The Battle of Jutland: The Power of Aircraft Carriers

"Is there really no way?" the chief officer said in frustration.

"Bang!" Just as the bridge fell silent, another torpedo hit the Royal Oak, still on the port side.

Three torpedoes in a row hit the same side, which was fatal to the Royal Oak, a World War I ship, not to mention that five 1,100-pound bombs were hit on the deck.

"Sir, there is really no way out now." The damage control officer smiled bitterly, "Notify the captain, let's abandon the ship!"

"That's it." The first officer accepted his fate, "I'll inform the captain that you are ready to evacuate!"

"Understood." The officers and soldiers in the bridge nodded and began to organize their belongings and prepare to evacuate.

After more than a minute, the captain who was directing the shooting on the deck hurried back to the bridge.

"Captain, the damage control of the Royal Oak has failed, and there is no way to save it." The damage control officer said to the disgraced captain.

"Alas." The captain sighed when he heard the words, touched the beloved ship that had accompanied him for many years, walked to the captain's seat, took the microphone of the broadcast on the ship, and said to the officers and soldiers of the ship, "Good afternoon, gentlemen, I am Your Captain, Rear Admiral Mailer, I regret to inform you that the damage control of the battleship Royal Oak has failed, and this battleship that has accompanied us for many years is about to sink. For the future of the Royal Navy, I order you to abandon ship immediately, Board the lifeboat and head to the nearest Royal Navy ship, my last order as Captain of the HMS Royal Oak, over."

When Rear Admiral Mailer put down the microphone, the first officer couldn't help but ask, "The last order? Captain..."

"Choose to sink with the ship, this is my destiny and duty as the captain of the Royal Oak." Rear Admiral Mailer waved his hand with a smile, then sat down on the captain's seat, "Hurry up, I have to accompany you. Follow it down the left side of the road."

"Captain, come with us!" The first mate was anxious, "His Majesty the King and Prime Minister Churchill have both banned the captain from sinking with the ship!"

"Follow the order! Hurry up!" Major General Mailer said solemnly.

"But..." The mate wanted to persuade again.

"Crack!" Major General Mailer took out his gun and slapped it on the table, "I want to finish the last leg with dignity! Don't force me to shoot myself!"

Upon seeing this, the first officer hurriedly agreed: "Yes! Let's go now!"

After speaking, he left the bridge with dozens of officers and soldiers in the bridge, turning back three steps, and took a lifeboat to evacuate the Royal Oak, which had a serious left-leaning.

Shortly after they evacuated, three more torpedoes hit the Royal Oak. These three torpedoes accelerated the capsize of the Royal Oak. In just a few minutes, the fully loaded 31,000-ton ship turned upside down. , and then quickly disappeared into the sea.

Compared with the safe evacuation of the Royal Oak's officers and soldiers, the Revenge, which was also targeted by the Germans, was not so lucky.

Since the Vengeance survived part of the anti-aircraft guns in the first round of dive bombing, it was taken care of by the German torpedo fleet in the second round of torpedo attacks. The number of torpedoes that attacked the Vengeance was more than half that of the Royal Oak. .

However, the surviving part of the anti-aircraft guns of the Vengeance was not enough for it to block the attack of the German torpedo attack aircraft, so the Vengeance, which was unable to protect itself but received great care, was sadly urged. A total of 11 torpedoes were hit, although it was hit by 11 torpedoes. It was dead when it hit the sixth torpedo.

When the Battle of Jutland hit here this time, the British Royal Navy could be considered to have learned the power of the German New High Seas Fleet. After rescuing all the officers and soldiers drowning in the sea, the British fleet left here at full speed and returned to the British mainland. .

And the German heavy patrol formation that was watching the play in the distance did not dare to pursue it, Ming Jin withdrew his troops and moved closer to the main fleet.

They had been able to entangle with the British battleship fleet for so long because of the blessing of God. If they chose to catch up now, they would be able to hold the British fleet again, but they would also be completely sunk in the North Sea by the furious British fleet.

This is something that Germany absolutely does not want to see. The British navy has a great business and a strong heritage, let alone two old-fashioned battleships and a few heavy cruisers, even if the entire fleet sank here, it can be called at most. "A little loss" can pull out a stronger fleet in a blink of an eye.

Even the Royal Navy wished that all the battleships except HMS Nelson were sunk here, so that they could ask Congress for more military spending to build new "George V" class battleships and "Glorious" class aircraft carriers.

However, although the German heavy cruisers did not dare to come forward to entangle, it did not mean that the German aircraft carrier fleet did not dare to pursue the victory.

The 151st and 161st squadrons, which had previously wiped out the British carrier-based fighter group and left the attacking group and went out to look for the British aircraft carrier, entrusted the United Kingdom to "arrange the aircraft carrier into the battle line while sailing, and arrange the aircraft carrier to leave the battle fleet just before the war. "The blessing of this habit, the British aircraft carrier HMS Fury and HMS Ark Royal were successfully discovered more than 30 kilometers away from the main battlefield.

The second wave of attack from the German aircraft carrier formation was originally intended to pursue the British battle fleet to see if there was a chance to sink the battleship HMS Nelson. After receiving the news that the British aircraft carrier fleet was found from Squadrons 151 and 161, they immediately adjusted their targets. flew to the British aircraft carrier fleet.

Lost all carrier-based fighters, plus Fury and Ark Royal, which were escorted by only three light cruisers and seven destroyers, when facing the second wave of German attacks consisting of more than 150 bombers and torpedo planes, except for There was no means of retaliating beyond the small number of anti-aircraft guns on board.

After a round of attacks, the Furious aircraft carrier was sunk on the spot with 11 1,100-pound bombs and 5 533mm aerial torpedoes.

The aircraft carrier Ark Royal was hit with 13 1100-pound bombs and 3 533mm torpedoes, but because it is an armored aircraft carrier, the total armor weight reaches 2850 tons, and all key parts of the ship have been strengthened, such as the lower hangar deck. , gasoline tanks, ammunition depots, power compartments and other key parts are covered with 89 mm thick armor, the flight deck is covered with 64 mm thick protective armor, and the side is covered with a 114 mm thick armor belt, which makes it withstand the German army. The heavy hit was not sunk, and although he was seriously wounded, he was towed back to Scapa Flow by several escort warships.

And this war case has attracted the attention of many countries, so that the armored aircraft carrier began to appear on the table and became the mainstream of design.

In Jutland, the British side sank a total of 4 destroyers, 6 light cruisers, 5 heavy cruisers, two battleships and an aircraft carrier, while the German side only paid the price of sinking three heavy cruisers.

This made the whole world realize the power of aircraft carriers, and the most profound one was an island country.