October 12, 1939, Iceland time, 6 a.m.
In the Atlantic Ocean, 400,700 nautical miles south of Iceland, there are six fleets from northeast to southwest.
The closest to Iceland in the northeast was the F flotilla with the battlecruiser "Prestige" as the flagship and the battleships "Sovereign" and the aircraft carrier "Hundred-Eyed Giant".
About 100 nautical miles southwest of the F Fleet was the G Fleet with the battlecruiser "Hood" as the flagship and the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal".
About 300 nautical miles west of the island of Ireland was the flagship of the battleship "Revenge" and also owned the battleship "Determination".
Less than 70 nautical miles west of the I Fleet there is also an AB1 convoy of more than 80 transport ships and 12 escort vessels.
Less than 80 nautical miles southwest of the AB1 convoy, the German deportation fleet consisting of the Scharnhorst, the Sedlitz and the newly arrived Leipzig was cruising.
About 180 nautical miles directly south of the AB1 convoy, the British H Fleet, with the two battleships "Barham" and "Malaya" and the aircraft carrier "Eagle" as the core, was sailing.
This is undoubtedly a naval battle with a disparity in power, at least in terms of the number of ships.
The number of ships on the German side was only a pitiful 3, while the number of ships on the British side was more than 200 The balance of forces is so great that if in the last big war, there is almost no suspense about victory or defeat.
But with the rapid advancement of internal combustion engine technology over the past 20 years, the mode of naval warfare, like land warfare, has undergone revolutionary advances.
At 6 o'clock, the two sides involved in the battle did not know the exact location of the other party, or even whether the other party existed.
So today's confrontation started with a search, a search with a variety of carrier-based aircraft The main ones sent by the British side were: "Swordfish" torpedo bombers, each aircraft carrier sent 3, and the 3 aircraft carriers sent a total of 9 "Swordfish" type; The Walrus seaplanes sent at least two seaplanes for each British battleship battlecruiser, one seaplane for each heavy cruiser and some light cruisers, a total of 16 Walrus for eight battleships, and 11 Walrus seaplanes for seven heavy cruisers and four relatively large light cruisers.
Thus, at the beginning of the campaign, the British sent a total of 36 search aircraft, 9 "Swordfish", 27 "Walrus".
On the other hand, the three warships on the German side released 9 Type 99 and 4 AR196, one of which belonged to the light cruiser "Leipzig", for a total of only 13 reconnaissance aircraft. 13 to 36 is of course an absolute disadvantage And now the weather is quite clear, there are no clouds to hide from.
Therefore, it was very difficult for the Scharnhorst, Seydlitz and Leipzig to hide their tracks on the surface of the sea.
At 6:45, the sound of air raid sirens sounded on the "Scharnhorst".
"Lieutenant General, it's a seaplane" The communications staff officer on the "Scharnhorst" had a telephone receiver in his hand and reported loudly: "Four Fokker Zeros have bitten it" The radars on board the Fokker Zero, which was on direct mask, and the Scharnhorst, discovered the incoming Walrus seaplane almost simultaneously.
"Sure it's a seaplane," Rear Admiral Leifman asked, and after receiving an affirmative answer, he said to Lieutenant General Machar, "it should be the walrus, it is very slow, it can only fly about 200 kilometers per hour."
It's 6:45 a.m., and the plane should have been ejected less than 1 hour."
"The enemy is within 100 nautical miles," Machar interrupted Liftman.
The atmosphere in the entire command tower suddenly became tense Within 100 nautical miles there were large British warships capable of carrying "Walrus".
At this time, the communications staff officer reported: "Lieutenant General, the USS Seydlitz reports that the Fokker Zero has shot it down." ” The combat effectiveness of the Fokker Zero is really outstanding As soon as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the voice of the communications staff officer sounded again: "We have also heard unknown radio signals. ” Damn it Marchar and Leifman glanced at each other, the "Walrus" had already sent a telegram, and its location had been revealed.
"Lieutenant Admiral," the communications staff officer received a new message at this time, "the British convoy has been discovered," and his tone was tinged with surprise, "just 90,100 nautical miles to the west, heading east, the coordinates are" Marchar and Leifman walked a few steps to the chart table, and the nautical staff had already indicated on the chart the approximate location of the British convoy, which was the AB1 convoy.
The German fleet was discovered just now by the heavy cruiser "London", the flagship of the AB1.
"When the reconnaissance planes are discovered, they will immediately recall all Fokker 99s, add bombs, and let them attack," Rear Admiral Leifman immediately suggested.
"Because we are pursuing at a speed of 30 knots, it will take at least 34 hours to catch up, and if we want to achieve results, we must send planes to bomb."
This is where the efficiency of the aircraft carrier's breaking is high Similarly, the role of carrier-based aircraft and seaplanes in escort is also undoubtedly reflected.
If the German fleet did not have an aircraft carrier, even if the AB1 was discovered with an AR196 seaplane, there would be no way to achieve significant results.
Because the distance between the two sides is still 90,100 nautical miles, the "Scharnhorst" has to run for three hours before it has a chance to fire, and the other side is very likely to disband the formation and flee.
At that time, the "Scharnhorst" could catch at most one or two merchant ships, and its efficiency was limited compared to that of submarines.
But with the Fokker 99 carrier-based bomber, even if there are only 9 of them, at least four or five can be easily damaged.
"But it's possible that the British aircraft carriers are somewhere nearby."
Lieutenant General Machar hesitated.
"Lieutenant General, we have 20 Fokker Zeros, and we are afraid that we will not be able to deal with British biplanes," said Major General Reifman.
He knew that his proposal was very risky, but if he wanted to achieve results, he couldn't do it without taking risks.
Besides, the anti-aircraft firepower provided by 20 Fokker Zeros should be strong enough, and now it is only necessary to take care not to let the British battleships get closer.
"Okay, that's it," Lieutenant General Mashaal nodded, "give orders to Major General Haye." ” He paused, then added, "We're going to turn around and head south, full speed, 30 knots, and then slow down and take back the plane when the Fokker 99 is back."
After the nine Fokker 99s were on strike again, we turned east and circled to the south of the British freighters.
Today we will continue to bomb with nine Fokker 99s during the day, and then sink the wounded ship with the Scharnhorst in the evening. ” "Admiral, we've found them" In the command tower of the battleship "Revenge", the atmosphere also suddenly became tense.
"A battleship, an aircraft carrier, a cruiser," the communications staff officer shouted.
"We've got them," Major General Phillips almost cheered.
"They are almost in the middle of our four detachments" "There's no mistake in the news," Forbes said, "is the seaplane out of contact?"
"Lost contact, probably shot down by a Fokker Zero."
Rear Admiral Phillips said, "But other walruses have flown over, and I believe that the position of the German fleet will soon be confirmed." ” Just as Admiral Forbes was frowning and hesitating, the fleet communications staff shouted again: "ab1 reports that they found 1 unidentified seaplane" This should be the German AR196 all the people are thinking: this is almost certain to find the German fleet Rear Admiral Phillips immediately suggested to Admiral Forbes, "Let the aircraft carriers send Big Europe and Swordfish, send them now" Admiral Charles Forbes also shouted in his heart: "God forbid" This time the luck is so good, it seems that the shame of the "Battle of Scapa Bay" can be washed away.
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"Okay, send the coordinates of the Germans to the F-F-F, G-Flotilla, and H-Flotilla, and let them immediately send torpedo bombers and dive bombers" Charles Forbes ordered loudly, "Our I Flotilla should also move, go and join the AB1, and move closer to the AB1 at full speed" AB1 consisted of 86 transport ships with a total tonnage of more than 630,000 tons, and those transport ships were carrying a lot of raw materials that Britain urgently needed, so the "Scharnhorst" could not be sunk.
"Garand detachment, Garand detachment, I'm Seydlitz."
At 7:55 a.m., Adolf Garland was flying through the sky in a Fokker Zero when the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Weiss, an aviation staff officer, came from the headphones.
"The radar spotted a plane, just in front of you at 2 o'clock, at altitude 3000, go see who it is" "Garland received," Major Garland replied immediately, "repeat, Garland received."
Then he adjusted the intercom to the frequency of the formation call, "Follow me when you have work" When he gently pushed the control stick and piloted the plane to search for the invading enemy, he suddenly thought to himself: The enemy planes are coming one after another, and it seems that there must be a bloody battle to be fought today At this time, the voice of wingman Schumacher came from his headphones: "Major, I see it, it's a Swordfish plane, not a seaplane, it's a carrier-based aircraft, it seems that the British aircraft carrier is nearby" Not necessarily close, but certainly not far from it, Garland said, "Cheer up, now we have to decide the outcome of the war." t1706231537: