Chapter 1390 Hunters over the Hamptons (Second update, please subscribe)
Author: Xiaoyu’s Destiny
Chapter 1390 Hunters over the Hamptons (Second update, please subscribe)
Eastern time, at 7:39 on April 21, about 40 minutes after the declaration of war.
The torpedo attack team skimmed the calm anchorage of Hampton Road at low altitude, and saw six dreadnought battleships parked at the central berths of the dock. As for the old pre-dreadnought battleships... they simply ignored them.
The sailors lying on the bow deck of the "Virginia" were cleaning the deck with soapstone. After hearing the roar in the distance, they all looked up in confusion and looked in the direction of the sound.
"What it is?"
People looked at them with surprised eyes as they watched a group of strange-looking things with two wings flying towards the battleship, almost touching the sea. The US sailors on the ship couldn't help but feel a little confused.
"What is that flying in the sky?"
Before the sailors could figure out what was going on, they saw something suddenly dropped from under the belly of the leading plane. The torpedo stirred up large waves on the sea and then dragged its wake towards the USS Virginia at high speed.
.At the same time, the plane that completed bombing quickly pulled up.
One, two, three!
The American sailors who had not yet figured out what was going on just watched helplessly as those "monsters" dropped torpedoes in front of their eyes.
"Boom..." When the aircraft quickly climbed up and passed over the "Virginia", the strong airflow blew off the sailors' hats and woke them up at the same time.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack..."
I don’t know who shouted first. Although the American sailors who came back to their senses were a little confused, they still rushed towards their respective posts. The extremely strict training they had received during the global voyage was immediately
appeared.
However, even if they rush to their posts, what can they do?
At this moment, the torpedo accurately hit the warship with a "boom", followed by a loud noise.
The warship shook violently.
Then there was another loud noise, and the American officers and soldiers who were knocked to the ground in the violent shaking looked at each other. What happened?
The ammunition depot on that warship exploded?
Few people expected it to be an enemy attack.
Enemy attack?
How is this possible?
"Quick! Enemy attack!"
Major General Robin shouted excitedly. As the officers shouted, the officers who reacted got up and ran desperately towards the outside. At this time, two loud noises followed by violent shaking shook them.
Fell to the ground again.
Four torpedoes dropped by six torpedo attack aircraft at a distance of less than 300 meters hit the starboard side of the "Virginia" in less than three minutes. The severe water intrusion on the starboard side caused it to tilt rapidly to the starboard side, and it capsized only a few seconds later.
It's just a matter of time.
Compared with the "Virginia" and the "Kentucky" parked next to it, it was not lucky. The Fourth Squadron responsible for attacking it immediately found that it was parked on the left side of the "Virginia" and there was insufficient space on the starboard side to drop bombs.
It pounced on other targets, leaving them for the bomber force to attack in the second round.
In the dining room of the "Kentucky", the sailors who were dining were stunned by the explosion. They all stood there at a loss, as if waiting for orders from their commanders. At this moment, a sailor rushed in.
"Quick, quick! We're being bombed! Quick! Quick!"
The sailors who reacted rushed outside the restaurant, and the piercing sirens also sounded.
"Tum, tom, tom..."
The U.S. sailors who reacted to the "Kentucky" controlled the 30mm anti-airship cannon and aimed at targets in the air. Although the anti-airship cannon fired at a very fast rate, its trajectory was very curved. Those dragging the fire dragons into the sky
Not only is it difficult for the artillery shells to hit a fast-flying aircraft, but its gun base rotates slowly, making it difficult to adjust the firing range in an emergency. It only shoots out a diffuse fire dragon, but it cannot pose a substantial threat to the aircraft.
In contrast, the machine gunner's fire on the plane was even more deadly. Under the machine gunner's fire, the deck was full of dead and wounded sailors, and blood flowed along the gaps in the deck.
The unfamiliar methods of warfare were something they had never seen before, and even airplanes... they had never seen them before today.
In just a few minutes, the U.S. Navy fleet anchored at Hampton Roads suffered unprecedented losses.
The starboard side of the "Virginia" was hit by four torpedoes one after another. Because the damage control personnel were not in place and the command failed, it tilted seriously in just a few minutes. Before the captain could order water to be injected to maintain balance, half of the bottom of the ship was exposed.
On the sea surface, the warship turned upside down.
The "Pennsylvania" and "Michigan" were hit by three and five torpedoes respectively, but because the officer on duty promptly ordered water injection to maintain balance, they slowly sank into the harbor at a depth of 16 meters after water injection.
The five battleships USS Maine, USS Massachusetts, USS Minnesota, USS New Jersey, and USS Maryland, as well as the USS Maine, USS Massachusetts, and USS Maryland, were hit by one to two torpedoes each. Facing attacks from the air, these can be regarded as the world's best fearless ships.
The battleship had almost no room to fight back. When the sailors used anti-airship guns to fight back, they could only desperately save the battleship.
When the torpedo fleet was about to complete its attack mission, the bomber group that had finished circling and strafing was about to enter the bombing course. At this time, the anti-airship guns on the ship formed a barrage in the sky above the fleet. The bomber group was full of anti-aircraft shells dragging flames.
.
Despite this, the bomber group still approached the target at full speed. Xu Gang, the pilot of the first attack team, set his sights on the "Rhode Island". On his port side was the "Virginia" that had turned upside down. After aligning with the target,
, when he started to dive, he pressed down the sight, and the "cross" sight line of the sight was accurately aimed at the "Rhode Island", which was already moving slowly.
As the target continued to zoom in, Xu Gang fiercely pulled the bomb release handle, and with a "click!", the moment the bomb was released, the heavy fuselage instantly became much lighter.
An armor-piercing aerial bomb weighing 300 kilograms fell on the "Rhode Island"...
Suddenly, an earth-shaking explosion occurred on the "Rhode Island". For a moment, thick smoke billowed, and the explosion's smoke column reached a height of more than a thousand meters. This black and red column of fire almost made the fighter planes in the air feel the impact.
In the impact of the shock wave, the plane swayed violently, and the pilots could only try their best to restore the balance of the plane from the shaking.
Then they all looked at the thousand-meter-high smoke cloud in the sky with their mouths wide open.
"Sir, look, that, that..."
The excited people were speechless looking at the smoke column, while Lu Deren shouted excitedly.
"Great! It must have hit the ammunition bay on the ship! It was that ship..."
Although the armor-piercing route can occasionally penetrate dozens of millimeters of armored decks during dive bombing, that's it. After all, even the horizontal armor of warships in this era is almost non-existent, but the multi-layered cabins are still to a large extent.
The armor-piercing power of armor-piercing aerial bombs has been weakened.
Most of the time, armor-piercing aerial bombs explode in the cabin, causing damage to the warship from the inside.
Only by extremely rare chance would one have the chance to penetrate near the ammunition depot. And for warships of this era, although the ammunition depot was below the waterline, there was no armor plate protection on the top. The bomb happened to hit the position between the two turrets.
, the violent explosion directly detonated a nearby ammunition depot.
"Rhode Island! It's Rhode Island!"
The pilots shouted excitedly, but their shouts could not be heard by outsiders. In the era without radio communication equipment, they could only vent their inner excitement by shouting loudly.
In the excitement, all of them became more and more fanatical. Just like hunters who smelled the smell of blood.
At this time, for the fledgling Imperial Naval Aviation, what they were engaging in was no longer a battle, but a hunt, and the entire Hampton Anchorage was their hunting ground.
Although the anti-airship guns on warships pose a certain threat to them, the pilots are still like hunters, constantly aiming and attacking. Sometimes because there is no suitable time to drop bombs, they will fly over the target, and then adjust the angle and start from scratch.
Next, they were as if they were on a training ground, except that the targets they once had became battleships.
During the battle, some air formations dropped bombs, and some missed their aiming opportunities. Some of the squadrons even entered three or four times, but still failed to succeed. This also gave the US gunners on the ship a chance.
, they seized the opportunity when the plane entered the bombing dive again, and swung cannonballs at the plane. The moment two fire dragons hit the plane, the plane fell towards the sea dragging black smoke...
The old group has died and a new book club group has been established: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.