Chapter 2729 Battle Damage 1
Chapter 2729 Battle Damage 1
With the explosion of bombs and boilers, the Independence seemed to be in constant tremors. A large amount of thick smoke and flames poured out from the boiler room. They spread from the lower deck to above along the pipes and tunnels. They burned the cabin and destroyed the ship. The machinery was dropped, and even a crack was torn open in the bottom of the ship. The gas turbine that lost its steam supply gradually stopped rotating, and the motor compartment was surrounded by flames, and important cables were burned out. The water pumps stopped running, and the lighting inside the battleship was also severely affected.
However, before the Americans on the Independence deployed manpower to repair the warship, another 500KG bomb also fell! This time, it also penetrated several decks and finally exploded above the gasoline depot at the bottom of the ship. The American warships did a good job in fire protection, but the defense on the upper part of the gasoline depot could not stop the semi-armor-piercing projectile! As a result, hundreds of tons of gasoline were ignited, and the violent explosion almost tore the Independence in two! Less than half a minute after the hit, the aircraft carrier tilted severely, and the propellers at the rear of the hull were exposed out of the water. The Independence is doomed!
In the end, four torpedo planes buried the Independence. After hitting two torpedoes in a row, the battleship finally broke into three pieces and sank into the sea. This was the first battleship lost by the U.S. Navy in this battle. , and all this is just the beginning!
After the USS Independence sank, the fleet originally used to attack the USS Independence gave up its attack on the USS Arizona and destroyers and rushed to another aircraft carrier, the USS Langley. The USS Pennsylvania, which was escorting it, ultimately failed to hold on. Finally, one 500KG high-explosive bomb and three 250KG bombs also severely damaged the Pennsylvania's anti-aircraft firepower. As a result, the exposed Langley was besieged by at least 30 aircraft of various types, and in this battle, the aircraft carrier died simply!
This time, the torpedo aircraft of the Japanese Navy played an important role. The Japanese torpedo aircraft unit that broke through first caused the Langley to shed the first drop of blood! After fully suppressing the opponent's anti-aircraft firepower, torpedo planes were the real killers of large warships. Japan's 12 torpedo planes were divided into two teams and pounced on the target. The six torpedo planes were distributed on a front line with a width of more than 300 meters. Then six torpedoes were released in a fan shape.
The Langley tried its best to dodge the life-threatening torpedoes under the sea. The huge hull drew a complete route on the sea. However, when the manpower finally ran out, after dodging four torpedoes in succession, two torpedoes were fired. The torpedo weighing more than 700 kilograms finally hit the Langley!
The warhead weighing more than 190 kilograms is really powerful. The torpedo exploded 7 meters underwater and produced a powerful shock wave. The explosion energy squeezed the seawater and debris, and the seawater and debris transferred the energy to the hull plate, so , after an explosion and a heart-wrenching sound of metal breaking, the Langley's shipside underwater defense system finally collapsed. The violent explosion directly tore a 6-meter-long crack, and the shock wave and high-temperature and high-pressure bubbles Then it broke through the underwater protective layer with a defense depth of only 3 meters. The bottom of the Langley's hull was stabbed deeply, and then another torpedo hit the boiler room of the battleship with a total damage of 800. Tons of water! So far,
The Langley has entered the countdown of its life!
Subsequently, seven bombs and two other torpedoes hit the poor battleship one after another. Ten minutes later, with a series of explosions, the Langley also disappeared into the vast sea. In less than half an hour, the U.S. Navy The three aircraft carriers of the First Aircraft Carrier Division have sunk two, and only the last one, the Constellation, is desperately resisting under the protection of the escort warships.
However, as the battle has progressed to this point, the Japanese attack fleet has reached its end. Previously, more than 70 aircraft broke through the outer destroyer defenses. Now, excluding those who were shot down, injured, and those who returned due to ammunition consumption, , there are only more than 20 bombers left! At this time, the battleship Pennsylvania, which had been damaged by the bomb, and the Nevada-class battleship guarding the Constellation were guarding the aircraft carrier Constellation. Although the two battleships were also damaged by bombs, the anti-aircraft firepower of the two battleships was still considerable!
At this time, the Japanese did not have time to slowly strip away the US military's anti-aircraft firepower as before. On the one hand, they did not have enough troops, and on the other hand, reinforcements from another US aircraft carrier unit were about to arrive! After fighting for so long, it was enough for the aircraft carrier that was not attacked to release a second wave of aircraft, right? It is absolutely impossible for the remaining 20 or so Japanese bombers to continue attacking the Constellation after the second wave of American fighter jets is in place.
So, in the end, these Japanese bombers remaining on the battlefield decided to fight for their lives! They passed over the still dense U.S. Navy anti-aircraft artillery and rushed straight to the Constellation, the strongest and largest aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy!
The two battleships formed a crossfire net, forming a death trap in the path of the Japanese bombers. However, the Japanese still rushed forward. The first plane was hit by a dense machine shell, and the fuselage was covered with bullet holes. Eventually, the plane disintegrated under its own weight and machine gun fire. The second plane died very simply. A 5-inch shell directly destroyed the entire fuselage. Then the third one, the fourth one!
But in the end, a group of Japanese bombers finally broke through the severely weakened US air defense network, still led by dive bombers, thinking that the Constellation dropped a 500 kilogram bomb on the deck of more than 200 meters!
boom! With a loud noise, Mitchell saw with his own eyes that the bomb hit the rear deck of the aircraft carrier. It was a high-explosive bomb, and a huge fireball rose into the sky. Hundreds of square meters of the deck were blown into pieces by the violent explosion. The debris then flew into the air. When the smoke cleared, a huge hole appeared on the deck, and under the flying armor, the hangar was also damaged. More than a dozen aircraft parked inside were destroyed, and a third of the hangar was also on fire. , at this time, the fire-extinguishing equipment prepared by the Americans came into use. First, dozens of tons of soapy water in automatic sprinkler equipment, which directly limited the spread of the fire, and then a large number of water hoses and foam fire extinguishers from the US fire brigade. Extinguish any remaining open flames.
At the same time, the ventilation doors on both sides of the aircraft carrier's hangar were also opened, and a group of firefighters wearing asbestos fire-proof suits pushed the burning aircraft out from the side. The Americans' damage control efficiency was very high. They extinguished the fire while eliminating potential explosion hazards, and gradually stabilized the situation.
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