Chapter 693: Roar

How far could the 280mm cannons on the armored cruiser Lützow fire? Germany’s excellent steelmaking and gun-founding technology allowed these cannons to hurl their shells over 30 kilometers. While this range was not the best in the world, to use it against an American destroyer armed with only 127mm guns was, without a doubt, bullying.

BOOM! Almost simultaneously, all six of the 280mm main guns on the German warship spewed dazzling flames. Even in broad daylight, the huge flames and smoke were clearly visible. Even on the turbulent North Sea, the blast wave from the massive propellant charge was like a gale, blowing away the gloom in people’s hearts.

And to see six 280mm cannons fire a salvo with a delay of only a few tenths of a second was, for a civilian, a spectacular sight they would probably never see again in their lifetime. So when the Lützow fired its salvo, Kohler and some of the other civilians standing on the deck were so frightened they fell to the ground. In their eyes, this was probably the most powerful warship in the world.

One shouldn’t laugh at their thoughts. Even if the British battleships were more powerful, not many civilians could personally witness the sight of a King George V-class battleship firing all ten of its guns at once. Therefore, for these German-Americans to feel that the warship before them was the world’s number one was by no means an overstatement, but a heartfelt sigh of admiration.

What’s more, although the British Navy’s battleships were better, they belonged to someone else and would not roar for the Germans who were far overseas. Their own warship, although not as good as the British ones, was sailing right before their eyes, firing angry shells for the humiliation they had suffered!

What a boost to morale! When had the Germans ever felt so uplifted since 1919? Since the High Seas Fleet had turned into a rainbow and sunk to the bottom of the British sea, when had the Germans ever acted with such backbone in the Atlantic? Firing on an American warship? And just to vent the anger of a group of insignificant German-American civilians, they had opened fire directly? Sitting on the deck, Kohler looked at the naval guns, still smoking in the distance, and for the first time, he felt that being a German was not a losing proposition.

Nearly 20 kilometers away, on the American destroyer, the first officer and the captain were still regretting that they hadn’t been able to make a quick buck. But soon they were hit by a shocking “disaster from the heavens.” With a huge whistling sound, the shells fired by the Germans from over 20 kilometers away flew accurately around the destroyer, throwing up huge columns of water that were enormous to a destroyer.

“The Germans opened fire? What the hell is going on? Didn’t we let their ship go?” the captain of the American destroyer said, watching the huge columns of water rising in the distance. It took him a long time to utter these words, not knowing who he was asking. I just intercepted a transport ship, and I only fired a warning shot. There’s no need to attack me with main guns, is there?

And I’m just a small destroyer. To attack me with the 280mm main guns of a heavy cruiser, isn’t that a bit like using a sledgehammer to kill a chicken? Do you have to play so rough? Who’s on that transport ship? It’s not like the German Führer’s mistress happened to be there, right? How did I get so unlucky?

A series of question marks flashed through the American captain’s mind. In the end, he remembered that his current situation was very critical. He quickly came to his senses and ordered, “Quick! Full speed ahead, change course, hard to port! Avoid our previous course! Quick! Quick!”

The destroyer had a smaller tonnage and a faster speed. It was a typical case of “a small boat is easy to turn.” In less than a dozen seconds, with the roar of its engines, the destroyer had veered off its original course and turned its bow due south, cleaving through the waves.

At the same moment, on the German armored cruiser Lützow, the middle-aged captain stood on the bridge. Behind him, the weapons officer was reporting the results of the attack: “First salvo, no hit. The fall of shot was far from the target. Should we fire a second round?”

“Continue firing!” The 280mm cannon’s range and power were indeed astonishing, but it was clearly not very suitable for dealing with a ship the size of a destroyer. At least at this moment, the awkward situation of the Lützow having only six main guns became somewhat prominent. The low density of fire made the Lützow feel a bit strained, both in terms of the time interval between attacks and the density of fire.

In fact, there was a solution, which was to have only one gun from the fore and aft main turrets fire at a time, and then load and fire in sequence to form a cycle. However, although this would compensate for the attack interval, the density of fire would be even more sparse. In short, this design of a small ship with a small number of large guns was not without its flaws, and therefore it could not become a particularly successful cross-class warship design.

Of course, in terms of power, even the most poorly designed cruiser was much more combat-effective than a destroyer. So, to attack a destroyer with an armored cruiser was, in any case, a form of bullying.

As the saying goes, the layman watches the excitement, the expert watches the technique. Although the armored cruiser’s design, which overemphasized cross-class firepower, had caused some problems, in the eyes of the German-American civilians on the Hercules transport, they could not see so many professional details. They were still immersed in the shock of the second salvo, deeply proud of the power of the German war machine.

Some people were proud, and of course, some people had to deal with a dangerous situation that made them want to curse. Although the German gunnery control radar was far from being advanced enough to hit wherever it was pointed—after all, on the rough North Atlantic, not only were the carrier-based aircraft sometimes unable to take off due to the waves, but whether the big guns on a battleship could hit their target was also a lottery with a fairly high chance of winning.

However, German artillery had always been known for its accuracy, and the fact that the German Navy’s gunnery skills could make the British feel threatened was proof enough of their strength. Under the guidance of the gunnery control radar, the German Navy had not only adjusted the firing parameters for the distance but had also corrected for some of the firing data after the enemy had changed course.

The shells of the second salvo landed in a crossing pattern around the American destroyer. The one that landed closest to the ship almost hit its tallest mast. Such accurate long-range shelling sent a cold sweat down the spines of the American sailors. If they were hit by a 280mm shell, they would most likely be swimming back to the East Coast of the United States in the cold Atlantic waters.

“Do the Germans’ shells have eyes? How can they shoot so accurately when they can’t even see us?” the captain of the American destroyer roared at his first officer, watching the huge columns of water from the shell impacts, which had not yet completely subsided. Then he seemed to remember something and immediately waved his hand. “Have the air search lookouts search carefully! Don’t miss any clouds! Search carefully! The enemy must have a spotter plane! Find it for me! Quick!”

For the old destroyers on anti-submarine patrol off the East Coast of the United States, advanced gadgets like radar were not yet widespread. And even if they knew about such advanced equipment, the U.S. Navy did not have a radar device that could direct artillery fire. For them, radar was still just a device for detecting the enemy, not a fire-control aid with an accuracy of ten meters.

It could be said that the radar research that Akado had started as early as 1925 had finally given Germany a lead over the other countries of the world in this type of equipment. And the German Navy’s invincibility was not based on a weapon like the aircraft carrier, but on a device like radar, which had allowed them to achieve victory after victory in naval battles. Without radar, the combat effectiveness of the German carrier fleet would be greatly reduced, and it might even have been annihilated by the British battleship fleet in the North Sea.

While all the major military powers in the world were trying their best to make their cannons have a longer range and their armor thicker, the Germans had focused their efforts on radio applications, infrared, and other areas. And so, when everyone had thick armor and powerful cannons, they all unexpectedly discovered that the Germans also had many new pieces of equipment that were sufficient to decide the outcome of a war.

Seeing the immense power of the German carriers, the Americans and British were both capable of building their own carrier fleets, and their production speed was even faster. But even if an American carrier were really launched, would it have the combat capability of a German carrier fleet? To close this gap would take much more than just the one-year construction period of a carrier. The Germans had a 10-year head start. For the Americans to catch up would be no easy task.

While all the soldiers on the anti-aircraft positions of the American destroyer were craning their necks to search for the non-existent artillery spotter plane, the German armored cruiser had just fired its third salvo. The huge sound of the guns extended into the distance and also struck the hearts of all the German-American citizens on the Hercules transport No. 317.

This was not a routine intimidation or retaliation. If that were the case, one salvo would have been enough. Even to please the German-American citizens on board, one round of shelling would have been absolutely enough to win their hearts and minds.

When the German Navy’s cannons fired their third salvo, a seemingly absurd phrase popped into Kohler’s mind: “a matter of course.” Like a pride and tradition imprinted in their bones, the German warship before him seemed to regard any provocation against the Third Reich as an intolerable act. Their warship was not firing for these German-American citizens, but was roaring for the rise of the entire German nation!

Published: 2025-09-19T06:56:40.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-02-25T20:18:00.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c693-roar-139241885

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