The Americans' escort destroyers finally spotted the rapidly approaching torpedo boats, and the 127mm guns that had been firing indiscriminately in the air were all turned around and opened fire with a bang. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Blinding searchlights also hit the surface of the sea, illuminating the S100 torpedo boat that was traveling at full speed on the surface of the sea.

Colonel Johansen himself stayed in the cramped cockpit of the command boat S115, standing beside the pilot, staring intently at his prey, an Aevac-class escort destroyer, and the ranging reports of the observation cabin kept coming from his ears.

"11,000 meters!"

"10,000 meters!"

"9000 meters!"

"8000 meters ......"

Now that all the preparations before the torpedo launch are ready, 2 compressed air propelled T1 torpedoes have been prepared, and you only need to let the torpedo boat rush to within 6,000 meters of the target, and you can launch!

The escort destroyers of the Americans had already reacted at this time, and two 127mm guns aimed at the forward path of the torpedo boats and kept bombarding. Clumps of water were stirred up with the explosion of the shells. For the S115 boat, which is more than 100 tons, the water column stirred up by the 127mm shell is like a wall of water. However, it could not stop the speedboat from advancing straight - the torpedo boat was armoured, and although it could not block the direct hit of the 127mm shell, the fragments of the shell hit the front of the torpedo boat, and only scratched off a little paint.

Probably realizing that it was impossible to stop the German torpedo boats with fire, the American escort destroyers began to writhe on the surface of the sea and made S-shaped evasive maneuvers. But escort destroyers do not have the speed of regular destroyers like the "Fletcher" class - if Colonel Johansen encounters a "Fletcher" class capable of driving to 37 knots, it will be very difficult to sink it with a 44-knot T1 torpedo. However, the escort destroyers of the Evac class can only run to 19.5 knots at the fastest, and they really have no advantage in encountering S100-class torpedo boats.

Perhaps knowing that a catastrophe was imminent, the 8 escort destroyers targeted by 16 S100 boats sent out a distress signal one after another, and soon the 6 "Benson"-class destroyers and 1 latest "Allen" destroyer patrolling nearby. The Sumner-class destroyers rushed to support.

These 7 destroyers are all regular destroyers with large displacement, of which the "Benson" class has 5 127mm high-level dual-purpose guns, and the "Allen. The Sumner class has six 127mm high-level dual-purpose guns, and they all have a speed of up to 37 knots!

Once they were joined up with the 10 Evac-class frigates, Colonel Johansen's 16 S-boats would not be enough.

However, at this time, both the 10 "Aivac" class destroyers who were eager to escape from under the torpedoes of the S100 boats and the 7 regular destroyers who were eager to save their friendly ships had already forgotten about the anti-submarine matter.

These 17 destroyers in high-speed motion are difficult to use sonar to detect underwater targets because of their own noise problems. As a result, a huge gap has appeared in the anti-submarine patrol circle around US capital ships, transport ships, and landing ships.

Six Type 21 U-boats, which had long slipped to the vicinity of the American Grand Fleet, soon spotted the opportunity for this breakthrough.

"Sir, there's another group of American destroyers, it's noisy, it should be sailing at high speed!"

Sergeant Schultz, sonar on the U-3001 submarine, kept his voice to a minimum and reported the latest discovery to the captain, Captain Manzek.

Because it was late at night and visibility on the water was poor, the Type 21 U-boat did not raise its periscope, but judged the situation on the surface by passive sonar.

"Captain," said the submarine's first officer, Second Lieutenant Luce, in a low voice to Manzek, "you should be able to slip in......

"Boom! Rumble! Before he could finish his words, two dull thuds came through the sea and the hull of the submarine.

"It should have been a torpedo fired by an S-boat!" Second Lieutenant Luce made his judgment right away.

"Here's our chance!" Captain Manzek immediately made a decision, "Speed up to the maximum, and we will rush directly under the Yankee's destroyer patrol circle!" ”

"Yes, Captain!"

"4000 meters! Colonel, now the distance is 4000 meters! ”

At the same time that the Type 21 U-boat under water began to charge at full speed, the S115 boat on the surface had already rushed to a distance of 4,000 meters from an American frigate destroyer.

For a 44-knot T1 torpedo, this distance is already very close! The T1 torpedo can glide through the water at about 1350 meters per minute and crash into the American destroyer in less than 3 minutes.

It is really not easy for a 19.5-knot ship to dodge a 4-salvo T1 torpedo in such a short time!

Colonel Johansen knew that the torpedo boat could not move any further, 4000 meters was already within the range of the flat fire of the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, and the S-boat was at risk of being sunk any further.

"Torpedo! Put! Colonel Johansen took the intercom from the communications soldier next to him, and shouted the command that always thrilled him.

It was not only the minemen on the S115 boat who were given orders, but also the S116 boat that charged alongside the S115 boat.

As the trigger was pulled down by someone, under the huge air pressure, four 533mm T1 torpedoes jumped out of the launch port, and then like four steel beasts that swooped into the water, they pounced on the prey less than 4,000 miles away with their fangs.

At the same time as the torpedo rushed out of the launch port, the S115 and S116 boats also turned to the left and right at the same time, and they quickly left the battlefield. They had barely made a big turn when a loud rumbling sound came from behind them.

At around 0:00 on August 24, 1944, the escort destroyer "Austin" with a full load displacement of 1,360 tons was blown in two by two T115 torpedoes fired by the S115 and S116 boats, and completely sank to the bottom of the water in just a few minutes. Of the 156 people on board, fewer than 30 were rescued.

And just 3 minutes before the "Austin" hit the mine, the two ships of the same class (both of which are of the Aivac class) were also hit by a T1 torpedo. However, they were lucky, not sinking immediately, but struggling on the surface of the sea for a while, buying time for the officers and men of the ship to jump into the sea to escape.

……

"Captain, we're probably already close to Georgetown Beach."

While the Americans on the surface of the sea were busy salvaging their comrades who had fallen overboard, the U-3001 boat had already slipped past the alert patrol circle of the American destroyer. However, because the submarine is advancing underwater, it is inevitable that something will deviate from the course, so the first mate of the U-3001 boat, Second Lieutenant Schultz, can only estimate one position.

"Slow down to 5 knots." Captain Manzek also agreed with the deputy's estimate, "1, 2 tanks were drained, raised to periscope level. ”

"1, 2 water tanks drainage, the height is raised to the periscope level."

Because it was operating in the sea close to the coastline, the U-3001 boat did not dive too deep, so it now quickly raised itself to periscope level.

"Well, now let's see how luck goes......" Captain Manzek personally raised the periscope and then pressed his eyes to the periscope's eyepiece.

The sea was still dark, and after Captain Manzek turned his periscope a few times from side to side, several dim rays of light slipped into his eyes.

He sharply pointed his periscope at the place where the light appeared, and saw only a landing ship of two or three thousand tons moving forward, illuminating the channel ahead with a dim light. Apparently this is a landing ship that is taking advantage of the cover of night and heading towards the beach in Georgetown!

"The target has been found, a landing ship, no ...... Not one, there are three, four, five...... Oh my God, the sea is full of landing ships! "Looking at the appearance of one landing ship after another in the periscope, Captain Manzek's eyes were bloodshot.

Although landing ships are not as valuable as battleships and aircraft carriers, they are so numerous that they cover the sea! Not to mention that there are dozens of landing ships of various kinds, and there must be tens of thousands of American GIs on them!

If this is going to be drowned, then the war will probably end a few weeks sooner, right?

It's just a pity that there were not so many torpedoes on the U-3001 boat!

"We've caught a big fish!" Manzek said to the first mate in an irrepressible excited voice, "There are dozens of landing craft on it!" If the other brothers were here, they would have to drown tens of thousands of Yankees tonight! ”

"Sir, we have 24 torpedoes, and we can fire up to 4 salvos in 30 minutes, and each round can fire 6 torpedoes......"

In addition to its high underwater speed and low noise (low noise at low speeds), the Type 21 U-boat also has a unique feature of the hydraulic loading system, which can complete the loading of 6 torpedoes in 10-12 minutes.

"Can't be so wasteful," Manzek immediately vetoed the deputy's suggestion, "hit up to 4 at a time, 24 torpedoes hit 6 targets, and tonight we have to kill 6 Yankee landing ships!" ”

After saying this, Captain Manzek suppressed his excitement and began to give one battle order after another.

Although the underwater displacement of the U-3001 boat under his command is only 1,819 tons, it is small compared to those submarines of Japan and the United States, which often have a tonnage of two or three thousand tons or even more. But when it comes to combat capabilities, it can definitely be regarded as an underwater killer.

Moreover, the German Naval Armaments Agency has designed and produced electrically propelled torpedoes (without bubbles) for this submarine, which can sail at a high speed of 17.2 knots underwater, with excellent concealment and accuracy. If all goes well, by the time the U-3001 successfully fires 24 torpedoes and sinks 6 landing ships loaded with American sailors, the Americans will not even find out about its existence!