Chapter 34: In, But Not Out

At Datt's repeated urging, Admiral Charles Forbes finally left the HMS Queen Elizabeth and boarded the accompanying destroyer Echo. Watching the fleet commander's flag slowly descending from the mast and the old subordinates saluting on the bridge, the general couldn't help but shed tears, knowing that their fate was no longer in their hands.

In the early hours of September 9, 1940, the flagship of the British Home Fleet, HMS Queen Elizabeth, sank 17 nautical miles west of the Isle of Wight under the command of Captain Datt due to excessive flooding, and began bombarding the German-occupied Lepe beaches with 15-inch MKI naval guns. Due to the considerable distance, the accuracy of the heavy artillery was very poor; some shells fell into the Solent Strait, while others flew over the German positions into the British-controlled area. However, those that landed in the German landing zone still caused significant damage: 5 tanks and 12 armored vehicles were destroyed or heavily damaged by the bombardment, with over 70 German soldiers killed, even surpassing the losses caused by a single British assault!

The Echo hurriedly caught up with the fast-retreating Hood, bound for the western entrance of the English Channel, despite departing half an hour later. Upon General Forbes boarding, the massive battlecruiser immediately hoisted the fleet commander's flag!

As the dawn approached, the anxiety among the British fleet's officers and men intensified, but would the German Luftwaffe miss such a golden opportunity?

At 6:15 a.m., German bombers appeared almost overwhelmingly from the direction of the French coast: more than two hundred Stukas soared like a flock of eagles in the sky; below, a large group of He-111s and Ar-95s loaded with torpedoes played the role of fish eagles; on the sea, torpedo boats formations were like sharp gray blades slashing viciously. This multidimensional attack pattern had long been rehearsed by the Germans in the Baltic Sea, yet the British remained oblivious to it!

Forbes, aged and with extensive combat experience, was finally faced with it. He barely held onto his composure and ordered the accompanying light cruisers and destroyers to form a barrier around the Hood. Although each ship had limited ammunition left for its anti-aircraft guns, as they were about to break out of the strait, they saw no need to hold back.

Just as the 21 warships, including the Hood, had prepared for battle, a massive explosion occurred on the leading light cruiser, HMS Hermione. Its sharp bow became blurred to the naked eye, with the front part of the hull rising high and the stern sinking into the water. With the daylight now fully upon them and no torpedo trails visible on the sea, and the approaching German aircraft still some ten kilometers away, the situation left Forbes and his officers ashen-faced!

In less than a minute, the destroyer HMS Fawn, sailing on the right side of the fleet, also tragically fell victim to a sudden explosion. The powerful blast, without any warning, occurred on the left side of its bow, easily tearing open the weak hull of the destroyer like a box of matches, igniting the few shells left in the forward magazine. Just as the spray settled, the entire ship was engulfed in flames and thick smoke, irretrievably listing to the damaged port side.

Colonel Cole, the captain of the Hood at the time, was the first to regain his senses. Without waiting for Forbes' order, he shouted to his subordinates, "Hard to port! Watch out for mines!"

Mines could still be detected by the presence of drifting debris, but anchor mines usually lurked several meters below the surface, undetectable and unpreventable without specialized equipment. The massive battlecruiser began to turn with astonishing agility, its towering masts visibly leaning to the left, but these graceful maneuvers were all in vain. At 6:22 a.m., the Hood struck a mine less than 15 nautical miles from the strait's mouth. The powerful French-made mine tore open its weak hull, allowing seawater to rush in. Multiple bulkhead watertight doors in the bow were breached, and the suddenness of the event meant that the sailors didn't even have time to close other critical compartments' watertight doors.

Seeing the situation beyond redemption, Fox had no choice but to order the fleet to head for the nearest port of Exeter!

The incoming German bomber formation had already flown over the fleet, and the British confusion provided them with a perfect opportunity! Torpedo bombers approached first and successively launched 31 aerial torpedoes. The sea was dotted with dazzling white water trails, resembling a piece of shattered glass, with the cracks all extending towards a small area...

The massive Hood was already a prime target for attack. With its bow struck by a mine and its speed sharply reduced, it was hit by three aerial torpedoes in quick succession. Though its armor was not as thick as that of the Nelson class, its central waterline armor was still 12 inches thick, supplemented by anti-torpedo bulkheads, managing to withstand the first two torpedoes. However, the third one struck its already damaged bow directly, tearing open a large gash over three meters long and two meters high, allowing seawater to rush in, causing the 48,000-ton behemoth to begin tilting to one side.

While the surviving British warships were frantically avoiding mines on the surface, German dive bomber pilots gleefully joined the attack. They abandoned the cautious tactics of the previous day and, like medieval heavy cavalry disregarding the defense of infantry, descended at steep angles and extreme speeds one after another, the shrill whistle of their dive sirens incessant. Like rolling black balls, bombs were precisely dropped onto the already panicked British vessels.

This time, the German Luftwaffe logistics department had prepared several types of bombs for their British counterparts: 50 kg high-explosive bombs, 250 kg aerial armor-piercing bombs, and 500 kg heavy aerial armor-piercing bombs. As for the super heavy weapon, a 1,000 kg bomb that sank the Nelson class the day before, it had not been used on these still maneuverable British vessels due to the slow speed of the dive bombers. However, on the dive bombers flying towards the beached Queen Elizabeth and Revenge, these formidable anti-ship weapons were already mounted and ready!

Facing the sea and air onslaught from the Germans, the remaining British warships continued to hit mines in their panic. Even the heavy cruisers, such as the powerful Berwick, appeared extremely fragile in the face of the old-fashioned anchor mines. After hitting a mine, the Berwick was hit by two torpedoes launched by German torpedo boats and capsized in less than 5 minutes; the two newly commissioned H-class destroyers, which had not yet fully demonstrated their capabilities, also lost their nerve in the face of French anchor mines!

In their desperation, the British vessels, like desperate dogs, fled towards the port of Exeter, oblivious to the six German submarines lurking outside the harbor! The heavy cruiser York was the first to be targeted; two 533mm torpedoes from U-99 tore open large holes on its port side, causing dozens of sailors to drown in a short time. When seawater flooded the boiler room, the thick smokestacks of the warship exhibited a peculiar sight, emitting a mixture of black smoke and white water vapor. The disabled warship, after losing speed, helplessly succumbed to the relentless attacks of the Stukas.

The aging Hood ultimately could not escape its fate. Less than 5 nautical miles from the port of Exeter, the German submarine U-99 (do you know who the captain was? Hehehe) fired four torpedoes at it, with three hitting the bow, amidships, and stern respectively. Without any depth charges, the Hood, with the largest displacement among active British warships, sank directly amidst a series of explosions, with less than a hundred crew members managing to escape. The venerable General Charles Forbes met a glorious death, but it was rumored that he had already suffered a heart attack before drowning...

After the remaining warships fled in panic into the port of Exeter, German Stuka bombers, undeterred by the British anti-aircraft firepower at the harbor, continued to hunt down the remaining enemies. Their relentless attacks eventually forced a British cruiser and three destroyers to run aground in the harbor due to severe damage. As the Germans gradually sealed off the strait, they never returned to their former home port and tragically chose to self-destruct before the German ground forces entered the harbor area!

With the Queen Elizabeth and Revenge grounded and the Hood sacrificed, the only ships still active in the English Channel were the battleship Malaya and a few remaining destroyers and minesweepers.

With a golden opportunity before them, the commanders and pilots of the German Air Force were determined not to let the regret of Dunkirk haunt their military careers again. After the first wave of attacking aircraft returned to French airfields, a second wave consisting of He-115s and Ju-88s immediately filled their positions. Despite the hindrance from Hermann Göring, the development of the German Naval Air Arm, by 1940, equipped four squadrons of seaplane torpedo bombers, with a considerable number being the more advanced He-115s. These bombers, flying in small groups of three to four, bravely approached low to evade the British warships' anti-aircraft fire. The Ju-88, originally designed with dive bombing capabilities, now demonstrated its impressive dive performance, dropping heavy bombs around the Malaya, creating numerous water columns. Seizing this opportunity, the He-115s approached to within about 1000 meters before launching torpedoes.

Although the gunners aboard the Malaya set a record by shooting down 12 German aircraft in just ten minutes, the sheer number of torpedoes ultimately left them with nowhere to escape. The ship was hit by two aerial torpedoes when it was still 19 nautical miles from the port of Exeter, and then, at a distance of 15 nautical miles, it was hit by two successive heavy near-miss bombs and several small bombs, causing heavy casualties among the crew on board!