping like the clarion call of the doomsday battle. The leading Indiana was shrouded in an oval-shaped bomb drop zone. After the fall shot, a near miss occurred soon after, and then a 14-inch shell hit the stern of the ship.

This is a high-explosive round. Due to the angles of both sides, even if an armor-piercing round is used, it is difficult to penetrate the main armor belt at a large angle of incidence. This shell successfully tore open the unprotected area at the stern of the ship, opened a large hole of more than ten square meters at the stern, and then penetrated into the interior of the hull.

With the activation of the fuse, more than 20 kilograms of explosives detonated in the hull. Then a storm of fire swept across the entire stern of the ship. With the impact of the explosion, the cracked steel plates, support beams, etc. turned the entire stern into a purgatory. A bright yellow fire dragon went straight into the sky, and billowing smoke rose from the stern, obscuring the firing range of the tail gun.

Just when the Americans were still horrified by the blow just now, another 14-inch shell fell from the sky. Due to the angle of incidence, this shell still hit the stern of the ship.

"Standing from my position, I can see a fireball streaking across the stern side line at high speed. The shell may not have hit the target directly, or it may have rubbed against the side of the ship. Then a huge fireball rose from the water on the starboard side of the hull. Unexpectedly, the damage caused by this shell to the hull was greater than that caused by the shell directly hitting the hull. The whole ship shook slightly, and then a large amount of water poured in along the hole opened. Hull."

Afterwards, Leifer recorded the hit of the second shot in his report.

At this time, the Indiana was already facing an extremely dangerous situation. Two 14-inch shells hit the stern of the ship, causing its speed to be greatly reduced. Although it was not as tragic as the Massachusetts, it was definitely not much better.

In the battle between battleships and armored patrols, the Spanish side gained an advantage, so the two Venetian-class armored cruisers that made huge sacrifices were at a disadvantage. Although armored cruisers are better than protected cruisers in terms of firepower and armor, if they are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, then the party that will be beaten will definitely be the armored cruiser.

The two Venice-class patrol ships are a good proof of this truth. Tigers are also afraid of wolves.

In a firefight with a group of protected cruisers, two Venice-class cruisers suffered heavy losses in just over half an hour.

The last two 254mm main guns of the Duke of Ulloa (Venice) were destroyed, and four 152mm guns and several 57mm guns were also lost. In addition to the loss of artillery, the hull of the Duke of Ulloa was also in a mess. Many of the armor plates on it had fallen off, and there were even some bullet holes left on it.

As for the Marquis of Venardito (Brescia), it was no better than the Duke of Ulloa. In addition to the interruption of the barrel of a 254mm main gun, three 152mm guns and several 57mm guns were also lost. In addition, the No. 2 chimney of the Marquis Venadito was also broken, and the uncontrolled smoke seriously affected the firing of the rear main gun. As for the hull, like the Duke of Ulloa, it was in a miserable state.

Of course, against this group of opponents, the two patrol ships are also fighting back vigorously. Among them, the Philadelphia and San Francisco were hit by 254mm main guns. After losing four 152mm guns, they did not dare to get too close.

The next chapter must finish this naval battle and bring an end to the Spanish-American War.