Chapter five hundred and sixty-eight sea battle (below)
Listening to John Tovey's words, the staff officer next to him forced a smile and said, could it be a coincidence? The Axis fleet did not have air force support to begin with, so it is normal for their army aviation to often come to escort them.
John Tovey shook his head and said that according to the reports, their fleet was still nearly two hundred kilometers away from the land, and the number of German Army fighter jets that came every time was more than thirty, and this time it even reached forty or fifty. They were in Spain
How many planes will be deployed in total? Their dispatch must be purposeful. I suspect that their plane took off not long after our plane took off. Otherwise, it would never be like this.
So how did the Axis powers know? Some people wondered.
John Tovey said with some uncertainty that maybe there was a submarine watching between our two armies.
Reporting the latest military information, the Axis fleet was slowed down due to our air strikes, and several ships may have been flooded with water. The detected enemy speed is now only 21 knots. A noncommissioned officer came over to report.
When John Tovey heard this, he immediately said with great joy that this is great. No matter how prepared they are, strength is also the most important. We are much stronger than them now. As long as we catch up, we can win in one battle.
With that said, John Tovey no longer worried about whether there was a submarine lurking on the road. In his mind, what if the mixed fleet knew that he was coming? It would be difficult to find an extra battleship.
At 17:00, the British army turned on full power and rushed towards the mixed fleet. At the same time, it launched another air attack. The air attack injured the Tirpitz in the combined fleet, and its main gun encountered difficulty in turning. It was later restored after emergency repairs.
The battle ended that day. In the dark night, both sides relaxed. The clouds in the sky slowly covered the stars. Experienced sailors knew that a heavy rain might hit within three days.
At three o'clock in the morning on April 28, the British fleet was discovered by a German submarine lurking in the middle, and the mixed fleet began to reorganize according to the British formation.
At 4:20 in the morning, the mixed fleet changed from an anti-aircraft formation to a combat formation. Four battleships lined up in a row, and the remaining ships formed a formation to protect the battleships.
At 5:30 in the morning, it was still extremely dark, and the British and German troops discovered traces of each other shortly after they were separated. At this time, the two sides were about 40,000 meters apart and less than 110 kilometers from land.
In the darkness, both sides could not clearly see each other's situation and could only rely on radar to determine the approximate position of the other side. Both sides had installed fire control radars. In terms of performance, they were almost the same. However, the radars in the Axis fleet failed due to several failures.
Some of the air strikes were not functioning properly. Neither side took the initiative to open fire, but continued to approach slowly.
In a room on the King George V, a Canadian named Stewart was staring at the screen in front of him. This was the control room of the fire control radar. Stewart was a little nervous. After all, this was the first time for such a battle.
Because the radar of the British army was developed earlier, it can be said to be first-class at this time, but the British navy has not yet become accustomed to the new thing of fire control radar. According to logic, Stewart will record the data transmitted by the radar, and then pass the data through
The small counting dial on the M-type conveyor is transmitted to a dedicated person, who reads it and inputs it into the computer. But the reality is that this set of work was only tested once before the war. It can be said that no one actually knows what this set of tools is.
Is it easy to use?
Stewart suddenly discovered that all the ships on the opposite side scanned by the radar were facing him sideways. The opponent's formation had already been set up. Could this be a trap?
Everyone knows the importance of the T prefix in naval battles. The key to grabbing the T prefix is speed. And if your own fleet can catch up with the mixed fleet, it can be seen that the British army should have the advantage in terms of speed. How could it become like this?
Stewart hurriedly walked out of the radar room and reported to the police. When John Tovey knew that the opposite side had set up a formation, the distance between the two sides had shrunk to 30,000 meters.
After John Tovey learned about the situation on the other side, he immediately shouted to speed up, go around and seize the "T" head again.
The letter "T" often changes hands in naval battles. To retake the battle requires not only being faster than the opponent, but also enduring a period of disadvantage. John Tovey has the confidence to survive.
five forty two
At 27,000 meters, at this distance, the main guns of both armies could threaten each other. Lütjens took the lead in giving the order to open fire. The four battleships fired the first salvo, and 32 380mm main guns were fired at the same time, announcing the battle.
started.
Since the British army was still in a marching formation, the four battleships were all aimed at the heavy cruiser Sussex at the front. As a heavy cruiser during the Ordinance period, although it had eight eight-inch guns, its defense was
The waterline armor was sacrificed to 89 mm, the deck armor was 76 mm, and the thickest ammunition compartment was only 114 mm, which was thinner than the latest tanks lying in German factories. Although only two of the 32 shells hit Susek.
HMS Sussex, but the shells of more than 800 kilograms penetrated the armor of the Sussex with great ease, and then exploded inside the hull. In the dark night, the Sussex was as obvious as a torch, and the British around it could be seen.
The military fleet took a breath of cold air.
One shot into the soul
Richelieu-class battleships are equipped with 8 cannons in a 4-unit configuration, but in fact, the 4 cannons in the turret are divided into two groups. The two cannons in each group are linked and relatively independent of the 2 cannons in the other group.
, and also adopted a loading system called elastic loading, which increased the combat firing rate of the artillery, making its firing rate significantly faster than other ships. A minute later, the two Richelieu-class battleships took the lead in starting the second round.
The targets of the salvo were the two large heavy cruisers HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Duke of York.
The British fleet also began to fight back, but at this distance, only the main guns of the battleships were truly lethal. The heavy cruiser's 200mm-class guns could not cause harm to the German and French battleships at all.
It is true that only battleships can deal with battleships.
The two Bismarck-class battleships then started a second round of salvo fire, and the target happened to be the British main ship George V. However, the nearest impact point of the salvo shells was still four to five hundred meters away.
John Tovey saw that he had lost a heavy cruiser just as he opened fire. He was furious and shouted to fight back. He immediately contacted the aircraft carrier and asked them to come for support.
The British army's counterattack began. Although all artillery could not be used due to angle problems, it was still very powerful. The first British salvo had no results. The British destroyers and cruisers accelerated their speed and divided into two groups, guarding them all the way.
The battleship surrounded itself to prevent possible submarine attacks, and rushed all the way to prepare for close range shooting or lightning strikes.
The battle had begun in full force, and the sky was still extremely dark at this time, with only the artillery fire caused by shooting illuminating the surroundings.
The current battle situation is that the British fleet is turning and trying to approach the Combined Fleet. The Combined Fleet is controlling its speed while continuing to approach the land.
In the third round of salvos, with the assistance of new fire control radars and commanders, a shell from the German ship hit the George V. Its 15-inch armor successfully prevented the impact of the shells, leaving only a dark
There are recesses, but there are some cracks in the recesses near the bow and stern, which shows that the armor defense has almost reached the limit.
In the third round of salvo fire from the French ship Jean Bart, two shells hit the Dorsetshire within a distance of less than 200 meters, forming a straddle fire.
The British army's operational idea was to concentrate firepower to offset the unfavorable situation of their formation. A 721-kilogram shell hit the German ship Bismarck, which was considered a revenge, but this 721-kilogram shell was completely unable to
Breaking the defense was expected.
The two armies continue to exchange fire, and the distance has been reduced to 24,000 meters. This is still the result of mixed fleet control. After all, the advantage of the German and French warships lies in defense. Maintaining long-distance shooting can protect their own safety to the greatest extent.
At this time, the aircraft carrier group hanging behind began to prepare for takeoff, waiting for dawn. Because the clouds covered the stars and moon, taking off at this time, the pilots of the aircraft could not correctly distinguish the difference between the sky and the ocean, and accidents were easily caused.
The two H fleet battleship detachments that came to the rescue were still about 110 nautical miles away from the firefight, and were speeding up. Lieutenant General James Somerville, who was commanding them, was not nervous. In his heart,
The biggest effect of rushing to the battlefield is probably to break the opponent's psychological defense and make the opponent surrender.
At 6:03, the Dorsetshire was hit by a shell that penetrated the underwater armor under the fifth salvo of French ships. Thousands of tons of seawater quickly poured in, and the speed dropped rapidly.
The distance between the two armies was reduced to 23,000 meters, and the assault formation of the British destroyer cruiser began to exchange fire with the destroyer cruiser of the Combined Fleet.
At 6:07, the George V hit the Bismarck again, and the two shells that hit it were still unable to break through the defense. Such defensive power made John Tovey's lips twitch.
At 6:10, the Nelson, one of the kings of treaty battleships, hit the Bismarck with its 406mm cannon. The huge lethality directly set off one of its secondary guns, causing the Bismarck to burst into flames.
The fire suddenly became a beacon in the darkness.
This result made John Tovey very happy. He immediately ordered the battle line to attack the enemy battleship on fire and must capture it.
At 6:13, the sky began to light up, and the British aircraft, which had been prepared for a long time, immediately began to take off, preparing to join the battle.
At 6:14, the battleships of both sides had fired more than ten salvos, but none of the eight battleships was seriously injured.
At 6:17, the Dorsetshire was hit again and began to sink.
Lütjens looked at his watch, then at the sky and ordered the fleet to speed up and prepare for air defense battles. Life and death depended on this one.
At 6:15, the Combined Fleet suddenly accelerated and reached nearly 30 knots in more than ten minutes. This speed surprised John Tovey. The reason why he was able to catch up and attack the Combined Fleet was because after the air attack, the Combined Fleet's
The speed was greatly reduced, but now it seemed that this was a show played by the United Fleet for him. He couldn't help but feel a chill on his back. The purpose of such a big show was naturally not small.
But at this point, the battle had to continue, and the British fleet also began to accelerate, but the Nelson suddenly became embarrassed because its maximum speed was less than 24 knots, which caused it to gradually fall away from the battle line, but fortunately its
The main gun has a larger caliber and a longer range, so it won't be delayed in participating in the battle.
At 6:18, Tirpitz hit the front section of the Prince of Wales. The shell penetrated the deck armor, knocked off one of its secondary guns, and ignited a fire.
At 6:19, the Jean Bart's radar fire control was hit.
At 6:27, the British Air Force completed its takeoff and began to form its formation to head to the main battlefield.
On the main battlefield, the two sides were fighting inextricably. John Tovey really could not understand the intentions of the combined fleet. For the battleships, such a long-distance attack might not result in a day of fighting. This was actually detrimental to the combined fleet.
, after all, I still have aircraft that can join the attack. The German Army Aviation will provide support in time, but it is still too much of a disadvantage.
At 6:34, the first big result among the battleships was achieved by the Richelieu. Its main gun hit the horizontal armor of the rear end of the Duke of York. You must know that its armor belt gradually decreased toward the fore and aft. This is
The blow made a big hole and damaged its power system. The speed dropped from 29 knots to 25 knots, and it had to be reorganized.
At 6:41, the British Air Force arrived at the main battlefield and began to attack the Combined Fleet at 49:00. To John Tovey's surprise, the air attack lasted less than seven minutes before the German Army Air Force arrived.
, an air battle broke out over the main battlefield.
At 6:43, a piece of news reached John Tovey. When John Tovey saw the telegram, he couldn't believe his eyes. He rubbed it desperately. When he looked again, this
Only then did I confirm that I really didn’t have any dazzling eyes.
This was a farewell telegram, sent by the Victory and the Formidable, indicating that they were hit by German submarines. They were attacked by four and seven missiles respectively. The Formidable disintegrated and sank very simply, and the Victory still
I persisted for a while, but was unable to save the day. The other two aircraft carriers were not focused on because they were smaller. One was slightly damaged and the other lost all power.
John Tovey no longer wanted to worry about where these submarines came from, nor did he want to worry about why the destroyers he left behind were not well guarded, or whether those damn submarines were caught. He looked at the ones in the sky who were still fighting fiercely.
Fighters, what should you tell these pilots... Well, your home was bombed, how about you parachute, how about we go home by boat. To be continued...
