Chapter 2551 War of Attrition 1
So far, the artillery on at least 8 cruisers and above warships have been deemed unfit to continue their missions, and they have returned to Pearl Harbor. The reason is very simple: the gun barrels are bald! Marshall personally saw the artillery on these cruisers. Some of the artillery were converted from rifled guns to smoothbore guns due to the use of strong charges...
As an officer, Marshall knew that the so-called lifespan of a naval gun did not mean that it could no longer continue shooting after reaching its lifespan. It was still possible to shoot, but the accuracy would fall outside the standard. There was no doubt that these must be returned The battleship's artillery is no longer just a matter of the barrel reaching the end of its life, but that it is really completely useless. Not only the front chamber but also the breech needs to be replaced... This is troublesome. It is not just about taking out the front chamber and replacing it with a new one. Instead, we need to open the turret and replace the entire gun! Although these warships were not sunk, it means that in this war, these departing warships have no chance to return to the battlefield, time does not allow!
However, even so, such losses are still tolerable for the large U.S. fleet. Marshall and Benson contacted at least three times about the issue of fire support. When he asked Benson for the last time in a very formal manner whether the fleet's ammunition depot could undertake such a fire support task, Benson's answer was yes! But still refused to comply with Pershing's request!
At this moment, Marshall was really angry! He pointed at Benson's nose and denounced the other party's behavior, and dumped a list of the US military's dead personnel in recent days on the other party's table! However, in the face of Marshall's accusation, Benson picked up the list of those killed in action, and then flipped through it calmly amid Marshall's roar. Finally, he picked up the pencil next to him and scratched the names on one of the pages.
"This is my relative. He was killed in battle just two days ago. I still have his death notice in my hand." Benson's voice was not loud, but it made Marshall quiet. "You know? It has been three weeks and the Japanese fleet has not appeared yet. Do you think this is our luck, or does it indicate something else?"
"Every fool knows that once New Ireland is occupied by us, New Britain will be completely undefendable. We can build an airport on New Ireland and then block it with a fleet that is at least five times more powerful than the Japanese. New Britain Island. We can completely neutralize it, and then the next target is Guinea. Well, tell me, what should the Japanese Navy do in the face of this strategic situation?" Benson asked.
"They are like killers hiding in the dark. They wait for us to be exhausted before they suddenly jump out and give us a fatal blow. You know very well that our fleet has been sailing and fighting at sea for more than 25 days. Many light warships have been forced to return for maintenance. Well, if we follow General Pershing's request and fire out another 4,000 rounds of main gun shells in one day, then the condition of our naval guns will be very bad. And by then At that point, it was time for the Japanese to attack," Benson said.
Pershing had his reasons. As long as the woods and hilly areas in front of him could be conquered, once the U.S. Army's artillery troops were stationed, they could force the Japanese artillery to retreat, and then the vacant space could be used to build depots and airports. The situation of the entire war would also change. will change,
And Benson also had a reason. He had to count the lifespan of the gun barrels to provide support to the army, and calculate the replenishment speed of carrier-based aircraft pilots to provide cover for the army. As of now, nearly half of the main battleships of the former dreadnoughts have been deployed. The life of the gun is no longer optimistic. If we follow Pershing's request again, what is the concept of destroying 2,100 rounds of 14-inch artillery shells? It can directly burn out the life of at least 10 14-inch newly shipped 14-inch artillery pieces! At this time, before the invention of chrome plating technology, a main gun with a full charge life of 200 rounds was already very good.
And it is worth mentioning that because of the distance problem, if you want to suppress the deep Japanese military fortifications, you still use full charges! The elevation angle of American naval guns is a bit low....
Obviously, with the war at this stage, the Americans' 14-inch naval guns cannot be brand new. The life of the main gun barrels of many warships has reached half. How many more than 2,000 shells are there? The guns of the two battleships should be replaced directly. The gunnery of the US Navy itself is a problem. The ablation problem of the 14-inch L50 cannon has not been solved yet. How about destroying 20 more 14-inch guns? How much artillery warfare capability does the U.S. fleet have left?
Benson's staff calculated the current combat effectiveness of the U.S. fleet. Among the five dreadnought and super-dreadnought fleets, the fifth battleship detachment that has been responsible for the cover task has actually been scrapped. The lifespan of the artillery is already very bleak. If In peacetime, these guns were worn out enough to be scrapped. Now it is still fighting on the front line, and its accuracy and muzzle velocity can no longer meet the needs of fighting enemy capital ships. Moreover, because these warships were built relatively early and used coal as power, the dust accumulation in the flues and the aging of the steam pipes allowed these warships to have a speed of 14 knots. Not to mention the fatigue and demoralization of personnel caused by prolonged combat.
The situation of the Fourth Battleship Division is better. The fire support tasks are not heavy. Apart from providing fire suppression in the first few days, there are not many tasks. However, if they can fire all the 1,800 rounds of 12-inch artillery shells required by Pershing, If I go out, it will probably be useless...
The 10 super-dreadnoughts of the First and Second Battleship Squadrons and the four German Bavarian-class battleships of the Third Fleet in Benson's hands are the absolute core, and their combat effectiveness remains relatively intact, especially the Su Xiong fleet. Until now, except for a few reports Outside of shooting for training purposes, the Bavarian 15-inch heavy gun is as good as new….
What, you ask about those 14 pre-dreadnoughts? One of them was forced to withdraw from the battle because it hit a mine. Another four pre-dreadnoughts have withdrawn from the battlefield due to war attrition. As for the remaining 9 pre-dreadnoughts, one detachment is performing daily cover missions, and the other 5 pre-dreadnoughts are responsible for night patrol missions. The current situation can be said to be a carrot and a pit! I really can’t take it out!
The losses in cruiser strength were also heavy. One armored cruiser also hit a mine and sank. Another 5 cruisers were forced to go back for maintenance due to performing artillery missions. Now, the U.S. Navy can maintain only 5 to 6 armored cruisers that can participate in fleet battles at any time!
Here comes the second update~~~! Please subscribe and reward~~~!
Reading URL: m.