Chapter 395: The Baltic Sea

The lookout, Kohl, looked at the calm sea with great satisfaction, his face full of pride. As a member of the German naval fleet, he felt ve

The lookout, Kohl, looked at the calm sea with great satisfaction, his face full of pride. As a member of the German naval fleet, he felt very proud, because the Imperial Navy he was in had now achieved what his father’s generation had not been able to do.

To sink seven battleships—this combat record had always been the dream of the German High Seas Fleet. The era when sinking a single British battleship could be boasted about for years was gone forever. Now, almost everyone was thinking about sinking a British battleship, as if sinking a British battleship were a very simple matter.

The aircraft carrier he was on had not yet been formally named by the navy. Its internal designation was Warship No. 5. Not far away, sailing on the sea, was No. 6. These were the two newest aircraft carriers that the navy had just launched. Although there was no change in their hulls, this warship was expected to be equipped with a more advanced radar and command system. Warship No. 6, which had been launched three days later, was even installed with an experimental system for night takeoff and landing of its planes.

It was said that this system was a new gadget “invented” by the Führer, which used the principle of blocking light to allow pilots to take off and land their planes safely without being able to see the flight deck. Although the difficult problem of taking off and landing planes seemed to have been solved, the problem of naval aircraft being unable to fight at night still existed. The German engineers and researchers were all trying their best to install a radar system into their planes, but the experiments were still in progress.

Because they had been rushed to launch, neither of the two carriers had radar installed. More than half of their internal watertight compartments were also not closed, and the sailors’ mess rooms were not even decorated. But according to the German Navy’s plan, the radar equipment and the later finishing work for carriers No. 5 and No. 6 would be completed in Wilhelmshaven.

This was also a helpless move. Because the reserve steel in the Kiel naval port was almost used up, and because the sectional construction of carriers No. 7 and No. 8 had already begun in Kiel, a problem with the turnover of steel had occurred for a time. The Naval General Staff had a discussion and had found that Wilhelmshaven still had some surplus. So they had drawn up a seaworthiness plan to move the unfinished carriers No. 5 and No. 6 to the Wilhelmshaven port area to continue their construction. In any case, the warships would have to go to Wilhelmshaven eventually. Wouldn’t this just save the trouble of transporting the steel?

The two aircraft carriers would set out from the Kiel naval port in the Baltic Sea, escorted by four destroyers, and would travel via Denmark to the German naval port of Wilhelmshaven. There, they would rendezvous with the long-awaited escort fleet and form the German Navy’s 1st Task Force.

There were two cruisers captured from Britain there, four of Germany’s anti-aircraft cruisers, and also four anti-aircraft destroyers. Including the four destroyers that had escorted them all the way, it would form a standard German Navy two-carrier fleet.

The German high command attached great importance to this task force. The operational plan drawn up by Raeder was to rely on this task force to go north and cut the transport lines near Iceland. And the German High Seas Fleet, which had transferred to the Brest naval port, would go south to threaten the British southern shipping lanes. Dönitz’s submarine force would concentrate its forces to strangle the British western sea area. In one fell swoop, they would complete a full blockade of the British mainland at sea.

Raeder’s idea was that the combat-experienced High Seas Fleet would seek an opportunity in Brest to annihilate the Royal Navy fleet that was rushing to the British mainland. The submarine force and the newly commissioned carrier task force would cut Britain’s supply lines. With a two-pronged attack, they would crush Britain in one fell swoop.

The two aircraft carriers were sailing one after the other on the surface of the Baltic Sea. Kohl, while touching the long-barreled binoculars hanging on his chest, was fantasizing in his mind about the scene of his own warship galloping on the North Atlantic and sinking British warships.

Suddenly, he heard the alarm bell ringing loudly from the loudspeaker behind him. He was so scared that he almost fell from the mast’s lookout position where he was standing. He grabbed the railing on the side to steady himself.

He looked at the destroyer not far away and saw that the destroyer was turning toward the distance and was flashing a complex signal with its lights. Having studied flag and light signals for a full half a year, Kohl naturally understood the meaning of that set of signals. He was scared out of his wits and quickly unfastened the safety belt that was tied around him and began to climb down the handholds on the mast quickly.

And just as he was scrambling down in a panic, two breaking waves were rapidly approaching the broadside of carrier No. 5, like two thin white lines on the calm surface of the Baltic Sea.

On the bridge, the navy’s Captain Graf, who was in charge of receiving warship No. 5, stared with a pale face at the torpedoes that were rapidly approaching not far away. He urged the helmsman beside him over and over again, “Quick! Turn at the fastest possible speed! Hurry up! Hurry up!”

“Captain, this is already the fastest turning speed… The internal structure of this ship has not yet been completed. The speed can only be increased to 20 knots, and the turn cannot be too sharp, otherwise it will cause structural fracture,” an engineer in charge of coordination explained with a frown. “It will be dangerous.”

“We’re already finished now!” Captain Graf roared like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “If we’re hit by torpedoes, won’t we be finished too? Won’t we be completely finished? Give me speed! Turn!”

Just as he was roaring, a violent tremor suddenly came from under his feet. In the instant Captain Graf fell, the content that flashed in his mind was, “It’s over. Carrier No. 5 is completely finished this time!”

The loud roar of the explosion came over. The entire carrier seemed to be lifted high out of the water and then was thrown heavily back into the sea by a huge force. The sound of twisting steel creaked. The entire command bridge was a complete mess from the violent shaking.

“Damage control! Quick, find damage control!” Captain Graf, still lying on the ground, had not yet gotten up, but his voice was already shouting. “Report the damage situation! Immediately control the flooded areas! Pumps! Prepare the pumps…”

He had not yet finished speaking when another violent shake came, which sent his whole person bouncing up from the floor. His arm hit the chart table, which had not yet had its top installed, and a huge gash was opened.

“Captain! Are you alright, Captain Graf?” The engineer from the Kiel shipyard was spattered with blood on his face. He was so scared he was out of his wits. He was stunned there for a while before he asked in a trembling voice.

“Damage control! Quick, deploy damage control! It doesn’t matter if I die! This ship can’t sink!” Captain Graf cried out in a mournful voice as he struggled to sit up. “Quick! Quick, repair the warship! Hurry up!”

“It’s too late, Captain! The internal bulkheads of this ship were not completely sealed to begin with. Once the flooding starts to spread, it can’t be stopped! We’ve been hit twice. It’s even more irreparable,” the engineer said, crying as he spoke. “It’s really over this time. My God!”

“Where’s damage control? Where’s damage control? Even if you have to use corpses to plug them, you have to plug these two holes for me!” Captain Graf roared through gritted teeth.

“Most of the damage control personnel are boarding at Wilhelmshaven…” the adjutant reminded his superior, who had been so scared he had forgotten this matter, with a sigh. “Now there are only a little over twenty damage control personnel on board. I estimate that they can’t handle any repair work.”

Captain Graf, who had only just come to his senses, disregarded the fact that his arm was still bleeding, pushed aside the adjutant who was trying to help him up, and sat on the ground in silence. Although not much time had passed, it was already clear that the entire warship was listing. Some of the small things that were not fixed and had been shaken to the ground by the vibration began to roll, making a series of gurgling sounds.

“A message from warship No. 6. It and the three destroyers are changing course to evade a possible second wave of torpedo attacks. The other destroyer is tracking the enemy submarine,” a telegraph operator reported loudly.

“Our ship is listing. The angle has already reached 25 degrees,” an officer in charge of damage control reported, his face pale as he stood by Graf’s side, holding onto the wall. “The flooding cannot be controlled. The rescue has already failed… Sir, give the order to abandon ship.”

“Lower the lifeboats! Abandon ship!” After Graf had given the order, he seemed to have lost all his strength and slumped down there. “You all leave. The responsibility can be borne by me alone.”

“Sir!” several of the officers were about to step forward to persuade him.

“Don’t persuade me anymore! It’s the rule!” Graf stopped everyone from coming forward with his still-intact arm and then continued, “When you go back, you must summarize your experiences and lessons learned. Don’t make this kind of mistake again! A warship must be fully prepared before it moves! In addition, tell Grand Admiral Raeder that Graf has failed his cultivation.”

After saying this, Graf extended his good arm. “Give me a pistol. I don’t want to watch my own warship sink.”

When everyone had walked out of the bridge’s command room, a crisp gunshot was heard from inside. Everyone on the listing staircase was taken aback for a moment, and then they all stopped talking and walked sullenly toward the deck.

About half of the people had boarded the lifeboats. A quarter of the people were missing or dead, and the other quarter had been in the sea for half an hour before being rescued by a destroyer. At 12:05 PM, the German Navy’s 5th aircraft carrier, not yet named, was sunk in the Baltic Sea by a submarine of the British Royal Navy.

In the Führer’s Residence in Berlin, Germany.

Akado was discussing with August how to deal with Britain. The meeting between the two had just come to an end, and Akado had just confirmed the three-pronged operational plan, when Cindra rushed into the conference room with a telegram.

“My Führer, the news just came in. The navy’s carrier No. 5 was sunk in the Baltic Sea by a British submarine,” Cindra reported the main situation in a trembling voice as soon as she entered the door. When she had heard the news that an aircraft carrier had been sunk, she was so scared that she could not even speak. She had calmed down at the door for a few minutes before she came in and said this one complete and coherent sentence.

“What?” Akado was also taken aback and dropped the fountain pen he had been twirling in his hand. August also raised his eyelids but did not speak, only sighing.