If you are bombing destroyers or cruisers during World War II, the hit rate of dive bombs is actually not as high as imagined.
It was not easy for aircraft to deal with ships during World War II. Faced with the intensive anti-aircraft firepower on warships, it was generally difficult for aircraft to obtain a very good attack window.
The anti-aircraft guns on battleships are not used to shoot down aircraft, but to force aircraft to attack at less favorable attack distances or attack angles as much as possible, creating opportunities for battleships to avoid torpedoes or bombs.
But without such intensive and sustained anti-aircraft firepower, warships would have little chance when facing aircraft.
As long as there is an angle that is not covered by the barrage, the aircraft can cut in at this angle and cause battle damage to the battleship at close range. At the same time, the entire battleship will lose more anti-aircraft gun positions, making the battleship fall into a vicious cycle.
In addition, during the Second World War, both battleships and cruisers and destroyers had high speeds.
After encountering enemy aircraft, they will quickly perform S-shaped maneuvers to avoid torpedoes and bombs that may be dropped by the aircraft.
The lowest speed of these warships is more than 25 knots, and the highest speed is even 35 knots. To hit a warship that is desperately maneuvering, it actually requires a lot of experience and luck.
It is a pity that the Cyric fleet in front of them does not have these conditions for resistance: they do not have dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, let alone anti-aircraft barrages, they do not even have anti-aircraft guns.
In addition, the general speed of these battleships is only a dozen knots after conversion. It is a bit of a fantasy to expect this "battle damage speed" to avoid bomb attacks.
The first aerial bomb crashed directly into the sea, and then exploded and set off huge waves. The water column rising into the sky was even higher than the Stuka plane that was pulled up.
The destructive power of the 500 kilogram aerial bomb was quite astonishing. Even if it did not hit the battleship directly, it still caused the entire battleship to sway.
Cyric's soldiers standing on the deck were so frightened that they grabbed whatever they could to prevent themselves from being thrown into the sea.
Some unlucky ones even dropped their rifles just to stand firm, because they had never seen such a huge water column in their lives!
Before the aroused water splash had time to fall, a new aerial bomb swooped down and directly smashed into the thin deck of the battleship.
Although in order to make themselves stronger, the horizontal armor of these battleships is more or less tens of millimeters, but it is a joke to say how useful these armors can be.
They were originally designed to counter naval guns with a caliber of tens of millimeters to a hundred millimeters at long range.
What penetrated this layer of armor was a 500-kilogram aerial bomb! Its speed and weight were simply not something that thin layer of armor could withstand.
The aerial bomb penetrated the deck at once, shattering the wood laid on the deck, shattering the steel plates and leaving a twisted section around the hole.
Then it went all the way down, smashing through the second deck of the ship, followed by the third deck... Finally, it stopped in the engine room almost near the bottom of the ship, next to the large propeller shaft that kept rotating.
The delay fuse finally stopped rotating, and the detonator fired the charge in the aerial bomb. The flames that expanded in an instant devastated the compartment, and instantly caused all the surrounding partitions to swell.
The extremely strong shaft broke in the explosion, and the flames engulfed the engine compartment, killing everyone inside at their jobs.
Fragments sharper than flying swords cut through everything that blocked their path, penetrating steel walls, personnel and equipment, and ammunition stored in the ammunition depot.
The propellant of the artillery shell was ignited by these hot shrapnel, and then exploded immediately. The power of the exploding ammunition was ten times and a hundred times that of the aerial bomb, and an even more outrageous shock wave spread throughout the entire battleship in an instant.
The outer shell of the battleship instantly expanded due to the internal explosion, and the deck at the stern of the ship was even lifted high by the explosion.
The bridge of this Cyric battleship collapsed due to the shock of the explosion, and the entire hull disintegrated and fractured during the explosion.
It was instantly broken by the incoming seawater. Half of the soldiers on the deck were killed by the explosion and fell to the deck. Before the other half could get up, they found that the battleship under their feet was beginning to tilt rapidly.
It only took about a minute for the battleship to completely lose its ability to move amid the billowing smoke.
Its stern has sunk below the sea level, while its bow is still stubbornly floating on the water. However, due to the drag of its heavy body, the remaining bow has begun to rise, revealing the underwater paint
into red part.
"..." Seeing the sunk battleship not far away, Cyric's commander couldn't believe his eyes.
If it was a serious naval battle, the battleship that had just sunk could at least last a long time, right? But two planes just swooped down and sank it in just a few dozen seconds!
"Damn..." The navy commander of the Gobel Kingdom was also frightened by the scene in front of him at this moment. He had never seen such a naval battle.
No matter how brutal the naval battles were in the past, there would never be such a scene: the explosion just now and the water column that soared into the sky before. For a veteran like him, it was like a nightmare.
The Navy Commander-in-Chief of the Gobel Kingdom has never fought such a battle. He has no experience in air defense. He does not know how to deal with threats from the air, so he cannot issue any combat orders.
The standard S-shaped anti-air defense maneuvers and standard air defense formations of later generations have not yet become popular. Therefore, the navy commander of the Gobel Kingdom wanted to do something, but found that he could not do anything.
Another Stuka dive bomber soared into the sky and dived towards the outer battleship deck. After several attempts, Datang's pilots also found some patterns.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Targets in the core area of the fleet will receive fire cover from warships on both sides. Although this cover is almost useless, it will still cause some trouble and increase the risk of some attacks.
Therefore, it is relatively easier and more cost-effective to attack warships on the periphery of the fleet. Obviously, these warships can only rely on their own firepower for air defense.
Like peeling an onion, attacking the outermost battleship has a high chance of success and can weaken the fleet's defense.
"Boom!" Due to lack of experience, the bomb dropped by this Stuka bomber that dived and dropped bombs did not hit the target. To be honest, it was still difficult to hit the moving target.
However, more planes began to swoop down, and the pilots in the bumpy cockpit tried their best to aim their sights at the sailing warships.
Occasionally, a bullet would fly towards the target, but it would not cause any damage. At the lowest point close to the battleships, the pilots pressed the bomb release button and continued to drop bombs near these battleships.
Some bombs fell into the water, stirring up water jets. Some bombs hit the battleship directly, replicating previous explosions.
For these warships whose technology is not very advanced, the power of 500 kilograms of aerial bombs is a bit too terrifying.
Basically, as long as it hits, whether the bomb hits the ammunition depot or hits near the boiler, it will cause devastating damage.
Datang Group has never sold high-end battleships, especially battleships with innovative armor designs. Cyric has completely explored the design of battleships on his own, and has taken a wild road with a shiny surface.
This kind of clumsy plagiarism relies on technical support such as power systems and artillery sold by the Datang Group. There is no problem in being barely usable, but it is exposed at the critical moment.
Inexperienced armor design, unscientific compartment design, armor protection in important areas sacrificed for speed, and a non-existent fire repair system...
Everything made today's extraordinary naval battle bloody. The Tang army's planes dived and dropped bombs one after another, keeping far apart in order not to interfere with each other.
Cyric's sneak attack fleet floating on the sea was left in despair. In the blink of an eye, they had sunk three battleships, and they only had 45 battleships in total.
"Should we let the fleet disperse?" Cyric's commander had the idea of splitting up and running for their lives.
"After they dispersed, without mutual protection, wouldn't they die faster?" The navy commander of the Gobel Kingdom glanced at the other party and rejected the other party's opinion.
Then, the general from Gobol put forward his own idea: "We have only one choice now, surrender! Let the troops hang the white flag, and then pray that they will treat the prisoners better."
"This is impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Cyric's commander stared angrily at the Navy Commander-in-Chief of the Gobel Kingdom, his tone full of hostility: "Surrender is never allowed! Even if these warships sink, they cannot be handed over.
Give it to the enemy!"
No matter how bad the warships are, they are still warships! If these warships are handed over to the Tang Kingdom, the strength of the Tang Kingdom's naval fleet will become stronger.
Therefore, for Cyric's commander, even if all the warships here are annihilated, it is more acceptable than surrender.
"Then we have only one option to leave here as quickly as possible." The navy commander of the Gobel Kingdom also knew that the other party would definitely not agree, so he could only say with a wry smile.
He has no way to disobey Cyric's orders. His country has been tied to Cyric's chariot. His whole family and everything about him no longer belong to him: "Continue to persist.
Let’s see whether we all die first or their planes run out of ammunition first.”