Iron Cross

Because the whereabouts of oxygen torpedoes were too secretive, and the dark night made identification difficult, forcing the British warships to turn on their searchlights and scan the sea frantically. Fortunately, the German warships were far away. Although there was a risk of exposure, the enemy artillery obviously could not hit them. So far.

However, the attempt to intercept the torpedoes undoubtedly failed. The naval officers and soldiers had adjusted the firing rate of all high-level dual-purpose secondary guns and machine guns to the fastest, and built a dense firepower network on the sides of the warship. Some torpedoes were indeed hit. It detonated early, but it was obviously impossible to meet the arduous task of intercepting more than 100 torpedoes.

After the USS Newcastle was mined and sank, the horrific fate finally came to the battleship USS Idaho. The ship was first hit by a torpedo amidships, and a large amount of seawater poured into the engine room, causing the ship's speed to drop sharply to 15 knots, but behind it The torpedoes were still coming in overwhelming numbers. The chief engineer struggled to control the steering of the greatly reduced warship, and barely managed to avoid three torpedoes, but the two on the port side could not be avoided in any case. At the sharp and desperate sound of "anti-impact preparation", , the port side was hit by two torpedoes in succession. All this happened in just 4 minutes. The nearly 20-year-old New Mexico-class battleship finally couldn't withstand it. First, it took in a large amount of water and then rolled over. Then the water took in too fast, causing the entire ship to capsize. At all times, It adds up to less than 8 minutes.

It can be said that the W fleet had a lot of misfortunes tonight. Not only did it lose the Newcastle and the Idaho, but the Mississippi, which was already injured, was anxious to avoid torpedoes and collided with the Express (E-class destroyer) in a panic. The bow of the ship was damaged. It was deeply embedded in the middle of the latter, almost knocking the opponent into two pieces. The captain quickly ordered the vehicle to reverse and retreat. After a heart-breaking sound of steel friction, the battleship of more than 30,000 tons gave the only one of his own tonnage of 20. One-third of the destroyers learned an unforgettable lesson - they sank; before the guilty American officers and soldiers could react, another torpedo arrived, this time it was another E-class destroyer - the Echo risked its life to block the flagship. Looking at the rapidly sinking destroyer, Major General Lewis's eyes were red.

But this was obviously not all of today's misfortunes. Two minutes later, the Mississippi, which had not yet recovered its speed, was suddenly attacked by artillery shells from behind.

"Enemy ship attacks!" Before they could determine what kind of warship it was, another batch of shells roared towards them. What is even more frightening is that judging from the water column when the shell hits the water, the water column stirred up by the second round of shells is thicker and higher.

"Tirpitz!" The experienced gunnery officer judged that this was at least the effect of 14-inch shells. Considering that the Germans did not have warships equipped with 14-inch guns, the Deutschland-class heavy cruiser was only equipped with 283mm caliber main guns. The cannons that came could only be from the Tirpitz, and some of the shells that fell into the water earlier might have been from the Admiral Scheer or the Lützow.

"Turn off the lights! Turn off the searchlights!" Only then did the captain wake up from a dream and order to turn off the searchlights - they made the warship look like a dazzling torch in the dark, completely attracting the enemy's attention.

"24,000 meters!"

"Continue to attack forward!" Rear Admiral Bei said viciously, "The destroyers and S-boats fired a large number of torpedoes. The British losses will not be small. They were probably rescuing people who fell into the water just now, and their speed was not fast. They must seize the time to attack. "

After the German artillery fleet fired five rounds of salvos, the hurried British gunners finally began to fight back at 2:04, firing a salvo at the Tirpitz. However, since they had been relying on the guidance of the Newcastle radar just now, now It was not adapted to visual attacks at all, and even the rangefinder had not captured the muzzle flash at the moment the Germans opened fire. So they could only fire randomly, and none of the shells hit the target. The muzzle flash produced by the Mississippi's blind firing in turn gave the Germans a clear target. By the seventh round of salvos, not only the Tirpitz formed a straddle fire, but also the Lützow, who was faster and fired more salvos. The ship had directly hit the rear deck of the enemy ship. The 283mm shell did not cause fatal damage, but it ignited flammable materials in lifeboats, seaplanes and other locations, causing a raging fire.

Because the sailors failed to extinguish the fire for a while, the fire on the Mississippi kept burning, and the silhouette of the warship became more and more obvious, which attracted more and denser artillery fire.

"Retreat! We must retreat immediately!" Unable to do anything, the Mississippi fired just over 20 shells and then headed northwest under the cover of the smoke screen released by its own destroyers, hoping to withdraw from the battle as soon as possible.

The bombardment formation had approached a distance of less than 22,000 meters. The Admiral Scheer discovered the USS Duncan (D-class destroyer) which was casting a smoke screen and immediately attacked it because it had to cover the staggering USS Mississippi - just now During the collision, the ship's already damaged bow was damaged again, and the speed dropped to only 16 knots. The Duncan's speed could only be maintained at about 17 knots. After 7 salvos, the 283mm shells destroyed this brave destroyer. Torn to pieces.

The last warship capable of covering the Mississippi sank. Now the night sky around it shone like daylight. The three German battleships fired flare after flare into the night sky. When the light of the first flare gradually faded, another one immediately followed. Two flares were raised at the same time, completely exposing him and leaving him nowhere to hide. Half a minute later, the Tirpitz's 380mm shell roared in and hit the deck in front of the bridge of the Mississippi, blowing all the facilities it encountered into pieces and opening a large gap in the horizontal deck. Fortunately, It does not extend to the engine room.

The Mississippi has been surrounded by German warships. The only countermeasure that Major General Lewis can think of is to rely on the advantage of a reasonable defense level, fight and retreat, and wait until dawn to wait for the aviation force to rescue him.

"Full speed, full speed ahead!" he shouted involuntarily.

From the flash of the enemy ship's gun muzzle, the navigation officer plotted its movement coordinates. Rear Admiral Bei discovered that the W fleet had completed its turn and was currently heading northwest. He thought about it and agreed with Captain Top: catch up. , destroy enemy ships at close range! The Tirpitz's boiler boiled, its main shaft spun, its speed increased to a maximum speed of 29 knots, and the distance from the Mississippi became closer and closer.

"22,000 meters...21,000 meters...20,000 meters..." Although the Mississippi had extinguished the fire on the aft deck at this time, it still did not escape the coverage of the flares launched by the Tirpitz.

At 2:21, with a loud noise, a bright light burst out in front of the bridge of the USS Mississippi. The No. 2 main gun was hit and then quickly caught fire. Within half a minute, the fire spread to another turret. In order to prevent the ammunition from exploding, The captain of the ship had no choice but to order the ammunition compartment under the turret to be filled with water, and the bomb carriers got into the icy water to rush to transport dry ammunition. Due to the effective water injection, the fire was quickly controlled, but the two turrets also lost the opportunity to fire.

The Mississippi fought and retreated, sometimes turning to the right at several angles, and bombarding the Tirpitz with the two triple-mounted 356mm main guns at the tail. Every time it turned, the 127mm secondary gun on the port side fired together, and its accuracy was greatly improved compared to the beginning. But the Tirpitz was unmoved and resolutely closed the distance. The Lützow behind it became more and more aggressive, pouring 283mm shells continuously on the rear deck of the Mississippi. Finally, at 2:25, a salvo hit the target. The explosion caused by an armor-piercing shell jammed the Mississippi's third turret, and only the rearmost main gun of the ship was still operational.

At 2:28, while the enemy ship's firepower was greatly reduced, the Tirpitz, relying on a high speed of 29 knots, approached to a distance of only 17,500 meters. A 380mm shell tore open the deck near the tail of the Mississippi, and the explosion burst into flames. The superstructure was burned, making the enemy ship a very eye-catching target. After another minute, a 380mm shell penetrated the main deck and penetrated into the No. 1 boiler room. The violent explosion penetrated several steam pipes. . Despite the biting cold wind on the sea, the heat in the boiler cabin was still unbearable. The boiling steam rushed into the cabin, burning some shirtless and sweating boiler soldiers until they howled like ghosts. Boiler pressure plummeted, and the Mississippi further slowed to 12 knots and then 10 knots.

John Daniel, the chief engineer, rushed into the sweltering cabin like a desperate man, and worked with others to block the steam pipe that was torn by shrapnel. The speed of the entire ship began to pick up again, but the good times did not last long. Two minutes later, another round of The shot hit the warship and penetrated the ship's armored belt. Seawater flooded in and flooded several boilers. As the Admiral Scheer also joined the ranks of accurate hits, most of the Mississippi's remaining secondary batteries were destroyed. Forced to turn off the engine.

At 2:34, the Tirpitz continued its salvo, this time hitting the bow of the Mississippi, which had been damaged many times. The entire bow was completely blown to pieces, and seawater poured in crazily. The bow of the ship began to suffer damage due to excessive seawater. After sinking, the front deck was almost flush with the sea surface. Although most of the watertight compartments remained intact, the warship's resistance was increasing and the power cabin output less and less power. The Mississippi could only continue to move forward at a speed of 3 knots.

Now Tirpitz no longer tried to close the distance, but moved the destroyer forward, preparing to use torpedoes against the dead fish. The Z4 and Z25 destroyers quickly moved forward, sailed past the completely exposed side of the Mississippi at a distance of 2,500 meters, and launched eight G9 oxygen torpedoes together.

"Full right rudder!" the captain of the USS Mississippi roared. Two minutes passed. The warship, which could only reach a speed of 3 knots, roared and turned only a few angles. In the desperate eyes of all the officers and soldiers on the ship, three torpedoes were struck amidships and stern. Continuous hits. Rear Admiral Bei could see clearly: a bright light flashed under the waterline of the enemy ship's hull, and white water columns rose into the sky. The splashing seawater rolled up the deck and washed away the damaged main battery turret.

At 2:41, Major General Bei, who was watching the Mississippi slowly sinking, led the artillery formation to quickly leave the battlefield and prepare to find his own aircraft carrier formation.