My Italian: Chapter 416 Battle of San Diego Part 2

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

At a distance of three kilometers, 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 3,000-meter hand-to-hand combat with the Pennsylvania class, the hit rate of the 254mm main gun was as high as 26%, and 70 of the 268 shells fired hit the target.

The hit rate of the three Pennsylvania-class patrols was much worse, and the hit rate of the three warships was only 13.4%. Among them, the most threatening 305mm main gun fired 42 shells and hit 6 of them. The 152mm secondary gun fired 284 shells and hit 38 shells.

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

This also caused it to gradually fall into a disadvantage after it sank the Maria Teresa.

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

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

Afterwards, the shell continued to move forward, and after successfully penetrating through the next door of the cabin, it finally exploded at the flue at the bow of the ship. The huge explosive force directly destroyed the entire flue, and the yellow smoke produced by the explosives and the black smoke gushing out of the flue instantly It filled the entire midship of the hull, and thick smoke rose into the sky. Because the flue was destroyed, nearly half of the boilers of the Biscay 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 Biscay slow down, Colonel Ramos, who led the team, was shocked. He was afraid that this precious patrol ship would step into the fate of the Maria Teresa.

But it is not easy to leave, how could Colonel Simpson allow the prey to slip away like this.

"Concentrate firepower and give priority to solving the opponent's Biscay."

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

Several 305mm armor-piercing shells easily tore through the armor of the Biscay, and the flying armor fragments directly cut off several steam pipes. What's more terrible is that one of the shells exploded outside the boiler room. The huge explosive force directly shut down 3 boilers. This directly caused the speed of the Philadelphia to drop to 6 knots immediately, and the ship's deadline had arrived.

When the three Pennsylvania-class patrols Biscay were besieged, the counterattack of the Spanish patrol formation continued.

"Hit the firepower and kill the opposing Colorado."

Colonel Ramos saw that there was nothing he could do, so he decided to focus on an enemy patrol first. What he chose was the Colorado, which had been bombarded against the Franciscos. This battleship suffered a lot of damage in the previous duel, so it was just suitable for focusing fire.

In the concentrated fire of the three Spanish patrols, the 305mm twin-mounted artillery on the bow of the Colorado was hit twice in a row within three minutes, and it was directly declared scrapped.

More shells fell on the sides of both sides. After the Colorado's forward main guns were destroyed, three more armor-piercing shells were gouged into her side, one of which opened a large hole in the bow. Another shot hit the main armor belt of the hull. Although it couldn't penetrate it, it still caused the armor to crack, creating a gap of several square meters.

Another shell directly penetrated the upper armor belt of the Colorado. After the huge shell split the 6-inch upper armor, it exploded near a bomb lifter with dual 152mm secondary guns, and then the raging flames and shrapnel Together, they destroyed the fragile protection near the bomb passage.

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

The influx of seawater has caused the hull to tilt by about 5 degrees. Several steam pipes also ruptured under the impact of various shells. The speed of Colorado dropped sharply, and the 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 fight the dog in the water.

"Kill the Colorado!"

Following the order of Colonel Ramos, the three patrols became more powerful.

Among them, a 254mm artillery shell fired by Columbus officially pronounced the fate of the Colorado. This shell passed through the 6-inch armor belt at the stern and shattered the wheelhouse of the Colorado. So far, the Colorado, which had lost two-thirds of the firepower on the combat side, was completely out of control, like a dead fish under the pressure of its own power and ocean currents. Under the effect, it slowly floated on the sea surface. He can't go back, even if it is let go, it will be sent to the depths of the ocean by the destroyer.

At this time, of the 10 patrol ships on both sides, there were only 5 ships left, which was really bloody.

Of course, the **** fights in the patrol formations were brutal, and the battleships were not bad either.

Compared with the direct movement and dogfighting method of the patrol, the battleship battle is much more rigid. Of course, the Turin class also has some advantages by virtue of its speed advantage.

The 330mm heavy artillery and 203mm heavy artillery of the American battle formation, and the 356mm heavy artillery and 152mm heavy artillery of the Spanish battle fleet spewed deadly flames at each other non-stop. Both sides are trying their best to attack, and attack first is the only choice for both sides.

With veterans who have lived with battleships for a decade, the Spanish fleet scored more effective hits. The Massachusetts, which was bombarded by the battleship Queen Isabel, in just twenty minutes. He was hit at least 5 times by the 356mm heavy artillery! One of them directly blasted a double-mounted 203mm turret into a burning torch, while the other 356mm heavy gun blasted the barrel of a 330mm gun into two pieces, and the rest mostly hit the upper part. deck position. The three 4-inch guns and numerous 6-pound guns on the side line were smashed into piles of scrap iron!

And the situation of the Indiana behind is not very good, because of the low freeboard, every shell that hits the side of the hull is very likely to cause water ingress, and as a battleship with a low freeboard, it has a small reserve buoyancy. It directly determines that it is very sensitive to water ingress, and as more and more shells are opened one after another on the side string.

The first battleship in the true sense of the United States has leaned to the right, and its speed has gradually been reduced to about 13 knots! But fortunately, the firepower is not bad, but a double 203mm turret was knocked out. 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 ingress.

As for the third Oregon, it is still in a pleasant shooting training when no one is in charge.

On the Spanish side, the situation of the Queen Isabel and Isabel II is relatively good. Except for the unavoidable fire accident, the loss in terms of armaments 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 hit on the hull caused a certain degree of water ingress, especially a 330mm shell that hit the middle of the hull, which cracked the joint of the entire armor belt. A crack with an area of ​​about 2 square meters caused the hull A large amount of water has entered, and the damage to the ship shape has also increased the resistance of the warship, so it is necessary to slow down.

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

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

Lieutenant General Sedra looked at the situation in front of him, and felt a little regretful at this moment. It's not just him, no one thought that the first US battleship is so advanced that it can fight back with two-on-three.

Well, in fact, the main reason for this is that in addition to the design performance of warships, there are also human factors. For example, in terms of battleship performance, if the combat power of the Turin class is calculated with 100 points. Then the Indiana class has only 85 points. Of course, this is just a comparison of the performance of warships.

Everyone knows that a battleship requires the cooperation of many personnel, and the more skilled the personnel are, the better the performance of the battleship can be brought into play. In this regard, the US 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 tempering of war, and they can only play at most 80% of the performance of the battleship.

As for the Turin class, the ships are all elites who have been tempered by several wars, and they can exert 120% of the combat power of the Turin class.

With such a calculation of one plus and one minus, 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 large, and they can continue to fight the Spanish formation for 300 rounds.

However, at this time, an accident occurred on the battlefield. A 356mm shell fired from the Queen Isabel hit the deck of the Massachusetts. The dual-mounted 8-inch artillery mounts were torn apart by 356mm armor-piercing shells. Hundreds of kilograms of artillery shells directly crashed into the bomb raising channel under the 8-inch gun emplacement! The bomb lifter inside was blown into a pile of twisted metal, which was detonated together with the shells and propellant charges above.

After the first explosion, followed by a loud bang, an orange fireball burst out from where it was hit! The huge energy tore the entire front of the gun mount into pieces, and the upper 8-inch gun 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 air. To make matters worse, the Americans did not follow the operational requirements. The high-intensity intense fighting made the Americans nervous and forgot to close the fire door of the ammunition depot section during the transmission process. Then a group of even bigger fireballs sprang out, which was the detonation of the ammunition depot.

A huge gap was directly blasted amidships of the USS Massachusetts, and raging sea 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 extremely dangerous. It had already tilted 15 degrees to the right, and due to the influx of sea water, the speed of the Massachusetts dropped to 10 knots. Fortunately, the power cabin was not affected, otherwise the Massachusetts would be dead.

"Let the Massachusetts evacuate immediately! Order the Oregon to take her place."

Seeing the desolate appearance of the Massachusetts, Rear Admiral Samplin, who was taken aback, hurriedly ordered the Massachusetts to evacuate.

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

"Target the USS Indiana, we'll sink them."

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

Everything is so proficient, ranging, followed by half-volley aiming, and after forming a burst shot, switching from slow fire to fast fire. The roar of eight 14-inch naval guns resounded throughout the battlefield, like the horns of the doomsday battle, which made people palpitate. The Indiana, which was at the lead, was shrouded in an oval-shaped bomb drop zone. After the burst firing ended, it soon suffered a near-miss, and then a 14-inch shell hit the stern.

This is a high-explosive shell. Because of the angle of the two sides, it is difficult to penetrate the main armor belt even with armor-piercing shells at a high angle of incidence. This shell successfully tore through the unprotected area of ​​the stern, 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 fuze, more than 20 kilograms of explosives detonated in the hull. Immediately, a flame storm swept across the entire stern. Accompanied by the impact of the explosion, the cracked steel plates, bracket beams, etc. turned the entire stern into a purgatory. A bright yellow fire dragon went straight up into the sky, and billowing smoke rose from the stern to cover the firing range of the tail gun.

While the Americans were still terrified by the blow just now, another 14-inch shell fell from the sky. Because of the angle of incidence, this shell still hit the stern of the ship.

"From my position, I can see a fireball passing the stern sideline at high speed. This shell may not have hit the target directly, or it may have rubbed against the side of the ship. Then a huge ball of fire rose above the water surface on the starboard side of the hull. Unexpectedly, this shell caused more damage to the hull than the shell that directly hit the hull. The whole ship shook for a while, and then leaned slightly to the right. A large amount of seawater poured in along the blasted hole Hull."

Afterwards, Lefer recorded the second hit in his report.

At this time, the Indiana was already facing an extremely dangerous situation. Two 14-inch shells hit the stern and the speed was greatly reduced. Although it was not as bad as the Massachusetts, it was definitely not much better.

In the battle of battleships and patrols, the Spanish side has gained an advantage, so it is the two Venetian-class patrols that have made huge sacrifices that have fallen into a disadvantage. Although the armored cruiser is better than the protected cruiser in terms of firepower and armor, if the number is at an absolute disadvantage, then the party that is severely beaten must be the armored cruiser. UU reading www.uukanshu. com

And the two Venetian-class cruisers are a good proof of this truth. Tigers are also afraid of wolves.

In the exchange of fire with a group of protected cruisers, the two Venetian-class cruisers suffered heavy losses in just over half an hour.

The rear 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 is also in a mess. Many armor plates on it have fallen off, and there are even some bullet holes left on it.

As for the Marquis Venardito (Brescia), it is 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 lost. In addition, the No. 2 chimney of the Marquis Venardito was also interrupted, and the unrestrained thick smoke seriously affected the firing of the rear main gun. As for the hull, like the Duke of Ulloa, it was all in disarray and miserable.

Of course, for this group of opponents, the two cruisers 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.

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