"Five degrees left! Three degrees right...Quick, hide!"
I have to say that Major General Hao worked very hard! Even in the face of more than 30 steam gas torpedoes with a speed of up to 36 knots per hour, he still tried his best to direct the helmsman to maneuver the ship to avoid mines according to the sailing skills he learned at the Royal Naval Academy at Dartmouth.
But... the maneuvering skills he mastered to avoid torpedoes are all used to avoid compressed air torpedoes. The speed of those things is generally less than 10 kilometers per hour, and the range is only 1 kilometer. It can be said that it is slow and close, which is very good. hide. But what he encountered today was a steam gas torpedo that could reach 40 knots at the fastest and 8,000 meters in range... This "mine" was better than "thunder", so he really had to throw it!
Facing the 36 steam gas torpedoes spread out in a fan shape, Rear Admiral Howe's only correct response was to aim the bow of the ship at the incoming torpedoes to reduce the area affected by bombs as much as possible. However, Major General Howe, who saw the "Da Ming Torpedo Sea" for the first time, did not know this move at all, so his order not only did not make any contribution to saving the warship, but instead accelerated the demise of the Malina.
Just as the Malina twisted left and right, two white waves had passed through the sea less than 3,000 meters at extremely fast speed, and plunged into the middle and middle of the battleship Malina one after another. Stern.
Then, a terrible scene happened. Two huge water masses suddenly burst out from the stern of this battleship with a standard displacement of 18,000 tons. When the water masses shattered, people actually saw this battleship. The stern part of the boat was raised high as if it had been punched upwards by a giant hiding in the sea, and two huge holes appeared in the raised part!
Although the Victory-class battleship was not designed with too much consideration of the threat of torpedoes, the underwater part was not specially reinforced, and there was no mine protection barrier, the Victory-class was, after all, a new large-tonnage battleship with a "skin" on its "butt" It is still quite thick, and now it has actually poked two such big holes. The destructive power of the Ming Navy's 530 mm caliber steam gas torpedo can be seen.
The "butt" of this ship is not just a matter of "skin", there are many important parts inside and outside the "butt", such as propellers and rudders, as well as drive shafts and a system for controlling the rudder. This is going to explode... Even if it's just stuck in a critical place, it won't be able to move.
However, if there is any "ship spirit" on the battleship Malina, it will definitely not care about the beaten butt now... because the beating on its butt is just the beginning, and there will be more to come!
Just a minute after the stern of the Malina was hit by two torpedoes, two more steam gas torpedoes, like underwater killers, mercilessly hit the bow, amidships, and another Three loud noises followed by three huge water balls. After the spray dispersed, a piece of the Malina's bow was missing, as if it had been struck by an ax by a giant in the sea. Two large "water-absorbing" holes were opened in the middle of the Malina, and sea water rushed in. After a while, the Malina tilted 15 degrees to the left.
Major General Hao, who had been knocked to the ground by the explosion of five torpedoes and had his head smashed, reacted in time this time. Before anyone could get up, he shouted an order: "Inject water, add water to the starboard side to maintain balance... ..”
Of course there is no problem filling the starboard side with water, and there is no problem maintaining balance. However, there are already so many big holes below the waterline of the Malina, and sea water is pouring in. It is no longer possible to block them, and the waterproof door does not know where to close it. Now, the same amount of water will be injected to the starboard side. water. Then this ship is destined to sink smoothly...
The above five torpedoes are not all the achievements of the six ferocious "heavy torpedo destroyers" in the first round of heavy torpedo salvoes.
In this wave, they fired 36 torpedoes very close to the Malina and Willis! However, not all of the 36 torpedoes went to the Malina. The Willis was also allocated about 12 or 3 torpedoes. It was relatively far away from the destroyers, so it only suffered "a few" from 2 rounds of steam gas. torpedo!
These two torpedoes were directed at the "face" of the Wellesley. They were 530 torpedoes! You are so rough and powerful. The bottom of the Wellesley has not been strengthened. Two 530 torpedoes went up and blew up the entire lower half of the "ship's face"...the face was gone. Is this boat still okay? Although it won't get better, it won't sink even if it sinks. Because the Victory also has the concept of a core armored area, the "ship face" is not included in it. However, the hole in the "face" was too big. Too much water entered, and the bow of the ship sank seriously. The butt of the ship tilted upward, giving it a "front-to-back" shape. It doesn’t matter that the shape is ugly, but the trouble is that the propeller at the stern of the boat is out of the water, and the boat can’t maneuver! Moreover, the five main gun turrets on the ship are difficult to aim because of the serious sinking of the bow... Even if they can still fire, they are not accurate.
After the two battleships were hit by mines, they were unable to move for a while. The engine room of the Malina was flooded and the coal stove inside was doused. Why is it still moving like this? Although the Wellesley still had power, after the butt of the ship was raised, the propeller was temporarily out of the water, and it had to be filled back with water to balance it and maneuver. And at this moment, among the planes in the sky, the twenty or thirty planes that had not yet dropped the 100 kilogram bombs were getting excited!
Everyone knows the secret of the art of war of "killing you while you are sick". If you don't perform meritorious service at this time, when will you perform meritorious service? So everyone ignored the height and circled downwards. If they were anxious, they simply dived downwards at a small angle. From the original height of more than 1,000 to 2,000 meters, they rushed to a height of several hundred meters, and dropped the bomb smoothly. Then take a photo and if it hits, it’s a great achievement!
Because these aircraft all pointed their noses at the battleships and dived. Although they did not plunge directly downwards at a large angle, they still allowed the bombs to have "inertial guidance", and the accuracy suddenly improved. In the blink of an eye, they were "sinking steadily" "The battleship USS Malina was hit by three 100 kilogram bombs! One on the starboard side and one on the port side both penetrated the deck and exploded below the deck. I don’t know what exploded? Anyway, the explosion made the smoke billow. Another one directly hit the top of the turret in the middle of the ship. It did not explode, but it still stunned all the gun crew members inside!
The "butt" of the "butt-sticking" Wellesley became an excellent target. It was hit by five bombs in succession, causing a huge cloud of smoke. Although the stern turret could also withstand it. One shot hit directly, but if you look closely, you can still find that the stern turret of the Willis was slightly deformed by the explosion, and the situation inside is probably not much better. But it doesn't matter, because the end of the Willis and the Malina is coming!
The one who ended them was the aircraft-carrying battlecruiser Shu Zhongwang where Zhuge Weidao was located!
Zhuge Weidao originally didn't dare to get too close to the two battleships, but now that he saw them like this, he naturally became "brave" and immediately ordered Lei Teng: "Captain Lei, charge forward immediately. Come closer and use the 300mm cannon to sink both British battleships!"
"Yes, Junmen!" Of course Lei Teng would not let go of the opportunity to sink a battleship... As an aircraft carrier commander, I am afraid that he may never have the opportunity to sink a battleship with naval guns for the second time in his life. Got it!
He immediately ordered: "At full speed, rush towards the enemy battleships... rush to a distance of 3,000 meters and then walk around them."
"Yes, sir!"
"Guns, allocate fire channels! The No. 1 turret bombards that slutty battleship, and the No. 2 turret hits the other one!"
"Yes, sir!"
This is really awesome. An aircraft carrier - an aircraft-carrying battlecruiser should also be considered an aircraft carrier, right? An aircraft carrier actually engaged in an artillery battle with two battleships, one against two!
