Found a submarine!?

Halsey, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, was almost shocked to the bridge of the Little Rock. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

It was too coincidental that these submarines came, and he had just sent out most of the destroyers at hand to block the pursuers, when the German submarines came. Needless to say, it must be the kind of new German submarine that is too fast to catch underwater.

The fires on the three Iowa-class battleships have not yet been extinguished, and open flames are easily visible in the dim sea.

The German submarines only needed to aim at open flames and fire torpedoes to sink three battleships that had already suffered heavy losses.

"Anti-submarine!" Halsey already knew in his heart that there was more than luck, but he still refused to give up easily, "The USS Iowa, USS Wisconsin, and USS Missouri immediately took the anti-submarine route, and the rest of the ships carried out anti-submarine operations!" ”

Thundered......

Less than 5 minutes after Halsey's order was issued, the originally calm sea water began to boil like boiling water, and several terrifying waves appeared on the sea in an instant.

This is a destroyer dropping depth charges!

However, there were no German Type 21 U-boats under the surface of the sea where the depth charges were dropped, and it was difficult to catch such submarines that could sail at 17.2 knots underwater. And now the number of American destroyers and light cruisers guarding around the three Iowa-class is limited, and they simply do not dare to leave the badly injured big guys they protect to catch submarines.

So the depth charges that are being dropped now are just a sound, a buoyant, and by the way to scare the Nazi wolves in the sea.

"The Yankees were terrified by us, they were throwing depth charges."

The captain of the submarine U-3010 and the commander of the 27th submarine detachment, Erich Murphy. Lieutenant Colonel Topp understood what was happening when he heard a dull roar, and saw through his periscope the occasional flower-like waves rising from time to time on the dim sea.

As an ace U-boat captain who had served as a destroyer captain for a period of time and was no stranger to anti-submarine warfare, he certainly knew what a weapon the Type 21 was a weapon that made destroyer captains desperate.

It is difficult for the existing sonar to detect the submarine underwater when the destroyer is sailing at a speed of more than 18 knots, and the Type 21 U-boat has a speed of up to 17.2 knots underwater, and the destroyer must drive to more than 18 knots in order to track the Type 21 U-boat.

And when the Type 21 U-boat was sailing at a low speed of about 5 knots, the submarine was quiet enough to evade any kind of existing sonar.

And in several successful attacks on destroyers (submarine attacks on destroyers!) The German U-boat captains had a very useful trick of approaching the enemy destroyer at high speed, deliberately making noise, and then slowing down and driving quietly. It is very likely that the intimidated American destroyers will litter depth charges, and the explosion of the depth charges will disable the Americans' sonar in a short time. In this way, the American destroyers were completely unable to detect underwater U-boats. The Type 21 U-boat can naturally accelerate its movement and is very comfortable looking for opportunities to start.

At nightfall on 5 September, 12 Type 21 U-boats led by Lieutenant Commander Tip adopted this tactic of scaring the Americans and successfully tricked American destroyers into dropping depth charges.

Because of the interference of the sonar by the explosion of the depth charge (it takes 15 minutes for the explosion of the depth charge to ignore the interference), the underwater has now become the world of the Type 21 U-boats, and even if they are driving at full speed, the American destroyers will not be able to detect it.

"Maintain depth, speed 5 knots."

"Preparation of the torpedo compartment, the use of T1 torpedoes."

"Combat readiness."

Lieutenant Commander Topp, who had already seen three Iowa-class battleships still emitting flames from the periscope, suppressed his excitement and gave one order after another. Six high-powered T1 torpedoes were pushed into six torpedo tubes in the bow.

Unlike the T2 torpedo, which was extremely stealthy, but had a slightly slower speed (30 knots) and an insufficient charge (200 kg), the T2 torpedo. The T1 torpedo, which uses conventional steam propulsion, has a greater speed and range, and can hit up to 6,000 meters at a speed of 44 knots and 8,000 meters at a speed of 40 knots. Moreover, the charge of the T1 torpedo is also sufficient, and the warhead of the T1B torpedo used on Lieutenant Colonel Topp's submarine is equipped with a full 350 kilograms of high-performance explosives, which is theoretically enough to deal a heavy blow to the underwater protection of the Iowa-class battleships -- the underwater protection of the Iowa class can only withstand the blow of 300 kilograms of TNT explosives, and cannot stop the T1B torpedo with a 350-kilogram charge at all.

As for the disadvantage of the T1B torpedo - the wake of the torpedo when sailing, it was not at all a problem for the Type 17.2 submarine, which was able to maneuver underwater at a high speed of 21 knots. And now that it was dark, you had to turn on the searchlights to see the torpedo trail, which would again reveal the location of the destroyer...... And the destroyer is also the prey of the Type 21 U-boat!

"6800 meters!"

"6500 meters!"

"6000 meters!"

“……”

Top's voice made the atmosphere in the U-3010 boat more and more tense, and drops of sweat continued to drip down everyone's foreheads and cheeks.

All eyes were on Lieutenant Colonel Topp, who at a distance of 6000 meters, the T1B torpedo could already reach a maximum speed of 44 knots. But the order to launch the torpedo was delayed.

It was not until Toph reported the number "3,000 meters" that Lieutenant Colonel Toph ordered in a deliberately low voice: "No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 torpedoes are ready, and the depth is set at 5 meters." Start supercharging! ”

The current target is an Iowa-class battleship with a standard displacement of nearly 45,000 tons, and its underwater anti-mine armor is unlikely to be weak. So Lieutenant Colonel Toph was ready to shoot 6 T1B torpedoes in one go.

And to ensure a hit, he also ventured to let the submarine go to a position less than 3000 meters from the target.

"Booster completed!"

"The target is 3000 meters, and the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 torpedoes are launched!"

"Torpedoes No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 have been fired!"

"Torpedo launches No. 2, No. 4, and No. 6!"

"Torpedoes No. 2, No. 4, and No. 6 have been fired!"

There were six soft bangs, and the body of the U-3010 submarine shook slightly, giving people a light feeling.

Six torpedoes headed for an Iowa-class battleship 3,000 meters away at a speed of 44 knots, and after about 2 minutes, they hit or missed.

U-3010 was silent, everyone was anxiously waiting in their hearts, and time seemed to freeze at that moment. Lieutenant Colonel Toph held his pocket watch and stared at the hands, which had been twisted around for more than two times, and his mood was already extremely tense.

Boom Boom Boom ......

Three dull noises came, and Lieutenant Colonel Toph immediately raised the periscope, only to see that the huge warship that was being targeted had been engulfed in flames, and in the firelight, you could see a wall of water that was falling more than ten meters high!

Lieutenant Colonel Toph stretched out his right hand, a Leica camera was handed over, Toph attached the camera lens to the eyepiece of the periscope to take a picture, and then immediately retracted the periscope and gave a loud order to evacuate: "Left rudder 20, evacuate at full speed!" ”

As the U-3010 boat swerved underwater and accelerated its evacuation, Admiral Halsey, who was aboard the light cruiser USS Little Rock, suddenly felt a bullet in his throat.

3 torpedoes hit the anti-mine armor below the port side waterline of the battleship Wisconsin, and the huge destructive force formed by the explosion of 350 kg of TNT explosives under water immediately tore apart the main armor belt and the main mine protection belt on the side side that were spliced together, but the Iowa class has multiple watertight compartments and 3 layers of bottom, and theoretically the hit of 2-3 torpedoes cannot affect its combat effectiveness at all.

But Wisconsin has already suffered 4 large missiles, it has long been seriously injured, the fire has been burning for several hours and has not been extinguished, and because of the violent explosion and fire, many equipment on the Wisconsin has failed, whether it can withstand the blow of 3 German torpedoes, but it is really difficult to say.

And...... There should have been more than one German submarine under water, and it was impossible for them to fire only three torpedoes.

Halsey's conjecture soon became a reality, and just a few minutes after the Wisconsin was torpedoed, 12 torpedoes fired from U-3011 and U-3012 boats, also belonging to the 27th Submarine Detachment of the 1st Submarine Group, rushed towards the USS Missouri and USS Iowa, respectively, 7 of which hit the target, USS Missouri hit 4 torpedoes, and USS Iowa was hit by 3 torpedoes.

Less than 5 minutes later, the U-3013 and U-3014 boats of the 27th Submarine Detachment attacked, and 6 of the 12 T1B torpedoes hit the target, of which the Wisconsin hit again and occupied 4 of them, and 2 torpedoes hit a Fletcher-class destroyer that was scribbling depth charges while sweeping the sea with a searchlight (searching for torpedo trails) next to the Wisconsin.

The attack was followed by four Type 21 U-boats, including U-3015, U-3016, U-3017 and U-3018, and these four U-boats fired a total of 24 T1B torpedoes at the three Iowa-class battleships that had fallen to the sea! 13 of them hit the target!

Less than 3 minutes later, another 3 submarines belonging to the 27th submarine detachment, U-3019, U-3020 and U-3021, fired another 18 torpedoes, this time 10 torpedoes hit!

At this point, the first round of attacks by the 12 Type 21 U-boats that participated in tonight's submarine night attack is over -- yes, the first round! Each of the 12 Type 21 U-boats carried 24 T1B torpedoes capable of attacking large surface ships, and if all of them were launched, they would have been 288...... Not only could the three Iowa-class destroyers, which had already been heavily damaged, not be able to hold up, but even the destroyers and light cruisers escorting the three Iowa class battleships, including the Little Rock, in which Admiral Halsey himself was ridden, would be torpedoed to the bottom by the Germans.