Chapter 775： Underwater thug (above)

Since the capture of the island of Cyprus, the route from the Aegean Sea to the island of Cyprus has been extremely busy. A large number of soldiers, equipment, ammunition and other materials have been transported to the island continuously.

Romania’s move basically announced its intention to use the island of Cyprus as an outpost for landing in the Middle East.

Faced with such a situation, Britain and France naturally cannot bear it. So the organized navy and air forces harassed the island, but returned without success when Romania had an absolute advantage.

Several air attacks organized by its air force were repelled by the superior Romanian air force. The losses made General Ted, as the air force commander, feel distressed, so under his order, the British and French air forces stopped their attacks on Cyprus.

In terms of the navy, the Mediterranean fleet, which was greatly damaged, did not give up. Under the orders of the new Fleet Commander, Lieutenant General John Coronin Tovey, the small and medium-sized warships of the Mediterranean Fleet dispersed into several small fleets in an attempt to harass the transport fleet. It's just that they don't have much chance.

Think about it, too, from Crete to Cyprus, the whole journey is only more than 500 kilometers, and it only takes more than a day to get there. And not only were there warships escorted, but they were also under the surveillance of aircraft along the way. They were bombarded together before they even approached, and there was no chance at all.

Therefore, the British fleet not only did not eat the fish, but provoked a mess and lost several warships. Although they are both destroyers and cruisers, they are enough to make them feel bad.

When the air and water were not going well, Lieutenant General Tovey thought of using a ship to delay Romania's preparations for war, that is, a submarine.

Speaking of submarines, this naval arm, Britain can be said to be extremely profound. During World War I, German submarines made the British Empire extremely uncomfortable, so after the end of World War I, Germany was immediately prohibited from building submarines.

In the face of submarines, the United Kingdom has also added several types of underwater weapons. By the time the war began, the United Kingdom already had 57 combat submarines.

There are currently more than a dozen ships allocated to the Mediterranean, and currently deployed in the Mediterranean fleet are mainly U-type and V-type.

The U-shaped displacement is 540 tons on the surface and 630 tons underwater. It has a total length of 58.9 meters and is powered by a diesel engine, with 825 horsepower on the surface and 615 horsepower under the water. The maximum speed is 11.7 knots/surface and 9 knots/underwater. The endurance is 10 knots / 4050 nautical miles above water, and 3.5 knots 40 nautical miles underwater. The crew is 31 people and the maximum diving depth is 60 meters.

The weapons are four 533 mm torpedo tubes at the bow, two 533 torpedo tubes at the stern, and two external torpedo tubes with 20 rounds of 533 mm torpedoes. There is also a 3-inch gun and three 7.7 mm machine guns as self-defense weapons.

The V-type submarine has a displacement of 545 on the surface, 740 tons under the water, a length of 61 meters, and a crew of 37.

Armament: 1 3-inch artillery, 3 machine guns, 4 533 mm torpedo tubes (boat bow, 8 torpedoes). Maximum speed: 13 knots/surface, 9 knots/underwater. Horsepower: 800/surface, 825 horsepower/underwater. The maximum diving depth is 62 meters.

The V-class boat is very similar to the U-class boat. Due to the improved welding process, its maximum diving depth has been increased. The horsepower of the diesel engine installed on the boat has also been increased, so the maximum speed on the water surface has also been increased.

Although the Mediterranean fleet currently has large submarines such as P-type, O-type, and R-type submarines, they are basically fleet-type submarines built before. Moreover, its excessive displacement is not suitable for the Mediterranean environment, and its construction quantity is not as large as these two levels.

Since the U-class and V-class are so suitable for the Mediterranean, they will naturally be used to attack the Romanian fleet, so more than a dozen V-type and U-type ships set off in this way.

Under the shroud of darkness, a dark shadow was sailing in the sea.

This is a British U-shaped submarine, which is slowly approaching the channel while the night is dark. This channel is the main channel for the Romanian fleet from the Aegean Sea to Cyprus. During the day, a large number of ships will pass by here, and at night there are also Romanian destroyers and **** boats patrolling, which can be described as quite rigorous.

Edward, as the captain, must be very careful not to be discovered. He needs to drive slowly into the channel, choose a good location and wait quietly. But before that, he needs to pass through the protective net made up of destroyers and frigates, otherwise his efforts will be wiped out, maybe he and the crew will have to explain here.

Why does he cross the blockade quietly in the dark, because during the day there are densely packed planes and warships, and wanting to cross here is tantamount to looking for death. There are already several courageous colleagues who relied on their art masters to tell him what happened to him on the bottom of the sea.

Since this passage is so dangerous, why not try your luck in the Sea of ​​Love. For those who have this idea, Edward must give him two punches, at least injuring such an unreliable captain, and allowing his crew to live a few more days.

There are dense islands in the Sea of ​​Love, and there are patrolling aircraft everywhere. It is simply the grave of a submarine, and no one who is bold enough wants to try the risks.

And if the crew knew that the captain had this idea, they would definitely tie it up and throw it into the sea. No one wanted to perform a mortal mission.

"There is a motor sound at 11 o'clock ahead, and it is coming towards us."

The monitors on the ship put down their headphones and reported the latest situation to Captain Edward.

After hearing the monitor's words, Edward didn't hesitate at all, and immediately picked up the microphone and gave orders. "Dive immediately, to a depth of 50 meters, make an emergency dive."

Following Edward's words, the crew in the submarine immediately mobilized, and they all got busy looking for their respective positions.

And their Union submarine, following the operation of the crew, began to dive into the sea. The air exhausted around the submarine caused a lot of bubbles to emerge. With the emergence of these bubbles, this British U-shaped submarine is slowly disappearing from the sea. After half a minute, there is no submarine on the sea.

Edward raised his periscope to observe the sea while the submarine was diving.

Although the night light is not good today, Edward can still see a shadow on the sea leaning towards here. Although it is not very clear, Edward can know from the ship identification map that this must be a sea eagle-class destroyer of the Romanian Navy.

This destroyer is the nemesis of their submarines. The new type of underwater listening device equipped with it is extremely sensitive, whether it is in the sea or on the surface, as long as it is found that it is difficult to escape, Edward does not intend to try his skills.

"Turn off, no one can make any sound."

Following Edward's order, the submarine's diesel engine was stopped. And everyone stood motionless in their posts, even breathing slowly. There seemed to be no one in the submarine for an instant, and there seemed to be no such a ship in this place.

And the sound of the Romanian destroyer’s motor is getting closer and everyone feels that their heartbeat is speeding up, but still no one dares to speak because they were caught in the first lesson when they became a submarine crew. Informed that the captain must be obeyed during work.

The sound of the motor became louder and louder, and even when it came to their heads, many people's faces became unsightly. This is also very normal. After all, there is only one dead end as long as they are found, and there is no chance of surrender.

However, what they were worried about did not happen. The sound of the motor became farther and farther from the top of their heads. It was obvious that this was a passing destroyer.

However, no one was paying attention, because the captain Edward had not issued an order, so everyone remained vigilant.

After the monitor made a safe gesture, Edward ordered. "Now turn on, we slowly float up."

Following his words, the Union submarine slowly surfaced again. As for why Edward didn't use the mode of underwater navigation, it needed to consume precious electricity, and the underwater speed was too slow and the range was very short, so it was necessary to save electricity for the most critical time.

So under the command of Edward, the Union submarine quietly continued to touch it.