The low-altitude bomb attack tactics formulated by the Red Navy were divided into three ways: the first was to attack the superstructure of the enemy ship with a bomb ricochet, and the second was to directly bombard the middle of the enemy ship; The third is to drop bombs below the waterline of the enemy ship and attack its keel.

Based on live-fire tests, the Red Navy considered the first two methods of bombing to be suitable for attacking unarmored targets or targets with only thin armor. If the thickness of the enemy's armor exceeds 25 mm, the third method of attack can only be chosen. Obviously, the Red Navy wanted to use high-energy explosives to attack the keel of the enemy ship without armor protection, and due to the incompressibility of the water, the attack energy of the underwater bomb could not be wasted like a torpedo, and only a small number of bombs were needed to severely damage and sink the enemy ship.

According to the standard attack tactics of the Red Navy, the altitude of underwater bomb attack is generally between 50 and 100 meters. At this altitude, when the bomb breaks away from the carrier aircraft and enters the water, it will perform a serpentine maneuver under water, and then explode directly near the keel of the target.

It may seem like this attack tactic is simple, but it's actually not that easy. Because the performance of the airborne barometric altimeter at that time was not reliable at all at low altitudes, there was no way to provide accurate altitude information. At low altitudes, how to determine altitude becomes a big headache. Let's put it this way, with the slightest deviation, the bomb will deviate from the target by 15 to 35 meters.

At that time, there was basically no technical means to solve this problem, and everything could only rely on the experience of the pilots, who would rely on the height of the mast of the enemy ship to accurately locate the bomb, and could accurately control the height of the bomb between 70 and 80 meters.

That is, to carry out such an accurate low-altitude attack, the pilots need to have ultra-high technical skills and extremely resolute psychological qualities. Especially the latter, which is not just a problem that training can solve. At the time. This low-altitude attack tactic was called "fighting bayonet" by the pilots of the Red Navy's carrier-based aircraft. You can imagine how difficult it is.

In this attack on Prince Eugen. The pilots of the Red Navy's carrier-based planes carried out a bayonet operation, and the three Ro-3s approached about 300 meters from the Prinz Eugen before they began to drop bombs, and on the way to this breakthrough, the other three friendly planes operating together were either damaged and withdrew from the operation or were blown up in the air.

Three 1,000-kilogram bombs plunged into the sea near the middle of Prince Eugen's hull in a beautiful parabola, and the officers and men of the ship were relieved at the time, thinking that the Russians had made a mistake in dropping the bombs and let them escape, but ten seconds later. With three deafening loud bangs, three columns of water shot straight into the blue sky.

The force of the impact nearly toppled the Prinz Eugen on the spot, and the violent shaking caused the unsecured items in the ship's cabin to fly in all directions, and many poor insects were knocked all over their heads.

However, compared to these huge impacts, what made the Prinz Eugen more vulnerable was the breach from underwater, a FAB-1000 exploded near the stern keel, with the help of seawater, most of the power of the bomb was applied to the keel of Prince Eugen, with the sound of metal breaking with the click, the stern of Prinz Eugen was disconnected from the front hull!

Seawater poured into the cabin like a fountain. Heavy oil stored at the bottom of the ship began to leak in large quantities, and you could see black oil stains all over the sea. Worse. Because of the fracture of the hull, the propulsion bearing quickly jammed due to deformation, and a large number of sparks flew in the cabin with the violent metal friction sound of the reduction gear. In a few moments, the three machines made of precision gears were scrapped.

The Prinz Eugen, which lost power, soon fell across the sea like a dead fish, and when the power compartment flooded in large quantities, the power was cut off. Without electricity, pumps can't pump water, fire control equipment doesn't work, and even the most basic lighting can't be guaranteed. The hull of Prince Eugen was pitch black, which undoubtedly made the damage management work more difficult.

Of course, at this time, the Prinz Eugen could no longer care about any damage, because the Red Navy's attack planes were still launching attacks in an endless stream, and they would never show mercy to his men because they were paralyzed.

The Ro-2 swooped down from a high altitude effortlessly aimed at the hull of the Prinz Eugen, and when the FAB-500 bombs fell from a height of 600 meters, they could effortlessly tear through several decks until they hit the horizontal armor.

Looking down from the sky, it was obvious that there were several huge breaches on the deck of the Prinz Eugen, and flames and smoke erupted violently from them, and they rushed to a height of 100 meters before gradually dissipating.

Please note that the blow to the Prinz Eugen was not over, and soon, the torpedo machine arrived again, and at this time, Prinz Eugen, who had completely lost the ability to maneuver, really had to sit back and wait, 6 torpedoes accurately pierced the hull, and with a more violent explosion, the heavy cruiser was torn apart by five horses!

Note that from the launch of the attack to the sinking of Prince Eugen, it was less than twenty minutes in total. Naval aviation, with its characteristic efficiency, told those old antiques how exactly to fight naval battles in the future!

An hour later, when the destroyer Reckless arrived at the scene, there was no trace of the Prinz Eugen on the sea, only a large oil slick and a few dying German sailors silently telling the misfortune of the Prinz Eugen.

Another hour later, the General Command of the Navy in Moscow also received the news that the Prinz Eugen had been sunk by carrier-based aviation, and Orlov could not believe it at that time and repeatedly asked to verify this information. It wasn't until the Reckless impatiently told the Admiralty that the record was backed up by solid evidence that Orlov shut his mouth in surprise.

It was not only the Prince Eugen that was about to be sunk, but the Admiral Hippel, who was just as unlucky as his sister, was soon discovered by the Ro-2 group, and a similar scene was immediately repeated. Even more efficient this time, when the first wave of torpedo attacks ended, the heavy cruiser had already hit three torpedoes in a row, and there was no need to even replenish the attack, and soon the heavy cruiser was tilted 15 degrees to the left. Even the Germans tried to fill the starboard side with water to no avail, and soon the ship made a big turn and crashed into the sea under the influence of gravity.

This greatly disappointed the Red Navy pilots who rushed to hear the news, and some of the pilots who had run out of fuel angrily dropped bombs on the red bottom of the Admiral Hippel, which was soon lost due to the loss of airtightness. The ship sank to the bottom of the sea with the bottom facing the sky. It is worth mentioning. Because the "disaster" came too suddenly. Most of the ship's crew did not have time to escape, and only three of the ship's more than 1,400 people survived.

Meanwhile, Siriakos tried in vain to contact the Prinz Eugen and the Admiral Hippel, but no matter how much he shouted on the radio, there was no response.

"It seems that they are more than lucky!" Siriacus glanced worriedly at the sea outside the porthole, and a feeling of great foreboding enveloped him.

Actually, the situation of Siriacos at this time is not too good, just now. 12 torpedo-carrying Ro-2s had just visited his fleet, and although all the torpedoes of the opposing side missed, this was not something to be thankful about, and who could guarantee that the next batch of enemies would also miss the target? Siriakos kept urging the air force to come and escort its fighters as soon as possible, and he really didn't know how long his fleet would last.

Stepanian was not much easier than Siriakos, although there was no air threat for the time being, but only a team of Ro-2s was waiting for the left and right, and its offensive was quickly extinguished. He had to order the radioman to call out his friends on the radio and tell them not to circle around the two hapless heavy cruisers. The real big guy is here for him!

But to Stepanyan's dismay, his comrades-in-arms were probably on the battlefield for the first time. The sight of the enemy ship was a little carried away with excitement, and most of the Red Navy pilots did not pay attention to his shouts and were only interested in the target in front of them.

This confusion continued until Sukhoi regained contact with the attack formation, and on the orders of the admiral, the captains of the attack aircraft formation began to regroup and pounce towards the unanimous target.

At the same time, the belated Luftwaffe was about to arrive on the battlefield, and in order to ensure the safety of the Tirpitz, the Germans sent out almost all the air forces stationed in Norway, but even this is a bit unsightly.

Fortunately, the Red Navy's carrier-based aircraft were also seriously under-maintained at this time, and only a small number of Pe-2 long-range fighters taking off from Tromsø airbase were still providing air cover. Two groups of makeshift fighters collided in the air, and a tragic aerial dogfight began.

Stepanian, who always stayed in the vicinity of the Tirpitz to lead the attack, witnessed the whole air battle and left many valuable memories:

"The first to arrive at the battlefield were the BF-109F4s, who were so fast that they rushed in front of us almost in the blink of an eye, and compared to them, our Ro-3s were far from enough. And it was far less agile than the enemy, and soon one of my engines caught fire, and at one point the billowing smoke filled the cabin, making it impossible for me to see anything. ”

"Just when I thought we were going to be doomed, the Pe-2 arrived on the battlefield, and it drove away the enemy planes with its 20mm cannon, saving us from between the teeth of the enemy. I cut off the fuel supply to the engine that caught fire, and the fire slowly came under control, which improved my vision dramatically. I could see Pe-2 and BF-109 fighting together, and the sky was full of bullets from machine guns and cannons. Overall, though, Pe-2 is at a disadvantage! ”

According to declassified information from the Soviet Union, the participants in this air battle were the latest Pe-2M2 long-range fighters of the Red Navy, which were replaced with more powerful VK-107 engines (1500 horsepower each), which increased the maximum speed to the level of 600 kilometers. Moreover, the fuel load inside the fuselage has been increased, and the maximum range has reached 2,700 kilometers, and if it is hung in two large auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum range can be expanded to 3,200 kilometers. The Pe-2M2 is intensively equipped in Iceland, Tromsø and Murmansk, and is mainly used to escort fleets on the Arctic Ocean routes.

At first glance, the Pe-2M2 performance is still good, however, it must be seen that this is a twin-engine heavy high-altitude interceptor, which may work well against bulky bombers, but playing dog fights with dexterous single-engine fighters is really not good at it.

The fighting performance of the Pe-2M2 is inferior to that of the BF-109, so it is naturally difficult to please in such a fight. But for all the Pe-2M2 pilots, they had no more options at that time, and the Yak series fighters equipped by the Navy were all small and short-legged. Even with an auxiliary fuel tank, the Ro-2/3 could not be covered all the way. On this battlefield there is only Pe-2M2. They can only throw themselves into this asymmetrical air battle without hesitation.

For Pe-2M2. The only advantage is that because of the use of a double launch, their airframe structure is much stronger than that of a single-engine fighter, that is, it is more capable of resisting hits. This allowed them to buy more time for the attack aircraft formation. And they did!

While the BF-109 was entangled by the Pe-2M2, the Ro-2 fleet roared towards the German fleet led by the Tirpitz.

At 10:10 p.m., the Tirpitz was speeding against the wind at a speed of 28 knots, and above its head, Ro-2s shook their wings as they made their last formation before attacking. 105-mm anti-aircraft guns, 37-mm anti-aircraft guns and 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, as well as a large number of machine guns, rained bullets into the sky. Try to disperse these "dark clouds" hanging overhead.

However, the anti-aircraft fire of the German ships was too weak to cause much trouble to the carrier-based aircraft of the Red Navy, and in the midst of a hail of bullets, the torpedo planes roared down and rushed towards the middle of the huge hull of the German fleet.

In order to avoid the torpedoes, the three ships carried out a final dance, sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right.

Just when the Scharnhorst had just breathed a sigh of relief from the entanglement of one torpedo, another torpedo came uninvited. It crashed headlong into the hull in front of its head turret. When the torpedo hit, there was a flurry on the Scharnhorst. Many people rolled off the gangway or hit the bulkhead hard, but the panic soon subsided. The reason is simple, the damage management department quickly figured out the damage, and the torpedo hit the ship's main armor with minor damage.

Later, the officer of the ship recalled: "The hull of the ship was only slightly injured and did not affect the navigation, and the bow of the ship was violently shaken, which caused the power of some equipment to be interrupted." According to the damage management department, it can be done in a few minutes! ”

The captain of the Scharnhorst breathed a sigh of relief and sent a signal that the ship's combat navigation was unhindered and everyone was fighting with peace of mind. Yes, the Scharnhorst was lucky, but the Gneisenau was not so lucky, and almost at the same time that the Scharnhorst was hit by a mine, the ship also ate a torpedo. The lightning struck the stern of the ship, and the violent explosion lifted the hull out of the sea for a time. Soon the sea water rushed into the hull, causing the ship's speed to drop rapidly from 30 knots to 23 knots.

Of course, this blow was not fatal, and it could only be regarded as a cripple in Gneisenau, but in the circumstances of the time, lameness actually portrayed destruction. Soon swarms of Ro-2s surrounded the ship like vultures that asked about the smell of blood, and torpedo attacks, dive attacks, and even low-altitude bomb attacks emerged one after another, making the ship tired to deal with.

Greeted by torpedoes and bombs, Gneisenau soon began to catch fire, the deck twisted, deformed, and cracked like a thin sheet of iron under the scorching heat, the bulkheads crumbled in large areas, and the blazing flames spread in the cabin, especially when the aviation gasoline depot was ignited.

To tell the truth, the damage carrying performance of German warships is still good, and under such a fire, if it was replaced by a treaty-type warship, it would have exploded and sunk a long time ago. But Gneisenau stood stubbornly on the surface of the sea, and the officers and men of the ship kept trying to extinguish the flames, and they almost did so.

After the Gneisenau was turned into a flare, the pilots of the Red Navy judged that the ship should sink soon, and unanimously agreed that valuable ammunition should not be wasted on the ship. So they quickly shifted their target and attacked Tirpitz and Scharnhorst with all their might.

At this time, it was already 11 o'clock in the evening, and the sun, which had been hanging in the sky for nearly 20 hours, finally couldn't hold up the fatigue and began to set slowly. The line of sight on the sea began to deteriorate, which was advantageous for the fleeing German ships. At that time, the Germans were probably praying that the sun would sink soon.

It was at this time that Gorshkov's fleet was belated, and by telegram he had been informed of the situation of the battle, and that he had learned that the German capital ships were in front of him, and ordered the fleet to move forward at full speed.

Gorshkov was in a bad mood at that time, because he had already learned that the Admiral Hipper and the Prince Eugen had been sunk by carrier-based aircraft. If carrier-based aircraft could tackle German heavy cruisers, then they could also tackle German battle cruisers and battleships. For the first time, Gorshkov felt the pressure of naval aviation, and he felt that if he was not happy, the truth of this naval battle would have nothing to do with him.

Of course, another reason for Gorshkov's bad mood came from the Admiral Grechko, who, when questioned why he stayed where he was and not pursued the enemy, replied: "The safety of the fleet comes first, and according to your orders, I must first join your fleet!" ”

If Gorshkov had been the commander of the Navy, I'm afraid he would have removed this incompetent guy from his post at once, and then kicked him out of the Navy with one kick, the Navy doesn't need cowards! But Gorshkov had to pay for the coward's mistakes. Tell me, can the future admiral be in a better mood at this time?

The Gorshkov formation, which was advancing at full speed, was chasing after him, but this naval battle really had nothing to do with him, and before he saw the Tirpitz and the Scharnhorst, Sukhoi had ordered the refueling and bomb-mounted Ro-3 and some of the returning Ro-2 to attack again, they probably wouldn't leave Gorshkov with any chance! (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank 13452314, Xuanyuan Extreme Holy Emperor and Comrade Juventus!