Don't look at Nelson. Georgievich. Stepanian is only 29 years old, but in the Red Naval Aviation Corps he can already be considered experienced. Born in Azerbaijan, the Armenian graduated from the Civil Aviation School in 1935 and worked as a flight instructor for a time. Before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, his tasks were more civilian. And after the outbreak of war, he grew up rapidly.

At the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, Stepanian served in the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet and worked as a fighter pilot at the Odessa base airfield. On his first day in Barbarossa, Stepaninian took to the skies to fight the Nazi puppet Romania. In June and July alone, Stepanian took to the skies twenty times, until he was wounded by enemy anti-aircraft guns during a dive bombing mission and was forced to recuperate.

A month later, Stepanian returned to the unit alive and well, and together with his comrades, he went into the defense of Odessa. In August, September, and October, he took to the air a total of 80 times, almost a little more than a day on average, and the intensity was really high for a fighter pilot!

And Stepanian not only worked, but also achieved quite amazing results. During the four months of fighting, he personally destroyed more than 50 vehicles, eight tanks, and more than 60 anti-aircraft guns. In November 1941, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.

Stepanian soon ushered in a major turning point in his life, as an excellent pilot of HNA, he was selected as a new batch of carrier-based pilots. Soon he said goodbye to Odessa and went to the Navy Training Center for Carrier-Based Aircraft Pilots in Sevastopol for a three-month training.

At the Center for Carrier-based Pilots, Stepanian performed exceptionally well, successfully completing his land training in just two months, becoming one of the first pilots to be approved for training on board. In Murmansk, for the first time, Stepanian boarded the deck of an aircraft carrier. Taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier for the first time, he quickly fell in love with this new flying experience.

At the end of four months of intensive on-board training, Stepanian became the leader of the new batch of carrier-based pilots. He was assigned to serve on the aircraft carrier Leningrad and flew the latest Ro-3 multi-role attack aircraft.

"At the end of June 1942, the first anniversary of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, I boarded the Ro-3 attack aircraft with my comrades. This attack aircraft with a combat radius of more than 500 nautical miles is very good. It has a maximum speed of more than 500 kilometers per hour, a maximum bomb load of 1.5 tons, and two 23 mm guns. ”

"But our mission is not to attack, but to be the eyes and ears of the fleet. According to the information sent by the Moscow Komsomol members, we searched in the form of a three-plane formation. To be honest, it's a very boring and tedious job. ”

"There was no radar at that time, and it was our naked eye to detect enemy aircraft. The three of us widened our eyes and carefully searched every inch of the sea below, for fear of missing a clue. It's just that we turned the sea below back and forth a few times, but we didn't find anything. Nothing but whales below! ”

"The long flight made us dizzy. When you are hungry, you can only nibble on two mouthfuls of dark chocolate, and when you are thirsty, you have no water to drink, and the most troublesome thing is to go to the toilet. There's no precious space on the plane for you to set up a toilet, so you have to pull in your pants to solve the problem. Of course, we were all given diapers before boarding**, but you know, it feels weird! ”

"Compared with the physical problems, the heavier is the psychological pressure. As the eyes of the fleet, we must detect the traces of enemy ships as early as possible. And accurately guide friendly aircraft to carry out attacks. In the case of fishing, this was a difficult one. The reason is that our opponent is the old fox, who constantly changes the course and misleads us with all kinds of means, plus the wrong intelligence of the cruiser formation, well. It all sucks! ”

"We tried to save fuel at as low speeds as possible, even though we had two extra large drop tanks under the wings when we set off, but that wasn't enough for a long search. But God is still more appreciative. Just when we were straining on fuel, an unexpected situation caught my attention! ”

"An Ar-196 water reconnaissance plane suddenly appeared under the clouds in the distance, this kind of aircraft is too familiar to me, every day I have to review the identification manual of German warships and aircraft, only by keeping in mind the appearance of these enemies, you can do it with ease!"

"This Ar196 seems to be preparing to return after a reconnaissance mission, for me, this is great news, as long as I follow this enemy plane, I will definitely be able to find the location of the enemy ship!"

"I didn't hesitate to push the lever and followed, of course, I didn't expose the target like a fool, but carefully used the cover of the clouds to crash behind the butt of the enemy plane. Thanks to the damn storm, the dense clouds were a good way to hide the Ro-3's tracks, and of course, on one or two occasions I almost lost an enemy plane due to the dark clouds. ”

"This storm comes and goes fast. Twenty minutes later, the sky cleared again, and you couldn't imagine it was ten o'clock in the evening without looking at your watch! That Ar196 is starting to land, look in the direction it landed, hey! My dear, three or four large warships are heading south at high speed, while the remaining one is slowing down, apparently preparing to recover the reconnaissance plane. ”

Stepanian immediately ordered the navigator to find out the location and coordinates, and then immediately reported it to the distant aircraft carrier battle group. It must be said that his discovery was decisive, what Grechko did not do, Stepanian did.

Later, however, Stepanian said: "The discovery of the enemy's fleet is a cause for joy, but it does not mean that everything is over." First of all, the enemy's position is still far from our attack formation, and they have absolutely no time to continue changing course and playing hide and seek with us before the attack aircraft formation arrives. So we'll have to keep an eye on them for a while longer, but, as I said before, I'm running out of fuel anymore! ”

At that time, Stepanian was faced with a big problem, if he chose to return immediately, he would be able to fly back to the aircraft carrier. That would be safe for him and his crew. But it was possible to let the enemy go. If he chooses to continue tracking and surveillance, then his plane will definitely not be able to fly back, which means that the lives of him and the other two comrades on board will be difficult to preserve.

To live or to perish, it was entirely up to Stepanian to think about it. And he made a decision almost immediately: "I must continue to stay and monitor enemy ships, this is my mission, and it is what a soldier who is determined to defend his country should do!" And my comrades-in-arms readily agreed to my choice. They told me: 'I've been floating at sea for half a month, and today it's time to take a bath!' ’。 ”

At the critical moment, Stepanian and his comrades made the most correct choice, leaving the danger to themselves and the possibility of destroying the enemy to other comrades. On the instructions of Stepanyan, the attack aircraft formation again corrected its course and flew in the right direction.

But let's be honest, it's actually a bit late. The Yak-3K fighter jets accompanying the escort ran out of fuel and had to be evacuated from the battlefield first. And the first batch of Ro-2 attack aircraft to take off had to return with the Yak because they consumed a lot of fuel during the search on the sea surface.

Only 72 Ro-2 attack aircraft were really capable of attacking, of which 36 carried aerial bombs, and the rest carried a 450-mm 45-36AN aerial torpedo. They formed six formations and rushed towards Ciriakos's fleet with great vigour.

At the same time, Stepaninian and his little friends also reached the most dangerous moment, for the simple reason of this. They are exposed! Soon, the Admiral Hipper, the Prinz Eugen, the Tirpitz and the Scharnhorst catapulted four Ar196 water reconnaissance aircraft in succession.

Don't underestimate Ar196. Don't think that this cargo can really only do reconnaissance work because it bears the name of a water reconnaissance plane, in fact, the plane still has considerable firepower for self-defense. For example, the Ar196A-2 is armed with two fixed 20mm cannons and a 7.9mm machine gun, in addition to a moving 7.9mm machine gun in the back seat, which is quite impressive in terms of firepower alone.

The problem with the aircraft was that it was too slow (the maximum speed was 309 km/h), which was really good enough to deal with the new fighters, but the Germans did not expect the water reconnaissance aircraft to be able to beat the serious fighters. The requirement of the Germans for the Ar196 was that it was enough to be able to drive out the reconnaissance aircraft of the place.

And this task is still up to the task for Ar196. Soon four Ar196s pounced on Stepanyan with great momentum. Tracer shells from the 20-mm cannon constantly sent cordial greetings to the Ro-3. Fortunately, as a twin-engine attack aircraft, the Ro-3 is not only a sturdy fuselage, but also equipped with an "armored bath" under the three pilots' seats, and its self-defense firepower is also relatively powerful.

Two 23mm cannons and three 12.7mm machine guns are good and powerful, especially noteworthy. The Soviet guns were all of the type of chicken blood, and their rate of fire was quite amazing! So when the four Ar196s faced Stepanyan's landline, they were taken aback by its ferocious firepower.

"The Russian aviation machine guns are quite terrifying, capable of firing thousands of rounds per minute, and the 12.7 mm warhead is much more powerful than the 7.9 mm machine guns we are equipped with. As long as you get hit, you can leave a hole the size of the bowl! ”

However, after all, Stepanian is alone, and even if he uses all his resources to maneuver with enemy planes, he will inevitably be shot. The battle lasted about twenty minutes, during which Stepanyan's planes ran out of ammunition, and he shot down and damaged two Ar-196s, but at the same time, his car was scarred.

After the battle, after Stepanian was forced to make a forced landing in Norway in a Ro-3, the Red Army's ground crew repaired the plane to surprise to find that there were 600 bullet holes in the plane! But what is even more surprising is that Stepanian and the other two friends in the cockpit did not even lose a single hair!

Returning to the air battle itself, after twenty minutes, Stepanian was able to maneuver with enemy aircraft only with flying skills (there was no ammunition), and at that time he thought: "This time it must be dead, there is no ammunition, and the enemy is continuing to eject Ar196, and it is only a matter of time before it is shot down!" ”

At this critical juncture, the Red Navy's fighters taking off from Tromsø finally arrived on the battlefield, and four Lager-3s rushed towards the Ar196 like eagles catching chickens, shooting down two enemy planes in just one turn.

Stepanyan said at the time: "I breathed a long beard, and Rag came too soon. The three of us waved to them desperately in the cockpit to thank them, and even the machine gunner in the back seat, Raful, cried with joy......"

Lucky for Stepanyan, but for Siriakos it was a leak that happened to rain for days. When Ar-196 was disposed of by the Rag-3, the vice admiral realized that he had to make a painful choice. Continue to maintain the formation, then there is only one result. It is to be killed by the enemy's bombers and attack aircraft, and the Prince of Wales and the Counterattack have proved that without the cover of the air force, in the face of a large group of air raids, whether it is a battleship or a battle cruiser, there is only a dead end!

Siriacos reluctantly ordered: "Disband the formation, let the ships disperse and break through!" ”

And this order meant resigned to fate, and the disbandment of the fleet would certainly distract the enemy, but at the same time, any lone German ship would have only a dead end in the face of an air attack by the Red Navy! However, there is no way around it. Because Siriacos thought that continuing to maintain the formation would only be served by the Red Navy.

From the air, the German fleet led by the Tirpitz quickly "bloomed", and the five capital ships scattered in different directions to break through, leaving five bright tracks on the sea.

Siriakos would soon regret this decision for the rest of his life, for shortly after he disbanded the fleet, Dreyer sent a telegram from the German Air Force in Norway, informing him that air cover would be provided.

After receiving this belated telegram, Siriacus could not cry or laugh, and could only turn on the radio again to contact the other four friendly ships that had been dispersed. It's just that not all friendly ships responded to his rallying call.

The Prinz Eugen broke away from formation and was soon spotted by carrier-based aircraft of the Red Navy. 24 Ro-2s in groups of three formed attack formations at different altitudes. The first to attack were attack formations carrying 45-36AN aviation torpedoes, and 9 Ro-2s braved anti-aircraft fire to quickly approach Prince Eugen at an altitude of 50 meters. The torpedo was dropped until it was 800 meters away from the latter.

The 45-36AN is the main aviation torpedo of the Red Navy's carrier-based aircraft, in fact, the mine is a foreign product, and its prototype is a new aviation torpedo introduced by the Navy from the Italian company Baitou in 1932. In 1936, the mine was finalized and equipped with troops (the model number was 45-36H). The mine has a caliber of 450 mm, a length of 5.7 meters, a total weight of 935 kg, and a head charge of 200 kg. 41 knots is the maximum range of 3 km, 32 knots is the speed of 6 km.

On the basis of the 45-36H, the Red Navy made a series of improvements, derived the high-altitude version of the 45-46AB-A torpedo and the low-altitude version of the 45-36AN (the performance is basically the same as the 45-36H, but the low-altitude projection capability is improved) torpedo. Since 1939. The 45-36AN became the main battle torpedo of the Red Navy's carrier-based aircraft, while the 45-46AB-A was more equipped for the Il-2T and Il-4T on land.

As the nearly one-ton 45-36AN was ejected from the pylon, the Ro-2 jerked a dozen meters higher, and then the pilots jerked the rudder to make way for the subsequent torpedo machines.

The first batch of 3 45-36AN torpedoes plunged headlong into the sea, and then slowly rose to a depth of about 5 meters with the help of a bathymetry, and then the engines began to work, and the propellers pushed the torpedoes to accelerate rapidly to 41 knots, and swooped down fiercely towards the Prinz Eugen. At the same time, Prince Eugen did not sit still, and immediately began to turn at a large angle, and three torpedoes almost grazed its hull.

"Damn it!"

The torpedo pilots cursed, but it was useless to scold, because they no longer had torpedoes, and the next thing they could do was to see if their comrades could get a little better.

The first torpedo planes to attack were not the following torpedo planes, but the bomb-carrying Ro-2 that was operating at high and medium altitudes. According to the standard attack tactics of the Red Navy, when striking ships, attack planes should strike at high, medium, and low altitudes at the same time, of which the high-altitude is naturally dive bombing, while the air is horizontal bombing, as for the low-altitude situation, it is relatively special, there are two options, it can be a torpedo or a bomb.

Obviously, there was only one reason why the Red Navy launched attacks from three airspace at the same time, and that was to overwhelm the anti-aircraft fire of the enemy ships, so that the enemy ships could not concentrate their firepower. The effect of such an attack was especially good for German warships, which were already thin in anti-aircraft fire.

It's just that the situation of this attack on the Prince Eugen is a little different, and the horizontal bombing was not carried out at mid-altitude, because the captain of the Ro-2 fleet thinks that the horizontal bombing is of little significance, and the Prince Eugen is a bare-bones commander, and the combination of high-altitude horizontal bombing and low-altitude attack is enough to disperse the anti-aircraft fire of the enemy ship.

This was also the case, when the first wave of torpedo attacks dodged, the second wave of Ro-2 launched a low-altitude bomb attack on Prince Eugen from a height of 80 meters.

There may be comrades who will be inexplicable, why drop bombs at low altitudes? Isn't it time to play torpedoes at low altitudes? Bombs have to dive from high altitudes to bomb for the best effect! Red Navy carrier-based pilots are too layman, right?

Don't worry, the carrier-based pilots of the Red Navy are not amateurs at all, and their attack behavior is completely in line with the Red Navy's carrier-based aircraft tutorial. According to the Red Navy's live-fire exercises and tests, it is possible to launch an attack at a low altitude just like a bomb, and the effect is no worse than that of a high-altitude dive bomb.

Let's just say that since the mid-thirties, carrier-based pilots of the Red Navy especially began to train in this tactic of striking enemy ships with bombs at low altitudes...... (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank hzwangdd, the most powerful army, old students, idle reading of the world, Xuanyuan Extreme Holy Emperor and Comrade Juventus!