Chapter 550 European Combined Fleet
March 22, 1942, early morning.
The sudden noise broke the tranquility of Wilhelmshaven. Preston, who had lived near the military port for 10 years and had long been integrated into German society, was actually a British MI6 agent. He squinted his sleepy eyes and opened the window of his residence facing the port. He found that four huge light gray figures and a large group of smaller ships had appeared in the distance.
The long ammunition supply convoy entered the port, which had always been heavily guarded. The crane on the dock was swinging back and forth, lifting heavy shells onto the deck.
The thick oil pipeline extended from the underground oil depot to the warship, and high-quality heavy oil from Romania and the Middle East was continuously injected into the oil tank.
Preston, who had been lurking in Wilhelmshaven for 10 years and whose only mission was to observe the German Navy, raised a small telescope and began to observe the four newly appeared large warships with a somewhat sad look. He is an older man, a former Royal Navy officer who participated in the Battle of Jutland and witnessed the end of the German High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow!
But since he was sent to Wilhelmshaven by MI6 to open a bakery 10 years ago, he has witnessed the rebirth of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet. From almost non-existent, to initial revival, to growing into a fleet that can compete with the Royal Navy, it has now become a powerful fleet that can crush the British Royal Navy in both strength and record!
Preston, who was born as a naval officer and has observed the German High Seas Fleet in Kiel for more than 10 years, is basically a ship expert. Just a few glances from a distance, he knew that the four large warships entering Wilhelmshaven were more powerful than any British warship of the same type!
These are two battleships with a standard displacement of at least 55,000 tons and two aircraft carriers with a standard displacement of at least 30,000 tons! The former should be the legendary "Hindenburg" and "Ludendorff". Their main guns should be 406mm, powerful enough to be compared with the main guns of the "Nelson" class. Although the armor cannot be seen from the appearance, it should be quite good.
As for the two aircraft carriers, they should be the Zeppelin class... Looking at its size, if it is stored in the entire hangar, it should be able to carry 70-80 carrier-based aircraft.
When Preston thought of carrier-based aircraft, he felt like crying. I don't know how many brave Royal Navy pilots were shot down by that Fokker Zero plane, one of whom was his son! And Preston also knew that the Germans have been frequently testing a new carrier-based dive bomber with better performance than the Fokker 99 dive bomber recently... In several carrier-based aircraft pilot schools near Kiel Port, the Fokker 99 trainer aircraft have all been replaced.
"The attack power of the carrier-based dive bomber squadron on the German aircraft carrier will be stronger than in the past. The future of the Royal Navy..." Preston didn't dare to think about it anymore.
Now two "Hindenburg" class battleships and two "Zeppelin" class aircraft carriers have gathered in Kiel Harbor to add ammunition and fuel. They are likely to attack the Denmark Strait next. If they break into the Atlantic, Germany's naval power in the Atlantic will have an overwhelming advantage.
The end of the British Empire... is approaching.
...
"Standard displacement of 56,000 tons; full load displacement of 63,000 tons; 12 Wagner-type high-pressure heavy oil boilers, 3 Blom. Voss-type steam turbines, maximum power can reach 150,000 horsepower, and maximum speed can reach 28 knots..."
Admiral Gunther Lütjens, commander of the High Seas Fleet, introduced his new flagship to the Chief of the General Staff, Imperial Marshal Hessmann, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Marshal Raeder, who came to inspect.
The design of the "Hindenburg" class battleship has undergone major changes during its construction. The reason is that the sinking of the "Scharnhorst" gave Hessmann a reason to suspend the "battleship commerce" tactics.
Therefore, the H-class under construction at that time abandoned the diesel engine, which was more fuel-efficient but heavy and bulky (using diesel engines can increase the range), and used the same power system as the Bismarck class. Although the maximum speed dropped by 2.8 knots, it also saved a lot of space and tonnage that could be used to increase the thickness of the armor. Therefore, the "Hindenburg" class has 150mm-330mm side waterline armor (20-degree angle) and 80mm-125mm deck armor that is stronger than the Bismarck class. At the same time, the armor thickness of the anti-torpedo armor, anti-torpedo compartment, main turret, secondary turret and command tower is consistent with that of the Bismarck.
In addition, this class of battleships also retained the "German-style" dome armor design, wasting a lot of tonnage. As a result, with a total armor weight of more than 20,000 tons, it only obtained a defense level that was only so-so on paper, and its theoretical defense capability was even worse than that of the American Iowa class under construction.
As for the main guns of the Hindenburg class, the eight 406mm DrhC/34 guns, because they still used high-speed light bullets, they had two major weaknesses: insufficient long-range accuracy and insufficient overall power. Their power was not as good as the 1 main gun of the United States and the 410mm main gun of Japan at the same time. However, no matter how poor these eight main guns were, they were still 406mm in caliber, which was more than enough to fight against the 14-inch "toothpick gun" of the King George V class, the Nelson, which also used high-speed light bullets, and the five 15-inch guns of the Queen Elizabeth class.
Moreover, the Americans only have one ship, the USS Washington, which has a powerful 16-inch cannon and is fighting against the Yamato in the Pacific. Therefore, these two Hindenburg-class ships, which have not very ideal performance, can still dominate the Atlantic.
Besides, it is now past the spring equinox. After the spring equinox, the climate in the North Atlantic will become milder, and the days will be longer and the nights will be shorter. It is very suitable for aircraft carriers to exert their power, so the "Hindenburg" class is just for show in Hessman's opinion, and there is probably no chance to fight against British battleships.
As for the war, there are two "Zeppelin" class aircraft carriers and three aircraft carriers converted from cruise ships, "Europa", "Bremen", and "Potsdam", which are enough to deal with it - the three aircraft carriers converted from cruise ships are not in Wilhelmshaven now, but are anchored in Bergen Port in Norway with the battleship Barbarossa (O class) and the battleship Schlieffen and more than a dozen other small and medium-sized ships, waiting for the main force of the fleet led by Gunther Lütjens to join them.
The two Zeppelin-class air regiments (according to the latest regulations, all aircraft carriers with more than 60 aircraft in regular use shall be converted into air regiments) have 72 regular aircraft. The air regiments on the Europa and Bremen have 60 regular aircraft each, and the flight squadron on the Potsdam has 36 regular aircraft. A total of 300 regular aircraft are enough to deal with the British home fleet.
Following Admiral Gunther Lütjens around the deck of the Hindenburg battleship, Hessman showed a satisfied smile - although he was not really satisfied with the Hindenburg, he would not show this "dissatisfaction" when he represented the headquarters to send off the main force of the High Seas Fleet today.
"Admiral, this is the most powerful battleship in Europe," Hessman said to Admiral Gunther Lütjens in the luxurious officer's lounge on the Hindenburg, "It is enough to become the core of the European Combined Fleet!"
The European Combined Fleet is a multinational joint fleet including the main navies of four countries, including Germany, Italy, France and Spain!
Hersmann and Hitler had been trying to promote the establishment of a "European Combined Fleet" since the Western Front campaign. However, they were able to do so only after the Battle of Hawaii not long ago.
Because the Battle of Hawaii severely damaged the US Navy, it sank and destroyed 10 US battleships and 1 aircraft carrier, and also occupied the Hawaiian Islands (American resistance continued, but the main islands of Hawaii have now been occupied by Japan). This completely disappointed those who originally thought that the United States might become the key force to change the outcome of the war, and the power to prevent France from turning to Germany no longer existed.
French President Petain and French Navy Commander-in-Chief Darlan, who had been watching for a long time, finally made up their minds to let France board the German warships and officially declare war on Britain. After France joined the German camp to declare war on Britain, Admiral Darlan also agreed to let the French naval fleet fight side by side with the German and Italian navies.
Hitler and Hersmann struck while the iron was hot and persuaded Mussolini and Darlan respectively to form a European Combined Fleet under unified command. And General Gunther Lütjens will serve as the commander of this combined fleet.
"Admiral," Hessmann said, "The news of the formation of the European Combined Fleet has now been officially announced, and I know that the British have agents lurking in Wilhelmshaven... So London will know as soon as your fleet sets out to sea. They will also guess that your destination is Gibraltar, because the Hindenburg and Ludendorff are the most powerful battleships in Europe, and the flagship of the European Combined Fleet must be one of them.
So the British will know that the destination of your fleet is Gibraltar, and the General Staff believes that they may use aircraft carriers to set up an ambush midway... This is the only chance for the British to turn the tables!"
General Gunther Lütjens nodded and replied with a smile: "Your Excellency the Imperial Marshal, you know that our High Seas Fleet has formulated a complete penetration plan to ensure that the British aircraft carriers and shore-based aircraft will not cause too much damage to the fleet."