Chapter 1033 Unless the French can’t supply bombs
English Channel.
The conspicuous big guy "Warspite" was immediately besieged by bombers. More than a dozen bombers launched a series of bombings on it with sharp whistles.
After the Mediterranean War, the French army has adjusted its strategy for carrying aerial bombs.
This was analyzed by the guys at the aircraft manufacturing plant who used to produce racing cars.
Dorn looked at the data and raised a question: "British battleships have a serious flaw. Their armor is all on the sides, and the deck is only 25 mm thick."
"Yes." His assistant Robert compared the data: "Some locations have been reinforced to 50mm, and some key locations such as ammunition depots and oil depots have been thickened to 76mm."
(Note: During World War I, warships were rarely attacked from above. Most naval battles were ship-to-ship artillery engagements, so armor was concentrated on the sides. This is why the sides had 330 mm armor, while the decks had only 25-76 mm armor. The deck armor was not intended to protect against shells, but rather against fragments from shell explosions. It was thickened to 76-127 mm during World War II.)
Dorn looked at the battlefield report with a puzzled look. "Most of the damage is only 25mm. The bomber's 50kg bomb, coupled with the acceleration of the dive, should be able to penetrate it. Why are most of the bombs exploding outside the ship?"
Robert thought for a moment, then explained, holding up the bomber attack data: "Most of our bombers dive at 70 degrees, Dorn. This causes the bombs to hit the target at an angle."
Dorn suddenly realized.
In addition, it is also related to the streamlined shape in front of the bomb.
But this cannot be changed.
A 90-degree dive target is basically aimed at a stationary target such as a bunker or fortress. It is almost impossible to drop bombs at a 90-degree angle on a mobile, evasive target such as a warship.
Unless the target warship happens to be sailing below the throwing point at the moment of bombing.
After thinking for a while, Dorn offered an idea: "If the 50kg bombs on the wings don't work and we have to use 250kg bombs on the belly to penetrate them effectively, why not replace them with 500kg bombs?"
Wars are often like this: after a battle, battlefield conditions and data are fed back to military personnel, who then make corresponding adjustments based on what they feel needs improvement.
So there are two bombing options for bombers:
One type is responsible for attacking cruisers and destroyers. Like before, it still carries four 50-kilogram bombs on the wings and a 250-kilogram bomb on the belly.
The other type is responsible for attacking battleships. It only carries a 500-kilogram bomb on the belly, and the best pilots are gathered together to form this elite team.
At this time, it was the elite group that attacked the British "Warspite". The tactics remained unchanged, and groups of 4 or 6 planes lined up and dived towards the target.
The only difference is that there is no "wheel"-style attack. They only have one bomb and one attack opportunity.
Perhaps it was the difference in bomb weight, or perhaps the Warspite's maneuvers were irregular. This ship changed its speed while changing its course, making it difficult for fighter jets to grasp its movements.
This resulted in the first four bombers failing to hit their targets accurately.
Carter, the commander of the aviation regiment, came on stage cursing. While six friendly fighter planes dived towards the "Warspite", he lowered the nose of his plane and rushed towards the target.
"Come on, my baby." Carter said to himself as he maneuvered the bomber into a dive toward the target: "You can't see me, right?"
This is indeed the case.
Rear Admiral Lewis, who was commanding on the Warspite, was so focused on a long line of six bombers that he completely failed to notice that there was another diving bomber on their flank.
He even thought that the bomber's diving target was not him, its nose was facing the blank sea ahead.
"Full speed ahead!" Louis changed the speed, then waited for a while, estimated that the time was almost up, and shouted: "Full left rudder!"
"Full left!"
"Full left!"
…
The warship perfectly avoided the attack of 6 bombers.
The first bomber realized that it had missed the opportunity and chose not to drop the bomb. It struggled to recover and flew back into the air with 500 kg of bombs.
The second bomber adjusted its direction and released its bomb, which blasted a column of water a hundred meters away from the starboard side of the warship.
Major General Louis was secretly proud of himself, when suddenly he felt a dark shadow appear above his head with a scream.
Before he could understand what was happening, a bomb fell from the sky.
There was a loud "boom".
The entire ship shook violently, as if it had jumped up, and the glass in the command cabin shattered instantly and flew everywhere.
The second-in-command Jason's jugular artery was cut by a sharp piece of glass, and blood spurted everywhere like a fountain. He hurriedly covered it with his hands, but it was no use, and the red blood still oozed out from between his fingers.
He looked at Louis in horror, hoping that Louis could lend a hand.
But Louis didn't even look at him, and climbed up by himself, grabbing the handrail.
Louis glanced around and fixed his sight on the bow of the ship that was hit by the bomb, where a raging fire had broken out.
"The auxiliary fuel tank was hit."
"Fire in the auxiliary oil tank!"
…
Major General Louis breathed a sigh of relief.
The main fuel tank of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship is located in the middle of the hull.
There was only a small amount of fuel at the bow and stern of the ship, which was mainly used for ballast and emergency supplies, so the fire could still be controlled.
But before he could catch his breath, the roar of bombers sounded again overhead.
Major General Louis immediately realized that he was doomed. After being hit by the bomb, all the crew members on the ship were slowed down.
It was this half beat that made him a target for enemy bombers.
Sure enough, a bomb hit the middle deck of the "Warspite" accurately.
With a loud "bang", flames gushed out almost at the same time as the explosion.
Soon, explosions continued, the oil depot and ammunition were detonated one after another, and the "Warspite" was instantly engulfed in a sea of fire. The flames shot straight into the sky, and the rising black smoke looked like a mushroom cloud.
…
War Office Building, London.
When the signalman reported that "the Warspite was sunk by the enemy", everyone was stunned.
The world's most advanced "Queen Elizabeth" class battleship, with 330 mm thick armor and 381 mm caliber main guns, was completely unable to fight back under the attack of enemy bombers!
At this time they seemed to understand what was going on with the Mediterranean Fleet.
It was not that General Winter was cowardly, nor that Major General Ives was timid, but that they were unable to fight against the French bombers.
After a moment's silence, Prime Minister George asked palely, "What can we do? Order the fleet to continue moving forward?"
"No, Prime Minister," the Minister of Munitions replied, "this will lead to the annihilation of our fleet, the entire Second Fleet, and the Queen Elizabeth will not be spared!"
The English Channel is more than 500 kilometers long, and it would take more than ten hours for a fleet to pass through it at full speed.
No warship can withstand it unless the French run out of bombs!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
