Iron Cross

In this encounter that night, the German side lost a destroyer (Z5) and 7 S-boats, the Scharnhorst was hit (the tail turret was damaged), and several warships including the Prinz Eugen and Tirpitz were slightly damaged, but the results were undoubtedly very significant. Relying on the overwhelming attack of the G9 oxygen torpedoes and the relentless pursuit of the bombardment formation, a total of 2 New Mexico-class battleships, the Newcastle light cruiser and 3 destroyers were sunk at night. In addition to the results of the aircraft carrier-based aircraft the evening before, the entire W fleet was almost destroyed except for 1 destroyer and 1 light cruiser that escaped by luck.

However, the price paid by the German side was not as small as it seemed, at least not in the eyes of the fleet leaders. After the encounter at night, the order to turn around and retreat to the north was issued, which meant that the plan to break into the Iceland-Faroe Islands waterway under the cover of night was thwarted again. The time for the North Sea Fleet to enter the Atlantic and implement the tsunami plan had to be postponed again. Mashar didn't know how to explain to Berlin.

After urgent discussions with the staff and the advisory group on the map, he finally decided to change the strategy again and prepare to break into the Atlantic from the Denmark Strait. He didn't believe that the British still had so many warships blocking the way.

In addition to the time delay, the bombardment formation insisted on sinking the enemy ship before finally retreating, which was 2 hours later than the aircraft carrier formation. At this time, there were still 4 hours before dawn. In addition, the speed of the bombardment formation itself was slower than that of the aircraft carrier formation. Therefore, even if it retreated at full speed, it could only travel a little more than 100 nautical miles. At this time, it was less than 300 kilometers away from Iceland-this is a very dangerous area and is likely to encounter concentrated attacks from enemy air forces.

After the S-boats used torpedoes on a large scale, resupply became a big problem. Although there were some torpedoes in stock on the Europa, the number was less than 30. Even with the supply of the cows, at most, only more than 40 torpedoes could be obtained. It was basically a luxury to replenish all the S-boats with torpedoes.

These problems made Marshal feel a splitting headache after thinking about them. The joy of sinking several enemy battleships was diluted a lot. Finally, he sent a telegram to Berlin to report the situation on the one hand, and ordered the bombardment fleet to go north and get out of the air defense circle as soon as possible. As for the problem of insufficient torpedoes, the remaining S-boats could only bring one.

At 6:15, the sky began to brighten, and the carrier-based aircraft on the Zeppelin and Europa were ready to take off, especially the Bf-219s. Their task today was very difficult and they needed to escort the fleet until they got out of the Icelandic air defense circle.

At 6:45, after a night of fierce fighting, Rear Admiral Eric Bay, who had only rested for less than 3 hours, ate breakfast, drank a cup of strong coffee, and boarded the bridge of the Tirpitz. Officers from various departments left the warm cabins and entered the cold battle positions with the soldiers. The duty officer quickly checked the preparation of the anti-aircraft gun positions, and the lookout wiped the eyepiece of the telescope and squinted his eyes to scan the cold sky.

Before this, the Admiralty in London had been busy. The news that the W fleet was lonely and helpless last night and was almost completely destroyed deeply hurt the senior officials including Churchill, Pound, Tovey, etc. They decided to use air forces to launch a devastating attack on the enemy in the middle of the night. Admiral Fraser, who was stationed in Iceland, did not sleep all night. He organized and dispatched the attack aircraft group overnight and prepared for the attack early.

At 6:35, the Faroe Islands sent the first batch of reconnaissance aircraft; two minutes later, Iceland sent another batch of reconnaissance aircraft.

At 7:07, the first batch of 24 Bf-219s with cover missions arrived above the bombardment formation, and the uneasy heart of Major General Bei, who was commanding below, calmed down a little. At this moment, the bombardment formation was about 300 kilometers away from Iceland, and the aircraft carrier formation was 380 kilometers away from Iceland. The fleet was moving away from Iceland at a speed of 45 kilometers per hour, and he secretly prayed in his heart that the enemy would find him later and later.

At 7:30, the aircraft carrier formation had basically left Iceland's air defense circle, and the bombardment formation was 320 kilometers away from Iceland. The fleet was still not discovered by British reconnaissance aircraft. Major General Bei was relaxed and even had a rare joke with the captain of the Tirpitz, Colonel Top: "These British reconnaissance planes can't find us. They won't be up yet..."

As soon as the voice fell, a shrill alarm sounded on the bridge: "Enemy planes were found, suspected reconnaissance planes..."

"Asshole!" Major General Bei was so angry that he cursed and ordered, "Shoot it down quickly... …”

It was too late. At 7:34, just one minute before the Bf-219 shot down the daring Coronado seaplane, he had sent a telegram to Iceland: "3 enemy battleships, including the Tirpitz, heading due north, speed 26 knots..."

"Gentlemen, the good times are over, get ready to deal with the British flies." Major General Bei ended the call with a helpless humor, returned to the command tower silently, and informed Marshal of the intelligence by the way, hoping to support himself with some escort fighters later.

Everyone was highly nervous, and the next period of time would be the most difficult time - I don't know how many planes the British will send.

"Sir, we found them, but the location is a bit far." In the Icelandic Royal Navy Air Force Command, a surprised and happy voice broke the calm and quickly informed Fraser of the intelligence.

"Where are they?"

"About 200 nautical miles northeast of Iceland, more than 300 nautical miles from the Faroe Islands... No enemy aircraft carriers were found, but there were Tirpitz and two other battleships."

"Finally caught them, let all the attack aircraft groups in Iceland and the Faroe Islands go, don't worry about the range of the Faroe Islands aircraft, just land in Iceland after the attack." Fraser thought for a moment and said, "Send more fighters with long range, the number of German carrier-based fighters may not be small."

In order to deal with the German fleet, the anxious Royal Navy can be said to have sent out all the attack aircraft and bombers that could reach it.

Faroe Islands: At 7:41, 24 Swordfish and Albacore attack aircraft attacked under the escort of 12 Hurricanes; 3 minutes later, 16 Barracuda attack aircraft attacked under the escort of 8 European Swallows; 17 minutes later, the last wave of attack aircraft, 16 Mosquito bombers carrying 2 500-pound aerial bombs, set off to attack under the escort of 8 Spitfires equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks.

Iceland: At 7:39, 24 Swordfish and Albacore attack aircraft attacked under the escort of 12 Hurricanes; 6 minutes later, 16 Skua dive bombers attacked under the escort of 8 European Swallows; 18 minutes later, 12 Blenheim medium bombers attacked under the escort of 6 latest Firefly fighters.