Chapter 153 Sea Search

"Amur, please answer when you receive it, Amur, please answer when you receive it." There were constant calls coming from the radio.

The sky was already bright, and the red Caucasus, which had been racing at sea for a night, was blowing black smoke, and finally arrived at the predetermined sea area, but there was no sign of the Amur at all.

This made the crew on the Red Caucasus very anxious. Captain Tikhonov was holding a telescope and had been searching the sea ahead. In the radio, the telegrams were still being received, and the radio was replaced by direct call.

No echo, no echo, what's going on?

On this heavy cruiser, everyone's face was ashen.

"Captain, I suggest ejecting our aircraft and conducting a search." On the side, the political commissar said to Captain Tikhonov. At this time, his face was also ugly.

This warship is a heavy cruiser that was launched by the Soviets in 32 years. However, compared with the German ones, it can be seen that there is a huge technical gap.

At the beginning, the Soviets installed the B-1-K1931 60-diameter 180mm main gun for this warship, which was powerful and surpassed the 203mm gun in the West. However, the rifling was worn very fast, and even the barrel life did not exceed 10 send!

Later, with the help of the German company Krupp, the gun barrel was shortened to 57 times the caliber, the propellant pack was reduced to 37.5 kg, and the problem was alleviated by the use of sparser rifling distribution, so that the barrel life reached 320 rounds. combat capability.

At the same time, this warship is also equipped with catapults and aircraft provided by Germany.

It is true that in this era, warships are all equipped with aircraft, and there are not many, only one or two. On cruisers, they take off by catapult and then land in seawater for recovery.

In later generations, the steam catapult technology is difficult to break through, and only the United States has it in the world. In this era, ordinary hydraulic catapults are enough to drive propeller-type seaplanes away.

In addition to helping the "Red Caucasus" cruiser transform the naval guns, Germany also provided an aircraft catapult provided by Heinkel and used the company's HE55 seaplane.

As a ship-borne water reconnaissance aircraft, the main task is to reconnaissance on the vast sea. It can detect the enemy's traces in advance and provide early warning to its warships. In this era, it is already an advanced theory.

Catapult take off! After receiving the order, the seaplane pilot Kokolin sat in the cockpit within a few minutes. He fastened his seat belt, opened the cockpit cover, and was driven by a huge hydraulic ejection. left the cruiser.

The machine gunner in the rear cabin is also acting as a lookout at this time, faithfully carrying out his mission, and constantly searching the sea here.

Amur, with a speed of less than ten knots, can only run a hundred nautical miles even in one night. Therefore, as long as you search all the nearby seas of a hundred nautical miles, you will definitely be able to find them!

With this thought in mind, Kokorin piloted the seaplane, circling the sea around the cruiser, circle and circle.

Searching at sea is the most boring. After flying for more than three hours, the machine gunner in the back seat suddenly shouted: "Look, ahead!"

On the sea in the distance, a ship is sailing, and thick black smoke is coming out of the chimney. From the appearance, it looks very much like our own Amur!

Push the lever, and the seaplane flies over there, getting closer and closer.

At this moment, Kokolin quickly pressed the operating lever, and the seaplane drew a huge arc and rolled quickly to the side.

A flurry of bullets, rubbing the side of the seaplane, nearly hit them!

"The Red Caucasus, the Red Caucasus, found the Amur, sailing in the direction of the Isles of Scilly, with armed personnel on it, firing at us!" Kokolin quickly reported to the rear.

I haven't been able to find it just now, because they always searched along the route of the Amur. Who knows, this cargo ship has left the route and is heading towards Great Britain!

The Isles of Scilly, the nearest island to Great Britain, those damned Englishmen!

As a matter of course, Kokolin has already regarded the armed men who opened fire on him as British.

Found the Amur and sailed to the Isles of Scilly with armed men on it! After receiving this information, Captain Tikhonov clenched his fists: "Order the warship to sail at full speed!"

Full steam ahead!

10 heavy oil boilers are burning with all their strength, and black smoke continuously emerges from the three chimneys. Thousand-ton battleship, speed up, speed up!

After sprinting to a speed of nearly 30 knots, the turbulent water flow appeared at the tail of the Red Caucasus, and the bow of the ship split the waves and sailed forward!

The British must not be allowed to take the Amur away!

The Soviet Navy was quite anxious, and at the same time, the British Navy's base in Plymouth Harbor received a brief distress signal.

"SOS, SOS." After a brief international distress signal, they could no longer be contacted.

After receiving the report, the base commander thought for a while and decided to dispatch a British Navy River-class frigate K215 Neith, which was patrolling the nearby sea, to search and rescue in the area where the signal was issued.

This is a frigate with a simple structure, 1 12-pound gun and 5 6-pound guns, which are all its weapons. In World War II, this frigate was mainly responsible for the transportation of ocean-going cargo, rather than doing it in an upright manner. Battleship duel.

As for now, in peacetime, it is a good choice to carry out a search and rescue mission.

After receiving the order from the base, the River Ness started the horsepower and headed for the sea area where the signal was sent.

"I really don't know, which country's ship is from." On the bridge, Captain Robert said to his subordinates while holding a cup of coffee: "This is not a waterway at all, how could they come here!"

There was not much wind and waves at sea, and the coffee in his hand was quite stable.

"Report to the captain, there is a cargo ship ahead, Soviet nationality." The first mate called to him.

Soviet cargo ships? Robert took his last sip of coffee and looked at the approaching cargo ship in the distance. Suddenly, a sense of unease grew stronger.

"God, there's a big hole on its side!" A lookout had already discovered this unusual.