Chapter 973 The Mediterranean Sea I
If you want to formulate a battle plan, you must first figure out the situation of the fleets of both sides! But now, after summarizing the basic situation of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet, the Austro-Hungarian Fleet and the Allied Fleet sent by Tirpitz and others, a general framework has appeared in the prince's mind.
The first is the 4 super dreadnought battleships of the United Fleet of the Allied Powers. Almost all of these 4 battleships were designed based on the German Helgeland-class fast battleships. They are the Tegerhof and the Prinz Eugen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Sultan Osman I and the Reshadiye ordered from Germany by the Ottoman Turkish Empire. At the same time, there are two Mainz-class armored cruisers donated from Germany. Of course, these two cruisers were named Red Beard Hayreddin and Amidie by the Turks here. and several light cruisers and destroyers. Among them, there are no more than 20 warships with a weight of more than 1,000 tons.
And Austria-Hungary, which is trapped in the Adriatic Sea, also has 2 super dreadnought battleships, namely the United Force and St. Stephen. And 3 quasi-dreadnought ships, or dreadnoughts, this is the Radez-class battleship. The Austro-Hungarian Empire finally chose a plan with larger artillery instead of the Mainz-class armored cruiser recommended by the prince. The difference between the Radec-class pre-dreadnoughts is that the four double-mounted 240mm guns at the four corners have become four single-mounted 12-inch guns. In addition, there is an Austro-Hungarian version of "Mainz) using steam turbines, some light cruisers and a large number of destroyers.
Of course, in order to meet the needs of breaking diplomatic relations, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also has a large-scale submarine force. There are 2 brigades in total, each brigade has 3 squadrons, and each squadron has 4 to 6 submarines. At present, there are about 32 training submarines connected.
The French fleet they need to face is much stronger. In terms of capital ships, the current French fleet has 4 Brestani-class super dreadnought battleships (including 2 provided by Italy), and 4 Guba-class dreadnought battleships. There is also a Brestan class battleship under construction. From the perspective of the combat effectiveness of the dreadnought-class battleships alone, the French fleet is stronger than any of the two Allied fleets. But not as good as both sides.
However, not every battlefield is as aggressive as the Beihai battlefield, and warships below Dreadnought have no human rights. The two sides in the Mediterranean still have to pull up the front dreadnoughts to fight! And the French have a huge advantage in front of the fearless!
Are the 6 Dandong-class battleships afraid? Similar to the Radetz-class battleships in this plane, 3 of the 6 Dandong-class battleships have also undergone similar improvements. The 6 double-mounted 240mm heavy guns on the side strings have been replaced with 6 single-mounted 12-inch guns. This turned their sidestring firepower into seven 12-inch guns. These 6 quasi-dreadnought ships (dreadnought ships) formed the French Mediterranean Third Battleship Squadron.
In addition, the remaining 6 pre-dreadnoughts that could be used formed the fourth battleship squadron. As a result, the French Mediterranean Fleet has concentrated as many as 12 former dreadnoughts! Judging from this number alone, it has already firmly suppressed the Allied fleet at this level. When the French dreadnoughts and the Allied dreadnoughts fired at each other, and the latter had no time to take care of it, these former dreadnoughts went up, which was quite terrifying!
In addition to the pre-dreadnought ships that are several times stronger,
The French fleet also has nearly 20 10,000-ton armored cruisers! And 12 of the best ships were deployed in the Mediterranean Fleet! As for the Allies, there are only three armored cruisers. Although the performance of the latter is better, but no matter how powerful you are, you can't fight four with one, right? !
And patrolling next to these battleships and cruisers are at least 6 destroyer squadrons, each with 6 destroyers, and a total of 36 destroyers are two blocks away from the Allied fleet! And people can also get reinforcements. On the Allied side, the destroyers built by Austria-Hungary could not get out, and the destroyers built by Turkey still needed to purchase German power systems. And the build speed is too slow.
In the case of a very disadvantaged force, the Allied fleet was dispersed to two places, and at the same time everyone was crowded in the very crowded Eastern Mediterranean! The French fleet also acquired the island of Malta and Alexandria as pillars, and several other ports as sea bases for the network. Whether it is military strength or geographical advantage, it has a considerable advantage.
If it weren't for the last joint force-class super-dreadnought ship, St. Stephen, who had just entered service, the situation at sea on both sides would be even worse! It is very difficult to gain an advantage by relying on the guerrilla tactics implemented by the prince in the North Sea, because the Eastern Mediterranean is too small, too calm, and the weather is too good. So attacking during the day will almost be discovered, and if you go far, once the French navy blocks the western entrance of the Dardanelles, the Spey fleet will not be able to go back, and then 4 super dreadnoughts beat others 4 super dreadnoughts Adding 4 dreadnoughts is purely overthinking.
Austria-Hungary can't do any tricks. If you want to enter the Mediterranean Sea, you must first pass through the Otranto Strait in the southern Adriatic Sea. The narrowest point of this strait is only 75km. It is very easy to monitor, and because Italy is inclined to the Allies, the French Navy has an eyeliner on the Italian side of the Adriatic Sea, which makes the actions of the Austro-Hungarian fleet more difficult. On the whole, the situation of Earl Spey's fleet is grim, which is why the Mediterranean surface battlefield is still a pool of stagnant water when there are big news in the North Sea and the Indian Ocean!
However, compared with the helpless situation of the surface fleet, the Allied underwater fleet has managed to kill all directions. In terms of background, the French navy is far worse than the British Empire! The British were caught off guard by the attack of the German wolves, so the French could only perform worse in the face of attacks from Austria-Hungary and the Allied submarine forces based in the Dardanelles!
In this plane, although German submarines have not traveled far and wide to fight in the Mediterranean, relying on the Austro-Hungarian Navy and more than three dozen submarines deployed in Turkey, in the first month after the start of the war, the Mediterranean submarine formation of the Allied Powers was launched. Sink 38 ships of various types with a gross tonnage of 120,000 tons! Then, the following months continued to climb steadily. By last month, under the attack of torpedoes, artillery and mines laid by dozens of submarines, there were a total of 102 ships of various types with a total tonnage of 250,000 tons. A ship is sunk! Under the continuous attack of submarine warfare, the French fleet was fine, but the transport fleet was frightened!
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