On the afternoon of August 5, on the sea about two hundred kilometers west of Orkney Islands, a Britain cargo ship was sailing southeast. This cargo ship sailed from Canada to Britain, and all the food on board was transported.
British mainland's industry is developed, but food Agricultural Products needs to be transported from overseas colonies. The small amount of local production is simply not enough to meet the consumption of tens of millions of Britain people.
After the war broke out, Britain's food was far from enough. Therefore, British government has issued an order to mobilize food transportation from the colonies in North America and Australia to Britain to support the consumption of the war.
On the sea more than ten kilometers away from the Britain cargo ship, the u-039 submarine is sailing. Not enough, they soon spotted the oncoming submarine.
"Submarine Captain, found the Britain cargo ship! It's about ten kilometers northwest of us."
"Dive immediately, don't let the Britain people discover us." Dönitz immediately issued the order.
The submarine's water tank began to fill with water, and a large number of bubbles came out. In just half a minute, the submarine was completely submerged in the sea. Although a large number of bubbles were left on the water surface, it soon became calm and no trace was left.
"Turn around and go around to the left of Britain. The Torpedo at the bow of the boat is ready." Dönitz calmly gave the order.
This was the first result they encountered after entering Atlantic Ocean. Dönitz certainly did not want this result to slip away.
The submarine was underwater, slowly approaching the Britain cargo ship. At this time, the Britain sailors on the cargo ship did not expect that the crisis had come. Although, many merchant ships were sunk yesterday. However, British government did not respond in time, nor did it have time to notify the merchant ships on Atlantic Ocean to avoid it.
As time passed, the u-039 submarine had successfully circled to the left side of the Britain cargo ship, and extended its periscope less than two kilometers away from the cargo ship.
"Get ready, launch Torpedo!" Dönitz gave the order.
"Bang!" A 533mm Heavy Torpedo was launched from the Torpedo launch tube and quickly ran towards the Britain cargo ship two kilometers away. Because the cargo ship's speed was only ten knots, Dönitz only ordered the launch of one Torpedo. Under such conditions, even if it is just one Torpedo, the hit rate is very high.
The distance of two kilometers only takes two minutes for Torpedo, which has a speed of more than 30 knots. After submarine U-039 launched Torpedo, it did not dive immediately. Because the target of the attack is the cargo ship, there is no need to worry about counterattack by the target.
The Britain sailors on the cargo ship did not know that the crisis had arrived at this moment. Until, a sailor on the deck suddenly saw something approaching them quickly on the sea to the left.
"What is that?" the young sailor asked loudly, pointing to the water marks left by Torpedo on the sea.
"God! Torpedo. It's Torpedo! We're being attacked!" shouted an older sailor Panic who had served in Royal Navy.
Suddenly, the Britain sailors on the cargo ship were in chaos.
"Boom!"
When Torpedo kissed the left hull of the cargo ship, an earth-shattering explosion occurred.
Although this cargo ship is a large cargo ship with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons, the hull of the cargo ship is obviously far from comparable to that of a warship. In the violent explosion, a large hole was directly blown out of the underwater part on the left side of the cargo ship. Sea water poured into the cargo ship crazily.
The sailors on the cargo ship did not conduct damage control or block the holes. Instead, they scrambled to escape to the lifeboat and even fought for the limited escape quota.
As more and more water poured in, the cargo ship gradually tilted and eventually capsized on the sea.
"Turn and continue sailing south!" Dönitz ignored the sinking Britain cargo ship and the Britain sailors who fell on the sea and shouted for help, and directly ordered the submarine to leave.
The further south you go, the greater the chance of encountering the Britain merchant ship. Dönitz also wants to sink more Britain merchant ships and gain more results!
Although, submarines are very slow and far inferior to surface ships. However, submarine attacks are more subtle. The enemy didn't even notice it, and the crisis was already over.
After thirty German submarines entered Atlantic Ocean, it immediately began to attack British merchant ships and the transport ship, causing British merchant ships's losses to start to rise linearly.
German Navy's tactics of surface fleet and underwater submarine cooperation caused Britain's transport fleet to suffer very heavy losses. On August 5th alone, the number of Britain merchant ships sunk soared to 62, and the total tonnage lost exceeded 500,000 tons.
Although, during the operation, the submarine also encountered British Navy surface ships. However, these submarines used their excellent performance to avoid them. There is a person like Oscar who is like a cheater. Compared with another time and space, German submarines has been greatly improved, which greatly reduces the possibility of them being sunk during the battle.
After losing nearly a hundred merchant ships, large and small, British government knew that something was wrong, no matter how slow his reaction was. Many merchant ships that were supposed to arrive at the port failed to arrive on time, which surprised those who were preparing to receive the goods.
When the messages were gathered together, British government knew what had happened.
British Admiralty, First Sea Lord Churchill turned blue.
Before the war broke out, he originally served as Home Secretary. However, Prime Minister Asquith admired his ability in the navy very much, and specially asked him to switch positions with McKenna, with him taking the post of First Sea Lord, and McKenna taking the post of Home Secretary.
After taking over as First Sea Lord, Churchill is even more comfortable. After all, as the war gets closer and closer, Royal Navy, as British Empire's strongest force, is constantly rising in status, which makes his First Sea Lord's status become higher and higher.
Although, Churchill knows that being First Sea Lord now is not a good job. German Navy is chasing Royal Navy aggressively and quickly. Royal Navy will face unprecedented challenges. But Churchill believes that Royal Navy's background is enough to meet the challenge of German Navy. If he can lead British Navy through this crisis, he will become a hero that will go down in history.
But what Churchill didn't expect was that the war had just begun and he would already encounter such trouble.