"God! It's coming right at us! Brace for impact!"
The officers and sailors aboard the *HMS Indomitable* watched in horror as the torpedo slammed into the side of their battleship. Despite the desperate evasive maneuvers, the distance was too short and the torpedo's speed too fast for them to react in time.
"Boom!"
A medium-sized torpedo struck the port side of the *Indomitable*. The 228mm-thick waterline armor, unable to withstand the violent explosion, was torn apart as if made of paper.
The British Royal Navy had long prioritized firepower and speed, often neglecting defense. This design philosophy applied not only to the *Dreadnought* class but also to the earlier pre-dreadnought ships.
This left their battleships with a fragile resistance to damage.
When the torpedo exploded, sailors on the *Indomitable* were thrown in every direction by the shockwave. Some were even hurled into the sea, their fates unknown.
Though the *Indomitable* was fortunate to have only been struck by a single torpedo, that blow was more than enough to spell disaster. The massive hole torn by the explosion allowed seawater to flood in at an alarming rate. Despite the valiant efforts of the damage control teams, the breach could not be sealed. Reluctantly, they had to close the watertight bulkheads, but the flooding caused the battleship to list, reducing its speed and maneuverability.
Before the captain of the *Indomitable* could exhale in relief, four bombers launched another attack. These bombers, armed with aerial bombs, descended from an altitude of over a thousand meters. Due to the structure of their aircraft, their dive angle was shallow, and they swooped down on the *Indomitable* at a slanted trajectory.
At around five hundred meters above the sea, the bombers released their payloads and swiftly adjusted their flight paths.
"Boom! Boom!"
Four bombs fell, but only one struck the *Indomitable*, while the other three splashed harmlessly into the sea. The impact of the bomb that hit the battleship tore through its deck armor and exploded within the ship, destroying several adjacent compartments and igniting a raging fire, further damaging the *Indomitable*.
Faced with the relentless attacks from the German naval air force, the British pre-dreadnoughts and armored cruisers could only flee for their lives. They dashed in every direction, attempting to evade the aerial bombardment. But this only served to further scatter their formation.
One after another, British warships were struck by bombs or torpedoes launched by German planes. The thin armor of these ships made them vulnerable, and the damage was catastrophic.
Once struck by a torpedo, the thin waterline armor of a British warship could hardly hold up. The flooding that followed only compounded the damage, pushing the ships toward the brink of sinking.
"General, the *Indomitable* has been heavily damaged," a staff officer reported to Vice Admiral Cavison.
Cavison's face darkened, as if scorched by the heat of the battle. The fight had barely begun, and already one of their ships had been devastated. This underscored the formidable power of the German aircraft.
"Let them make their own decisions," Cavison replied bitterly, his words thick with helplessness and frustration. Faced with the German naval air forces, they had no answers, only the bitter reality of being at their mercy.
"Yes, sir," the officer responded, immediately dispatching a telegram.
The *Indomitable* became the first British warship to be sunk in this battle. Despite initially being struck by one torpedo and one bomb, it was later hit by two more torpedoes and another bomb. For a battleship weighing over 16,000 tons, this was a fatal blow.
Though the ship's structure remained largely intact, the excessive flooding caused it to lose its buoyancy, ultimately sinking into the depths.
"My God! The *Indomitable* has been sunk by the Germans! It's hard to imagine that those toy-like machines have such deadly power."
"Indeed! The Germans are formidable, to have developed such terrifying weapons!"
Many of the Royal Navy's officers had previously scoffed at the idea that aircraft could destroy massive warships. They had dismissed them as mere toys when compared to the colossal dreadnoughts. Yet now, the undeniable truth was laid before them: their immense ships were utterly helpless against the German planes. The Germans used these aircraft as if they were swatting flies, effortlessly annihilating the mighty warships.
The *Montagu*, a pre-dreadnought of the *Duncan* class, with a displacement of over 14,000 tons and armed with two twin-mounted 305mm main guns and 12 152mm secondary guns, had once been a dominant force in the era of pre-dreadnoughts.
But now, it was desperately fleeing from the relentless pursuit of German bombers.
"Hurry, increase speed! The German planes are closing in!" ordered the captain of the *Montagu*.
"Sir, we've already forced the boilers to over-ventilate. Any further pressure will cause the boilers to fail," reported the chief engineer.
The *Montagu* had a maximum speed of only 19 knots, and after more than a decade of service, its top speed had deteriorated to a mere 16 or 17 knots. Even with maintenance, it could barely reach 18 knots. Against the German planes, which could fly at over 200 kilometers per hour, this speed was pitifully inadequate.
"Damn it! Why didn't we install anti-aircraft guns and cannons? If we had, we wouldn't be reduced to this passive position!" grumbled the gunner.
Lacking any anti-aircraft weapons, the British ships had no recourse but to endure the bombardment and pray to God that the German bombs and torpedoes would miss. There was no other option.
Despite the *Montagu*'s frantic flight, it could not escape. Soon, it too was sent to the bottom of the sea by the German air assault.