Chapter 475: Rescue the Prince of Wales

"God, this isn't true!"

Captain John Ridge, the captain of the "Prince of Wales", witnessed the explosion of the "Hood" with his own eyes. The stern ammunition depot of this more than 40,000-ton battlecruiser was apparently blown up. Colonel John Ridge only saw the fire engulfing the "Hood" in an instant, and vaguely saw a main gun turret flying into the sky. After the big explosion, the hull of the "Hood" suddenly broke into two parts at the rear mainmast. The broken stern had been blown into a pile of wreckage and soon sank into the sea. The front half sank rapidly due to a large amount of water entering the fracture. In less than 3 minutes, this giant ship, which had brought countless pride to the British Empire, sank into the sea!

John Ridge, who was standing on the bridge of the "Prince of Wales" and witnessed this scene, was simply dumbfounded. The most powerful battlecruiser in the British Empire was actually defeated in a few minutes by a battleship and two battleships with inferior firepower. A heavy cruiser was killed.

"Colonel, the Hood has sunk. What should we do?"

The chief mate of the "Prince of Wales" turned the rudder to let the warship avoid the wreckage of the "Hood" and asked questions loudly.

Now the "Prince of Wales" faces more than one "Gneisenau" and two "Admiral Hipper" class heavy cruisers. There are more than 20 German ships in the north heading south, and most of those 20 ships include the battleships "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz"!

What makes people even more desperate is that the three German battleships all have very fast speeds, most of which are faster than the "Prince of Wales". Therefore, it is impossible for the "Prince of Wales" to use its speed to escape.

Will the British Empire lose the "Prince of Wales" immediately after losing the "HMS Hood"?

John Rich's forehead was already covered with beads of sweat. After losing the "Hood" and the "Reputation", the ratio of British and German naval strength in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea battlefields has been close to reversal. The Germans now have 3 battleships in service and 4 battlecruisers (actually P-class armored ships) undergoing sea trials, while the British Home Fleet only has 5 battleships left.

If the "Prince of Wales" is also lost, it will be 7:4... The British Empire is really coming to an end!

"Let's get out of here!" John Rich had an idea and thought of a vitality. "Let's go to Lerwick Port. It's safe there. As long as the main force of Fleet A arrives, the Prince of Wales will be saved."

The port of Lerwick is the capital of Shetland, located on the Channel coast between Mainland and Brassey (on Mainland). The length of the strait where Lerwick Port is located is less than 5,000 meters, the entrances at both ends are very narrow, and there are coastal forts blocking the channel. Although the caliber of those shore guns was small and the range was limited, they were still a deterrent to German battleships that dared to approach.

Moreover, the "Prince of Wales" also has 10 14-inch cannons, which is not a vegetarian! If the German battleships dare to get close, these 10 14-inch cannons will definitely let them know how powerful the British Royal Navy is.

"What? What? The Hood was sunk by the Gneisenno? How is this possible?"

On the battleship "Bismarck", Admiral Lütjens was also stunned by the news. That's the "Hood"! If the "Bismarck" and the "Tirpitz" sank it, it would be okay, but how could it be sunk by the "Gneisenno"? It is much more powerful than the "Gneisenno".

"Admiral, you can't be wrong. Major General Bei will not joke about this kind of thing." Colonel Lindemann also found it incredible, but he quickly accepted the fact that the "Hood" was sunk by the "Gneisenno" Great reality.

"Admiral, the British also have a battleship, possibly the King George V class, which has now escaped into Lerwick Port. This is our best chance to sink it!"

"I'm afraid it won't be easy to deal with after escaping into the port of Lerwick, right?" Admiral Lütjens said, "We can only fire outside the strait, and it is difficult to observe the impact point of the shells."

"We can bomb it with planes!" Colonel Lindemann said, "We just need to stay near the port of Lerwick and prevent it from leaving."

"Okay, that's it!" Admiral Lütjens smiled, "We have captured the 'Prince of Wales' now. The British will definitely try their best to rescue them. We are here waiting for the British reinforcements." ! There will definitely be a decisive battle tomorrow!"

…

"The Hood was sunk and the Prince of Wales was surrounded..."

On King Charles Street, in the underground headquarters of the British War Cabinet, British Prime Minister Churchill suddenly felt like the end of the world was coming when he heard the latest war report.

"We must save the 'Prince of Wales'!" the British Prime Minister gritted his teeth and said, "Tell Admiral Tovey that the 'Prince of Wales' must be saved at all costs! And then give the order to the Coast Air Force, and the 'Prince of Wales' must not be allowed to fly under any circumstances." 'Sinked by German planes!'

Churchill's order was quickly issued to the battleship "Nelson". At this time, Admiral Tovey, commander of the British Home Fleet, had his own thoughts of slapping himself - luring the enemy into trouble! The enemy did not lure it, but the bait was eaten by the enemy. And I still eat one and catch one!

The "Hood" cannot be fished out, but the "Prince of Wales" still has to be rescued. If the "Prince of Wales" cannot be rescued before dawn, Fleet A will be exposed to the threat of the powerful German bomber group... The German bomber group is much better at dealing with surface ships than their battleships.

Maybe, even Fleet A itself will have to fold in...

"Give power to Fleet C," Admiral Tovey walked around in the command tower of the Nelson for several times, and finally thought that he still had an aircraft carrier to use. "Let Fleet C approach the Shetland Islands at full speed, and send carrier-based aircraft to bomb the German fleet near Lerwick Port at dawn!"

"No, my carrier-based aircraft will not bomb any British battleship before sinking the British aircraft carrier!"

Lieutenant General Helmut Heyer, who commanded the German aircraft carrier formation, also received an order from Admiral Lütjens to dispatch carrier-based aircraft. However, he did not agree to dispatch carrier-based aircraft because he wanted to give priority to using carrier-based aircraft to deal with the British aircraft carrier.

"Call back to Admiral Lütjens," Lieutenant General Helmut Heyer said. "The British aircraft carrier is the biggest threat. If the British want to save the 'Prince of Wales', they will most likely dispatch the aircraft carrier." , this is our chance to sink them!"

After saying these words, Lieutenant General Helmut Heyer turned back to Major Marks, the aviation staff officer, and said, "There will definitely be a chance to sink the British aircraft carrier after dawn, but we may also be sunk by British carrier-based aircraft! Therefore, I require the carrier-based aircraft force to discover the British aircraft carrier first!"

Helmut Haye has commanded aircraft carriers since 1939. After more than a year of fighting, he has learned a lot. He summed up the idea of ​​"discover (enemy aircraft carrier) first, strike first, and then withdraw after fighting." aircraft carrier operating principles.

And in his opinion, the "Prince of Wales" temporarily trapped in Lerwick Harbor had little value. As long as the Fokker Company changes the "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber introduced from Japan into the Fokker 100 (actually replacing the liquid-cooled engine with an air-cooled one to improve the landing performance), the attack capabilities of the German aircraft carriers will be It can be increased several times, and then battleships like the "Prince of Wales" can be dealt with with 500 kilograms of armor-piercing bombs.

In addition, Helmut Haye also knew that there are currently several bombs that can be guided by radio remote control and are close to being developed. By 1942 at the latest, the Ju88 will be able to carry "remotely controlled bombs" to deal with battleships. There is also a "remotely controlled bomb" with wings and propellers. It may be installed on a destroyer. By then, the battleship will most likely become an obsolete gadget...

"Lieutenant General, if you want to ensure that the enemy aircraft carrier is discovered first, then the only way is to let the Fokker 99 take off before dawn." Major Marks quickly proposed a seemingly feasible plan to find the enemy.

"We can now sail west at full speed for one hour, release 12 Fokker 99s, and then let the aircraft carrier go east and return to a safe area. At the same time, all the remaining 36 Fokker 99s plus the 24 Fokker 99s used for escort All Zeros went up to the deck, and as soon as the British aircraft carrier was discovered, an air attack was launched. "

Taking off and landing on aircraft carriers at night was originally a unique skill of British carrier-based aircraft, but now the British rookie pilots who often crash their planes during the day can no longer do this. However, the German carrier-based aircraft pilots are becoming more and more skilled and have mastered the ability to take off and land aircraft carriers at night.

"Okay, let's do it!" Helmut Haye thought for a few minutes and immediately approved the action plan.

The two German aircraft carriers that had stayed within the effective cover of the Bergen shore-based aircraft had already escorted their ships and immediately began to turn around and sail westward. At the same time, on the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal", Lieutenant General Somerville was working with his staff on an air strike plan to be launched after dawn.

Throughout the day on June 10, Somerville's aircraft carriers were always ready to go out and sink Germany's "only remaining" aircraft carrier. However, neither British submarines nor British and American reconnaissance aircraft found any trace of the aircraft carrier.

So in the end, Somerville believed that the German aircraft carrier had returned to its hometown - it was relatively the "single aircraft carrier" of the navies of Germany, Italy and France, and the Germans would definitely be reluctant to use it to fight for their lives.