Chapter 748: Disastrous Defeat
Commander Davis never dreamed that the German torpedo attack would be so powerful. Their naval guns did not fire a single shot, but the torpedoes they fired easily damaged their own fleet, and even his flagship, the USS Nevada, was not spared.
Feeling the violent vibration coming from his feet, Commander Davis was desperate and wanted to faint. Maybe when he woke up, he would find that this was just a nightmare.
But now he could only grit his teeth and face the current situation. He ordered loudly. "Damage control, report the loss immediately and carry out damage control!"
The battleship Nevada was hit by two torpedoes in succession, and the damage control officers in the bottom cabin were working hard to carry out damage control operations.
In the original time and space of World War II, if the Americans said they were second in the damage control ability of battleships, no one dared to say they were first. The biggest impression of the US Navy in World War II was the abnormal speed of ship construction in the later period and the exaggerated damage control system that was called krypton gold damage control by military fans.
How awesome was the damage control of the US military in World War II?
In July 1942, the Enterprise was involved in the Battle of Guadalcanal and was hit by 7 bombs, suffering serious damage; 74 crew members were killed and 95 were injured. Due to the proper rescue method and timely control of the fire, the Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs with difficulty.
Just one month later, the Enterprise was broken through the air defense circle by 18 Type 99 carrier-based bombers on the Shokaku, hitting a total of 3 250 kg armor-piercing shells and another 4 near misses. After the air raid, the Enterprise caught fire, the flight deck was severely damaged, 77 people were killed and 91 were injured. The Japanese reported on the radio: The Enterprise was confirmed to be sunk.
But one hour after the damage, the Enterprise returned to a speed of 24 knots and resumed the operation of recovering carrier-based aircraft.
In October 1942, the Enterprise and the Hornet participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz on Guadalcanal again. It was hit by 6 250 kg bombs again, and another one was nearly lost, but the situation did not allow Enterprise to return to the United States for repairs. Three American aircraft carriers had been sunk by the Japanese, and the main force was only Enterprise, and there was a Japanese fleet nearby that could launch a new attack at any time.
Enterprise had to sail while repairing. At this time, Enterprise was still the only available aircraft carrier of the US military in the Pacific. The sailors painted such a slogan on the hangar deck: Enterprise VS Japan.
In this way, Enterprise, which was seriously injured three times in half a year, relied on its amazing damage control level, including but not limited to extremely efficient fire-fighting measures, and the experience and skills of controlling the balance of the ship by relying on water intake and drainage, and survived the most difficult moment of the Pacific War. Therefore, it also became the most honorable aircraft carrier of the US military in World War II.
In addition, in the Battle of Midway, the Yorktown successfully destroyed a Japanese aircraft carrier, the Soryu, but it also suffered from the enemy's attack. The first wave of Japanese aircraft hit the Yorktown with three bombs, a big hole was blown out on the deck, and the three boiler flues were blocked, completely losing the ability to take off and land fighters and power, and even ignited a fire, but the US damage control once again created a miracle.
Twenty-five minutes later, the damage control personnel not only put out the fire, but also repaired the deck to restore her aircraft take-off and landing capabilities. Two hours later, the boiler steam pressure returned to normal, and the aircraft carrier regained power again. However, what was waiting for her was the second attack of the Japanese army. In fact, the Japanese army did not want to use ammunition on the Yorktown, anyway, the power was wasted and on fire, but the US damage control was so strong that the Japanese pilots even mistakenly believed that this was an aircraft carrier that had not been attacked by air, and launched another attack. If the "Yorktown" had better luck, the Battle of Midway would end with "zero results" for the Japanese army, which would be a great humiliation for the island nation's navy.
At this moment, facing the torpedo attacks, even if the gods came down to earth, they could not bless the US fleet.
The damage control officers finally blocked a hatch, but another torpedo exploded not far away. The hatch that had just been blocked was knocked open by the terrible water pressure, and tons of seawater poured in and instantly flattened a group of damage control officers against the bulkhead. The seawater with blood and various broken parts rushed inside the warship, flooding any place it passed. Many sailors in the cabins were immersed in the cold seawater before they could escape. The desperate sailors tried to open the sealed door that had been twisted for a long time, but in the end they could only watch the seawater pouring in and wait for death.
Commander Davis in the bridge heard another bad news.
"Captain, a large number of fighter planes took off from the German aircraft carrier!!"
Looking out through the glass window on the bridge, they saw a black mass of planes flying towards them. However, they were all fighters, and there were no bombs or torpedoes mounted. Just as Commander Davis was puzzled, the German aircraft quickly flew over their heads, and did not attack them, but flew straight into the distance.
Commander Davis immediately reacted, it must be his own aircraft coming to support. But their radar had not yet found it, and the German radar had already found it and launched fighters to fight? The detection range of the German radar was too exaggerated, right?
But Commander Davis had no time to sigh, and immediately ordered someone to send a telegram to Washington.
When they heard that the fleet was half-crippled by German torpedoes and two Soviet-class ships were about to capsize, everyone was shocked. President Wilkie finally couldn't help it and ordered loudly. "Let the fleet withdraw immediately!"
Commander Davis, who received the order, wanted to cry but had no tears. All the warships in the fleet were hit by bullets. How could they withdraw? I'm afraid they will all be explained here today!
At this time, the officer in charge of damage control hurried into the bridge. "Captain, the ship is going to sink! Please order to abandon the ship immediately!"
"Send a message to all posts! Let them evacuate! Everyone must wear a life jacket."
At this time, the distance between the two fleets had shrunk to about 25 kilometers, and the main guns of the German fleet began to roar. Because they were equipped with advanced fire control radar, the first round of shells fell in the middle of the US fleet.
In the third round of shelling, two shells hit a battlecruiser and a destroyer respectively. More than a ton of shells hit the more than 1,000-ton destroyer with strong kinetic energy, directly breaking it in half and slowly sinking to the bottom of the sea.
Shells continued to fall around the US fleet. Although they were not hit for the time being, the water columns splashing high from the sea surface gave the officers and soldiers on the battleships great psychological pressure. And these US warships that slowed down due to being hit were helpless and could only watch the German artillery fire getting closer and closer. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before they were hit. Even if their defense was not weak, they really couldn't defend against the shells of the 406mm main gun.
Commander Davis, who was about to abandon the ship and evacuate, sighed deeply and gave an order helplessly. "The fleet hoisted the white flag and surrendered to the German fleet."
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