Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

The importance of the keel is equivalent to the human spine. All structures and cabins of a ship are ultimately stressed by the keel. Once the keel is severely damaged, the ship will basically be destroyed.

The German 533mm torpedo has a total weight of 1528kg and a charge of 320kg nitric acid compound. Although it is extremely rare for a single torpedo to sink a battleship with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons, it exploded near the keel and was enough to severely damage the battleship.

Compared to destroyers of tens of thousands of tons, these destroyers of one to two thousand tons were even less important. The destroyers that had not yet had time to speed up and evade were cut off in the middle by torpedoes and died with hatred.

"Hunting time, surface!" After confirming that there were no other destroyers, the submarine captains unanimously issued the order to surface.

The destroyers that posed the greatest threat to them were gone, and all that was left were the transport ships fleeing for their lives in a hurry. Using torpedoes against such transport ships was simply killing a chicken with a knife; now was the time for the deck guns to show their power.

Due to various limitations of submarine technology during World War II, submarines spent most of their time sailing on the surface, so it was very necessary to install a cannon.

First, it can be used as a self-defense weapon in emergencies. Many submarines are equipped with anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns to deal with targets from the sea and the air. Just imagine, if a submarine suddenly encounters an enemy aircraft or patrol boat while sailing, it will be too late to make an emergency dive. It needs to use deck guns or anti-aircraft guns to resist it for a while, during which the submarine gradually dives. is the right step.

Second, merchant ships and cargo ships during World War II were rarely equipped with weapons such as artillery and depth charges, so these ships could be easily captured or sunk using deck guns. Even if you encounter one or two armed merchant ships with small guns, it will be too late for the submarine to dive and attack with torpedoes.

During World War II, German Type I, Type VII, Type IX and Type X submarines were equipped with powerful deck guns, which were usually operated by 3 to 5 people led by the submarine's second watch officer. When using a deck gun, the submarine must be in a normal surface navigation condition without air threats. At the same time, three crew members are required to line up on the deck to transfer the shells to the gun from the main locker under the control cabin. There is a small watertight ammunition locker on the deck of the submarine, so that the artillery can respond quickly and fire in time after the order is given. Skilled operators can fire at a rate of 15-18 rounds per minute.

By the middle and late stages of World War II, many large Allied fleets were escorted by multiple destroyers. In this case, German submarines could only dive underwater to conduct torpedo attacks, and it was redundant to retain deck guns. Therefore, most German submarines simply disassembled the deck guns in exchange for faster underwater speed.

The sailors quickly ran to the deck, took off the protective cover on the cannon, and pointed the muzzle at the transport ship in the distance. This gun was completely different from the German Army's 88mm anti-aircraft/anti-tank gun, the most famous weapon of the war. They even used completely different ammunition from each other. The submarine's 88mm deck gun fires 12-14kg shells (the warhead weighs 9kg), with a base ammunition count of 250 rounds.

"Fire!"

boom! boom! boom!

As the order to fire was given, the sailors loaded, aimed, fired, unloaded, reloaded, aimed...

Cannonballs poured towards the transport fleet that had not yet left. You must know that freighters do not have thick protective armor like battleships, nor do they have anti-explosion water ballast like battleships; they can be said to be thin-skinned and big stuffed. One shot will make a big hole, and after a few shots, they will be almost useless. Moreover, these cargo ships are each fully loaded with cargo, and their maximum speed is only about ten knots. They cannot escape these submarines that are chasing after them.

Listening to the reports of abandoned ships one after another, Hubert shivered all over. Just after rushing through the minefield, they lost more than a dozen transport ships; after receiving this report, Hubert wanted to slap himself in the face. Only then did he realize that the so-called minefield was just a few dozen mines. If he had not given the order to stop advancing just now and rushed over directly, he would have lost about thirty transport ships at most.

Although thirty transport ships is not a small number, it is still much better than what happened now, when all the destroyers were annihilated because of his stupid order. Without the destroyers, it was impossible for the remaining three cruisers to deal with the wolves. It's like the mouse eats the elephant, the elephant eats the tiger, the tiger eats the cat, and the cat eats the mouse; the cruiser restrains the destroyer, the destroyer restrains the submarine, and the submarine restrains the cruiser...

Hubert gritted his teeth and ordered decisively. "Deploy the faster transport ships, leave the fleet immediately, and rush to the mainland as soon as possible! The other ships should escape for their own lives!" This is also a helpless move. There are so many ships crowded together, some big and some small, so they naturally have speed. Some are fast and some are slow; now he can only save these fast ships, and the rest can only rely on God's blessing.

The fleet that received the order began to disperse, which put the submarine captains in a bit of trouble. It was so late at night that they couldn't see where there were many ships escaping, so they seemed to be focusing on one thing at the expense of the other.

Once they add up, let each pursue his own.

"help! help!"

The U-124 submarine was chasing the retreating transport ship when it suddenly heard a cry for help not far away. The sailors on the deck shined flashlights in the direction of the sound and saw several lifeboats bumping along with the ups and downs of the waves, with a group of white men wearing life jackets sitting on them waving to them and shouting for help.

"..." Several sailors couldn't help but look at each other. They had attacked many ships, and this was the first time they encountered someone shouting for help. They could only call the captain. "Captain, please come out and take a look."

Johannes climbed onto the bridge. "What's up?"

Several sailors pointed their flashlights at the lifeboats, and Johannes saw those people shouting something. Although he didn't understand English very well, he still understood the words "help" and "American".

"American?" Why are there Americans here? After thinking about it, Johannes turned his head and shouted towards the cabin. "Hans, Hans! Come here!"

A sailor also climbed onto the bridge. "What are your orders, Captain?"

Johannes pointed to the lifeboats. "Don't you know English? Ask them where they are from."

Hans shouted to those people several times, and after hearing the reply, he translated it to Johannes. "They said they were Americans and needed help."

"I know they are Americans. Ask them why they are here."

Hans asked a few more questions. "They said they were traveling to England."

"Travel?" Johannes chuckled. "These Americans are quite humorous. Since they are tourists, let them stay here and enjoy the sea view slowly."