In the waters of the Faroe Islands on November 24, 1914, as in the waters of Jutland more than three months earlier, nearly 100 warships of the British and German navies, large and small, fought at a distance from each other, but even at the height of the battle, some ships of each side were outside the battlefield. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 InfoThe two British destroyers that served as outposts, the Scorpion and the Harpy, did not rush to the battlefield to contribute their modest forces, but continued to sail in the alert waters west of Strammer Island. The officers and men on board could only learn part of the news about the development of the battle situation from the radio communications of their own ships, and just as they were shocked by the sinking of the "Emperor", the lookout on the mast suddenly saw a column of smoke on the surface of the sea.

Judging by the density of the smoke column, it should have been a medium-sized fleet that appeared in the sea ahead. At this time, the British officers and men on the two destroyers were not sure that they were enemy ships, after all, this was the waters of the Faroe Islands, which were closer to the British mainland, and the Scapafolo Naval Base, which was more than 200 nautical miles away, and the Clyde Military Port, which was more than 300 nautical miles away, were all equipped with British naval combat ships, and as long as the naval staff ordered it, they could rush to support as soon as possible.

The mixed emotions of both anticipation and apprehension of the officers and men of the British ship did not last long, and five light gray shadows gradually appeared on the sea. Through the high-powered telescopes, the officers saw the silhouette that terrified them deeply - the large battleship of the Germans!

Despite the fact that his opponent was N ranks stronger than himself, on the battle bridge of the "Scorpion", the short-bearded British Navy Lieutenant Pete Granville was full of anxiety but resolutely ordered: "Pull the battle alarm!" Get ready to meet the enemy! ”

The "Scorpion" and the "Harpy" are all British G-class destroyers that started construction in 1909, and their seaworthiness has been significantly improved compared with the early British destroyers, but after all, they are still light ships with a displacement of less than 1,000 tons, and the hull is low. In order to prevent the seawater from damaging the naval guns, the muzzles and sterns of the guns had to be covered with waterproof canvas, and in the event of an enemy, they needed to be removed in the shortest possible time.

While the British crew was busy undressing and transporting shells, Lieutenant Gray, the ship's firing commander, exclaimed: "The first two should be the Moltke-class battlecruisers of the German Navy...... My God, the Germans appeared in this position with the intention of attacking our main fleet from behind! ”

Of course, it is impossible for such a destroyer as the "Scorpion" to be equipped with a sophisticated fire control system like the main battleship, it is equipped with a 3-meter rangefinder, which can effectively range sea targets within 11,000 meters, but it only carries out ranging and does not have the ability to command the ship's guns to shoot, the aiming of the ship's guns mainly relies on its own gunscope, and the actual effective range is only within 7,000 meters, and the shooting commander does not need to calculate the firing parameters, nor does he personally fire the opportunity to fire the ship's guns, his role is more similar to that of a combat staff officer, and served as the captain's first substitute.

Major Granville leaned into the mouth of the microphone: "Quickly send a report to the flagship, two battlecruisers equipped with triple main guns and three armored cruisers equipped with twin main guns have appeared to the west of our ship, they are German battleships!" Our current bearing is 62 degrees 71 minutes north latitude and 8 degrees 67 minutes west longitude, and there may be some error in the geographical coordinates, and we should be about 40 nautical miles southwest of the main fleet. ”

After he finished saying this, Lieutenant Gray asked with a wry smile, "Sir, what do we do now?" Find a way to keep an eye on them, or pin them? ”

The difference between these words is two completely different paths, which determine the fate of the officers and men of the whole ship in one thought, and may also have an important impact on the outcome of this naval battle.

"Scared?" Granville asked intently.

"Afraid of death? No, it's not terrible to die, it's terrible to die worthlessly. The bitterness on Gray's face continued unabated.

Granville glanced at him obliquely, "What makes it worthwhile?" ”

Gray touched his shaved chin and said vaguely: "If I can help the Grand Fleet defeat the Germans, it will be worth my death a hundred times, otherwise, I would rather live until the day when the British Navy can defeat the German Navy." ”

"The Germans, a fast fleet of five warships, must have appeared in this position with the intention of stabbing our Grand Fleet in the back at the height of the battle. With our capabilities, even if we make positive efforts, we may not be able to change the tide of the war. But......" Major Granville paused, and then said generously, "If we do nothing but wait from afar, whether the Grand Fleet wins or loses, will we be able to spend the rest of our lives with a clear conscience?" ”

The captain's words had clearly expressed his determination, and Gray knew that it would be superfluous for him to say anything more, but let go of the contradictions in his heart, and shrugged his shoulders with a relaxed expression: "Even if this is the last naval battle of the British Navy in this war, let the Germans admire our fearless spirit." ”

Granville, who was already standing and not yet confused, held the bridge railing with both hands, and gave orders to the crew on the deck with a proud posture: "British sailors, put our guns and torpedoes into firing as fast as possible, and we will give the Germans a little color!" ”

The contempt for the strong enemy was warmly echoed by the crew, and in the blink of an eye, all the guns on the ship, as well as the two single-mounted torpedo tubes with a certain angle of rotation, were in place.

Perhaps ignoring the two British destroyers, the German fleet had been slow to fire after coming within range of the large-caliber naval guns, and if the two sides had kept their current course and speed unchanged, the British destroyers would have had a chance to fire torpedoes at the Germans in a few minutes.

When Gray returned from inspecting the torpedo preparations, Major Granville, who had been observing the German fleet for a long time with a telescope, suddenly widened his eyes and looked at his partner with incredible eyes: "Oh no! The third battleship of the Germans was not an armored cruiser, it was ...... Oh damn it, it's the 'Blucher', the first battlecruiser built and commissioned by the German Navy, the old and sturdy monster, the terrible Fenrir! ”

Fenrir is one of the most fearsome monsters in Norse mythology, a ferocious wolf, son of the evil god Loki and the giantess Alberda, capable of devouring everything in the world and killing Odin, the king of the gods. To call a German battleship that does not seem to be of top strength shows that the British fear it, and this is definitely a proud compliment for the German officers and men on the "Blucher".

Gray hurriedly picked up the binoculars, but the destroyer was so jolting in the wind and waves that his vision could not be stabilized at all. After a long while, he was stunned and said, "I also thought of it as an armored cruiser before, and its size doesn't look like it's bigger than the two armored cruisers behind...... Uh, I see, they must be the Scharnhorst-class, the Germans' quasi-battle patrols that we've been chasing for a long time...... As long as we can take out any of them with torpedoes, we will really die without regrets. ”

"It's even more difficult than I expected!" Granville said bluntly, "With two Moltke-class ships and the Blucher, I guess we were already smashed by them before we could get into torpedo range." ”

"Scared?"

Gray returned the words, and it was Granville's turn to smile bitterly.

"Sooner or later, people will die, but the key is to die worthwhile, as you said."

Gray didn't mean sarcasm or sarcasm, he frowned and thought about it: "From the South Pacific to the South Atlantic to the North Atlantic, those two Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers sailed more than 10,000 nautical miles, and I am afraid that they did not even carry out a single docking repair on the way, and the bottom of the ship must be overgrown with shellfish, and no matter how fast the horse is, it will be slowed down in the mud." According to common sense, the German fleet could not have reached a maximum speed of more than 23 knots. ”

Hearing this, Granville's eyes lit up, but he immediately realized that even if the German fleet in front of him had such shortcomings, it would not be his turn to take advantage of them. Based on the performance of the German battle cruisers in several combat operations, it was only a matter of minutes to sink one or two British destroyers at a distance of seven or eight thousand meters.

Looking at the German fleet on the other side of the sea, Granville ordered the communications department through the microphone on the bridge: "Send a report to the flagship immediately, the German battleships we have found are Moltke, Goeben, Blucher, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and the current speed is about 20 knots." In the current state of the sea, this is estimated to be their maximum speed. Our ships will launch the first torpedo attack on this German fleet, may God bless us! ”

"May God bless Britain!" Gray whispered from the side.

All people want God's blessing, but even if God does exist, he can't fulfill everyone's wishes at the same time, because many of them are diametrically opposed, especially in this kind of battlefield where you have to fight to the death. Sir Jackson, who was full of ambition, ventured north with the British Home Fleet, which was much less powerful than before, believing that he could take advantage of the relative dispersion of the main forces of the German High Seas Fleet and turn things around in one fell swoop, and when the British fleet encountered the German fleet in the waters off the Faroe Islands, the stormy weather seemed to favor the British. However, the German dreadnought fleet once again showed a rock-solid and tenacious fighting style, supplemented by cunning and changeable tactical strategies, and the British fleet's idea of a quick victory was extinguished in a few rounds, but Jackson did not completely lose hope at this time. On the one hand, he commanded four super dreadnoughts equipped with 13.5-inch naval guns and the dreadnought "Agincourt" with 14 12-inch naval guns to concentrate fire on the German flagship, and on the other hand, he hoped that the brave and still fierce Betty detachment could open a breakthrough from the weakest German "old" dreadnoughts; Outside the field, he sent a series of telegrams urging the support fleet from Clyde Harbor to arrive as soon as possible.

In order to prevent German war cruisers from breaking into the Irish Sea between Scotland and Ireland and threatening the east coast of Ireland and the west coast of Britain, the British Navy deployed a more powerful battle fleet at Clyde Port in the northwest of Scotland and Milford Port in the southwest of England. In mid-November, the German battle cruisers were reinforced in the northern waters of Ireland, and the naval forces stationed at Clyde Port were strengthened, including the Indefatigable battlecruiser "Australia", the strongest former dreadnought of the British Navy, the Nelson-class, and three Duke of Edinburgh/Warrior-class armored cruisers that were strong enough to rival the German Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers.

(End of chapter)