The Fox of France - Chapter 471 (Patreon)

Chapter 471: Naval Battle

Increasing the pressure for enhanced ventilation is a method to extract the last bit of power from the steam engine. This practice can easily lead to boiler overheating and reduce the boiler's lifespan. In more severe cases, it may even cause boiler explosions. However, for the "Queen Elizabeth" at this point, boiler lifespan is no longer a concern. Even if everything goes smoothly and it successfully rams the "Inglorioso," it is doomed regardless. Thus, the lifespan of the boiler is meaningless.

As for the possibility of boiler explosions, the two ships are now just over a thousand meters apart—a distance at which such an event is unlikely, at least less likely than a cannonball hitting the ammunition depot just right.

However, accelerating a warship is not like accelerating a liter-class motorcycle. You can't just twist the throttle and blink an eye to exceed a hundred kilometers per hour. Warship acceleration is considerably slower, so slow that you might not even notice it if you're not paying attention.

But the response of the French cannons was much quicker. The 150mm cannons on the "Inglorioso," the "Caesar," and the 100mm cannons on other cruisers rained down on the "Queen Elizabeth." A 150mm shell hit the port side, penetrating the armor and exploding in the freshwater tank inside—fortunately without causing any casualties. Another 150mm shell hit close to the waterline on the port side, tearing a hole and letting seawater in. However, the breach was small, so it was temporarily ignored—damage control personnel had already suffered two-thirds casualties, and such minor issues were beyond their capacity to manage.

But with the distance closing, the ingress of water became less concerning—as long as the ship didn't sink upon collision.

Regarding the 100mm cannon shells, there were even more hits. These shells had no chance of penetrating the "Queen Elizabeth's" armor, but they thoroughly raked over the entire superstructure of the "Queen Elizabeth." In fact, considering the effect of a near miss, at least up to this point in today's battle, the biggest damage to the "Queen Elizabeth" was actually not from the French battleships' 150mm cannons, but from the French armored cruisers' 100mm cannons.

"Order, immediately flood all ammunition depots. All soldiers, prepare to abandon ship." Watching the enemy ship draw closer and more shells continuously hit the warship, Nelson issued such an order.

Flooding the ammunition depots meant that after firing the shells that had been moved to the turret, there would be no more ammunition to fire. But this order also ensured that even if a French cannonball penetrated an ammunition depot before the "Queen Elizabeth" rammed the enemy ship, it would not cause the entire depot to explode, potentially blowing the whole warship to pieces.

In fact, this order was very timely because just two minutes after the order was given, a cannonball from the "Inglorioso" pierced the armor of the forward main gun's magazine. The distance between the two ships was now so close that armor previously deemed impenetrable was easily breached. If water had not been previously flooded into the ammunition depot, this cannonball might have spelled the end for the "Queen Elizabeth."

On the "Inglorioso," Admiral Treveil had already figured out the British's intentions. He knew that the British intended to ram his ship. At this moment, he had two options: one was to maintain the current course, which was most advantageous for firing at the enemy. Then, using the firepower advantage, destroy them with cannon fire before they could ram. Or, he could have his warship turn to align in the same direction as the enemy ship. This way, he could only use the stern guns to attack the enemy, but this maneuver would increase the time it took for the enemy to catch up to him, and when they did, they could only ram the "Inglorioso's" stern with their bow. Though it's a bit embarrassing to have one's stern rammed, the chance of the ship being sunk from such an angle is much less. It would practically be impossible.

If Napoleon had been making the decision at this time, he would have undoubtedly chosen the first option without hesitation. No cowardice, just action! Let's see whether your ramming kills me or my cannon fire kills you first. The west wind blows, the war drums beat, who fears whom in this world?

If Joseph had been making the decision, he would have undoubtedly chosen the second option without hesitation. Turn quickly, preserving life is the top priority. After all, even if the stern gets bumped, it won't kill anyone. The situation is already in our favor, so there's no need to take risks. Moreover, if it were Joseph, he would definitely not allow himself to be on the battlefield.

However, Admiral Treveil was neither Napoleon nor Joseph. So, um, initially,

he decided to adopt Napoleon's approach. However, as more shells hit the enemy ship, and not only did it not explode and sink, but its speed further increased and the distance closed even more, Admiral Treveil began to hesitate. He felt that at such a short distance, relying on cannon fire alone was unlikely to stop the enemy ship from ramming. So, he ordered the warship to turn. This command was later considered in the post-battle analysis as a significant reason why the "Inglorioso" suffered major damage and eventually had to be abandoned.

Admiral Treveil and Captain Moraux both underestimated the loss of maneuverability after the ship lost its bow. So, when the British "Queen Elizabeth" closed to within four hundred meters, the "Inglorioso" began its clumsy turn to evade.

The slow speed of the "Inglorioso's" turn was unexpected. After half a day, it had only turned forty-five degrees, and then the "Queen Elizabeth," engulfed in flames, rammed into it.

If the "Inglorioso" had completed its turn, at most, a few compartments at the back would have been damaged, and apart from needing to be towed because the propellers were destroyed, there wouldn't have been much issue. It could have been repaired and possibly even sold to the Turks after a major overhaul.

If it had not turned at all and was rammed midship by the "Queen Elizabeth," the damage would also have been severe, with the central series of compartments definitely ruined. But, if the keel remained intact, it could have been dragged back for repairs and at least sold to the Turks.

However, being rammed at a forty-five-degree angle was a completely different situation. The "Queen Elizabeth's" bow scraped along the "Inglorioso's" port side, practically opening up all the watertight compartments on that side.

The surging seawater immediately flooded the compartments. Even though the "Inglorioso's" better-conditioned damage control personnel were relatively organized, they were still helpless in such a situation. To prevent the warship from sinking, the French had no choice but to lock all the watertight doors on the port side. Just this action alone resulted in the drowning of one hundred and ten sailors.

Due to the rapid ingress of water on the port side, the "Inglorioso" began to tilt quickly to the left. To prevent the ship from capsizing, rescuers had to flood some compartments on the starboard side to seek balance. But due to the excessive damage on the port side, if true balance were to be restored, the "Inglorioso" would have essentially become a submarine.

Fortunately, when the navy designed this warship, due to the cautious Joseph's insistence, they opted for relatively small compartments. Not only were multiple compartments divided horizontally, but they were also divided vertically. This design provided the "Inglorioso" with very good resistance to sinking. So, after such maneuvers, the "Inglorioso" was still barely afloat and did not sink. However, the ship was tilted almost thirty degrees, making it impossible for people to stand on the deck, and naturally, the steam engine and everything else were shut down.

Of course, the "Queen Elizabeth" was not in a better state. It had already taken in a lot of water. In the collision, its bow was smashed to bits, and seawater rushed in from there. The "Queen Elizabeth" adopted a large compartment design, and with heavy casualties among the damage control personnel, it was impossible to manage the situation. Thus, the ship's bow sank first, raising the stern high into the air. The copper propeller, the red-painted bottom of the ship, and the barnacles attached to the bottom were all exposed. Several sailors clung to various floating objects, jumping into the sea, and swimming desperately towards the distance. They all knew that the ship was about to sink, and if they couldn't swim far enough before it went down, they would be pulled into the seabed by the vortex created as the ship sank.

Because the tail compartments also contained a large amount of seawater, this pressure caused the "Queen Elizabeth's" keel to creak ominously. As seawater flooded the compartments, compressing the air and forcing it out through various gaps, it emitted a whistle-like sound that was chilling to the bone. Eventually, the "Queen Elizabeth's" keel could no longer withstand such pressure and broke in two with a loud noise. The stern crashed down onto the water surface, creating huge waves. Then, the broken warship rapidly sank into the seabed, leaving a large vortex on the surface. Many of the sailors who had jumped to escape didn't manage to swim away in time and were caught by the vortex as the ship sank, dragging them down to the seabed.

According to post-battle statistics, out of the more than six hundred officers

and soldiers on the "Queen Elizabeth," only six were rescued. Including the fleet commander, General Nelson, and others, all went down with the ship.

The subsequent battle became completely one-sided. Although the French battleship "Inglorioso" had lost its combat capability, the second squadron had already taken position. Under the crossfire of the French fleet, any British warship remaining on the battlefield was severely damaged. At the time the "Queen Elizabeth" launched its assault on the "Inglorioso," three British cruisers were already slowly sinking.

After the "Queen Elizabeth" sank, the French redirected the firepower previously concentrated on it. The situation for the remaining British warships became even more dire. Although the British navy lived up to the Z flag raised by General Nelson and the command that "England expects every man to do his duty," the outcome of the battle was not determined by human will. Just half an hour later, all British warships were either already sunk or sinking. The French ceased firing and dispatched boats to rescue the British sailors in the water.

On the other side, Admiral Treveil had already transferred to a small boat and moved to the battleship "Caesar." Most of the crew had also left the "Inglorioso" battleship. Of course, this did not include those sailors locked in the watertight compartments, still using wrenches and other tools to knock on the deck.

The French cruiser "Lyon" approached the battleship "Inglorioso," tethered it with a rope, and attempted to tow it back to France. The ship's keel had not fractured, so towing it back for repairs could possibly even result in it being sold to the Turks for money.

However, by evening, the wind picked up at sea, and the waves grew higher. The condition of the "Inglorioso" rapidly deteriorated, its tilt quickly reaching around 40 degrees and continuing to increase. By around eight o'clock in the evening, the ship suddenly capsized and then began to sink gradually.

Under Admiral Treveil's orders, the "Lyon" released the tow rope tied to the "Inglorioso." At 9:15 PM, in the presence of the entire fleet, the "Inglorioso" sank into the cold North Atlantic.

By this time, the outcome of the entire battle was clear. The British lost the battleship "Queen Elizabeth" along with two super-cruisers and six armored cruisers, with only the super-cruiser "Yorkshire" breaking through. Thus, the British navy had lost all its modern battleships, except for another "Queen Elizabeth" class battleship that was only half-built on the slipway. Now, they only had four super-cruisers and ten armored cruisers left. Although this number was still decent compared to other countries, with just these forces, they could no longer contend with the French for control of the seas. The current British navy could probably only serve as coastal defense under the cover of coastal guns and mines, preventing any potential French landings.

On the French side, they lost the battleship "Inglorioso," and other warships also suffered varying degrees of damage. However, only two armored cruisers were expected to lose combat capability for three to six months due to the need for major repairs. It can be said that this French fleet still largely maintained its combat effectiveness. For the British, this was a nightmarish outcome.

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