The British Home Fleet led by Lord Pahouse himself is 220 nautical miles away from the port of Narvik. Vice Admiral Whitworth leads a British fleet composed of the battleship "Warspite" and nine destroyers, which is 220 nautical miles away from Narvik. One hundred and eighty nautical miles from the port of Kremlin, the battlecruisers "Gneisenau" and "Scharnhorst" led by Admiral Wilhelm Machar, commander of the 1st Fleet Group, went to support Nar The German warships at Wick Harbor were one hundred and sixty nautical miles away. The "Bismarck" battleship that just set off is more than 400 nautical miles away from the port of Narvik.
Just as the two sides continued to increase their troops towards Narvik Port in preparation for a decisive battle according to the scheduled plan, from April 11 to April 12, the bad weather in the Baltic Sea showed its power, forcing both sides to cease their activities. Of course, there are exceptions. , the "Battleship Bismarck" rushed to Trondheim, Norway's third largest city in central Norway, without stopping. After arriving in Trondheim, the "Battleship Bismarck" Major General Ernst Lindemann met the same person here. "Gneisenau" and "Scharnhorst" taking shelter from the storm, as well as the supply ships of the 1st Fleet Group.
Amidst the thunder and lightning, Rear Admiral Ernst Lindemann met the commander of the 1st Fleet Group, Admiral William Machar, and the captain of the "Scharnhorst" Reinhard von & Royce Ram.
Rear Admiral Ernst Lindemann, who had just disembarked from the battleship Bismarck, braved the raindrops falling from the sky and arrived at the Trondheim City Hall, which has now become the temporary land headquarters of the 1st Fleet Group. city government office. Of course Rear Admiral Ernst Lindemann was so anxious to find some naval officers to discuss the next battle plan with him. On the "Battleship Bismarck" Rear Admiral Ernst Lindemann always felt that his staff were like a When the puppet people start discussing the issue, they are talking and they are listening.
Now I see that the commanders of the two warships are in Trondheim, and of course they will come to visit immediately to learn more about the current form of the German destroyer fleet in Narvik Port.
After arriving at the city hall office, I saw Admiral Wilhelm Machar and Reinhard von Lohenkramm drawing something on their desks. Major General Ernst Lindemann did not care about the rudeness and his body. Rain, who was still dripping down, stepped forward and said, "Rear Admiral Ernst Lindemann from the battleship Bismarck is here to report. Hello, Admiral!"
The arrival of Admiral Wilhelm Machal and Rear Admiral Ernst Lindemann was not unexpected. As early as when the "Battleship Bismarck" docked at the port of Trondheim, someone had already moved the "Battleship Bismarck" Arrival told him. Looking at Major General Ernst Lindemann, who was wet but still standing upright like a javelin, Admiral William Marshall dropped the pen in his hand and said with admiration, "Ernst Lindemann" Rear Admiral Mann, you are already the captain of the largest battleship of the German Navy at such a young age. This time you are here, things will be much easier to handle."
"Very young?" Major General Ernst Lindemann looked at himself, and then at Reinhard von Lohenkramm who was standing behind Admiral Wilhelm Machal. He really couldn't see it. After discovering the connection between himself and his youth, he met Reinhard von Lohenkramm, who has always had a reputation for rocket-like promotion speed within the Navy. However, he was shocked by his age. If he had not heard about this earlier The young captain was very capable, and with Plan S drawn up, Ernst Lindemann had to wonder whether Reinhardt von Lohenkramm was relying on some kind of nepotism. Inhardt von Lohenkram was suspicious and felt very uncomfortable.
Forcibly suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his mind, Ernst Lindemann finally let go of Reinhard von Lohenkrahm, who was about to collapse, and said, "William Marshall Naval Admiral, I have been marching at full speed as soon as I received the order, so I know the current situation very well, so I hope you can introduce Major General Bundy's situation at Narvik Port."
"There is no problem!" Admiral William Machar said, "On April 9, the destroyer formation led by Rear Admiral Bondi attacked the port of Narvik. Although it was counterattacked by Norwegian gunboats, there was no The real war was fought at night. On the night of April 9, Captain Walburton Lee of the British Navy, leading five British destroyers, crossed the submarine blockade in the darkness and attacked Rear Admiral Bundy's destroyer. formation, Rear Admiral Bundy was simply prepared, and instead ambushed the British fleet. However, after this naval battle, Rear Admiral Bundy's destroyer formation was running out of shells and fuel, so the destroyers now in Narvik Port , in great need of our rescue!"
"Oh? Is that so?" Ernst Lindemann asked, "What is the situation on the British side?"
"The British Navy's advance fleet is led by Vice Admiral Whitworth and consists of the battleship "Warspite" and nine destroyers!" Reinhardt von Lohenkramm introduced next to him, "Led by Pahaus The British Home Fleet, led by Lord Sir, is following the instructions of the British Admiralty, sharpening its sword and heading towards Narvik Port again. This fleet largely concentrates some of the best forces of the British Navy, and is obviously not the current German Navy. Can compete!"
Admiral William Marshall added, "So our goal now is to rescue the destroyer fleet trapped in Narvik Port, not to fight with the British Navy!" After a pause, he added, "Of course , on this basis, we can expand the results as much as possible at the right time!"
"I think if Warspite is sunk! The British will definitely cry to death!" Ernst Lindemann said with a smile.
Admiral William Machal glanced at Reinhard von Lohenkram. Originally, Admiral William Machal thought that Reinhard von Lohenkram was crazy enough. Unexpectedly, the arrival of Ernst Lindemann was not as bad as him at all, or even better. Especially when he made bold statements about sinking the Warspite, Reinhard von Lohenkra, who had been listening next to him, Mu was also deeply shocked. But I also envy Ernst Lindemann for being able to command the "Battleship Bismarck".
However, Reinhard & von Lohenkramm instantly began to comfort themselves. Although Ernst Lindemann commanded the "Battleship Bismarck", their own battlecruiser "Scharnhorst" also Not bad. With a standard displacement of 31,500 tons and a full load of 38,900 tons, Lowengram still has full confidence in his battleship compared to an old World War I ship like the Warspite with the false name of battleship.
The freeboard of the Sand-class ship is very low, so the sailing performance of the two ships of the same class is quite poor. To solve this problem, the only way is to increase the height of the ship's side by providing additional hull height of the "Gneisenau", but in this way the armored area will have to be increased. After repeated weighing, in the end I had to abandon some of the sailing features. By the time the Sand-class ships were built, welding technology had developed greatly. Therefore, their hulls use welding technology except for the joints of the torpedo bulkheads and deck structures.
Of course, the "Scharnhorst" is not without its problems. At the beginning of the design stage of the Sand-class ship, it was believed that it would be equipped with nine 283mm main guns and armor protection that could resist the French 330mm artillery at close range. Its displacement would only be 26,000 tons is enough. But by 1936, when the warship was under construction, the displacement was far greater than originally estimated. The substantial increase in displacement will, in turn, affect the stability, seaworthiness and protection of the ship, because at this time the armored deck will be below the design waterline instead of above it. The loss of freeboard is also considerable. This means that the ship's stability range will be reduced. Later, the operation of the ship showed that the increase in draft caused the ship's deck to sink in rough seas? wetness, thus requiring further changes to the deck camber and sheer.
Of course, the "Scharnhorst" is not without its problems. At the beginning of the design stage of the Sand-class ship, it was believed that it would be equipped with nine 283mm main guns and armor protection that could resist the French 330mm artillery at close range. Its displacement would only be 26,000 tons is enough. But by 1936, when the warship was under construction, the displacement was far greater than originally estimated. The substantial increase in displacement will, in turn, affect the stability, seaworthiness and protection of the ship, because at this time the armored deck will be below the design waterline instead of above it. The loss of freeboard is also considerable. This means that the ship's stability range will be reduced. Later, the operation of the ship showed that the increase in draft caused the ship's deck to sink in rough seas? wetness, thus requiring further changes to the deck camber and sheer.
HMS Warspite is a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship built by the Royal Navy. It is mainly equipped with 8 15-inch caliber main guns and 12 152 mm caliber secondary guns. Construction of the battleship Warspite began on October 31, 1912 and was completed in March 1915. The battleship Warspite underwent two major modernizations during its service.
Total length 196m, width 31.7m, draft 9.2m
Displacement: standard displacement 32,500 tons, full load displacement 35,500 tons
Power plant: After modification, 6 boilers, 4 turbine steam engines, 4 propeller shafts, main engine output power 80,000 shaft horsepower, maximum speed 25 knots
Armor protection: middle main armor belt 6.0 inches - 13.0 inches; upper main armor belt 6 inches; deck armor 2.5 inches - 5 inches; compartment armor 6 inches - 4 inches; turret armor front 13 inches, sides 11 inches, top 4.5 inches, gun mount armor 10 inches - 4 inches; secondary battery armor 6 inches; command tower armor 11 inches - 3 inches
Armament: 8 twin 15-inch/42-caliber MkI main guns; 14 single-mounted 6-inch/45-caliber BLMkXII secondary guns; 2 76mm/50-caliber QFHAMkI guns (12-pounder); modernized modifications and additions It is equipped with 8 twin 4-inch/45-caliber MkXVIII anti-aircraft guns; 32 40.5mm/45-caliber MkVIII boom guns; during World War II, 30 American-made 20mm anti-aircraft guns and 4-mounted anti-aircraft machine guns were installed.