Chapter 230: , Flying shear ship nemesis

This is a frigate, with two masts and a fore mast at the middle and front, and two tall chimneys at the back-obviously this is a steam-powered ship. Its name is "Equality".
Because there is no need to arrange paddle wheels. So this ship still has a complete gun deck, but compared to a complete sailing warship of comparable tonnage, because the power cabin and coal bunker take up space, there is one less gun deck. Moreover, compared with ordinary warships, the bottom gun deck is squeezed. Generally speaking, due to the center of gravity and stability considerations, heavy artillery can only be installed on the bottom gun deck. So in terms of firepower alone, this kind of warship The firepower is much weaker than the same sail frigate.
This frigate has only 16 12-pounder guns, 8 on each side. Such firepower is almost only at the level of armed merchant ships.
But if compared with the British steam frigate, its firepower is quite powerful. The British steam frigate had a total of five guns, a 24-pounder at the bow and two 12-pounders on each side. Coupled with the faster speed and better sailing capability in high sea conditions brought by the propeller, this ship can be said to be the killer of the British steam frigate.
At the top speed, although the ship is not faster than the flying shears at the top speed, its top speed can run out at any time, and the flying shears is not necessarily the case. So this ship can run faster than the flying shear ship most of the time.
The crew on this black boat were all transferred from the "Fool" on the Seine. The reason for this is to allow it to quickly form combat effectiveness and immediately throw it into the waters near Ireland to change the situation at sea.
One month later, the ship completed various training and basically formed its combat effectiveness. So the ship, under the command of Captain Marton, left the Mediterranean Sea, and at high speed, broke through the British Navy's interception in Gibraltar and sailed into the Atlantic Ocean. After taking a rest in Le Havre port, the whole ship left Le Havre and sailed into the vast sea on a stormy night.
In order to save fuel, "Equality" sails only with sails most of the time. Only when a British navy warship is approaching, the boiler is pressurized and steam power is used to get rid of the British warship. After several days of voyage, the Equality approached the sea near Ireland.
The Equality unfolded all its sails and turned to sail against the wind. At the same time, at the stern, a long centipede-shaped kite was flying. A small man was hung on a seat under the kite, and he rose to a height of about two hundred meters, and then looked around with a telescope. Soon, he saw a flying shear ship with a British flag on the sea horizon.
The little man drew a small flag from his waist and waved it downward.
The people below began to pass a winch to retract the rope, and the boiler began to fire and pressurize. The two tall chimneys began to emit billowing black smoke.
Soon, the kite was put away. The little man also stepped onto the deck again. Riding a kite into the air is a very dangerous thing, so he can get twice the salary of the average watchman.
The little watchman reported what he had seen to Captain Marten, who was standing aside, and then the "Equality" began to turn, and gradually accelerated.
As the boiler pressure gradually increased, the speed of the Equality began to increase.
"Put up the sails," Major Marten ordered.
Now that the speed of the ship is very fast, sails can no longer provide much help, and even become resistance. The "Equality" continued to accelerate, and soon exceeded ten knots. Soon after, the boat that the little man saw on the kite appeared in Major Marten's vision.
At this time, the British on the flying shears "Resolute" had actually noticed the "Equality" a long time ago. This is also natural. The thick black smoke from the "Equality" rises so high, how can it not be seen? The British on the Resolute only glanced at it and knew that it was a steamship.
But they only thought it was a British steamship, because they didn't know that there were steamships in other countries besides Britain, and they didn't expect to encounter a steamship that was not part of Britain. So although they noticed that the ship was approaching them at high speed, they didn't make any defense preparations. Because in their opinion, it must be that the lookout on the ship didn't clearly see the flag they were flying. When they got closer, they knew that they had made a mistake.
However, when the black steam ship approached, they found that the steam ship was completely different from the British steam ship they were familiar with-there were no paddle wheels on either side of the hull. Then they discovered another thing that shocked their jaws-a tricolor flag was rising from the mast of that ship.
"This is... this is a French ship? How is this possible?" Captain William was almost dumbfounded. "Hurry up, start all sails!"
As William shouted, he jumped over to grab the steering wheel and changed his course.
But it was too late for this action. The distance between the two ships was very close. Although the wind at sea was quite ideal, the acceleration of the "Resolute" took time. And the steamship has finished accelerating, and it got close enough.
The "Equality" quickly leaned over, approached to a distance of less than a hundred meters from the target, sailed side by side with the "Resolute", and began to shoot at the "Resolute" with chain bombs.
Chain bullets are commonly used weapons in naval battles of this era. Their main function is to destroy the opponent's sails and make the opponent lose its mobility.
Because of the shaking of the ship, even at a distance of more than 100 meters, the accuracy of the shots fired by a cannon without stabilizing equipment is often very problematic. Fortunately, the target of the sail is relatively large and easy to hit. And every chain bullet that hits the sail will tear off a large piece of canvas. Soon the sails of "Resolute" became riddled with holes.
The power of sails, especially the power that the sails of flying shears can provide, is mainly based on Bernoulli's principle. It is caused by the pressure difference between the two sides of the sail. When the sail is full of holes, these holes destroy the pressure difference between the two sides, and the power that the sail can obtain is greatly reduced.
In this way, after several rounds of shelling, the speed of "Resolute" began to slow down and Captain William knew that his ship could not escape.
"Hold up the sails and we surrender." Captain William ordered.
The flying shears did not have cannons, and the range of the Greek fire could not reach the enemy, and the enemy was far above itself, whether it was speed or firepower. What could be the way out besides surrendering?
The "Resolute" hung a flag to signify surrender, put away its broken sails, and dropped the anchor. The whole boat floated on the sea like a dead fish.
"Send a small boat over, and everyone who ordered them to board a lifeboat." Major Malten ordered.
So a few French sailors boarded the "Resolute" in a small boat and conveyed the order to the captain of the "Resolute".
"Our boat has no space to house the prisoners, nor supplies for you. So, you can only get on your own lifeboat and bring as much water and food as you can. Then we will sink the boat. Okay. Yes, you still have twenty minutes, please hurry up, stay away as soon as possible, and then pray to God." A French ensign who took the lead said to William.
There is no way to carry much water and food on the lifeboat. And there is no ability to return on their own. The British can only float at sea, hoping to encounter another ship that can rescue them. But whether it can be met, it really depends on God's blessing.
But the British on the "Resolute" did not dare to defy the French orders. At this time, the French had acted much more gentlemen than they were to those French ships.
So within the stipulated time, all the British got on the lifeboats, and rowed the lifeboats hard to get away from the "Resolute". Then a group of French soldiers entered the cabin of the "Resolute" and removed some of the things that were still useful to the French on the "Resolute". Then they planted a time bomb on the bottom of its cabin and rowed it. The ship left the "Resolute".
Ten minutes later ~EbookFREE.me~ With an explosion, a large hole was blown out of the bottom of the "Resolute" ship, and the ship slowly sank to the bottom of the sea.
This was just the first prey of the Equality. In the following week, Equality sent 14 British ships equally to the bottom of the sea. In the craziest day, it hit with one breath. Four British flying shears were sunk.
A week later, due to the depletion of supplies, the Equality ended its massacre of the British flying shears in the waters off Ireland and returned to Le Havre. Two days after it left, a British flying shear ship found a lifeboat full of British sailors. British people knew that the reason why several ships failed to return to the port as planned during this period was because they encountered such a black Killer.
The British gave the black "Equality" a nickname "Orca", and immediately formulated a plan to encircle and destroy it, codenamed "Whaler". Prepare to concentrate multiple "steam frigates" to encircle and destroy this French warship.
The "Equality" spent a week in Le Havre, overhauling the steam engine and other systems, and replenishing supplies and weapons, then left the port again and sailed towards the waters near Ireland. Before departure, Captain Marten received a valuable Knight of the Legion of Honor. In front of him, more than a dozen British steam frigates that were urgently mobilized were waiting.
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