Chapter 164: Decisive Battle Between Twenty Battleships
As the artillery battle began, the battle lines of both sides’ battleships had become completely clear.
Major General Hermann and Admiral von Essen, each respectively in the conning towers of the battleships “Nassau” and “Sevastopol,” observed the enemy fleet opposite them with high-magnification telescopes.
On Major General Hermann’s side, the vanguard was led by 4 “Nassau-class” battleships, arranged in battle line as Nassau, Westfalen, Rheinland, and Posen.
Then came 3 “Friedrich der Grosse-class” pre-dreadnoughts: Friedrich der Grosse, Grosser Kurfürst, and Barbarossa.
Therefore, the battle line consisted of a total of 7 battleships.
The “Nassau-class” is already well-known. In a word, these were the earliest German dreadnoughts, capable of concentrating up to eight 280mm 50-caliber main guns on a single broadside, with a maximum armor thickness of 300mm. They were just slow, with a top speed of 19 knots.
The “Friedrich der Grosse-class” were a batch of old ships built in ’98, with main guns only 240mm in caliber, similar to the “Vichersbach-class” previously sold to the Ottomans for their Black Sea Fleet. They were considered pre-dreadnoughts with high main gun firing rates but little power.
At the same time, the “Friedrich der Grosse-class” had a significant weakness: a top speed of only 17 knots. Bringing these few stragglers along would further slow down Major General Hermann’s detachment’s “escape” speed, making the slow retreat appear more realistic and better enticing the enemy to continue their pursuit.
A total of 5 “Friedrich der Grosse-class” ships were built, and their maintenance state was currently acceptable. However, two of them, named “Wilhelm I” and “Wilhelm II,” were withheld by the Commander-in-Chief of the High Seas Fleet, Admiral Pohl, who felt it disrespectful to use those ships to lure the enemy.
“Wilhelm I,” after all, was the creator of the Empire, and the current Emperor had a good relationship with his grandfather. In contrast, the current Emperor’s relationship with his father, “Friedrich III,” was not very good.
This was because the current Emperor disliked the Britannians, but the late Emperor, whose wife was a Britannian princess, was diplomatically inclined towards them. Therefore, using warships named after the late Emperor as bait was not a major issue.
…
Meanwhile, on the side of the opposing Lusha fleet, Admiral von Essen arranged his battle line as follows:
First were 4 “Gangut-class” ships: Gangut, Petropavlovsk, Sevastopol, and Poltava.
Following them were all the pre-dreadnoughts of the Baltic Fleet that could be mobilized:
Including 2 “Imperator Pavel I-class” pre-dreadnoughts: Imperator Pavel I and Andrei Pervozvanny;
1 “Borodino-class” pre-dreadnought: Slava;
3 “Ekaterina II-class” ships: Rostislav, Dvatsat’ i dva apostola, and Georgiy.
In other words, the Lusha fleet was composed of 4+6, a total of 10 capital ships.
Both sides had 4 dreadnoughts. In terms of firepower, the Lusha fleet was clearly stronger, as the “Nassau-class” were built in 1907, while the “Gangut-class” were built in 1911.
In the early years of dreadnoughts’ existence, a difference of four years in design could mean missing out on significant technological advancements.
In terms of pre-dreadnoughts, the German-Lusha comparison was 3 to 6.
The Lusha’s “Imperator Pavel I-class” and “Borodino-class” were both considered “pre-dreadnought peak / half-step dreadnought” existences, designed in 1904 and 1907 respectively.
Therefore, these 3 ships were clearly half a class stronger than the German “Friedrich der Grosse-class.”
However, the Lusha’s last 3 “Ekaterina II-class” ships were purely for numbers. These ships were designed in 1888 and were already 25 years old. Their speed was only 16 knots, and their displacement was just over 10,000 tons, making them lighter than armored cruisers built over a decade later.
Despite being equipped with 3 twin 305mm main gun turrets, for a total of 6 guns, which appeared to have good firing density, they used old 35-caliber guns from 1886 and had very poor firing arcs, with a maximum of only 4 guns able to fire simultaneously in any direction.
…
“The enemy fleet’s speed difference is more pronounced than ours. Their ‘Gangut-class’ can reach high speeds of 24 knots, positioning them between ordinary battleships and battlecruisers. However, their old ‘Ekaterina II-class’ only reach 16 knots, a full knot slower than our pre-dreadnoughts.
We should endeavor to present a retreating posture towards the southwest while ensuring all main gun turrets have firing arcs, engaging and moving, and maintaining distance. This way, if the enemy is eager to fight, their ‘Gangut-class’ will be forced to increase speed, while those 3 ‘Ekaterina II-class’ ships will be unable to keep up, quickly turning the situation from 7 vs. 10 back to 7 vs. 7.”
After repeatedly observing the firing adjustments of friendly and enemy fleets through his binoculars, Major General Hermann quickly made an accurate judgment.
By utilizing the speed difference, it was possible to prevent the enemy’s 3 slowest old ships from entering the battlefield in time.
This was also the most common problem when dreadnoughts and pre-dreadnoughts were organized for joint operations; if they were forced to enter together, the dreadnoughts would have to accommodate the turtle-like speed of the pre-dreadnoughts.
Generally, few navies organized their ships this way, but today’s situation was very special, with both sides doing so, thus leveling the disadvantage.
The German fleet quickly altered course slightly under Major General Hermann’s command, while all their large cannons remained active, continuing their bombardment to the port side.
Upon seeing this, Admiral von Essen also pursued towards the southwest, with a heading angle about 30 degrees more towards the west than Major General Hermann’s, in order to close the distance while fighting.
After the initial contact for half an hour, the distance between the two sides quickly reduced from 20 kilometers to 16-17 kilometers.
The pre-dreadnoughts on both sides, due to their poor fire control, could not engage in long-range artillery battles and continued to haphazardly fire shells at each other without accuracy.
However, among the dreadnoughts, the first hits had been scored.
Major General Hermann’s flagship, the “Nassau,” at 7:46 AM, the 31st minute after the engagement officially began, scored a hit on the Lusha fleet’s lead ship, the “Gangut,” with one 280mm armor-piercing shell at a range of 16,700 meters.
Following a grating metallic thud, a violent explosion erupted, and a ball of fire instantly rose from the middle of the “Gangut’s” deck.
“Hit! At this location, did it hit the funnel, or turret number 2, or turret number 3?”
Major General Hermann was excited, as he was personally on board the “Nassau” and had been watching the enemy’s lead ship （ but not the flagship ）. The shell had exploded while he was watching.
The fireball appeared to be substantial, leading Hermann to feel hopeful at first glance. However, after seven or eight seconds as the smoke and fire gradually dissipated, he realized that the enemy’s two central main gun turrets were unharmed.
As for the large flare just now, it was actually caused by the detonation of twin 3-inch anti-torpedo boat secondary guns deployed above the main gun turrets, and a pile of 3-inch shells stacked there had also detonated. These shells were small, so the spectacle was grand, but in reality, it caused “smoke without damage” to the main gun turrets.
The peculiar and unique layout of the small-caliber secondary guns on the “Gangut-class” was unavoidable.
Because the main gun turrets of the “Gangut-class” occupied almost the entire deck, with main gun turrets in the midship area that had to rotate towards the broadsides during firing, there was no room to install secondary gun turrets on the broadsides without obstructing the main gun arcs. Thus, they had to place small high-angle/anti-aircraft guns directly on top of the main gun turrets.
This layout was also quite reminiscent of the Russian style of “soldiers buying standing tickets and hanging on the outside of tanks while marching,” using flesh as shields for metal.
Once hit by the enemy, although the main gun turrets were unharmed, the small guns and gunners on top of the main gun turrets would inevitably be wiped out.
Additionally, the explosion had also penetrated the main funnel, located between the two central main gun turrets, with shrapnel.
Thick smoke no longer emerged entirely from the top of the funnel but also leaked from small holes in the damaged sidewalls. Although this did not affect the ship’s power, it caused smoke interference with the fire control observations from the “Gangut’s” bridge.
“Damn it, the enemy’s main gun turret armor is very strong; our 280mm shells can’t penetrate it at all!”
Major General Hermann cursed in frustration.
The “Gangut-class” main armor belt was actually thinner than that of the German battlecruisers, only 227mm, or 9 inches.
Therefore, theoretically, in this artillery duel, the “Gangut-class” might not fare well, as its attributes were too heavily weighted towards speed and firepower at the sacrifice of protection.
Its 9-inch main armor belt, as long as the engagement range was not too great, should be easily penetrated by the “Nassau’s” 280mm guns.
However, the “Gangut-class’s” weak protection had an exception: its main gun turrets were very strongly protected, with all four turrets boasting 305mm of steel plate thickness, enough to withstand the “Nassau’s” 280mm guns, and even the “Helgoland-class'” 305mm guns would not be able to penetrate.
The Lusha people had focused their limited steel armor weight on “protection against firepower,” ensuring that the enemy could not penetrate their main gun turrets or hit their shell hoists. As for other areas, they could not defend them all, so if penetrated, so be it.
In this regard, the German approach to armor distribution was the exact opposite. The “Nassau’s” main gun caliber was 280mm, so the turret face armor was also set at 280mm, while the waterline armor was 300mm.
In other words, the German ships had 1 inch thicker waterline armor than their turret faces, focusing more on the overall seaworthiness of the ship. The Lusha ships, however, had 3 inches thinner main armor than their turret faces.
The initial hit not penetrating did not significantly affect the morale of either side.
All gunners continued to enthusiastically aim and load, making precise adjustments under the calibration orders of their respective commanders, firing rounds of deadly shells.
At 7:55 and 7:58, just 9 and 12 minutes after the first hit, at a range of 15,300 meters, the “Nassau” scored two more hits on the “Gangut.”
The other ships had not yet scored any hits, as the battle lines were advancing at a sharp angle, and the closer ships were to the front of the formation, the shorter the distance between them.
The “Nassau” and “Gangut” had already engaged at 15 kilometers, while the distance between ships further back increased by about 1 kilometer. The ships at the tail were over 20 kilometers apart, making hits impossible at such ranges.
The Lusha could not always be lucky, so the second shell hit the casemate deck, easily destroying 3 of the “Gangut’s” forward port side 152mm secondary guns. The shells waiting on the gun mounts detonated, further tearing open the casemate deck.
The third shell hit the “Gangut’s” starboard main armor belt, penetrating solidly and tearing a hole 1.5 meters above the waterline.
With the ship’s heaving and the periodic surge of waves, dozens of tons of seawater rushed in each time the starboard side dipped, also causing a leak in its starboard oil tank.
Black heavy oil immediately spread across the sea surface, forming a black wake.
“What’s going on! The enemy has hit the ‘Gangut’ 3 times! And they haven’t hit us even once! What have these useless people been doing in training!”
Admiral von Essen watched anxiously through his binoculars, almost wanting to smash them. Fortunately, the binoculars in the conning tower were fixed to the bulkhead, preventing him from doing so.
“Commander! They must have done their best. You know that the ‘Gangut’ is not in good condition this time.”
Colonel Lev Miklaivich, captain of the “Sevastopol,” calmly comforted the Commander-in-Chief, urging him to calm down.
Admiral von Essen heard this and felt dejected.
He knew that the “Gangut” was not in good condition; in fact, it was precisely because of this that he had adjusted the “Sevastopol” to be his temporary flagship.
Due to the sailor mutiny before departure, the “Gangut” was the hardest hit. In the entire mutiny, over 700 people were shot by the Tsar’s Guard, with more than 200 of them being from the “Gangut.”
About 20% of the ship’s crew was executed the night before the battle, forcing them to replace them with temporarily reassigned trainees or have new recruits perform less important manual labor while other positions were adjusted.
For instance, in the gunnery department, because more than 10% of the gunners were executed, many gun positions were manned by the Tsar’s Guard, who were supervising the battle, to assist with the manual labor of moving shells, while experienced loaders were tasked with operating the turret traverse and elevation.
Such adjustments would inevitably affect combat effectiveness, and a decrease of one to two tenths in the entire fleet’s bombardment speed and accuracy was normal.
A fleet forced to fight by the Tsar indeed suffered misfortune from the outset.
The “Gangut” thus endured being hit by the enemy 3 times unilaterally, finally scoring its first hit at 8:01 AM.
One 305mm armor-piercing shell hit near the “Nassau’s” forward port main gun turret. Although it wasn’t a direct hit, it damaged the turret’s race ring and destroyed the bearings, rendering the turret completely unable to rotate.
The “Nassau’s” firepower was thus reduced by a quarter, which was considered a somewhat positive outcome.
Subsequently, the ships at positions 2 and 3 in the battle lines on both sides also began to score hits.
Around 8:10 AM, the “Westfalen” scored two hits on the “Petropavlovsk,” piercing its bow. The latter, however, scored no hits and was simply hit repeatedly.
Around 8:15 AM, the “Rheinland” also scored two hits on the “Sevastopol.” Shrapnel swept across the latter’s top 3-inch secondary guns on the main gun turret, and also destroyed the secondary bridge, causing severe damage to the superstructure and heavy casualties.
However, the “Sevastopol” also managed to hit the “Rheinland” with two shells, its accuracy no less impressive. But soon, the Lusha discovered an astonishing scene: both of these shells hit the “Rheinland’s” main armor belt, but neither penetrated; they only exploded on the surface, dislodging some armor fragments.
“What? After finally hitting, it couldn’t penetrate?!”
Admiral von Essen felt his blood pressure surge.
The “Sevastopol” was the best-conditioned of all 4 “Gangut-class” ships. Since this ship was not involved in the sailor mutiny and no one was executed, all its soldiers were well-trained, which was why it was chosen by the Commander-in-Chief as the temporary flagship.
Their gunnery was worthy of their condition, achieving a 1:1 hit ratio against the Germans and upholding the dignity of the Lusha Navy.
However, they all failed to penetrate!
The Lusha’s 305mm main guns could not penetrate the German ships’ 300mm main armor at a range of 16 kilometers.
The German ships’ “low attack, high defense” characteristic was clearly demonstrated at this moment.
Yet, the German ships’ “low attack” was just sufficient against the Lusha’s 9-inch main armor, making the situation extremely awkward—
If the battle today were the Battle of Jutland and the opponent was the Britannian “Bellerophon-class,” the “Nassau’s” firepower would not so easily penetrate the main armor. Sometimes, it’s a matter of 1-2 inches of steel thickness.
A severe problem presented itself to Admiral von Essen: his own sailors, with a portion of personnel lost, insufficient training, and inaccurate gunnery, now lacked sufficient penetration power to engage at 15 kilometers; the disadvantage would be too great.
At this point, they could either retreat or continue to rapidly close the distance to around 12 kilometers for engagement. This would transform the situation from “the enemy can penetrate our main armor, and we cannot penetrate theirs” to “both sides can penetrate each other.”
However, closing to 12 kilometers would drastically increase hit rates for both sides, turning it into a pure all-or-nothing gamble. If the situation turned unfavorable, damaged ships would find it difficult to disengage, forcing them to fight to the bitter end.
Admiral von Essen wished to “cut his losses” and discuss the situation with the Brigadier General of the Tsar’s Guard supervising the battle.
However, the other party stated that he did not understand naval affairs and was only there to supervise the Navy for any signs of betrayal on behalf of His Majesty.
von Essen thought to himself that the battle so far had been a pure loss for them; they had gained no substantial results—they couldn’t claim that making a few small dents on the “Rheinland’s” armor belt or disabling one turret on the “Nassau” counted as “battle honors,” could they?
Withdrawing with such a pure loss would likely result in him being accused of being a “traitorous schemer” and shot.
It was better to fight to the death and prove his honor.
Let’s go for it!
“Accelerate to close the distance! All ships reduce engagement range to 12 kilometers! Our gunnery is not well-trained, so we can only close the distance to ensure mutual penetration!”
“Steer further to starboard 15 degrees, heading 235. Ignore the first two ships of the enemy’s line. Have the ‘Gangut’ and ‘Petropavlovsk’ shift fire to the enemy’s third ship, the ‘Rheinland’!”
Admiral von Essen gritted his teeth and issued this tragic order.
The Lusha’s four “Gangut-class” ships all accelerated to their maximum speed of 24 knots. With a speed difference of 7 knots and a large angle of 45 degrees, theoretically, they could close the distance by 9 kilometers per hour with the enemy ships.
Therefore, closing the remaining 3 kilometers would only take 20 minutes.
However, adopting an angle of 45 degrees for the formation would also create a very serious problem: the two ships at the front of the line, when engaging the ships directly opposite them, would lose the firing arc for their secondary main gun turrets.
This would force them to abandon their current targets and fire at the enemy in the second or even third position behind the enemy’s line.
If both sides had already achieved significant results and scored several effective hits on the enemy, Admiral von Essen would absolutely not have issued such an amateurish order.
Switching targets would mean that all previous calibration data would be invalidated, and new calibrations would be required.
However, the problem was that, considering the current situation, the “Gangut’s” gunnery was too poor. After a long time, the “Nassau” had only been hit on its port side main gun race ring, and had no other results. The second ship had suffered no hits at all.
Since this was the case, the cost of switching targets now was not too high. After all, hundreds of sailors on the first two ships had been killed, and their combat effectiveness was inherently low; let them absorb damage and switch fire.
von Essen now only wanted to concentrate the firepower of his first three ships to destroy the “Rheinland.” Even if it meant the “Gangut” exchanged its life for it, it would be worthwhile and would provide an explanation to the Tsar.
