After just a fierce battle with Germany in the North Sea, Britain was undoubtedly a loser in this confrontation. However, the British Empire Navy still had a strong accumulation. They quickly transferred the HMS Arena from the Gibraltar area, and also sent another ship from the Atlantic Ocean.
The HMS Courage and the HMS Glory were transferred to the route.
The number of aircraft carriers that enable the British mainland to fight has been maintained at more than six, which is already the last remaining asset of the British. If they lose it again, the British will really have no capital to fight against Germany in a short time.
Churchill regarded the navy as the lifeblood of Britain. This time, the soldiers who saved the expedition had to send fleet support. However, Churchill was still very cautious. He kept the British fleet as far away from the narrow English Channel as possible to avoid being attacked by the German air force.
While ensuring your own safety, try to block German warships as much as possible and ensure air and sea supremacy in the Strait area.
The German aircraft carrier is also a key concern of the United Kingdom. As an old overlord, the United Kingdom is very concerned about intelligence work. They secretly send a large number of military spies to Germany. These people usually carry out activities in disguised identities and wait until critical moments to play their role.
For example, after the Battle of the North Sea, the British government gave these spies the most important mission, which was to investigate the situation of the German aircraft carrier and find out whether the German aircraft carrier could be repaired, how long it would take to repair, and when it could participate in the battle!
For this reason, the British did not hesitate to use their best agents. The British finally learned about the Bismarck's repair progress through workers at a shipyard. As soon as they heard that Germany had restored the deck in ten days, the British immediately felt
Something bad happened.
This ferocious Nazi aircraft carrier is very likely to join the battle soon, and even threaten the generator plan. The British side kept the aircraft carrier in a relatively safe area to deal with the possible outbreak of sea and air battles.
When the Bismarck left the German port and headed for the English Channel, Britain had already discovered it. When Churchill learned that only one German aircraft carrier was going to fight, he keenly discovered that this might be an excellent opportunity. As long as he could
If the Bismarck is abolished, Britain will not be threatened by German aircraft carriers within half a year.
This half year is enough time for the aircraft carriers provided by China to be transported to Europe, and the United States will also have enough time to mobilize. After these two major powers mobilized and stood firmly with the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom will have enough confidence to fight against Germany
.
If I unite with the strong, I will be the strong!
This was also Churchill's consistent creed, so he ordered the Royal Navy to send the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea at all costs. The Royal Navy also made maximum mobilization in order to clear up its past shame.
This time, the British dispatched the light aircraft carrier HMS Arenas at the front of the formation. It was responsible for searching for German aircraft carriers. In fact, the British intention was very clear. It was to use this light aircraft carrier as a decoy to consume Germany's precious carrier-based aircraft and provide other British aircraft carriers.
The aircraft carrier's deadly attack creates opportunities.
In addition, the British mobilized the HMS Brave and the HMS Glory. Together with the HMS Vengeance, the only uninjured part of the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier, the three aircraft carriers formed a powerful follow-up attack group.
The old enemies of Britain and Germany have to decide who is the master of the sea in the cold North Sea. The news of the large-scale dispatch of British aircraft carriers did not fool the German investigation. First, a German submarine reported a day ago that the British aircraft carriers had left the anchorage.
Scapa Flow, and German reconnaissance planes also discovered the British fleet.
After Dönitz received this information, he already knew that a confrontation between aircraft carriers was inevitable, so he immediately ordered the German aircraft carriers to speed up towards the English Channel. At the same time, he sent reconnaissance planes to find the exact location of the British aircraft carriers.
At this time, Dönitz also made the mistake of being arrogant. The last war made the German naval aviation extremely proud. They believed that the British aircraft carrier was old and the carrier-based aircraft was backward. Three ships had been sunk and damaged by Germany before.
Two ships will not be able to regain their combat effectiveness within a short period of time.
What is particularly important is that the British lost a large number of pilots in the battle, but the German carrier-based aircraft pilots were preserved because they could fly to the coast of Norway nearby. The pilots were even more valuable than the aircraft carriers.
After all, aircraft carriers are just industrial products. Although the production cycle is longer, they can still be manufactured. And the pilots of various countries often have the foundation laid before the war. No one can think of letting a batch of useless people fly within a few years.
It is very unrealistic for a basic person to become an ace pilot, and it is produced in large quantities.
Therefore, Dönitz had reason to believe that most of the pilots on the British aircraft carriers were rookies with no combat experience. This was why he dared to use an aircraft carrier to challenge the British one on one.
The two fleets approached quickly, and the German reconnaissance plane took the lead in spotting the British aircraft carrier HMS Arenas ahead, and immediately reported it to Dönitz. Dönitz immediately ordered German carrier-based aircraft to launch an attack on the British aircraft carrier.
The German side took off a total of forty-eight carrier-based aircraft, which cut towards the British aircraft carrier from two directions like huge pliers. At this time, the Arena God had not yet discovered the possible danger, and was still loyally acting as a lure for the enemy.
mission.
At this time, a peripheral guard ship suddenly discovered the German aircraft fleet and quickly reported the situation to the Triumph God. The Triumph God also knew of its dangerous situation and immediately let all carrier-based aircraft take off to deal with the coming attack.
However, their speed was still half a beat slower. The German planes had already appeared not far away. At this time, there were less than twenty planes on the Arena God. These Royal Navy soldiers did not have any fear and continued to face the Germans.
He rushed forward with all his strength.
The two sides soon launched a fierce confrontation. A large number of British aircraft were shot down, and young lives were lost in the sea. They were not afraid or retreated, and continued to resist desperately. Germany also suffered a lot of losses.
At this time, another German carrier-based aircraft formation also arrived in the sky above the Arena and launched a fierce attack on the aircraft carrier. The British opened up their air defense firepower, like a hedgehog, doing everything possible to stop the German aircraft, but they
Still a hundred meters away, a German dive bomber broke through the fire net and dropped a heavy bomb lightly and deftly.
The HMS Arenas was the earliest aircraft carrier built in the UK. It is now somewhat old and has extremely low defense capabilities. A single bomb is enough to have fatal consequences. The bomb penetrated the front deck and destroyed the power plant.
The resulting fire quickly enveloped the front half of the aircraft carrier's deck.
An aircraft carrier was sunk, which made the German pilots very excited. They did not find other British aircraft carriers, so they immediately launched an attack on the remaining escorting British warships. However, they did not know that this was just a bait thrown by the British.
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The British carrier-based aircraft were already heading towards the Bismarck. It was not easy to find a warship in the vast sea, even a huge aircraft carrier.
The hard work paid off, and the British pilots finally discovered the German aircraft carrier formation. The huge and majestic Bismarck was surrounded by German warships, like a king.
The British planes rushed towards the Germans quickly. At this time, Germany was also panicked. They only saw British planes overwhelming the sky. There were nearly a hundred of them. They were huge. The German planes responsible for guarding immediately came to intercept them.
The frigates also opened fire and tried their best to stop it.
However, most of the planes on the Bismarck were attacking the Arena, resulting in a serious lack of defensive power. In addition, the British were really desperate. They broke through the German obstruction at all costs and rushed towards the Bismarck.
The British knew very well that the Bismarck had a strong survivability, so they took the lead in attacking with torpedo planes. After paying two-thirds of the sacrifice, the British torpedo planes finally approached the German aircraft carrier. When the distance was only a few dozen meters, the British torpedo planes
Two torpedoes were dropped.
This distance was beyond the range of dodge, and the Germans could only watch helplessly as two torpedoes hit the huge body of the aircraft carrier.
Fortunately, one torpedo did not explode, but unfortunately another torpedo hit the tail of the Bismarck. The steering gear was damaged, the aircraft carrier's speed dropped seriously, and the direction was difficult to control. The situation became very serious.
Oops, the Bismarck lost its speed and became a target for British carrier-based aircraft.
British planes soon discovered this good opportunity. They broke through many obstacles and quickly dropped bombs on the head of the Bismarck. At this time, Dönitz was still commanding on the Bismarck, but his face had become very ugly. He finally
It was clear that he had misjudged Britain's strength.
Especially the British pilots, they were more elite than expected and more numerous. Letting the Bismarck fight alone was the biggest mistake. Now he was eagerly looking forward to the Air Force quickly dispatching aircraft to support the Bismarck.
In fact, the German air force was already on the ground, but they could not quench their thirst. A British aircraft dropped a fatal bomb on the heads of the Germans, and a huge hole appeared in the deck of the Bismarck.
It happened that another British aircraft also dropped a bomb into the hole at this time. The bomb exploded instantly inside the cabin. The power produced can be imagined. Serious damage occurred inside the Bismarck, fuel leaked, and it quickly evolved.
It became a raging fire.
British pilots began to drop bombs wantonly on the Nazi warship, and the Bismarck was hit by five more bombs. The entire deck was completely destroyed, and most of the superstructure disappeared. Countless German naval elites died in the sea of fire.
At this time, the German Air Force was belatedly arriving. Germany had been singing and attacking since the beginning of the war. They had never suffered such a loss. Even if the Munich sank, they were not too depressed. After all, it was a ship.
The losses of old warships are normal, but this time the Bismarck touched the soul of Germany. They desperately drove away British carrier-based aircraft in an attempt to save this maritime overlord, but everything was too late. The main ammunition compartment in the middle of the Bismarck
Suddenly it exploded, and the entire aircraft carrier quickly sank underwater! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)