Chapter 558 Sunset 2

March 26, 1942, morning, 4:30.

The "Zeppelin" aircraft carrier has begun to gallop against the wind. On the flight deck of this aircraft carrier with a standard displacement of up to 30,000 tons, 36 Fokker Zero fighter jets have been arranged neatly, and the 36 three-blade propellers are rotating rapidly, making a buzzing sound. There was a lot of noise, and just waiting for the flight controller to wave the flag, it was about to fly into the sky.

Around the "Zeppelin" aircraft carrier, the "Strasse" aircraft carrier, the "European" aircraft carrier, the "Bremen" aircraft carrier and the "Potsdam" aircraft carrier are all galloping against the wind like the "Zeppelin". This is the preparation before the aircraft carrier releases the carrier-based aircraft, as the deck wind begins to howl.

On the "Zeppelin", the Fokker Zero aircraft flown by Captain Walter Nowotny, the squadron leader of the 6th Squadron of the 4th Group of the 3rd Carrier Aviation Regiment of the German Navy, was at the take-off assembly point. He will be the first to fly today. A pilot who takes his plane into the air to fight enemy aircraft.

In the past few months, while his good friend Hersman Jr. was fighting side by side on the Pacific battlefield with a group of Japanese pilots who took to the sky without parachutes but with machetes, Walter Novotny had been fighting hard On the front line against the British, he increased his number of kills to 38.

This number placed him among the most decorated German ace pilots. Unlike most ace pilots who leave the front line after scoring 25 kills, Captain Walter Novotny is still fighting on the front line so far, and has even been transferred to the "Zeppelin", one of Germany's two most valuable aircraft carriers. , served as the squadron leader of the "Air Superiority Squadron" with heavy responsibilities.

During these days of fighting on the front line, Novotny began to feel that the Fokker Zero aircraft he was piloting was becoming more and more powerless. Facing the newly upgraded version of the Spitfire (equipped with a Merlin 60 engine) and the P51 with superior low-altitude performance, even after two upgrades, the performance advantage of the Fokker Zero has been lost.

If the performance of the Fw-190 were not still sharp (compared with the Fokker Zero, the Fw-190 has a lot of room for upgrades and can continuously introduce improved versions with superior performance), it would be difficult for Germany to maintain its air superiority.

However, the Fw-190 carrier-based version, jointly managed by Fokker and Fokker-Wulf, is still undergoing test flights (the Fw-190 requires major modifications to the aerodynamic shape to be put on the ship), so Nowotny Now we can only continue to rely on the Fokker Zero, which is no longer superior in performance, to fight against the superior P51 and Spitfire fighters.

Since the afternoon before yesterday, Nowotny and his comrades had been preparing to attack the invading British aircraft. But until yesterday evening, there was no movement from the British. Just when everyone thought that the British would ignore the German High Seas Fleet, early this morning, an SP-class reconnaissance cruiser wandering in the waters south of the Faroe Islands sent an urgent message, reporting that its radar had detected a large number of intruders. enemy aircraft.

"Squadron 6, attack!"

Novotny did not wait too long. When the flight controller's order sounded in the headset, the takeoff controller on the deck suddenly waved his arm, the flight command flag fell heavily, and the plane piloted by Novotny took the lead in rushing out of the deck. .

Then one Fokker Zero after another rose into the sky!

…

"When will the Fw-190 arrive?"

In the bridge of the aircraft carrier "Zeppelin", Lieutenant General Helmut Heyer took his eyes back from the Fokker Zero that was taking off, and asked the aviation staff officer behind him, Johannes Steinhoff, somewhat anxiously Lieutenant Colonel.

"It will take about 40 minutes," Lieutenant Colonel Johannes Steinhoff replied. "All 48 Fw-190s from 3 squadrons took off 45 minutes ago. In addition, 48 high-altitude Fokker Zeros from 3 squadrons all took off 15 minutes ago. They will escort 108 P.108s and Amio 357 is coming to the Faroe Islands...it will arrive in about 55 minutes. There will be a fierce battle by then!"

"Where is the British? When will they arrive?"

"In about 15 minutes."

"Is there any problem?" Lieutenant General Helmut Haye asked worriedly.

"No problem," Lieutenant Colonel Johannes Steinhoff said, "Lieutenant Admiral, Zeppelin and Strasser each sent 24 Fokker Zeros, and Bremen, Europa and Potsdam each sent 24 Fokker Zeros. 16 Fokker Zeros were dispatched, a total of 96 Fokker Zeros took to the sky, and there were 48 more Fokker Zeros on standby on the deck... With so many aircraft, are you afraid that they won’t be able to hold on for 25 minutes?”

Currently, the two 30,000-ton fleet aircraft carriers Zeppelin and Strasser each have 72 commonly used aircraft, of which 36 are Fokker Zero and 36 are Fokker 100. Bremen and Europa each have 60 commonly used aircraft, including 24 Fokker Zeros and 36 Fokker 100s. There are 48 commonly used aircraft on the Potsdam aircraft carrier, 24 each of Fokker Zero and Fokker 100.

As at the beginning of the war, there were still no carrier-based torpedo bombers among the carrier-based aircraft of the German naval aviation.

In addition, the Fokker 100 carrier-based dive bomber was improved from the Japanese "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber, and the DB601E liquid-cooled engine was changed to a more powerful BMW801D-2 engine.

Since this engine has a jet-assisted MW50 system, the maximum speed of the Fokker 100 carrier-based dive bomber can exceed 660 kilometers (can only be maintained for 10 minutes), even faster than the Fokker Zero. In theory, it can attack without escort, relying entirely on speed to penetrate and escape from the battle.

"Put all the Fokker 100s on the deck!" Lieutenant General Helmut Heyer saw the Fokker Zeros rise into the sky one after another, and then issued another order.

"All?" Lieutenant Colonel Johannes Steinhoff was stunned.

"Yes!" Vice Admiral Helmut Heyer nodded, "All 168! In addition, each aircraft carrier will send out 3 Fokker 100s to search the F3, F4 and F5 waters."

"Vice Admiral, do you want to search for the British aircraft carriers?"

"Yes!" Helmut Heyer said, "The British are likely to launch an all-out attack! We must find their aircraft carriers as soon as possible and then launch a counterattack!"

"Now set up the No. 2 anti-aircraft formation!"

On the battleship "Hindenburg", General Gunther Lütjens was also giving orders: "Hindenburg and Zeppelin in one group, Ludendorff and Strasser in one group, Barbarossa and Europa in one group, Schlieffen and Bremen in one group, Admiral Scheer and Potsdam in one group."

The so-called "No. 2 anti-aircraft formation" is actually to place a battleship/heavy cruiser/armored ship and an aircraft carrier together in the center of a circular anti-aircraft formation, but the primary target to be protected by the anti-aircraft formation is the aircraft carrier. In other words, large surface ships such as battleships, heavy cruisers and armored ships were used as human shields for aircraft carriers.

After the Scapa Flow air raid, Germany's large surface ships generally improved their anti-aircraft firepower and installed a large number of Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns, making them very good anti-aircraft firepower platforms.

...

Almost at the same time when the five German aircraft carriers launched their carrier-based aircraft, four British Illustrious-class aircraft carriers were also sailing at full speed against the wind in the Atlantic Ocean about 600 kilometers west of the Faroe Islands.

"Commander, do you really want to launch carrier-based aircraft?"

On the bridge of the King George V-class battleship not far from the four aircraft carriers, Vice Admiral Lister asked Cunningham, the commander of the Home Fleet.

"Of course!" Cunningham nodded in response.

"But we are 600 kilometers away from the Faroe Islands, and at least 650 kilometers away from the German aircraft carrier... This is too far."

The maximum range of the F4F currently equipped by the Royal Navy is less than 1,300 kilometers; the maximum range of the SBD is relatively large, at 2,200 kilometers; and the TBD torpedo bomber has the shortest range, and can only fly more than 700 kilometers when carrying torpedoes. Therefore, the attack distance of about 650 kilometers is indeed too far for the F4F and TBD.

"It doesn't matter," Cunningham waved his hand, "TBD doesn't need to be dispatched, F4F and SBD will just fly one way... After dropping the bombs, they will land in the Shetland Islands. This way we are safer, and after releasing the carrier-based aircraft, we will go to the Atlantic Ocean northwest of Ireland to wait. Wait for those carrier-based aircraft to refuel in the Shetland Islands before flying back."

Cunningham did not sleep all night, and finally figured out a method that seemed very safe. Let the aircraft carrier get a little closer to the Faroe Islands, and slip away immediately after releasing the aircraft. After completing the air raid mission, those carrier-based aircraft will fly back to the aircraft carrier. In this way, if today's air raid fails to sink the German aircraft carrier, but instead causes the Germans to consume a lot of P51 deployed in northern Scotland, then Cunningham can use the aircraft carrier to set up an ambush again in the North Atlantic. Give a fatal blow when the German fleet breaks through the Danish Strait!

Cunningham's plan is very good, but the pilots who implement the plan are not the elites at the beginning of the World War. In order to shorten the training time, some "not very necessary" training subjects were cancelled, so they were not trained to take off and land at night on aircraft carriers.

So Cunningham had no way to send out carrier-based aircraft before dawn. In this way, while the four Illustrious aircraft carriers sent out carrier-based aircraft, a large fleet consisting of 96 P51s, 66 Beaufort torpedo bombers, 65 Boston attack aircraft (A-20) and 21 Mosquito reconnaissance bombers had already approached the main force of the German High Seas Fleet. Therefore, the carrier-based aircraft dispatched by the aircraft carrier and the shore-based aircraft of the coastal aviation team will not be able to carry out coordinated operations, but will arrive one after another, becoming a refueling tactic.