Chapter 793 The Naval Battle of Genoa·3
In fact, sailing battleships sometimes use this arc formation to attack.
However, the sailboats adjust their angle slowly. Once they form an arc, it takes a lot of time to move horizontally.
Therefore, unless one's own side has an absolute advantage, sail warships basically fight in a line formation.
The flexible steamship does not have this worry. As long as the sailors are skilled in handling the ship, the formation change can be completed in a few minutes, so they can freely use the best attack method to shoot.
This is why Bourne felt that the firepower of the French battleships was too fierce.
Under the interference of the approaching French warships, the "Quarter" and other ships were bombarded with shells for seven or eight minutes, but they were unable to get out of the opponent's fire range.
Hotham finally couldn't sit still.
Although the loss of a few cruisers and frigates was nothing, those French boats surrounded his ship right before his eyes. This was a complete humiliation!
He suppressed his anger and said to the herald: "Raise the flag, move the battle line eastward, and prepare to attack the enemy fleet."
In the distance on the sea, the British cruiser "White Coral" seemed to have been hit in the ammunition compartment and began to burst into flames. The sailors jumped into the sea wailing, forming a circle of raindrop-like ripples around the ship.
The "Four Wheel Carriage" and the "Quartz Sand" were seriously damaged and had begun to tilt. Several other ships also suffered varying degrees of damage and were floating in place, almost losing their ability to maneuver.
Only the two galleys escaped from the battle because they were at the back of the formation.
In only about ten minutes, more than half of the British cruiser formation that went to disrupt the French fleet's formation had been lost. This damage efficiency was so high in the era of sailing battleships that it could be used in naval textbooks.
On the other side, the British battleship formation opened its sails and pounced on the French battleship.
Hotham looked at the enemy ships outside the porthole and made a silent calculation in his mind.
2000 yards.
1500 yards.
1200 yards.
Just as he was about to order preparations for battle, he saw the French flagship hoisting a signal flag.
The more than 30 small boats immediately accelerated with extremely high efficiency, turned around, and then sailed toward the northeast in a chaotic manner.
The speed was as fast as a hyena that had just stolen a lion's prey and was running away happily.
By the time the British battle line reached the battleships such as the "Quarter", there was only a large white track left on the sea and a faint smell of soot in the air. The French ship had already appeared one nautical mile away. .
Two British cruisers and a frigate are on the verge of sinking, and the other three are in very bad condition. It is not known whether they can survive to be towed back to the port.
Hotham felt that he had nowhere to vent his anger, and punched the steering wheel frame hard.
"Damn the French, these cowards, cowards!" He growled through gritted teeth, "Come here and have a male contest with me!"
The French fleet in the distance seemed to have heard his words. It circled quickly, turned around, and headed towards Hotham from the north in the same seemingly loose formation as before.
Hotham sneered and loudly ordered the battle line to adjust its direction, move upwind, and try to face the enemy with its broadside.
Half an hour later, the French steam battleship formation surpassed Hotham's battle line and took the lead in occupying the upper wind on the west side.
The British commander's face began to look a little unnatural.
At first, it was clear that his position was further to the west, so the French ship circled northward for a while to avoid it. As a result, it actually reached the windward position first.
He had no choice but to order the formation to tighten up and keep the bow pointing northeast, preparing to meet the impact of enemy ships. To be honest, he is not afraid of the French fleet attacking.
With the strong hull of the third-class ship and the firepower of up to 74 heavy guns, it can quickly destroy those French boats even if the wind direction is disadvantageous.
Immediately, the French battleship moved.
With a tailwind, the speed soared to more than 12 knots, and we reached 800 yards from the British battle line in almost the blink of an eye.
Then, they suddenly turned right, and under Hotham's surprised eyes, drove towards the end of the British battle line at extremely fast speeds.
There was no intention of engaging in battle line shooting.
Hotham was a little confused, but he soon understood that it was impossible for the French boats to shoot at him, and he quickly ordered to adjust the direction of the formation and keep the broadside against the enemy.
But the speed of the steamship that had the upper hand was beyond what the clumsy third- and fourth-level battleships could match.
The steamship was at full power, constantly adjusting its angle, and then passed by the southernmost end of the British battle line in an extremely unreasonable manner.
The fourth-tier battleship "Roughfin Shark" at the southern end turned desperately, but when the French battleship passed 400 yards away from it, it still faced the opponent with its tail.
There is no mistake in every song, one post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, take a look!
The French cruiser poured a round of shells at the "Roughfin Shark" in a reverse "T-shaped cross-head", or should be called "T-shaped cross-tail" form.
Although each ship only had one chance to fire a salvo, after seven or eight ships in front and behind it were bombarded continuously, the stern of the "Roughfin Shark" was completely eroded, and even the stern sail was severely damaged.
The French fleet was not willing to fight at all. When the fourth-level ship finally turned around with difficulty, the steamships that did not join the attack immediately turned sharply and distanced themselves.
Hotham watched those guys pouring black smoke go away, and he really wanted to order a pursuit, but his reason told him that with the speed of his own formation, it was impossible to catch up.
The staff officer reported to him the damage done to the Roughfin Shark.
Fortunately, it is not too serious and we can still continue fighting. However, the stern sail is broken, which may slightly affect the speed.
Hotham ordered another ship to go to the rear of the formation, guarding the "Roughfin Shark" in the middle.
Then, he saw the French warship spraying black smoke and charging fiercely from a mile away.
At this moment, he remembered the group of hyenas he saw when he went hunting in Africa a few years ago.
Each one of them is much smaller than a lion, and they are no match for a lion in a head-on fight. However, they always use their flexibility to constantly harass the lion when it is eating.
On many occasions, he has seen hyenas successfully eat prey captured by lions, even leaving the lions covered in wounds during sneak attacks.
At this moment, the French warships that were "howling" heading this way were like a group of hyenas.
But I am like a powerful but helpless lion...
This time he ordered three battleships to protect the rear of the formation in column. But after those "hyenas" quickly circled his battle line a few times, they successfully opened a gap and took the opportunity to carry out a "T-head attack" on the "Caesar" which was slightly farther away from the formation.
After damaging the bow girder of the "Caesar", they flew away again.
It wasn't until the sky darkened that the French fleet stopped harassing them and sailed to the southeast, gradually disappearing on the sea level.
(End of chapter)