Chapter 268: Assassination

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Without a second thought, Prien aimed at the moored warship that was farther away from him and fired three torpedoes in one go. This was a f

Without a second thought, Prien aimed at the moored warship that was farther away from him and fired three torpedoes in one go. This was a firepower density he had calculated long ago, because in the dark of night, he could not distinguish what type of warship his target was.

If he were to waste an attack opportunity to save a torpedo, it would clearly not be worth it. After all, this was the anchorage of the British Royal Navy. If a ship were damaged but not sunk, the British could quickly repair the wounded warship.

So Prien decided to fire three torpedoes at his primary target in one go, on the premise of ensuring it was sunk. As for why he fired at the distant target first, Prien had his own considerations. This would buy him enough time to reload his torpedoes.

As the three torpedoes left the submarine and swam toward their target, the torpedo mechanics inside the submarine quickly began to drain the bow torpedo tubes, unscrew the loading hatches, and push the already-prepared spare torpedoes inside.

“One, two, three, push!” The torpedo mechanics below pushed the most accessible torpedo into the tube. Then, the man in charge skillfully closed the torpedo tube hatch and shouted, “Tube number 3 is loaded!”

And at almost the same time, the soldiers in another group also shouted loudly, “Tube number 4 is loaded!”

The officer in charge here grabbed the intercom and reported loudly, “Reporting to the control room! Bow torpedo tubes 2, 3, and 4 are ready! Ready to fire!”

“Is the turn complete?” Prien asked his first mate anxiously, but the first mate did not answer. At this moment, he was too nervous. He was holding a pocket watch, trying to accurately calculate the time until the torpedoes hit their target.

“Helmsman! Is the turn complete?” Prien had no choice but to ask another person in the know.

“Reporting to the captain! The turn is almost complete! I am operating the helm,” the helmsman replied loudly.

Prien once again pressed his face to the sight and began to carefully observe his target. At the beginning, there was nothing in his sight but the sea, so he had to wait patiently. Sure enough, after just a few dozen seconds, a huge ship’s stern entered his field of view.

He hurriedly continued his confirmation. “Aim for the target!”

“Confirming torpedoes are ready!” the torpedo operator said, looking at the instrument panel and replying loudly.

“Bow torpedo tubes number 2, 3, and 4, prepare!” Prien confirmed once again.

“Torpedoes 2, 3, and 4!” the torpedo operator echoed once again.

“Fire!” Prien shouted his second attack command.

“Fire!” The torpedo operator skillfully pressed the electric button to fire the torpedoes.

“Thump!” Everyone inside the boat once again felt the muffled sound of the torpedoes leaving the submarine and the slight shaking caused by the recoil.

The torpedoes prepared this time had had their speed adjusted. The first batch of three torpedoes fired all had an initial speed of 30 knots, while the three torpedoes fired this time were all set to a super-fast speed of 44 knots. This would shorten the attack range of the torpedoes, but it was clear that in this state, this flaw was no longer important.

“Don’t stop turning! Continue to reload ammunition!” Prien commanded as his submarine slowly approached a third target, while he carefully observed the British Navy’s reaction with the periscope that could scan the surrounding sea surface.

At this time, his first batch of torpedoes finally hit their target—the British Royal Navy battleship HMS Barham. The officers and men on this battleship were still in their dreams at this moment but were stunned by the sudden vibration and the sound of the explosion.

At the beginning, the soldiers thought it was a drill, so they only got dressed as if going through the motions. But when they found that the warship was beginning to list and that seawater was pouring in from the floor, they finally realized the seriousness of the problem.

Soon, this warship had lost its salvage value, because the three torpedoes had hit different parts of the ship, but they had all destroyed a portion of the warship’s main containment structures. This way, the flooding of the entire warship could not be controlled at all, and at this time, the Barham’s oil tanks also began to leak. Accompanied by the explosion of the ammunition magazine of a small-caliber secondary gun, the sea surface around the entire Barham was a sea of fire.

“What on earth happened?” The British sailors in the chaos still didn’t know what was going on. Most of them still thought it was an accidental explosion. The first reaction of many people was not to counter-attack, but to carry out a rescue.

“I don’t know! There was an explosion on our broadside! There are many brothers trapped below! We are trying to find a way to save them!” a damage control officer shouted as he put on his life jacket. The deck was in a state of chaos. The damage control officer grabbed a subordinate and instructed, “Looking at this situation, this warship has already listed at least 25 degrees. It won’t be long before it sinks. I want you to find the captain! Tell him to evacuate the sailors immediately.”

But just as they were frantically trying to save their battleship, huge flames also shot up from the broadside of the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous on the other side. Just a second later, another huge explosion was heard. This time, the soldiers on the deck were all dumbfounded. A very bad feeling welled up in their hearts.

“It’s impossible for two warships to have an accident at the same time, right?” a soldier with a bald head and messy hair from sleep muttered in a low voice.

“Of course not!” George, the damage control officer from the Malaya, had been rescued and had returned to the country with the only destroyer that had escaped. He had learned that the remaining destroyers had all been ambushed by the German Navy. He had been assigned to continue his service on the newly commissioned, cutting-edge carrier HMS Ark Royal. At this moment, he had just pushed open a hatch and walked onto the deck.

He saw the huge explosion and the rising flames, as well as the black columns of smoke that could be easily distinguished even in the night, and shouted, “Quick! Quick, sound the battle alarm! This isn’t an accident! It’s an enemy attack!”

“Wooo… wooo…” Just as his voice fell, the battle alarm on the hit carrier Courageous was sounded. The entire scene became even more chaotic. On the shore around them, the anti-aircraft guns began to fire blindly, and many shells flew into the sky, trailing light.

George was knocked off balance by someone passing by. He struggled not to fall and then hurried toward the bridge. Just as he got there, he saw that the captain of the Ark Royal was already at his combat station.

“Weigh anchor! The warship’s power system is to start up at once! Call the engine room! Tell them to get the warship moving at the fastest possible speed! Quick!” the captain said, glancing at George and giving a nod, then looking at his first mate. “Have all gunners go to their posts! Searchlights, scan the water for suspicious targets! I suspect that an enemy submarine or divers are carrying out sabotage in Scapa Flow.”

“Captain, I think it might be an air raid…” the first mate asked. “Should we have the gunners at the anti-aircraft positions fire into the air to interfere?”

“There’s no need! That will only make the scene more chaotic! The anti-aircraft guns at the port are already doing the job of firing into the air. We don’t need to overdo it,” the captain said with a wave of his hand in refusal. “Ready ammunition for all the big guns! Open fire immediately after a target is found.”

Only then did he look at George. “George, you take your men and prepare for emergency repairs! I cannot confirm whether our warship will be targeted.”

“Understood, Captain!” George nodded and went down to find his damage control unit. As he was crossing the flight deck, he glanced at the busy ground crew. They were removing the protective canvas from the only plane on the deck.

But it was clear that the disaster was not yet over. Before George had even left the flight deck, the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign, not far from them, also exploded. The entire hull was lifted out of the water, twisted and deformed, and then fell back into the sea. The creaking sound of metal could be heard clearly even on the deck of the Ark Royal.

George, who had already experienced one disaster, knew from the sound that the Royal Sovereign was also finished. This warship could be said to be in an even more tragic state than the Barham, which had been hit and had exploded first, because it seemed that the Royal Sovereign’s ammunition magazine had been detonated, so the explosion was even more violent.

The officers and men of the Royal Navy, who had just realized that they were under attack, completely collapsed. In a panic, two destroyers collided with each other. The sharp bow of one destroyer actually cut off the bow of the destroyer next to it. And on the other side, several gunboats that had been on patrol were rescuing the British soldiers who had fallen into the water.

Soon, another huge explosion was heard. The ammunition magazine of the Royal Sovereign had cooked off. The powerful force of the explosion even sent parts from the Royal Sovereign flying onto the deck of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal. The entire of Scapa Flow was in a mess. Under the gaze of countless searchlights, the second to explode, the carrier Courageous, capsized. A plane on its deck that hadn’t had time to take off finally couldn’t hold on any longer, slid toward the sea, and plunged into the cold seawater.

“This is the aircraft carrier Ark Royal! All destroyers that have started their engines, blockade the sea surface at once! Proceed to the various sea exits at the fastest possible speed! Blockade the entire of Scapa Flow! Please respond if you hear me, please respond if you hear me,” the captain of the Ark Royal said helplessly, standing next to the radio with a handset.

He looked through the window and saw the burning, sinking battleship Royal Sovereign. He suddenly felt as if something was pressing on his chest, a very uncomfortable feeling. Did I lead a fleet of destroyers here just to witness the end of the Royal Navy? he asked himself sorrowfully.

And on the other side, the men on the German submarine U-211 were also in a complete mess. They had fired all twelve of their torpedoes in one go, and now it was time to escape. To make it easier to get out of Scapa Flow, Prien had already chosen the direction of his departure. Now he was turning in the water and then proceeding at full speed along his pre-prepared escape route.

But no one was very confident. Would the journey back really be smooth sailing?