Chapter 1,218 Above the Black Sea 3
Chapter 1218 Above the Black Sea 3
"Are our seaplanes ready?" Lieutenant General Eberhard, commander of the German Black Sea Fleet, asked in the conference room of the battleship Queen Mary anchored in the Sevastopol Fortress.
"Our Kaiser Nikolai I seaplane carrier has been improved. It is an improved 9,240-ton cargo ship that can carry 5 seaplanes, plus an aircraft from the Diamond auxiliary cruiser. We There are a total of 6 seaplanes available for use." Rear Admiral Kolchak, who serves as the chief of general staff of the fleet, said while sending a document over.
"We have almost cleared the German minefields. And because some warships of the German fleet are going to support the Romanian battle, and other warships are being renovated in the port, their vigilance towards us is still very relaxed. At least there is no next step. Minelaying plan," said Rear Admiral Nowitzki, commander of the 1st Battleship Squadron.
"But we cannot determine the actions of the German submarine." Kolchak said with some worry.
"This is indeed a problem, but we have no choice now. We can't choose to fight or not to fight, we can only choose when to fight! The British attack will be scheduled for D-Day, and we will start from D-1 late at night. Attack the port of Sevastopol! And arrived at the standby area at about 5 o'clock in the morning to wait for the signal. The British bombing is estimated to start at 7 o'clock. We will determine whether to take action based on the British telegram and our seaplane reconnaissance. Action," Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Eberhardt said.
"This is our first chance and our last chance. If we lose it, we will not be able to control the fate of the Black Sea and can only wait for the so-called gifts from Britain and France. Therefore, I decided to build 2 dreadnoughts and 4 ships this time. All the Dreadnoughts in front of the ship will attack, we must go all out!" After a moment, the navy man seemed to have made up his mind.
The main force of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is as follows. The dreadnoughts Queen Maria and Emperor Alexander III are equipped with 12 12-inch guns. This battleship has exactly the same firepower and similar speed as the historical battleships of the same name, but it has armor protection. Somewhat enhanced. The thickness of the side chord armor reaches 320MM. The total height reaches a very conscientious 5 meters! The thickness of the upper armor belt and the hull rear armor belt is about 100MM. The thickness of the turret front is 305MM, and the thickness of the gun mount armor is 250MM.
Generally speaking, the defensive area of this battleship is large enough, but the thickness is difficult to satisfy. In terms of speed, it is quite satisfactory. The theoretical maximum output is 26,000 horsepower. It is equipped with 4 Parsons steam turbines and can reach a top speed of 21 knots. However, in actual testing, it achieved a high output of 30,000 horsepower. This level of battleship is indeed stronger than in history, but its strength is limited!
A total of three battleships of this class have been built. Two are currently in service, and one is currently under construction on the slipway. It is expected to be commissioned in nine months at the earliest. However, this battleship obviously has limited significance for the Russian Navy.
If we can win this time, then the newly commissioned battleships will be the icing on the cake, but if we lose, then the meaning of building them will be very limited.
In addition to these two new dreadnoughts, there are also two quasi-dreadnoughts equipped with four 12-inch main guns and four 8-inch secondary main guns, the Yevstafi and the Chrysostom John, as well as two Pre-dreadnoughts Three Saints and Rostislav.
The cruiser force consisted of two protected cruisers, the Mercury Memorial and the Kargul, and the auxiliary cruiser Diamond. The destroyer force has a total of 14 destroyers of various types. This is almost all the assets of the Black Sea Fleet.
"I still think that unless the British Air Force can guarantee heavy damage to two German fast battleships, we have no chance of winning. Even with the so-called joint fire method, the gap between the dreadnoughts and the pre-dreadnoughts is still huge, not to mention, we Your opponent is an elite super fearless!" Major General Nowitzki said.
"Everyone, what do you think of this? After the British Air Force carried out the bombing, we used seaplanes and destroyers to conduct close-in reconnaissance to determine the situation of the opponent's warships before deciding whether to be primary. The bombed German warships will definitely find ways to leave the port. This At that time, we can use destroyers to approach for reconnaissance." Major General Kolchak proposed a compromise.
"What if the German wounded warship chooses to retreat after leaving port?" one officer asked.
"Then we will kill the warships in the port. Turkey's shipbuilding industry is very poor. Once a warship is damaged, it will not recover for a long time. Time is on our side." Kolchak said easily.
After some discussions, the attack plan of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was also finalized. This time the Russians also took out the coffin book, 2 Queen Maria-class dreadnoughts, 2 quasi-dreadnoughts, and 2 more dreadnoughts. A total of 6 battleships, in addition to 2 cruisers, 1 seaplane carrier and 14 destroyers. It would definitely not work if such a fleet was pulled out to fight Count Spee. It would take up to 2 hours to call it a day, but this time, with the British aviation fleet, the Russians decided to take a gamble!
As time passes, the British actions are gradually maturing. They have a relatively detailed understanding of the parking situation of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet and have carried out several night flights. On an extra-large sand table at the base, Lieutenant General Trenchard's staff marked the landmarks along the way one by one. On the other three smaller sand tables, miniature models of Constantinople, Burgas Port and Ereli Port are displayed. The elites of the British Air Force are choosing appropriate attack routes based on their respective missions. and allocate goals.
"In order to ensure that the main force of the opponent's fleet is severely damaged, our most important attack target should be set at the Port of Ereli! Therefore, I suggest that at least one V1500 heavy bomber squadron and three FB27 medium bomber squadrons be deployed for bombing. We need to Only by throwing at least 24 torpedoes and 48 heavy bombs in one attack can it be possible to severely damage Count Spey's direct fleet!" Vice Admiral Sturdy, representing the navy, said at the side.
"In this case, we only have three squadrons of bombers to attack two ports at most?" Lieutenant General Trenchard said in disbelief. According to his plan, the V1500 squadron and two twin-engine bomber squadrons were responsible for attacking Ereli. The count's direct fleet in the port, and the other four squadrons attacked the Allied fleets in Constantinople and the port of Burgas in Bulgaria.
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