Chapter 842: Fighting in the South Atlantic (Part 1)

On the afternoon of March 13, in the vast South Atlantic, a steel fleet was speeding toward Cape Town. This was the South Atlantic Squadron, or Task Force TF44, led by Spruance.

Task Force TF44 has just set a U.S. Navy record. They traveled nearly 15,000 kilometers from the Pisacek Bay Naval Anchorage to Cape Town, South Africa, in just 18 days, including 2 days in Brazil. In terms of refueling time, the entire fleet was on the road for only 16 days when fully loaded, with an average speed of nearly 23 knots throughout the journey.

In order to speed up, Spruance did not carry any slow tankers or cargo ships, and relied entirely on shipboard fuel and supplies. Destroyers with short range relied on the fuel support of large ships. Under such high-speed ship actions, , the fleet ran out of fuel near Brazil. Fortunately, the quality of the warships manufactured in the United States was generally good, and the entire fleet did not have any problems. After replenishing, it still rushed towards Cape Town like a flying car, but it was still too late.

Fleet Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Roddick handed him the telegram: "Six days ago, South African submarines and aircraft discovered the German fleet heading towards South Georgia Island. At that time, they were about 2,700 kilometers away from the Cape of Good Hope. They were suspected of sinking "We found 2-3 cargo ships, but we can't be sure because all the two submarines on the mission have been sunk."

Spruance nodded: South Georgia is an island affiliated with the Falkland Islands. The two islands are 1,500 kilometers apart. The two islands in each other's horns have firmly blocked the waters near Cape Horn, blocking the US Navy. The key route for mobilization between the two oceans.

"Did the air strikes have any results?"

"There are almost no results. The German fleet is too far away from the South African coastline. At a distance of more than 2,000 kilometers, only the B-29 can carry out air strikes." Roddick thought for a while, "In addition, the air force reported that the German army has adopted a new type of fighter jet, which is better than the previous one." The Bf-219 was faster, had more firepower, and more importantly, climbed very fast. They lost two B-29s trying to attack. "

The new aircraft Roddick mentioned was the Do-412 (Zidian modified), a new generation of carrier-based fighter jets that Germany has recently adopted. Interception is its strength. Once the B-29s try to lower their altitude and enter the bombing route, the Do-412 will shoot them down. Come down.

Spruance sighed: The area of ​​​​the sea south of South Africa is too vast, and it is difficult to take care of it without a sufficient fleet of shore-based aviation and submarines.

"So they will arrive in the Falkland Islands today or tomorrow?"

"Normally speaking, this is the case." Roddick thought for a while, "It is possible that it will be delayed by another day, but it is of no use. Cape Town is still 6,500 kilometers away from Falkland Island, not to mention that our army still needs to rest and replenish fuel. , I can’t catch up no matter how hard I try.”

"Damn politics! Damn Wallace!" Spruance slapped the railing bitterly, "If it hadn't been delayed for more than ten days, we would have been able to intercept this German fleet in the South African waters. You can send all the Germans above to feed the fish, but now it’s all gone.”

"I can't blame you..."

"You can't blame me, but it's such a good opportunity, alas..."

Spruance waved his fist angrily. If Wallace were in front of him, he would have the urge to beat him up, but this chance will never happen - Wallace has been shot to death. On the fleet's way south, Harry Truman officially became the new Vice President of the United States.

He didn't want to get entangled in the protection fee or not. He thought this matter could never be made clear. What he cared about was that Wallace rashly said in public that he wanted to re-examine the relationship between Britain and the United States and consider stopping "the cost is huge and the result is little." "As soon as the news came out of the "Operation to Aid the British", Cunningham, who was in charge of the aircraft carrier force that night, secretly issued the "British Man, British Ship" order. In order to prevent himself from getting in the way, he was also "locked up" in the name of inviting him to play chess. "In the officer's cabin, by the time Cunningham allowed him out, everything was settled and he had no choice but to report to Washington.

Is it Cunningham’s fault? Spruance felt that he couldn't say this. He might have done the same thing in the other party's position! Is it the fault of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for giving the order to stand still? He felt that the initial decision of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was understandable: once the Royal Navy separated from the Anglo-American Combined Atlantic Fleet, the U.S. Navy would only have 4 aircraft carriers left (3 Essex-class, 1 Independence-class), and no matter how they were combined, they could not have the best of both worlds. Taking into account both the North and South Atlantic. Fortunately, Vice President Truman was ruthless and decisive, and it took only three weeks to calm down the whole situation. At the same time, President Roosevelt quickly gained the British understanding. If this were not the case, the TF44 fleet might not be able to be dispatched until now - not to mention the German fleet on the return journey, it is estimated that the enemy would be able to swagger back to Madagascar.

"What is the enemy's strength?"

"Two fleet aircraft carriers, the model is unknown. It is speculated that one of them is modified from a battleship hull, with a strangely angled deck, and no light aircraft carriers or escort aircraft carriers; 1 battlecruiser, Scharnhorst class (Gneisen Nau); 1 heavy cruiser, Hipper class (Seydlitz); and 8 destroyers, but 4 destroyers have a weird appearance and are not common types. They are suspected to be newly built - yes , the Hedgehog class built using Z-class hulls. There are also 39 cargo ships or oil tankers - all Victory ships. I guess they are our warships captured in the Battle of Newfoundland. Many of them even have the logo of American ships painted on them; There are also a bunch of S-boats, probably 18-20 in total.”

"Let the Army Aviation send us as many reconnaissance photos as possible today, and I will make a detailed judgment." Spruance asked, "Do you have any more mature combat plans?"

"It's definitely not a good idea to rush in and attack this fleet. Firstly, we don't have marines. Secondly, there are many German Air Force aircraft on the Falkland Islands. It is initially estimated that there are about 200-240 aircraft. It is a tough nut to crack. Finally, The ideal way is to hide, wait for the German fleet to return to Madagascar, then launch a surprise attack, and destroy them in one fell swoop!" Roddick shrugged, "The Germans have a large number of cargo ships, and they will definitely not be able to run fast, so it is easier to catch up with them, my plan. The South African Army Air Force is asked to take off for continuous reconnaissance. Once the German fleet is found, the fleet will immediately set off to pursue it. In addition, the fleet is hiding in Cape Town to rest and avoid alerting the enemy. "

Spruance nodded slightly: The TF44 fleet currently has 4 aircraft carriers, including the USS Bunker Hill, the USS Wasp (Essex-class), the USS San Jacinto (Independence-class), the USS Unicorn, and the battleship 1 ship - USS Iowa, 4 anti-aircraft light cruisers. In terms of strength, those who can overwhelm the German fleet can definitely fight. Since Britain and the United States currently have no heavy cruisers and not many light cruisers, the fleet has 6 tactical formations with a total of 24 Fletcher-class destroyers and 12 light frigates. However, he did not bring PT torpedo boats like the Germans.

After Kennedy became famous, a large number of young men were willing to apply to serve in torpedo boats. Unfortunately, American torpedoes were not good at it, and the power of torpedo boats and submarine units were much inferior to their German counterparts. In particular, the troops using MK14 torpedoes were almost always fighting. Japanese merchant ships that often return to Hong Kong often have an unexploded torpedo stuck in their shells, just like a whale with a harpoon stuck in it. Then the Japanese war report is also very interesting. They call it "Capture of US military torpedoes!" Then they happily wait to dismantle and reuse them for money - a torpedo is worth a lot of money.

In the words of the frontline officers and soldiers of the US military: "We ****** suspect that the American torpedo designer is a German spy or a Japanese spy. We have seen fewer explosive torpedoes in our lives than German dumb mines! This thing is the most reliable Performance is its unreliability!" Rear Admiral Lockwood, who was in charge of the submarine force, was quite dissatisfied with the torpedo issue: "If the Ordnance Bureau cannot provide us with a torpedo that can successfully hit enemy ships and explode, then let the Navy ship The Security Bureau designed a hook for us so that we can hook off the steel plates on the enemy's ship."

By the beginning of 1944, the United States switched to the MK18 with worse performance (the manufacturing fortifications were equivalent to 70% of the MK14) and finally achieved the goal of relative reliability, but it was too late. After Horikichi took control of the Combined Fleet, he attached great importance to escort and anti-submarine warfare, not only It uses a large number of escort aircraft carriers, and also densely deploys imported Atlantic Condors (FW-200C) or Japan's unique Type 2 large boats on various islands in the Southeast Asia. It uses advanced radar to scan the surrounding sea areas and uses aviation anti-submarine warfare. The snorkel technology of American submarines was not as good as that of Germany at this time, and the losses in breaking diplomatic relations in the Southeast Asia were huge, and the results were far less glorious than in history.

As for Spruance bringing so many destroyers and frigates, he obviously learned the lessons of the Cape Verde Battle. The endless S-boats emerging in the night caused the U.S. military to suffer enough. After the post-war experience summary and battle reflection, we came to a conclusion: destroyers, The number of light auxiliary warships such as frigates is insufficient for the German army to take advantage of. In the future, the main fleet must increase the escort density. So now destroyers and frigates are being built. There are more than 200 orders for Fletcher-class destroyers alone, which is more than double the overall destroyer construction plan of the axis countries (which may not be completed).

Admiral Krank, who commanded the Falklands Squadron, never dreamed that the US fleet had arrived in South Africa and was ready to attack him. He also released troops, equipment and supplies in an orderly manner on South Georgia Island. According to the requirements, South Georgia Island will deploy a battalion of surveillance troops and 16 water reconnaissance aircraft (Ar-372). After completing these, he will lead the fleet to the Falklands...