Life of Being a Crown Prince in France - Chapter 1245 - 1150: The Mediterranean Sea Is an Eternal Nightmare
Chapter 1245: Chapter 1150: The Mediterranean Sea Is an Eternal Nightmare
The French warship couldn’t take the upwind position and had to turn north again to “flee.”
Colonel Russell watched as the distance between both sides grew closer, skillfully selecting five ships to block the wind, and then ordered the other warships to fully power chase.
However, as the fast fleet completed its turn, Russell felt something was amiss.
He turned to the back of the command room and, through the glass window, saw two steam battleships floating on the distant sea surface, his own “Shield” and “Pinewood” ships.
Russell frowned and pointed out the window, asking the staff officer beside him, “What’s wrong with them?”
The latter was also clearly confused, quickly ran out, and returned a few minutes later, somewhat dejected, saying, “Commander Sir, ’Pinewood’ reported an issue with its ship axle, the other one is still inspecting the fault.”
With a grim face, Russell said, “How much maintenance funding have those guys at Chat Han Shipyard embezzled? To create such a big problem.
“When we return, I’m definitely bringing them to a military court!”
The second officer beside him gestured towards the sea, “Commander Sir, the French have turned sharply again.”
Russell still followed the standard combat procedure to issue orders, and the fast fleet turned accordingly.
But this time, four warships couldn’t keep up.
The “Gray Mullet” even exploded, and cries of “put out the fire” and “launch the lifeboats” from the crew reached Russell’s flagship.
“Damn, what the hell is going on?!” Russell waved his hand forcefully and shouted, “Tell all ships to constantly monitor the pressure gauge, don’t over-pressurize for a bit of speed!”
He realized something was wrong as he finished speaking, “Shield” and “Serpentine” were among the first batch built, using steam engines capable of automatic pressure stabilization…
As if to confirm his suspicion, the lookout’s report was sent to the command room—out of the four ships that encountered issues, two were confirmed to have a ship axle fault.
Yes, Russell never thought this was a pitfall French people had dug three years ago—
The healing wood used to make the ship axles had been tampered with.
When the “Avenger” broke an axle on its maiden voyage, Sandler immediately adjusted the steam engine torque downwards to ensure the British warships wouldn’t break their axles during training.
He even noted in the operation manual, “To extend the steam engine’s lifespan, avoid using full power as much as possible during normal times.”
Even so, there were still three instances of axle breakage over the years.
However, Sandler managed to pass them off as “steam engine pressure control faults” or “inadequate lubrication of speed control gears.” And the Chat Han Shipyard, for their own warship’s reputation, cooperated with him to replace the axles—Boulton-Watt Company even compensated for the cost of the axles, and Hope had no objections.
But today, these British steam warships not only navigated at full power for long periods but also frequently performed extreme maneuvers, subjecting the ship axles to enormous transverse pressure, causing the tiny scratches to quickly widen and then fracture.
After advancing five more nautical miles, Russell could no longer sit still—
He had already lost nine warships, and the number of warships in the fast fleet was now equal to the French.
He even had a hunch that his flagship might also suddenly lose power any moment.
Russell looked at the warships floating behind him and grimly ordered the dispatch officer, “Order the pursuit to stop.
“The ’Quicksand’ will return to seek assistance from the fleet. The other ships will come to me and tow back the ones with faults.”
“Yes, Commander Sir.”
As the British fast fleet started to turn around, half a nautical mile away on the French warship “Glory,” sub-fleet Commander Colonel Pierre Dumareau immediately issued an order: “All turn southwest, groups of three ships, freely looking for opportunities to engage.”
Yes, compared to the British Navy, which has only been playing with steam battleships for over a year, the French Navy truly understands how to wield this weapon.
These lightweight fast warships are not suitable for being deployed in a line, but should form small groups to find gaps for repeated pulling and harassment.
Ten minutes later, the French “masters” began teaching the British a lesson.
Four small groups surrounded the British warships from both sides, preventing them from rescuing the faulty vessels.
Another three small groups powered full-speed towards the southwest, targeting those few enemy ships that had lost power before.
If the British battleships came to intercept, they would use the same tactics, repeatedly turning and maneuvering.
If you dare to follow, then pray the ship axles hold.
If not, I’ll occupy advantageous positions, wait for opportunities to ambush, or bombard the faulty ship ferociously.
Meanwhile, the main force battleship of the British Mediterranean Fleet was still seven nautical miles away, completely unaware of the events unfolding here.
Before long, the “Golden Headfish” was repeatedly bombarded and suffered a sympathetic detonation.
The flames quickly spread to the coal bunker, and the entire ship rapidly turned into a fireball on the sea surface.
A large number of British sailors screamed and jumped into the sea, many not making it far before being roasted alive by the heat wave erupting from the ship.
Next, during its pursuit of a French warship, the “Hunter” was hit on its mast by a stern cannon of the latter.
The now slower British ship soon fell victim to the siege of three French warships, with Captain Patrick having no choice but to order abandonment of the ship…
Russell watched the chaotic sea surface all around him, his face drained of color.
After another warship was sunk, he finally gritted his teeth and gave the order: “Abandon the ships that lost power, immediately retreat!”
Only he forgot, when his fleet came, it was downwind, and now trying to retreat involves going against the wind.
——————
Just a bit more, please wait 10 minutes and refresh again. We apologize.
The formation of a Mediterranean hurricane requires a high-altitude cutoff low-pressure system formed by severe fluctuations of a westerly trough as initial power, combined with low-layer warm moist airflow penetrating to the surface [2][4]. A November 2018 case shows the generation of a cold vortex from North Africa gains energy in the high-temperature Mediterranean Sea area (28-30°C), transforming into a semi-tropical cyclone [3][5]. Unlike typhoons that rely on latent heat from the sea surface, its energy acquisition depends on the combination of a mid-latitude baroclinic field and convective activity [1][4]. During summer’s subtropical high-pressure control, formation is difficult, but after September, with the pressure belt moving southward, cold air moving south and contacting the warm sea surface forms vertical wind shear, creating conditions for cyclone development [6]. The exceptional activity of the “Daniel” hurricane in 2023 is directly related to the record sea temperature of 30°C at Mediterranean’s beginning of September.
With a tightly knit core zone of 200-300 kilometers in diameter, the central pressure can drop to as low as 995 hPa [1][3]. Though the eyewall structure isn’t as complete as a tropical cyclone, spiral rain bands and eye-like features can be observed on satellite cloud images [3-4]. Its vertical structure presents a rare cold top and warm bottom configuration, contrasting with the thermal structure of typical tropical cyclones.
