71 – Episode 71 Battle of the North Sea (2)
Admiral Beatty’s fleet had to last much longer than expected. As Beatty’s fleet twisted north, most of his capital ships took hits, and Tiger and Queen Mary sank without sustaining damage.
In addition, the cruiser and destroyer units suffered significant damage.
However, due to Beatty’s clever coordination and the British Navy’s fierce fighting, the German Navy was unable to deliver a decisive blow.
10:30 PM.
The main force of the Grand Fleet that Admiral Beatty had been waiting for appeared from the northern seas. The German fleet, which had been having fun with a one-sided bombardment for a while, was surprised by the British fleet that appeared earlier than expected.
Kwa Bang!
At the same time as the British fleet’s massive bombardment, which turned the northern seas orange, water columns rose all over the German fleet. Considering the nighttime situation, the British Navy’s gunnery was incredibly accurate.
“The enemy fleet is appearing from the north! It is the main force of the Grand Fleet.”
Admiral Ingenol, commander of the High Seas Fleet, was greatly surprised when he received a report of the approach of the British fleet aboard the SMS Friedrich der Grosse.
“What? They arrived already? “Isn’t that impossible in terms of time?”
In that case, it means that the enemy also noticed our movements. Even if it’s rotten, you can’t ignore the British Empire Navy’s Jjambap?
Admiral Ingenol ordered to send a luminous signal.
“Tell this to the entire fleet. “Retreat at full speed.”
“Spread throughout the entire fleet. “Full retreat!”
Ingenol planned to annihilate part of the British Navy in this naval battle, but the operation was more difficult than expected. When he had difficulty catching the rear of the enemy fleet, he honestly didn’t have much fun because of the mobile fleet that appeared.
In retaliation, we beat up Beatty’s fleet, but it was only fun for about an hour, and there were no decisive results. Although he captured two battlecruisers, it was nothing compared to what he had planned.
In this situation, the main force of the British Navy appeared.
Ingenol had no choice but to think about getting his money’s worth.
The German fleet began to turn, but the vengeful British fleet could not stand by and watch.
“You can fire all the torpedoes, so tell them to scatter their ships. “We must not let them approach in full force.”
Ingenol urgently ordered a lightning strike. The destroyers courageously advanced towards the enemy capital ships and fired torpedoes. The torpedoes spread out like fantails and penetrated into the battle lines of the British fleet.
‘As long as we get over this crisis.’
If you just spread out the ships, it was easier to avoid the enemy’s pursuit.
But.
“Enemy fleet, maintaining course.”
The British Navy boldly chose to advance between torpedoes. Ingenol was speechless for a moment due to the enemy’s boldness.
Are you willing to take a few torpedoes?
For an enemy that attacked with that much determination, it was not easy to evade.
Spouts of water rose from some parts of the battleship group, but the enemy fleet focused only on narrowing the distance. The Germans felt pressured by their calm attitude.
“The Jeonno-class battleships will be withdrawn first. Cruisers should support artillery fire from a distance.”
“Yes?”
“Shouldn’t we make them mistaken?”
If it was a long distance away, especially on a pitch-black night, it was very possible for a cruiser to be mistaken for a battleship.
Ingenol planned to use a trick to take out the slow battleships and then let the newer ships escape.
“Battleship Rhineland hit!”
However, losses could not be avoided in the overwhelming barrage of artillery fire.
The shells fired by the battleships of both armies had enough power to threaten each other’s defenses.
This was especially true for battlecruisers with thin armor.
It was literally a fight between eggs holding hammers.
Unlucky battleships were destroyed or even sunk after a few rounds of artillery fire. Several German battleships had already been hit, spewing out black smoke.
Seidlitz, who had been active since the beginning, was one of the ships hit.
“Flood the ammunition storage first! “If the ammunition depot catches fire, it’s over.”
The German Navy carried out damage control as usual. While the British Navy had an advantage in shipbuilding and gunnery skills, the German Navy had an advantage in the ability to revive dying warships. The strong defensive structure unique to German battleships also contributed to their survivability.
Thanks to the German Navy’s quick firefighting measures, Seidlitz was able to attach a lifeline even though her hole water line was deepened by two meters.
However, the British Navy’s offensive power was difficult to withstand.
The German Navy felt inferior in gunnery accuracy beyond the simple number of guns. It wasn’t a gap that couldn’t be overcome, but in a situation where a few hits were disappointing, this was a big gap.
Britain in attack power and Germany in defense power.
The battle between the two navies did not end even after three hours. When the German Navy tried to escape somehow, Beatty’s battlecruiser fleet came ahead and crossed the ship’s course, blocking its path.
The admirals did not know exactly where their fleets were as they fought and intertwined like snakes.
“Shoot!”
The 12-inch main gun of the Kaiser-class battleship fired powerful shells again with an orange flash.
While concentrating on bombardment, the battleship was slightly outside the friendly battleship line.
“The ranks are disorganized.”
It was the moment when Admiral Ingenol approached the window to examine the situation more accurately.
Quaaang!
A 13.5-Inch main gun shell fired by the British battleship Lion directly hit the bridge of Friedrich der Grosse.
The admiral and most of the high-ranking officers were killed instantly by the shock wave of the explosion.
While the ship was in chaos, Captain Theodor Fuchs took command.
“Send a flash signal to the next-ranking admiral. “The admiral was killed.”
When the soldiers with damaged eardrums could not understand what he was saying, Fuchs ordered them to use hand gestures and send out luminous signals.
Only then did the soldiers quickly operate the searchlights and start sending out light.
The next commander of the German fleet was Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper.
However, Seidlitz was also shelled and was not in a normal state.
While there were several confusions, the German fleet continued to engage in a fierce battle with the British fleet without any instructions.
“What? “Admiral Ingenol was killed?”
Admiral Ernst Oldwig von Natsmer, who took over command late, was astonished.
He had retreated to the somewhat safer rear and was completely unaware of this situation.
“Yes, sir. Even Admiral Hipper is unable to command.”
It was the worst situation I had ever imagined.
Admiral Natsmer was in a hurry to pull the tangled fleet out of the battle.
“First, return the Jeonno-class battleships as close to the battlefield as possible.”
“Yes? But, if you do that.”
It was dangerous. Slow battleships had no chance to escape once they were caught.
“Only threaten from a distance.”
If all the new battleships were lost anyway, the German Navy was over.
Jeonno-class battleships received the admiral’s order and immediately began returning to the battlefield.
Admiral Richard Rangel of the SMS Posse, who was engaged in a fierce battle in the battle lines, was relieved to hear that support would arrive soon.
Even so, the 2nd battleship squad was in a state of disarray due to a fierce battle.
“Keep shooting! “Our troops are coming soon.”
The admirals’ voices were quickly drowned out by the thunderous gunfire fired by the battleships.
Soon, the German rear battleship group, which had approached a distance of 20 km, opened fire.
Coincidentally, the path of the German battleships was vertically crossing the battleships engaged in a fierce battle.
Boom!
As the intensity of the bombardment suddenly increased, the British fleet, which had been fighting with indomitable will, was taken aback.
“Could it be that you were luring us all this time?”
“It would be best for you to step aside, Admiral.”
As Beatty’s fleet began to hastily leave the tangled battlefield, the Germans also did not miss the opportunity.
“Full retreat.”
Admiral Natsmer no longer had any regrets about victory.
All I could think about was how to save the fleet, which was devastated by this battle, as much as possible.
It was a battle with thorough preparation, but the enemy was strong.
Germany could not help but feel that it was still a challenger in the face of the might of the British Navy, which claimed to be the world’s strongest.
As dawn broke, both fleets began to withdraw back home across the red-stained sea.
The brutal Battle of the North Sea came to an end.
*
When looking at the war records of both armies, Britain suffered more severe losses, but Germany also suffered less losses.
The German Navy alone lost 1 battlecruiser, 1 destroyed, 1 dreadnought, 2 dreadnoughts destroyed, 4 battleships destroyed, 6 cruisers lost, a total of 17 ships lost and 41 destroyed. I had to get it repaired.
The British Navy suffered even more severe damage, losing a total of 22 ships, including the loss of 2 battlecruisers, 2 damaged, and 3 dreadnoughts, with 24 requiring repairs.
The scale of the loss was small in Germany, but the available power itself remained in the UK.
Nevertheless, Britain could not hide its shock.
The British government was so shocked by the defeat that it even moved some of its capital ships deployed in the Mediterranean to the North Sea.
However, the results were not as good as I expected.
Despite being caught off guard with several bluffs and clever tricks, it was not easy to defeat the British Empire at sea.
As expected, it seemed difficult to achieve the desired results from the front.
In that case, you have no choice but to use an asymmetric card.
Since we suffered in ‘Pola’, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take this opportunity to give back.
‘Scapaflow would be good.’
I decided to give my British friends a shock 24 years early.