Chapter 708 Red Navy Atlantic Fleet

Little Hessman carefully controlled his all-purpose plane that could do everything but could do nothing well to land on the deck of the Seydlitz - the landing performance of the Fw-190T was one of the shortcomings that made Little Hessman most dissatisfied.

Because the nose of the Fw-190T was too long, the vision during landing was poor, and the landing speed was too fast, which might cause the tail hook to not hook the arresting cable, so that the aircraft might hit the aircraft arranged on the front deck and cause a serious accident. This shortcoming almost ruined the Fw-190T, but fortunately this problem was solved by Little Hessman's father.

Of course, he did not use the power of the Minister of Defense to force the Navy to accept the Fw-190T with poor landing performance, but "invented" the canvas arresting fence (the arresting fence has long existed, but it is a steel cable, which is very dangerous to both the aircraft and the pilot) and the canvas arresting net. Although the use of this kind of canvas arresting fence and arresting net is very troublesome (it is disposable and needs to be replaced after each arrest), and it is not 100% safe, it basically solves the problem of whether the Fw-190T can get on the aircraft carrier.

Just as the little Hessman's plane landed on the deck, more than 100 meters in front of him, the arresting fence and large net that looked like a wooden fence had been erected. If his plane's tail hook could not hook the arresting cable, the arresting fence and large net would save his life, but the plane might still be damaged.

Fortunately, the little Hessman was an experienced carrier-based aircraft pilot, so he stopped the plane steadily on the deck without the help of the arresting fence and large net.

Itaya Shigeru was already on the deck at this time. When he saw the little Hessman's plane landed steadily, he ran over quickly and shouted to the little Hessman who was climbing out of the cabin: "The landing is perfect, you can even go to drive the Comet 22."

Because the Comet 22 is equipped with a liquid-cooled engine, the landing speed is also extremely fast, and many Japanese pilots have been killed during its use. So not long ago, this model was replaced by the Comet 32 ​​(actually the Fokker 100) with an air-cooled engine.

"Isn't I flying a Comet now?" Little Hessman smiled bitterly and shook his head, "The Fw-190T is a hard life. Not only does it have to fight in air battles, but it also has to carry a 250-kilogram bomb for dive bombing. Do you know? The latest Seydlitz fleet has cancelled the Fokker 100 and Fokker Zero, and is only equipped with the Fw-190T. How about it? It's a good deal, right? Itaya, do you want to introduce the Fw-190T?"

This kind of fighter formation was actually forced by the Japanese, because Tojo Hideki did not allow Germany to send too many ships to cut off the Soviet Union's Pacific lifeline. So the German Navy could only try every means to increase the attack power of the Seydlitz against transport ships.

The first thing is of course to load more aircraft. The Seydlitz is a 15,000-ton small and medium-sized fleet aircraft carrier with limited hangar capacity. The standard fleet formation in the Atlantic Ocean was only 36 carrier-based aircraft.

However, the situation could be improved in the Pacific Ocean where the wind and waves were smaller. Now the Seydlitz has adopted the hangar top hoisting method to increase the storage capacity, so that the maximum storage capacity of the hangar has reached 42 aircraft (usually only 40 aircraft). At the same time, the deck mooring method was adopted to tie 18-20 Fw-190Ts to the deck.

Therefore, the number of carrier-based aircraft of the Seydlitz in the Pacific Ocean can reach 58-62 (currently 62), of which 56 are commonly used aircraft, divided into 4 squadrons, 16 aircraft in Squadron 1 and Squadron 2, and 12 aircraft in Squadron 3 and Squadron 4.

The second is to select fighter-bombers with anti-ship attack capabilities as carrier-based aircraft. Therefore, the 62 carrier-based aircraft (of which 56 are commonly used) are all Fw-190Ts, which can fight against ships with bombs and can fight in the air with bombs dropped.

Therefore, 56 common aircraft are equivalent to 56 carrier-based bombers. Although the Fw-190T, which can only carry one 250 kg bomb, has insufficient anti-ship capability, it is enough to deal with American ships flying the Soviet red flag, and even if it encounters the Soviet Pacific Fleet, it can still be dealt with!

As for the US fleet in the Pacific, the Japanese occupied the Hawaiian Islands and the Aleutian Islands (occupied by Japan in the summer of 1942), and they can't reach the North Pacific route at all.

In addition, the Seydlitz is not the only carrier in the European Eastern Fleet. Although Tojo Hideki only allowed Germany to send one aircraft carrier to the Pacific, the German Navy still took advantage of the loophole and sent the latest model of seaplane carrier Stuttgart (also known as D aircraft carrier).

This is a large seaplane carrier that was modified from the hull of the C aircraft carrier with reference to the Japanese "Mizuho" seaplane carrier. This large seaplane carrier carries He-115 torpedo bombers/reconnaissance aircraft, a total of 15 (including 3 spares).

According to the German Navy's plan, the He-115 seaplanes on the Stuttgart seaplane carrier were not only the eyes and ears of the fleet (because the Fw-190Ts deployed this time were all single-seat aircraft, so it was difficult to perform reconnaissance missions), but also had a very strong attack capability. If they encountered a single unescorted American ship (flying the Soviet flag), they would not need to call the Fw-190Ts at all, as they could use torpedoes to eliminate it.

The news that the Germans were going to send the Eastern Fleet to the Pacific Ocean to rob was definitely not hidden from Comrade Stalin. Because the Japanese did not want to hide it at all, the Eastern Fleet had not yet set out from Alexandria, Egypt, and the Soviet Supreme Command was discussing countermeasures.

At the meeting, Stalin asked the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy: "Comrade Kuznetsov, can the Pacific Fleet deal with the German Eastern Fleet?"

"Yes!" Kuznetsov replied, "The Pacific Fleet has three modernized battleships, including the Marat, the August Revolution and the Paris Commune, and the 15,000-ton aircraft carrier Karl Marx, which is very powerful."

Mara, the August Revolution and the Paris Commune are the Gangut-class battleships of the Tsarist Navy, which were renamed after the victory of the revolution. There were 4 ships at the beginning, but one of them, the Frunze, was damaged in an accident, so there were 3 ships left.

In the 1930s, when the Soviet-German relationship was close, with the help of German shipyards, the three old battleships of the Soviet Red Navy also underwent a round of modernization, improving power and seaworthiness, and adding fire control systems and seaplanes.

As for the Karl Marx aircraft carrier, it is also the product of Soviet-German cooperation! This aircraft carrier was actually designed by the Germans. Through the design of the Karl Marx, the German shipbuilding industry has accumulated the technology to design new aircraft carriers. This is also the main reason why the Seydlitz-class aircraft carrier and the Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier can appear smoothly.

However, the Karl Marx was a product of the late 1920s after all, and the design was not very mature. In order to save costs, it did not install enough armor, the speed was relatively slow, and the seaworthiness was not good. Therefore, the only aircraft carrier of the Soviet Union was not sent to Molotovsk, but to the Pacific Ocean.

"Can the Karl Marx aircraft carrier really fight?" Stalin was still a little skeptical. He frowned and said, "And the Germans seem to have an aircraft carrier too!"

The North Pacific route is now the main route between the United States and the Soviet Union. Once it is cut off, the Soviet Union will not be able to get assistance from the United States.

"There is no problem at present," Kuznetsov said with a smile, "Comrade General Secretary, there is also a polar night phenomenon in the North Pacific. The Germans can only use battleships and cruisers to fight us, and we have 3 battleships in the Pacific. As for after the spring equinox... we can now ask the United States for help, let them strengthen our Pacific Fleet, provide us with several escort aircraft carriers, and give us some advanced fighters, such as the F4F carrier-based fighter."

Stalin nodded, and he was finally relieved.

"Then what about our Atlantic Fleet?" Stalin asked again, "Now the North Atlantic is no longer suitable for aircraft carriers and aircraft operations. When can the Red Navy Atlantic Fleet be ready to go?"

The so-called Red Navy Atlantic Fleet is the original Northern Fleet. Now this fleet has 4 Soviet-class battleships and 2 Kronstadt-class battlecruisers. Judging from the strength on paper alone, the Red Navy Atlantic Fleet even surpassed the US Atlantic Fleet and the British Home Fleet, becoming the strongest force of the Allies in the Atlantic!

"Comrade General Secretary, the Red Navy Atlantic Fleet can go out at any time!" Kuznetsov answered with confidence.

Stalin nodded with satisfaction and smiled: "Very good! Now is the time for us to show the strength of the Red Navy! And we must also seize the sea control of the North Atlantic and open up the sea transportation lines in the North Atlantic. If possible, we should also severely damage the German fleet. Comrade Kuznetsov, can we severely damage them?"

"In theory." Kuznetsov didn't seem to dare to say it for sure.

"In theory?" Stalin asked, "What about in reality?"

"Actually..." Kuznetsov smiled and said, "In reality, the German fleet is likely to avoid fighting. We have 4 battleships equipped with 406mm main guns, and the Americans now have 2 such battleships. We have 6 battleships with a total of 54 406mm cannons, while Germany has only 2 Hindenburg-class ships with 406mm cannons, a total of only 1 cannon. 54 cannons cannot lose to 16 cannons of the same caliber! So if I were the commander-in-chief of the German navy, I would definitely choose to avoid fighting."

Stalin laughed and said, "Comrade Kuznetsov, since you are so confident, then you can concurrently serve as the commander of the Atlantic Fleet. In addition, the Atlantic Fleet should be a front-level fleet, and Comrade Bulganin will serve as the political commissar."