Chapter 709 Atlantic Strangulation War (18)

Major Heine led the B formation consisting of 10 S boats to quietly leave the beachhead, which had become a battlefield, and rushed towards the main fleet of the US Army in the distance. The main force of the enemy fleet appeared about 60 kilometers away from Sal Island. The killing on the beachhead had attracted a large group of pursuers. It would take them only 50-60 minutes to rush over. The B formation needed to change another route, which would be a little farther, but their speed was much faster than the destroyers and frigates, and the time was almost the same.

Colonel Collins on the beach was furious. He watched his men being slaughtered but could do nothing. He could only urgently call for reinforcements from the rear fleet. The other frightened escort boats and PT boats near the beach started shooting randomly. Because there was no distinction between friend and foe in the dark, they were either doing useless work or killing each other...

Ingersoll and Turner, who were in command of the main fleet, were alarmed by the sudden change. Because of the lesson of the escort aircraft carrier formation being attacked by S-boats, the bombardment fleet rushed to the deep sea area after dark today. Not only did they order the destroyers and escort boats to set up a strict defense and patrol system to strictly guard against the S-boats, but even several battleships themselves were maneuvering within a certain range to avoid staying in place and becoming targets. Who knew that the enemy did not attack the main fleet, but caught the beach army off guard.

"A bunch of rubbish, they can't even control a few S-boats..." Admiral Ingersoll, who was awakened, was furious and cursed in the command tower.

Turner remained silent. He certainly understood where the problem was: the US Navy had suffered consecutive heavy losses, and coupled with the continued expansion of the escort aircraft carrier force, experienced front-line officers and soldiers tried to concentrate on the main battleships and escort aircraft carriers. Even destroyers began to let old officers from the First World War serve as captains. Frigates and PT boats, which were lower than destroyers, were full of rookies. It might be ok for them to complete the task step by step, but this kind of night battle, close combat, and sudden battle would test experience and reaction level too much, so it was not their fault.

Turner's analysis is very close to the facts. Although the German Navy is also expanding rapidly, its losses in the past few years are relatively small, and it still maintains a high combat effectiveness (compared to itself). Its naval development ideas are quite different from those of Britain and the United States. The combat effectiveness of air, submarine, and fast forces is usually stronger than that of conventional surface ships, especially the U-boat and S-boat forces. It is no exaggeration to say that they are the best in the world. With a few exceptions, the officers and soldiers of these forces will basically not be transferred to the main battleships for service. For example, many of the men led by Major Heine participated in the landing operations in the original Kungunier plan, and participated in such thrilling battles without regular warship escort. This kind of night attack is of course a drizzle.

Colonel Link made a plan of serial attacks according to the resources, equipment and manpower at hand: the first attack was launched by the Night Fighter, using the precise sniping of only four tanks to attract the attention of the beachhead; the second attack was launched by four S boats, who caught the US military off guard with a violent assault that was almost close combat, and mobilized a large number of US escort warships to rush to Sal Island; just when the defense and patrol forces of the US main fleet were weakened, Major Heine's third attack was already in sight.

"Destroyer report S boat!" Just as Turner and Ingersoll stared at the direction of the dock, the captain's voice suddenly came from the radio, and then many people heard the manic roar of the motor-this was the source of the uncontrollable sound of the S boats when the speed reached 44 knots.

All escort warships did not dare to neglect and immediately began to fire with fierce 5-inch and 6-inch artillery fire. However, due to the war at the dock that led away a group of escort warships, the defense level of the US fleet inevitably had loopholes. The S boats braved the fierce artillery fire and began to release torpedoes at a distance of 4,000 meters.

A full 30 2.85-ton H9 oxygen torpedoes were launched and quickly moved forward at the highest speed. Even at this speed, these torpedoes can run 20,000 meters. If they are slowed down to 36 knots (the MK11 torpedoes commonly used by US destroyers generally use a speed of 34 knots), the range will exceed 40,000 meters (MK11 is less than 10,000 meters).

"Torpedoes spotted on the starboard side!" A sailor on the West Virginia shouted in fear, and the captain immediately instructed to turn left 45 degrees, hoping to avoid these terrible killers, but how could the slow speed of only 21 knots avoid the high-speed torpedoes of 52 knots? The midship and stern were hit by two torpedoes at once, especially the torpedo in the midship, which almost blew up this old ship that had been in service for 20 years and had sunk once in the Pearl Harbor incident. As a Colorado-class battleship that was ranked BIG7 alongside the Nagato-class at the time, the West Virginia was not so fragile, but the heavy damage suffered in Pearl Harbor broke its backbone, and even after repair, it still buried hidden dangers.

Two large gaps were blown open on the starboard side, and the entire stern was blown off. Seawater rushed into the hull crazily, and the entire warship tilted to the right and fell backwards. Seeing that the warship was in danger, the sailors jumped into the sea like dumplings - fortunately, Cape Verde is close to the equator. If it was the North Atlantic in November, they would have almost no need to be rescued after soaking in the seawater for half an hour.

Turner watched the West Virginia sink in shock. This was the second battleship lost by the fleet. Before he could recover from the shock, the British staff officer beside him cried out: "Elizabeth, Elizabeth has also been hit by a torpedo!"

The Elizabeth's luck in the first two days finally ran out, or rather, due to the damage, its evasive speed was not very flexible, and it was unlucky to be hit by a torpedo. Although it did not sink on the spot, the situation was very bad. More than 4,000 tons of seawater poured in at once, two-thirds of the boilers stopped working, and the speed of the entire warship dropped to only 5 knots, floating on the sea like a dead fish.

The worst was the Kidd destroyer (Fletcher class). In order to protect the flagship New Jersey, it used its small body of more than 2,000 tons to resist a torpedo. Then the whole ship was blown apart from the middle and thrown up by the shock wave under the gaze of the officers and soldiers of the New Jersey, and then fell heavily into the water. There were even many structural fragments flying onto the deck of the New Jersey. More than 300 officers and soldiers finally rescued only 8 survivors.

After the torpedoes were fired, the S-boats turned around and ran away. The escorting destroyers and frigates had already been aroused by the loss of their own warships and were so angry that they were unwilling to let go. They immediately chased them at the highest speed. The firepower of the naval guns continued to pour down, stirring up one water column after another, covering the S-boats in a piece of water mist.

Looking at the American warships chasing behind him, Major Heine showed a ferocious smile: Come on, come and chase, you will soon know how powerful it is, and the fourth strike will be dispatched!

These 10 S-boats are not fighting alone. In the evening, 5 U-boats have arrived underwater. They will also participate in the raid. The assault of the S-boats will create better opportunities for these ghost killers.

Hearing the explosions and shells falling into the water on the sea, all the submarine captains smiled with satisfaction. It is almost a death to deal with the heavily guarded enemy fleet directly, but when the S-boats succeeded in the sneak attack and the scene was in chaos, the submarines had the opportunity to show their skills.

"Torpedoes ready."

"Raise to periscope height!"

"Left rudder 10 degrees."

"Two vehicles into three!" (full speed)

"All torpedoes fired." With the captain's angry shout, the 6 torpedo tubes at the bow of the Type XXI submarine numbered U-2517 ejected torpedoes in a 20-degree fan-shaped angle and rushed straight towards the US fleet. The warship it aimed at was the Warrior (Queen Elizabeth class).

"Torpedo!" The British officers and soldiers on the ship shouted anxiously, but it was too late. At least 3 torpedoes hit the Warrior. The huge explosion made every warship tremble with fear, and even the S boats that left the battlefield could hear it clearly. The submarine fired a 533mm caliber G9 oxygen torpedo. Although it was weaker than the H9, it was charged with nearly 550 kilograms of explosives, almost twice the G7 torpedo previously used by German submarines. The maximum range at a firing speed of 48 knots exceeded 16,000 meters.

Like the Elizabeth, the Warrior was sunk once by Italian frogmen in Alexandria. With its age, how could the repaired body withstand the critical hits of three torpedoes? It could only sink, but fortunately it sank slowly, saving the fate of many sailors.

The chaotic fleet did not think that it was the submarines that were causing trouble at first, but thought that the torpedoes released by the remaining S-boats. They even consciously dispersed and evaded far away to avoid the torpedoes with a long range, which were said to be unreasonably long, and let the sea wolves kill without restraint.

The killing of the submarines lasted for 40 minutes. The most terrifying thing about the Type XXI torpedo is not only its speed and silent ability, but also its terrible reloading ability. All 18 torpedoes can be fired through hydraulic loading within 20 minutes, and each Type XXI submarine can carry 23 torpedoes! After more than ten minutes, someone discovered something was wrong. They thought there was a submarine in the sea. The destroyers rushed over like headless flies to drop depth charges. At this time, the submarines had generally fired two or even three salvos.

The night raid that had been noisy all night finally stopped completely after the new sun rose. Faced with heavy losses, the US military was simply in tears.

The army suffered heavy losses. The Collins Regiment lost 29 tanks and various armored vehicles, including 4 highly anticipated M6 heavy tanks. Together with the attacks of the Tiger and the S-boats, the entire regiment suffered more than 1,000 casualties. The engineers, logistics soldiers and even crew members on the beach lost more than 400 people.

The navy suffered even greater losses. The Elizabeth, Warrior, and West Virginia sank, the Duke of York was hit by an H9 torpedo (severely damaged), the Iowa was hit by a G9 torpedo (medium damage), three Atlanta-class anti-aircraft light cruisers sank, and four destroyers that risked their lives to block the guns were written off.