As the saying goes, science and technology bring progress, and science and technology create productivity. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 While the navies of most countries are still using slide-drop barrel depth charges and pneumatic drop-off depth charges, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, which have the most advanced military technology, have successively used rocket-type depth charges. As the name suggests, these anti-submarine weapons use rocket-propelled systems, and their warheads, like the "hedgehog shells" that emerged during World War II, use trigger fuses instead of depth fuzes, meaning they only explode if they hit a submarine directly - which may sound like a reduction in combat effectiveness, but it is not. Depth charges using trigger fuses are delivered without the need to determine the exact depth of the submarine, nor do they have to worry about the submarine temporarily changing the depth to evade the attack, and unlike the depth charge, the attack can seriously interfere with the sonar system once the attack has begun.

According to the test data of the British Navy, in the case of the use of the same type of sonar equipment, the normal hit rate of rocket-type deep bombs is 10-12%, which is significantly higher than the 6-8% of pneumatic deep bombs, and the increase in attack efficiency is mainly due to the fact that the attack range of rocket-type deep bombs is 3-4 times larger than that of pneumatic deep bombs, which correspondingly increases the concealment and suddenness of anti-submarine attacks, so that the early warning and evasion time of enemy submarines is greatly reduced.

In the waters of the southern Barents Sea, two high-speed underwater submarines of the Soviet and Russian navies participating in the joint exercise were attacked by a British destroyer before they could perform their underwater acrobatics. The rocket-type deep bomb, codenamed DL-II, usually with a warhead of 27 kilograms of aluminium explosives, was powerful enough to blow a submarine made of the finest steel into a large hole for a tank to walk through. Of course, as long as the crew reacts quickly enough and the emergency damage management work is good enough, there is still a chance to save the submarine from sinking.

Less than two minutes after the first strange noise, the K-1 crew heard the same sound again, but in a different location. Under these circumstances, the captain of the boat, Berezutsky, decisively gathered the officers on board the boat to discuss whether the K-1 should follow the rules of the exercise and take the initiative to float and fly the yellow flag to show that he would admit defeat.

After Captain Berezutsky raised this issue, most chose to remain silent and turned their attention to Commissar Zarlev.

In terms of age and qualifications, Zarlev can only be regarded as a "little brother" among this group of officers, but his words and deeds have maturity and stability beyond his age. He thought for a moment without saying a word, then raised his head and asked Berezutsky: "Comrade Captain, what do you think?" ”

"What do I think?" Berezutsky crossed his hands on his hips and his face was full of helplessness, "Either choose honesty or choose loyalty." ”

Everyone understands people, and there is no need to speak so clearly. Zarlev nodded: "In this exercise, we have actually been sunk by the opponent, and it is supposed that we should rise to the surface and admit defeat, but if we do nothing next, the Northern Fleet is likely to suffer a very embarrassing defeat, which is directly related to the reputation of the Soviet Russian Navy and even the dignity of the entire country...... That's all I want to say. Now, according to the democratic decision-making process, everyone votes! If you agree to float and admit defeat, please raise your hand! ”

With that, Zarlev looked around to the left and right, but no one raised his hand.

"Raise your hand if you agree to continue the exercise!"

After saying that, Zarlev closed his eyes and raised his right hand at the same time. After a moment, he lowered his right hand: "Okay, the result is obvious. Comrade Captain, let's give up our personal honesty for the time being and continue this exercise! ”

This subtle detail, as usual, made Zarlev gain the respect of his colleagues. Captain Berezutsky sighed lightly and ordered: "The enemy's destroyers are more powerful than we thought, and there are two ships acting in tandem, and we cannot fight hard with them. Now, dive to a depth of 80 meters and head northwest at full speed. ”

The officers were not all in one mind, but they all acted aggressively and quickly at this time. When the crowd dispersed, Berezutsky whispered to his commissar: "Thank you, Comrade Zarlev. ”

Zarlev smiled slightly, and there was no lack of bitterness in his smile.

At the same time, the "Cardiff", which was slowing down on the surface of the sea, had turned the spearhead of the attack to another submarine detected by sonar. In the open-air anti-submarine warfare position, the crew members were not afraid of the wind, snow and severe cold, and carried out the loading and launching of deep bombs in accordance with the prescribed procedures. In the blink of an eye, two waves of rockets roared out and fell to the sea thousands of kilometers away. Such a scene was not uncommon for the officers and men of the United Kingdom, which had one of the highest training densities in Europe, but the crew was surprised not to see the opposing submarine rise for a long time, and on the bridge of the destroyer, the officers also muttered - was there a problem with their sonar positioning, or was the other submarine using evasion methods unknown to them? Or is it the bad weather in the Barents Sea that is providing shelter for the Soviet and Russian navies fighting at home?

"None of our 36 deep rounds hit, and the Galway was the same as us, which doesn't seem normal...... Well, not quite normal! ”

The officer who spoke was Lieutenant John Grundez, the anti-submarine commander of the Cardiff, who, like Major Davis, had served for a long time in the weak Welsh Navy, but had no experience in the Royal Navy - when the Kingdom of Great Britain fell apart, the young man from a family of teachers was unable to join the army because a quarter of his German ancestry was questioned. After the formation of the Welsh Navy, he became one of the first cadets at the New Cardiff Naval Academy, graduating with honors. Unfortunately, because the Welsh Navy was only equipped with a handful of small ships for a long time, Gurendes worked for four years as an "army and navy" before he got the opportunity to board surface ships, and since then he has formed an indissoluble bond with the anti-submarine post.

Major Davis had just been using a telescope to observe the sea, and although the wind and snow affected his vision, he was still able to roughly see the movements of the friendly ship "Galway". Just as Lieutenant Gurundes said, two Red Dragon-class destroyers with excellent anti-submarine capabilities will be able to "smash" underwater submarines nine times out of ten during their usual training exercises. The British Navy, which is based on the Irish Navy, has submarines that are not an advantageous type of ship, but its submarine technology has always been in the forefront of Europe since the 20 s, and its combat efficiency has also been fully tested in actual combat -- during the Philippine Campaign, the Irish Navy sent a total of 10 submarines to assist the US military in the operation, and in just over two months, it sank 22 Japanese ships without losing a single one. In contrast, although the submarine force of the Soviet and Russian navies has a huge scale, its overall technical strength and the battle loss rate in actual combat are not ideal. It can be said that apart from the most elite K-class submarines, the submarine forces of the Soviet and Russian Navy did not have anything comparable to their counterparts in the new United Kingdom.

"Perhaps...... The Russian captains still don't know what it's like to be hit by a trained depth charge, and we should show them before the exercise and send exercise observers aboard their submarines. ”

Major Davis's well-intentioned speculation was apparently not agreed with by Lieutenant Grundez, who said with disgust: "How can a submarine officer with a little experience not be able to distinguish the sound of a submarine being concentrated by hard objects?" I see that the Russians just like to deceive themselves, unlike the Germans and Americans, who admit defeat when they lose, and then seriously find their own shortcomings and strive to win next time. They attach too much importance to spiritual honor and national dignity to win and lose, so even if they know that their submarine has been hit by us, they can turn a blind eye when we have no direct evidence, or they can feel that they have a strong enough battlefield repair ability to continue fighting after being hit by a deep bullet. In this respect, they are very similar to the despicable Japanese! ”

Major Davis smiled: "Lieutenant, belittling the opponent does not make us strong, maybe our tactics are really deployed on the Russians and do not work?" As you said, if you fail, you should find the problem within yourself and try to win next time. ”

As the two were talking, the sonar room reported a battle report: after being attacked by deep shells, the enemy submarine was suspected to have used traditional tactics of slow movement and vertical diving to evade, and the sonar crew twice heard the impact sound, which meant that at least one enemy submarine was hit by deep bombs.

Lieutenant Gurundes suddenly sneered: "Look, I'm right! The Russians just refused to admit their defeat, and in previous joint exercises, neither the Germans nor the Americans had ever been hit and did not rise! These Russians are really contemptible! ”

Major Davis did not avoid the topic, but shrugged his shoulders and said: "Well, since the Russians are not willing to face up to their shortcomings, let's wait and see, sooner or later they will fall on their heels." ”

"That's it, I think we should suspend the attack, otherwise it will be a waste of ammunition!" "Do you need to inform the Galway of this and advise them to stop the attack as well?" ”

Major Davis thought for a moment and asked rhetorically, "Why not?" ”

"I've always felt like they're as rigid as the Germans, and if we don't remind them, they're probably going to run out of deep bombs for training." Grundez muttered quietly.

Davis didn't speak, but smiled wordlessly.

Receiving the order from the bridge, the crew of the "Cardiff" suspended the launch of deep bombs, and not long after, the "Galway", which received the signal of the friendly ship's lights, also suspended this useful and ineffective move, and replied with the rigor inherent to the Irish: "We have made at least two hits, but not a single Russian submarine has surfaced!" ”

Not long after the "Galway" sent this light signal, the sea foam suddenly rolled a little farther away, and I saw a slender submarine with large-caliber deck guns and anti-aircraft guns floating. Despite the exercise, the two Red Dragon-class destroyers belonging to the new United Kingdom Navy were still vigilant in dealing with the contingencies, with all twin 127mm guns turning to the target at the first opportunity, and under the guidance of fire control radars, they were able to carry out precise and rapid fire strikes against surface ships within range without the need for test-firing calibration.

(End of chapter)