Chapter 546 Undefended
Compared with the Russo-Japanese War, the performance of the submarines of the Russian Empire has improved again. Its endurance and the number of torpedoes it can carry have been greatly improved. The number of torpedo launch tubes at the front has also increased from 2 increased to 4.
In view of the outstanding performance of Russian submarines in the Russo-Japanese War, the Ottoman Empire strengthened its defense against submarines and deployed mine protection nets at the narrowest points of the Dardanelles Strait and the Bosporus Strait to prevent Russian Submarine dive.
The Ottoman Empire’s battleships were also equipped with metal mine protection nets on both sides. However, these mine protection nets can only be deployed when the battleship is parked. If used in action, it will not only affect the Due to the speed of the warship, the detached mine protection net may be drawn into the bottom of the ship and entangled in the propeller.
So when warships are moving, they can only rely on speed and maneuverability to avoid torpedo attacks.
Since the warships of the Ottoman Empire did not have submarine detection devices, the Ottomans arranged many observers on the warships to observe with the naked eye whether the warships were attacked by torpedoes.
Early torpedoes would produce obvious splashes and ripples during movement, which were indeed easy to observe with the naked eye.
The torpedoes of the Russian Empire, like submarines, have significantly improved their performance compared with the Russo-Japanese War, and their range and power have also been greatly improved. The most significant point is that due to the improved appearance of the torpedo, The splash of the torpedo during launch is significantly reduced, the speed is faster, it is also more concealed, and it is harder to detect.
Because the Ottoman Empire deployed mines at the entrance to the Bosporus, the battleships were not very fast when they sailed out of the strait along the safe channel.
Submarine No. 303, which had been waiting at the exit for a long time, fired four torpedoes at the "Ottoman" as soon as the "Ottoman Sultan" sailed out of the strait.
Although only one of the four torpedoes hit, the huge power of the torpedoes still caused this full-heavy artillery battleship with a displacement of up to 23,000 tons to be seriously flooded and lose its combat capability.
Surprisingly, other battleships of the Ottoman Empire were not affected by the "Ottoman Sultan" and sailed out of the Bosporus one after another.
This seriously abnormal behavior brought irreparable disaster to the Ottoman Empire's fleet.
After the war, George learned that because the observers on the "Ottoman Sultan" did not observe a torpedo attacking the "Ottoman Sultan", the captains of other battleships mistakenly thought that the "Ottoman Sultan" The No. 1 was seriously injured when it hit a mine that drifted into a safe channel, so it did not stop moving.
Under normal circumstances, mines with fixed devices will not move.
Occasionally, mines whose fixtures have fallen off will leave the place. Although this situation is rare, it has not never happened. During the Russo-Japanese War, the minelayer "Yenisei" of the Pacific Fleet was destroyed by itself. The mines were laid and sunk.
The Ottoman Empire's all-heavy artillery battleships use traditional power plants, with a maximum speed of only 21 knots, completely unable to keep up with the Black Sea Fleet cruisers, which have a maximum speed of 27 knots.
Furthermore, the Ottoman Empire did not consider ocean-going needs when designing battleships. This resulted in the Ottoman Empire's battleships having a pitiful endurance of only 1,500 nautical miles when traveling at high speed.
After leaving the Bosporus, the Ottoman Empire battleships increased their speed to the extreme, but unfortunately, not only did they fail to catch up with the cruisers of the Black Sea Fleet, but the distance became further and further away.
At 11 a.m., the Ottoman Empire battleship returned and was attacked by Russian naval aviation about 80 kilometers away from the Bosporus.
This is another serious strategic mistake.
The naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet was deployed in Sevastopol before the outbreak of the war, and was transferred to Varna after the outbreak of the war.
The Ottoman Empire did not grasp this situation, so it made serious errors in judging the time when its naval aviation arrived on the battlefield.
What's even more terrible is that the Ottoman Empire's battleships are not equipped with anti-aircraft weapons, and they also have no counterattack capability against the torpedo planes of the naval aviation. This allows the torpedo planes of the naval aviation to find the best position calmly. Launch an attack on the Ottoman battleships. The first wave of arriving torpedo planes totaled 12. They were divided into four squadrons and dropped torpedoes on three battleships of the Ottoman Empire.
The Suleiman Sultan was lucky enough to escape the attack.
The other two battleships were not so lucky.
The "Murad Sultan" was hit by three torpedoes. The violent explosion caused a fire, and then caused the ammunition depot to explode. It sank in just five minutes, killing all 1,537 officers and soldiers on the ship.
The "Ahmed Sultan" was shot in the stern, its speed was seriously affected, and it still sailed toward the Bosporus with difficulty.
The "Suleiman Sultan" fled crazily all the way, and was besieged by Black Sea Fleet submarines at the entrance to the strait.
Four Black Sea Fleet submarines fired at least 20 torpedoes at the Suleiman Sultan.
The "Suleiman Sultan" took the risk to open the mine protection net, hoping to use the mine protection net to resist torpedo attacks.
The mine protection net is not omnipotent. It was first destroyed by a torpedo launched by the No. 307 submarine, and then the "Suleiman Sultan" hit six torpedoes, only one kilometer away from the entrance to the Bosporus. Sunk everywhere.
The submarine battle is not over yet.
Submarine No. 303, which was the first to sink the "Ottoman Sultan", was lucky enough to encounter the "Ahmed Sultan" which was struggling to move forward when it was returning.
Naturally, Submarine No. 303 would not miss this great gift, so the "Ahmed Sultan" also became the prey of Submarine No. 303.
After all four heavy-gun battleships were sunk, Constantinople, the noble lady that all Russians dreamed of, finally opened its arms to the Russian Empire.
On October 7, under the cover of bombers and naval guns, the 1st Marine Division, which was just established last year, landed at Marsa in the north of the Bosporus.
Marsa is a fishing village that is not defended by the Ottoman army and is only 40 kilometers away from Constantinople.
George was not in a hurry to launch an attack on Constantinople. Instead, he cooperated with the Balkan coalition forces and launched an attack on the last line of defense of the Ottoman army from behind.
On the 8th, Ottoman Sultan Mohammed V admitted defeat and, through Britain and Germany, simultaneously sought peace from the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Balkan Alliance.
George completely ignored it and ordered his troops to continue attacking the Ottoman army.
It is not impossible to negotiate peace, but it must be done after the Russian army captures Constantinople.
Until then, the Russian Empire will not accept any mediation.
On the 11th, the Ottoman army, which was attacked from both sides, collapsed and retreated to the Garibaldi Peninsula. Mohammed V declared Constantinople an undefended city.
(End of this chapter)