Battle of the Third Reich

There was nothing wrong with Captain Jean Ronald’s inference. The battleship Jean Barr did put the rock tray at the bottom of the river, and the current situation of the battleship was much worse than he thought.

The river engineering technology in the 1940s is still very primitive. Usually, this rock base can only be removed by hard excavators or underwater blasting. The former will seriously damage the life of dredger equipment, and the latter requires the employment of professional divers. And blasting experts, expensive construction is difficult and dangerous.

Jean Barr collided with a huge sedimentary rock that protruded about half a meter from the bottom of the channel. If it was in accordance with the original draught data, it could barely be brushed from above. It is obvious that the French contractor responsible for this channel was taking advantage of the chaos of the war A false engineering report was submitted to the shipyard.

At this time, it is meaningless to investigate who is responsible. The question before the navy officers and soldiers is how to get rid of this 32,000-ton behemoth from a stranded state.

The double-hull bottom of the battleship did not break, but the outer hull was obviously flattened. This underwater rock plate was inclined from south to north with a certain slope. The port side of the warship was forcibly raised, causing the warship to tilt toward the starboard side.

The unfixed materials in the bottom tank were displaced, and the seawater flooded into the cracked outer shell caused a change in the center of gravity. The bottom of the starboard side of the battleship has been pressed into the mud at the bottom of the river by the weight of the hull itself. What is more troublesome is that with the rapid ebb of the river, the **** is slowly increasing.

The two tugs drove full horsepower, the steel dragline squeaked under the tremendous pull, but the huge hull remained motionless, as if cast on the bottom of the Loire.

Obviously, it is impossible to drag the battleship out of the trap by relying on two tugs. The experienced tug shipyard judges that if you want to drag this giant ship off the reef, it needs at least ten times the current strength, and you have to wait for the tide to rise and the hull to be rebuilt Towing can only be carried out after floating.

The next astronomical tide of the Loire River is about two o'clock in the middle of the night, and the Germans who are rushing towards Saint-Nazaire will not give them this time.

The original draft of the battleship has been reduced to the shallowest. It can be said that all possible reserve buoyancy is squeezed out, which means that the ship cannot move half a point before the tide rises.

It took Captain Jean Ronald more than ten minutes to understand the current situation. His Jean Barr had become a lion trapped in a trap. If he didn’t want to be a German captive, he had to Quickly make a disposal plan.

He is responsible for the remaining 260 crew members on this battleship, including the shipyard engineering and technical personnel, base sailors, and the entire 38th and 39th grade students of the Bourmick Naval Officer School.

A week ago these young men fled the port of Brest under the guidance of an instructor in a tattered brigantine. When they arrived in Saint-Nazaire, they were regarded as a burden by the base commander, and they were all thrown to Colonel Jean Ronald.

Most of the pre-trained sailors of Jean Barr were assigned to the Richelieu, leaving only the power system's turbines and furnace personnel. Obviously, the Navy does not have much hope for the escape of this battleship, but just looks at In the face of Colonel Jean Ronald, he did not order the ship to be abandoned.

The engineers of the original shipyard worked out a blasting plan. They specifically drawn the location of the explosives on the drawings, and even calculated the charge amount to ensure that this 30,000-ton battleship can be connected to the dock. Exploding together into a pile of rotten iron, this group of engineers' plans made the captain of the Navy frightened, lamenting that these technicians opened their brains to be wilder than the sailors.

Fortunately, as the progress of the project speeded up, this warship had the hope of fleeing normally, and these engineers put this violent plan aside.

The shipbuilding technical director and chief mate had proposed to restart the plan, but for personal feelings, Captain Jean Ronald rejected it. At this moment, the navy colonel still did not regret the decision at the time. He was a naval captain, and he would not tolerate that his warship was blown up in the dock. The destination of a warship should of course be the endless sea. If it cannot sink into the sea If it is, sinking to the bottom of the river is also a good choice, and here it is still a French river and French land.

Jean Ronald walked to his captain's seat and took off the microphone hanging on the communication tower.

"Attention all the crew, attention to the entire crew, I am Captain Pierre Jean Ronald." said the captain aloud.

"I believe everyone now knows that we are in big trouble. The stranding of the Barr is very serious. We have tried all means to get rid of this dilemma, but unfortunately, we have not played any role. effect.

Now as the captain, with the power granted to me by the French Republic, I ordered everyone to evacuate the ship immediately. I hope that at this critical moment, everyone will maintain the honor and qualities that a French naval soldier deserves, follow the instructions of the officers beside him, and orderly and evacuate in batches.

Although the time is very short, I am still very happy to be able to serve on this battleship with you. Jean Barr is a great battleship. I’m sorry.” Captain Ronald’s voice was a little choked up. Hands rubbed his eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't have the opportunity to drive her to fight the enemy. If there is a chance, I believe she will be able to beat the Germans' broken ships. But unfortunately, we have to give up her now, but I still want to be able to We are proud to be her first and last captain. Although we have lost Jean Barr, France has not failed, and we can continue to fight. In order for Jean Barr, for France, for the honor of the French Navy, we We will fight with the enemy until the last breath, and the final victory must belong to us. Good luck, long live France."

Jean Ronald turned off the microphone. There was no sound in the bridge. Vaguely French slogans could be heard from all over the battleship.

"Let the commander of the sailor lead the damage control team to the engine room of No. 1 and prepare to open the subsea valve." Jean Ronald's face was expressionless, and he turned his head to order Lieutenant Colonel Berticchik.

"Understood, give it to me, Captain. I will take care of the matter myself." The Deputy Captain took a deep breath and immediately saluted the Captain.

"Thank you, Berdychik, I owe you a favor." Jean Ronald solemnly returned a military salute, then stepped into the commander's lounge at the rear of the bridge, and turned to lock the door.

The French navy officers and men gathered in a neat queue on the deck. I don't know who led it. They began singing the Marseilles in unison. The sailors put down the four lifeboats carried on the battleship. Each lifeboat is full and can carry forty-five people. Obviously, it is impossible to take all the crew at once. The officers decided to take away half the people first, send them ashore and then go back to respond The other half.

The sailors all knew that the captain had decided to sink the warship in the Loire. Although they felt sorry, this was also a matter of no way. They were convinced that the captain made a correct decision and could not make this powerful The warship is left intact to the German invading army.

Some officers regretted that the warship did not carry the main gun ammunition, otherwise they could still rely on the heavy artillery on the warship to fight the Germans on the shore. Even if they were destined to fail, they could eventually detonate the ammunition depot and let the warship Completely finished.

The first wave of lifeboats took 130 officers and soldiers. The students and engineers of the naval school were left in the second evacuation. They watched the sailors row the lifeboat slowly around the square of St. Nicholas, and then disappeared. In sight.

But then the military school students and engineers stood on the deck and began a long wait. After half an hour passed, none of the four lifeboats were returned. This situation was obviously not right, and the remaining personnel on the battleship began to get nervous.

The huge hull of Jean Barr is still leaning and resting on the center of the river channel. It is impossible to see that the battleship has sunk. The sailor on the deck believes that the captain has ordered the submarine valve to be opened. The lower cabin should be filled at this moment. The muddy waters of the Loire River.

But these people all guessed wrong, so that Barr could not sink at all, and Berticchik was corrected in the bottom compartment, furious for the ridiculous scene in front of him.

Whether it is a civilian ship or a warship, a subsea valve is installed, which refers to the main valve on the seawater main pipe of the ship. When the ship is sailing, a large amount of seawater needs to be extracted to adjust the ballast water tank to cool the boiler and fire and clean.

Seawater is poured into the seawater main from the submarine door located under the ship's bottom, generally near the power cabin side, and then distributed to each required branch pipe. The valve installed on the seawater main is the so-called subsea valve.

Opening the submarine valve in the traditional sense is self-sinking. It is not necessary to turn the switch on the valve as you think. Instead, use a tool to unscrew the sealing bolt that fixes the valve, allowing seawater to flow directly into the cabin through the main pipe, because the submarine door is deep. The bottom of the ship is underwater, so the water intake and water pressure are very large, and once opened, it cannot be closed again.

In order to avoid the inhalation of the sediment at the bottom of the river in civilian ships, a high-level submarine door was also set up, but the battleships at that time had special circumstances. Armor belts and lightning protection compartments were generally installed near the ship’s side. And rarely enter shallow waters to sail, so usually only set the bottom sea gate.

The problem lies in the bottom gate. The bottom gate of Jean Barr is located in the crotch of the starboard side of the battleship. The roll of the hull has been pressed into the mud at the bottom of the river, and all the inlets are given by the river mud. Plugged.

Lieutenant Colonel Berticchik didn't even know this kind of thing at this time. He instructed the sailors to remove the bolts of the submarine valve. As he saw in the data, the river water spewed out from the gap of the valve. The water pressure even flew the entire valve off the pipe.

The deputy captain immediately led the sailors to retreat, but while they were still struggling to climb the gangway, the water flow from the pipe became smaller and smaller, and finally stopped, at this time the river water poured into the cabin , You can’t even reach your knees.

The lieutenant colonel and his hands looked at each other, they didn't understand what was going on, they could only turn their heads back to the bilge, and the knee-drained sewage came to the subsea valve, wondering what went wrong.

"This is the remaining river water in the pipeline and the compartment. It looks like the seawater pipeline is blocked by something. I have no way to deal with it." The shipyard engineer stood in the water, spreading his hands and expressing helplessness.

"We have to find a way to pour water in. You won't want to see this battleship fall into the hands of the Germans." the lieutenant colonel said loudly.

"This layer of hull is five centimeters thick steel plate, there is a layer of waterproof compartment outside, we need explosives." The engineer said with a shake of his head.

"But we didn't, because the wise Captain Jean Ronald did not agree with our proposal."

"There should be other ways. You are an engineer, or should you discuss it with your colleagues." the lieutenant colonel asked.

"If I can't think of it, they can't do the same." The engineers are confident in their professionalism.

At this moment, the lights on the top of the cabin began to flash intermittently. After a violent flash, all the lights were extinguished and the bilge fell into darkness.

"What happened!"

"Don't panic, it should be a trip."

"Do not move while standing still."

"Can't this thing work properly once?"

"Who carries a flashlight?"

"I have matches."

Several sailors turned on the flashlights around their necks in a mess of shouts.

"Follow me to the deck and wait until the circuit is repaired." The deputy captain ordered.

"Head, don't you need to stay guarded?" a sailor whispered to his squad leader.

"What is the caretaker? Just this pool of dirty water?" So the talkative guy took a nag.

Lieutenant Colonel Berticchi returned to the bridge from the officer's passage. He was prepared to give a detailed report to the captain on the current situation, but he knocked on the captain's lounge for a long time, but there was no response.

The deputy captain found that the situation was not good, hurriedly greeted a few sailors, and pried open the door with a crowbar. Unsurprisingly, the deputy captain expected that the captain had begun to stiffen his body.

Jean Ronald did not choose a pistol, but pierced his throat with a short sword, just like the medieval French knight, using his life to confirm his oath.

It can be seen that his death was very painful and slow. Perhaps this was a punishment for himself. The captain of the navy did not leave any text such as a suicide note. A photo of him and his wife and daughter was lying on the desk. The smiling family in the photo has been soaked in blood.

Regardless of the final result, history will record his name, and Colonel Jean Ronald is inseparable from the battleship Jean Barr.

ps: I finally caught up with a four thousand word chapter, thank you for your consideration. (To be continued.)

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