Chapter five hundred and sixty-ninth sea battle (more on)
Dozens of nautical miles away from the main battlefield, four or five destroyers frantically dropped depth charges on the seabed. On the sea, a huge ship was slowly sinking, and another was burning with raging fire. The ship was tilting obviously and was working hard.
For self-rescue, there is another ship in the best condition. Although it has received injuries, it is still floating on the sea. On the other side, there is a huge and terrifying whirlpool, announcing that a large ship may have sunk here just now.
The biggest problem now is that the only relatively intact aircraft carrier, the Jing Shen, can only park less than 20 aircraft, but there are nearly a hundred flying in the sky...
After a while, a piece of oil floated out from the bottom of the sea. Seeing that a submarine was finally sunk, the British destroyer let out a breath. Now those damn submarines should not dare to cause trouble.
The British army has never had any effective way to deal with German submarines. Neither sonar nor anything else can detect these undersea ghosts very well. Since the war began, most of the naval losses have come from these submarines. It is also said that these submarines
supplies were sent into the sea by submarine.
Four or five destroyers were patrolling continuously, as if the scene of dozens and hundreds of fish rushing at them just now was an illusion, and there seemed to be nothing under the sea.
Waves of radio waves invisible to the naked eye are constantly spreading on the bottom of the sea...it's not over yet.
Thirty minutes later, while the British were desperately trying to save people, there was another salvo of twenty or thirty torpedoes. This time, their target was the only intact Triumphal God. The Triumphal God looked at the torpedoes flying from all directions.
, extremely helpless....
Lütjens received the news no later than John Tovey. After learning that Dönitz's submarine had indeed completed its mission, he immediately threw his hat and shouted: "We have nothing to fear, let's sink them head on."
In order to boost morale, Lütjens immediately reported the news to the entire army in the fierce battle. When the German and French forces received the news that the opponent's aircraft carrier fleet had sunk, they immediately screamed with excitement, and the cheers were almost loud.
To cover up the sound of artillery fire during the battle.
The 380mm main gun roared even louder, and the four battleships began to focus their firepower on George V. After all, the only ones that could keep up with their speed were the two British battleships, and the rest of the secondary guns were gone.
Idle and constantly attacked those cruisers and destroyers. In the battle between cruisers and destroyers, the mixed fleet was completely at a disadvantage. This was the result of the division of the British army.
The 32 main guns fired continuously, and towering water pillars appeared all around George V. Often, before this one went down, that one was hit. Everyone could see that George V would be destroyed soon.
Shot.
Sure enough, between 6:57 and 7:07, within ten minutes, four consecutive artillery shells hit the George V. One of them hit the command room. The huge explosion shock wave caused the command post to collapse.
John Tovey only felt soreness all over his body. He opened his eyes and found that he was protected by a group of officers. He only fell down and was slightly injured. He finally got up, and there was another huge explosion, followed by a series of ups and downs and collisions.
It was reported that our ship A's main gun had a mechanical failure in its rotation and could no longer be adjusted. A soldier came in in a panic and reported.
Why did the chain fall off at this time? An officer immediately shouted.
John Tovey was relatively calm. He asked why he couldn't adjust the method. Is it that he couldn't move up, down, left, or right, or that he couldn't move in some directions?
The soldier reported that he could not move left or right, but could still move up and down.
John Tovey's heart dropped a little. Fortunately, up and down controlled distance, and left and right controlled direction. If one really wanted to lose one, he would naturally choose to go far. After all, the direction could be assisted by the ship itself.
At this moment, another soldier came in with a grimace. He looked at John Tovey and said to report to the commander that the A main gun linkage mechanism was broken, the gun barrel was jammed, and it was no longer usable.
The main gun of George V is also a quadruple main turret, but it is different from the French one. It is a real quadruple main turret, which has a high failure rate. After being hit by a shell this time, its instability and shortcomings are
They all broke out.
George V, who had lost half of his combat effectiveness, immediately attracted the attention of Lütjens. He immediately ordered to continue to increase the attack on George V, speed up, and get closer to the attack.
The fierce battle between the two armies was reduced to 19,000 meters at 7:11.
The main guns of both armies continued to explode on the other side's warships, but overall, the British army gradually fell into a disadvantage.
At this time, the battle in the sky was over. A steady stream of German army aviation successfully protected the air safety of the four battleships. The remaining sixty or so British aircraft began to return. At this time, their leader finally got his own
There is news that our hometown has been captured, but fortunately, there are still destroyers patrolling here. If this is not possible, everyone can also parachute back... After all, what else can we do besides this method?
A scene that could go down in history appeared. On the sea, British pilots parachuted one after another, and the planes fell into the sea freely. Looking at the aircraft carrier that had not completely sunk, all the pilots felt it.
Fortunately, you are still alive after all, right? After being attacked for the second time, the British destroyer quickly left the sea area. They really didn't know how many submarines were underwater. The weak sonar made the destroyer feel helpless.
A feeling of motivation.
main battlefield
The shells of the mixed fleet fell on George V. No matter how maneuvered George V was, he would be locked by the combined fleet again in a few minutes. The radar operation room, bridge lifeboats were destroyed one after another.
During a salvo fired by the Bismarck, a shell slammed into the bow of the George V. This is where the George V's fuel tank is located. A large amount of fuel flowed into the sea, but there was no explosion, only a fire.
A fire broke out.
The George V and other British battleships also continued to fight back, and their target was also the Bismarck, the flagship of the mixed fleet. Now it was up to them to sink the opponent's flagship first.
At 7:23, two consecutive shells hit the Bismarck, but they still could not break through the defense.
At 7:27, the distance between the two armies had shortened to 17,000 meters, and the main guns of both sides posed an increasing threat to the other side.
The Tirpitz achieved another feat. One of its shells accurately hit the middle and rear of the George V's hull. Its main armor was instantly torn open, and countless seawater poured in.
George V's displacement capacity is about two thousand tons per hour. Such an injury can still be sustained, but this is undoubtedly equivalent to playing the funeral song of George V. This means that George V's armor can no longer protect against the attack of the mixed fleet.
.
At 7:35, two consecutive artillery shells hit George V within this minute. Both shells successfully broke through the defenses, and more than a dozen watertight compartments of George V were disabled.
At 7:41, George V was fatally wounded. A shell hit near its waterline and penetrated the armor into George V's boiler. George V's speed began to decrease significantly.
The British counterattack also caused a lot of injuries to the combined fleet, but they were not fatal, and their speed was not even affected.
At 7:52, the distance between the two armies was shortened to 16,000 meters. At this distance, the German battleship's main gun could penetrate more than 500 mm of armor. The George V's armor had been declared completely useless, and the British artillery due to the short-barreled
The reason is that although it is also lethal to the four combined fleet capital ships, the advantage is insufficient.
At 7:54, the main gun of the George V was hit, causing the main gun barrel to deform. The George V completely lost its combat effectiveness and became a living target. John Tovey, the commander of the Home Fleet, took the risk and boarded the arriving destroyer to prepare.
Change ships and fight again. After discovering that the George V's main guns had not counterattacked for ten minutes, the combined fleet immediately changed the target to the Prince of Wales. They did not care that the George V was the flagship. In the eyes of Lütjens, the George V had already
It’s the food in your own bowl, you can eat it whenever you want.
Next, the Prince of Wales felt the feeling of being flanked by more than thirty main guns, especially every shelling from the Tirpitz, which was closest to it, made them feel frightened. The Prince of Wales's artillery could not penetrate its armor.
But he was constantly being reported to be hit and damaged.
At 8:11, the four battleships formed a flanking attack on the Prince of Wales. At 8:14, a straddle attack was formed. Then, the first shell hit. This shell hit the Prince of Wales as if by divine help.
The bridge compass room, and a violent explosion occurred. All command staff and radar room personnel, including Captain Ritchie, were killed or injured. However, this was just the beginning. Captain Ritchie was revived seven minutes after he fainted.
, asking the sailors to hug themselves and continue to fight. Rich's performance immediately boosted the morale of the British army.
Perhaps in response to Ritchie's efforts, the Prince of Wales finally penetrated the Bismarck's armor, a plume of smoke came out, and more than a dozen of the Bismarck's watertight compartments were destroyed.
At this time, a destroyer appeared out of nowhere and was discovered less than 4,000 meters away from the Bismarck. On the sea, the destroyers and cruisers of the Combined Fleet were already short of strength. It was normal for someone to attack. Suddenly
, everyone was staring at this small ship of just over 6,000 tons. He rushed towards the Tirpitz at a speed of 35 knots. The Bismarck's secondary guns and even anti-aircraft guns opened fire on him, but they were unable to hit it for a while.
It would take ten minutes for the tribal-class destroyer to reach a distance of 7,000 meters. John Tovey saw that he was about to conduct a lightning strike, and immediately asked each ship to take cover. For a while, each ship opened fire on the Bismarck, and the Bismarck immediately
There are water pillars everywhere around the sub, seriously affecting the shooting range.
At 6,000 meters, the destroyer was still charging rapidly, and kept maneuvering to prevent itself from being hit. At 5,000 meters, the Bismarck was a little anxious, but the shortened distance also made it easier for the German ship to shoot. Finally, at 4,300 meters
From a distance to the left and right, a 150mm shell hit the ship, and a thick smoke suddenly ignited. Then, several more rounds hit. John Tovey sighed, but then, John Tovey stared with wide eyes.
When the ship arrived, four water lines appeared, and the destroyer launched torpedoes knowing that it might not be able to continue its advance. Four 533 mm torpedoes rushed towards the Bismarck at a speed of 41 knots, and the Bismarck quickly changed its course to 170 for a short time.
Du tried to avoid it, but at this time, another destroyer attacked less than 7,000 meters away from the Bismarck. He did not continue to advance, but fired a torpedo from a distance, then retreated and hid in his own smoke.
This time, the Bismarck was attacked from two sides. Although it tried its best to dodge six torpedoes and exploded one with a cannon shell, another one accurately hit the hull. 360 kilograms of high explosives tore a hole in the hull.
The hole was 11 meters long and 5 meters wide. The thin anti-torpedo compartment was useless. The inner watertight longitudinal partition was blown down, and a large amount of seawater poured into the ammunition depot and No. 13 engine room. The German engineer soldier picked up the listening stick and pressed it against the engine.
casing, hoping that the turbines would survive the explosion. But unfortunately, what they heard was increasingly louder mechanical noises coming from inside the casing. In order to prevent the two turbines from being completely scrapped, the Germans had to order
The malfunctioning starboard and center turbines were all shut down. Since it was impossible to drain the oil and water in the flooded compartment, the Germans gave up the idea of repairing the turbines during the voyage, and its speed quickly dropped to less than 15 knots, and continued to drop.
The decrease in the speed of the Bismarck immediately increased the British army's hit rate. Within ten minutes, the Bismarck was hit by three artillery shells in a row, and gradually broke away from the team due to speed problems. Lütjens immediately ordered his sister ship Tirpitz
For the flagship, get out of the battle yourself.
In the next half hour, the Prince of Wales was hit by more than ten main gun shells in a row. The Bismarck was finally penetrated by the armor. One shell hit the bow of the ship, and the 14-inch shell penetrated its armor.
This blow caused the failure of several watertight compartments on the bow of the ship, which later caused a large amount of water to enter the bow. Its superstructure, especially the navigation bridge part, as the command center of the warship command, has received great attention. In addition to a few key protected positions,
It was almost wiped out, and all secondary batteries and anti-aircraft guns were disabled.
At 8:37, the Prince of Wales suddenly experienced a violent explosion. The explosion violently exploded one third of the ship. It was initially suspected to be an explosion in the ammunition depot. It had been more than two and a half hours since the war started, and both sides were
It was already a little exhausted, and the rate of fire had changed from one salvo every one or two minutes at the beginning to one every three or four minutes. But the sinking of the Prince of Wales undoubtedly gave both parties a shot in the arm, and the combined fleet saw
The hope of victory, and the Royal Fleet also felt the critical moment of life and death. To be continued...
