June 11, 1941, 4:10 a.m., south of the Norwegian Sea. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Two huge aircraft carriers as huge as small islands, the British "Ark Royal" and "Fearful" are speeding into the wind. The rear half of the flight decks of these two aircraft carriers is now full of aircraft. Stopped at the front were the Sea Spitfire, which was now quite close to Shetland, although the Sea Spitfire did not have a sufficient combat radius to cover Shetland.

But Vice Admiral Somerville decided to send 20 Sea Spitfires to cover SBD dive bombers and TBD torpedo bombers.

After completing the escort mission, these "Sea Spitfires" will land at a secret field airfield in the Shetland Islands, and then temporarily assume the task of air superiority cover in the Shetland Islands.

In addition to the 20 Sea Spitfires, Somerville sent all the SBD dive bombers and TBD torpedo bombers in his hands, of which 23 were SBDs and 18 were TBDs. Counting the "Sea Spitfire", the total number of carrier-based aircraft dispatched this time was 61.

"Lieutenant General, now it's time to take off!" Captain Scott, captain of the Ark Royal, said to Vice Admiral Somerville inside the bridge after the aircraft carrier had been at full speed for 10 minutes.

"Let them take off!" Vice Admiral Somerville nodded and said, "After the first strike wave is released, Fleet C will immediately approach the northern coast of Scotland, and then let the Coastal Air Force send planes to cover us." ”

Somerville's command is almost the same as that of Helmut. Heyer was just as careful. Because he has realized the role of aircraft carriers in future operations with the Atlantic as a battlefield, and has gone far beyond battleships.

If Gibraltar is not safe, and the French and Italian fleets rush into the Atlantic, the trump card that Britain can use against them is not battleships, but several valuable fleet carriers.

As long as these fleet aircraft carriers existed, the French and Italian battleships would not dare to leave the protective circle of shore-based aircraft, so that Britain's maritime lifeline could be maintained, and Britain would be able to grit its teeth and hold on. If these fleet aircraft carriers do not exist, then if the "only" aircraft carrier of the Germans breaks through to the Atlantic Ocean and joins the Franco-Italian fleet, then Britain will usher in a bitter day of total blockade.

Standing on the side of the bridge, watching the carrier-based planes rise into the air and then circle around the fleet, waiting for the formation, Somerville breathed a sigh of relief. In a maximum of 30 minutes, Fleet C will be able to move south, and in another 3 hours, the fleet will be able to take refuge in the protective circle of shore-based aircraft in the north of Scotland. At that time, even the terrible JU88 and S.M.79 will not be able to threaten the "Ark Royal" and "Fearful".

And at this moment, the radar officer on the "Ark Royal" suddenly reported: "Sir, an unidentified plane was spotted, 20-30 kilometers above the aircraft carrier. ”

Unidentified aircraft? Somerville frowned, there were too many planes flying around the area. There are British Schott "Sunderland" seaplanes, American "Katerina" seaplanes, as well as German FW-200C and HE-115. You can't really tell whose plane it is by radar alone.

"Send 2 Spitfires to see it."

By the time Somerville gave the order, the unidentified plane had already turned around and left. This is a Fokker 99 that took off from the "Seydlitz", took off from the aircraft carrier before dawn, flew westward for more than an hour before the sky was completely bright, and then the altitude was raised to 3,000 meters to start the search. Unexpectedly, as soon as he flew into the sky, he saw an aircraft carrier releasing carrier-based aircraft.

"Lieutenant General, an aircraft carrier has been discovered, it is a large fleet aircraft carrier, the coordinates are 59.5 degrees north latitude and 8.3 degrees west longitude! In the southwest sea of the Faroe Islands. ”

The news of the discovery of the "Ark Royal" was soon transmitted back to the aircraft carrier "Seydlitz" via the on-board radio. The captain of the ship, Major Hinze, reported loudly: "The reconnaissance plane also discovered that this aircraft carrier was releasing carrier-based aircraft!" ”

Unleash carrier-based aircraft!

The atmosphere in the aircraft carrier bridge suddenly became tense, could it be that they came to attack the German aircraft carrier formation?

"We also release carrier-based aircraft!" Helmut. Haye immediately ordered, "Move fast, we'll leave as soon as the first assault wave is released!" Also, send the position of the British aircraft carrier to the naval command in Bergen and ask them to send S.M.79 torpedo bombers! ”

The location of the British aircraft carrier was found to be no more than 770 kilometers from Bergen, which was completely within the combat radius of the Italian hunchback aircraft S.M.79. Because the German aircraft carrier was initially positioned to escort the shipbreaking fleet, and it also adopted a full hangar with a small number of carrier-based aircraft, the development of carrier-based torpedo bombers was neglected for a long time.

Therefore, although the German naval aviation now has a very good shore-based torpedo bomber S.M.79, it does not have a carrier-based torpedo bomber that can take off and land on an aircraft carrier. So now the only way to do this is to ask the Bergen base to send S.M.79 torpedo bombers - after all, the Fokker 99 on board is still not powerful enough to deal with an aircraft carrier without an armored deck, and it is unlikely to blow up and sink an armored aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy.

But received Helmut. However, there is no S.M.79 to send at the Bergen base of the Heyer Telegraph, because all S.M.79 and JU88 have already been sent out to bomb the "Prince of Wales".

The Prince of Wales is now in the harbour of Lerwick, anchored next to a cargo dock filled with anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns. In order to protect the "Prince", the British Army and the Royal Marines defending the Shetland Islands also worked hard, and they pulled all the available anti-aircraft guns to the docks of Lerwick Harbour, weaving an air defense net for the "Prince of Wales". At the same time, the "Prince of Wales" and a destroyer next to it continued to release smoke in an attempt to hide the "Prince".

But even with such careful protection, the situation of "His Royal Highness the Prince" is still worrying. Because the battleship is now trapped in the harbor of Lerwick and cannot move, it has become a dead target that can only be beaten. And to attack such an immobile battleship, there is no need to dive bombing or drop torpedoes at low altitudes.

So the JU88 dive bombers and S.M.79 torpedo bombers that were sent to bomb all carried 1000 kg and 500 kg armor-piercing bombs, and they played horizontal bombing at an altitude of 3000 meters, and the bombs rained down from the sky like drops.

"Bomb!"

"Shock-resistant ......"

"Boom!"

Another black bomb fell from the sky and slammed into the decks in front of the two main batteries in the bow of the "Prince of Wales". Due to the focus of protection adopted by the "Prince of Wales", the important parts of the front and rear ammunition depots, engine rooms, boiler rooms, and oil depots were protected with solid armor, while the bow and stern of the ship (mainly personnel compartments and various supply warehouses and living quarters below the deck) were basically unprotected.

So the 500-kilogram bomb easily penetrated the bow deck and then came to a center to bloom. The shock wave from the explosion shook the 38,000-ton hull violently, making it impossible for anyone on the bridge to stand.

"Tell me about the loss ......"

Captain Richie struggled to his feet, and just as he wanted to inquire about the damage, he was stunned by the scene outside the bridge. A hideous breach appeared in the bow deck, and smoke and fire poured out of the breach.

"There is a fire in the bow compartment and the fire is spreading......"

"The A battery mount has a mechanical failure and cannot be turned."

Fortunately, there is no major problem for the time being...... Richie was slightly relieved to hear the second officer of the "Prince of Wales" loudly report the damage.

The bomb hit not the vital point, but ...... The bombing has just begun!

He now regretted his decision last night a little, because he never expected the Germans to be so sharp! The Royal Air Force's Coastal Air Force sent hundreds of P-51s, P-40s, Spitfires and Hurricanes to cover the Prince of Wales before dawn, but these planes were vulnerable to the German fighters (FW-190 and Fokker Zero) and were driven out of the sky after less than 20 minutes. And then the ju88 of the Germans and the damned "Italian hunchbacks" came to drop bombs.

Although it was not a combination of dive bombing and torpedo attacks, the horizontal bombing accuracy of these aircraft greatly exceeded that of John. Richie's anticipation!

"Bomb ......"

Suddenly, someone shouted, John. In Richie's sight, a black dot fell from the sky like lightning and slammed into the top of the bow turret of the "Prince of Wales". Richie's gaze froze instantly, and he saw the top of the quadruple turret explode like an inflated balloon bursting violently, and then turned into a dazzling ball of fire, and the whole battleship seemed to have been smashed with an iron fist by a giant, and the bow of the ship sank violently, and the violent vibration caused Colonel Richie to fall again.

When Richie was helped up and looked at the bow, he looked as if something had pierced the corner of his eye, and saw that the A turret was gone, only a pile of twisted metal and a raging fire.

It was a 1000-kilogram bomb that hit turret A just now!

Colonel Richie opened his mouth and was at a loss when the bridge seemed to be hit by something, and there was a terrifying loud noise.

The bomb hit the bridge! Colonel Richie had the most terrible words in his mind, and then he subconsciously threw himself on the floor of the bridge, and then he felt a fiery gas sweep over his back...... (To be continued.) )