It takes a few torpedoes to sink a transoceanic cruise ship, and German submariners are clearly the most authoritative in answering this question, and they have experience in this area that is unmatched by their naval counterparts in the world.

Although they did not attack many similar targets during the two wars, and not every attack was successful, the few successes they did caused a worldwide sensation in each case.

Truth be told, those behemoths are not as fragile as one might think they can be easily picked up by a small submarine.

The difficulty of a submarine attack on a transoceanic cruise ship was much higher than one might have estimated, as evidenced by the fact that there were only a handful of transoceanic cruise ships sunk by German submarines during the war.

Leaving aside the restrictions imposed by the laws of war and German naval doctrine on such an attack, the technical gap between the two sides alone was enough to make any German captain depressed in the face of such a target.

Because providing passengers with comfortable and high-speed travel is one of the selling points of ocean passenger transport companies to attract customers, so those luxury cruise ships in these years have built a greater tonnage, a more powerful than a full, and a faster speed, and some of them have reached the point where even a slightly older military ship is willing to bow to the wind.

At this time, the highest surface speed of the world's newest submarine was a little difficult to chase down a medium-speed ZI lure wheel, which was still a German submarine that brought together the most advanced submarine technology of the time, if it was an old submarine of the United States or Japan at that time, even if they were sailing at full speed, a new type of trawler with slightly more horsepower could easily circle around them.

For the most part, the captains of German submarines could only watch through periscopes as the huge luxury cruise ships swaggered along the horizon with black smoke and then turned into a small black dot on the horizon within minutes.

In the event of poor visibility, submarine captains sometimes do not even have time to identify what type of ship the other party is, let alone occupy a firing position.

However, once German submarines get the opportunity to attack cruise ships, they will generally hold the purpose of killing mistakes rather than letting go, and they will not talk to death and be ruthless.

The tonnage of passenger ships is much larger than that of small cargo ships, especially transoceanic cruise ships, which are a top three deal.

Because the target speed is generally faster than that of a freighter, especially in the submarine-infested sea area, the captains of passenger ships will involuntarily increase their speed, giving the submarine a fleeting opportunity to attack, so the German captains often automatically ignore the necessary identification procedures in front of such targets, which directly caused some innocent civilian passenger ships to become victims of German submarines, resulting in a series of human tragedies.

Now, in the eyes of those who saw the German torpedo track, the same tragedy was about to happen, and what was even more tragic was that they were the protagonists of this tragedy.

Four torpedoes, the Germans wanted to kill them all. Despite its large tonnage, advanced design, and well-spaced watertight compartments, the Adriana is ultimately a civilian vessel.

One torpedo was enough to inflict heavy damage on a cruiser-class battleship with underwater protection, and now that the Germans were putting four on an unarmored civilian cruise ship, it seemed that the Germans did not want to sink the Adriana, but to destroy her completely.

To add to the despair, Adriana's cāo commanders were now unaware of the dangers of the approach. The attention of the lookouts on the bridge of the Adriana was drawn to the negotiation between the captain and the captain of the British destroyer, and all expressed concern about the outcome of the negotiation that was at stake for their own safety.

"Trust, trust, trust, trust...... Torpedo!!!! ”

In the end, it was the first mate who suffered from torpedo phobia to send out the first good news on the Adriana with a scream that was so terrible that it did not look like a human being.

"Torpedo!! Thirty degrees on the port side!!! ”

Lovell shouted as he pointed to the sea beyond the bridge with a twisted face.

Just as everyone turned their eyes to the sea, a sharp sound of fine announcements sounded from the British destroyers on the side, and the shrill whistle suddenly resounded throughout the sea.

"Left full rudder! Turn left thirty degrees! ”

Cooper spotted the snow-white torpedo tracks in the first place, and almost had a heart attack on the spot, and the distance was too close for the cruise ship to make evasive moves.

However, the experience he gained during his time in the Navy allowed him to react right away, turning the ship in the direction from which the torpedoes were fired and minimizing the area of the ship from which the bomb was fired.

Moreover, compared to the hull, the bow of the ship is more able to withstand the blow of the torpedo, even if the entire bow is knocked out, as long as the damage management work is done well, with the tonnage of the Adriana, it is enough to hold out until all the passengers board the lifeboat and escape safely.

If you're lucky, you can even make it to the nearest port, and there is no shortage of similar examples in the history of navigation.

In contrast to the chaos on the bridge of the Adriana, there is an unusual tranquility in the bridge of the destroyer Two-Faced God.

The captain, dressed in a crisp lieutenant's uniform, was now looking with interest as he walked back and forth to the upper deck of the massive cruise ship beside him.

"The torpedo is at a distance of eight hundred meters...... Captain. ”

In the shrill and piercing sound of the destroyer, the first mate reported coldly.

"Hmm."

The captain nodded slightly.

"Stop the reimbursement, they've noticed."

"Yes, sir."

The sound of the fine report came to an abrupt end.

The captain put down his binoculars and turned his face to one of the crew members standing behind him and whispered, "Have you found your target?" ”

"Yes, a minute ago in the Observation Corridor. Now gone, I think the target has taken refuge in the cabin. ”

The crew replied in the same low voice.

The sailor looked like a medieval monk in a navy oilcloth deck coat with a hood on the collar that obscured most of his face.

This is a kind of overalls issued to low-ranking non-commissioned officers who need to work in the open air on deck, only to ensure that they will not freeze to death when working in the bad weather of the Atlantic. But no one expects this uniform to guarantee that you will not be drenched by the sea in that situation, and whatever you wear on deck in the event of a storm will only end up like this.

"You can take off this trench coat, you don't need to continue your disguise, Captain."

The captain said with a smile.

"No, wait a little longer."

Unmoved by the captain's kindness, the other party continued to scan the deck of the cruise ship with a telescope.

"Five hundred meters...... Sir. There will be at least one hit. ”

The first mate's cold voice sounded again.

"Fifteen degrees on the right rudder, full speed, pull away from her, pull the collision jingbao, and let everyone run on the deck."

The captain shook his head slightly, turned his face and gave a loud order to the first mate.

"Yes, sir."

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"Captain! We can't hide! ”

Adriana's captain let out a wail.

"God bless us ......"

Cooper looked at the torpedo trail that was already close at hand, and involuntarily grabbed the handrail by the porthole.

"Everyone grab something fixed around you, the torpedo is going to explode!"

Lovell, who was still howling not long ago, suddenly became calm, and he hugged Luo Jingyi's pillar and reminded the surrounding crew loudly.

Two snow-white wakes swept swiftly past the bow of the Adriana, and a lookout nearly fell off the fence on the side of the bridge to see the scene.

But before he could report the situation to the captain, two loud thuds rang out from the other side of the bow, like the dull, hollow metal thump of an air hammer striking the heavy oil storage tanks on the docks.

"We were hit, we were hit by two torpedoes, we were finished! Captain! ”

Less than ten seconds after he had calmed down, Lovell returned to hysteria with two loud bangs, and he screamed at Cooper!

Captain Cooper was now eager to kick the noisy madman into the sea.

"Shut up, bastard!"

The captain yelled at his first mate, who was still sitting on the floor clinging to the compass pillars.

"It's not like an explosion."

Cooper looked suspiciously out of the bridge window at the front deck.

"There was no smoke, no vibration, the deck remained intact, and there was no column of water on the side at the moment of the hit...... Is it ......?"

Cooper couldn't believe his good fortune, and although the two German torpedoes hit the Adriana, they apparently did not explode.

"Send someone to the bow compartment immediately to check on the damage! Burn the wind! Twenty degrees on the left side! Send a signal to the British destroyers, ask for their protection! Also, bring the first mate to his room, he needs to rest now! ”

Cooper took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then quickly issued a series of orders.

Now was not the time to celebrate, and Cooper, who had served in the Navy for a while, knew all too well how terrible the destructive power of torpedoes could be, and he could not have the luxury of expecting such good luck in his next attack.

The Adriana had already been attacked by German submarines, and no one could guarantee that another torpedo would come at the ship the next minute.

A shrill whistle sounded, and Cooper hurried to the intercom tube and pulled out the screaming rubber stopper.

"Funabashi, this is the front cabin."

There was a muffled report from the pipe.

"I'm Captain Cooper, how's it going!"

Cooper asked loudly.

"No major damage, Captain. God forbid, neither of those torpedoes exploded. The impact was very severe, there were two steel plates on the port side of the first cabin that had been bent and deformed, and the rivets were broken, but the cracks were not big, and we were trying to find a way to block the water ingress. ”

"I see, I'll send some more people over."

It was only then that Cooper finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hurry up and send a team of sailors to the first cabin and get an extra pump. Also, let the cabin attendant reassure the passengers as soon as possible, I think there is already a big mess there, and more people will be transferred. Let them pay special attention to the first class guys, so that they don't panic, and I'll explain it to them myself in a moment. ”

After issuing these orders, Cooper walked to the porthole of the bridge and raised his binoculars.

"Helmsman, return to the rudder, turn the left rudder thirty degrees!"

He turned his face to the helmsman and commanded loudly.

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"Captain, two torpedoes have hit the target, and the target has not exploded!"

The first mate's cold report resounded again in the quiet bridge of the Two-Faced God.

"Well, it seems that no matter how sophisticated the plan is, it can't keep up with the changes, Captain?"

The captain turned his face to look at the mysterious captain.

"It's just a minor issue, let's wait a little longer." The latter replied calmly.

"Captain, the Adriana has asked for our protection!" The first mate followed.

"Well, tell them that we are searching for the location of German submarines and let them not panic!"

The captain whispered to the captain, "Why hasn't it exploded yet, there won't be any problems?" ”

"We'll wait a little longer......," the captain looked up at his watch. Wait another three minutes, that's the limit. If there is no change after three minutes, the only option is to take the final plan. ”

"Mr. Hansen, prepare for battle."

The captain quickly turned around and commanded the first mate.

"Yes, sir, ready for battle."

"I sincerely hope that things don't get to the point where the final plan is executed, Mr. Captain."

The captain turned and stomped over to the captain, frowning.

"I don't want to, Mr. Captain, and I don't want ...... either"

The captain re-picked up his binoculars and looked at the cruise ship as it was making a rapid turn.

Suddenly, a large orange-yellow fireball rose from the waterline below the bridge near the front of the cruise ship, and a thick column of water then rose into the sky.

"It's exploded!"

The first mate's usual cold report was unexpectedly relieved.

The explosion was so violent that the terrible destructive force was felt on the bridge of the Two-Faced God, as what looked like the shattered steel plate of a cruise ship screeched past the porthole of the destroyer's bridge a second later.

"Everything is going according to plan. Mr. Captain, it seems that there is no need to implement the final plan. ”

"Yes, Captain. Now it doesn't seem like it's our turn. Honestly, it really relieved me. ”

The captain walked briskly to the bridge.

"Mr. Hansen, turn to the first level of the spirit ring and let the soldiers run two more laps. Right full rudder, full speed, heading 310, we go home. ”

After giving this order, the captain opened the hatch and walked to the platform outside.

"Our mission is finally complete, it's a really annoying task, but it's over. Kaoririch, if you have a holiday when you go back, come to me at the base, I'll take you to have a good time there, I have a lot of good things that are hard to get outside. Alright, don't cry, Mr. Captain, I know you're going to have to report to your girlfriend first. ”

The captain took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and handed it to the captain who walked up to him.

"Vacation? Let's hope. ”

The captain took the cigarette and raised his hand to uncover the hood, his short blond hair shining brightly in the sun.

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