. "Excellent materials, excellent design, and the Germans' consistent subdivided compartment waterproof design. Although the "Europa" has experienced the old storm since its completion, it is still quite outstanding among the Na Ship of the same class. The French have added the name of this giant ship without hesitation in reviving their shipping industry and reprimanding the continental ambition. However, no matter how good the civil ship is, it cannot escape the innate constraints of civil ships. They pursue safety, comfort, speed and cost ratios, and it is impossible to configure waterline armor and lightning protection compartments like warships. Therefore, for torpedoes and mines, such as powerful war weapons, there is no resistance. Therefore, when a super giant ship with a 50,000-ton encounters a torpedo with a weight of only two tons, even if it is just one, the prelude to the disaster has begun.

"Quick! Order to close the watertight! Close all watertight!" In the upper cockpit of the "Europa", which is about to be renamed "Lorraine", such a hurrying shout did not come from the mouth of the French captain. The two French political officials of different sizes still did not forget to exercise their special powers in panic. They pointed at it here, making the already nervous cockpit even more messed up. In their minds, the original cost of this ship reached 3,000.

Although the ocean cruise ship with a huge USD of 10,000 US dollars is not as good as the 180,000-ton super Nash Normandy, after the baptism of World War II, France's economic and industrial strength has shrunk significantly, and it is probably difficult to build such a huge ship within ten years. The Normandy, which was detained by the United States during the war, was severely damaged by a fire when it was anchored in New York Port in 1942 and could not be used. During such a long transition period, the giant ship built by Germany is of great economic and political significance.

Under the heavy pressure of these two officials on board, the French captain with a cold expression grabbed the internal contact number: "Let the bottom cabin report the loss and report the loss as soon as possible! Temporarily close the waterproof partition pairs of the engine compartment and boiler compartments, put down the water tight mén, and temporarily evacuate the rest of the injured and continue to stay at their posts!"

The United States occupied more than half of the personnel boarding the ship, whether it was staff or passengers. At this time, in addition to the navigator, there was also an American ship engineer present in the cockpit. Although this cruise ship was not built by the American shipyard, it was seized by the United States and changed to a troop carrier. After the first voyage, it underwent a relatively comprehensive overhaul in New York. After these ten months of operation, the US ship engineers' knowledge of it was obviously too much as the French engineers and technician teams who had just taken over.

The explosion was at the rear of the hull, and the American engineer wearing small-framed glasses hurriedly returned from the observation stand on the right side of the cockpit. He spoke in American language and then transferred it to the French captain through the French translation. Perhaps because the engineer used some professional terms, and the translation found by the French man had no knowledge of ship technology. The original intention actually changed subjectively here. "It must slow down and stop loss" became "no need to slow down and stop loss"

"Issuing a security alert" also became "it should still be safe."

The ship engineer is an expert, and the experienced captain is not a vegetarian. The French captain did not fully pay attention to the opinions put forward by the chief engineer of the United States. When other torpedo traces are still vaguely seen on the sea surface and the ship may be subsequently damaged at any time, he seems to have avoided subsequent strikes first. Therefore, while asking the crew to pay close attention to the torpedo tracks on the sea surface, he ordered a right turn at full speed.

At this moment, the panic came from the deck and the nearby cabin, and the French first mate was sweating profusely. The American crew member standing beside him heard the words of his chief engineer and saw the first mate doing something completely contrary, so he tried to correct the French. However, the language was not understood and the situation was urgent, so he failed. He frowned and the French first mate with a huge pupil was turning the huge rudder wheel quickly, and the speed was not obvious.

When the descent was about 20 meters away from the water line, the hull, which was more than 70 meters above the water surface of the chimney, began to turn clumsily. The mountain-like hull did not show obvious hull tilt when it was turned sharply like a light ship. At the position below the water line, a large amount of sea water was pouring into the cabin through the huge damaged hull. Although this would not immediately have a significant impact on the overall state of the Na ship, it was a serious and irreversible damage process!

At this time, what is really in crisis is the boiler cabin and engine cabin near the bottom of the hull. Once directly attacked by seawater, the dilemma of losing power will directly affect the operation of the ship and the loss of pipes and leakage prevention work. If it causes an internal explosion and then ignites a fire, the fate of the ship will be irreversible. On this giant Nahu, which has the main power system of oil-fired boilers and steam turbines, the number of furnace drivers is less than that of an ordinary cargo ship in the coal-fired power era. Their daily responsibilities have also changed from uninterrupted coal-fired to maintenance and repair. Since the "Europa" will undergo a long expected repair and transformation after arriving in France, the French sent mainly engineers and technicians this time. In order to ensure the normal sailing of the ship at sea, the Frenchman asked the American personnel to stay on the ship to work in the form of employment, and then provide the return ticket and travel expenses after the voyage.

There are very few real American citizens among the dozens of furnace stewards working on the Europa. Most of them are those who fled Europe during the war to avoid the disaster.

Some were originally crew members, and some just wanted to find a job that could support their families. They worked on this troop transport ship for more than three months, and they also knew that this was their last time to sail as its hired crew. Faced with the sudden explosion, they naturally put their lives first, rather than doing their best to ensure its safety. After the torpedo explosion, the sea water did not spread immediately to the sturdy force installation of the torpedo warhead

The explosion produced a strong impact, not only torn the outer hull, but also penetrated the multi-layer cabin in one breath. However, this Na-ship is really huge. The direct damage of a torpedo is limited to some nearby cabins. Since the explosion-damaged cabins are almost impossible to obtain sufficiently powerful and effective damage pipes, they are gradually filled with the sea water pouring in from the break. Due to the increase in weight of thousands of tons, the huge cruise ship began to tilt slightly, but this is not the most deadly.

Some water-tight Méns that failed to close in time and the overwhelmed cabin plates under the huge pressure of the sea water became the path for the sea water to further spread to the cabin chambers in the ship.

"The third one has been closed!" "The fourth one has been closed!" "The fifth one has been closed! All watertights are closed!" In the main boiler cabin with twelve oil-fired boilers, sweaty furnace stewards finally closed the heavy watertights leading to the outside world, but this does not mean they are trapped here. Although the ship was designed and built by the Germans, the long-term work has made them familiar with every detail here, including the escape passage designed by German ship engineers. The solid passage can even withstand medium explosion intensity.

The impact of the boiler cabin is still able to open the circular safety meshes and pass through the shaft passage to the upper cabin. Although the previous explosion was fierce, it was a super mail ship with hundreds of cabins. The impact of the explosion did not spread to this point, and no furnace stewards were injured during this period. Now in a relatively closed space, the roar of the oil-fired boiler is still so noisy. Through this mechanical roar, people are sometimes shocked by the sharpness of metal distortion, and sometimes by the sound of sea water impacting the cabin and partitions.

Under the unknown situation, some furnace drivers thought they should evacuate, but the leading furnace driver denied the suggestion on the grounds that the captain had received the order before. When someone forced the passage to open the safe and tried to leave, the strong middle-aged man blocked his subordinates' way, and shouted like a provocative lion with majestic nature: "Stay at your post! You guys! Our last double salary and return tickets are still with the French. Don't you want it? Hum?" Some people retreated, and some people were determined. They shouted: "Silly pig! Fate is heavy.

Is it still money important?" Whether it is a stupid pig or a beast, the furnace chief suddenly pushed the person in front and knocked the safety of the man behind his back: "Everyone returns to his post, it is safe now. If Jiajian appears, I promise to leave the last one!" Seeing that the furnace chief's attitude was so tough, most furnace chiefs were ready to disperse, but at this moment, a strange thud sound sounded, which sounded like someone stranded in the external cabin pounding hard for help, but this guy's strength was beyond imagination, and the heavy steel watertight mén could pound clangingly.

"Damn it, the sea water has already flowed over! If you don't leave, you will die here!" an older furnace snorted in horror.

The head of the furnace, who was comparable to the heavyweight boxers, was obviously afraid, but he did not give in. Instead, he turned around and walked to the bulkhead with the old-style phone, trying to use it to contact the captain and mate in the cockpit, but the line was blocked, and the thud sound outside became more and more urgent and heavier.

On the other side of the safety passage, a strong furnace steward forced the safety mén to reopen and crawled up first. When the second person got in, someone suddenly strikingly said behind: "There is a leak in boiler No. 1!" Boiler No. 1 is located at the front of the boiler cabin, a distance from the entrance of the safety passage. You can't see obvious signs of water leakage from your eyes, but the war left too many painful memories for people, and the explosion that happened before was so violent.

People have no intention of verifying their "discovery" of their companions, and they are afraid that they will be trapped here, and they are panicking and squeezed into the safe passage. Now even if the shaking leader wants to stop it, it will be useless. In the increasingly obvious tremor, he changed his previous ruthlessness and toughness, threw away his promise that had been out of his mind for less than 3 minutes, and threw down his phone and squeezed towards the safe passage. As we all know, the hope of survival can make people burst out their physical potential, and people are scrambling to come.

Even though he was strong, he could not squeeze back to his position just now. The vertical safety passage could only pass through one person at a time. The more everyone squeezed and fought, the less efficient the passage would be. In just a few minutes, the leakage of the bulkhead near boiler No. 1 suddenly deteriorated, and fountains appeared in the gap, and water quickly spread on the cabin. Faced with this situation, the furnace stewards should have reported to the cockpit and turned off the oil-fired boiler in time, so that even if the fate of the ship could not be saved, it would be possible.

It delays its sinking speed and ensures the safety of most people. But after all, this was built by Germany and owned by France. The mail ship is a very expensive reward. If you lose your life, it will be impossible to get it. As a result, these furnace stewards who were recruited by the US Navy were only concerned about escaping themselves at this time, and none of them went to rescue them. After all, there were lifeboats and a British cruiser outside. As long as they left here, there was hope for the giant ship to sink or not.

A major tragedy in the world is that the more urgent people's hope of survival, the more bad luck comes, the more difficult it is. When there are only a dozen furnace drivers on the outside of the safety passage, the dong dong sound came to an abrupt end without warning. You should know that under the cruise state, nine of the twelve oil-fired boilers here are in operation. Their originally maintained a stable and rhythmic mechanical noise is softer than that of the steam turbine. However, as the accumulation of water increases, the boiler located in the front suddenly emits white air, and a strange sound of puffing sound is produced. But several emergency lights are extinguished for no reason. In an almost dark environment, the furnace drivers left outside the safety passage are almost killed by one another in order to compete for order.

Before they knew it, their feet were filled with cold sea water, and they could feel a very rapid rise. Fortunately, the space in the engine room was large enough for only one or two minutes and it was not completely submerged by sea water. When the last furnace steward finally climbed the vertical ladder of the safety passage, the water rose to the height of the normal person's mouth, and it showed a terrifying surging and rolling...

On the wide deck of the Europa, hundreds of American soldiers were still feeling comfortable in the sun. Some of them returned to Europe for missions after the war, and some went to Germany as an occupation force for the first time. The former may have experienced the attack of German submarines during the last time crossing the Atlantic Ocean by boat, and had some experience in dealing with dangerous situations, while the latter was confused by this extremely unexpected situation. Since the end of the war, the US side has stopped the meticulous and comprehensive maritime emergency training during the war, because in the eyes of the senior management, the only potential threat after the destruction of the Third Reich and the Japanese Empire was the powerful Soviet Union alone. Their weak naval strength was not as strong as the German fleet in the early stages of the war. Only Britain could send a squadron to block their main maritime forces in Europe in the Boluo Sea.

It was a delusion to go to the Atlantic to stir up the Germans' winds back then. As a result, these US Army soldiers who had mastered swimming skills at best had no idea whether to stay on the deck or directly board the lifeboat hanging on the side of the port in this situation. As a result, some of them ran back to the cabin in panic. In the lower cabin, the US military officers and soldiers who had originally slept or did their own things were also dizzy by this sudden situation. Some of them hurriedly grabbed their backpacks and ran to the deck, while others responded to the crew's call to go to the leaky parts to participate in the damage tube rescue. In sharp contrast to this situation, the cabins and passages near the deck had almost no changes due to explosions and temporary steering. The floors and bulkheads were still dry and tidy, and there was no sign of surging sea water, which numbed people's perception to a certain extent.

"Torpedo! Torpedo! Fire and Strike!...,

The port side of the ship, that is, the side that was hit by a torpedo, suddenly shouted like crazy, and raised his right arm and pointed it straight to the side. Some soldiers just took out their rifles and loaded the bullets under the guidance of the officer. The crackling sound of gunfire was just now.

At first, it was very sparse, with scattered bullets shè towards the sea two or three hundred meters away. Not to mention whether they could have a substantial interception effect on torpedoes that were stealthing several meters deep, the "torpedoes" seen in the eyes of the US officials always changed their position with the surge of bolàng. This was obviously a visual error caused by tension and lack of experience, but this person did not correct it in time, so that more and more American soldiers gathered on this side, from pistols and semi-automatic rifles to machine guns, and later machine guns also joined the ranks of shoals. The dense gunshots actually outweighed the British cruiser!

"What are those mischievous guys doing?"

Standing on the side deck of the cruiser with the cross naval flag of St. George, the British official wearing a white naval uniform looked at the sea for no reason. With the amplification effect of the telescope, he saw the American bullets rippled up water on the empty sea. Judging from the situation just now, the attacker set a torpedo depth of about 4 meters. For a large mail ship without armor protection, once the torpedo hits the part below the waterline and explodes, the situation is very bad, and 4 meters is exactly the deadliest hull area of ​​this light cruiser with nearly 10,000 tons. Not to mention the pistol and rifle, even the bullets emitted by ordinary machine guns are difficult to reach.

Because of this, the large and small artillery on the ship had been fully mobilized, and even the four triple-mounted 6-inch main turrets were loaded on standby. As soon as the torpedo appeared, they would intercept it in the most primitive and direct way. As a result, the US team's bullets were exhausted and not only did it take to say that the bullets of the US team took the energy and bullets, but also attracted the attention of many officers and sailors on the British cruiser, but the subsequent attack was launched in a completely opposite direction.
Chapter completed!