Chapter 1083 Seeing the Golden Comb Again
Less than 100 meters.
If it is daytime now, looking down from this height, the sea level is almost on the belly of the plane, and everything on the water can be seen at a glance. At night, even if the moonlight and stars are shining in the sky, the water surface is still pitch black, like a bottomless abyss, which can swallow everything falling from the sky at any time!
In fact, without sophisticated radio altimeters and airborne radars, it is impossible for a large twin-engine medium bomber like Ju188 to fly over the sea at an altitude of less than 100 meters at night. This is no different from suicide. As long as there is a slight mistake, the plane and the people will fall into the sea.
The reason why Colonel Peltz, who personally flew the plane to lead the attack, kept the flight altitude so low was not to show off his superb driving skills, but to avoid detection by the radar of American ships as much as possible to ensure the suddenness of the attack.
Colonel Peltz gently held the steering wheel with both hands, carefully controlling the plane to fly smoothly, while his navigator, Sergeant Wolfe Schmidt, stared at the PPI screen of the airborne radar, trying to find the location of the US fleet.
However, due to the low flight altitude, the airborne radar's field of view was not very good, and it could not see targets too far away, so Wolfe Schmidt did not find the location of the US fleet for a while.
Just when Sergeant Schmidt was feeling anxious, a red flash suddenly appeared in the darkness, and then about ten seconds later, about ten kilometers west of the initial red light, a more fiery red light appeared again, as if a volcanic eruption had suddenly occurred on the ground.
"Bombardment!" Colonel Peltz shouted excitedly, "At 12 o'clock, the Yankee fleet is bombarding the coast of Georgetown... We found them!"
"Colonel," navigator Wolf Schmidt also shouted at this time, "Radar found the target! At 2 o'clock, distance 40, number 8."
The ship detected by the radar was obviously not the ship that Peltz saw bombarding the coast. The latter was closer and in a different direction. In fact, the target detected by the radar was the target that Peltz's Ju188 needed to attack in the plan - the warning circle composed of destroyers and light cruisers.
However, Peltz ignored Schmidt, but pressed the throat communicator and gave orders to the whole team: "Attention everyone, I am Colonel Peltz, and I am giving orders now. The target is at 12 o'clock and is firing. It is about 50 kilometers away. All squadrons are preparing for the attack, and adopt the golden comb tactics. After the attack, immediately raise the altitude to more than 6,000 meters and hover over the enemy fleet!"
His choice is also understandable. The airborne search radar of this era is not very reliable and cannot be compared with the naked eye. So when the naked eye can find the target, no one will rely on radar.
At this time, less than 30 nautical miles away, more than a dozen "Fletcher" class destroyers of the 31.8th Destroyer Squadron of the US Navy are bombarding the city of Georgetown with their 127mm dual-purpose guns.
According to the intelligence held by the Americans, this dilapidated city on the Atlantic coast is almost undefended. The bombers that flew from Trinidad did not encounter any counterattacks from ground anti-aircraft guns. They dropped thousands of tons of bombs and incendiary bombs smoothly, turning the shantytowns where Indians and blacks lived into a sea of fire.
So Halsey did not arrange his nine super battleships to bombard Georgetown with 406mm main guns, but only ordered the 31.8th Destroyer Squadron, which had completed the minesweeping mission, to use 127mm dual-purpose anti-aircraft guns to clear the obstacles on the beach.
However, the 80 127mm guns of the 16 "Fletcher" class destroyers fired at the same time, and the scene was still very spectacular. Looking out from the bridge of the "William D. Porter" destroyer, there were constantly balls of fire rising from the beaches of Georgetown and the nearby urban areas. The effect of the shelling seemed to be very good.
The unlucky captain Walter on this destroyer was in a good mood now - when the shelling was completed, the main task of the "William D. Porter" destroyer in this landing operation was successfully completed.
Considering that this destroyer has always been unlucky, it is not easy to complete such a dangerous mission successfully without any mistakes.
Just when Captain Walter was about to thank God in his heart, his second mate almost screamed: "Enemy planes! Southwest! Distance is about 18,000, altitude is less than 100, and the number is unknown!"
"What? Altitude is less than 100? Are the Germans crazy or the radar broken? It's night now!" Captain Walter was shocked by the sudden situation. Before he had time to order verification, the flagship "Anthony" destroyer had already sent "all air defense" and "take S-shaped evasive route" light language... It seems that the radar of the "William D. Porter" destroyer did not malfunction this time.
The air defense alarm was immediately sounded, and the 127mm guns on the "William D. Porter" destroyer immediately stopped firing on the opposite shore and pointed the muzzles into the air. All 40mm guns and 20mm guns also completed the preparations for air shooting in the shortest time.
Just when everything seemed perfect, a high-power searchlight on the ship was suddenly turned on, and the eye-catching beam of light shot directly at the flagship "Anthony" located directly in front of the destroyer "William D. Porter".
"Damn it, who's looking for a searchlight? The German plane hasn't even entered the range yet!" As soon as Captain Walter yelled, the "rumbling" sound of the cannon sounded again, and at the same time, another searchlight shot out. A dazzling light.
Now the position of the US destroyer formation is completely exposed!
The German Ju188 bombers in the air immediately seized the opportunity, and the 36 aircraft were divided into two large formations of 18 aircraft. One of the formations formed an echelon and faced the indiscriminate anti-aircraft firepower. It launched 36 torpedoes from a distance of 2,000 meters from the right side of the US destroyer formation (each Ju188 can carry 2 torpedoes).
The other formation launched the same number of torpedoes at an angle of 90 degrees. This tactic, known as the "golden comb" by the Germans, can make it difficult for an attacked target to avoid torpedoes even after turning.
…
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
When several huge fireballs shot up on the sea in the distance, Admiral Halsey was standing on the exceptionally tall bridge of the USS Iowa, overlooking the bombardment of downtown Georgetown. While he was in a daze, the staff officer's report sounded.
"Admiral, the 31.8th Destroyer Group reported the discovery of an enemy aircraft flying at ultra-low altitude!"
"What?" Halsey was shocked when he heard this, "Flying at ultra-low altitude at night? Could it be that the explosion just now was caused by a torpedo plane attacking? Was it a golden comb tactic?"
Although Halsey himself had never seen the German "Golden Comb Tactics", he had heard of its reputation - when the "Golden Comb" was raging across the Atlantic, he was commanding an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Fleet to deal with the Japanese. Although the Japanese naval aviation is also powerful, playing with this kind of "black technology" is not their style.
The staff officer reported again: "Admiral, the flagships of the 31.8th Destroyer Group, the USS Anthony and the USS William D. Porter, were hit by two torpedoes each. The two destroyers are about to sink! The USS Bennion and the USS Bill were also hit by two torpedoes each. A torpedo..."
"Damn German!" Halsey cursed fiercely for a while, then immediately reacted and loudly ordered: "Each ship strengthens air search to prevent enemy planes from using ultra-low altitude raids!"
As soon as his order was given, dozens or hundreds of searchlights shot out from the sea almost at the same time, and then the 127mm high-level and flat dual-purpose cannon opened fire rumble.
It turned out that the 34 Ju188s that had just fired torpedoes (one was shot down and one was damaged) did not fly away immediately. Instead, they raised their altitude according to the plan and at the same time dispersed into 3-plane formations (10 3-plane formations). , two two-plane formations), circling over the U.S. fleet, pretending to continue launching air strikes.
As a result, the radars of many American destroyers and cruisers on the water discovered that enemy planes were approaching. They blindly turned on searchlights and fired randomly, completely exposing themselves, and most of the American sailors focused their attention on the air.
"Two-boat formation, direction 11 o'clock, move forward at full speed!" Colonel Johnson had already chosen the target at this time. The torpedo boats he commanded did not fly between the warning circle of the US destroyer/light cruiser and the coastline like the aircraft. He got in through the gap and rushed directly towards eight escort destroyers of more than 1,000 tons.
The main function of the escort destroyer is anti-submarine, and its air defense and anti-ship firepower is relatively weak. Generally, it consists of two 127mm high-level and flat dual-purpose guns, one 40mm gun and five 20mm machine guns.
However, for the S100 boat that can launch T1-type 533mm torpedoes at a distance of 6,000 meters, only two 127mm guns on an escort destroyer are threatening. Such firepower is difficult to sink a torpedo speeding at 42 knots. Speed boat. Moreover, the attention of these eight escort destroyers and the other two nearby escort destroyers were attracted by several Ju188s hovering in the sky, and all their 127mm guns were firing in the air.
Once these eight escort destroyers performing anti-submarine warning missions around the Grand Fleet are sunk or severely damaged, a gap will appear in the U.S. Grand Fleet's warning circle, and the six Type 21 submarines underwater will have the opportunity to break through.