The heroic history of Li He, the smallest warship commended by the Royal Navy, is 1805. The battle of Trafalgar established the maritime hegemony of the empire that never sets, and the legendary British general Nelson left a famous saying that "England expects everyone to do their duty." In the following century's bonfire, inspired by Nelson's spirit, British naval officers and men fought tenaciously even in the face of strong enemies, fighting to the death and making a name for the Royal Navy. In the second world war, in the southwest Pacific, HMS Wally, an auxiliary patrol ship with negligible tonnage, brought this spirit of the Royal Navy to the extreme! ▲ The patrol ship "Li He", which is brave and not afraid of strong enemies, was formerly the "Li He" and was built by Hong Kong Injina Merchant Shipping Company at Huangpu Shipyard in Hong Kong. The ship has a displacement of 700 tons and is driven by two three-expansion steam engines. The maximum speed is only over ten knots. With the full-scale outbreak of World War II, Li He was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1940. After simply installing a 4-inch gun, it was put into use as an auxiliary patrol ship. ▲ Hong Kong's advertisement for China Merchant Shipping Company mainly deals in inland merchant ships in the Yangtze River valley,194165438+February 7. After the Pearl Harbor incident broke out, Japan declared war on Britain and began a large-scale attack on British colonies in Southeast Asia. In a blink of an eye, the British fleet suffered serious losses, and many capital ships were sunk by Japanese aviation. This means that the Allies have lost the sea power in Southeast Asia, and the Japanese can land from anywhere under the cover of naval vessels and launch attacks! By the beginning of 1942, the Japanese army had arrived in Singapore, the British base camp in Southeast Asia. In view of the situation on the verge of collapse, the local British commander in Singapore decided to recruit ships to transport the British troops stranded there, including the patrol ship "Li He" with a displacement of only 700 tons. ▲ In the smoky urban area of Singapore, we can see that there are still many ships moored in the dock area, ready to participate in the evacuation operation. At 5: 00 am on February 1942, Li He left Singapore with 84 crew members and passengers for Batavia, a southeast Java island. Shortly after sailing, this small merchant ship was continuously attacked by the Japanese Air Force, and there were more than 50 sorties of aircraft bombing before and after! There are only three kinds of weapons on the Li He, a 4-inch naval gun capable of firing anti-aircraft shells and two machine guns. In the contest with the Japanese fighter, the weak Li He was beaten black and blue, but finally survived four waves of air strikes and continued to sail hard towards Batavia. ▲ The Republic, another ship involved in the evacuation operation, was not so lucky. It was hit by a Japanese plane in the engine room. This is a photo taken by the crew when they abandoned the ship. On February 14 16: 05, Li He sailed to Bangka Strait between Sumatra and Bangka Island. Just when everyone on board thought victory was in sight, the lookout came the news that no one wanted to hear: a big Japanese fleet appeared on starboard! In fact, this is a formation that is transporting Japanese soldiers to participate in the "L Campaign" to attack Sumatra. The main body is a large number of transport ships, and the escort forces include several Japanese cruisers and destroyers. Looking from Lihe, six miles away, Japanese transport ships form a long column, winding from the right front to the right rear. Outside the formation, a destroyer is on alert, and the silhouette of another cruiser can be seen at the end of the sea level. Once Li He is discovered by Japanese escort warships, this fragile auxiliary patrol ship will not be able to withstand repeated shelling by many warships. But even if the enemy's strength is far from ours, there is still a glimmer of hope for escape-the ship was painted in disguise when the war broke out, and its hull was short, so it was difficult to be found by the observation post of the Japanese ship. At this time, if Li He keeps his distance from the Japanese fleet, it may be possible to escape. ▲ One of the Japanese light cruisers, Yoshiko Yura, was responsible for escorting the army fleet. However, at Lihe Bridge, the commander Captain Thomas Wilkinson had no idea of running away. Faced with an overwhelming number of powerful enemies, he decided to follow the heroic tradition of the Royal Navy-every enemy must fight! "Well, boys! The only thing we can do now is to go out and fight! " Captain Wilkinson held his head high and made a bold speech to the crew. ""we want to fight these yellow-skinned bastards! At least let one of their ships go to the grave with us! Despite repeated persuasion by other crew members, Captain Wilkinson made up his mind and gave a firm order: give up the idea of running away! " ▲ Captain Thomas Wilkinson, the captain of the patrol ship Li He, was originally a member of the Indo-zhina Merchant Shipping Company, and became the captain of the company when Li He was just built. Under the command of Captain Wilkinson, Li He changed course and bravely rushed to the Japanese escort formation six miles away. It may be that the Li He was modified from a merchant ship and painted with camouflage, which led the Japanese escort ship to confuse it with other Japanese transport ships in the formation. Therefore, when the Li He began to charge, it was not intercepted by Japanese warships at all. However, when the Li He approached five miles, the Japanese destroyer escorting it found something unusual and began to leave the formation and sail for Li He. Seeing this scene, the British sailors knew very well that the Li He had no chance to escape, and then there was only a desperate battle! In Li He's engine room, sailors frantically sent coal shovels to the burning boiler, and the chimney spewed smoke. Li He steadily accelerated to the highest speed 12 knots and rushed to the nearest Japanese transport ship. With the distance between the two sides getting closer, the crew of "Li He" counted 15 Japanese ships, but the only powerful weapon on board-four-inch artillery, only 3 1 fired shells. They decided to concentrate on attacking the transport ship ahead. At this point, the destroyer is still casually heading for Li He, and all Japanese transport ships continue to sail smoothly. The cruisers in the distance are not alert at all. The British sailors held their breath and observed the target directly in front with a telescope. I saw that every corner of the deck of the transport ship was crowded with soldiers dressed in khaki. The commander walked around with a combat knife and looked at the Japanese target Sumatra in front. On the Li He, the gunner kept holding his breath and didn't fire, because he knew very well that the closer he was to the target, the greater the chance of hitting. ▲ Schematic diagram of Li He's battle position, located in Bangka Strait 16: 45, Li He has approached the position less than 6000 yards away from the target. Just then, right in front of the bow, a huge water column suddenly rose-a Japanese ship opened fire! This means that Li He has been exposed, there is no need to hide it, and the battle has already begun! Almost in the blink of an eye, the 4-inch artillery on the Li He also roared, and the two machine guns also continuously fired hot trajectories. After two rounds of shelling, the third shell fired by Li and the 4-inch main gun directly blasted the bridge of the transport ship, and metal fragments flew everywhere, killing and injuring a large number of Japanese soldiers, screaming and rolling into the sea one by one. Because the distance between the two sides is very close, once it hits the target, Li He doesn't need to keep aiming. Four-inch shells hit the Japanese transport ship one after another, and two machine guns spewed flames like a storm. However, she showed no sign of striking back at this goal and was completely caught off guard. I saw a bloody little Japanese soldier jumping up and down on the deck, which was a mess. At the same time, the Japanese transport fleet was in chaos, and all the ships opened fire on the Li He and turned around to surround the uninvited guest. However, Li He was unmoved and resolutely kept sailing at a high speed, shooting violently all the way until he was within 300 yards of the target. In this position, there is no need to aim at it at all, and a shell comes out of the chamber with hatred and hits the target accurately. Suddenly, an earth-shattering noise shook Li He, and the large-caliber shells fired by the Japanese destroyer hit the superstructure of this small steamboat. 14000 yards away, the Japanese cruiser also opened fire, giving Li He a more violent blow. ▲ A British machine gunner on the deck of the British merchant ship, after the shells were exhausted, the crew of the Li He continued to aim at the deck of the Japanese transport ship with machine guns and violently fired raindrops of shells. Li He was shocked by the violent shock wave. Shake from side to side. However, the hull was still intact, and the steam engine under the deck roared, pushing her to continue to rush to the target. Just ahead, the burning Japanese transport ship suddenly swerved, like an injured elephant limping away with a whine. At this time, several small Japanese ships came out from the side. Just as jackals besieged lions, they sailed around Li He and kept firing. In order to stop this crazy steamboat, a small caliber shell penetrated the hull of the Li He. Suddenly, Li He shook slightly, and the crew thought they had hit the wreckage of the transport ship. When they looked out from the side of the ship, they were surprised to find that the bodies of several Japanese soldiers were entangled into a creepy thing after diving and drowning! At that time, hundreds of Japanese soldiers floated in a pool of blood with the waves, crying. They were either hit by shrapnel or ruthlessly cut into pieces by the propeller of the ship, and their death was extremely miserable. The fighting became fierce, and the besieged small ship opened a huge gap on the starboard side of Li He, and the shells of the escort ship also hit again and again. The ship has been scarred and suffered heavy casualties on the deck. The situation of the Japanese transport ship ahead is even worse, only to see that it has been seriously tilted, and the fire above the deck is soaring and the smoke is soaring. The Japanese commander flew into a rage, took out his pistol and shot Li He in despair. Seeing this scene, Captain Wilkinson sent a short and clear command by radio: "Prepare for collision!" Li He's bow accurately pointed to the Japanese aircraft carrier, firmly narrowing the distance between them. As the distance between the two ships was shortened to 100 yards, the crew operating the machine gun on the deck of the Lihe immediately stopped shooting and prepared for collision. On Li He's bridge, Captain Wilkinson looks firm, and his eyes are as bright as a torch. The unyielding and pride of the Royal Navy burned in his heart for hundreds of years. 17: 45, with an earth-shattering roar, this 700-ton boat crashed into a Japanese transport ship that was fleeing ahead at a speed of 12 knots! Like a dagger, Li He's bow plunged straight into the middle of the left side of the transport ship, accurate and malicious. The Japanese ship lurched at 15 degrees, and metal fragments were scattered at the crevasse. On the Li He, all the crew members were pushed to the ground by the huge impact. The bow structure was almost completely damaged, and the 4-inch gun misfired. Only two machine guns are still seizing the last chance and pouring bullets at the Japanese without mercy. ▲ A scene destined to stay in the history of naval warfare forever-Li He held high the battle flag and desperately crashed into a Japanese transport ship. Until this time, the Japanese warship in charge of escort woke up like a dream, and it was no longer possible to move Li He in succession with large-caliber shells. In the blink of an eye, the boiler and turbine of "Li He" were completely destroyed, and seawater poured in violently from the cracks in the hull. Seeing that Li He was hopeless, Wilkinson ordered all the crew to abandon the ship and escape from the small patrol boat hit by the Japanese artillery shells. When the subordinates asked to leave with him, Captain Wilkinson stood on Li He's bridge, and Weasion Wei remained motionless and silent-as a glorious captain of the Royal Navy, he was determined to sink with this ship! ▲ The Snowblower, one of the destroyers who came to rescue the Army Corps of Engineers, carried out a devastating shelling on the patrol ship Li He. Finally, under the heavy shelling of three Japanese warships, the Li He sank into the sea at 6 pm. 84 people on board, 12 were captured by the Japanese. As for the Japanese transport ship that Li He desperately chased, it burned all night because the fire was out of control, and sank into the sea the next morning and was abandoned by the Japanese army. In the War History Series compiled by Japan after the war, Li He's heroic behavior was briefly recorded: 18: 15, the army fleet located 20 nautical miles behind the first escort fleet was attacked by British special gunboats (Li He patrol boats). After the attack, a transport ship caught fire and abandoned the ship, and then three ships, Yoshiko Yura, Xuefeng and Chaowu, came to the rescue. ▲ After the ship model war made to commemorate the patrol ship Li He subsided, the crew captured by Li He suffered greatly, and only 9 people survived at the end of World War II. When victory came, the Royal Navy finally learned about this heroic battle in the southwest Pacific four years ago. In recognition of Captain Wilkinson's bravery, the Royal Navy decided to posthumously award him the Victoria Cross, which is the highest honor of the British army. The protagonist Li He, the auxiliary patrol ship in this paper, naturally became the smallest ship commended by the Royal Navy in World War II! ▲ It can be seen from the London announcement that Captain Wilkinson's Victoria Cross was posthumously awarded, which mentioned his heroic behavior on the HMS Wally many times ▲ Captain Wilkinson's Victoria Cross is now in the British Imperial Museum.