Chapter 543: The First Battle of Hawaii 16

Yamamoto Isoroku fell suddenly on the hard floor of the Yamato's command tower, and a big bump suddenly appeared on his head, and he saw stars in front of his eyes.

The reason why he was so embarrassed was that a 1 armor-piercing shell hit the 500mm thick side wall of the Yamato's command tower. Of course, it didn't penetrate, otherwise Yamamoto Isoroku would have become a god now.

The Yamato's solid armor once again withstood the test. Although it was hit many times, no 16-inch armor-piercing shell could penetrate the Yamato's key protection area. Only the bow of the ship, which was not important, was penetrated by a 16-inch shell, but it was not a big deal.

"Commander, the distance is close to 15,000 meters, close enough!"

Ugaki Chan fell less than Yamamoto, but he broke his nose and bled a lot. So he got up earlier than Yamamoto Isoroku. After calling the damage control to confirm that the battleship was fine, he immediately suggested turning the course and paralleling the two Carolina-class ships. Although the Yamato is quite sturdy, it is better to keep a certain distance from the enemy's 16-inch guns.

"Okay, let's turn." Yamamoto Isoroku didn't want to take any more risks with his life and the precious Yamato.

The Yamato's turn means that all the guns can concentrate their firepower on the North Carolina (Yamamoto Isoroku chose the right enemy), but it also means that the Yamato's bullet-proof area will increase significantly. Although the Yamato's conning tower and the front of the main gun turret (the No. 1 turret was also hit once) withstood the impact of 1 armor-piercing shells. However, the thickest part of its side main armor belt is only 410mm (at a 20-degree inclination). At a distance of 15,000 meters, it should be difficult to block 1 armor-piercing shells. As for the bow, stern and superstructure (except the conning tower), it is even more difficult to resist.

Probably knowing that the time for happy firing was almost over, the 18 16-inch cannons of the North Carolina and Washington began to fire frantically, firing four salvos in just two minutes, and fired 72 rounds of 1224.7 kg super-heavy armor-piercing shells, two of which hit the huge hull of the Yamato.

One hit the main armor belt in the middle of the ship, and the 410mm armor plate was penetrated instantly! Then the shell slammed into the 90mm thick wall of the No. 1 boiler room and exploded. Although the No. 1 boiler room was not destroyed, the huge vibration caused by the explosion still caused a pipe in the boiler room to rupture (of course temporarily), and the scorching steam ran everywhere, turning the No. 1 boiler room into a hell on earth. At the same time, the explosion also caused a fire inside the Yamato's hull. The flames burst out from the gap pierced by the armor-piercing shells, making the Yamato a striking target.

Another 16-inch super-heavy shell hit the Yamato's chimney and stern, blowing the Yamato's chimney into two pieces!

Although neither of them was fatal, it made the Yamato, a super battleship, look a little embarrassed.

However, the time when the Yamato could only take a beating without fighting back ended here. After the distance between the two sides was close, its 460mm cannon began to show its power.

At 3:25 in the morning, a 460mm caliber shell hit the front of the C turret at the stern of the North Carolina. The 18-inch (406mm) steel plate was instantly torn apart like a thin piece of paper. The shell exploded inside the turret and also detonated a 16-inch shell that had just been loaded into the gun barrel. The huge explosion power blew the entire turret into pieces. If the turret base was not strong enough, it might have affected the ammunition depot!

Just one minute later, another 460mm armor-piercing shell penetrated the 12-inch (305mm) side armor belt of the North Carolina, and then the shell directly penetrated into the boiler room, exploded in the No. 4 boiler room, and destroyed two heavy oil boilers (a total of 8 boilers in 4 compartments). After losing two boilers and several steam pipes were broken, the power of the North Carolina was instantly reduced by more than half, and the speed was about to reach 15 knots.

At 3:30 in the morning, the Yamato's 460mm shell hit the North Carolina again below the waterline amidships, not only penetrating the armor belt but also penetrating 4 compartments in a row and exploding outside the bulkhead of the engine room, directly blowing through the engine room, hundreds of tons of seawater rushed in, and the North Carolina immediately tilted 5 degrees to the left.

In just a few minutes, only three 460mm armor-piercing shells caused fatal damage to the battleship North Carolina with a standard displacement of 36,600 tons.

When Nimitz learned about the damage to the battleship, he already knew that the North Carolina was finished.

The question now is how long this battleship can hold on and how much damage can it cause to the Japanese "80,000-ton battleship"?

While being hit repeatedly by the Yamato, the North Carolina and its sister ship Washington were also fighting back with all their might. Their 16-inch shells hit the Yamato twice again, once hitting the bow of the Yamato below the waterline, which was not a fatal position. But it caused a large amount of seawater to pour in, causing the bow of the Yamato to sink a little, and the speed was further slowed to 15 knots.

Another 16-inch shell hit the main armor belt on the port side of the Yamato again. This time the shell penetrated Yamamoto's commander's office, causing a big explosion inside and igniting a fire. The fire spread to the commander's office, commander's cabin, captain's cabin, chief of staff cabin, staff cabin and other senior officers' cabins, turning all the senior officers of the Combined Fleet into "homeless people".

However, the main gun of the Yamato soon avenged its commander, blowing off the B turret on the bow of the Carolina. Now two of the three main gun turrets of the Carolina have been destroyed, one boiler room has been blown up, and the engine room has been flooded, and the speed has dropped to 10 knots.

The first captain of the North Carolina, Captain Hurstvedt, knew that he might be the last captain of this battleship.

"Admiral, I ask you to transfer the command." Captain Hurstvedt said loudly to Nimitz.

"Okay!" Nimitz nodded and said to Frederick, "Order the Washington to retreat at full speed in 3 minutes."

Then he solemnly said to Captain Hurstvedt, "I order you to return to San Diego alive, and I will give you a brand new South Dakota-class battleship in April!"

After that, he strode out of the command tower with Chief of Staff Frederick and several staff officers. Captain Hurstvedt summoned an Atlanta-class cruiser for Nimitz to use with lantern language.

While Nimitz was leaving, the fight between the three battleships continued. Now it was the 12 guns of the North Carolina and Washington against the Yamato's cannons. In just 3 minutes, the Yamato hit the North Carolina twice, while the North Carolina and Washington each hit the Yamato once.

This was simply three battleships stabbing each other with more than 400 mm gun barrels! A big hole was made with one poke! The rear main gun firing command post of the Yamato was smashed, and a triple-mounted 155mm secondary gun turret was blown away. The North Carolina was even worse, with one bullet hitting the bow turret A and the bottom of the bridge. The A turret was shattered on the spot, and the bottom of the bridge was penetrated. The shells exploded inside the bridge, and the personnel in the bridge were either killed or injured. Captain Hurstvedt, whose legs were broken and he became a cripple, barely gave the order to abandon the ship before he lost consciousness.

"Commander, one North Carolina-class ship seems to have been abandoned, and another is escaping. Should we chase it?"

Isoroku Yamamoto raised his telescope and glanced at the Washington, which was about to disappear in the darkness. He shook his head and said, "We can't catch up... Let the destroyer sink the crippled North Carolina-class ship with torpedoes, and then we will leave. When it gets light, let Nanyun's planes sink the North Carolina-class ship."

The main gun power of the North Carolina-class 1 is not comparable to that of the 14-inch gun. Although the Yamato won the battle against two ships, it was also badly beaten and had to return to the mainland for overhaul. It seems that although the Yamato is powerful, it is not really invincible!

"Commander, the battle report of the Nagato!" The communications staff of the Combined Fleet shouted at this time, "A Colorado-class ship was sunk... but the Mutsu was severely damaged!"

"What?" Isoroku Yamamoto couldn't help frowning when he heard the news, "The Nagato and Mutsu ships fought against a Colorado-class ship, but the Mutsu was severely damaged. What happened?"

The communications staff replied: "Commander, Vice Admiral Takasu reported that the Mutsu was hit by concentrated attacks from enemy ships during the exchange of fire. Shortly after the exchange of fire began, the main armor belt was penetrated. A 16-inch shell exploded outside the No. 2 boiler room, causing a fire. Five minutes later, another 16-inch shell exploded outside the No. 3 boiler room, causing a lot of circuit damage, and all four main steam pipes were broken. The ship lost power, and the fire was ignited again, and it also caused the chief engineer, the damage control team leader and a large number of casualties..."

In short, the battleship Mutsu was unlucky. The two shells exploded one after another at a very close distance, with an interval of only 5 minutes. Moreover, when the second shell exploded, the chief engineer and damage control captain of the Mutsu were leading people to repair and rescue. As a result, they were all killed, leaving the battleship without most of its repair and damage control personnel. Moreover, the second shell also damaged all the steam pipes, causing the battleship to lose power. In the end, the damage was impossible to repair in a short period of time, and the fire was difficult to extinguish for a while.