afterglow

Chapter 441 The mad dog in the Torres Strait; the voyage left its mark in history

Like the other more than 3 sister ships, the Qinshui is also equipped with three five-unit 480mm torpedo launchers, and the number of single launches is considerable.

In a sense, the Wenchang-class destroyer was not very successful. The Ming Navy seemed a bit greedy-it needed both powerful artillery and powerful torpedo equipment.

所以标准排水量1750吨的她们在明确要求搭载3座双联装128㎜舰炮的前提下，为了塞下更多的鱼雷而使用了稍小些的中型鱼雷，而非标准的21英寸（533㎜）级别的重型舰用鱼雷。

When it came to the Penglai class, the Navy gave up the idea of ​​having the cake and eat it too, and reduced the artillery configuration to only four single-mounted guns.

Now, the Qinshui is very cunning. It has only fired five torpedoes from one torpedo launcher, and the other two are still in a ready state.

The bridge of the Maryland was filled with exclamations of "torpedo", and everyone's hearts tightened. An atmosphere of despair filled the entire bridge in just a few seconds.

The 54-year-old Major General Frank Fletcher is very experienced. When he saw the torpedo falling into the water, he immediately issued an emergency evasion order, "Calm down! Full left rudder! Stop!"

Cutting outside to avoid torpedoes is a test of luck and will fail if you are not careful; slowing down and cutting inside is a relatively better choice.

The giant ship of more than 30,000 tons tried its best to turn to the left. The Maryland wanted to point the bow of the ship as far as possible in the direction of the torpedo attack.

The battleship tilted visibly to the naked eye, and many items in the cabin fell down. The sailors were also anxiously praying that they could avoid the torpedoes.

"Hahahaha, my enemy really turned left!" Qinshui's gunnery officer couldn't hide his excitement, "Let's hammer another row of nails into this guy's coffin!"

The cunning Qinshui was now steered by the captain himself. After firing the first round of torpedoes, she turned twenty degrees to the right, then maintained a straight course for several hundred meters before firing the second round of torpedoes.

The smoke and thunder officer said loudly into the microphone: "Lightning strike at 190, set the depth to five meters, fire all the thunder, let go!"

The other two five-unit torpedo launchers made crisp and sizzling sounds as compressed air exploded, and ten torpedoes were dropped into the sea one after another.

In the blink of an eye, a long row of tracks appeared on the sea. Under the light of the artillery fire from both sides, the white waves rolled up behind the torpedo seemed to be shining.

The distance of four kilometers takes more than 170 seconds for the speeding torpedo. Now all the two sides have to do is wait.

The torpedoes launched by the Qinshui in two batches formed a deadly hunting trap - the routes of the two groups of torpedoes in the front and back were intersecting.

This meant that after the Maryland turned left and cut in to avoid the first round of torpedoes, its port side would be completely exposed to the incoming second round of torpedoes.

In these three minutes, which can be called a death sentence, the US sailors pushed the Mk12 high-level dual-purpose gun to its limit, firing at a terrifying rate of twenty-two rounds per minute.

During this period, the Qinshui was hit by seven bombs in a row. The entire ship was in a mess from beginning to end, and there were more than a dozen fire points at the same time. However, miraculously, it was not seriously damaged, and its speed did not even decrease.

The Maryland, under the command of Major General Frank, passed through the first round of five torpedoes head-on, but the second round of torpedoes were approaching from the side, reaching an extremely close range of several hundred meters.

"Boom!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

At 2:50, Ming army sailors observed the first explosion, followed by three consecutive explosions, and the water column was obvious without exception.

The USS Maryland was hit by a mine on the stern, which destroyed two propellers and the stern rudder. Two mines were hit on the left side of the hull, and the torn holes caused a large amount of seawater to pour in. The bow of the ship was also hit by a mine.

The violent explosion shock wave and high-energy bubbles also caused fragments to fly inside the ship where the mine was hit, and ignited debris in several cabins.

The tall water column was like a giant fountain, and the left half of the Maryland was drenched in seawater. All the US sailors on the deck were drowned without exception.

In an instant, the Maryland suffered a fatal blow.

"Long live!!!"

"Damn! Good fight!"

Unprecedented cheers erupted from the Qinshui. The sailors' faces flushed, their eyes blazing, some raised their arms and shouted, and some excitedly photographed the railings.

The original battle line of the TF-12 fleet was the USS Maryland, the USS West Virginia, and the USS Northampton. However, because the USS West Virginia was damaged by concentrated fire from two Ming army battleships, the USS Northampton now follows the USS Maryland.

Therefore, the Qinshui, which succeeded in the surprise attack, immediately encountered the oncoming heavy cruiser.

The captain calmly commanded and responded to the battle. Three twin-mounted 3mm naval guns fired violently, pouring out more than 128 shells in a few tens of seconds. As the two sides got closer, the hit rate also skyrocketed.

The Qinshui was also hit by multiple 127mm conventional shells and was covered with bruises. However, no shells caused serious damage. Only a slight leak occurred in the high-pressure steam pipe of one boiler.

The Northampton had been hit by dozens of artillery shells in a confrontation with three Ming army light cruisers. The superstructure was blown to pieces, but the impact was not significant.

The Qinshui's approaching bombardment was also useless, and it just added a few more touches to the already messy and tattered Northampton.

So far in the naval battle, the Northampton has actually performed quite well. With one against three, it severely damaged the Qiantangjiang at the beginning, and then damaged the Beipanjiang and Xiangjiang.

Just when he saw the Qinshui suddenly appeared and attacked the Maryland, the captain ordered the main guns to be turned around, so now the three triple 3mm main guns had been rotated 203°, pointing at the Qinshui coming in the opposite direction.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom -"

The two were so close to each other that the muzzle flashes of the Northampton's main gun seemed to swallow up the small Qinshui.

As soon as the latter started to release the smoke screen, he was immediately hit hard by the terrifying shelling!

One shell blew away the No. 1 turret and damaged the No. 2 turret. Another shell tore a large hole several meters in diameter in the middle of the hull.

Several twin-mounted 38.4mm anti-aircraft guns of the Qinshui concentrated fire on the main gun control tower on the top of the triangle mast of the Northampton, causing mechanical failure of the shooting position plate and interruption of communication lines.

At the same time, she passed by in a particularly thrilling circle dozens of meters behind the Northampton.

However, the Qinshui's killing spree ended here, and her good luck completely ran out.

Two minutes later at 2:58, a 127mm normal bomb from the Northampton hit the stern of the ship, detonating the depth charge storage.

The violent explosion formed a huge fireball in an instant. The loud noise and orange flash even attracted the attention of the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers on the other side of the battlefield.

On the Yuanfeng, Liu Zaiyao, who was coughing up blood due to internal injuries, witnessed the scene there - the dark blue destroyer burst into a large ball of rolling mushroom-shaped flames!

The rear third of the Qinshui's hull was almost blown to pieces, and smoke was rising from every crack in the ship, turning it into a floating bonfire in the Torres Strait.

Her bow tilted up at a speed visible to the naked eye, the angle became wider and wider, and finally capsized to the left at 40 or 50 degrees...

During this period, a group of torpedoes launched by the destroyer Changyi ten minutes ago also achieved unexpected results.

The destroyer Gridley was attacked by multiple Ming destroyers and was forced to release a smoke screen to make a tactical retreat. However, it encountered a group of torpedoes launched by Changyi in a panic.

Among these torpedoes that were about to run out of fuel, there was one lucky person who successfully completed the mission at the last moment of his life.

This Type 512 350mm torpedo hit the middle of the ship and detonated. The huge power of the kg Qin's explosive almost tore the unlucky destroyer into two pieces. She quickly disappeared on the water, leaving only floating heavy oil and debris. Only a few officers and soldiers escaped with lifebuoys before the ship sank.

The officers and soldiers of the Changyi were also quite surprised. They originally only wanted to use thunder to further disrupt the formation of the US fleet, but they didn't expect that it actually hit?

The Maryland, which was previously attacked by the Qinshui, could only reach a speed of 7 knots, and its stern rudder was damaged. It could not even turn and could only turn in circles near its original position.

"A large amount of water entered the main shaft tunnel, and the steering gear failed..."

"Sir, the Maryland is no longer suitable as a flagship. You'd better transfer it immediately!"

At 3:12, Major General Frank and his staff left the Maryland and took a transport boat to the West Virginia at great risk.

During this period, artillery shells from the Ming fleet continued to fall near the two battleships. The aftermath of the water column made the small traffic boat look like a small boat in the big waves.

The D-56 detachment was not much better. The flagship Yuan Fenghao was hit by a total of 11 bullets, including 3 Mk406 mm armor-piercing bullets.

Most of its secondary guns were destroyed, and the bridge, chimney, and hull were beaten like a hornet's nest, with large and small bullet holes and breaches scattered throughout. Wired communications within the ship were interrupted, and many cabins were on fire. The damage control team members were struggling to fight the flames.

The No. 3 main gun ammunition magazine was at risk of being exploded. Because the fire could not be controlled in time, it had to be filled with water. At the same time, because a bomb at the waterline of the right hull caused water to enter, it was forced to fill the left cabin with water to maintain it. balance.

The two sides fought bloody battles for more than an hour, with both sides suffering losses.

At this time, the foreign aid that Liu Zaiyao and other naval generals had high hopes for - the first team of the second torpedo aircraft detachment of the naval aviation force - arrived belatedly.

As an elite unit trained in night combat, the Second Detachment and the First Detachment have always been regarded as treasures. However, when fighting in such a remote and desolate place, there is no reference at all. They can only trust the instruments completely. The difficulty of navigation made the Ming army pilots Suffered a lot.

Sixteen Type 37 torpedo bombers took off. Not only were they delayed for half an hour because they got lost, but five of them were separated.

Of those five, two returned on their own, one disappeared after sending a distress call, and there was no news about the other two.

The two aircraft in the torpedo aircraft formation were responsible for the navigation and instruction tasks respectively. The latter dropped aviation flares over the fleet, lighting up the entire sea area again.

The remaining torpedo planes attacked in groups of two. In order to avoid accidents, the planes were far apart.

"Enemy aircraft!"

"Oh my god, how dare they?"

At the same time, in the southeast of this sea area...

Two twin-engine torpedo planes were flying aimlessly in the deep night sky, and these were the two that were left behind.

In the cockpit of the twin-engine torpedo aircraft numbered YH-2-1-5, the two pilots were scolding the navigator.

"I'm so damn impressed with you. What's wrong with you guys? In normal assessments, you're always good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good. But when you go into battle, it doesn't work?" the chief pilot said with regret and annoyance.

The navigator took a picture of the aviation map and frowned: "You two still have the nerve to blame me. I just took a nap. When you opened your eyes, you told me that you were falling behind? You can't follow others to fly?"

The helpless radio operator hurriedly tried to smooth things over and advised: "Okay, okay, brothers, please stop arguing. Do you still have plenty of fuel? If not, just return to the flight."

The main driver replied angrily: "Forty-six more."

At this moment, the co-pilot suddenly picked up the binoculars. After looking at it for a few seconds, he muttered: "Huh? There seems to be a bright spot on the far side at one o'clock. It looks like artificial light."

The navigator raised his hand and turned off the cabin lights to eliminate reflection interference, then picked up the telescope and took a closer look, "It's already thirty kilometers... I'm afraid there won't be enough fuel, so just return home."

The main pilot seemed to be sulking and wanted to say the opposite, "That won't work. I'm going out at night. If I don't get some results back home, I won't be able to sleep well."

The radio operator was surprised, "Damn it, Wu Guangqian, don't mess around. What if there's no ship over there?"

"Why panic? At worst, I will throw the torpedo and throw the guy behind me into the sea. I will definitely be able to fly back."

Because radio silence was maintained, the other torpedo plane was not sure what to do, so it sent out a flashlight signal to ask.

Later, the two planes rushed towards the place where the light came from.

The co-pilot of YH-2-1-5 was not mistaken. The bright spots were indeed artificial lights, and they were the Lexington that was damaged at sunset yesterday, and the destroyer USS Mustin that was escorting her. .

Two warships, one large and one small, are heading southeast to Townsville on the Australian mainland at a cruising speed of 14 knots.

Lexington's damage control team members have been working hard to make emergency repairs. They first spent several hours extinguishing the fire in the hangar, and then sealed a breach and drained half of the waterlogged cabins.

Now, they were continuing the operation on the deck, filling smaller flight deck bomb holes under the illumination of searchlights.

The nightmare came under such circumstances - who would have thought that in the middle of the night, two Ming army planes would come over for a surprise attack?

"Huh? What is that noise?"

"Where did the plane come from?"

"What the hell? Enemy plane?"

The tired sailors were a little slow, and it was too late when they realized something was wrong.

"Boom!!!"

"Da da da—da da——"

Fired by a series of 12.7mm tracer bullets, the two Type torpedo bombers flew away.

The crew members inside were in high spirits, and all their previous annoyances were gone.

Although only one torpedo detonated for some reason, this aircraft carrier, which had been "severely damaged" before, received another heavy blow, and it should be impossible for it not to sink.

Unit YH-2-1-5 terminated radio silence and sent a message destined to be talked about in the future:

"Cockcrow, at three o'clock and two quarters, we encountered an enemy aircraft carrier, suspected to be the Lexington, and the attack was successful."

At this time, on the bridge of the Tianshi Zuoyuan, Zhou Changfeng, who was leaning on a chair and taking a nap, was suddenly awakened by cheers.

"Victory, victory!"

"Long live!"

He looked left and right and asked in confusion: "Did the US fleet retreat?"

Seeing his appearance, Zhu Yuanwei couldn't laugh or cry and said leisurely: "Zhou Daizhao is really calm and leisurely."

(End of this chapter)