At almost the same time, the Chinese transport fleet heading towards Mauritius discovered the USS Hundred-Eyed Giant aircraft carrier and its fleet in the sea about 60 nautical miles south of the Rodney. They were treated exactly the same as the fleet heading towards Colombo and were inspected.
, and then receive gifts.
This is a unique phenomenon in the war years. It is the duty of naval officers to inspect passing ships, and it is also an unexpected blessing to be able to obtain some fresh supplies.
However, after the British fleet completed the inspection, a mysterious radio wave was sent from the two fleets. The content was quite simple: "Don't worry, my boss, everything is fine in the fleet. We have passed the Nicobar Islands."
Moreover, the message is still in clear code.
"These Chinese people really miss their homeland." Lieutenant General John Nekoba said with emotion when he saw his telecommunications officer coming to report the radio content sent by the two Chinese fleets just now.
"Brothers, let's get started! The British plan to hunt in the Far East has a good name, but it depends on who hunts whom!" After Dönitz received the detailed coordinates of the British fleet, he immediately commanded his submarine formation to pounce on it.
What the British saw was what Wu Aihua and Dönitz had discussed, which was to "encircle and annihilate" the British Indian Ocean Fleet. Although the British naval power in the Indian Ocean only accounts for about 12% of the total tonnage of the British navy,
But being able to eliminate these 12% is a great joy for the Germans.
In order to deal with the German submarine fleet, the British spent a lot of money.
HMS Rodney is one of the "Nelson-class battleships" of the British Royal Navy (the other is HMS Nelson). It was built in 1922. It has a standard displacement of 33,950 tons and a full displacement of 38,000 tons. The total main engine power is 45,000 shaft horsepower and the maximum speed is 23
section, the shipboard weapons and equipment include 9 406 mm caliber main guns, 12 152 mm caliber artillery pieces, 6 120 mm caliber high and flat dual-purpose guns, 4 76 mm caliber artillery pieces, 6 47 mm caliber artillery pieces and 533 mm caliber torpedo launchers
Take care of two things.
Previously, the battleship Rodney participated in the Battle of Norway and achieved great success in the history of World War II. It is one of the meritorious battleships of the British Royal Navy.
The HMS Hundred-Eyed Giant is the first true aircraft carrier in British history. It has a standard displacement of 12,950 tons and a full displacement of 1,455 tons. It has a maximum speed of 20.2 knots and carries 20 aircraft. Historically, the HMS Hundred-Eyed Giant was mainly responsible for the British aircraft carrier in World War II.
The Navy's training mission was dismantled as soon as the war ended. However, history has changed, and the Hundred-Eyed Giant had to come to the Far East battlefield.
In addition to these two main battleships, the British also dispatched four "Kent-class heavy cruisers" such as "Australia", "Canberra", "Cornwall" and "Cumberland". These four 10,000-ton ships
The heavy cruiser belongs to a group of "Treaty Battleships" and "10,000-ton Battleships". Although it was modernized before 1938, its main armor and ammunition compartment are only 111mm thick.
In addition, the British also dispatched two "Cairo-class" light cruisers "Calcutta" and "Colombo", "Leander", "Achilles", "Neptune", and "Perth"
4 "Leander-class" light cruisers, "Galati" and "Penelope" and 2 "Navy-class" light cruisers.
At 3 pm on January 4th, the Indian Ocean waters near the Nicobar Islands were sunny and sunny, with blue sky and white clouds. There were no seabirds flying above the sea. When the Chinese transport fleet passed by for about 2 hours, John Necobar
He and his assistants began to come to the front deck of the Rodney to enjoy the sun, sea and coffee. Everyone knew that in 40 hours, the entire fleet would enter the battlefield. Although the British were prepared or unprepared,
But who can tell what will happen during the battle? Besides, German submarines have never been easy to deal with.
Because of this, Lieutenant General John Nekoba must seize the time to enjoy life.
"Commander, according to intelligence, the Germans have only been familiar with Chinese submarines for less than two weeks. Could it be that they can't even find the torpedoes?" Brigadier General Rodriguez Pitt, the captain of the Rodney
Just kidding.
"Who knows, the Germans won't be afraid and turn back to the South China Sea." John Nekoba said in cooperation.
"Hahaha..." a group of British guys laughed.
"Commander, our transport fleet." At this time, a staff officer suddenly pointed to the sea in the distance and said.
Lieutenant General John Necoba pressed the telescope in the staff's hand and looked at the transport fleet in the distance. Under the high-power telescope, John Necoba saw his British compatriots waving flags to the Rodney. What were their arms?
Yes, the British Empire is really invincible at sea. Just an ordinary transport fleet has a scale of almost 300,000 tons.
Lieutenant General John Nekoba said with emotion to the messenger in the distance, "Whistle, wave the flag, and salute our compatriots in the British Empire!"
So, the huge Rodney began to sound its whistle, and the huge whistle made the nearby seabirds frightened and fled into the distance. This was indeed a British transport fleet, and John Necoba did not express his feelings wrongly.
"Reporting to the commander, there is a transport fleet heading towards us 15 nautical miles to the right. It is estimated to be the British transport fleet." About 30 nautical miles away from the British battleship Rodney, German Submarine Force Chief of Staff Reid
Colonel Soth took a piece of cable and reported to Dönitz.
Under the eyes of the British, the Germans dared to use radios. This is one of the manifestations of the advanced performance of Chinese submarines. "Weird Dragon" and "Ghost Dragon", especially the submarines sold to the Germans, it is impossible for Wu Aihua to provide them with 60
Although the technology was advanced after the 1940s, it was very easy to deceive the British right under their noses. Even in 1943, when the British adopted the latest radar and radio monitoring technology, they could not tell who the owner of the radio waves they measured was.
"Except for the guard posts, all other submarines must give way." Counting the British fleet's luck, Dönitz was not prepared to embarrass them this time.
This British cargo fleet didn't know that they were already facing death. Of course, John Nekoba also didn't know that the Germans had already jumped out of their encirclement and were now quietly approaching them.
The time slowly moves towards 8pm.
Submarine attacks are somewhat similar to land attacks. Those on duty will be particularly tired in the moments before dawn. The fleet will be particularly alert at that time to prevent enemy submarine attacks. However, Dönitz decided to do the opposite.
Go ahead and attack as soon as it gets dark.
According to the prior agreement, the battleship Rodney was attacked by four "Dragon 1" submarines led by Dönitz himself, and the aircraft carrier Centaur was attacked by four "Dragon 1" submarines led by Carl Tonide; the British
The four heavy cruisers will be handled by the remaining 12 "Kailong 1" in pieces, and the German light cruisers and destroyers will be handled by the remaining 50 "Yulong 1".
Among them, the attack on the battleship Rodney was launched on time at 8:29, and other attacks were launched at 8:30.
The reason for this arrangement is to ensure the effectiveness of attacks against enemy heavy ships. In the naval battles of World War II, 1,000-ton destroyers and even 3,000-ton light cruisers did not play much role in naval battles. If they had
The biggest role is to use its high speed to block torpedoes for large ships. Because warships of more than 10,000 tons are not very fast, when they are attacked by torpedoes, they are often unable to avoid them. At this time, it is necessary to rely on the strength of light ships.
Dexterity comes to compensate and protect.
"Commander, we are only 5 kilometers away from the Rodney." The observer reported the situation to Dönitz at any time.
"If you get closer, the distance should not exceed 2 nautical miles." Dönitz was very courageous. A torpedo with a speed of 2 nautical miles and a speed of 50 knots can hit an enemy ship in only 2 minutes and 25 seconds after launch.
"Order the other boats to do the same!" Dönitz temporarily changed his tactics and decided to launch them all at close range.
In World War II in history, although Germany was defeated, the German submarine force still survived! Before and after the end of the war, 98% of the remaining German submarines chose to "sink themselves" when they were desperate.
There are no incidents of submarine officers and soldiers giving submarines to Britain, the United States and other countries to wait for compensation.
As powerful as the United States is, it only captured one German submarine at the end of the war, and that was because the submarine was hit by depth charges and had to surface.
Dönitz himself only became the successor of the Third Reich in Hitler's last days. Didn't he know that Germany was bound to fail and that he would have to bear the wrath of Britain, the United States and Soviet Russia? Obviously, Dönitz hoped that
By taking on more responsibilities and consequences, Germany's losses after the war can be reduced.
At 8:25 pm on January 4, Lieutenant General John Necoba, commander of the British Indian Ocean Fleet, was sitting in his independent cabin, reading the Bible by light. John Necoba was a very devout Christian.
Every day when you get up, you have to pray in front of the gods, and every night before you go to bed, you have to read the Bible for at least half an hour.
However, whether it was due to the excitement before the war or other reasons, John Nekoba could not calm down and could not read a single word in the book.
"You're not thinking about that little girl in Calcutta, are you?" John Nekoba is nearly 50 years old and is in the most glorious stage of his life. That little girl in Calcutta is actually a French clerk in his headquarters. Tsk tsk.
When Nekoba thought about the passion of that girl under him, he felt a little moved.
"Okay, let's check the combat readiness of our men." Lieutenant General John Nekoba, who couldn't read the Bible, began to wear his lieutenant general's uniform seriously.
Just as he reached for his navy hat, he felt his body sway, and the hat seemed to be moving away from him. "What's going on?" John Nekoba was stunned for a moment, "Boom——"
A huge explosion came from underneath him.
"Enemy attack -" John Necoba no longer ignored his navy cap, roared, pushed open the hatch and rushed out.
ps: I have another social event in the evening, so there are only two updates today. I will make up for it tomorrow.