Chapter 2102 Melee II
"Fuck, what's the situation?" A British destroyer just avoided the searchlight dropped by the German bomber, and then saw two bright spots rising rapidly and then falling slowly. Two 105MM flares fired by the Germans once again exposed the poor ship. In the next moment, the fierce firepower of the two large German destroyers enveloped the poor destroyer in an instant, and clouds of flames and thick smoke continued to pour out from the British battleship. It took only 5 minutes to be paralyzed on the sea. If the British destroyer had not thrown away all the torpedoes and depth charges before the battle, I am afraid that it would have died!
Relying on the advantage of the enemy's light and our darkness, Major Franco's fleet successfully stole at least 3 destroyers and patrol boats from the opponent, and up to now, most of the 8 destroyers assigned to his 2 squadrons have not been exposed. However, The regular destroyer unit of the British Navy is still of a certain level. After experiencing the initial decline, they finally completed the grouping and bit the Franco fleet!
Six British destroyers lined up in a standard battle line and appeared on the left side of the Franco fleet. At this time, the two sides were sailing parallel to the northeast at a speed of more than 28 knots. Sweeping across the sea, the light guns on the ship kept firing flares to determine the opponent's position. They approached each other carefully, and after they got close to a certain distance, there was a burst of cannonball!
10 destroyers with a tonnage of more than 1,500 tons from both sides are fighting crazily at a distance of about 1,200 meters. More than 40 artillery pieces above 100 mm are constantly spraying deadly bullets at the opponent. In the distance, the battleships of both sides are densely The water column and flames were looming, and there were constant explosions from battleships. For the destroyers who lacked protection, almost both sides were armed with sharp knives and naked!
"Every shot is a life-and-death test for us. The only protection on our destroyer is the thin hull. A 4-inch high-explosive bomb can blow up the entire steel plate to pieces. A steam pipe on my destroyer S115 was shattered by shrapnel, and high-temperature and high-pressure steam of hundreds of degrees was ejected from the breach, and the effect of the British picric acid explosives on fire was also very good. It became hell, we had to wear asbestos fireproof suits and gas masks for rescue, even so, we lost 3 comrades in arms forever, every shell hit the battleship, like a heavy hammer, the battleship was born Slightly shaking, many cabins were destroyed, sea water, leaking steam, flames, and gunpowder smoke made this battleship a hell, we don’t know when this disaster will end!” A German Navy chief engineer recalled the time Scenes.
The intensive shooting of the British made the German destroyers very uncomfortable, but how can the specially improved gunboat-type destroyers of the Germans be easy to deal with? If the British bombardment only made the Germans feel pressured, then the four 150MM artillery and two 105MM artillery equipped on the German S113 destroyer are bloody!
boom! A series of 6-inch shells landed on the deck of the British lead destroyer HMS Cormorant. The shells weighing more than 50 kilograms easily wiped out the three funnels of this poor destroyer. The cockpit at the top was also flattened, leaving only a twisted mass of metal to tell people what was once there, and the deck was covered with thousands of shrapnel and bullet holes. The fragile partitions can't stop the shrapnel at all. The British gunners operating four 102MM deck guns have long been integrated with the artillery fragments, and they are no longer separated from each other. The fire and exhaust gas from the boiler poured into the power compartment. After just a few minutes, more than half of the boilers went out instantly, and then the battleship began to separate from the team under the push of sea water.
Like a lonely ghost.
And the destroyer Bobcat next to it was even more unlucky! This guy happened to be caught between two German destroyers. In less than 3 minutes, at least 2 tons of shells hit the bow of this poor destroyer. The bomb smashed the bow of the ship! You know, in order to ensure seaworthiness of destroyers, the bow forecastle is generally higher than the main deck! However, the ten-meter-long forecastle and the bow of the ship were completely flattened abruptly! This shows how fierce the German artillery fire is!
"The power compartment of the hull is on fire!"
"Pump water to put out the fire immediately!"
"The temperature near the ammunition compartment is too high!"
"Fill the ammo bay with water!"
"Severe bowing occurred at the front of the hull!"
"Open the stern compartment of the hull and fill it with water to balance!" In the end, the poor Bobcat was forced to capsize because of too much water. Less than a quarter of an hour after the war started, only one mast of this British destroyer was still on the sea!
After the initial bloody battle, the number of British destroyers was greatly reduced, and even Major Franco did not have to use the torpedo boats assigned to him. The British destroyer squadron couldn't hold on anymore, 6 vs 4 and 2 ships were abolished in one face-to-face, and the remaining 4V4 had almost no suspense! As long as Major Franco is given another quarter of an hour, he is absolutely sure to destroy all these British destroyers! However, it is a pity that the British light cruiser unit has arrived!
"We have captured the German light cruiser squadron!" Commodore Sinclair had received a telegram from the destroyer squadron a quarter of an hour ago! That's right, you read that right, it is the light cruiser squadron. As Earl Spey expected, the British did regard Major Franco's large destroyer squadron as a light cruiser squadron!
No way, the British have never seen a destroyer with 4 150MM guns and 2 105MM guns on the side! What kind of firepower did the British's first-generation Lin Xian destroyer with an armor belt have? It's just two 6-inch guns and six 102MM guns. In terms of single-sided output, it is not as good as the improved S113 large destroyer. (Of course S113 can’t beat Lin Xian, after all, he has an armor belt, you are running naked... Also, don’t tell me that Lin Xian is a British light cruiser before World War II, that is also called Lin Xian, with the same name That's all.) And because of the night, even if they were very close, the British still had problems evaluating the length of the German warships. Therefore, these four large destroyers with extremely powerful firepower were reported as light cruisers.
After receiving the news, Commodore Sinclair rushed up with 4 light cruisers, of which Commodore Sinclair's Ceres took the lead!
The second one is here~~~! ! ! ! ! Ask for a subscription and a reward~~~! ! !