Chapter 1111 Missiles in the Atlantic Ocean 24

"The words after "Long live the free and democratic United States of America" ​​must have been added by a radio operator who worked in the Soviet Navy."

The US Pacific-Atlantic Fleet Joint Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Horatio broke the embarrassment. In fact, his guess was half right. "Long live President Roosevelt" and other words were indeed added by the radio operator on the "Soviet Union", but that person was not a "Soviet", but was born in the United States.

However, this fact is even more worrying, because with the worsening of the unfavorable situation of the United States in the war and the rapid rise of the National Fascist Party and the Bolshevik Party of the United States, the US military, which has always claimed to be "non-interference in politics" and "political neutrality", has shown a trend of politicization.

The two traditional major parties in the United States, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, are slow to respond and still adhere to the tradition of "military personnel do not belong to parties", so there are no secret organizations in the army.

This situation is really worrying...

Nimitz, who didn't want to cause any more controversy at this sensitive time, frowned and said, "Then remove the words after "Long live the free and democratic United States of America."

"Yes, sir." The fleet's communications staff just answered, and another telegram was stuffed into his hand.

He looked down, and the expression on his face became very painful.

"Sir, the battleship Washington was sunk by a German missile, and the missile hit its bow ammunition depot..."

The Washington is finished! The ammunition depot exploded and sank into the cold Atlantic Ocean within a few minutes! Nearly all of the nearly 2,000 officers and soldiers on board were missing!

Nimitz almost cried when he heard the bad news. Although the performance of the Washington was not as good as the Iowa class, it was the only battleship in the US Pacific Fleet for a long time, so the crew had extremely rich combat experience. It can be said that each of them is a treasure of the US Navy!

"Arrange a plane," Nimitz said to his chief of staff after a moment of silence, "one of us has to go to Washington."

"Sir, go in person," said Vice Admiral Horatio, "I'll stay in Panama."

In fact, there was nothing left for the Panama headquarters to do. Six of the nine best American battleships had sunk, and whether the remaining three could escape depended entirely on God's will.

And even if God helped, the U.S. Navy would become very vulnerable in the next few months to a year due to the lack of battleships and excellent carrier-based aircraft pilots. It might even lose the ability to defend the Caribbean Sea...

Nimitz sighed and smiled bitterly, "Okay, I'll go... Now someone must tell the president and other people in charge about the dangerous situation facing the United States."

Nimitz meant that the United States must sue for peace, even if it costs 500 billion euros!

This was not only because of the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Bermuda, but also because the power of German missiles was beyond imagination!

What can be imagined now is that in the future Caribbean campaign, missiles will become the main means of attack for the Germans, and the United States... has no defense.

At the same time, the Americans themselves are far behind in guided weapons, and have taken a "detour" - instead of developing remote-controlled guided weapons, they focus their main efforts on active guided radar bombs that can be fired and forgotten. The ASM-N-2 Bat anti-ship gliding guided bomb was developed.

This is a gliding bomb that looks a bit like a small aircraft, but has no power itself. A low-power active radar is installed on the head of the bomb, which can search for targets and attack by itself. However, this gliding guided bomb exposed many problems during the test. Its gliding speed is too slow, only 480 kilometers per hour, and it is easy to be shot down. The weight is too light, with a total weight of only 850 kilograms, a warhead of only 450 kilograms, and it is impossible to install an armor-piercing warhead, so the destructive power against large surface ships is insufficient.

In addition, because the radar power is too small and the anti-interference ability is too poor, it is easy to be interfered by enemy signals.

…

“Sir, the Osborne reported that at least 4 large surface ships and at least 5 light ships were found, including 3 battleships!”

Just as Nimitz boarded the transport plane to Washington, the U.S. captain on the battleship Ukraine, Rear Admiral Theodore Edson Chandler, heard a piece of news that made him feel a little desperate.

After seven or eight hours of evasion and pursuit, the formation he led was finally caught up by the German battleship formation.

However, Rear Admiral Chandler quickly recovered from his despair, because he had received a report from the 30th Task Force - the 30th Task Force also sent dozens of F4U and F6F to attack - and knew that the three Veneto-class battleships chasing him were probably not equipped with terrible missiles, otherwise the battleship Ukraine on which Rear Admiral Chandler was riding would have been sunk long ago!

Since there are no missiles, the Ukraine with its large-caliber cannons may not be unable to fight.

Thinking of this, Rear Admiral Chandler straightened his snow-white uniform and said in a calm and confident tone: "The time for the decisive battle has come! Turn the ship around, we are going to fight three German battleships!"

...

"Sir, the American fleet is turning to the right."

The Ukrainian, an escorting Brooklyn-class light cruiser and four destroyers turning on the sea were soon detected by the radar on the Veneto.

"Sir, the radar has detected two aircraft near the enemy battleship."

Rear Admiral Friedrich Hufmeier, the captain of the Veneto and commander of the 222nd Battleship Group, heard that the radar had detected an enemy plane (probably a seaplane), so he smiled and said: "Are you going to fight for your life? Report distance."

"38,000 meters!" the navigator continued to report, "Sir, the enemy fleet has turned again and is impacting me at high speed, with a speed of about 28 knots."

"Release the seaplanes and form a horizontal formation!" Rear Admiral Hufmeier has already made a decision. "Use the bow of the ship to meet the enemy. From left to right, they are Hannover, Veneto, Z43, Vittorio, and Z44. , Reich, Z45, Admiral Hipper, and Z46 maintained a speed of 28 knots.

"yes."

Using the line and bow to meet the enemy was not a commonly used surface fleet decisive battle formation in the 1940s. However, for Major General Hufmeier's formation, it is the best solution to reduce losses and achieve a quick victory.

Because the main gun owned by the Ukraine is very powerful, it is enough to penetrate the 360mm side middle armor and the 340mm main gun frontal armor of the Veneto class at a long distance. Therefore, it is feasible to use the bow of the ship to meet the enemy and reduce the shell area of ​​the ship body.

At the same time, according to the paper data of the Ukraine, the Veneto class must close the distance to within 25,000 meters to ensure penetration of its main armor belt. Using the bow of the ship to meet the enemy coupled with the high speed of the Veneto class can quickly close the distance.

In addition, Rear Admiral Hufomeier has a 3:1 advantage in the number of battleships. Even if the bow of the ship cannot use all the firepower of its main guns against the enemy, there are still 18 381mm Ansaldo 1934 cannons available, which is enough to overwhelm the Ukrainian ship. SKC/34 cannon.

"Sir, the Germans have formed a horizontal formation, with a total of 9 ships."

In the command tower of the Ukraine, Rear Admiral Chandler quickly learned of the formation changes of the Hufomeier formation.

"Meet the enemy in formation?" Rear Admiral Chandler took a breath, "Okay, 9 to 18, we have a chance! Now turn 20 degrees to the left." He paused, "Can you determine the position of the enemy battleship in the formation? ?”

"We can confirm that two ships, No. 2 and No. 4 from left to right, are battleships."

"Hit No. 2 with firepower!" Major General Chandler gritted his teeth. "The firing range is 30,000 yards. We must sink it!"

One must be sunk!

Rear Admiral Chandler is very aware of the destructive power of the Veneto-class battleship - a certain Roman fascist with democracy and freedom in his heart has long given the drawings and various technical data of the Veneto-class battleship to the Americans.

Therefore, Major General Chandler knew that his Ukraine could not withstand the fierce bombardment of three Veneto-class 18-gun 381mm Ansaldos within 28,000 yards (about 25.6 kilometers).

The Ukraine's maximum speed is only 28 knots, which is a full 6 knots slower than the Veneto-class's 34 knots, so it is impossible to escape.

The only hope now is to concentrate firepower and sink it first, or at least severely damage one Veneto class first. Moreover, it should be sunk or severely damaged when the distance between the two sides is close to 28,000 yards. Because at a distance of 28,000 yards, the Ukraine's 380mm thick high-strength carburized steel armor can block the 381mm Ansal cannon.

"33,000 yards!"

"32,000 yards!"

As the navigation staff reported again and again, the distance between the two sides became closer and closer. All three main gun turrets of the Ukraine battleship completed their rotation, and the nine 406mm SKC/34 cannons manufactured in Germany and exported to the Soviet Union were all aimed at The Veneto, the flagship of Rear Admiral Hufmeier.

The air inside the Ukraine's command tower was so tense that it almost solidified, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the dark sea in the distance.

"30,000 yards!"

When the navigator reported the number "30,000 yards" (about 27.5 kilometers), the huge hull with a standard displacement of nearly 60,000 tons seemed to suddenly shake violently, and then there was a deafening bang.

Outside the porthole, the blazing and huge muzzle flashes reflected the vast darkness, the shells tore the air, and the thick smell of gunpowder smoke poured into the command tower.

Nine 406mm caliber armor-piercing bullets produced by American factories based on drawings provided by the Soviet Union, under the huge thrust generated by gunpowder, swept across the sea like lightning, and then fell hard into the sea 200 meters in front of the Veneto battleship. On the ground, nine huge water columns were instantly stirred up.