My Italy

On the busy North Atlantic, the freighter Crossflower is sailing leisurely,

"Captain, look, what is that there? It seems to be a fleet, or a fleet of large ships." Jack, the lookout on the freighter, said as he looked at the black smoke rising in the distance.

"What a fuss." Captain Basco picked up the telescope in his hand and looked into the distance. He saw two huge figures in the distance heading here at high speed, followed by eight figures that were not much smaller. However, that is only compared to the previous two behemoths. Overall, it is still much larger than his 6,000-ton Crosshair.

"What a fast speed. They should have 15 knots."

"They don't seem to be merchant ships... they are warships!" The two giant ships became increasingly clear in Basco's telescope! The huge turret on the ship made his heart tighten. "This is definitely not an American battleship." An idea popped into his head.

the first mate said grimly. "This is definitely not an American warship. The British and French do not have such huge warships in the Americas."

Everyone now knows that basically all the warships of the US Navy have been concentrated in the south. Half a month ago, the Crossflower was leased by the U.S. Navy for transporting arms. .

"Damn it, it's the Spanish flag! It's the Spanish fleet!"

At this moment, Jack, who was on the observation deck, had determined the identity of the other party.

"Oh God, let's get out of the way quickly, full left rudder, let's get out of here!" Basco said in panic. This is a 6,000-ton merchant ship, which is almost his entire worth.

"Captain, it may be too late, they want us to stop the ship!" Jack said desperately.

"Don't worry about them. They can't come for us. If we leave the main channel, they may not catch up. Then let's go back!" Under the order of Captain Basco. The Crucifix began to turn slowly, but the heavy load made the ship's movements very clumsy.

Captain Basco was right. The Spanish fleet did not come for robbery.

But at the same time, they will never let go of any merchant ship they encounter. In order to ensure the concealment of their actions, the Spanish fleet does not go in a straight line. They leave the busy transportation lines as much as possible and intercept all the merchant ships they encounter. of all U.S. merchant ships. Unfortunately for the Crucifix, they ran into the Spanish fleet who wanted to conceal their whereabouts.

"A futile move."

Looking at the evasive Crosshair in the distance, he shook his head.

I saw a destroyer rushing towards the opponent. After easily catching up with the opponent, two rounds of 102mm main gun shells brought the 6,000-ton ship to a halt.

"We are civilians, you can't treat us like this." Captain Basco said loudly after being pushed onto the boat.

"Wars are all reciprocal. You can blockade Cuba, and we can also blockade the east coast of the United States." The Spanish officer said with a smile. "You are our prisoners now, and that poor merchant ship will be scuttled after we take away certain necessities."

Crosshair is not the first unlucky person, and it is definitely not the last. During the long voyage of nearly a thousand nautical miles, the Spanish fleet sank more than a dozen large and small transport ships. More than three hundred American sailors were taken prisoner, and the U.S. Navy knew nothing about it.

It's no wonder that most of the U.S. naval power has reached the south. From the perspective of the U.S. military, the Spanish fleet's top priority must be to first enter Cuba and then complete preparations, and then launch a decisive battle with the U.S. fleet or launch a diplomatic-breaking operation and then launch a decisive battle.

But Americans may have forgotten one thing. Mobile warfare has always been the choice of the weak. The U.S. fleet once used it to break up engagements. The British Navy was relatively passive. This time the Spanish fleet's strategy was the same, but it was just bigger.

It is also incorrect to say that Americans are not prepared at all. Although the ocean fleet has all moved south, it still leaves a certain amount of defensive power in some important military ports.

For example, at the Navy Port of Hamilton, the Americans left the 6,000-ton coastal defense ironclad USS Texas, the 6,000-ton shallow-water heavy gunship USS Puritan, the 4,000-ton shallow-water heavy gunships USS Fear and USS Monterey, plus two torpedo boats TB2 and TB3. to guard Hamilton Harbor and the adjacent Navy Newport News Shipyard.

In the early morning of September 18, when Vice Admiral Sedra and his fleet sighted land, Captain Juridi, who had been hired with a high salary, immediately shouted. "We're at the southern end of the Delaware Peninsula, just over 40 nautical miles from Newport News, which is very close."

Captain Juridi's words cheered up the Spanish officers and soldiers on the ship. It seemed that the target was not far away.

More than two hours later, Vice Admiral Sedra and all the officers and men of the fleet showed ecstatic expressions as they looked at the warships docked quietly at the military port in the distance and the Newport News Shipyard opposite. The enemy was unexpectedly unprepared.

It cannot be said that they were unprepared. Two torpedo boats rushed out of the military port. Although they knew that they were bound to die, in order to protect the military port and the shipyard, they rushed over without hesitation.

In addition, the fort on the hill outside the military port finally opened fire, but this old-fashioned front-loading cannon was more for emboldening oneself. At the same time, the battleships such as the USS Texas and the USS Puritan in the military port finally started to light fires. Unfortunately, it was impossible to get the battleships moving without two or three hours of warm-up time. And will the Spanish fleet give them three hours?

"Each ship obeyed the order and gave priority to destroying enemy ships, and then bombarded the shipyard and port."

Under the order of Vice Admiral Sedra, ten large battleships began to take action. The two torpedo boats didn't even catch the concentrated fire of half a round of secondary guns, and there was no sound.

The immobile USS Texas, USS Puritan and other battleships were completely used as fixed targets by the Spanish fleet and could not fight back. Dozens of large-caliber artillery sprayed tongues of fire at them, and the orange flames and gunpowder smoke at the muzzles were even more continuous.

Countless artillery shells swept towards the American warships in the naval port like raindrops. In less than 1 minute, the Texas was hit by at least 10 large-caliber artillery shells. Each large-caliber artillery shell was like a heavy hammer. Constantly knocking on the fragile hull of the Texas.

Some lucky Americans have truly experienced what it means to live like a year. No one knows how long they can live, and everyone is afraid that a shell will penetrate the cabin wall not far away. And those unfortunate people were directly killed by explosions, shrapnel and flames. In just a few minutes, the entire battleship was hit by intensive shells! The entire superstructure turned into a burning torch, and yellow-green flames spread all over the deck, devouring everything it encountered!

The Texas was still struggling in the fire and smoke, while the Terror next to it didn't even have a chance to struggle. With a displacement of just over 4,000 tons, it actually had a twin-mounted 305mm main gun and a Twin 254mm secondary guns, plus 330mm main armor.

The data on paper is excellent, but Americans know very well what level it is at. The reserve buoyancy was minimal, the stem string was extremely low, and the main armor belt was so narrow and short that it was almost useless. Coupled with the excessive weight of the armament, the stability and redundancy of this ship were really poor. Although it was not taken care of, it was still beaten by the two Venice-class armored cruisers at the end of the team.

A 254mm high-explosive bomb hit the bow of the Terror like a heavy hammer. The entire battleship shook violently, and then a bright yellow flame exploded at the bow. The huge explosion directly opened a large hole of more than ten square meters in the bow. The entire bow then sank violently, a large amount of water poured into the bow, and the Terror tilted severely.

Subsequently, at least three more 254mm shells hit, and the Terror was riddled with holes. The raging fire spread on the ship, and the people on the bridge were killed or injured. The fire quickly developed out of control, and the ship was finished.

As for the American counterattack, the naval port was suddenly attacked, and many of the crew were not on the ship. With insufficient manpower, sporadic counterattacks did not cause any harm to the Spanish fleet at all.

In the next half hour, the Terror sank, the Monterey sank, and the Pilgrim sank. Only the Texas did not sink, but it was as motionless as a dead fish, and even the artillery for counterattack was gone.

Then a destroyer approached the Texas and dispatched the opponent with a single torpedo. After the warships in the military port were cleared, the two Venice-class warships were left to bombard the facilities in the port. The other warships sailed towards the Newport Shipyard on the opposite side of the harbor, where two conspicuous giant ships were waiting for them to destroy.

While the military port suffered a devastating blow, the Americans were not idle either, although there were no forts and artillery there.

But taking advantage of this precious time, the small boat coming from Hamilton Harbor quickly laid a small number of mines on the main channel. The personnel on the shore, under the command of the officers, arranged smoke cans to cover the two giant ships that were being outfitted.

Faced with this situation, the Spanish fleet did not dare to get too close to the target. After all, its fleet did not bring a minesweeper. If it collided with one, the gain would outweigh the loss.

It just raised the artillery elevation and fired at the shipyard in the distance. If the fleet battle could still be called a battle, then now it was just pure massacre. The shells cut through the air in curves that heralded destruction, and with the harsh sound produced by cutting through the air, they landed on the warships and nearby factories being built several kilometers away.

Shells exploded around the target, and the violent explosions sent everyone in Newport into panic. The two giant ships under construction were silently enduring the bombardment of the giant cannons. They were not yet completed. They had no armor plates and no artillery, just like two targets.

The first one to be directly hit was the Kentucky. A 356mm shell directly hit the Kentucky's gun ring. After a loud noise, nearly half of the round gun ring was blown away, and what was even more deadly was the fierce flames. The flammable materials in the cabin spread toward the interior of the hull. Subsequently, the power compartment in the middle of the hull of the Chilsarge was also hit by a 356 mm artillery shell, which blew apart the pipelines and power systems being installed inside.

Although due to the thick smoke and distance, not many shells hit directly. But for these two unfinished warships, which had no armor protection and no damage control, such a blow was already quite fatal.

The materials and flammable materials inside the hull became accomplices in the destruction of these two warships. A large amount of air poured in from the gun mounts and other holes, allowing the flames inside the hull to get enough oxygen. In the scorching flames, these two battleships, which were supposed to be completed in 1900, were completely turned into a pile of scrap metal. The U.S. Navy is crying at this moment.