ps: Thanks to the book friend "Brother Manwu" for voting for the month, please vote again^_^
In this way, in less than half a year, the British Royal Navy lost a total of 10 battleships, and these were permanent losses that could not be recovered. Such a rapid loss rate, let alone the British, even in shipbuilding
The United States, which is more capable, may not be able to bear it. At this time, the British Admiralty received an urgent secret report from overseas personnel of MI6.
"The 'Bismarck' and the 'Tirpitz' are dispatched! They are sailing north, preparing to enter the Atlantic through the Denmark Strait, along with the heavy cruiser 'Prince Eugen')", the British Admiralty saw this
After writing the letter, he bit his lower lip and fell into silence. After a long while, he issued an order to send the battlecruiser "Hood" and the battleship "Prince of Wales" to sail immediately to intercept the German fleet.
"Your Excellency, isn't that an 'old lady' and a 'little boy'?", a rear admiral worried. The USS Hood battlecruiser has been in service for more than 20 years, although it has been refitted three times (more than in history)
Once, the horizontal armor and anti-aircraft firepower were mainly strengthened [all anti-aircraft machine guns were replaced by small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, and the number was increased from 16 to 32]. The overall performance was significantly enhanced, but after all, Chen
The old hull is there, and some fundamental design flaws (Note 1) are difficult to make up for. No wonder the rear admiral calls it an "old lady". As for the battleship "Prince of Wales", it has been in service for a short time.
The crew has just completed training and the debugging of weapons has just been completed. It is not an exaggeration to call him a "little boy". In the first battle, he will face a powerful enemy that is stronger than himself, which will undoubtedly further increase the risk.
How could the Lord of the Admiralty not know about the problems of these two warships? Moreover, the British Royal Navy has always attacked the weak with strong force in history. The strategy, tactics, and even the design ideas of warships are also formed around this point. But now it has to
Using the weak to attack the strong is undoubtedly using his own weaknesses to compete with the enemy's strengths, but where does he have any other choice? [
Now all the British large fleet aircraft carriers have been lost. And there are not many battleships left. Among them, the only ones that can barely keep up with the speed of the German fleet are the latest "King George V-class" battleships. This new type of battleship is currently only available in the UK.
Two ships were completed, the first of which was the King George V.
The HMS "Prince of Wales" was injured in many places in the Battle of Toulon Bay and is currently undergoing maintenance. The only second-ranked HMS "Prince of Wales" that can be dispatched immediately. Plus the HMS Hood, the only British battlecruiser currently. This
This is already all the capital ships currently dispatched by the Royal Navy immediately.
Once the German fleet is allowed to pass through the Denmark Strait, Britain's maritime lifeline will be fatally threatened. Unlike the threat from submarines, once an enemy's capital ship appears on the main route, merchant ships from Britain and its allies will not be able to pass at all.
instead of just losing some merchant ships, this is
For Britain, which relies mostly on external inputs for resources, it is fatal. Moreover, in this time and space, the British capital ship losses are too great. It is impossible to send capital ships to escort the merchant fleet as in history. Only an escort fleet composed of light ships can do anti-submarine warfare. Once
Encountering a German battleship is basically a dead end.
Moreover, once they pass through the Denmark Strait, the three German warships will be able to "leap with ease". As long as they use radar to avoid those large fleets that are stronger than themselves, they will be almost invincible. You must know the characteristics of these three warships.
The speed is very fast. With the tradition of the British Royal Navy advocating offense, if there is an opportunity to eliminate danger at the source, it will never wait passively. After all, the total number of light ships of the British Navy is still the first in the world. As long as
To prevent large German surface ships from entering the Atlantic Ocean, no matter how great the threat of submarine warfare is, it is not fatal enough.
However, the reason why the British Navy is in such a predicament is because too many battleships were lost in the previous series of battles. Thinking of this, the British Lord of the Admiralty could not help but feel sad and could only comfort the rear admiral, and at the same time comfort himself, "I hope
The 'old lady' is a fierce woman who can fight, but the little boy can grow up in battle."
Although he said this, his reason still prompted the British Lord of the Admiralty to issue two other important orders. He asked the battleship King George V to immediately suspend maintenance, and the officers and soldiers should immediately return to the ship to prepare for battle and wait for his orders at any time;
The third ship of the "King George V-class" battleship, the "Duke of York", which was supposed to undergo the last sea trial before entering service, entered service ahead of schedule and was immediately replenished in accordance with operational requirements. Likewise,
Wait for his orders at any time; in addition, the battleship "Rodney", which is undergoing routine maintenance, is also required to suspend maintenance and prepare for war. This ship is the sister ship of the battleship Nelson that was sunk by China. It has 3 seats and 3 units.
The 406mm caliber cannon is not inferior to the new King George V class battleship in defense, but the speed is too slow. Therefore, the German ship must be injured to affect the speed before this old battleship can be used.
In addition, the Minister of the Navy also tried every means to "squeeze" many cruisers and destroyers to form a task force with these three battleships. In a sense, they were the ones who truly annihilated the two German Bismarck-class battleships.
The main force, and the two ships sent before, were only used to damage the German ships as much as possible to force them to return for repairs, so that the task force could intercept them on their way back.
However, the Admiralty still hopes to save these two battleships as much as possible. To this end, he specially orders the two heavy cruisers and six destroyers operating nearby to cooperate with them. In this way, the strength ratio is 10:3. Although the tonnage
and firepower are still at a disadvantage, but the hope of saving at least two battleships and repelling the German fleet will be much greater.
Note 1: On the one hand, it is due to the limitations of the design era, and on the other hand, because it was originally a battle cruiser. No matter how modified, the firepower and protection cannot be compared with a real battleship. The Hood chose a battleship that is not inferior to that of a battleship.
With a 381mm caliber main gun, its defensive power is naturally insufficient. Even after the third modification that has been delayed in history,
Equipment, and the increase in anti-aircraft artillery has limited the strengthening of horizontal armor. The average thickness has only increased to 50-100 mm. Even in the face of the 381mm lightness of the Bismarck-class battleships in history, it is a bit overhanging. In this time and space, the Bismarck-class battleships are refitted.
The new 381mm weight front is almost like paper (To be continued...)