Chapter 549: The Annihilation of the Glory (Part 2)
Although they knew that Germany's gun-sighting radar was very good, the destroyer "Acasta" still used a smoke screen to cover the "Glorious" aircraft carrier, because no matter how good the gun-sighting radar was, it could not compare with the Germans' best gun-sighting radar in the world.
After the optical sighting device is switched to radar guidance, the hit rate of the bombardment will be somewhat lower. Although this may not allow the "Glorious" aircraft carrier to last until reinforcements arrive, the probability is still slightly higher than doing nothing.
At this time, the battlecruiser "Scharnhorst"'s engine malfunctioned again, and it was unable to maintain a high speed of 29 knots. Vice Admiral Machar decided to change the formation and let the "Scharnhorst"
The USS stayed behind to deal with the "Acasta", while he took the lead in the battlecruiser "Gneisenno" and continued to attack the "Glorious" in order to sink it as soon as possible.
After the order was issued, the bow of the "Gneisenno" immediately set off a huge wave, overtaking the sister ship "Scharnhorst" from the starboard side at a speed of more than 30 knots, and heading towards the escape direction of the "Glorious" aircraft carrier.
Hot pursuit. No.
Soon, a 283mm gun hit the bridge of the "Glory", killing almost all the forward bridge officers, including Captain Ors. The first officer, Lieutenant Colonel Lowe, had to take over the command. The war situation became increasingly tense.
became beneficial to the Germans
At this time, the "Acasta" had launched multiple torpedoes at the "Scharnhorst", but compared with the oxygen torpedoes, the British torpedoes were far inferior in speed and concealment.
Being well prepared, the battlecruiser "Scharnhorst" easily avoided them one by one, and at the same time concentrated its artillery fire to launch a sharp counterattack.
Fortunately for the officers and men on board the "Acasta", the battlecruiser "Scharnhorst"'s first two salvoes did not hit even one of the powerful 283mm cannons on the ship, but even if
It is the 150mm caliber secondary gun on the enemy ship, and it is enough to cause considerable damage to the small and thinly armored destroyer. The "Acasta" soon smoked and descended.
As low as 15 knots and tilting sharply to the left. After the "Acasta" destroyer's speed dropped, the hit rate of the German naval guns suddenly rose sharply. After being hit by a 283mm large-caliber gun, the "Acasta"
"The destroyer could no longer hold up and began to sink, but her 120mm naval guns kept ringing from the beginning of the battle to the moment it submerged in the water [
After the "Acasta" sank, all the crew members on the "Scharnhorst" breathed a sigh of relief. This time they could finally deal with the British aircraft carrier without interference. But then they discovered, "
The battlecruiser "Gneisenno" has almost finished its work
Although the smoke screen deployed by the destroyer "Acasta" had a certain effect, under the guidance of the gun sighting radar, the bombardment of the battlecruiser "Gneisenno" still hit the target one after another. One of the 283mm rounds penetrated the armor.
The engine room of the "Glorious" was destroyed, causing it to spin uncontrollably on the sea in a counter-clockwise direction, and its speed was almost reduced to 0. At this point, the possibility of the "Glory" escaping was reduced to even one ten thousandth.
A few minutes later, the "Gneisenau" fired the last salvo at the "Glorious" from a distance of less than 9,000 meters, completely destroying the dying "Glorious". The German warship did not save the ship for fear of being attacked.
After fishing out a British sailor, they hurriedly retreated. Due to a signal problem, other British warships did not know that the "Glorious" had suffered this disaster at this time. Although it was extremely dark at the time, there was no wax in the Arctic.
The candle-like sun could not provide much warmth to the British sailors who fell into the water. Most of the survivors who lacked food slowly exhausted their physical strength until they froze to death. It was not until a Norwegian freighter evacuating to Britain happened to pass by that they rescued them.
Three officers and 35 sailors from the "Glorious" and one sailor from the "Acasta" were killed. In addition, two British soldiers who drifted far away were rescued by a passing German plane, a total of 41
survivors
In this battle, the two battlecruisers "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" successfully sank all three British warships, including an aircraft carrier, killing more than 1,500 enemy people.
The price they paid was only more than a thousand rounds of artillery (including about more than 400 rounds of the 283mm main gun), and more than a hundred officers and soldiers were killed or injured. Even if the aircraft carrier's natural restraint on battle cruisers is not taken into account, it can be called a great
victory
However, the morale of the Royal Navy and even the entire United Kingdom suffered another major blow. For this reason, Churchill asked the Admiralty to launch a major offensive operation to restore confidence in the domestic resistance to the end. But now the large German warships have withdrawn into the country.
The British navy, which dare not send a large fleet through the Skagerrak in the north of Denmark, has no way to deal with them. The Skagerrak is too narrow and very close to the German mainland. It is useless to send too many British warships.
It was a target for the Luftwaffe.
In the end, the British Royal Navy had no choice but to use the Italians as a punching bag and ordered the Mediterranean Fleet to launch a surprise attack on Taranto, the main base of the Italian Navy. In fact, this plan had been planned for a long time. On July 15, 1940, Italy
The battleship "Duilio" completed its modernization and refit. On August 2, the new battleships "Liriotto" and "Vittorio Veneto" were incorporated into the fleet. They are the best designers and outstanding craftsmanship in Italy.
A masterpiece with a standard displacement of 43,835 tons and a
Equipped with 9 381 mm cannons and with a speed of 30 knots, it was the fastest battleship at the time. The power of the Italian Navy was greatly enhanced. This undoubtedly posed a huge threat to the security of the British Mediterranean colonies and the Suez Canal. Therefore, as early as
before germany invades poland
, the British Admiralty formulated a complete combat plan with the Italian Navy as the imaginary enemy. However, in order to avoid unnecessary creation of more powerful enemies, this combat plan was not implemented until Italy took advantage of the situation and invaded France and actually engaged the British army on the battlefield.
was taken out again
Taranto is located at the heel of the Italian boot-shaped peninsula. It is divided into the overseas port of Grande and the smaller inner port of Piccolo. It has a wide harbor and is the largest naval base in Italy. After careful reconnaissance, the British Admiralty learned of the intention.
The navy's battleships are anchored in Port Grande, while cruisers and destroyers are anchored in Port Piccolo. There are 300 gates around the harbor.
Anti-aircraft guns, searchlights and blocking balloons, as well as mine protection nets are installed in the harbor. The defense seems very tight at first glance, but the technical staff of the British Admiralty still found two fatal weaknesses (to be continued. If you like this
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