The "Lonely Queen of the North" had been in the fjords of Norway for half a year, a disappointing half a year for German naval officers and soldiers who wanted to make a difference at sea.

For these young people, they are looking forward to going out into the ocean and embarking on a hunt as vigorous as their sister ship, the Bismarck. But Field Marshal Dreyer, after the tragedy of the Bismarck, no longer dared to risk the few capital ships of the navy. So Tirpitz could only nest in the fjords of Norway as a fleet.

Perhaps for the German military leadership, the existence of the Tirpitz was like a choke in the throat for Britain and the Soviet Union, which could greatly contain the sea power of Britain and the Soviet Union, and relieve pressure on Japan in the Mediterranean theater and even in the Far East. Objectively speaking, it is still of some use, but for the officers and men of the ship, this kind of life of squatting at home and doing nothing is too difficult.

Life in Norway aboard the Tirpitz crew was largely like this: day after day of anti-aircraft training and tedious camouflage work, such as cutting trees from the surrounding mountains and forests and piling them up on the deck. Or it's just endless mechanical maintenance, and the guns are not allowed to shoot every day, which is really a torment.

In desperation, the ship could only constantly carry out sports competitions to boost morale, or intermittently let the crew go to the surrounding towns or cities to relax. All in all, the service life aboard the Tirpitz was tedious and depressing.

And on such a day, when the officers and men of the Tirpitz heard that they could finally go to sea and finally beat the woolly bear, the excitement of the whole ship was naturally natural. Dreyer personally named the operation "Thunderbolt". The implication is not just to solve the Red Navy fleet with thunderbolts. More importantly, he hopes that his fleet can hunt down his opponent as quickly as a thunderbolt and then retreat completely.

Yes. The cautious Dreyer knew the risks involved, and he knew that his opponent was not a sheep, but a dangerous cheetah. The strength of the Red Navy is firmly above the German Navy, and in terms of the number of capital ships, the Red Navy exceeds a large number, and what makes Dreyer most depressed is that most of the enemy's capital ships are gifts from the former High Seas Fleet. Anyway, for the German Navy, the Red Navy was an eternal shame in the heart. Only by completely destroying the Red Navy can we be disgraced!

Of course, it is difficult to do this. At least Dreyer knew very well that if there was really going to be a head-on decisive battle at sea, even if there was a Tirpitz, his fleet would not be a match for the Red Navy. However, now what he is going to do is not a decisive battle of the fleet, but a sneak attack.

According to Gestapo intelligence, the main forces of the Red Navy were concentrated on Lake Lagardo to recuperate. At this time, the main forces of the White Sea Fleet, the battleships "October Revolution" and "Paris Commune", and an aircraft carrier Raider were stationed in Murmansk. Additional battle cruisers Red Kharkov and Red Samara, as well as two Leningrad-class aircraft carriers, were stationed in Iceland.

If this information is accurate and reliable, even if the October Revolution and the Paris Commune personally dispatched to escort the frigate formation. Dreyer was not particularly feared, and with the strength of the Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Admiral Hipper, Prince Eugen, and Scher, he could fight a battle. And this is where his confidence lies in allowing the fleet to fight.

In Dreyer's opinion, the geographical disadvantage of the Red Navy was too obvious, and several large fleets were scattered in closed sea areas, unable to support each other. Therefore, even if the Red Navy has the upper hand on the whole, when it comes to the local level, it is everywhere at the downside.

It can only be said that Dreyer's intelligence was too inaccurate, or that the KGB's strategic deception was too successful. Dreyer not only misestimated the number of aircraft carriers in the Red Navy, believing that the Red Navy had only two Leningrad-class aircraft carriers in service. In fact, it should be four (the Minsk and Kiev have also been refitted). What is even worse is that he did not realize that the Soviet Union had completed the White Sea-Baltic Canal and that the two fleets had merged into one. Therefore, when the aerial reconnaissance told him that the main force of the Baltic Fleet of the Red Navy was still resting at Lake Lagado, he was relieved, completely unaware that as long as the Red Navy was willing, these resting Chinese and Russian ships could immediately go north to the Arctic Ocean and then switch to the Atlantic Ocean for operations.

Dreyer was paralyzed, so he sent out the few capital ships in one go, thinking he was a hunter, but in reality he was just a prey. Moreover, the huge fleet assembled by the German Navy also had a number of problems. For example, the Scheer has a maximum speed of only 26 knots, which is inconvenient to operate in formation with high-speed ships such as the Tirpitz, and this thunderbolt operation, according to Dreyer's requirements, must be quickly resolved, and must not be dragged into the mud and water, otherwise it will be caught by the Royal Navy that reacts. So the Scheer ended up as a defender, which was actually going to sea to play soy sauce.

In addition to the problem of the Scher, the German Navy had another fatal problem, that is, the serious shortage of light cruisers and destroyers to assist the large ships and their performance. For example, in this operation, not a single light cruiser was dispatched, and only four destroyers were able to be used (Z7 Herman. Sherman, Z14 Friedrich. Ian, Z25 and Z28), it can be said that the number of capital ships turned out to be more than the number of auxiliary ships, and it must be said that the escort force is seriously insufficient. Of course, from Dreyer's original intention, there was nothing wrong with this, for him, this was a sneak attack, hit and run, and the number of formations was too large to be easily exposed.

A brief introduction to the Z7 and Z14, both of which belonged to the early Type 1934A destroyers, had twin chimneys and short bow hulls, were armed with five 127 mm guns and two quadruple 533 mm torpedo tubes, and had a maximum speed of 38 knots. The Z25 and Z28 belong to the 1936A type, equipped with five 150-mm guns and two quadruple 533-mm torpedo tubes, with a maximum speed of 36 knots and a full load displacement of nearly 3700 tons.

In terms of technical performance, the Z25 and Z28 were close to the combat power of light cruisers (without armor) and could be called destroyer leaders. The reason why the two fiercely fired Type 1936A destroyers were included in Operation Thunderbolt is that Dreyer is more concerned about increasing the firepower density of the formation and giving the Soviet formation the maximum damage. As for escorting capital ships. This is probably not a task that a Type 1936A destroyer can take. Because its own air defense capability is very worrying. The 150 mm gun could not threaten the fighter in terms of rate of fire or pitch rate. The remaining 4 37-mm "hand-pulled machines" and 5 20-mm anti-aircraft guns were really not much better than the furnishings.

On June 26, a German long-range reconnaissance aircraft spotted Gorshkov's maritime formation in the Barents Sea. The formation consisted of 12 Type 36 frigates, as well as four Type 40 destroyers, as well as two battleships. This intelligence was quickly communicated to the German naval command, and Dreyer agreed to carry out Operation Thunderbolt with almost no hesitation.

Dreyer immediately issued an order to Vice Admiral Siriacos, who had previously humiliated the British in the English Channel, and this time the Admiral wanted him to continue his efforts and humiliate the Russians again.

Soon Siriakos was on board the battleship Tirpitz, and under his orders the ship was quickly set on fire and steamed, while all the camouflage that had covered the hull for a year was removed. Soon under the escort of two destroyers. The Tirpitz sailed out of the fjord and joined up with the Scharnhorst and other ships off the coast of Norway, where they sailed to the West Orlen Islands, where they ambushed the Red Navy fleet.

It's just that the excited Germans didn't realize that when they set sail in high spirits, there were several pairs of eyes watching their every move. Near the mouth of the fjord, the Royal Navy's submarine "Seawolf" spotted this huge formation and accurately identified the shadow of the Scharnhorst, but before the Seawolf took a favorable position, Siriakos's formation had accelerated to more than 20 knots. Easily got rid of the Seawolf.

However, the discovery of the Seawolf was not without significance, and soon it surfaced. The Admiralty, which was far away in London, was urgently notified by radio. More than an hour later, Churchill received the information.

"The Scharnhorst has been dispatched? At least more than four ships in the same boat? The old smoker chewed on this information carefully, and soon he judged: "The Germans must have made a major move!" Let the Admiralty act at once, determine the purpose of the Germans, and make an interception plan! ”

The old smoker's idea was very simple, in order to encircle the few remaining large ships of the German Navy, the Royal Navy had to concentrate its main combat forces in the North Atlantic, which greatly interfered with the combat effectiveness of the Royal Navy.

Of course, the old smoker did not realize the scale of the German operation, let alone the fact that Tirpitz had been dispatched, otherwise he would have been even more anxious and would have ordered the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force to go all out to round up.

Not only did the Royal Navy discover the movements of the Germans, but the Red Navy also accurately grasped the movements of the German fleet, and the KGB used spies lurking in Norway to monitor the movements of the Tirpitz at all times, and they actually discovered it earlier than the British, and the information was more accurate and detailed.

Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Schell...... The Germans are pouring out of the nest! ”

The commander-in-chief of the Navy, Orlov, took a breath, he really did not expect the Germans to be so crazy. He had previously judged that the Germans would at best send Tirpitz and at most one or two battle cruisers. Who would have thought that the Germans would swarm out from battleships to heavy cruisers, how crazy it must be!

Soon, Orlov was worried about Gorshkov, who had an absolute upper hand in terms of the number of formations, but an absolute disadvantage in terms of quality. Can the two Bayern-class ships withstand the German wolves? Once there is a mistake, the loss is too great!

Orlov asked worriedly: "Where is Kuznetsov's fleet now?" ”

"Just left Iceland."

Orlov measured it on the chart, and his heart was half cold, even if Kuznetsov was moving at full speed, his capital ships might not be able to catch up with this battle! Could it be that the victory or defeat in this naval battle will be completely left to aircraft carriers and fighters?

Orlov really didn't dare to trust the combination of aircraft carriers and aircraft, and as an old navy he still trusted the giant guns on battleships even more. However, it is too late to regret the situation now, and unless this operation is canceled, it will have to follow the script.

Of course. Canceling the operation is absolutely impossible. The operation was discussed and approved by the Military Commission and authorized by the Politburo. Even if he is the commander-in-chief of the Navy, he does not have the right to cancel. The only thing he could do was pray for the soldiers ahead.

"What's the weather like in the North Atlantic?" Orlov asked again.

"According to the report of General Kuznetsov. The wind and waves are relatively strong, and the climatic conditions are not ideal. ”

This is another news that Orlov does not want to hear, the weather has too much influence on naval battles, and sometimes the weather conditions can even determine the outcome of a naval battle. What's more, aircraft carriers and aircraft are more sensitive to the climate, and strong winds and waves in the North Atlantic will make the operation of aviation extremely difficult.

It was not only Orlov who noticed this, but Kuznetsov, as well as Sukhoi, noted, and as a party. Their senses are more intuitive. Not long after leaving Iceland, they were hit by a cold snap from the Arctic Ocean, which at one point reached a force 6 and the temperature dropped to -7 degrees Celsius.

"The catapult is frozen again!" Sukhoi scolded angrily.

Kuznetsov pouted, but did not say anything, because it is not surprising that the catapult was frozen, according to the experience of previous training at sea, the performance of this new steam catapult is not to be said, it is capable of instantly accelerating a twelve-ton aircraft on a 100-meter-long trajectory to about 90 knots, if the two catapults are properly coordinated. It can make a fighter with a full tank of fuel and ammunition take to the air at a faster speed. This is quite ideal at a critical time.

But there are also problems with this steam catapult, the openings and gaps between the cylinder and the piston leak steam anyway. And these water vapors will condense quickly when cooled. Maybe it's perfectly fine to use in the middle and low latitudes and temperate zones, but in the cold zone at the high latitudes, it's really a bit of a problem. These ice cubes condensed on the deck are the natural enemies of the warplane, and if you are not careful, you will cause a major accident that destroys the aircraft.

At first, there was a lot of agreement within the Navy to equip aircraft carriers with steam catapults, not least because of the steam leakage mentioned above. What's more, these steam catapults are heavy, cumbersome to maintain, and expensive to build. In Sukhoi's opinion, these steam catapults are simply flashy waste, even without them, the fighter can easily take off on the deck, and even if it is necessary to take care of some emergency take-off, the more mature and reliable hydraulic catapult is now better used.

However, none of this made sense to an immortal who insisted on developing and equipping a steam catapult immediately, and made it a high priority. In the mid-term modification of the Leningrad-class aircraft carrier, the steam catapult was the key equipment.

In this mid-term remakeover, the Leningrad-class aircraft carriers were not only equipped with steam catapults, but also underwent a rather radical overhaul, so to speak, the entire battleship was changed beyond recognition. The specific renovation project includes: changing the original inboard elevator to an outboard elevator, and setting up a lift with a maximum lifting capacity of 20 tons at the front and rear ends of the bridge.

Sukhoi was also dissatisfied with such a transformation, he felt that the inboard lift was used well, there was no need to change it at all, and in the harsh climate of the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic, the inboard lift was also better than the outboard lift. This kind of transformation is simply inexplicable!

Not only has the elevator been changed, but the deck has also been changed from a straight-through deck to a straight-through deck with a beveled deck. A floating deck has been added to the port side, and some counterweights have been added to the starboard side. Sukhoi also didn't like the 8-degree angled deck, which he thought made the carrier ugly and didn't mean much.

However, his opposition was still true, and a certain immortal insisted that taking off and landing fighters at the same time was a necessary function in the development plan of the aircraft carrier. In the future, all aircraft carriers must be equipped with beveled decks, such as the Type 42 aircraft carrier under construction, which has a larger beveled deck of 14 degrees.

The only equipment that made Sukhoi happy was the optical landing equipment developed by the Central Research Bureau of Optoelectronic Equipment, which is called Fresnel lens to make it easier for pilots to land on aircraft carriers and reduce the accident rate during the take-off and landing phase by 10 percent.

After this transformation, the maximum displacement of the Leningrad-class aircraft carrier is close to 50,000 tons, the maximum speed is 30 knots, and the maximum aircraft capacity is 84 (about 12 aircraft are not counted in the backup aircraft hanging on the top of the hangar). Among them, there are 36 Yak-3K fighters, 36 Ro-2 multi-role attack aircraft, and 12 Ro-3 multi-role attack aircraft.

It can be seen that the proportion of fighters on the aircraft carriers of the Red Navy is relatively high, and it can also be shown from another side that the Red Navy attaches great importance to maritime air defense, which is still different from the mainstream configuration at that time. Both the United States and Japan paid more attention to the number of attack aircraft at that time, and the number of fighters was less.

According to the standard combat level of the Red Navy, the Ro-3, which has a larger range and faster speed, generally takes on reconnaissance missions, while the Ro-2 takes on strike missions. This time was no exception, four Leningrad aircraft carriers ejected 8 Ro-3s for take-off reconnaissance even in extremely harsh conditions.

"That's the only benefit of catapults," Sukhoi sighed and said, "They have traction and fixed tracks, and they can still play a role in strong winds and waves, but they are too expensive and cumbersome!" ”

Kuznetsov shrugged his shoulders, for technical issues he was not interested in for the time being, he was more interested in tactical ones: "Where do you think the Germans will ambush Gorshkov's fleet now?" (To be continued......)

PS: Bow down and thank you to GUNDAM0080, the glorious charter, and Comrade Juventus!