Chapter 924 Bismarck Sea Friction 1
"The Japanese are going to take action!" When the Japanese fleet turned quickly, Sims had realized that the battle was unavoidable. Now both sides had reasons to fight. The Japanese believed that it was the American submarines that killed their warships, while the United States The human submarine has been attacked.
"Get ready to fight!" As the order was issued, the two American battleships quickly entered a state of war, and their thick and long 14-inch L45 guns began to point at the target. And when the rangefinder on the top of the American battleship began to measure the range of the Japanese ship, the first round of Japanese shelling had arrived!
Although the last naval battle between the Japanese was 6 years ago, it is certain that the level is not as good as that of the British and German navies, which have been fighting in the North Sea and the Indian Ocean. The latter two started to fight each other from about 18 kilometers away. In order to ensure the accuracy of the bombardment, the Japanese launched the first attack when they were close to 13 kilometers.
But to be honest, this distance is really not that far for Fuso, which is equipped with an 8-meter rangefinder and has five twin 15-inch artillery pieces. The first round of attacks will fall at a far point. All five shells landed on the non-engaging side of the Nevada. After the second round of attack was corrected to 500 meters, five shells landed on the engaging side of the Nevada.
In the third design, the Japanese took an intermediate value. After increasing the distance by 250 meters, 5 shells accurately clamped the opponent, and the 5 impact points were evenly distributed around Nevada. The huge water column even covered one-third of the Nevada's hull!
"We are caught!" The Japanese fleet's high level of shelling shocked the Americans. At a distance of 13 kilometers, the target was caught in just three and a half salvos. Isn't this a lie? Before this, Sims and others scoffed at reports that the German fleet was effectively shooting at a distance of 15 kilometers or even further, but now it seems that they really have this ability!
As in history, the Americans and Germans had the most advanced battleship fire control systems of the era. Although the Americans' Ford-style range computers were less automated and required more human intervention, their unique graphical plotting The device is very good, and the gyroscope attached to the battleship can sense the shaking of the battleship very well, thus reducing the error. In terms of hardware, the Americans have done really well, but technical advantages do not necessarily translate into battlefield advantages...
Historically, British naval officers had questioned the professional abilities of U.S. Navy gunnery personnel, believing that they were simply used to mastering various equipment issued by their superiors. In addition, the British also believe that the so-called actual combat exercises of the Americans are far from meeting the requirements of actual combat, and can even be described as acting... For example, the British Royal Navy expressed doubts and confusion about the repeated rehearsals of the U.S. Navy during the exercises. This kind of thing was also done by the Royal Navy before the war... But after the war started, I discovered that reality and acting are completely different! (This description comes from "Naval Firepower 2" by Lafayette)
And in this dimension, the U.S. Navy's gunnery skills are still unflattering. Nevada's first salvo, long-range bombs, and the second salvo,
Long-range bombs, the third salvo is still long-range bombs. The performance of the New York was even worse. After one and a half salvos, the observers found 4 water columns and a fifth water column with an unknown deviation... If it were only once, it would be enough to simply eliminate this observation result, but no matter what, every time I observe the New York's salvo, there is always one shot that is very unreliable...
"Hangcao, what's going on? Are the Americans equipped with two different types of artillery on the battleship?" Colonel Yamanaka Shibayoshi, the captain of the Kongo, was a little confused. It seems that his observation, although the landing points of four of the shells were far away from him, can still be understood due to ranging errors or other technical reasons, but the secret trajectory of the other shell was confusing. , if the other four shells are used to draw a bullet drop area, then the other shell is several hundred meters away from the bullet drop area. This can no longer be explained by errors...
(This paragraph is also true. The No. 3 turret of the New York is too close to the power cabin, causing the room temperature of the ammunition to be too high. The temperature of the propellant will have a certain impact on walking. The author has seen a picture, which shows the New York Qi After shooting, the deviation between the two water columns is indeed a bit large.)
But generally speaking, the two sides already knew each other's best efforts in the first few minutes of the battle. The Americans were surprised by the high level of Japanese gunnery, while the Japanese quickly found a sense of superiority in the Americans!
However, the Americans did not sit still. Under the leadership of the flagship USS Nevada, the two American warships began to avoid the target. However, the result of this was that their bombardment became more scattered, while the Japanese fleet used its speed advantage to just follow the United States. People, try to reduce the speed change rate between each other, and with the maneuver, the Japanese fleet has reached diagonally in front of the American fleet! The two rear turrets of the New York have no firing range for the time being!
And the Fuso finally bit the opponent in the sixth and a half salvo! A 15-inch shell successfully hit the front bridge of the Nevada. A huge fireball rose into the sky, and the explosive force generated by more than 20 kilograms of picric acid charge not only tore several cabins into pieces, but even the forward cage mast of the Nevada was affected!
The problem caused by the cage-like mast is not only unsightly, but also not strong! The fragments pushed by the violent explosion of the shell broke the bottom of the mast in half. Under its own weight, the high-raised mast began to tilt, just like a big tree that was sawed in half, and the trunk tilted but did not completely fall to the ground. .
Two minutes later, the USS King Kong also scored its first hit. A 14-inch shell hit the 12-inch armor of the USS New York, but it had no effect. The same artillery shells as the British can't knock through the 12-inch armor belt even at a distance of 13 kilometers. This shell hit the New York's armored belt, leaving a mark 6 inches deep and 2 meters long, and then turned into a ball of fire.
"Damn it, put out the fire on the bridge immediately. The smoke is too thick and it affects our observation!"
"We were hit! The bow was broken and the anchor room was probably destroyed."
For ordinary officers and soldiers of the U.S. Navy in this era, participating in the war for the first time was definitely one of the worst experiences in their lives. They were caught off guard and attacked by a battleship. I am afraid that even the most imaginative person would have a hard time describing the current situation. picture.
The third update is here~~~! Please support and subscribe~~~!