Chapter 525 Tiger! Tiger! Tiger Twenty-Nine

On the starry sea, the USS Hornet, an aircraft carrier of the 1st Task Force of the US Pacific Fleet, looked as if its tail had been kicked by something. The rear half of the ship was charred, especially the stern, which was full of twisted metal and traces of fire. There was a big hole at the bottom of the stern cabin, and the seawater rushed in and flooded several cabins.

If you look from a distance, you will find that the waterline of the USS Hornet is high in front and low in the back, which is obviously caused by a large amount of water entering the stern. If you look more carefully, you will find that the waterline is still slowly tilting, which means that a large amount of seawater is still pouring in.

Captain Hardison, the captain of the USS Hornet, and Captain Thomas White, the damage control captain, stood in the knee-deep seawater in the boiler room. Colonel Hardison asked anxiously, "Thomas, how is it?"

"Very bad."

White wiped the sweat from his forehead, spread his hands and smiled bitterly, "That damn suicide plane crashed through several decks in a row and went all the way to the bottom cabin before exploding. It not only caused a fire, but also broke the steam pipe. The worst thing is that a big hole was opened in the bottom of the ship, which can't be blocked at all. Although the pipeline has been repaired and some power can be restored, and the pump can work, several waterproof doors were damaged in the explosion, and it is impossible to prevent seawater from pouring into the boiler room and the engine room. The pump can only slow down the speed of seawater flooding the boiler room and the engine room. Once the seawater floods one of these two cabins, the Hornet will be finished. Colonel, prepare to abandon the ship."

"Damn it!"

Hearing that the Hornet was going to be finished, Colonel Hardison cursed fiercely. The sinking of the Hornet meant that the 1st Task Force had lost 20% of its combat capability at once, and it was at such a critical moment. The Hornet was so unlucky!

However, if Chuichi Nagumo knew the current situation of the Hornet, he would definitely think that God was blessing the officers and soldiers on the Hornet. Because 4 of the 10 V3 manned flying bombs fired by the Emperor Friedrich III crashed due to malfunctions during the "long" flight. One of the remaining 6 was shot down by the American F4F, another was shot down by the anti-aircraft firepower of the US fleet, and 2 plunged into the water for unknown reasons during the horizontal flight. In the end, only 2 V3s in dive attack mode broke through the anti-aircraft firepower network of the Hornet, but one changed its flight direction at the last moment (I don’t know if it was because the pilot was afraid of death or for some other reason) and also plunged into the water. As a result, only 1 missile hit accurately.

However, this V3 missile that hit accurately had the problem of "excessive penetration kinetic energy". It not only easily penetrated the unarmored wooden flight deck of the Hornet, but also smashed through the hangar, then penetrated the sailor's cabin under the hangar, and then went all the way to the bottom cabin of the Hornet (a warehouse for storing sundries) before exploding. Although the power of the 800 kg explosion was amazing, it did not break the keel of the Hornet, but only blew a fatal hole in the bottom of the ship.

Therefore, although the "Hornet" aircraft carrier was severely damaged and difficult to save, it would not sink immediately. The personnel on the ship still had time to evacuate, and the casualties would not be too heavy.

The reason for this situation is that the V3 missile is a secret weapon designed for fleet decisive battles. Its armor-piercing warhead is used to penetrate the side armor of battleships, and the fuse used is also long-delayed. Now it is used to attack the unarmored aircraft carrier deck. Of course, it has excess kinetic energy, and it breaks through all the barriers and rushes to the bottom of the ship.

However, this V3 still caused great damage. The internal fire and huge vibration caused the Hornet's control to completely fail, and it could only spin in place. Vice Admiral Halsey had to abandon the Hornet and quickly move with the remaining aircraft carriers. If there were a few Type 97 torpedo attack aircraft to make up for it at that time, perhaps only two torpedoes could sink the Hornet. However, Chuichi Nagumo's First Mobile Fleet chased for most of the day and did not close the distance (because the speed of the two fleets was similar). As a result, the attack aircraft group sent out did not have enough time to find the US fleet, so it missed the opportunity to attack Halsey's fleet.

However, the victory of the Hornet aircraft carrier fully proved the value of the V3 missile, and also attracted enough attention from the top leaders of the Japanese Navy. It was only a matter of time before it was improved and mass-equipped.

…

"What do you think about the Hornet?"

"This was a dreadnought attack. The Japanese obviously learned the desperate tactics of the British." Inside the Pennsylvania, looking at Kimmel who was asking the question, Major General Fletcher frowned and said, "I think there will not be only one such attack. There will be more attacks next."

"Damn Japs!" Kimmel gritted his teeth and cursed, "We must not let them succeed in Hawaii, otherwise they will definitely deploy a large number of dreadnought aircraft on Hawaii Island... How far are we from Hawaii Island now?"

"About 20 nautical miles... We will be there in another hour and a half." Major General Fletcher said, "Then the artillery forts in Hilo Port will be able to cover us."

The Port of Hilo on Hawaii Island is also a relatively important place in the Hawaiian Islands, so the port is guarded by artillery. Although it is only equipped with outdated 12-inch cannons, it is still a considerable threat to surface ships.

"In addition, the weather tomorrow morning is also good. There are thunderstorms in the Hawaiian Islands, and the Japanese planes cannot be deployed." Major General Fletcher then reported another good news, "We can at least unload dozens of P51s, so that by tomorrow afternoon, we will not be afraid of anything."

The Hawaiian Islands are tropical, and there are many thunderstorms. According to the weather forecast, there will be a heavy rain tomorrow morning.

"Great!" Kimmel smiled with satisfaction, "It seems that God is still on our side..."

"Sir, the radar of the destroyer Semmes has discovered unidentified ships!" At this time, the communications officer of the Pennsylvania suddenly shouted. "The number is more than 10, and the direction is 280 degrees!"

The United States started its radar research work very early, but it lags behind Britain and Germany in the issue of radar equipment. Now only large surface ships are equipped with CXAM air search radars, and the equipment of sea search radars is even more lagging. Although the superior SG radar has been developed, it has not yet been put into production. Only the destroyer Semmes is equipped with a prototype. Now this destroyer equipped with radar is under the flag of the Pacific Fleet and has become the sentinel of the fleet's night operations.

"It's the Japanese fleet!" Kimmel glanced at Fletcher, "Send a telegram to Oahu to inquire about the situation."

Kimmel wanted to ask how many Japanese battleships were shelling Oahu? Two hours ago, the Pennsylvania asked once, and the report from Oahu at that time was: at least 3 Japanese battleships were shelling, 2 of which were confirmed to be Nagato-class.

"It's still 3 Japanese battleships, 2 of which are confirmed to be Nagato-class."

The telegram from Oahu came quickly, and the news was a relief. According to the information the Americans have, there are 4-5 Japanese battleships in the Hawaii area, 2 of which are the terrible Nagato-class!

Now that the Nagato-class is still on Oahu, there is nothing to be afraid of. Because according to the information the United States has, only the Nagato-class of Japanese battleships has a 410mm caliber cannon, and the remaining 8 battleships are all 356mm caliber main guns, the same as the Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Nevada.

Moreover, the Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Nevada are all "Iron Turtle" type, although they run slowly, but the armor is strong, which is very suitable for artillery battles. In addition, before the Pearl Harbor incident, the Pacific Fleet also trained night battles in a targeted manner.

"Let the 3rd, 4th and 5th destroyer divisions cover the transport ship to continue sailing to Hilo Port, and the rest of the ships follow the battleships to fight the Japanese fleet!"

After confirming that the two Nagato-class battleships did not leave Oahu, Kimmel immediately issued an order to fight. However, at this moment, he would never dream that the world's strongest battleship, which is more terrifying than the Nagato battleship, is on the northwest sea less than 20 nautical miles away from the Pennsylvania.

"Sir, the radar has found a suspicious target!"

In the command tower of the Yamato battleship, the most powerful in the world, everyone was nervous as the radar officer Captain Uehara Isamu shouted.

At this time, the Yamato battleship was equipped with a "radar", but it was not Japan's own equipment, but the FuMo23 radar provided by Germany after Yamamoto Isoroku visited Europe in the first half of the year (not the FuMo23-B type on the "Emperor Frederick III" class, but the basic model with poor performance). Because there is no PPI display (this display is already available on the FuMo23-B type), and the radar power is insufficient, it is difficult for the FuMo23 radar to detect more than one target at the same time, and the accuracy is not high. Therefore, this radar can only be used to detect targets, not for fire control.

However, Yamamoto Isoroku still has another night battle ace in his hand-cat eye warrior!

This is a special branch of the Japanese Navy. All of them are carefully selected hyperopia and night vision. After joining the army, they eat eels and drink cod liver oil every day, and take special vitamin A, in order to maintain a pair of night hyperopia. Before the battle tonight began, they had already climbed up the high watchtower and used a pair of "cat's eyes" to search for traces of American ships on the vast ocean.

In addition to the "cat's eye warriors" on the lookout, the Japanese Navy also sent "cat's eye warriors" into the sky. After the Yamato's "radio" discovered the enemy ship, three seaplanes were immediately launched into the sky. There was a "cat's eye warrior" on each seaplane, who would use their naked eyes to find the American battleships on the dark water surface, and then the seaplane would drop flares.