Chapter 17: The Battle at the Summit (Three)

  Since the outbreak of war, the British Grand Fleet had experienced two periods of weakness. The sinking of Audacious and the refit and repair of many battleships left the fleet short-handed, which led to the Battle of Dogger Bank. Unfortunately, the High Seas Fleet did not take advantage of this opportunity, the Germans lost one battlecruiser and one light cruiser, while the British lost one dreadnought, two battlecruisers, a draw at best.

  In March 1915, the Grand Fleet was again on the defensive, and the numerical superiority so carefully preserved by the Empire was in jeopardy: two of the dreadnoughts, Erin and Agincourt, were detached to the Mediterranean for the Dardanelles campaign, "Seven-turreted wonder" had been lost; two new Queen Elizabeth-class battleships had been added to the fast division, Audacious had been sunk by a mine off Dogger Bank in November 1914, so that the Grand Fleet had only twenty capital ships.

  Compared with the 17 battleships of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet was at a numerical disadvantage and any qualitative advantage was illusory.

  The Dreadnought was already showing her age, with a dated sighting system and an aging power plant that made the old lady not worth reusing; The Bellerophon-class battleships, as the "improved mass-produced version" of the Dreadnought, had limited improvements in secondary gun caliber, longitudinal watertight compartment design, and overall visibility performance, but interestingly, its side belt armor was reduced by a whole inch! The St. Vincent-class battleship was touted as an "improved version" of the Bellerophon class, with the 12-inch main gun's barrel length increased from 45 to 50 times, but the poor shooting accuracy and extremely short barrel life greatly offset the increase in main gun caliber, apart from that, The St. Vincent-class stern side armor was further weakened compared to the "original ship"; The Neptune-class battleship approved for construction in 1908 changed the main turret layout structure of previous British Dreadnoughts, allowing the Neptunes to exert their full broadside firepower, but its waterline belt armor still had a one-inch difference from the Dreadnought, and the main gun's shooting range was greatly affected by the amidships flying bridge design.

  In the early naval arms race of the Dreadnought era, from the Bellerophon-class to the St. Vincent-class and finally the Neptune-class, the British built seven dreadnoughts in a row, only to be outdone by the German Nassau-class one by one in both offense and defense. The Nassau-class had only four 280mm main guns, which were inferior to the British in terms of caliber and number, but the Germans' advantages in rapid firing, shell stability, and penetration made up for this disadvantage. As for the 300mm side armor belt and 85mm horizontal armor, all John Bull could do was sigh with regret and envy.

  The naval arms race continued, and Germany's second dreadnought class, the Helgoland class, was born. The British hastily pushed out the Orion-class battleships to counter them. The armament system of the Orion-class battleship was similar to that of the Neptune-class, but with some improvements in the main gun firing range. The 50-caliber 12-inch main gun also received improvements. In response to the threat posed by the Helgoland class's 305mm main guns, the Orion-class battleships had slightly increased armor thickness on their side waterline main armor belt, longitudinal watertight compartments, magazine protection, and turret armor. However, the strengthening of British warship defenses was only enough to restore the Orions to the standard of Invincible's 11-inch side waterline main armor belt, which was clearly insufficient against 305mm main guns. On the other hand, the Helgoland class's 350mm waterline main armor was more than sufficient to counter the British 12-inch main guns.

  In 1909, the naval armament competition entered a new stage. The British Empire, with its momentum soaring, successively designed and started building three new dreadnoughts: the Orion class, King George V class, and Iron Duke class. These three battleships had main guns with diameters exceeding 12 inches, earning them the nickname "super-dreadnoughts".

  The first Orion-class battleships to serve were the first to use more powerful 13.5-inch main guns, with five turrets arranged along the centerline of the ship, and the waterline belt armor was increased to an unprecedented 12 inches. The Iron Duke class, which included the HMS Iron Duke, also had a central fire control system based on a ballistic computer. The King George V-class battleships retained the 12-inch waterline belt armor while strengthening the upper armor belt on the sides of the ship, and the central fire control system was widely adopted. The last battleship to serve, the Iron Duke class, upgraded its main guns from 13.5 inches to a formidable 15 inches, and the secondary gun caliber was also increased to 6 inches to counter the increasing size and firepower of destroyers. However, the weakness of these three classes of battleships in terms of protection was not thoroughly eliminated. The 12-inch side armor belt at the waterline was insufficient to withstand German main guns with a caliber above 240mm at a distance of nine kilometers, and its coverage area was even more chilling. The 11-inch front armor on the main gun turrets and the 10-inch armor on the gun mounts made these so-called super-dreadnoughts' clumsy turrets into veritable deathtraps, almost guaranteed to ignite with a single hit.

  Germany began work on two new dreadnought battleships, the Kaiser and K?nig classes. The Kaiser class retained the 12-inch guns of the preceding Nassau-class ships but increased the number to ten, with improvements to the armor layout including a uniform main deck level and sloping armor at either end; the K?nig class, which entered service before the first Bayern-class battleship and the first Mackensen-class battlecruiser, along with the Derfflinger-class cruisers were referred to as the "Grosslinienschiffe" (Great Line Battleships) of the High Seas Fleet.

  The invincible Aris of the Navy, with his life at stake, had created an excellent opportunity for the German Empire to win, and victory was just a stone's throw away. Unfortunately, God played a huge joke on the High Seas Fleet, and in an incredible coincidence, a T-shaped cross appeared out of nowhere on the vast ocean, with a probability of only one in ten thousand.

  After the grandeur and countless noise, everything seemed to have returned. The British maintained an advantage in the number of main guns, with 186 main guns that could be deployed in a broadside engagement, including 86 12-inch guns, 60 13.5-inch guns, and 40 15-inch main guns, while Germany had only 8 280mm guns, 28 305mm guns, and 16 350mm guns. The disparity of 186 to 52 was enough to make the German sailors cry.

  The main guns that could be used for counterattack were not many, and in order to maintain the balance of the hull, the large-angle high-speed turn of the ocean fleet could not fire, which meant that the ocean fleet could only passively withstand the attack during the period of adjusting its course and deploying its formation. Although it was clear to everyone on the fleet that as long as they survived this terrible and long nightmare without suffering too much damage, the British defeat would be inevitable. However, knowing is one thing, and actual operation is another, and the ocean fleet soon became disoriented in the hail of bullets falling from the British like raindrops. The formation was disjointed, command was lost, and they were at a loss for what to do, this was the temporary answer sheet submitted by the ocean fleet.

  The High Seas Fleet was on the verge of collapse, when Admiral Franz von Hipper stood up. The son of a brewer from Bavaria, the former navigation officer of the royal yacht Hohenzollern, who had been suffering from mental illness for a long time, the former commander of the First Scouting Group, and now the deputy commander of the High Seas Fleet and commander of the Third Battle Squadron, led four K?nig-class battleships to boldly drill out of the main formation of the High Seas Fleet, making an oblique charge towards the British fleet 19,000 yards away, attempting to attract the attention of the British, in order to win precious time for the High Seas Fleet to adjust and redeploy its formation.

  In the year, the gunfire in the North Atlantic ceased, and the European war dust settled. Hipper mentioned in his memoirs that he was most proud of five things in his life: meeting his wife; promoting and protecting what might be the greatest commander in German naval history, Heidekampf; owning the illustrious First Reconnaissance Squadron; predicting danger before the Battle of Skagerrak; launching a death charge against the British Grand Fleet.

  The retired Admiral Hipper cited these examples in a casual tone, as if he were recounting someone else's story; yet any reader can easily imagine the tragic and heart-stopping scene of the admiral leading his fleet of 186 main guns into a death charge.

  "Admiral, received encrypted telegram from Admiral Hipper...". The command tower of the battleship Friedrich der Grosse was in an uproar. Even the most experienced combat advisors and navigators could not make sense of the chaotic data and reorganize the fleet. Scheer's eyebrows were furrowed, a cruel order stuck in his throat, but he hesitated to give it. At this moment, the young deputy chief of staff pushed open the thick hatch of the command tower, exclaiming: "The deputy commander is leading the 7th squadron in a final charge against the British - this is his farewell telegram!"

  "Deputy Commander..." The fearless and fierce General Reinhard Scheer's arm paused for a moment as he received the telegram, and after a long time, he copied over the thin telegram paper, crumpling it tightly in his hand until the force penetrated through the back of the paper. "You make me feel ashamed!"

  The four King-class battleships of the Seventh Division raised their combat flags and charged towards the British Grand Fleet's line of battle at a speed of 22 knots. They would approach the Grand Fleet's line of battle from the northwest, break off the engagement before the Ocean Fleet's line of battle was formed, and return to the head of the Ocean Fleet's line of battle. The division chief of staff easily drew a semicircle on the sea chart representing the Seventh Division's course of action, with its apex less than 13,000 yards from the British ships, but while it was easy to do so on paper, in actual combat it would require the officers and men of the Seventh Division to pave the way with their blood and lives!

  "Jellicoe, the most advanced of Germany's four dreadnoughts, can you afford to abandon this bait?" The cannon fire falling around the Seventh Squadron was not intense, only the indefatigable Third Squadron's three Iron Duke-class battleships. Hipper and his navigator stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the conning tower, waiting with bated breath for the British to make their decision.

  "Commander's tower, King's two 350mm armor-piercing shells, both landed about 50 meters off the starboard side." The counterattack from the German Seventh Squadron, which was almost facing the bow of the Iron Duke, could be ignored. A relaxed atmosphere prevailed in the commander's tower of the Iron Duke. However, this pleasant mood came to an end when a lookout on the mainmast of the Iron Duke spotted something annoying. "Commander's tower, something is not right, the German Seventh Squadron does not seem to have turned 90 degrees, they are maintaining a course at about 60 degrees angle with the fleet!"

  "Have the Germans gone mad?" exclaimed the calm Iron Duke's captain. The Seventh Squadron did not adjust its course to make up for the disadvantage in main battery numbers, but instead charged at them with a slanting blow, as if the Germans wanted to repeat the miracle of the Austrians at the Battle of Lissa in an era where dreadnoughts were over 13,000 yards apart.

  "What a Scheppel!" The Iron Duke's captain had barely finished speaking when Jellico's approving voice cut in.

  Jellicoe had clearly seen through Hipper's plan. The Admiral would have to choose whether to continue firing on the High Seas Fleet in the confusion of the smoke or shift his aim to concentrate on the isolated and outnumbered Seventh Squadron. The former would undoubtedly increase the Germans' confusion, delay their line-of-battle, and hope for a lucky hit from the unpredictable main armament. The latter could quickly annihilate the strongest unit of the Grand Fleet, the Seventh Squadron, and eliminate the threat of the German 350mm guns.

  "Even if a king-class battleship has astonishing defensive capabilities, this gift fleet can still take it!"

  The 000-meter combat distance and the accuracy of artillery fire at this distance are self-evident.

  At 7:23, the eyes of the Grand Fleet were focused on the four K?nig-class battleships of the German Third Battle Squadron's Seventh Division. Jellicoe detached four divisions totaling thirteen capital ships to concentrate fire on the Seventh Division, with the Third Division targeting K?nig, the First Division targeting Grosser Kurfürst, the Second Division targeting Kronprinz, and the Fourth Division targeting Markgraf.

  The sound of the guns rose to a high pitch in an instant, and within less than thirteen minutes, the Bordj had been hit by seven shells, two of which were 12-inch capped armor-piercing shells that struck the Bordj's horizontal armor. The horizontal armor of the King Edward VII-class battleships was divided into three layers: the deck layer, the protective layer flush with the top of the upper armor belt, and the sloping armor layer at the waterline on the sides. At a distance of 20,000 yards, the British 12-inch main guns could penetrate only about 50 mm horizontally, and two armor-piercing shells merely pierced the 30 mm thick horizontal deck, stopping in front of the second layer of horizontal armor, causing damage to two compartments and starting a large fire.

  The blazing Border Governor was considered a lucky one in the seventh division. The Grand Duke's flagship was hit by five shells, one of which was an armor-piercing shell that hit the Grand Duke's 150mm single-barreled secondary gun. To save tons and space, the secondary guns of the King-class battleship consisted of unattractive gun houses and rotating shafts, arranged in a ring shape on both sides of the second deck of the hull. The armor-piercing shell entered the Grand Duke's 200mm upper armor belt at an eerie angle, tearing open the armor and drilling into the secondary gun's ammunition chamber. The magazine was detonated, the secondary gun's rotating shaft along with the gun house were blown into the sky, twenty-one sailors died, two compartments flooded, and a sealed compartment's seal loosened.

  The King George V was hit six times, one 13.5-inch armor-piercing shell struck the forward face of the Anton turret on the King George V, but it was defeated by the 350mm defense armor and only left an ugly dent on the turret. However, another 13.5-inch armor-piercing shell succeeded. The shell pierced the weakest horizontal armor belt at the stern of the ship, and after piercing a single layer of 30mm horizontal armor, the armor-piercing shell exploded deep in the stern, causing severe flooding to the King George V battleship.

  The King had the fewest hits, with only four. Although the premature explosion of Royal Navy shells was a common occurrence, the 15-inch gun caliber was still not to be underestimated. The thick-skinned King's battleship amidships and stern were hit one after another, the former causing the flying bridge connecting the first and second smokestacks, lifeboats, and davits to disappear, and the telegraph room and chart room to be destroyed.

  "Can't hold on anymore?"