At noon, with good visibility in the sea and air, if he was a U-boat captain, Major Tony McNulty would never take the initiative to attack a small formation of two British F-class fleet destroyers in the vast Atlantic, which would basically be tantamount to suicide!

The German captain should know that the F-class destroyers are armed with four or five single-barreled 4.7-inch guns (four for the normal type and five for the lead ship. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info), and quite powerful anti-submarine weapons - 2 depth charge slots in the stern and 2 depth charge droppers on either side of the rear of the ship.

How fast can an opponent run under the sea with a top speed of more than 35 knots on calm seas?! It's not a heavyweight class contest at all! Because of this, McNulty was the first to shout out that the German captain was either a rookie or a madman.

But now it's not in the depths of the ocean, it's less than 20 nautical miles from the coast, and the water depth is only 300 feet! Perhaps the Germans had already discovered these two destroyers on their side: from the analysis of the fish tracks, it was likely that the other side was approaching their side under the cover of the noise of the Spanish patrol ships, and had long been ready for a sneak attack.

The German captain was not a rookie in his debut, but he was very experienced, knew how to take advantage of the advantages, and was very bold.

After the Spaniards turned, the U-boat could be spotted by the hearers if it approached, and the German captain had no choice but to take the initiative to attack.

"It was the water depth of less than 100 meters that gave the Germans the courage to launch a suicide attack!" Leonov held the bulkhead with his left hand to counteract the torsion caused by the high-speed steering. Although he didn't know much about submarine warfare and anti-submarine warfare, he still knew some hearsay, and the reaction of Mr. Captain after listening to the captain's report made him have a conclusion in his heart.

Once the attack fails and is counterattacked, being targeted by two destroyers in the ocean will definitely be a life and death, but what about in the shallow sea?

The water depth is 300 feet, and once the submarine turns to the bottom of the seat (that is, to park the submarine on the seabed), it is lucky to have at least seven or eight points of luck to escape the bad luck of being blown up by depth charges; It's bad luck to find the general position of the bottom of the seat, and there is a chance of getting out of danger.

This is close to the territorial waters of Spain, and it is unlikely that the British will blow up with depth charges for half a day, and the German captain is a big gamble, at least the chances of escaping are the majority!

"Rudder-back, engine half speed!"

Everyone on the bridge watched the fish track pass hundreds of yards away, and they were relieved to hear the captain's order.

"Foresight has sent a message that they are going to launch an anti-submarine attack." Communication Room Report.

"Tell them, like they used to train, to blow it up German!" McNulty ordered loudly, and his tone was vicious!

Destroyers and submarines are enemies, and there is no reason to let them go easily. "Tell the listening room, find me where it is!" The two sister ships were previously in one detachment, and joint anti-submarine training was not once or twice.

The battleship had turned and was heading for the starting point of the German torpedo track, but the speed had dropped again: at full speed it could rush as fast as it could, but then the listening room would become a big ornament, and nothing could be heard except "boom and crackle"! Although the "Fire Dragon" is equipped with a new type of anti-submarine listening equipment sonar, it is also a furnishing at high speeds, and it is impossible to distinguish the echo situation at all.

"Torpedo chief report, depth charge dropping trough ready!"

"Wait for orders."

"It will take another 2 minutes for the Mark 6 deep projectile cannon."

In the rear of the ship, sailors are setting the depth of the water pressure depth fuse. Since no exact orders were given, the sergeant who set the depth tentatively set the depth at 100 feet.

The powerful Mark7 depth charges are like huge cylinders, lined up one by one on the rails, and each depth bomb is loaded with nearly 600 pounds***!

At the depth charge droppers on both sides of the ship, the sailors, under the command of the sergeant major, inserted smaller Mark 6 projectiles into the projectile port with deep bomb insertion rods. Most of the crew on deck just now really felt the huge psychological pressure brought by the torpedo track, but now it's time to fight back!

It would be in the hull's hull, in a "secret compartment" that was not marked on the hatch, and the two sergeants were engrossed: the sonar emitted a huge active sound wave, like a wave of shock waves sweeping across the ocean floor.

However, the sergeants' expressions were not good, and there was no reflection of the sound waves, all of which were reflections from the bottom of the sea.

"I'm going to throw a Mark7 deep bomb!"

The listener on the side took off the headset, and the speed was super fast: the captain was going to make a "blind shot", and the huge explosion was no joke!

All the sailors in the cabin detached their bodies from the bulkhead, and several members of the Soviet regiment who were leaning on were also dragged by the sailors on the side: ordinary people do not understand that although a deep bullet that explodes at a safe distance will not shock a person's internal organs, if the body is attached to the bulkhead when the shock wave comes, it will feel very uncomfortable! Guaranteed to be unforgettable!

"200 feet deep, 3 pieces on a single track, 5 seconds between two tracks!"

Hearing the command from the bridge, the sailors immediately re-installed the depth with their tools, and the fuse clicked. The deep bomb uses a water-pressure fuse, which needs to be adjusted according to the command before throwing: you can do this job with your hands and feet, and if you are pressed for time, the limiter in front has been opened, and the deep bomb in front of you will be dropped, and the deep bomb behind the track will also roll. If your hand is still stretched out in the track at this time to twist the fuse to set the depth, it is very likely that your fingers and even the whole hand will "click" down!

The slogan was clear, and the sailors kept shouting: "The fuse is bound!" Throwing deep bombs, this job requires everyone to work together to complete it.

This will be the "Fire Dragon" is almost a "blind cast", it depends on luck. But this deep bomb is guided by a hearing device or sonar, and sometimes it depends on luck, because the underwater one doesn't wait to be bombed.

It takes about 30 to 35 seconds for the Mark 7 to descend to a depth of 100 meters, and this submarine can run a lot of time no matter how slow it is.

But it's okay for now, the two destroyers are divided into two columns and "blindly thrown", maybe they can really hit the luck, at least Mr. Captain doesn't rack his brains to fight wits and courage, as long as he blows up this sea area in the same way as he dealt with submarines at the bottom.

"Let's go! Dual! ”

A sailor opened the limiters on the rails, and the first huge deep bullet on each rail rolled backwards along the rails, falling into the sea with a thud. A moment later, about 30 seconds, there was a loud, dull roar in the water in the distance behind the ship, but due to the great depth, the water did not erupt into the huge column of water that had been imagined.

The loud bangs and impacts were like a giant hammer striking at everyone's mouth, "If the water is 90 feet deep, the column of water on the surface of the water will be very exaggerated. Smith introduced Leonov.

Now the submarine has no power to fight back, the people on the destroyer can relax their nerves, and the one under the water can only be bombed! There was no report from the sonar room just now, which means that the German submarine may have dived very deep, and it may have been at the bottom, otherwise it would not have escaped so quickly.

"As long as the distance is 50 yards, the explosion is enough for the submarine, and if it gets close to 30 yards, it is basically over." Two more muffled sounds, barely intervaled, were heard a little further away as Smith spoke, but quieter—the Foresight also began to drop deep bombs in the distance.

"During this time, a large group of German U-boats were on the coast of the United States, and it was really rare to appear here, probably U-boats sent to the Mediterranean. It's so close to the coast, and I don't know if the captain is smart or unlucky. ”

Smith was only half right: U-boats were "catching big fish" off the coast of the United States, but there weren't many submarines. The biggest reason for the heavy losses of the ships of the allies on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean lies in the Americans themselves: Although the US Navy has long been involved in escort operations in the Atlantic, has long sent a military delegation to Britain, and has mastered the basic tactics of the German U-boats, the US anti-submarine measures are far from being truly implemented, just like a layman -- there is no lighting control in the coastal areas, and when the German U-boats float up and recharge at night, the captains and crew can even watch the lights of the coastal cities of the world's most prosperous capitalist country for a while!

When the charge was finished, the crew had "had enough of the wind", and the German captain could use the deck gun to teach the Yankees on shore who patronized the nightlife a lesson, and then sail away unhurriedly in search of more valuable targets.

This will make the lights and buoys on the various routes off the coast of the United States shine brightly, giving the U-boat the best navigation; Ships sailing at night are still sailing with their lights on, and openly using clear code communications, the captain of the U-boat can pick and choose his favorite target in the same way that he can read the newspaper in a Berlin café and learn about the battle situation.

The most fatal thing is that after the United States declared war, there was basically no escort fleet along the coast of the United States, and almost all of them sailed in single ships -- in a word, the US military's security was lax, not much different from that in peacetime! All these lights and radio communications could be well used by German submarines as the most ideal source of information on the whereabouts of American ships.

Even last month, the US Navy was far from being prepared for anti-submarine forces, both in terms of organization and in terms of training and quantity of anti-submarine forces. The US Navy's maritime campaign command and command organs do not have special antisubmarine organs, and the antisubmarine force consists of only about 280 ships of various types, including 76 destroyers, 56 minesweepers, 14 submarine hunters, 11 gunboats, and 23 coastal patrol boats, and only 72 antisubmarine aircraft.

The number seems to be a lot, but the various tasks, plus overhaul, rotation and other miscellaneous reasons, and finally the long coastline and a large number of ports, this anti-submarine force is at a level that is better than nothing, and the entire East Coast of the United States will be like a big hunting ground for U-boat captains!

In fact, the number of U-boats on safaris off the coast of the United States was pitifully small, although Germany declared war on the United States on December 11 last year, and Hitler and the commander-in-chief of the German Navy Raeder decided the next day to send submarines to attack the transport ships off the coast of the United States. However, many of Dönitz's submarines were in the Mediterranean, and in addition to the losses of the U-boat unit itself in the second half of last year, the number of submarines that could be put into actual combat at that time was only 91, and the deployment of troops was stretched.

By 16 December last year, five submarines with a displacement of 1,100 tons had finally gone to the United States and launched a diplomatic operation codenamed "Drumming." It was these 5 U-boats that had already given the Americans a head-on blow.

As he spoke, the "Fire Dragon" had already dropped six deep bombs, and the captain gave a turning order: to go around the sea and come back.

"Listening room, did you find anything?"

Unfortunately, there was nothing but the rushing sound of the sea in the headset. Sonar will be even more ornamental, and for a long time after the explosion of the deep bomb, the latest anti-submarine equipment will be piled up. (To be continued.) )