296 Sinking the Troopships
Inside the bridge of one of the Type-1928C Destroyers of the Deutschland Empire, Admiral Lutjens can be seen walking inside the bridge, glancing over his crew as they remain diligent in their duty.
“Admiral, we are 250 nautical miles away from the Port of Shanghai,” his second in command, Weber reported as he performed a salute.
“Have we detected the Hanese submarines lurking around us?” Lutjens asked.
“Not yet, our sonar operator is keeping an eye out on his station, he’ll notify us as soon as he finds fluctuations in the readings.”
“Very well, keep your eyes peeled everyone, the threat of the Hanese still remains. We don’t want our troops to be killed without even setting a foot on the enemy soil—”
Suddenly, the ship rocked as an ear-deafening explosion erupted nearby.
“What the hell?” Admiral Lutjens staggered on his feet, and the alarms went off in the bridge, filling each room with a blaring sound indicating that they are under attack.
“Sir, one of the troopships got hit!” Weber shouted, his eyes watching the troopship being torn in half as it crumbled under its weight.
“Don’t tell me, the Hanese snuck past our sonar detection?” Admiral Lutjens asked befuddled.
“No, there wasn’t even an indication of the presence of any submarines around us. It must have been a surface warship,” the sonar operator said.
“Then what the hell are those men outside doing?” Admiral Lutjens said in frustration, “Look for the warship that opened fire on us—Ugh…”
Lutjens flinched as the ship rocked again by the shockwaves traveling underneath their ship as another explosion erupted.
“What the hell is it this time?” Lutjens demanded.
“Sir, the second troopship has been struck by a torpedo!” Weber reported, his eyes trembling at the sight of his comrades howling in pain and agony. “It’s not a surface warship! We are being attacked by an enemy submarine!”
“Sonar operator! What the hell are you doing? Why can’t you find the Hanese submarine shooting at us?” Lutjens walked up to the sonar operator who was clutching his headphones to his ears tightly, trying to locate the sound of the submarine propellers under the sea.
“I’m sorry Kapitan! But there was really no indication of enemy submarines in our area. Also, it’s going to be hard to find them, there’s too much noise.”
“That submarine already killed thousands of our men in the blink of an eye, and you’re telling me you can’t find it!” Lutjens snapped, clenching his fist tightly as he looked at his subordinate.
This is bad for him, it was his first-ever mission to escort a troopship filled with Deustchlander troops. If the headquarters were to hear about this news, he’ll be doomed from the humiliation it brought to the Kaiserliche Marine.
But there’s no use if the sonar operator was telling the truth. If they can’t find them under the sea then they’ll find them on the water’s surface. Their submarines are outdated and can’t be submerged for a long period of time. If they are using torpedoes, then they must stay at least one or two meters below the surface of the water for the torpedo to hit the hull of the ships.
“Weber, signal our men to launch illumination rounds. Relay my instructions to the other destroyer as well!” Lutjens commanded, taking the matter into his own hands.
“Yes, Sir!” Weber answered before taking out his telephone and contacting the destroyer.
Outside of the destroyers, men reported to their battle stations, among them are crews manning a mortar that launches illumination shells.
pan-d a-n0vel.com They inserted one shell inside the mortar and once the illumination shell’s but landed on the firing pin, the propellant ignited, sending the shell up into the air.
Chemical reactions occurred inside the shell, making it look like a light piercing the night sky. It drifted down, illuminating the area with great brilliance.
With that, they can now find the submarines that are lurking around them like a predator.
Admiral Lutjens waited for good news, they should find the submarine in no time. But, two minutes in, the crew outside, equipped with binoculars, didn’t see a thing.
“The submarine must have dived deeper, Kapitan,” Weber said, standing beside Lutjens. “Still, I wonder, why did they only fire on the Deutschland troopships and spare the Britannian one?”
“We can’t be sure about that, Weber,” Lutjens replied as he shook his head. “The submarine must be changing, looking for another spot to sink the Britannian troopship. If that happens, this will blow into our faces. So find the submarine at all costs!”
***
Meanwhile, 10 meters below the water surface, the Morzh-Class Submarine continued around the convoy and is now trailing behind the last troopship carrying Britannian troops.
A periscope cable has been deployed, activating the moment it reaches the surface water. Allowing the crew inside the submarine to see what’s going on above without emerging and risking getting spotted by the enemy ships.
“Oh, so they already launched illumination shells,” Vasili muttered.
“Sir! We have a lock on target, 512 meters, Britannia troopship.”
The Ruthenian submarine had sunk two troopships belonging to the Deutschland Empire. There’s only one left and if they sink it, their mission is over and they can return to base.
“Fire!” Vasili ordered and the crew launched the third Mark 48 torpedo.
As the torpedo honed in, it produced a trail of bubbles from cavitation. One of the crews of the destroyers stationed on the aft side noticed the wake of the bubbles closing into the Britannian troopships.
“Torpedo spotted!” The men radio to the bridge, informing Admiral Lutjens inside.
The sonar operator also heard the sound produced by the torpedo and immediately followed.
“Kapitan, torpedo coming in from port quarter bearing 2-3-0, range 200 meters and closing.”
“They’ll hit the Britannian troopship! Shit, inform the Britannians immediately!”
The Britannian troopship received a report from their destroyer escort and without hesitation, they changed course, turning to the right in hopes of avoiding the torpedo.
But it was too late as the torpedo struck their propellers, rendering it immobile.
“Where’s that submarine? Give me an estimated location of that submarine based on where that torpedo came from!” Lutjens ordered and his men began calculating on the table using trigonometry.
It only took them twenty seconds to calculate the approximate bearing and distance of the submarine.
“Sir, submarine bearing 2-2-0, distance unknown.”
“That’s all I need,” Lutjens said confidently as he walked to the left side of the bridge and looked out of the window. “Left full rudder, all ahead flank!”
“Left full rudder all ahead flank, aye Kapitan!”
The two Type-1928C destroyers began turning around, facing the submarine that was hunting them.
The crews of the Morzh-Class submarines quickly noticed the chance of the destroyers’ course and speed.
“Sir, they must have located us from the trajectory of the torpedo,” one of his men said.
“But they don’t have our exact distance so there’s no need to worry about it. Arm the torpedo and hit the Britannian troopship again. After firing the torpedo, I want you to dive 100 meters.”
“Aye Aye captain! Arming torpedo number four. Firing at three…two…one!”
The Morzh-Class submarines launched the fourth torpedo, homing towards the Britannian troopships.
This gave the Type-1928C destroyer another clue as to where the submarine is.
Knowing the location, the two Type-1928C destroyers gave up on protecting the Britannian troopships as they deemed it too late to save them.
Their main batteries, the 6 × 12.8 cm quick-firing guns opened fire, the shells crashing on the surface of the water. But such caliber with enormous velocity was merely deflected away.
An explosion occurred on the aft side of the Britannnian troopships, sealing its fate.
The Morzh-Class submarines continued to dive even deeper, absconding from the destroyers.
“Release all the depth charges! Hurry up!” Lutjens shouted, feeling desperate.
A cylinder drum filled with explosive charges was thrown out to the sea, sinking to where they believed the submarine is. A column of water rose to the surface. Still, it was unknown to them if the depth charge was able to hit the target.
With that, Lutjens realized something.
“There’s something wrong here. We couldn’t detect the submarine and were able to dive quickly without us noticing…Could it be…”