What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 265 Tom Cat!

"Oh god"

"Long live!"

The mysterious smoke that accompanied the Gresenau finally dissipated, revealing its tragic true state.

The USS New Jersey, USS Clarkling, and USS Sofia fired 18 Harpoons, 5 of which hit, and then withstood more than a dozen 406mm shells. The USS Glaisenau received a total of more than 9 damage, far exceeding its own survival health of 5.

If it weren't for the miraculous damage control efforts that saved the Gleisenau, it would have long since become scrap metal at the bottom of the sea.

After a grueling battle that resulted in the loss of three battleships, she became the first battleship lost by the Second Fleet. After the most devastating explosion, her stern rose high and she began to sink at an alarming speed.

The smoke from the explosions of hundreds of shells lingered for a long time, almost filling half the sky.

The crew of the USS New Jersey instantly recovered from their crushing defeat and cheered for their hard-won victory.

Dalton looked excitedly at the sunken Gresenau, thinking that if the battle hadn't been so intense, he would have sent men to salvage these tenacious adversaries.

However, as the Gresenau sank, he was surprised to find that not a single sailor jumped overboard or escaped in a lifeboat.

I searched carefully through the binoculars, but there really wasn't anything there!

He understood that the commander went down with the ship, but at least a thousand others did too…

Just then, a servant ran to his ear and read out the message he had just received.

"What?! The Dubreu has surrendered?!"

Although they knew that the Dubre was at a disadvantage against the Tirpitz formation, they thought that even if they couldn't win, they could at least run away.
Not only did they surrender, but they also announced it publicly, so the whole world knows now!

The outside world may not yet know about the fierce battle fought by the Atlantic Fleet, but that doesn't mean they won't speculate:

The Dubrev surrendered immediately, so does that mean the Atlantic Fleet failed to hold out, or at least failed to take control of the Second Fleet in the first place?

"Shit!"

Dalton, who was slightly pleased with the sinking of the Gresenau, felt a disgusting sensation, as if he had swallowed a fly. He scoffed:

"Wouldn't those two Flower Moon Blades also refuse to fire because their allies surrendered?"

However, he didn't care much about the support from the Flower Moon-class ships. The sinking of the Gresenau boosted the morale of the New Jersey, which was now turning its bow outward toward the Bismarck to avoid being killed in one shot like the Wisconsin.

At this moment, the USS Iowa was frantically dealing with the attack of two battleships, and the USS New Jersey immediately joined the battle, opening fire on the Bismarck.

"Quickly, aim at turret number 3!"

Under the command of the ship girls, the Scharnhorst continuously fired armor-piercing shells at the Iowa.

To prevent its main armor belt from being penetrated at close range, the USS Iowa remained facing each other at the stern, not daring to expose its sides.

The Gresenau launched its final torpedo, which would take about 6 minutes to arrive, and the effectiveness of the hit was uncertain.

Now, the Second Fleet only hopes that the Scharnhorst can move forward at high speed and crash head-on into the Iowa.

To achieve this goal, the Bismarck turned to attract the attention of the New Jersey.

The M-series 406mm MK7 armor-piercing shell has a very high penetration depth, historically comparable to the Yamato's 460mm gun, so Bismarck wouldn't dare gamble with its side armor.

The closer distance makes it difficult for the USS Iowa to utilize its heavy armor advantage; now both sides are essentially "glass cannons," capable of penetrating each other.

The New Jersey's attention was entirely focused on the Bismarck, maneuvering its two remaining main guns to attack with all its might. The No. 3 turret had already begun firing high-explosive shells, attempting to conserve its remaining armor-piercing ammunition for more critical moments.

But at that moment, the sailor on the starboard side glanced casually at the sea and then shivered violently.

"torpedo!"

When he spotted them, the three torpedoes were less than 1.5 kilometers away, and they would have arrived in just 30 seconds at a speed of 67 knots.

When the information reached Dalton, he could only order the entire ship to prepare for a response; there was no time to change course. Three torpedoes flew in, leaving white trails, and were upon them in the blink of an eye.

The sailors on board began to pray silently that the torpedo either passed through or that its fuse malfunctioned.

The torpedo technology of World War II was not very reliable; there were many cases of fuse failure, incorrect depth setting, torpedoes passing under the ship's hull, and torpedoes suddenly veering off course.

"Missing the target, missing the target..."

"Hit! Hit! Hit!"

Tang Wen shifted his gaze to the torpedo, and couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed as the distance closed.

In reality, 5 kilometers is not a short distance, and because the USS New Jersey cut outwards in advance, its course has already changed considerably.

The Gresenau had taken this into account and used a fan-shaped launcher, but the hit rate was not very good after the launcher spread out for five kilometers.

Of the three torpedoes, only the middle one was still aimed at the waterline; the other two were off-target by at least several hundred meters.

The torpedo struck the thickest midship section of the USS New Jersey, detonating upon impact with the torpedo bulge and nearly destroying it completely.

The expanding water pressure impacted the protected hull, forcing it to dent and then tearing a gap in it.

【-twenty four】

[43570/83500]

The torpedo inflicted less than half the damage, causing water to enter the midsection of the USS New Jersey, but did not cause any further damage.

The Dalton in the bridge didn't take off; it just stumbled, and then a well-prepared damage control team rushed into the sealed compartment.

This was not the insane 610mm oxygen torpedoes of the R-series, but just ordinary GA7 torpedoes. Although the USS New Jersey was damaged, thanks to the concerted efforts of the damage control team, the flooding was immediately brought under control, and the cracks were repaired before it became necessary to seal the hatches.

Although the superstructure was almost completely destroyed, the hull of the USS New Jersey remained intact and resumed firing within a minute of being attacked.

At that very moment, the radios on the USS New Jersey and USS Iowa heard a sound from the sky:

"This is 147th Squadron, Fifth Carrier Air Wing. If anyone hears this, please assist us in identifying the target. Over."

More than 8 kilometers away, eight F-14 Tomcat fighter jets folded their wings and sped toward the battlefield at supersonic speed.

All the aircraft were painted in two colors and brazenly used their AWG-9 radar to search for targets at sea.

However, due to the distance and the interference of smoke, they were still unable to completely determine the identities of both parties.

However, Dalton couldn't understand why the think tank initially called for the B1B because the USS George was not equipped with anti-ship missiles.

但是，飞行员很快解答了他的疑问：有5架F14各自挂载了4枚GBU-16激光制导炸弹，另外三架搭载的是很新锐的GBU-31。

其中，GBU-16搭载的是1000（454公斤）磅通用弹头，GBU-31是更加凶厉的2000磅（908公斤）弹头，属于对地打击武器。

These two munitions are very famous. The GBU-16 belongs to the "Paveway" series, while the GBU-31 is part of the "JDAM" program and was used for decades.

Considering that the target this time is a heavily armored battleship, it was specially equipped with armor-piercing warheads designed to deal with fortresses.

When launched from the sky as a top attack, its power is far greater than that of a 406mm artillery shell.

With triple guidance from satellite GPS, inertial navigation, and laser, it boasts extremely high accuracy. Its only drawback is its range of only 20 kilometers and the need for continuous illumination.

But the recent battle has proven that the Second Fleet's air defenses are practically useless, allowing for bold and precise guidance.

20 kilometers is nothing to the Tomcat; it had already begun to extend its wings to slow down and, under the guidance of the New Jersey, allocated targets.

The two warships that had just given Dalton a heart-pounding fright were nothing more than skeletons in the eyes of the Tomcat pilots, not even enough to go around in the spoils!

At the same time, Tang Wen was also awakened by the prompt and looked up at the sky.

(End of this chapter)