Tu Mei Chapter 83 Fighting Wisdom at Sea
.With the outbreak of the war, the once extremely busy Port of Boston lost its vitality for a while. When the sun rose on July 8, ships of different styles were lazily anchored in the harbor. The vicious gendarmes boarded the German ship that was detained yesterday and announced the confiscation order from the US government. The German crew were then driven off the ship and they were allowed to leave the United States within three days on a neutral ship.
According to statistics, when Germany declared war on the United States on July 7, 1924, there were 139 German ships anchored in various American harbors, and 11 warships escorted the fleet. Obviously, this phenomenon played a certain role in paralyzing the US government. When the German ambassador formally submitted a declaration of war to the United States, these merchant ships and warships received telegrams from the country, and most of the ships were eventually able to leave before the US Navy blocked the port, but the 18 merchant ships that were slow to move or had mechanical failures were still detained by the US authorities.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the Germans were obviously more prepared. The ambassador to Washington had just submitted the declaration of war to the US government, and the German Navy detained all the American ships anchored at various German ports. An hour later, the Kingdom of Britain declared war on the United States, and the Royal British Fleet also took the same measures. They detained a total of 26 American ships. In addition, Turkey and France, which declared war on the same day, also detained some American ships. The next day, the Japanese government detained 42 American merchant ships after declaring war on the United States and quickly confiscated all the cargo on it.
The warring parties then began to announce the freeze of each other's assets in their own country and expel each other's diplomats and any other expatriates who were considered suspicious.
Mexico, Hungary and Bohemia also declared war on the United States on July 7, and Chile, Ireland and Bulgaria the next day. At this time, the United States faced almost the challenges of the entire Allied countries, and only Russia remained neutral within the Allied organizations. As for Brazil, Argentina, Peru and other countries that failed in the South American war, they did not occupy the United States as some expected after the war broke out. Perhaps before the situation in the Atlantic Ocean was clear, they did not want to face the powerful Allied Navy again.
With the precedent of air strikes in Baltimore and New York, a prediction widely circulated in the Boston Port Area: German planes will bomb Boston tonight! At this time, the Boston authorities could not come out to refute the rumors, but they warned the owners of the port, especially the US ship owners, that they were likely to be attacked by the German Navy when they left the port now, and the navy could not guarantee the safety of their lives and property.
Despite this, many ship owners still hope to drive their ships to safer places, whether it is small ports or Canadian ports, in short, don’t stay in large ports with dense ships - just in the air raid last night. More than a dozen ships were damaged by bombing and fires on the shore.
Therefore, the 8,300-ton American freighter Utica was the first to leave the port despite the authorities' reminder. The 19,000-ton American freighter Canton and the 4,600-ton Canadian freighter Palang also left the port.
Seeing someone leading the way, the remaining ship owners in Boston Harbor began to move. They stared at the ships sailing out of the port with one eye, and the sailors on their ships were preparing for the sailing. As long as the ships ahead left safely, they would not have so many concerns.
The clear weather allowed people's vision to reach more than ten nautical miles away. The waves outside the port were calm at this time, not to mention the shadow of German warships. There were not even a few seabirds. Seeing that the owners insisted on leaving, the Boston authorities did not try their best to stop them, and also sent water patrol planes in the port to explore the situation.
Not long after, the patrol plane sent a report. No enemy ships were found 30 nautical miles outside the port!
At this time, the Utica and Canton had sailed out of the port 3 or 4 nautical miles, and the Palang had also left the port range. Behind them, more and more ships embarked on the road of refuge.
At 10:11 am, with a loud bang, a very violent explosion occurred on the starboard side of the Canton. People watched the water columns more than 30 meters high rise and fall, and enveloped the middle of the ocean freighter in a large splash of water. The cargo ship with a huge body quickly began to tilt to the right side of its land. Because the incident suddenly happened, the sailors escaped until the inclination of the ship exceeded the coincidence. From the beginning to the end of sinking into the water, there was no large amount of thick smoke or obvious fire on the Canton. In this way, the 19,000-ton ship sank in just a few minutes. The vortex caused by the sinking of the hull took the lives of many crew members, and the rest struggled helplessly on the sea.
German submarine!
This work is the first exclusive text version of 6k novel website. It is not allowed to be reproduced without consent. For more latest and fastest chapters, please visit www.piaotian.com.com! This is the first reaction in the minds of most people. In the eyes of hostile countries, those undersea hunters are simply a group of murderous demons. The British, Brazilian, and Argentines suffered enough in front of these demons. Most of the warships sold to Britain by the US government were destroyed in their hands. In this world, no country's ships can be as terrifying as German submarines. The achievements of German ace captains make peers from all countries look up to them.
The Utica, who was walking in the front, was also scared at this time. No one knew how many German submarines would lurk on the seabed outside the port. The ship quickly began to turn, but before it could turn around and return to the port, an equally violent explosion occurred on its port side! Even the 10,000-ton ship of the Canton could withstand how the Utica could withstand it. This freighter full of fabrics ignited a raging fire after the explosion. However, the crew had not even had time to take fire-fighting measures, and the ship also ended its maritime career with rapid sinking.
After two consecutive explosions, seeing the tragic phenomena outside the port, the ships behind turned around and sailed back to the port without hesitation. In the end, the authorities sent several small boats to rescue the crew members who fell into the water. The port authorities did not need to issue any ban on leaving the port. No one or a ship in the port made any moves to leave the port, but this did not help improve the tension in the port at all. Moreover, people knew that in the long run, it would be very unfavorable to the US economy and industrial production.
In fact, more than a dozen German submarines came outside Boston Harbor last night, but they had left before dawn. As a gift to the American people, more than 200 t-dd mines filled with 300 kilograms of high explosives were placed 4 to 10 nautical miles outside Boston Harbor. When large and medium-sized ships passed by the ground, these trigger mines floating in the water at 6 to 10 depths would explode even more violently than torpedoes, and then the hull would blow out a large hole that could not be repaired.
Not only Boston, but also ships who dared to leave the ports in New York, Norfolk, Portland, Houston and other ports also encountered the same trouble. Americans had to face the embarrassing reality that hundreds of mines were added to their doorstep overnight. On that day, Washington had to urgently issue an order to temporarily close ports on the East Coast, and organized minesweepers to concentrate on cleaning up mines outside several major ports, especially the Norfolk Military Port, the main anchorage of the Atlantic Fleet.
By 1924, in terms of main battleships, especially battleships, the US Navy had some numerical advantage compared with the German Navy. The total strength of the navy of Germany, the US and Japan was 280,000, 350,000 and 230,000 respectively. In terms of scale, the United States seemed to have become the world's largest naval power, but its naval officers and soldiers were only recruited after the promulgation of the National Defense Act in 1926 and the Selection and Recruitment Act in 1924. The sailors have served for a short time, and those with practical experience are limited to a small number of veterans who participated in the South American War. In contrast, both the German Navy and the Japanese Navy
The officers and soldiers were older than those of the US Navy. German naval commanders, middle-level officers and low-ranking non-commissioned officers have been fighting in the south and north since the old and old years. Most of the sailors have served in the navy for a long time and participated in many battles. Although the Japanese Navy has only conducted military operations invading Southeast Asia in recent years, most of the officers and soldiers have served together for many years. The middle-level officers who have experienced the Japanese naval battle have gradually become the backbone of the naval fleets. In addition, the Japanese government has always attached importance to naval construction and the quality of officers and soldiers, which has made the Japanese navy in Germany, the United States and the last time it was also not underestimated.
Another important factor that determines the outcome of the naval battle - the level of training in daily life. The free and casual Americans are even more incomparable to the naval forces of Germany and Japan. Therefore, the leaders of Washington are very clear that they must rely on numerical advantages and tactics to have the opportunity to win the naval battle.
On the day of the war, 90% of the ships of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet were stationed in Norfolk, with tightly defended, and the Pacific Fleet were stationed in the Hawaiian Islands and San Diego on the west coast. When the German ambassador submitted a declaration of war, the U.S. government immediately ordered the two fleets and their military ports to enter the highest state of combat readiness to prevent the Pascal Fleet tragedy from happening again. Long before the war, the U.S. Navy deployed a very careful air defense and anti-submarine system around Norfolk. More than half of the fighter jets and combat airships of the entire naval aviation force were responsible for alert and air defense tasks. More than 700 various air defense artillery accounted for 1/3 of the U.S. air defense forces. Even imitated the German and Japanese Navy to deploy more than 200 balloons with blocking cables near the port. It can be said that the air defense facilities here are far more than the defense of the capital Washington.
The Navy officers and soldiers in Norfolk were on high alert, but on July 7 and 8, there was no German plane here. Except for the small bombing of the San Diego military port by German land-based aircraft, most of the military ports and ships spent the first two days of the war safely, which somewhat surprised the generals of the White House and Naval Operations Department.
According to the intelligence mastered by US intelligence personnel stationed overseas, at the beginning of the war, 20 German battleships, 17 battlecruisers, and 13 main aircraft carriers were distributed in this way:
The German Atlantic Fleet and the escort fleet that had previously escorted the Royal Combat Army from the Guadeloupe Naval Base, totaling 12 battleships, 7 battlecruisers, 7 aircraft carriers, and light ships were estimated to be about 30 cruisers, more than 70 destroyers and dozens of minesweepers, minesweepers and patrol boats. In addition, there is also a German Atlantic submarine formation stationed here, but the number of submarines in this formation is ominous.
The German Atlantic Fleet and the North Sea Fleet were stationed in Pascal Fleet, with a total of 3 battleships, 2 battlecruisers, 2 aircraft carriers and dozens of light ships, and a German Atlantic submarine fleet, with an equally ominous number.
The German North Sea Fleet and the Baltic Fleet are stationed in Wilhelmshaven, Kiel and Cornisburg. There are 2 battleships, 1 aircraft carrier and hundreds of light ships. The North Sea submarine formation and the Baltic submarine formation are stationed in Wilhelmshaven and Cornisburg respectively. The number of submarines is ominous.
Stationed in Gibraltar, Tunisia, Pula and Suez ports is the German Mediterranean fleet, with 3 battleships, 2 battlecruisers, 3 aircraft carriers and hundreds of light ships, as well as the German Mediterranean submarine formation.
Correspondingly, the US Pacific Fleet's nine battleships, four battle patrols and two aircraft carriers were stationed in the Hawaiian Islands, six battleships were stationed in San Diego, 10 battleships of the Atlantic Fleet, two battle patrols and three aircraft carriers were stationed in Norfolk, and the huge submarine force with more than 200 submarines was also divided into two parts: the witch submarine of the Pacific formation and 168 submarines of the Atlantic formation. Among them, the Atlantic formation sent 80 to Canada before the war, and 66 were still staying in two major military ports in Canada when the war broke out.
With the declaration of war by the Japanese government, Washington had to consider how to face the bad situation of fighting on both sides. After a simple joint meeting of the Army and Navy, the Warren Harding administration formulated a combat strategy to temporarily abandon the Pacific and make every effort to defend the local area, and on July 8, the US Pacific Fleet stationed in Hawaii returned to its homeland.
That night, Secretary of State Robert Lanxin held the last talks with Japanese government representatives. After receiving a secret telegram from Washington, Lanxin accepted the "friendly suggestions" of the Japanese government, that is, to hand over the Philippines and Hawaii islands to the Japanese government for "management". The Japanese government and the Navy agreed to leave a week for the US expatriates and troops to evacuate, and would never send warships or submarines to intercept American ships in the middle.
After reaching this despised deal, Robert Lansin hurriedly left Tokyo.
After making the decision to transfer the main force of the Pacific Fleet back to the mainland, the US Navy naturally issued a strategy to the Atlantic Fleet to avoid war in the early stage, and sent a large number of spies, submarines and reconnaissance aircraft to closely monitor the movements of the German fleet in Guadeloupe.
Chapter completed!