The Rise of the Third Reich

Little Hessman carefully controlled his all-purpose aircraft that could do everything, but could do nothing well, and landed on the deck of the Seidlitz - the landing performance of the Fw-190T was what impressed little Hess the most. One of the shortcomings of Mann's dissatisfaction.

Because the nose of the Fw-190T is too long, the visibility when landing is poor, and the landing speed is too fast, which may cause the tailhook to fail to hook the arresting cable, so the aircraft may hit the aircraft lined up on the front deck. causing serious accidents. This shortcoming almost ruined the Fw-190T. Fortunately, this problem was solved by little Hirschman and his father.

Of course, instead of using the power of the Secretary of Defense to force the Navy to accept the Fw-190T with poor ship landing performance, the canvas barrier was "invented" (the barrier has been around for a long time, but it is just a steel cable, which is dangerous to aircraft and pilots) ) and canvas blocking net. Although using this kind of canvas blocking fence and blocking net is very troublesome (it is disposable and needs to be replaced once it is blocked), and it is not 100% safe, it basically solves the problem of whether the Fw-190T can board the aircraft carrier.

Just as Hersman's plane landed on the deck, more than 100 meters in front of him, a wooden fence-like blocking barrier and a large net had been set up. If his aircraft's tailhook failed to catch the arresting wire, the arresting grid and net would have saved his life, but the aircraft would still have been damaged.

Fortunately, Hersman Jr. was an experienced carrier-based aircraft pilot, so he safely stopped the aircraft on the deck without resorting to barrier fences or large nets to save his life.

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

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

"Aren't I just flying a 'Comet' now?" Little Hersman smiled bitterly and shook his head. "The Fw-190T is a hard worker. It not only has to fight in air combat, but also has to carry a 250-kilogram bomb. Dive bombing. Did you know that the newly formed Sederitz fleet is equipped with only Fw-190T aircraft? Is it a good deal? Don’t introduce Fw-190T?”

This way of organizing fighter aircraft was actually forced by the Japanese, because Tojo did not allow Germany to send too many ships to cut off the Soviet Union's Pacific lifeline. Therefore, the German Navy could only try its best to increase the Seidlitz's attack power against transport ships.

The first is of course multi-loaded aircraft. The Seyderlitz is a 15,000-ton small and medium-sized fleet aircraft carrier with limited hangar capacity. The standard fleet formation during the Atlantic operations was only 36 carriers.

However, the situation can improve in the Pacific Ocean where the waves are less stormy. Now the Seidlitz has adopted the hangar roof hoisting method to increase the storage capacity, making the maximum storage capacity of the hangar reach 42 aircraft (usually only 40 aircraft can be accommodated). At the same time, the deck tethering method was adopted, and 18-20 Fw-190Ts were tied to the deck.

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

The second is to select fighter-bombers with the ability to attack ships as carrier-based aircraft. Therefore, the 62 carrier-based aircraft (of which 56 are commonly used) are all Fw-190T. They can carry out anti-ship warfare when equipped with bombs, and can engage in air combat when bombs are dropped.

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

As for the U.S. fleet in the Pacific, the Japanese occupied the Hawaiian Islands and the Aleutian Islands (occupied by Japan in the summer of 1942). They cannot reach the North Pacific route at all.

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

This is a large seaplane carrier that was modified from the hull of the C aircraft carrier based on the Japanese "Mizuho" seaplane carrier. This large seaplane carrier carries He-115 torpedo bomber/reconnaissance aircraft and can carry a total of 15 aircraft (of which 3 are spare).

According to the German Navy's plan, the He-115 seaplane on the Stuttgart seaplane carrier is not only the eyes and ears of the fleet (because the Fw-190T dispatched this time are all single-seat aircraft, it is difficult to perform reconnaissance missions), but also itself It also has quite powerful attack power. If you encounter a single unescorted American ship (flying the Soviet flag), you don't need to call the Fw-190T at all, you can use torpedoes to deal with it.

The news that the Germans were about to send the Eastern Fleet to rob the Pacific Ocean must have been hidden from Comrade Stalin. Because the Japanese had no intention of hiding it, the Soviet Supreme Command meeting was already discussing countermeasures before the Eastern Fleet set off from Alexandria, Egypt.

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

"Can fight!" Kuznetsov replied, "The Pacific Fleet has three modernized battleships such as Marat, August Revolution and Paris Commune, as well as the 15,000-ton Karl Marx aircraft carrier , very powerful.”

Marat, August Revolution and Paris Commune were Gangut-class battleships of the Tsarist Navy. Their names were changed 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 are still 3 ships left.

In the 1930s, when Soviet-German relations were at loggerheads, with the help of German shipyards, these three old battleships of the Soviet Red Navy also underwent a round of modernization and modifications, which improved their power and seaworthiness, and installed fire control systems and seaplane.

As for the aircraft carrier Karl Marx, it was 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 had the technical accumulation to design a new aircraft carrier. This is also the main reason why the Seidlitz-class aircraft carrier and the Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier can appear smoothly.

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

"The aircraft carrier Karl Marx can 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 most important route between the United States and the Soviet Union. Once cut off, the Soviet Union will be unable to obtain assistance from the United States.

"There is no problem at the moment," Kuznetsov said with a smile, "Comrade General Secretary, the polar night phenomenon also exists in the North Pacific. The Germans can only fight us with battleships and cruisers, and we have three battleships in the Pacific. As for the Vernal Equinox In the future... we can ask the United States for help now and ask them to strengthen our Pacific Fleet, assist us with several escort aircraft carriers, and give us some advanced fighter jets, such as the F4F carrier-based fighter jet."

Stalin nodded, finally relieved.

"What about our Atlantic Fleet?" Stalin asked again, "Now that the North Atlantic is no longer suitable for aircraft carriers and aircraft operations, when will the Red Navy's Atlantic Fleet be ready for expedition?"

The so-called Red Navy Atlantic Fleet is the original Northern Fleet. The fleet now has 4 Soviet-class battleships and 2 Kronstadt-class battlecruisers. In terms of strength on paper alone, the Red Navy Atlantic Fleet even surpassed the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and the British Home Fleet, becoming the strongest force on the Allied side in the Atlantic!

"Comrade General Secretary, the Atlantic Fleet of the Red Navy is ready to go to war at any time!" Kuznetsov seemed confident when he answered.

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

"Theoretically, it's possible." Kuznetsov seemed afraid to finish his words.

"Theoretically?" Stalin asked, "What about in practice?"

"Actually..." Kuznetsov smiled and said, "Actually, the German fleet is very likely to avoid fighting. We have 4 battleships equipped with 406mm main guns, and the Americans now have 2 such battleships. The battleships on our side have a total of 54 406mm cannons, while the German side only has 2 Hindenburg-class cannons. The total of 54 cannons is impossible to 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 war.”

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