Wild North America 1846

Chapter 364 "Constitution"

"Oh my God, it slowed down, we did it, we caught the Constitution."

Commodore Phillips was even more excited than the officers and soldiers of the 3rd Squadron. Colonel Henry Hughes and Major Campbell standing behind him were also the same, waving their arms excitedly, losing the usual arrogance and calmness of the British.

They were like children who got candy on Christmas, almost jumping for joy.

While Major General Mo Chengcai issued combat orders in an orderly manner, he took his time to answer the British: "Don't worry, guys, we will beat it up hard, and then try to capture the ship as much as possible, and use it as a tribute to His Majesty the Emperor.

What do you think of this gift?"

"I think this idea is great. It's like the Tatars making the heads of enemy chiefs into wine glasses and inlaying them with exquisite gems and gold. It's really a wonderful idea." Brigadier General Phillips responded excitedly.

After hearing this, Major General Mo Chengcai couldn't help but roll his eyes, turned his head and focused on commanding the battle, and ignored the excited British guy.

It is blasphemous to compare His Majesty the Emperor, who is admired by all the people, to a Tatar. This damn British guy can talk nonsense without any restrictions. Major General Mo Chengcai does not dare to respond casually. There are so many officers in the command tower!

In response to the changes in the "Constitution", the 3rd Squadron also quickly changed from a high-speed pursuit state, reducing its speed while expelling a large amount of excess high-temperature and high-pressure steam. This made the ship seem to rush out of the misty white fog and speed behind it.

With a long cloak.

The advantages of the steam-armored battleship are clearly demonstrated at this moment. Compared with the sail battleship, it accelerates faster and turns to respond flexibly.

Its bow pointed accurately and changed direction quickly. While reducing its speed, three armored warships were already arranged in a battle formation and slowly approached from the side and behind.

While the crew of the USS Constitution was hurriedly binding and adjusting the sail ropes, the officers and soldiers at the gun positions of the 3rd Squadron were already loading the shells, adjusting the gun pointing, and making all preparations before firing.

In just over ten minutes, the distance between the two sides quickly shortened from 15 links to 12 links, 10 links, 8 links...

One chain or several chains is a commonly used distance unit at sea. One chain is about 1/10 of a nautical mile, which is about 185 meters.

From the Age of Discovery to the Present

The engagement distance of a sailing battleship is generally within 3 chains, that is, within 550 meters. When it is more than 500 meters away from the target, the solid shells fired by the 32-pound and 24-pound cannons on the battleship can penetrate the 5-foot-thick oak ship of the enemy ship.

shell.

The range of artillery on battleships in the mid-19th century was not very far. Taking a 24-pound or 32-pound artillery as an example, when the firing angle was 4 degrees, the firing range could reach 1,350 meters. When the firing angle was raised to 8 degrees, the firing range could reach 2,250 meters. However, naval battles

Always engage in battles within a distance of 500 meters, otherwise the cannon's hit rate will not be high and its lethality will be insufficient.

The "Constitution" was equipped with a thick iron shell in Boston. Its defense is far more powerful than ordinary wooden sail warships. This forces the 3rd Squadron to close the distance for bombardment in order to produce the ideal damage.

Effect.

The "Constitution" is not a sailing battleship in the true sense, but a two-story gun deck sailing frigate with a displacement of 2,200 tons.

The ship is 62.2 meters long, 13.6 meters wide, 6.85 meters deep, has a sail area of ​​3,969 square meters, is equipped with 28 24-pounders and 10 12-pounders, and has a crew of more than 400 people.

In the British classification of ship types, sailing battleships with 3 or 4 gun decks can be classified as battleships. Sail battleships are the protagonists of maritime hegemony, often equipped with hundreds of artillery pieces and nearly a thousand sailors, with displacements ranging from 3,000 tons to

With a weight ranging from 5,000 tons, it is like a moving castle on the sea. The "Constitution" obviously cannot meet such standards.

For example, the French battleship "Valmy" has four gun decks and 120 guns. It was launched in 1847. Its length, width and draft are 64.05 meters x 18.11 meters x 8.61 meters, and its displacement is 5826 tons.

A standard second-tier sailing battleship.

The British battleship "Warrior" has a displacement of 9,357 tons and its main armament: 26 68-pound large-caliber guns, 4 70-pound large-caliber guns, and 10 110-pound guns. It was launched in December 1860, and its dimensions are 115.8 meters long and 17.8 meters wide.

meters, with a draft of 8 meters, and is a first-class battleship.

The "Warrior" was designed by British designer Isaac Watts and construction began in May 1859. It achieved high-speed blocking through the V-shaped front of the hull, and its densely packed gun emplacements made people look at it.

All feel cold.

This is the world's first armored battleship. There are four ships of the same class. It is also a symbol of the imperial power of the British Empire. The Tang Empire has not yet equipped an armored battleship with such a large displacement. It is completely blank in this regard.

It should be noted

The Armstrong muzzle-loading cannon equipped by the "Warrior" is still an old bronze cannon and can only fire solid iron bullets. Artillery technology is still at the early 19th century and has not been able to keep up with the development trend of artillery technology in the new era.

The British "Immortal" class cruiser is truly similar in tonnage and fire settings to the Tang Empire's "Qiuyue" class armored destroyer, but the two types of ships use different types of technology.

The Immortal-class "Glasgow" iron-hulled clipper has a power plant consisting of sails and steam propellers, with a displacement of 4,047 tons. Its main armament is: 30 40-pound guns, 20 32-pound guns, and 1 68-pound gun.

The ship was launched in March 1861. It is 76.2 meters long, 16 meters wide, and has a draft of 6.8 meters. The steam-powered machinery is an expansion engine.

As can be seen

The technical route of the British "Immortal" class cruiser is a sailing steam ironclad, driven by sails and steam power. The former is mainly used and the latter is supplemented. The designers try to take into account all aspects.

In fact, the result of this is that you want all the benefits, but you can't rely on either side.

The complex sailing and cable control facilities of the sailing warship occupied a large amount of decks. Coupled with the steam-powered chimneys and mechanical equipment layout, the "Glasgow" was only designed to have holes in the gun emplacements. The layout was messy and complex, making it extremely bloated.

The disadvantages are that it is expensive to build, slow in speed, complicated to control, and the living conditions of officers and soldiers have deteriorated. Many people can only sleep on piles of coal, or set up hammocks between the gun emplacements, and there is not even a place on the deck to insert a pin.

This situation is common on the main ships of the Royal Navy of the British Empire today.

The "Qiuyue" class steam iron-clad battleship adopts a different technical route. It completely abandons the sail power design and only retains an expansion steam engine power. It uses two expansion steam engines and 8 high-pressure boilers as the main power, with dual shafts and dual propellers.

Very simple and durable.

After biting the tail of the "Constitution", when the distance between the two sides was close to about 5 lines, the ironclad destroyer "Spring Moon" took the lead in opening fire, kicking off the Battle of Virginia.

The four 30-pound main guns from front to back opened fire in sequence, and the six 20-pound secondary guns on the starboard side also fired in sequence, slamming ten shells at the enemy ship at the same time.

Nine of the shells landed in the seawater around the "Constitution", splashing nine high water columns. Only one shell hit the stern of the ship and exploded instantly. The dazzling fire was accompanied by the explosion of fire.

Blast a big hole in the ship's stern timber building.

In the explosion, broken wood debris swept across the area, splattering blood on several nearby crew members, and they fell to the ground wailing loudly. Two people had died motionless, and the remaining injured were like earthworms.

writhing in pain.

"Oh...it hit."

The Chinese officers and soldiers on the deck shouted excitedly, then worked harder to load the shells, take aim, and wait for the order to launch the next round of bombardment.

This...could this be the power of the new artillery?

Seeing a large gap half a man's height in the rear stern of the battleship blown out by an enemy shot, Captain Michel, the captain of the USS Constitution, took a breath of air, his eyelids couldn't help but twitched, and he felt the only trace of luck left in his heart.

He quickly withdrew as if the ice and snow were melting, and was replaced by a deep feeling of despair.

But he was not allowed to show any cowardice at this time. Colonel Michel drew his shining command knife and pointed at the enemy ship in the distance, shouting in a hysterical tone: "Keep the course, the bottom deck guns open fire."

"Boom boom boom..."

A series of gunshots roared one after another, and with thick blue-black smoke rising, the "Constitution" fired the first round of 14 24-pound shells, hitting the "Spring Moon" less than 1 kilometer away.

Only two clear sounds of "clang" and "bang" were heard. This round of shooting actually hit two 24-pound solid bullets at the same time. This made the white crew members on the "Constitution" scream loudly, and then suddenly stopped.

And stop.

Because these two solid shells did not produce any other lethality other than two clear dents.

With a "bang" sound, the shell hit the deck in the empty space where the crew lived, creating a strong cavity echo.

With a "boom" sound, the cannonball hit the iron plate outside the solid coal bunker, and the movement was much smaller.

Since the U.S. warship is firing from 5 chains with an elevation angle of 4 degrees, which is close to the extreme range of the 24-pound artillery, the power of the bombardment is almost equivalent to a 24-pound weight hitting the enemy ship's steel plate hard, nothing more.

Before the crew of the USS Constitution could recover, the bombardment of the "Cold Wind" and "Cold Night" that followed followed them and hit them head and head. This round also hit two shells.

A 12-pound secondary battery shell hit near the foremast and exploded. The violent explosion sent shrapnel everywhere, knocking all five or six white crew members nearby to the ground, bleeding everywhere, and causing the foremast sail to burn.

Another 20-pound main gun shell hit the side and rear side, shaking the hull of the "Constitution" violently, tearing a 0.7-meter-long large crack directly on the side of the ship, and flying fragments shattered the bottom deck.

Several shirtless artillerymen were covered in blood and screamed in agony.

Even though the armor was attached, the 20-pound shell still penetrated the armor and exploded, tearing apart the 5-foot-thick oak board and causing heavy casualties to the gunners on the lower deck.

Such sharp artillery fire caused an uproar among the white crew of the "Constitution".

Unfortunately it's too late

The fierce artillery fire covered the head and face one after another, and the distance from the 5th chain was only more than 900 meters.

After several rounds of shelling, as the distance got closer and closer, the accuracy of the shelling became higher and higher. Almost every round of shelling caused a bloody storm on the "Constitution"...

just half an hour

The 3rd Squadron fired more than a dozen rounds and hit dozens of shells. The deck of the "Constitution" was covered with corpses. More than two dozen sails were on fire. It was extremely miserable under the light of the fire.

The "Constitution" has completely collapsed on the sea and lost power. Except for a few 24-pound guns on the bottom deck that are still firing back, the other gun positions have all failed to fire, and they have been killed, injured, or blown up by fierce artillery fire.

bad.

"Stop firing the main gun. Aim the secondary gun at the enemy's gun position on the lower deck and hit me hard." Major General Mo Chengcai waved his hand vigorously and gave the order.

The ironclad "Spring Moon" had now closed to about three chains, about 500 meters away. The secondary guns on the side could fire directly at the enemy ship's stubborn gun emplacements to carry out precise strikes.

The 30-pound main gun was too powerful. Rear Admiral Mo Chengcai wanted to capture the enemy ship and kill a large number of enemy ship crews but did not want to destroy the ship at the same time. He simply ordered the four 30-pound main guns to suspend firing and remain alert.

"Boom boom boom..."

"Boom boom boom..."

Thick gunpowder smoke and the smell of blood filled the sea. After more than 10 minutes, the "Constitution"'s last 24-pound gun stopped firing back. More than 20 holes of various sizes were punched in the left hull.

, the bottom deck was full of corpses, as brutal as a slaughterhouse.

At this moment

The "Spring Moon" gave the order to stop the bombardment, and slowly moved closer. The sailors fired at the enemy with King's rifles, killing the white crew members in sight one by one, and then held them with iron claws.

The enemy ship tied the two battleships tightly together.

"Everyone, bayonets on, search for the remaining enemies."

Give an order

The armed crew members mounted sharp bayonets, scrambled over the side of the ship, and began searching in teams of three and five.

At this time, there was a river of blood on the deck of the Constitution. As the ship's hull shook, it spread everywhere. The shoes were greasy and slippery when they stepped on it. Many soldiers fell down after taking only a few steps, and their bodies were covered in blood.

Sporadic gunfire rang out one after another, and the soldiers mostly used bayonets to solve the problem.

The process of occupying the "Constitution" was quite smooth. Under intensive artillery bombardment, most of the more than 400 crew members on the "Constitution" were killed in battle. A small number of people who were seriously injured or who were lucky enough to survive were also killed and wounded by volley fire.

According to the rules of naval warfare

The white sailors who died in the war after the "Constitution" were thrown into the sea one after another. Buckets of bloody sea water washed over the deck, and then the tattered cables and barrels containing food or gunpowder were all abandoned one by one. Even the deck guns were thrown away.

It was overturned into the sea, along with furniture and everything else that could be thrown away.

This is because the "Constitution" has had a leak in the left hull, and tens of tons of seawater have poured in, causing the entire hull to tilt at 15 degrees. Abandoning all the load can raise the waterline and make the damaged hole higher than the sea surface.

The next step was to clean up the mess. Rear Admiral Mo Chengcai ordered the two armored frigates "Hanfeng" and "Hanye" to pursue the enemy ships separately. If they could not be captured, they would be sunk on the spot. There was no need to be merciful.

Those four schooners don't have much significance. If you can eliminate one, then destroy one.

The ironclad destroyer "Spring Moon" stayed behind and tried its best to rescue the "Constitution". The carpenters on the ship began to mend the holes. Hundreds of crew members went down to the cabin and used wooden basins and buckets to remove the seawater. They were very busy.

Very happy.

After working for more than 6 hours, after dark, all the dozens of holes were blocked, the tens of tons of seawater that had seeped in were all drained out, and the decks were cleaned. The trauma after the war was still there.

clear and distinct.

All the crewmen were gasping for air from exhaustion. Saving the "Constitution" was much more tiring than fighting a battle.

The ship will undergo a comprehensive restoration after returning to port, replacing the damaged oak planks, reattaching steel plates, repairing the sails and cables, replacing the damaged mooring equipment, repairing the wooden stern, and then painting

It will look brand new after applying paint.

This very meaningful gift is presented to His Majesty the Emperor, and it will surely win His Majesty's favor.

(End of chapter)