Chapter 2239 Head-On Confrontation 2
On the contrary, the torpedo planes that the British were worried about before did not cause much damage to the Revenge. After all, the British fighter jets went to low altitudes to fight torpedo planes. They tried to pull the torpedo planes into the water even if they were shot down. They flew at low altitudes and carried a heavy load at the same time. Large torpedo aircraft are naturally the best targets. Therefore, in the air raids that besieged the Revenge class, the number of torpedoes hit by the Germans was no more than 2, of which only one was confirmed to have hit. The 150KG charge was not enough for the British For a first-rate battleship, it's nothing. According to the German pilot's battle report, after the hit, the opponent showed signs of slowing down, but there was no obvious tilt. The British wrote in the report that 500 tons of water had entered, so the problem was not big.
The remaining attack fleet also attacked other British warships, but the German fleet of only 90 attack aircraft in total was now at the end of its strength. In addition to throwing 1 torpedo and 2 bombs on the Resolution, the remaining 20 or so bombers Apart from killing a light cruiser at the same time, there are no commendable achievements. However, I don’t know whether it was bad luck or whether the mine protection capabilities of the new British ships have indeed improved. The torpedo that hit the Resolution also suffered relatively little damage. limited.
"Thanks to the Spey fleet consuming the British air defense power before, otherwise, the effect of our air attack may be greatly reduced." Admiral Scheer said, looking at the British fleet in the distance.
In fact, under the current circumstances, the lethality and survivability of single-engine attack aircraft are really problems. The German carrier-based aircraft force has a huge numerical advantage and also has cover fighters. When attacking a large fleet with weak air defense capabilities, The effect is obvious, but once it attacks the Thomas Fleet and the British First Battleship Squadron, which have certain air defense capabilities, the efficiency drops drastically, especially the torpedo planes. In the battle just now, the torpedo planes suffered the highest losses! This also proves a problem. Ruprecht's policy of finding soft targets for air strikes is correct. Hard walnuts are difficult to crack!
And just when the German carrier-based aircraft forces attacked the Revenge-class battleship and the main fleet was adjusting its formation, the Thomas fleet had already cut diagonally on the route of the German fourth battleship squadron! In the next ten minutes, the four battleships of the Fourth Battleship Squadron had to face the powerful Thomas Fleet, Hood Fleet and a large number of auxiliary battleships alone! In order to delay the reinforcement of the Bavaria-class battleships, Thomas sent the last auxiliary battleships up, trying to use torpedoes and smoke to delay time!
The battleship Rhineland was the first to be targeted by fire! In the previous battle, this battleship was hit by a 15-inch underwater bomb, and the power system and power supply system suffered heavy losses. In this case, when other battleships could quickly avoid and hide in the smoke, Rhineland However, the number was unable to dodge and was left outside! And in this case, facing the powerful Thomas fleet, the Rhineland's deadline has finally arrived!
At a distance of only 14 kilometers, countless shells fell on this poor battleship. The Rhineland's sloped armor blocked the 15-inch shell attacks from the Queen again and again, but more and more hits were made. Or let the battleship's defense system finally collapse! Too many shells landed in the unprotected areas at the bow and stern of the battleship, and the entire bow was almost turned into honeycomb by the dense rain of bullets! A large amount of seawater poured into the cabin. Before the battleship was abandoned, more than 5,600 tons of water had entered the battleship! Even the No. 1 turret was almost submerged in sea water, and coupled with the damage caused by the previous water bomb, the Rhineland had no power to carry out drainage operations. Under this situation, even if it barely floated on the sea, it would eventually end. There is no way to return to the port!
The second heavily damaged battleship in the Fourth Battleship Squadron was the Thuringia. Although it also took in a lot of water, this battleship was still able to keep up with the fleet when it first encountered the Thomas fleet! finally,
What started the battleship's demise was a British destroyer that unexpectedly approached the fleet! The auxiliary battleships of the German High Seas Fleet mainly ensure the safety of the three Bavarian battleship squadrons. There were originally fewer ships assigned to the fourth battleship squadron. However, when the smoke was released, the smoke also obscured the view of the German fleet... ..
Then, tragedy happened. Several British destroyers passed through the smoke and unexpectedly appeared near the Thuringia! In the previous battle, the battleship's secondary guns also suffered heavy losses. After killing three destroyers with the help of other battleships, a large British destroyer finally fired six 21-inch torpedoes at a distance of 1,200 meters. !
After some strenuous efforts to dodge, the German battleship, which had been damaged before and took in more than 1,500 tons of water, was finally hit by two torpedoes! Two large holes more than 12 meters long were torn open on the right side of the ship! And as luck would have it, one of them is located near an old injury! And this added insult to injury made the situation of this battleship very bad! The hull once tilted more than 23 degrees! Finally, through reverse water injection and emergency repairs, the balance reached around 15 degrees.
In this battle, the Thuringia showed the strong survivability and combat effectiveness of the German warships. Although nearly 4,500 tons of water had been taken in, the main gun and related auxiliary machinery on the hull could still operate, and quickly Fight back against the British fleet! A 350MM shell successfully hit the gun ring at the lower part of the No. 3 turret of the battleship Malaya! This shell easily pierced the gun rim armor, which was only 10 inches thick, and exploded the dressing room inside to pieces! The Malaya, which was already a little frightened by the firecrackers, decisively chose to fill the No. 3 turret with water! Temporarily avoided being killed! Until the end of the war, the Thuringia was still firing at its opponents even when it took in more than 5,000 tons of water!
"General, we have killed two more German fast battleships this time! The remaining two battleships also evaded and got out of the way!" A British naval officer looked at the slowly sinking battleship Rhineland in the distance. Said excitedly.
However, before Thomas could answer, a loud noise resounded throughout the battlefield! Not far away, a burst of flames suddenly rose from the queue of the British First Battleship Squadron, and thousands of tons of seawater and debris were thrown into the air by the huge explosive force! A loud noise like thunder spread to all directions. At this moment, it seemed that all the sounds on the battlefield were suppressed! The eyes of both sides were focused on the British First Battleship Squadron in the distance, and they wanted to know what happened!
Three updates today--! Subscriptions during the two days of Mid-Autumn Festival were not very good--! Another new low this month--! The author is in tears--!
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