Chapter 527 Tiger! Tiger! Tiger 31
"boom!"
At 1:12 a.m. on December 18, 1941, the heroic American battleship USS Nevada was hit!
A Type 91 armor-piercing projectile with a caliber of 460mm and a weight of 1,460 kilograms hit the front of the No. 2 turret on the bow of the USS Nevada. If you play this process in slow motion, you will see that the twin-mounted turret is like a blown balloon, first inflating rapidly, then turning into a dazzling ball of fire, and finally turning into countless Debris and broken parts. The entire battleship seemed to have been kicked violently by an infinitely powerful giant, shaking violently and moving several meters to the right.
At a distance of 10,000 meters, the Yamato's main gun can fire very accurately even at night. Just one minute after knocking off one of the Nevada's turrets, Yamato's main gun fired the 12th salvo. Another Type 91 armor-piercing projectile hit the thickest middle part of the Nevada's side, easily tearing it apart. The 13.5-inch-thick armored steel plate broke through the protective armor wrapped outside the boiler room again, and a big explosion occurred in the boiler room, blowing 8 of the 12 Yarrow-type heavy oil-fired boilers to pieces, and also exploded The pipe carrying high-pressure steam into the engine room was broken. High-pressure steam surged through the boiler room and nearby cabins, scalding dozens of soldiers who were not killed in the shell explosion to death!
The big explosion in the boiler room caused the Nevada to immediately lose all power. The battleship's speed suddenly dropped, and it just slowly slid forward based on inertia. The Nevada, which lost speed, was naturally unable to avoid the incoming shells. In just 2 minutes, the poor battleship was hit by two Type 91 armor-piercing projectiles fired by Yamato and two 356mm armor-piercing projectiles fired by Kirishima. The Nevada's bow turret No. 1, the bridge, the lifeboat deck amidships, and the stern waterline were each hit by one bullet. Fires broke out throughout the ship, and seawater poured into the breach at the waterline at the stern of the ship.
After confirming that the Nevada had lost power and was sinking, Yamamoto ordered the guns to be turned around and aimed at the Pacific Fleet's flagship, the Pennsylvania.
At 1:18 in the morning, the third salvo fired by Yamato and Kirishima at Pennsylvania formed a straddle.
Seeing the huge water column rising around the battleship, the people in the command tower of the Pennsylvania suddenly felt that their death was imminent.
"Quickly, quickly generate electricity for the San Diego and Pearl Harbor bases..." Kimmel suddenly remembered something, and he said in a trembling voice, "Tell, tell them that we encountered a Japanese super battleship near Hawaii Island. Its displacement is at least 70,000, no, 80,000 tons! It also has nine 18-inch main guns! It is the most powerful battleship in the world!"
It seems that Kimmel is ready to die for his country with a smile. Now he is sending a telegram to let the Navy Department and the President of the United States know that the Japanese have an 80,000-ton battleship in Hawaii! Therefore, the defeat in the Battle of Hawaii was not because Kimmel was too incompetent, but because the Japanese were too powerful.
In addition, he was also reminding Roosevelt and Stark not to send battleships that are not heavy enough to Hawaii... The Japanese have large battleships of 80,000 tons. Except for the Montana class, I am afraid that no other battleships can be rivals. ah!
As soon as the telegram was sent, a Type 91 armor-piercing projectile from the Yamato hit the 18-inch armor plate on the front of the Pennsylvania's No. 1 turret. The powerful armor-piercing projectiles tore through the thick armor and exploded inside the turret, blowing the turret containing three 14-inch cannons into pieces.
Everyone in the command tower of the battleship Pennsylvania was knocked to the ground by the shells and the huge shock caused by the explosion. Kimmel was helped up by his adjutant. The frightened Pacific Fleet commander suddenly thought of something and ordered loudly: "Disband the formation! Order the escort fleet to disband immediately..."
Disbanding the formation means that everyone can escape, and it also means that tonight's operation to deliver supplies and troops to Hawaii Island has completely failed, but this is the only correct choice now.
Kimmel hoped to take advantage of the opponent's attention on the Pennsylvania to allow the Tennessee and the transport ships carrying valuable supplies to escape. Just as his order was conveyed, the shells from the Yamato and Kirishima hit the Pennsylvania again.
"Boom..." The hull of the Pennsylvania seemed to have been hit hard by something. The huge explosion seemed to ring in Kimmel's ears, and then he felt like he was being thrown into the sky. Then his head hit something hard. He only had time to think that he was about to die for his country when the world in front of him fell into darkness.
The Pennsylvania was still resisting desperately, and all the artillery that could reach the Yamato was firing at the Yamato, pouring countless shells onto the sturdy hull of the Yamato. Everyone prayed to God desperately and hoped. A miracle occurs. But the miracle did not show up after all. Instead, Yamato struck a fatal blow.
In the 12th round of salvos fired by the Yamato and Kirishima ships against the Pennsylvania, first a Type 91 armor-piercing bomb from the Yamato hit the waterline at the stern of the Pennsylvania, opening a terrifyingly large hole and blowing through Hundreds of tons of seawater surged into the Pennsylvania's engine room.
Then a 356mm shell fired by Kirishima hit a 127mm secondary gun of Pennsylvania, and several 127mm shells exploded, causing a fire. The fire quickly spread to the secondary gun ammunition depot that had not closed the hatch, resulting in another explosion and a bigger fire.
Just as the fire was raging, the engine room of Pennsylvania was flooded by seawater, and the entire ship lost power and became a floating fire on the sea. However, Yamamoto Isoroku then ordered Yamato and Kirishima to turn their guns to the fleeing Tennessee, which saved the lives of the unconscious Kimmel and Fletcher. Under the command of the captain of Pennsylvania, the battleship was quickly abandoned, and Kimmel and Fletcher were transferred to the destroyer Semmes. Semmes then fired two torpedoes at Pennsylvania, ending its "pain".
The two American generals who escaped from the Yamato's guns had different fates. Kimmel took the responsibility for the Hawaiian defeat, was demoted to colonel and retired. Fletcher, as the commander of an aircraft carrier, soon commanded two light fleet aircraft carriers to go to the battlefield again.
Finally, the battleship Tennessee, which participated in the "Battle of Hawaii", was also unable to escape. It was soon caught up by the faster Yamato and Kirishima, and then 18 salvos were fired to send this battleship, which was very lucky in the Pearl Harbor air raid, into the cold Pacific Ocean, and all 1,083 officers and soldiers on board were killed...
After sinking the Tennessee, Isoroku Yamamoto, who wanted to stop while he was ahead, made a big mistake. He did not order the formation to disband and pursue the fleeing American ships, but led the fleet to Hilo Port, and then razed the port, the fort, the nearby airport and the town of Hilo to the ground with artillery fire.
The reason why he commanded in this way was mainly because he was worried that there would not be enough destroyers to protect the Yamato and Kirishima after the formation was disbanded, so that the two battleships would be exposed to the threat of American submarines. But in fact, there were not many American submarines near the Hawaiian Islands at this time (the submarines all went to the Philippines and the Atlantic Ocean). Therefore, Yamamoto's decision allowed dozens of American ships near the Hawaiian Islands to escape, and a large number of American naval officers and soldiers survived.
However, for US President Roosevelt in the White House, saving a lot of light ships and transport ships was not good news. Now he was faced with a huge bad news-the Hawaiian Islands were likely to fall!
"Dreadnought aircraft that can sink aircraft carriers... and 80,000-ton super battleships! God, when did Japan become so powerful?"
Roosevelt loudly questioned his senior staff in his Oval Office. The news from Hawaii really made people feel a sense of great joy and sorrow. One moment it was the sinking of two Japanese aircraft carriers; the next moment it became the Hornet aircraft carrier being sunk by a Japanese dreadnought aircraft! Then came even more terrible news. Japan actually had an 80,000-ton battleship! Moreover, this battleship also has 18-inch cannons, which easily sank three American battleships, including the Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Nevada, near Hawaii Island!
But this is not the most terrible news. The most terrible news is that the artillery on Oahu Island cannot withstand the bombardment of 18-inch cannons at all...
"What should we do?" Roosevelt asked, "Are we going to watch the Japanese occupy Oahu Island?"
"Mr. President," said Stark, the Chief of Naval Operations, "The Japanese have 80,000-ton battleships... We don't have any battleships that can fight them."
"Then build them quickly!" Roosevelt roared, "Don't we have the most powerful shipbuilding capabilities in the world?"
The United States does have the most powerful shipbuilding capabilities in the world, but it still takes a lot of time to use this capability to build super battleships like the Yamato class. Since this Hawaiian Island Battle proved the value of super battleships, the construction of the United States' "Montana" class battleships will not only not be cancelled, but will also be accelerated.
However, no matter how fast the ship was accelerated, the Montana class would not be put into service until 1944 or 1945. It was still difficult to quench the thirst. The problem facing President Roosevelt was still the Hawaiian Islands!