Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 36: Torpedo
"Captain, we have reached the marking point."
Lieutenant Catherine, the deputy captain, recorded the current position on the chart and reported it loudly to Giselle.
"Very good, ready to turn, heading 240, maintain the current depth and speed. We will be able to leave the current patrol area in half an hour, and hope that we won’t have to spend so long before entering the French waters. "Gisell replied while sitting leisurely on his captain's seat with a cup of coffee.
"Yes, captain. Ready to turn, heading 240." Catherine repeated Gisell's command aloud: "Start turning in five seconds, 5.4.3.2.1, turn... ... Report to the captain, the steering is completed. Now heading to 240."
"Very good."
Giselle was very satisfied with the training of his opponent, and then he picked up the in-cabin phone hung on the reinforced support beam of the command cabin and then moved the lever to the listening room.
"Corporal Wolfgen, I am the captain, report the current situation. Are they still following?"
"They were still following, on both sides of the stern, less than 1,500 meters apart, the sound of the propellers was clear and loud. U38 and U43 did not fall behind, sir."
"Very well, continue to monitor. Any abnormality must be reported to the command cabin immediately."
"Yes, sir."
Giselle put down the phone with satisfaction. He turned his head and said to Catherine: "We have now entered the sea where enemy ships are very active. I hope that we will not encounter any trouble. Now any mistakes we make may be To bring irreparable losses to Germany, in any case, Marshal Reinhardt must be safely sent to France."
"I understand, Captain. We all understand this, don't worry." Catherine replied solemnly.
"Very good." Giselle smiled and nodded.
"Report the captain."
U37's deputy chief of navigator, Lieutenant Turk, hurriedly got into the command module, and before he got up straight, he hurriedly reported loudly: "Your Excellency the Marshal wants you to go over and see him if it is convenient now. "
Gisele frowned when he saw Turk panic, but when he heard that it was the marshal who wanted to see him, he couldn’t bother to blame his subordinates for the abnormal reaction, Gisele Er quickly asked Turk: "Where is the marshal now."
"In the first torpedo bay."
"Okay, I'll go over right away." Gisell turned around and said to Catherine: "Catherine, I'll leave it to you now. If you have any questions, please notify me immediately."
"Don't worry, Captain."
Giselle looked around for a while, then swiftly got out of the command cabin and walked quickly towards the first torpedo cabin. Turk quickly followed.
"Turk, why did the marshal go to the first torpedo bay, isn't he chatting with you?"
Before the two commandos passed through the command module and went back to bed, they reported to Gisell that the marshal was awake and walking in the boat, and then another sailor came to report that the marshal was in the rest area and some officers Chatting, now that the marshal got into the torpedo cabin again, Giselle really couldn't figure out what the lord was thinking.
"We were chatting, but after we accidentally talked about the failed attacks, the marshal suddenly wanted to go to the torpedo bay and we didn’t dare to stop him. Now the gunner He and Shui Lei are accompanying him."
"Failed attacks? You mean those attacks during our last cruise."
"Yes, captain. The marshal said he may know the reason for the failure of the torpedo."
"What, the marshal really said that." Gisele's footsteps stalled.
"Yes, he said so."
"Oh." Gisell groaned slightly, then speeded up his pace and walked towards the first torpedo bay.
Now the corridor of the front cabin is full of sailors and low-ranking officers, they are curiously looking into the torpedo cabin while they whispered to each other. When they saw the captain walking quickly, these people hurriedly stood at the wall and made way for Gisell.
When Giselle got into the first torpedo bay, the first thing I saw was a T3 placed on the torpedo loading and unloading rack in the middle of the torpedo bay. Now this 533mm caliber weighs 1,500 kilograms. It has been disassembled, and under the removed inspection ports, the parts inside the torpedo coated with lubricating anti-rust oil gleamed with dark golden light under the bright light in the cabin.
"Your Excellency Marshal. You came to me just to show me this." Gisele walked to the side of the torpedo and carefully watched Xu Jun's work, and asked respectfully: "My Marshal, have you really discovered the reason why our torpedoes often fail?"
"I'll talk to you later, wait a while, there will be results soon."
Xu Jun turned his head and glanced at Gisell first, then turned his attention back to the current job of the torpedo commander Lieutenant Sutton.
Sutton, the mine chief of U37, was using a screwdriver to disassemble the panel on the torpedo balance hatch inspection port. When the small steel plate was removed, a small air hole was exposed. Sutton quickly removed a pressure gauge from the tool rack on the side, and then carefully inserted the air hole.
"What is Sutton doing to measure the pressure in the balance cabin? This will not help. The air pressure in the balance cabin has been tested on land without any problems." Giselle felt that the marshal was an army officer. , I still don’t seem to be familiar with torpedo weapons.
"Don't worry, my captain, keep your patience, the result will be announced soon." Xu Jun smiled and said to Gisell.
"Ah? How could this happen!" Sutton exclaimed, watching the pressure gauge reading carefully.
"What's the matter?" Giselle hurriedly leaned over.
"Captain, it seems that the Marshal's guess is correct. Look at this reading. The pressure in this **** balance chamber is now the same as the pressure in our boat."
"What, there is such a thing. It's impossible." Giselle carefully looked at the reading on the pressure gauge, then turned his head to look at the pressure gauge on the wall of the boat. He was surprised by what was in front of him. shocked.
"The depth of the torpedo is completely determined by the air pressure in the balance cabin. We all set the torpedo's diving depth based on the pressure in the balance cabin to maintain an atmospheric pressure. But now the pressure of this torpedo and the inside of the boat The same, which means that if we still set the depth for this torpedo as written in the operating manual, its actual depth will be much deeper than the depth we set, maybe a difference of three to five meters, or even There will be more." Sutton said with a frown.
"That means we can't hit the target with this torpedo." Giselle suddenly realized: "The torpedoes we shot weren't invalid, but all got through the enemy's bottom. "
"It is very likely that this is the case. It seems that we are shooting at the bottom of the sea." Sutton sighed, shaking his head.
"Could it be that you made a mistake in the detection, for example, the balance chamber was accidentally opened and sealed." Giselle felt scared when he thought that his torpedo might have this problem, which means this time I will not have a useful weapon to protect myself during the voyage.
"There is absolutely no problem. I strictly followed the inspection procedures on land." Sutton replied decisively.
"Gentlemen, let me say a few words." Xu Jun interjected lightly on the side.
Only then did the two naval officers realize the existence of the marshal. At this time they remembered that the problem was discovered by the marshal’s proposal. They now hope to continue to create miracles from him. When the soldiers got the correct answer, Giselle and Sutton quickly stopped discussing them. They held their breath and looked at Xu Jun, waiting for him to express his opinion.
"We now know that there is a problem with the balance cabin of this torpedo. Have you ever thought about why this happened." Before the two people answered Xu Jun, he continued: "This situation There can only be one reason for the occurrence of the balance chamber, which is that the balance cabin has lost its seal. I think it is more likely that it has never been sealed. This can explain why German torpedoes often fail in actual combat during this period. The failure of the torpedo in the previous battle often occurred after you submerged for a long time. At that time, the pressure inside the submarine would increase a lot, and due to the unsealed balance chamber, the pressure in the torpedo also followed the inside of the submarine. As a result, as Lieutenant Sutton said, all our torpedoes were shot towards the bottom of the sea. And those torpedoes launched from the surface state can reliably hit the target because the air pressure is the same as that of the outside world. Including those with short submarine time. Or floated and ventilated, their torpedoes were kept in an effective state because the pressure in the boat was normal. This is why sometimes the torpedoes are not malfunctioning but sometimes they all fail."
"It seems that you are right, my marshal. You are really an apostle of God." Gisele stood up and respectfully saluted Xu Jun.
"I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the members of the German submarine force."
"Ah, don’t do this, I just heard your subordinates talk about this, and the thoughts that popped up in my mind, I think the problem may be the torpedo’s fixed depth, so I did it on my own accord. This test. To say thanks, I have to thank those officers for mentioning this matter to me." Xu Jun felt a little embarrassed after hearing Giselle’s thanks. The German torpedo problem was actually a long time ago. I have learned from the data that now I am obviously plagiarizing the work of those German scientists. I put this credit on myself, even if Xu Jun's face is tough, he will feel hot.
"Please don't say that, my marshal, if it weren't for you, I really don't know how long our submarine will fight with this unreliable weapon. You know the efficiency of the Naval Ordnance Bureau." Giselle Speaking excitedly.
"Haha, let's not talk about it. This is a reward for me to take care of us army officers. Okay, now that we have found the problem, we can come up with countermeasures. This kind of The weapon is still usable at least. Lieutenant Sutton, you can reassemble it now."
Xu Jun wanted to change the subject, but Giselle was obviously unwilling to do so. He no longer knew how to express his feelings. Xu Jun’s discovery has saved a large number of submarine captains, including him, their reputations. Now they can finally prove that the failed attacks were not due to their personal technology problems, but because the **** torpedoes simply didn’t care. Use the result.
"My marshal, I think your reward is too precious. You must know that you have restored half of the honor of the navy submarine captain. You have regained their confidence and opened the way for them. There are several excellent submarine captains who have doubted themselves because of several failed attacks. Your discovery saved them. To be precise, you also saved the lives of countless submarine soldiers. No one will be because of one in the future. The faulty torpedo lost their lives. This kind of thing has happened many times. Several submarines were attacked because the torpedo not only missed the enemy ship but also exposed their position. I believe that when you know this You will be happy after the question. My marshal." Gisele couldn't hide his joy.
"Haha, my captain, I said this was just my inspiration for a while. I didn't do much for you, don't say it anymore." Xu Jun smiled and said, "Now we know it. The problem is, but we can’t solve it right away. We have to continue to use it before we improve the torpedo. So I think we have to figure out a way to use it effectively. After all, it’s a fixed depth. The question is, I think it is enough to reduce the depth setting after testing the pressure in the cabin. The magnetic fuze seems to be unreliable, and if there is no accurate depth setting, it has no effect. I think Simply turn them off, and wait until a more reliable product is finalized. What do you think? When we surface, you can tell the other two submarines to do so."
"Oh, my marshal, everything will be executed according to your will." Gisell replied respectfully: "Please leave here and rest in the officer's room. The air here is too turbid, and it is greasy and greasy. Miscellaneous. This... is really..."
"Oh, this way, okay, then I'll go to the officer's room and sit for a while, can you let someone prepare something for me? I'm a little hungry." Xu Jun walked out of the cabin while facing Ji Searle said.
"Yes, my marshal, I will make arrangements right away."
At this moment, the intercom on the torpedo bulkhead suddenly screamed. Giselle quickly picked up the receiver and said: "Torpedo cabin, I am the captain, what's the matter. What, are you sure? How many... I'll be here soon."
Gissel's face became more and more ugly as the report on the phone, and for the first time a nervous look appeared on the face of this excellent submarine captain. Xu Jun stopped and looked at the captain. From the tone and expression of Giselle, he noticed a hint of anxiety. Something must have happened, and it must be very, very troublesome.
"What happened, Captain." Xu Jun looked at Gisell, who looked worried.
"It’s still not certain, my marshal. Let’s go to the command cabin first, and I can get a detailed report there. If we are not mistaken, we are really in a lot of trouble now. Marshal, please Come with me." After talking, Giselle hurriedly walked to the command cabin.
The soldiers and officers around the door also felt something happened from the captain's expression~IndoMTL.com~ They all stood quietly on both sides of the aisle to make way. When the captain passed, they also walked to their respective posts automatically. If there is a fight, those positions will be very manpower required. Suddenly, with a few sharp combat sirens, the lights in the submarine were suddenly switched to red combat lights. The crew became excited at once, and all of them stood in their respective combat positions, staring firmly at the speakers in their respective cabins. They were waiting for the captain to give them instructions, and they also wanted to know what kind of enemy they had encountered again.
The entire submarine was shrouded in an extremely solemn pre-combat depressive atmosphere in an instant, and the hot murderous aura spread to every corner of U37 along with the breathing of the crew.
The crew believes that as long as they obey the command of Captain Gisele, no matter what the difficulty is, they can get through easily. What's more, there is still a German military **** on the boat, the apostle of God, under the protection of this miracle creator, maybe he can make any legendary feats. So none of these sailors felt nervous or scared. On the contrary, they were still looking forward to the next battle. They all had a foreboding that it would be a fierce battle, and it would be a wonderful battle, more likely. It is a battle that will never forget one's life and allow one to tell others a lifetime.
On the early morning of June 26, 1940, a cruel fierce battle is about to begin in the open waters 80 nautical miles from the Norwegian coastline. A group of elite German sailors are eager to prove their bravery with blood and fire at a depth of 30 meters. They want to extract their medals and glory from the blood of the enemy.