Chapter 115: Fierce Firepower

Searching for enemy ships on the vast ocean was by no means an easy task.

Fortunately, the Berlin now carried four seaplanes—one more than when it had left Wilhelmshaven. That additional seaplane had been captured from a cargo ship en route to a flight exhibition in England. After its capture, Feng Chengqian had engineers install two floats on it to convert it into a seaplane. Except for the inability to launch via catapult and the need to be lowered onto the water for takeoff, it was identical in capability to the other three seaplanes aboard the Berlin, each capable of flying over a hundred kilometers to conduct reconnaissance missions.

On the morning of the twenty-first, all four planes were deployed simultaneously.

The first round of searching yielded nothing. During the second round at midday, one seaplane flying south spotted the Invincible-class battlecruiser.

Just as Feng Chengqian had anticipated, Beatty had indeed arrived.

However, only four light cruisers accompanied the Invincible; at least, that was all the seaplane could see.

“If we head there now, we’ll make contact with the Invincible by dusk,” Strang said hesitantly, uneasy about engaging in a night battle, which was not the Berlin’s strength.

In fact, no naval officer relished night combat.

The greatest challenge during night battles was aiming at enemy ships.

In nocturnal artillery duels, gunners generally resorted to “blind firing,” estimating the enemy’s course and speed from the intervals between their shots, then firing at a point along the enemy’s projected path. Obviously, if the enemy altered course or speed after each salvo, they could evade the shells. More importantly, engagement range during night battles had a profound impact on the main guns’ hit probability.

Herein lay the dilemma: the Berlin clearly could not close in on the Invincible.

Keeping a distance meant the hit rate in night artillery duels was dismally low, making it almost futile to expect any hits.

The problem was, if the Berlin expended too much ammunition during a night battle, by dawn it would be out of shells.

Feng Chengqian was aware of this and thus refrained from making a hasty decision.

“If we can delay for two hours, we might approach the Invincible under cover of darkness and engage at first light,” Strang said, glancing at Feng Chengqian. “That way, by dawn tomorrow, we can decide whether to fight a decisive battle with the Invincible.”

“Have we spotted the other two battlecruisers?” Strang asked.

Feng Chengqian shook his head; the seaplanes had only spotted the Invincible.

“If we drag this out overnight, the Australia and New Zealand will likely catch up.”

“Even then, we can still escape,” Feng Chengqian pondered for a moment before saying, “Let’s pursue and figure out Beatty’s tactics. We need to know where we stand.”

Strang did not press further. After over a month, he understood Feng Chengqian well. Once Feng made a decision, it was best not to argue. As first officer, Strang could only offer suggestions before Feng’s decision, not after.

This was also naval tradition.

On any warship, the captain wielded supreme authority.

By just before three o’clock in the afternoon, the Berlin accelerated toward the Invincible.

Although Beatty knew the Berlin was nearby, having seen the seaplane that had taken off from it, he did not know the Berlin’s exact position, much less that it was charging straight at him.

More than three hours later, as dusk approached, lookouts aboard the Berlin spotted the Invincible.

Because the Berlin was to the northeast of the Invincible, nearly disappearing into darkness, and the Invincible still basked in the sunset’s last glow, the Invincible’s lookouts failed to spot the approaching Berlin or even notice the seaplane circling closer.

At five minutes past six, the roar of the Berlin’s three forward main guns shattered the evening silence.

When the three shells landed, Beatty—just about to have dinner—realized the Berlin had arrived and had opened fire first.

It must be acknowledged that the discipline and quality of the Royal Navy crew were exceptional.

After the Berlin’s surprise salvo, the British sailors did not panic but calmly took their battle stations and engaged.

The first counterattack did not come from the Invincible itself but from the four accompanying light cruisers.

However, for their guns, the engagement distance of twenty-two kilometers was rather too great.

As the Invincible altered course, the four light cruisers split into two groups and charged the Berlin, preparing to launch torpedoes.

Their main goal, however, was to draw the Berlin’s fire.

Unfortunately, Wolfgang, in charge of artillery, ignored the light cruisers and kept the main guns trained on the Invincible, which was preparing to return fire.

Beginning at seven minutes past six, all six of the Berlin’s main guns were fully engaged.

In the next two minutes, the Berlin fired six armor-piercing shells, at least one of which struck the Invincible.

That shell hit just forward of the Invincible’s port-side turret, landing no more than ten meters from the turret.

It was a near-fatal shot for the Invincible. Had the gun captain not reacted swiftly by flooding the magazine immediately after the 280mm armor-piercing shell pierced it, the main gun magazine could have detonated.

This shot, however, forced the Invincible into a highly disadvantageous position.

Because the Berlin had appeared to the northeast, the Invincible had turned port side toward it to engage.

This meant that if the Berlin attempted to break southward by force, the Invincible could block its path.

Had the Invincible turned starboard side to the Berlin, the initiative would have shifted to the Berlin, leaving the Invincible at a severe disadvantage.

The loss of combat capability in the port-side turrets exposed a design flaw in the Invincible-class battlecruisers.

Though British naval architects had considered broadside firing capability when designing staggered turret placements, the firing arcs of the two amidships turrets for cross-broadside fire were extremely limited, almost nonexistent.

In other words, after the port turrets were disabled, the starboard turrets could hardly fire to the left.

Without maneuvering, the Invincible could only respond with four guns from two turrets against the Berlin’s six main guns.

Despite the Invincible’s larger caliber guns, in terms of range, rate of fire, and armor-piercing power, they were inferior to the Berlin’s main guns. If the Invincible had fewer main guns, it had no chance to win a long-range artillery duel.

The Invincible had to turn.

The problem was, turning a warship displacing over twenty thousand tons by one hundred eighty degrees was no simple feat.

Moreover, after turning, the Invincible would lose the initiative.

Beatty hesitated for several minutes over whether to turn.

Though the Berlin failed to repeat its earlier miracle during those minutes, the Invincible was so suppressed by the Berlin’s gunfire that it could not retaliate.

Only at fourteen minutes past six did Beatty give the order to turn.

Seeing the Invincible’s turn, Feng immediately ordered Wolfgang to adjust their fire, focusing on the four light cruisers closing in.

Evidently, Feng had made significant progress in naval tactics.

The battle zone was at a very high latitude, and it was winter, so by around six twenty-five, darkness would fall completely.

At night, the Invincible posed less of a threat than the four light cruisers because those cruisers could approach under cover of darkness and launch torpedo attacks.

A single torpedo hit could doom the Berlin.

In other words, light cruisers were more valuable in night battles.

Furthermore, the Berlin was operating alone without light cruiser escort.

Considering these factors, to maintain the initiative at night, the Berlin had to eliminate the light cruisers before darkness fell.

At this moment, the Berlin was less than eighteen kilometers from the four cruisers, not twenty-two.

This was the perfect range for the Berlin’s main guns to deliver powerful, accurate fire.

More importantly, at this distance, the cruisers’ guns posed almost no threat to the Berlin.

In less than two minutes, the lead cruiser, Southampton, was struck by a 280mm armor-piercing shell.

It lurched forward several hundred meters before stopping, then broke in two amid a violent explosion.

Only three minutes after the blast, this cruiser—which had fought in the Shetland and Dogger Bank battles—vanished beneath the waves.

Of its four hundred crew, only two survived.

Close behind Southampton was the Adelaide.

Originally part of the Australian Navy, this light cruiser had only recently been commissioned into the Royal Navy after the war began.

Having arrived in Britain earlier that year, it had not participated in previous battles.

After being hit by two 280mm shells and several 150mm shells, Adelaide lost propulsion.

Though it did not sink immediately, the damage was so severe that on the morning of the twenty-second, the captain ordered the crew to abandon ship.

Seventy-eight crew members perished, but the rest were rescued two days later.

With two cruisers sunk in quick succession, the remaining two hesitated to press on.

During the turn, Nottingham was hit by the Berlin, suffering a destroyed stern.

Not long after nightfall, Nottingham withdrew from the battle alone.

Ultimately, only Lowestoft escaped.

However, this cruiser played little role in the ensuing battle, as its primary nighttime task was to rescue the still-floating Adelaide.

As the light cruiser squadron was shattered, night fell.