The Rise of the Third Reich

Boom...

At 1:05 a.m. on August 24, 1944, a huge fireball suddenly rose from the darkness. In the large array of American landing ships covering a large area of ​​the sea, a MK2 tank landing ship suddenly rolled up a huge flame, and then slammed into the sea, stirring up a water wall of more than ten meters. More than 1,500 American Marines on board who were on their way to bring democracy and freedom to the people of Guyana (tank landing ships do not have to be equipped with tanks, they can also be equipped with people) were all shaken to the ground, and some unlucky "democracy fighters" were directly swept into the sea by the blast.

Hit a mine? Before the American democratic fighters could come to their senses, the hull of this tank landing ship with a full load displacement of more than 4,000 tons had already tilted sharply to the right! It turned out that the two T2 electric torpedoes that hit it opened a huge hole underwater on the starboard side of the ship, and hundreds of tons of seawater rushed in, causing the landing ship to capsize in just a few minutes.

At this time, the American democratic fighters on the ship were in chaos, and there were screams and exclamations. These Marines, who have the most combat experience in the United States, have never encountered such an embarrassing situation even in the bloody battle of Niihau Island - they are facing the risk of drowning before they set foot on the land occupied by the Nazi evil forces!

"The ship is going to capsize, abandon the ship!"

I don't know who shouted, and then there was a sound of diving. However, most of the democratic fighters who jumped into the water in a panic forgot to throw away the backpacks full of supplies and ammunition they were carrying, and they jumped down in a daze. There were even many people holding rifles and submachine guns and fell into the water. After a few splashes in the water, I realized that something was wrong, and I couldn't float up!

"Throw away the backpacks and weapons, throw away the backpacks and weapons..."

Immediately, veterans who had encountered similar situations on Ni'ihau Island shouted loudly to remind them, and then most of the democratic fighters hurriedly threw away their backpacks and weapons, and jumped into the water like dumplings.

Lt. General Holland Smith, commander of the Fifth Amphibious Army of the United States, who participated in the invasion of the Rhineland in Germany in the last World War and commanded the troops to land on Ni'ihau Island in this World War, witnessed the capsizing of the LST-711 tank landing ship on the flagship of the landing formation, the USS Chicago (Baltimore class).

The lieutenant general who had the experience of the bloody battle on Ni'ihau Island was not panicked at all. After all, it is inevitable to hit mines during landing operations - there is never a 100% probability of minesweeping.

In the bloody battle on Ni'ihau Island, there were also a few American landing ships killed by Japanese mines, but compared with the huge American landing fleet, it was really insignificant.

Boom...

Another loud noise came. The "mine" was a medium-sized landing ship LSM-630 with a displacement of several hundred tons. It was not as lucky as LST-711. It broke into two pieces and sank into the sea in a blink of an eye. Most of the 48 crew members and hundreds of marines on the ship sank with the broken landing ship. In the end, only 19 people were rescued!

This time, Lieutenant General Smith frowned slightly, but soon regained his composure. Countless American democratic fighters on the sea were still riding on landing ships and marching forward, as if nothing had happened.

Then...there was another loud rumbling noise. The Ashland dock landing ship with a full load displacement of more than 7,000 tons was enveloped by a ball of fire. A few minutes later, the hull tilted seriously to the left.

"Sir, the Ashland reported that the port side was hit by a mine!" Immediately, a staff member of the landing formation reported completely wrong information. "It's probably a magnetic mine!"

"Got it." Lieutenant General Turner still looked calm, waved his hand and said, "Rescue the Ashland as much as possible, and prepare for the evacuation of personnel."

At this moment, the periscope of the U-3001 submarine popped out of the sea again. Captain Manzek, who had successfully killed two American landing ships, found that the "big fish" in front of him was still floating on the water. Although the hull was a little tilted, there was no sign of capsizing.

"Load the No. 1 and No. 2 torpedo tubes!" Captain Manzek, who was a little disappointed, decided to try again. However, he was reluctant to shoot down 4 torpedoes at a time, and only ordered 2 T2 torpedoes to be loaded. After all, the American dock landing ship that was hit and tilted has stopped moving now. Such a half-dead ship should sink after adding a torpedo.

"Left rudder 15 degrees, 1600 meters."

"Ready..."

"No. 1, No. 2, fire!"

Because the distance was very close, the two torpedoes fired this time all hit, and two huge fireballs that could submerge the Ashland dock landing ship suddenly rose on the sea surface.

"Kill it!"

After confirming from the periscope that the Ashland was engulfed in flames, Captain Manzek chose a new prey. "Right rudder 15 degrees, speed 10 knots." He put away the periscope and said to the first mate beside him, "There is a large ship of 5,000 to 6,000 tons 3 nautical miles away, most likely a dock landing ship, and it should also be a dock landing ship. Let's kill it, and then capsize two American ships and leave."

U-3001 was carrying 24 torpedoes to fight. It has now fired 3 rounds of 4-round salvos and 1 round of double-round salvos, destroying a total of 14 torpedoes, with 10 spare bombs left, and can almost sink 3 more American landing ships.

And just when Captain Manzek commanded the U-3001 boat to quietly approach the new prey underwater, the Americans on the water finally discovered that something was wrong - how could the Ashland, which had obviously stopped moving, be hit twice in a row? A mine?

This was obviously a torpedo!

"Submarine! Damn it, there's a U-boat in the sea!"

"Sound the alarm! Anti-submarine! Anti-submarine!"

"Prepare depth charges!"

The entire landing fleet suddenly rang out with a burst of exclamations from American officers and soldiers. How come the U.S. Navy and naval aviation have not heard of the reputation of German U-boats? Now that the U-boat has slipped into the landing formation and sunk three landing ships, who knows how many brave American democratic fighters will die under torpedoes fired by this terrible German underwater killer?

The German U-boats attacked in groups!

Most of the American landing ships on the sea have chutes for depth charges. Now they just throw the depth charges out regardless of where the German submarines are. Even if they can't blow up the U-boat, they can make some noise. It would be good for the democratic fighters on the landing ship to be brave.

Vice Admiral Turner, who was in charge of commanding the landing operations on the heavy cruiser USS Chicago, immediately received a report that the landing formation was attacked by a U-boat. He now did not care about the order of the landing ships rushing to the beach, and quickly ordered loudly: "The landing ships moved forward at full speed and rushed to the beaches and shoals of Georgetown! Each destroyer squadron strengthened anti-submarine search to prevent enemy submarines from approaching! Each cruiser squadron quickly Evacuate..."

U.S. warships of all sizes on the sea began to speed up at the same time, and landing ships carrying Marine Corps officers, soldiers and equipment rushed to the beach with all their strength. Dozens of destroyers began to form anti-submarine formations, preparing to use depth charges and hedgehog bombs to clear out the German wolves in the water.

However, all this has no effect on the underwater U-3001 boat. This submarine's underwater speed exceeds that of the American landing ship. It completed it before the American destroyer performing anti-submarine missions approached. Another round of attacks, 4 torpedoes were launched at a fully loaded American dock landing ship with a displacement of more than 7,000 tons, 2 of which hit! Two huge holes were opened below the waterline on the port side of the 7,000-ton dock landing ship by German T2 torpedoes, and seawater poured in crazily. In less than 15 minutes, the 7,000-ton landing ship capsized on the sea less than 20,000 meters away from the Georgetown beach. The 1,889 US officers and soldiers on board the ship hurriedly abandoned the ship. Many US officers and soldiers almost fell into the water and sank because of their heavy equipment.

Fifteen minutes later, U-3001 completed the fifth round of torpedo firing, firing 4 T2 torpedoes at a Mk2 tank landing ship from a distance of less than 2,000 meters, and 2 of them hit the target! The tank landing ship, carrying an entire tank company, struggled on the water for less than 5 minutes before capsized and sank.

The last torpedo attack of the U-boat No. 3001 today was launched at 2:55 a.m. on August 24. Two T2 torpedoes were fired at a tank landing craft that had been converted into a fire support ship, and one of them hit. The fate of this fire support ship was much better than that of other American landing ships attacked by U-3001 boats. It was not sunk, but ran aground on the beach of Georgetown 20 minutes later.

After firing all the torpedoes, the U-3001 submarine immediately left the battlefield in a swaggering submarine at a full speed of 17.2 knots. Although its speed was not as fast as the American destroyer, the American destroyer could catch up with the U-3001 if it could catch up with the U.S. destroyer. If the U-3001 boat sails at the same speed, its sonar will be seriously interfered by the noise generated by its own sound, and there will be no trace of the U-3001 boat at all!

The departure of the U-3001 boat does not mean the end of the misfortune of the American landing fleet. In fact, their disaster has just begun! Just as the U-3001 boat left the battlefield, five U-boats including U-2551, U-2561, U-2562, U-2563 and U-2566 had been attracted by the noise created by U-3001's attack.

They are all the same as U-3001 boats, all Type 21 U-boats. These powerful underwater killers will soon cause greater carnage near the beachhead of Georgetown.

This dawn will be unforgettable for those American democracy fighters who landed in Georgetown!