While the New United Kingdom Navy and the Italian Navy and Air Force were engaged in a fierce battle in the western Mediterranean, a huge ship of exceptional size and sturdiness appeared on the northern route of the Strait of Gibraltar. The clouds were low in the sky, the sea was rough, and the usual bad weather in the Atlantic did not cause much trouble for the ship's voyage, which always sailed smoothly south at a speed of 12 knots.

On the flagpole, the flag of the Kingdom of Spain flutters in the wind, and the metal nameplate on the bow prominently lists the name "Spain".

With the rise of modern industry, oil has been valued by the great powers as an important industrial raw material, and more and more ships dedicated to carrying crude oil have been built more and more. In fact, large tankers not only meet safety standards, but also have cost advantages in construction and operation: typically 10,000 tons of steel are required to build a 50,000-ton tanker, and 20,000 tons of steel are required to build five 10,000-ton tankers, and the larger the tanker, the more crude oil can be transported in a single voyage, and the lower the average fuel consumption per tonne of traffic. These reasons prompted the rise of large oil tankers since the mid-to-late 20s, and after the end of World War II, the construction of large oil tankers soon ushered in a first period. By 1945, European countries had a total of 86 oil tankers of more than 10,000 tons, and the strongest carrying capacity was the 5 Europa-class built and owned by the Germans, with a deadweight of 82,000 tons, followed by the 9 Liberty-class built by the Kingdom of Ireland, with a deadweight of 65,000 tons.

In 1942, Spain's Navigón Navantia shipyard began construction of the country's first ever 50,000-ton ship, the 25 million Spaniards, with Irish technical support. Thanks to its excellent design, excellent materials and excellent craftsmanship, the "Spain" has become one of the world's most famous ships. Of course, no matter how good a civil ship is, it cannot get rid of the innate constraints of civil ships, and shipbuilders must not only control the construction cost of the ship, but also ensure its economy after it is put into operation. In terms of protection capabilities, the "Spain", with a full load tonnage of 50,000 tons, may not be as good as a destroyer of 1,400 tons

Before the outbreak of the war, the España sailed regularly between the Persian Gulf and Spain, with the regular route of the Mediterranean via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, and then across the entire Mediterranean to the port of Malaga. After the outbreak of the war, after the new United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary jointly launched a war against the Kingdom of Italy, the entire Mediterranean region was classified as a war zone, except for short-range routes in or close to the territorial waters of neutral countries, basically all civilian routes were suspended, and the "Spain" had just unloaded crude oil at the port of Malaga, and the shipping company to which it belonged was also faced with a dilemma: it was safe to keep the supertanker in port, but every extra day of stay was tens of thousands of economic losses; Bypassing the Mediterranean Sea and taking the Cape of Good Hope route, the cost of transportation has doubled, and there is also a risk of being mistakenly attacked by the belligerents.

Driven by the huge profits, Spanish businessmen made a decisive choice to let the "Spain" sail out of the Mediterranean Sea through Gibraltar and sail around Africa to the Persian Gulf to transport oil.

After departing from the port of Malaga, the España was unladen and sped along until it passed the Gibraltar fortress, where it slowed down slightly to avoid excessive wear and tear on the turbines as they continued to operate at full capacity. Just when the vast Atlantic Ocean was in sight, the crew suddenly spotted a speeding torpedo on the port side of the sea, that is, in the direction of Morocco, and the huge oil tanker had no time to turn away.

A moment later, a loud bang from under the port side made everyone's hearts pound!

The captain of the "España" was a veteran sailor who had served in the Spanish Navy for more than 30 years and had the privilege of participating in the early Azores campaign. In the face of this sudden change, he quickly grabbed the internal contact number: "Report the loss, report the loss as soon as possible!" For the time being, close the waterproof partition pairs of the engine room and the boiler room, lower the watertight door, temporarily evacuate the injured first, and the rest continue to stick to their posts! ”

At the end, the captain instructed the first mate: "Turn right with full rudder and sail to the port of Gibraltar!" ”

The first mate quickly turned the huge rudder, and without a significant drop in speed, the hull of the deck, which was nearly 20 meters above the waterline and the chimney top was more than 70 meters above the water, began to turn awkwardly. The mountain-like hull does not tilt significantly on sharp turns, as light ships do, and where torpedoes are broken below the waterline, a large amount of seawater is pouring into the hold through the huge hull breakout. This, of course, will not immediately have a noticeable impact on the overall state of the mail ship, but it is a serious and irreversible process of destruction!

At this time, the real crisis situation is close to the bottom of the hull boiler room and engine room, once directly attacked by seawater, the dilemma of losing power will directly affect the operation of the ship and damage management and leakage prevention work, if it leads to an internal explosion and ignites the fire, the fate of the ship is really irreparable.

The crew of this giant tanker, which is made of oil-fired boilers and steam turbines as the main power system, is smaller than that of an ordinary freighter in the coal-fired era, and their daily duties have changed from non-stop refueling of coal to maintenance and repairs.

In the face of the sudden explosion, these ordinary civilians who had never experienced the scene of war panicked one by one, and under the control of the damaged pipe center, the watertight doors closed one after another, and the gurgling sound of the gears running seemed to be the devil's grin.

The previous explosion was violent, but the impact of the explosion did not spread to this point, and no crew members were injured during the process. Today, in a relatively enclosed space, the roar of the oil-fired boilers is still so noisy, through the roar of this machinery, one is sometimes startled by the sharp sharp of the twisting of metal, and sometimes by the rumble of the sea water against the cabins and partitions.

Some of the crew thought they should evacuate without knowing the situation, but the lead chief engineer rejected the suggestion on the grounds that he had received instructions from the captain, and when someone forcibly opened the passage security door and tried to leave, the stout middle-aged man blocked his men's path and roared like a majestic lion:

"Stick to your post! You bastards! Do you want to be deprived of your wages? Well? ”

Some flinched, others were resolute, and they shouted, "Stupid pig! Is life or money important? ”

Whether it's a stupid pig or a beast, the chief engineer suddenly pushed the person who walked in front back, and knocked the safety door with his backhand: "Go to your posts, it's safe here now, if there is danger, I promise to be the last to go!" ”

Seeing that the chief engineer was so tough, most of the crew was ready to disperse, after all, with the assistance of Irish marine engineers throughout the process, the design and construction of the "España" reached a world-class standard. The sturdy emergency escape route withstands the impact of moderate blast intensity, allowing the crew in the boiler compartment to open the circular safety door and pass through the shaft to the upper cabin even when all watertight doors are closed.

But at this moment, a strange knock sounded, it sounded like someone stranded in the outer cabin pounding on the door for help, but this guy's strength was beyond imagination, and the heavy steel watertight door could be pounded.

In fact, the high explosives of the torpedo warhead device produced a powerful impact, tearing directly through the outer hull, not to mention penetrating the multi-layered compartment in one go. Since it was almost impossible for the blast-damaged chambers to obtain sufficiently strong and effective damaged tubes, they were gradually filled with seawater pouring into the breaches. As thousands of tons of seawater poured in, the huge tanker began to tilt, but this was not the deadliest thing, with some watertight doors that failed to close in time and bulkheads that were overwhelmed by the enormous pressure of the seawater as a path for the seawater to spread further into the ship's cabins

"Damn, the water is already overflowing! If you don't leave, you'll have to die here! An older crew member yelled in horror.

The captain of the captain of the boxer, who was of stature and heavyweight, was obviously also afraid, but he did not give in, but turned and walked to the bulkhead where the old telephone was hung, and tried to use it to communicate with the captain and first mate in the cockpit, but the line was interrupted, and the sound of the knock outside became more and more urgent and heavier.

On the safe passage, a sturdy crew member forcibly reopened the security door and climbed up first. When the second person got in, someone behind suddenly exclaimed: "The No. 1 boiler is backwater!" ”

Boiler No. 1 is located at the very front of the power compartment, some distance from the safe access port. Hearing the warning of their companions, the crew members were afraid that they would be trapped here, and one by one they rushed to the safe passage one by one, and even if the chief engineer tried to stop it, it was useless. In the more and more obvious tremors, he changed his previous brutality and toughness, forgot about the promise that the exit was less than 3 minutes, dropped the phone and squeezed towards the safe passage.

The ** of survival can make people burst out of their physical potential, people are scrambling one by one, even if the chief engineer is strong, he has not been able to squeeze to his position just now, and this vertical upward safety passage can only drill through one person at a time, the more people squeeze me to fight, the lower the efficiency of the passage. In just a few minutes, the leakage in the bulkhead near boiler No. 1 deteriorated sharply, and fountains appeared in the gaps, and water quickly accumulated on the deck.

Faced with this situation, the crew should have reported to the captain in time and turned off the oil-fired boilers, which would have slowed down the ship's sinking and ensured the safety of the majority, if not to save the ship's fate. But the crew only cared about their own escape at this time, and no one went to the rescue in a righteous manner. After all, there are lifeboats outside, and they are only a few nautical miles away from the Spanish coast, so as long as they leave here, whether the giant ship sinks or not, they have great hope of survival.

One of the great tragedies of the world is that the more urgent people's hope for survival, the more difficult it is for people to escape. When only the last dozen crew members were left on the outside of the safe passage entrance, the thumping stopped abruptly without warning. The oil-fired boilers used to maintain a steady and rhythmic mechanical roar, and the noise was softer than that of steam turbines, but as the water increased, the boilers located in the front suddenly burst into white gas, and then produced a strange popping sound, and several emergency lights went out for no apparent reason.

In the near-darkness of the environment, the crew members who remained outside the safe passage almost killed each other for the sake of order. Before they knew it, the cold water was already accumulating under their feet, and they could feel the very rapid rise of the water. Fortunately, the engine room was large enough to be completely submerged in the sea in just a minute or two, and by the time the last crew member finally climbed the vertical ladder of the safe passage, the water had risen to the height of a normal person's chest, and it showed a terrifying tumbling shape

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