Chapter 1082 The Beginning of the Disaster
On August 23, 1944, the night shrouded the mouth of the Demerara River. The cloudless night sky was full of stars, and it was almost connected to the Atlantic Ocean, which was reflecting the light of the moon. Such a good night was perfect for a landing battle that could change the fate of mankind.
On the south bank of the Demerara River, the shanty-covered city of Georgetown seemed to have completely turned into an empty city without people. The whole city was dark, and there was no sign of defense on the beach suitable for landing. Only a few old bulk carriers that were sunk near the estuary and the small port of Georgetown, with the superstructure still exposed above the water, and the dismantled and destroyed dock facilities, showed that the European Community’s army did take some defensive measures.
The "Fletcher" class destroyer "William D. Porter" belonging to the 31.8th Destroyer Squadron of the US Navy ventured close to the mouth of the Demerara River under the cover of night at around 9 pm on the 24th.
The bow of the Fletcher-class destroyer is now equipped with a minebreaker specifically designed to deal with anchor mines, and three or four kilometers in front of it, there is a demagnetized Sea Raven-class minesweeper. The 890-ton ship is not only equipped with a minebreaker that can cut the anchor mine chain, but also drags an electromagnetic minesweeper that can simulate the magnetism emitted by the hull.
These two American warships formed a small minesweeping formation. Together with a dozen other formations of the same composition, they must clear a sea area that can be attacked in the shortest possible time for the US landing formation preparing to launch a landing operation.
In the bridge of the William D. Porter, Captain Wilfred Walter personally steered the ship while silently praying to the Almighty God in his heart - never encounter any bad luck again.
His worries were not without reason, because the destroyer "William D. Porter" had often encountered all kinds of bad luck since it was put into service, either colliding with friendly ships, or accidentally dropping depth charges into the sea, causing a false alarm for the entire fleet, or the torpedo was accidentally fired and almost sank the Soviet (this happened in the operation of the Soviet to break through the Danish Strait and run to the United States at the end of June 1943), or the ship's artillery accidentally fired at the naval base...
In short, all kinds of bad luck have been encountered. If the US Navy had not expanded too fast in recent years and officers who could serve as captains were scarce, Captain Walter felt that he might have been expelled from the navy.
But this time, the "William D. Porter" was carrying out an unlucky minesweeping mission! If there was a little mistake, it would not be as simple as losing your job, but your life.
Captain Walter and all the crew members on the William D. Porter now need to be careful not only of the German mines that may explode at any time, but also of the German torpedo boats and submarines that appear and disappear at any time, and of course the Krupp cannons that are placed somewhere unknown!
With the thin hull of the William D. Porter destroyer, whether it encounters mines, torpedo boats, submarines or coastal defense artillery above 200mm, it is afraid that it will not have a good end.
Just when everyone in the bridge of the William D. Porter destroyer held their breath and was about to faint with nervousness. The phone suddenly rang, and then the second mate of the destroyer shouted: "Sir, the radar found an enemy plane! Distance 80, azimuth 200, number 10, altitude 800..."
"What? What? Azimuth 200?" Captain Walter was stunned, "Over the land of British Guiana? The altitude is only 800... Is it flying towards us? Ask quickly."
A few minutes later, the second mate reported loudly again: "Sir, the enemy plane disappeared from the radar screen, maybe it was a false alarm."
"It must be a false alarm again!" Captain Walter shook his head and said, "The situation report said that the Germans have no airport near Georgetown."
"Sir, do you need to report it?" The second mate of the destroyer was a little unsure.
"Report..." When Captain Walter was also undecided, a loud "boom" suddenly came from the front, scaring everyone. Captain Walter didn't think about the "radar false alarm" incident - this kind of thing was not an accident for the "William D. Porter" destroyer - he squinted his eyes and looked forward.
There was no fire on the sea, and the moonlight could still see that the minesweeper in front was slowly turning. At this time, another loud noise came. Captain Walter exhaled softly: "It's turning, the "Little Branch" is dropping depth charges, let's turn and drop depth charges too."
Throwing depth charges is a method of rapid minesweeping, which can be used in relatively narrow sea areas - it is impossible to drop depth charges all the way on a long route, and the cost is too high. Moreover, there is a high probability that the mines will be missed when detonating them with depth charges, so it can only be used as an emergency measure.
Moreover, the movement of dropping depth charges is very loud, and it is very easy to attract the bombardment of shore artillery. The ship that dropped depth charges to sweep mines before landing operations is really taking a big risk.
When the sound of the depth charge explosion reached the distant Atlantic Ocean, it was so faint that it was almost inaudible. The large fleet carrying and escorting the main force of the U.S. 5th Amphibious Army had already deployed a large battle array covering hundreds of square nautical miles on the ocean off the coast of Georgetown.
This was certainly a fleet of unprecedented size, probably rivaled only by the American offensive fleet in the Second Battle of the Hawaiian Islands. 9 of the world's most powerful battleships (4 Iowa-class, 4 Soviet-class, 1 North Carolina-class), 4 large fleet aircraft carriers and 20 escort aircraft carriers, as well as two to three hundred other ships of various types Combat ships, covering hundreds of transport ships and landing ships, have launched a landing formation on the dark sea. Hundreds of light cruisers and destroyers formed a semicircular warning circle on the periphery. In the center of the warning circle were battleships and aircraft carriers that were also firmly guarded by destroyers and light cruisers. In front of the battleships and aircraft carriers were the landing gear ready for beach landing. Ships, some of which have launched landing craft of various sizes, and the fully equipped American soldiers or the tanks and cars they drive have been squeezed into the "belly" of the landing craft, waiting to fight for the democracy and freedom of the Guyanese people. Go and fight the Germans to the death.
In order to avoid being discovered by German aircraft or submarines, all the ships on the sea did not turn on their searchlights. However, hundreds of air and sea search radars, as well as numerous sonar, were monitoring the sky and sea over and over again at this time. Any suspicious targets on the sea surface and underwater.
"Sir, the 31.8th Destroyer Group reported: The minesweeping operation has been completed. During the minesweeping process, they were not fired by German shore guns. Except for 2 minesweepers that were damaged by mines, the other ships suffered no losses and no personnel were lost. Report."
Admiral Halsey, commander of the U.S. 3rd Fleet and commander of the 31st Task Force, who was sitting on the battleship "Iowa", received a message that "the mine clearance mission was successfully completed" at around 11:30 on August 23. report, and during the mine clearance process, the German army did not use shore artillery to bombard or interfere.
This may indicate that Germany really did not deploy heavy troops in British Guiana, otherwise it would not even have large-caliber shore defense artillery.
Halsey's tense nerves finally relaxed a little after hearing the report, and then he loudly ordered: "Tell Lieutenant General Turner that the landing operation can begin. Georgetown must be captured before dawn!"
At this time, less than 40 nautical miles southeast of the U.S. fleet, close to the coastline of New Amsterdam (a small town in Guyana), next to a shoal, 16 S100 torpedo boats had started their diesel engines, put away their anchor chains, and started heading 40 nautical miles away. The American fleet moved in. These are 16 torpedo boats of the 5th Torpedo Boat Detachment, led by Colonel Johnson himself. Their maximum speed can reach 42 knots. If you move forward at full speed, you can launch an attack in up to 1 hour!
But tonight, they weren't the only sneak attackers. In fact, these 16 torpedo boats alone cannot break through the warning circle composed of destroyers and light cruisers. American destroyers and escort destroyers have good sea search radars, and it is still possible to detect approaching torpedo boats. of.
Moreover, there is no radar on the torpedo speedboat, so you can only rely on the "cat's eye skill" to find your opponent. Therefore, when visibility is extremely low at night, the probability of a destroyer discovering a torpedo boat first is much higher than the probability of a torpedo boat discovering a destroyer first.
Therefore, relying solely on torpedo boats to attack the US landing fleet with a large destroyer escort is unlikely to succeed. But tonight, Cam Huber has prepared a set of combos for the Americans!
At the same time that 16 S100 torpedo boats began to quietly move toward the target, six Type 21 submarines were submersing at a high speed of nearly 14 knots underwater, closer to the U.S. fleet. The target also formed a huge formation on the sea. American landing fleet.
In the air, at an altitude of less than 100 meters above sea level, 36 Ju188E-2 torpedo bombers that had just taken off from the "Georgetown Island" airport were relying on the guidance of radar and radio altimeter to fly at a lower altitude. Search for the American fleet on the boundless sea at flying speed!
And tonight's raid, carried out with the cooperation of aircraft, submarines and torpedo boats, is just the beginning of a series of disasters that the US military will suffer on the coast of Georgetown!