Chapter 508 Tiger! Tiger! Tiger 12

"The Pennsylvania was severely damaged! The flagship of the Pacific Fleet was severely damaged... Photos, have you taken photos? Hurry up and send electricity to the Akagi..."

The huge explosion and the smoke and fire that shot straight into the sky made Fuchida, who had just dropped the bomb, so excited that he danced with joy and almost couldn't fly the plane steadily. This was the first time that Fuchida Mitsuo participated in actual combat, and he actually achieved the result of blowing up a battleship. It was really blessed by Amaterasu!

"Commander, Commander Fuchida, the flight sergeant of the 3rd Squadron of Akagi, Nakai Ryuichi, reported that the Pennsylvania was sinking rapidly!"

The flight sergeant Nakai Ryuichi, who was in charge of commanding 6 "Comet" dive bombers to attack after the Type 97 torpedo bombers dropped bombs, suddenly reported to Fuchida Mitsuo through the radio a bigger good news-the "Pennsylvania" (actually the "Arizona") was going to sink!

Mitsuo Fuchida, who was circling and gaining altitude, stretched his neck and looked at the sea. He saw that the bow of the "Arizona" had sunk into the sea, and the hull floating on the water was surrounded by fire and thick smoke. It was obvious that the battleship was finished and would soon sink. There was no need to dive bomb.

Mitsuo Fuchida immediately ordered the cancellation of the attack mission of the two "Comet" aircraft squadrons, and ordered them to hover in the air and wait for other aircraft attacking the battleship to complete their missions before going to "finish the job".

Just as the "Arizona" battleship was hit and sank quickly, the other six battleships anchored in Pearl Harbor were also attacked fiercely.

The second battleship attacked by the Arizona was the Nevada, which had much better luck than the Arizona. Only one of the 800 kg armor-piercing bombs dropped by the five Type 97 torpedo bombers hit the bow. The bomb almost penetrated the bottom of the bow before it exploded, opening a large hole below the waterline of the bow, and hundreds of tons of seawater poured in. But for a huge battleship, such damage is not fatal at all.

Then the six Comet dive bombers that took off from the Kaga began to dive and drop bombs one after another. At this time, all the anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns on the Nevada had already fired, and the dense rain of bullets formed a fire net in the air. The six planes led by Captain Yoshitaka Mikami could only dive in the rain of bullets.

Captain Mikami, who was the first to charge, successfully dropped his bomb and hit the stern of the "Nevada". The 500-kilogram bomb exploded in the stern cabin of the "Nevada", causing a fire, but it was also not fatal. The two "Comets" that dived later were hit by the shells fired by the "Nevada" one after another. One of them fell into the sea on the spot, and the other flew to the sea outside Pearl Harbor with black smoke, and finally fell into the sea. Then another "Comet" dropped a 500-kilogram bomb that penetrated the starboard deck of the "Nevada", causing a more violent explosion, and the last two bombing planes did not hit, and both bombs rubbed the hull of the "Nevada" and fell into the water, forming a near miss, but for a battleship like the "Nevada", a near miss was not a threat.

Almost at the same time, the "Oklahoma" with a standard displacement of 29,000 tons was also attacked. The USS Oklahoma and the USS Nevada are battleships of the same class, but they did not have the same luck.

Five of the 11 bombs dropped by five Type 97s and six Comets hit the target (one 800 kg armor-piercing bomb and four 500 kg armor-piercing bombs), and one bomb penetrated the black powder magazine of the seaplane catapult from somewhere, exploding inside and causing a fire. The fire quickly got out of control, and in order to prevent the fire from spreading to the ammunition magazine of the main turret, the captain of the USS Oklahoma had to order water to be poured into the main gun ammunition magazine at the bow. However, the fire still spread everywhere in the bow and amidships, and the entire battleship was burned into a fire ship.

Then the unlucky one was the USS Maryland, which was anchored inside the USS Oklahoma. Four bombs also hit the Colorado-class battleship with 16-inch main guns. One of the 800-kilogram bombs penetrated directly into the engine room, completely destroying the battleship's power. This giant ship, one of the seven major battleships in the world, lost its ability to move.

The anti-aircraft firepower on the USS Maryland shot down a Comet dive bomber and damaged a Type 97 torpedo bomber (the plane did not return to the aircraft carrier later).

The USS Tennessee, anchored near the USS Arizona, was the luckiest battleship in this air raid. Due to the fire caused by the wreckage and fuel leakage after the explosion of the "Arizona", the "Tennessee" was surrounded by fire and smoke, which affected the sight of the Type 97 torpedo bombers dropping bombs at high altitude. All five Type 80 bombs (800 kg bombs) missed, and the "Comet" aircraft that dropped bombs later had two hits and three misses, and one aircraft was shot down before it could drop bombs. The two 500 kg bombs that hit did not cause fatal damage, but because the entire battleship was shrouded in smoke from the air, it seemed that it was about to be destroyed, so Fuchida Mitsuo did not order the six "Comets" commanded by Nakai Ryuichi to make up for it.

The "California", which is in the same class as the "Tennessee", is not as lucky as its sister ship. Five of the bombs dropped by 5 Type 97s and 6 "Comets" hit, 3 of which hit the bow of the ship, almost destroying the weakly armored bow! But the disaster of the "California" was not over yet. The main engine of this battleship with a full load displacement of more than 35,000 tons was actually started at about 8:20, and thick smoke came out of the chimney. This scene was discovered by Mizuo Fuchida, who was flying a plane in the sky looking for prey, and immediately ordered six "Comet" aircraft to attack. As a result, the battleship was hit by four more 500-kilogram bombs. At 8:22, a big explosion suddenly occurred on the "California", and the ship's hull was immediately engulfed in fire. Although this battleship did not sink like the USS Arizona in the end, the damage caused by nine heavy bombs, fire, and ammunition explosions also completely lost its combat effectiveness.

The "West Virginia" docked next to Ford Island was the last to be bombed in the Battle of Pearl Harbor in this time and space. One 800-kg armor-piercing bomb and three 500-kg armor-piercing bombs directly damaged the "Colorado"-class battleship. The fire spread on the deck and the superstructure was almost completely burned.

…

The headquarters building of the Pacific Fleet is on the shore not far from the Navy Pier in Pearl Harbor. Kimmel stood at the window on the third floor of the building and watched his fleet suffer disaster.

"Sir!" Suddenly, a staff officer reported in a trembling voice, "The USS Arizona has sunk..."

6 battleships were severely damaged and 1 battleship was sunk! Moreover, the four major airports on Oahu have all suffered devastating blows, and I am afraid that no less than 200 aircraft have been lost!

If you are not prepared for a sneak attack, it is understandable that you will suffer heavy losses. And now it is clear that the Japanese are going to attack, and the combat readiness level has been raised to the highest level, but because of a small negligence, the Japanese have been beaten up and suffered heavy losses!

Kimmel almost fainted when he thought of this, and his body swayed. The adjutant and staff officer next to him quickly supported him.

"Quickly, send power to Washington, report our losses, and request reinforcements..." Kimmel paused here, seeming to be thinking about what Oahu needs most now. At this moment, the ground beneath his feet suddenly trembled, and he fell to the ground before he could stand still.

Before I knew what was going on, a huge roar like thunder came from the window, instantly shattering all the glass windows in the Pacific Fleet Headquarters building!

Kimmel fell so hard that his eyes were filled with stars, and he was struggling to get up when someone in his still buzzing ears shouted urgently: "The oil depot...it's an oil depot! An oil storage tank in Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese!" "

Oil depot! Millions of tons of fuel can be stored there, which the United States spent 10 years slowly stockpiling! Without this fuel, it would be difficult for Pearl Harbor to serve as the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet. And if all the millions of tons of fuel leaked and burned, I really don’t know if it would turn Pearl Harbor into a hell...

When Kimmel thought of this, his vision suddenly went dark and he lost consciousness.

What was just blown up was an oil storage tank storing aviation gasoline. Because marine heavy oil has a high ignition point, it is not easy to ignite. So it was basically hit by a bomb, that is, the oil tank was destroyed and heavy oil leaked. However, aviation gasoline is indeed something that can be easily ignited. A 250-kilogram armor-piercing bomb immediately lifted the entire oil tank into the sky. The burning aviation gasoline flowed everywhere, immediately turning the entire oil storage area into a sea of ​​​​fire. . Heavy fuel oil, which was not easy to ignite, now ignited a raging fire because of the combustion support of aviation gasoline. The thick black smoke column rose up to tens of thousands of meters and turned into a huge mushroom cloud at high altitude. It looked as if Pearl Harbor had been bombed by an atomic bomb.

"Inform the 'Akagi'," when Kimmel fainted, Mitsuo Fuchida was flying the plane circling 5,000 meters above Pearl Harbor. After seeing the huge mushroom cloud, he excitedly shouted to the radio operator and bombardier Yasuda Said, "One battleship was sunk, six battleships were damaged, and a giant oil storage tank was destroyed. Now... Pearl Harbor has been shrouded in fire and turned into a hell!"