"Oh God!" A captain of the Royal Navy's First Fleet opened his mouth wide as he looked at the group of fighter jets roaring in the opposite direction. He had no idea that the pipe in his mouth had fallen to the ground.
"Is that... a German fighter plane?" An anti-aircraft gun shooter on the battleship Hu Dehao looked blankly at the transparent group of German fighter planes that was getting closer and closer, and murmured to his companions.
.
The companion did not speak. He just looked at the German fighter planes that dominated the sky in confusion. The dense black spots were getting bigger, clearer, and more terrifying.
The battleship Hood, or the battlecruiser Hood to be precise, made a special trip to summarize the experience of that battle after the Battle of Jutland, and increased the main armor belt on the side from 8 inches to 12 inches to strengthen the key parts of the side.
protection, improved the fire protection facilities of the ammunition depot, increased the total weight of the armor from the original design of 10,100 tons to 13,550 tons, and increased the weight of the hull structure.
Moreover, the USS Hood battleship also installed protruding anti-torpedo compartments below the waterline on both sides of the hull to protect the ammunition depot and power compartment, which not only improved the torpedo defense capability but also provided additional buoyancy.
It can be said that the Hood has considered all dangerous situations on the surface and underwater, and has taken corresponding protection. But the only thing is that it has not considered the crisis from the air.
The biggest weakness of the Hood comes from its weak top armor. The Stuka bombers equipped among the German carrier-based bombers happened to be "precision aerial cannons" specially designed to restrain warships. What you are afraid of is what you will get.
This is the current situation.
Seven or eight FW-190 fighter planes carrying small bombs had already passed over the head of the First Squadron of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet and dropped the first-ever explosives.
As soon as this group of powerful fighter jets passed by the stern of the Hood, another group of Stuka bombers came down vertically from above like falcons, directly throwing more weighty bombs onto the thin hull of the Hood.
On the top armor.
It has to be said that Stuka, as an aircraft carrier-based aircraft carrying out bombing missions, is indeed a wise decision.
Compared with traditional large "level bombers", small "dive bombers" such as the Stuka have obvious advantages in attack accuracy and cost.
On the one hand, the dive bombing method can use dive to reduce or eliminate the forward inertia of the dropped bomb, thereby effectively improving the bomb hit rate. If the pilot is good enough, one or two bombs can have very good effects, especially when attacking warships
, when the bombers on the British aircraft carriers did not have high-precision sights, and the large and medium-sized horizontal bombers had to carry out horizontal bombing at a higher altitude, and the hit rate was naturally very low, the Stukas on the German aircraft carriers were able to abnormally
Accurately bombard British warships.
Those large aircraft were very expensive to build and develop, and were not suitable for the needs of German aircraft carriers. It was a pity to be destroyed. However, the small bomber Stuka was quite cost-effective, because of its small size and weight. It made the "Zeppelin"
-class aircraft carrier expanded the number of carrier-based aircraft, and also found a relatively cheap but useful carrier-based aircraft for Germany's aircraft carrier tactics. The guarantee effect can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
Aircraft cannot do this, which may be a small reason why the British do not pay attention to aircraft carrier tactics.
After all, most of their carrier-based aircraft are "Swordfish" biplane torpedo aircraft, which have backward performance, fly slowly, have a small bomb load, and their accuracy is not on the same level as the German Stuka bombers.
The garbage from carrier-based aircraft further allowed British naval commanders to weaken the power of aircraft carrier tactics.
And at this moment, when the heads of every battleship in the British First Squadron were filled with German fighter planes flying in the sky, they finally realized the significance of aircraft carrier tactics again.
"Fire! Fire!" The British captains reacted and frantically ordered anti-aircraft guns to launch a counterattack.
The anti-aircraft guns of each battleship spewed out tongues of flame and fired as hard as they could into the sky, trying to regain some initiative.
Unfortunately, this is just a meaningless struggle.
As the German fighter planes approached, dived, locked, and fired again and again, the losses of each British warship were rapidly increasing.
"Boom!" A bomb hit the port side of the battleship Hood. Fortunately, the bomb fell into the sea before exploding, causing no serious damage.
However, other battleships were not so lucky. The two main battleships "Nelson" and "Rodney" were attacked by dozens of Gastukas and were suddenly blown into a sea of flames. Under the thick black
In the smoke, it began to sink slowly.
In the distance, many destroyers were even blown up by Stuka's powerful large-scale special explosives, instantly losing their combat effectiveness.
Further away, other warships that were still mobile for the time being began to retreat anxiously under the order of Sir Forbes.
The entire formation of the British First Squadron has been torn apart and disrupted. The remaining warships that have not had their anti-aircraft guns blown up are desperately moving to the west, hoping to take the opportunity to separate from the bombing circle of German fighter planes and regain their position.
Of course, with just these shipboard anti-aircraft guns and the fleet's average speed of more than 20 knots, it is absolutely impossible to escape from the pursuit of German fighter planes.
Their only hope was actually to withstand this wave of attacks by German fighter planes, buy the First Squadron five to ten minutes of repair time, and allow the German fighter planes to return to their destinations during the alternating period of time before moving further to the west.
Over there, the Second Squadron under General Cunningham had also taken off a large number of fighter planes from the aircraft carrier and were rushing here to prepare to meet the First Squadron.
As long as we can hold on until the arrival of our own fighter planes, everything will turn around. Maybe the First Squadron will exchange a huge loss of warships for the loss of German fighter planes, and create an opportunity for our own fighter group to defeat the German fighter group!
Once the British fighter group defeats the German fighter group, it will be the time for the Royal Navy to counterattack the German High Seas Fleet.
At this moment, the battle damage rate of the British First Squadron has exceeded 30%. Of the 6 battleships, 3 are almost scrapped. The scarred and crumbling battleship Hood seems to be about to become a
The fourth battleship lost its combat effectiveness. Because of the focus, the battleships of the British First Squadron received a lot of Stuka "care".
Of course, the situation of cruisers and destroyers is not much better, and they are also in a state of crying like ghosts.
Facing the almost crushing attack of the German army, few people's nerves could be strong enough to face death without changing their expressions. Similarly, it was difficult for those British captains to look at their beloved battleships and soldiers under their command indifferently.
Being massacred without choosing to evade and retreat.
The honor of the Royal Navy seems to be less important at this moment. This revenge battle at sea to avenge Narvik has brought to the Royal Navy not the expected revenge.
Good opportunity.
Leaving lives and battleships behind may play a greater role in the future, and preserve every bit of extremely precious power for this country.
And if you choose to risk everything in this almost one-sided situation, even if you win miserably in the end, you may be sent to a military court!
Leave, leave immediately! Find the British Second Squadron and join the carrier-based aircraft of the British Empire!
At this moment, the British First Squadron did not have the overwhelming pride as at the beginning of this battle, but only the instinctive sense of crisis and escape...
