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Chapter 60: The Sea Snake

The "Halsey" was attacked by a submarine and hit by two torpedoes, awakening Westhofen.

The information sent by the anti-submarine helicopter was very detailed. The torpedoes came from the southeast direction, with a total of four. The torpedo baits launched by the "Halsey" detonated only two of them.

Hit by two torpedoes, the ending of the "Halsey" must be very tragic.

Judging from the battlefield images sent by the helicopter that took off urgently and was still above the "Halsey", the first torpedo hit the tail of the destroyer, and the explosion point was directly below the tail. Between the two propellers, two propellers were blown away, and the entire tail was cut off. Half of the flight deck was blown up into the sky. Several cabins of the tail of the ship were instantly swallowed by sea water, and dozens of officers and soldiers were wiped out.

The first torpedo only caused the "Halsey" to lose its navigation capability, and the second torpedo that exploded under the cabins of the two turbines ruined the destroyer.

After the explosion, the destroyer was lifted more than ten meters away from the water surface and was broken in half when it fell.

This scene reminded Westhofen of the tests made by the Australian Navy with a retired destroyer. However, the destroyer built during World War II was only more than 2,000 tons, and the full load displacement of the "Halsey" exceeded 10,000 tons. The huge power released by the explosion made Westhofen believe that it was not ordinary heavy torpedoes that hit Halsey, but the more powerful 650 mm heavy torpedo.

Russian torpedo?

Westhofen didn't believe it because when the Chinese Navy introduced the Type 636 submarine, it found ways to get several Russian 650mm heavy torpedoes, and Russia has always refused to sell these torpedoes to China, so the Chinese Navy developed torpedoes with similar xing capabilities.

Relying on advanced electronic technology, the Chinese Navy's 650mm heavy torpedo must be beyond its reach.

The "Halsey" broke into two pieces quickly sank. After less than three minutes of staying on the sea, only more than 30 officers and soldiers fled.

The second helicopter gave up its anti-submarine mission and instead rescued the officers and soldiers who fell into the water.

The situation was very bad. The anti-submarine helicopter that took off first failed to find the submarine attacking the "Halsey" in the first target area and was flying to the second target area in the southeast. At this time, the nearest anti-submarine patrol aircraft was at the eastern end of the strait, and the nearest anti-submarine speedboat was twenty nautical miles away.

If the anti-submarine helicopter does not gain anything in the second target area, the hope of finding that submarine will become very slim.

The "Halsey" had already sunk, and when Westhofen was sad for the fallen soldiers, he had to consider potential threats. Although intuition told him that the submarine that attacked the "Halsey" was the submarine that sent torpedoes to the fleet, reason told him that there were very likely submarines in the strait.

what to do?

Go back to the shallow waters near the coast, or continue to sail to Busan?

Westhofen was a little hesitant because Busan was right in front. After half an hour, the fast transport ship would enter the port, and the strategic pre-set ship could enter the port within 45 minutes.

Returning to the shallow waters nearshore areas, not only will the voyage be extended, but the speed will also be reduced.

After repeated weighing, Westhofen decided not to change the waterway.

The attacks all occurred at the western end of the strait, indicating that Chinese submarines were setting up an ambush there. If there were submarines in the strait, the attack would have happened long ago.

Other submarines must be north of Tsushima Island.

There are two Korean frigates, four anti-submarine patrol aircraft, and four anti-submarine helicopters deployed urgently, which is enough to shock those submarines.

Westhofen did not change its route, but slowed down the Gridley and approached the fleet.

Of the four submarines that have appeared, only one was sunk by an anti-submarine helicopter, and three were "fled". If there were anti-ship missiles on these submarines and they took advantage of this opportunity to launch an attack, the Gridley, who stayed in front of the fleet, would not be able to cover the transport ship.

Westhofen didn't know that what he was most worried about was about to become reality.

The "Gridley" suddenly slowed down and approached the fleet, not allowing Wang Yuhan to change his attack decision, but only caused him a little trouble.

Attack the destroyer first, or attack the transporter first?

If the Gridley did not slow down, there would be no such problem. At that time, the Sea Snake had already locked on the Gridley. According to Wang Yuhan's arrangement, he first used two 650 mm heavy torpedoes to attack the destroyer, and then launched four 533 mm torpedoes to attack the transport ship. If he was quick enough, he could also launch the second batch of torpedoes before the anti-submarine helicopter arrived.

The question now is, if you attack the destroyer, will there be time to launch the second batch of torpedoes?

According to the calculation that two torpedoes attack one target, four torpedoes can only attack two transport ships, and Wang Yuhan has more than a dozen transport ships in front of him, and there are five strategic pre-set ships behind him.

It's a pity to kill so many preys.

After a moment of hesitation, Wang Yuhan made a very bold decision: to start the thruster and let the "Sea Snake" sail at an extremely slow speed of four knots to approach the US destroyer.

Doing this seems adventurous, but Wang Yuhan is very sure.

As the Gridley approached the fleet, the huge sound from the transport ship was enough to cover up the noise of the submarine. Perhaps the destroyer would let the ball's first sonar work actively at the right time to detect the surrounding waters, but it was not possible to immediately find that the "Sea Snake" was not very good.

As long as you seize the opportunity, you can get out the torpedo before the explosion.

As the submarine approaches the fleet, it not only can the time to attack destroyers be greatly shortened, but it can also use the sound of torpedo explosions and the noise of the transport ship as cover to avoid anti-submarine helicopters and obtain another attack opportunity. If the position is ideal, it can also use anti-ship missiles to attack the strategic preset ship behind it.

If you really want to sink the US destroyers and multiple transport ships in one fell swoop, even if the "Sea Snake" is sunk, it will be enough.

Wang Yuhan's judgment was very accurate. The Gridley did not immediately adjust the working mode of the ball's first sonar. He did not work actively until the noise of the transport ship was so loud that it was impossible to endure.

Active sonar can detect submarines that sit and hover, but the detection range is very limited.

This is like using a searchlight to search for bombers in the night sky. Although the receiver of the sqs-53c can receive backs from all directions, in order to extend the detection distance and improve the detection degree, the transmitter can only make sounds in a certain direction, limiting the detection range in active mode.

Outside the detection range of active sonar, the "Sea Snake" can also hear the sound of sonar.

Wang Yuhan did not hesitate anymore and immediately asked Di Bowei to input fire control data for the torpedo. He first shove two 650 mm heavy torpedoes.

The distance is too close, less than five nautical miles, so there is no need to use the wire guide mode.

However, Wang Yuhan did not ignore the concealment of the submarine. Because the destroyer was right in front and was coming towards him, the two torpedoes were out of the tube at the lowest attack speed of 35 knots. After entering the self-guided attack stage, they would sprint at the highest speed of 65 knots.

At this time, the advanced xing of sqs-53c was reflected.

The general ball head sonar cannot work in a passive way when working in an active way. The sqs-53c separates the receiver and the transmitter and can work in two ways at the same time. However, when working in an active way, the passive detection range will be greatly reduced.

Five nautical miles are not too far.

Shortly after the "Sea Snake" fired the torpedo, the "Gridley" discovered the torpedo.

Westhofen did not hesitate and immediately asked the anti-submarine officer to launch an "Aslok" anti-submarine missile into the waters where the torpedo was located.

Anti-submarine missiles are not used to deal with torpedoes, but to deal with submarines that launch shè torpedoes.

Let’s not talk about whether the Gridley can avoid torpedoes. If the anti-submarine missile is not launched in time, there will never be a chance to sink the submarine.

Westhofen still holds a glimmer of hope.

If the two torpedoes dragged the wires, the submarine would definitely cut off the wires immediately after the anti-submarine missile fell, and the torpedo would likely be lost.

Not long after, Westhofen discovered that his hope was not realistic at all.

Anti-submarine missiles fly much faster than torpedoes, and light anti-submarine torpedoes on their heads also make a lot louder sound when they enter the water.

At this time, the "Sea Snake" was about to launch four 533mm torpedoes.

Wang Yuhan didn't think much about it and asked Di Bowei to shove the torpedo first.

"Report the situation of the torpedo." Wang Yuhan was very calm. At this time, he had to calm down. "The enemy's torpedo."

"First forward, about five chains, searching."

“Go ahead at full speed.”

"Full speed..." Jiang Xinwei was startled.

Wang Yuhan nodded without explaining, and asked the navigator to execute the order.

Jiang Xinwei gritted his teeth, pulled the helmman up, sat in the driver's seat, and pushed the gear lever that controlled the output power of the thruster to the end.

Since the electric motor is now powered by the battery, there is no need to do anything else.

"The torpedo has discovered us..." Bai Chongshan paused for a moment, and then shouted loudly, "The torpedo turned and came towards us."

"distance?"

"Three chains, right in front."

"The first is twenty-five, the last is twenty-five, the interference bomb preparation, the emergency bomb mode."

When Jiang Xinwei pushed the posture control rod, Di Bowei rushed to the fire console and grabbed the handle of the squirting bullet.

Wang Yuhan looked down at the large screen on the center console, which showed the simulated routes of the submarine and the torpedo, as well as the impact time of the torpedo.

Because the number of officers and soldiers on the submarine is very limited, a lot of the work is automatically completed by a computer.

"Old Wang..."

"Wait a little longer!" When Wang Yuhan saw the reading of the torpedo impact time became "5", he raised his head and nodded to Di Bowei who was staring at him.

After the interference bomb ejected, it immediately exploded behind the submarine.

The "Sea Snake" is very lucky because it is equipped with the latest jamming bomb. If it is the old jamming bomb on the "Shark", it would probably not be so easy.

Fortunately, the attack on the "Sea Snake" was an mk46mod5 anti-submarine torpedo.

If it is mk54, the bubble curtain wall generated by the interference bomb may not be able to play a role.

Five seconds after the jamming bomb exploded, the "Sea Snake" sailed less than ten meters. The disturbed mk46mod5 anti-submarine torpedo turned and rushed into the bubble curtain wall at the last moment, and then detonated.

The explosion point is less than twenty meters away from the "Sea Snake".
Chapter completed!