บท 114: Chapter 192 Miracle
For this secret operation, the crew underwent six months of rigorous training. Now, even the ship's cook can proficiently operate these propellers.
"Commence the operation!" Prien issued the command, picking up a prepared diving suit to put on.
The first mate, standing nearby, expressed some concern. "Captain, let me go first. In case of any unforeseen circumstances, you'll still need to command."
"Rest assured." Prien patted his shoulder. "You've already said our ancestors' spirits are blessing us. What could go wrong?" Then, he added more solemnly, "But just in case, go and load the explosives. We're carrying so much advanced equipment this time; we can't afford to fall into British hands."
"Yes!" The first mate nodded and, along with a few others, loaded explosives in the torpedo room and other areas.
The first group of operatives donned their diving suits, and the submarine slowly ascended to reveal the exit hatch. Even though they could climb out through the torpedo tubes, they carried oxygen equipment and bulky night vision goggles, so it was more convenient to use the exit hatch. Besides, it was late at night, and unless a searchlight happened to illuminate them, no one would notice the submarine in the darkness.
"Departure!" A group of twelve individuals emerged from the submarine's exit hatch, jumping into the seawater. Upon entering the water, Prien couldn't help but shiver; despite it being summer, the nighttime sea was still somewhat chilly.
The twelve individuals split into four groups and swam to both sides of the submarine. Prien pulled out a wrench from his waist, located the nuts securing the propellers, and began dismantling them.
Although German engineers tried to simplify the dismantling process, each propeller was secured with more than thirty nuts, making the task demanding. Fortunately, with three people in each group, each person only had to handle about ten nuts.
After removing the propellers, they pushed them to the front of the torpedo tube. Meanwhile, inside the submarine, the crew had already pushed the tactical bomb head halfway out of the torpedo tube.
This step was not easy either. Launching a regular torpedo required using high-pressure air to "shoot" the torpedo out. However, this tactical bomb head was not a torpedo, so the crew had to climb into the torpedo tube with the warhead, close the rear cover, fill it with seawater, then open the front cover. Slowly, the crew inside the launch tube pushed the warhead out.
Prien and his team struggled to secure the warhead in front of the propellers. Fortunately, these warheads had buoyancy devices; otherwise, they would have sunk to the seabed with them.
After catching their breath, Prien sat in the front seat of the propeller, responsible for controlling its speed, direction, and ascent/descent. Another sailor sat behind him. Then, the four groups set off towards their respective targets.
The maximum speed of these propellers could only be maintained at 3 knots. If the speed was too high, it would not only affect the range but could also throw the operator off the seat. When traveling under normal conditions, the operators could expose their jaws just above the water's surface. If there were patrol ships around, they would have to submerge.
When the propeller steered by Prien approached a target warship within 50 meters, he controlled the ballast tank to slowly submerge.
Soon, their heads were underwater too. Prien saw the luminous depth gauge on the steering wheel indicating 15 meters and closed the ballast tank. They continued forward slowly.
The darkness became even deeper. Although the night vision goggles they wore were waterproof, designed for underwater use, these goggles were not as advanced as those in the future. Moreover, due to the higher density of seawater compared to air, the effectiveness of the night vision goggles was only marginally better than nothing.
After traveling a distance, the sailor on the backseat tapped his shoulder, indicating they had reached beneath the target ship. Prien closed the motor, opened the drainage valve, and allowed the propeller to slowly rise.
During this process, he had to be especially careful as the ship's bottom had various attachments. A small mistake could tear the diving suit, leading to seawater leakage. They had encountered this situation many times during training, and they couldn't afford to be careless now.
Not long after, his shoulder was tapped twice, and the sailor behind found the keel.
The keel is a longitudinal component connecting the bow and stern columns at the base of the ship's hull. Its main function is to bear weight, withstand the longitudinal bending moment of the hull, and ensure the structural strength of the ship. Therefore, once the keel is severely damaged, the ship will either break into two directly, or it will be severely crippled. Even if one wants to repair it, it would take at least a year or more.
The sailor secured a specially designed clamp on the keel, pulled out a rope, and fastened a second clamp. Then, two people collaborated to wind the rope around the hook of the warhead, separating it from the propeller.
Losing this heavy object, the propeller uncontrollably floated upward. Prien hastily opened the ballast tank valve to avoid a collision between the propeller and the ship's bottom.
They set the timing fuse on the warhead to detonate six hours later. At that time, this warhead, carrying 450 kilograms of explosives, would explosively destroy the maritime giant above their heads. The ticking of the fuse clock echoed second by second. The sailor climbed back to the back seat of the propeller, Prien started the motor, glided out from beneath the large ship, slowly ascending, and returned to the submarine.
There was a blinking infrared light marker on top of the submarine, so they easily found the submarine's location. Because it was infrared, it wouldn't be noticed by others; only those wearing night vision goggles like them could see it.
The first mate had been leading the second batch of operatives, waiting there. "Captain, are you alright?"
Although exhausted from this journey, Prien still showed an excited smile. "I'm fine. Keep up the pace; our time is running out."
It wasn't until the second batch of operatives had departed that Prien returned to the cabin. The first thing he did was take off the soaked diving suit, wrap himself in a blanket, and gulp down a few sips of steaming coffee.
Checking the time, it was now three o'clock and twenty-seven minutes.
They had arrived at the entrance of the Koko Strait at one-fifty in the morning, spent nearly an hour crossing the strait, entered the Scapa Flow at two-thirty, and completed the entire process of removing the propellers, installing the warheads, delivering a special gift to the enemy ships, and returning in just over an hour. Although the second batch did not need to remove the propellers, they could directly attach the bombs and leave, before dawn, at most, they could send out one more wave. After that, they would have to evacuate in the darkness before dawn.
Three waves were not few; if nothing unexpected happened in between, they could sink a total of 12 large warships. Even if each ship weighed ten thousand tons, that would be 120,000 tons in total; it would be the highest record of sunk tonnage in a single, continuous engagement!
They were about to create an unprecedented miracle!
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