Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 518 030 Glorious Naval Battle of the Gulf of Finland (Part 1)

When Krone saw the Z-shaped flag, he also had mixed feelings. Now that he is a vice-admiral of the Russian Navy, he knows the meaning of this flag very well.

During Columbus's voyage, he used the Z-flag, which represents good luck, victory and justice. If it were replaced by Nelson, it would be "England requires all officers and men in the fleet to perform their duties faithfully." As for the more familiar one, the "Empire" "Rise or fall, in one fell swoop, we all work hard." This thing doesn't exist yet, let alone "special military operations."

"Earl, it seems that you know this stuff very well. It's just a pity that you are in the Army. Otherwise, I would definitely recommend you to be a battleship squadron commander. This can very well inspire the morale of the brothers!"

From generals to captains to sailors, as long as they can see such a flag, they will obviously be inspired.

"Now we just have to fight with the enemy to let them know how powerful we are! What's more, even if the 'Victory' comes, I don't see what will happen. After all, the British can capsize the ship themselves. The Baltic Sea The whole point is to see which side is braver!”

By the way, after Krone took over the command, he chose to operate in more open waters in order to take advantage of the firepower advantage of the nine battleships in his hand.

After all, what he has in his hands is the 130-gun "Grace", the 100-gun "Gabriel", and the 120-gun "Warrior". This firepower is already supermodel, and they are the three largest warships in the Swedish Navy. , combined in any combination, the firepower is inferior to two of them. If it weren't for the two Royal Navy battleships "Ruthless" and "Centaur" here, it would definitely not be enough to see.

In the Battle of Reval that year, the Russian Navy was attacked on three sides and defeated the Swedish Navy's 22 battleships with 11 battleships. Now the strength of both sides is roughly equal. Veteran sailors who have served on the "Grace" for more than ten years know that if they escape at this time, , it is indeed a shame.

The Baltic Fleet may have poor training due to lack of money, but looking at these warships, we actually know that they are very powerful.

Vice Admiral Krone is willing to launch a direct attack because he knows very well that both the Royal Navy and the Swedish Navy have their own problems at this time.

When the Russian fleet was preparing to fight, it was Samuel Hood Jr. on the Centaur who saw it very clearly.

"Ah, the Russians actually used the Z-flag. They are going to fight tooth and nail. We can't be vague. We want to have a good fight with them."

The Royal Navy's battleship squadron, under the command of Sir James Sumares, rarely encounters the Russian fleet after entering the Baltic Sea from the Denmark Strait. If the entire British fleet entering the Baltic Sea is here, perhaps it will be of great help to the Royal Navy. In itself, it would be possible to have a fierce naval battle with the Russians.

But the problem is that after entering this sea area, the Royal Navy's battleships were assigned a lot of patrol missions, and the Swedish Navy still has a certain strength. Under such circumstances, the British-Swedish combined fleet assembled can actually Fighting.

It was just that little Samuel Hood raised his telescope with his left arm and saw what he saw. At first, he admired the courage of his opponent. Then he also knew that these Russians were rushing over at a speed of 12 knots, and they must be desperate!

This Hood was also the nephew of Admiral Samuel Viscount Hood. He was also knighted at the same time. There was just a small problem. In his right sleeve, it was due to an encounter with the French navy in 1806. In the battle, he also lost an arm. He must be brave in fighting, and his previous performance on the "Centaur" was also very good. Earlier, he participated in the Nile Battle on the "Enthusias" and finished it in 12 minutes. The first opponent.

Obviously he was very satisfied with meeting such a tough Russian. Battleship commanders in the Royal Navy have always been brave warriors. They are different from the convoys that abandoned transport ships in the Norwegian fjords in the future. Since The two sides have almost the same power on paper, so it is not surprising that they would fight once.

Of course, the only thing that makes Rear Admiral Hood feel a little worried may be that his two battleships are overloaded Type 74 third-class ships, each equipped with more than 80 cannons. When encountering an enemy, the Swedish Navy has not fought in more than ten years. It may still be a question whether the experienced rookies can keep up, but I hope their training level is enough!

Hood also signaled to Martin, the captain of the "Ruthless", that the two ships should maintain a close battle formation. This time the opponent was indeed more troublesome.

Because behind the three giant Russian ships, there are at least 6 battleships. One of them, the "Bold", is at least a second-class ship with 88 guns. Although the other battleships are a little weaker, they are all in good condition. The newer third-level ships are obviously difficult to deal with.

If the "Varyag" hadn't been launched too late, I'm afraid it would have come with it this time. In that case, Samuel Hood Jr. might also have to consider turning around and retreating. After all, he was facing four battleships. He was able to scrape together nearly 500 pipes. Even in the Nile River and Trafalgar, his old friend Nelson had never encountered such an abstract and outrageous opponent with powerful firepower and thick skin.

But Hood is also a little worried about what the Swedes are going to do. After all, in terms of navigation capabilities, these Swedes, who can only operate in the Baltic Sea and the Denmark Strait, do not actually have enough combat power to fight against the Russians, and among the Type 64 battleships Only one ship has been upgraded and renovated, so the Swedish army should still suffer greatly in terms of firepower.

And now Hood has not seen the subsequent Russian frigates, he has only seen the beginning of the fleet.

Among the frigate fleet of the Russian Navy, there are also 6 large frigates and 6 sixth-class ships. Among the large frigates are two brand-new "Hasty" class frigates "Argos" and "Fast", in addition to one exist The new ship completed by the Goncharov family shipyard, but this one is called a frigate. It has more than 50 cannons installed. It is clearly the firepower level of a fourth-class ship. The name of the ship inherits the "flower" lost due to the shipwreck. God" number.

Although the "Flower God" should be a very cute god, if a frigate uses such heavy equipment, if some American colleagues look at it, they will look a bit familiar after looking at their own "Old Iron Armor" and "Constitution". Feel.

That's right, Goncharov Shipyard can't accept big orders now, but this experimental heavy frigate not only strengthened the cannon, but also used stronger oak, teak and copper plating suitable for high-quality decks The outer shell and part of the hull are also protected by iron sheets, and a flying shear bow and some new designs are used on it. Pushkin's future father-in-law even told Solovyov in private that instead of letting his father squander the money and lose hundreds of thousands of rubles a year, it would be better to spend all the money on a new ship customized for the emperor. At least it can make a sound and bring face to the family.

Obviously, launching such a ship and calling it a frigate is quite the "essence of overload" of the Royal Navy.

In fact, Krone also knew that if he followed his old boss's method, if the unlucky battleship was hit by an old colleague of the Royal Navy while turning, it would be difficult to escape.

PS: Historically in this area, the "Vsevolod" was overtaken by Martin and Hood during the retreat, and then abandoned the ship after a battle and was burned.

Therefore, it is better to use its own firepower advantage to teach the Swedish Navy a lesson. After all, there is also a supervisor from the Army to endorse it.

In the Russian navy, it has always been a shame to fear the enemy and avoid fighting. Even if it fails in a naval battle, it will not face any investigation. Even when it fought the Swedes and the second Rochensalm naval battle, it was The Prince of Sau-Sigen sank dozens of warships in the bay and lost the Baltic ships. 40% of the frigates and galleys in the fleet were not tried at all - although the Queen has always been tolerant of the "old gangsters" in the Navy, even if the old Chichakov cursed Sweden with a bunch of obscene words in front of her It's okay - she claimed it was "naval terminology" and I really couldn't understand it.

Fortunately, Solovyov didn't know that there was a Hood on board the Centaur, and he was a major general. Otherwise, he might have triggered the God's perspective and asked what happened to the opponent's ammunition depot.

Now that the two fleets are close to each other, Hood's main concern is the combat effectiveness of the Swedish Navy. It is not even about the performance of its sailors, but only the warships on the books.

The two battleships of the Royal Navy left the Swedish friendly forces behind at a higher speed. There was still some disconnect between the two battleships.

After Krone saw such a fighter plane, he would like to praise his old colleagues in the Royal Navy. They obviously seized a favorable fighting position very beautifully. However, these battleships of the Swedish Navy are obviously out of touch. If Hood and Martin slow down , may be like these friendly forces, shrouded in the T prefix of the Russian army.

When Hood saw this situation, he also figured out that a veteran who was familiar with British tactics must be in command. He even once doubted whether Ushakov was on board again?

During the Battle of the Nile, both he and Nelson had met Ushakov, and both were full of respect for the veteran. Nelson's somewhat barbaric "cutting off" tactics was also used by Ushakov in the Black Sea. The trick I often played during the fleet days.

This trick was used repeatedly by the Russians against the Turks, and later Nelson used it against the French. Moreover, this kind of initiative is rarely seen outside the Royal Navy.

Of course, he never expected that the other party's commander was actually a British man, a former Royal Navy officer who came to serve in Russia twenty years ago.

In this case, the British seized the advantageous position, but it was foreseeable that the Swedish Navy would first face the interception of the T-shaped array, and then be hit by the Russian Navy's giant ship superiority.

As for the "Grace" at the front, after the British moved to their right, they launched the first round of bombardment against the Swedish Navy's flagship "Gustav IV" without even giving the opponent anything. Opportunity to fight back.

The solid shell hit the bow of the Swedish ship. Krone personally directed the battle from the stern of the ship. He was also very satisfied with this round of shooting, but it was a pity that he did not catch the stern of the ship, otherwise the damage would be even greater.

At the same time, the two British battleships were entangled by the frigates led by "Flora", "Argos" and "Fast". Although for Samuel Hood Jr., this threat may not be the most dangerous compared to the enemies he encountered before, but the connection between the stupid Swedish teammates and himself was cut off. If they could not quickly get rid of the entanglement of the Russian frigates and deal with the relatively weak Russian third-level ships to share the pressure of friendly forces, then they would not have to wait for Sir Sumares and the Royal Navy squadron led by the "Victory" to arrive here, and they could give the Swedish Navy a thorough sea burial.

These three frigates have a total of 144 naval guns, and there are nearly 70 guns that can be deployed on one side. Such firepower is not weak, and there are several sixth-level ships waiting for opportunities. In short, for the Russian frigates, it is most important not to let the two British battleships affect the first row of battleships and the Swedes.

After the "Grace" fired, it was the turn of the "Warrior", but the round of shooting fired by this 120-gun battleship was even more unbearable for the Swedes. The heavy artillery on the lower deck directly smashed the bow of the "Gustav IV", and the two upper deck guns caused huge damage to the rigging and sails.

"This is not good, Count, we should shoot at the Swedish hull so that they can lose their combat effectiveness faster, and it is best to sink into the water quickly, or surrender."

"But it looks like"

While Solovyov was talking, a solid bullet whizzed past them, but no one was hit, and finally hit the guardrail on the starboard side.

"It's a bit dangerous, isn't it?"

"It's much more exciting than the army fighting, although I have been greeted by bayonets and bullets more than once."

"Then you can also enjoy this battle, after all, not every time you can be so close to the shells!"

Kron was very bold, and he even encouraged the sailors on the deck to continue fighting.

As for the "Gabriel", after it caught up and fired another ship of shells at the "Gustav IV", the "Grace" had already turned left and began to look for the next target.

The British were still entangled by the frigates. Hood finally made the "Centaur" turn and finally confronted the Russian sixth-level ship, which gave the ship and the "Ruthless" a way to threaten the rear of the Russian first-line battleships, and caught the "Flosheward" at the end of the team to prepare for a firefight.

But the main fleet of the Swedish Navy is now facing even greater trouble.