Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo led a "bait fleet" with four aircraft ships wandering on the ocean more than a hundred nautical miles east of Nauru. He also turned southwest in the middle of the night. This fleet included Rear Admiral Yamaguchi Tawen The 3rd Air Force, composed of Soryu and Hiryu, commanded by Rear Admiral Mitchell, and the 21st Task Force, composed of two Saiban aircraft carriers, commanded by Rear Admiral Mitchell.
In the early morning of November 12, Rear Admiral Mitchell received a report from a submarine monitoring the Republican Fleet in the Nukumanus Islands. The Chinese fleet gave up tracking the U.S. fleet and began to turn south again. "Please search for floating ships." Astronomy, the novel is better and updated faster! Mitchell quickly communicated with Ozawa Jinháng. Xiaozhi believed that the main fleet on the east side of the South Solomon Islands must be on guard duty and began to doubt their motives. Ruguo wanted to make the enemy To attract the main fleet, an attack must be launched first to attract the enemy's attention.
At this time, the fleets of both sides were about 260 nautical miles apart. At 5:30 in the morning, Rear Admiral Mitchell decisively dispatched more than 100 carrier-based aircraft on the Saipan and Wright. The pilots were taking off After being informed beforehand, Ruguo was captured and confessed to the enemy that they were from the "Yorktown" and "Bunker Hill" of the Seventh Fleet.
The naval battle first began around Ontong Java Atoll.
Cheng Yaoheng's Second Fleet was first attacked by fighter planes taking off from the "Saipan" and "Wright". At 7:45, the Sixth Air Fleet sailing in the northernmost part of the fleet spotted the incoming enemy planes, " The fighter jets on the aircraft carriers "Zhejiang" and "Fujian" hurriedly began to take off for combat. Before they could form a good air defense network, the fleet was attacked by enemy planes. The "Fujian" was hit by a bullet and caught fire.
According to the report, these planes came from the enemy fleet in the northeast. Even before the war started, one of the battleships was damaged, which made Cheng Yaoheng very angry. He immediately ordered the fleet to start turning and pursue the enemy fleet. The admiral believed that the enemy was ahead. The main force, and the confessions from captured American pilots further confirmed this judgment.
Cheng Yaoheng sent a brief urgent message to Fang Minghao, telling him that Ziji would lead the main fleet to the northeast to pursue the enemy's "main fleet."
After Fang Minghao received the telegram sent from the "Guangdong", General Cheng Yaoheng Yijing led the entire fleet to leave Ontong Java Atoll and headed northeast. The transport fleet on Malaita Island could only rely on Fang Minghao. The fifth ship on board came to protect it alone. The Second Fleet of the Republic Navy was transferred away from the main sea area. Now Spruance's main force is rapidly approaching Malaita Island and taking off from Guadalcanal Island. US military aircraft are also interfering with the Republican Army's landing operations, and Fang Minghao will also send fighter jets to support Suafa Bay Jinháng.
At 10:20 a.m., in the waters near the Santa Cruz Islands, the patrolling submarine No. 3509 of the 326th Submarine Group discovered the approaching U.S. fleet. The noise from the propellers of the task force that was sailing at high speed was enough to be heard by more than 40 Captured by sonar from a submarine at sea.
After sending an emergency telegram to the fleet, the commander of the 326th Submarine Group, Colonel Chang Ying, immediately summoned six nearby submarines to ambush on the enemy's passage.
The 12 Type 1941 submarines equipped by the 326th Submarine Group represent the most advanced submarine technology and manufacturing process level of this era. They also absorb some advanced technologies from Germany and Italy. The hull adopts a more rounded shuttle shape.
It has a displacement of 2,460 tons and an underwater displacement of 3,210 tons. The power unit is three 5,600-horsepower diesel engines and two 2,700-horsepower electric motors, allowing it to reach a high speed of 17.8 knots on the water and 18.6 knots underwater. The large displacement increases its endurance.
Up to 17,000 nautical miles.
Due to the adoption of the latest high-strength pressure-resistant hull with a yield strength of up to 450 MPa, the 1942-type submarine used a single-layer pressure hull for the first time. Its maximum diving depth has reached the limit of 300 meters, and its internal space and the living space of the crew
Both have been greatly improved, which also increases the submarine's sustained combat capability.
Due to the difficulty of welding high-strength and pressure-resistant hulls, the construction speed of the 1942-type submarine was much slower than that of the previous four-type submarines in service with the Republic Navy. In half a year, only 56 1942-type submarines were completed. Since this type of submarine has
With unparalleled combat performance, it became the target of competition for major fleets almost as soon as it entered service.
The Type 1942 submarine has only one 57mm deck gun and one 12.7mm machine gun that can be automatically hidden, but it is also equipped with two liftable 2x4 mounted 210mm cg2e tube rocket launchers on the bow and stern. Republic
The "long" of military equipment
The "Gong" 2-type large-caliber rocket launcher has a range of up to 36 kilometers. Although the shooting accuracy is poor, it still meets the impact point dispersion requirements required by the military. In 1942, Yijing began to install it on a large scale on surface ships.
The Type 1942 submarine was designed with the installation of a liftable rocket launcher in mind. The rocket launching device was installed in two sealed alloy boxes. The boxes would not open until they rose out of the water. Due to the large-caliber rocket
The launcher equipment gives the submarine a certain long-range attack capability.
Another important technological advancement of the 1942-type submarine is that the sonar system nénggou on the tongguo submarine analyzes target targets and torpedo launch data, allowing the submarine nénggou to achieve underwater launch. Coupled with the use of acoustic homing torpedoes, this makes the submarine's
The attack power has been qualitatively improved.
If the outcome of a war depends on some advanced weapons, it will definitely not end well, but sometimes, some epoch-making weapons can definitely bring about the outcome of a battle.
During the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, the Americans unfortunately encountered this situation.
The Seventh Fleet began to turn northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands, and the Republican Fleet entered the attack range of the aviation force. Spruance must take risks as he approached. Colonel Chang Ying's ambush failed, and the enemy fleet was in
Difāng, less than fifteen nautical miles away from him, turned northeast.
At this time, both Spruance and Fang Minghao discovered their opponents. The reconnaissance aircraft of both sides reported the enemy's position almost at the same time. Half an hour later, the carrier-based aircraft of both sides began to fly towards the enemy's fleet in formation.
Spruance has 6 "Essex-class" aircraft carriers, plus the "Shokaku" and "Zuikaku" aircraft carriers of the Second Air Fleet commanded by Nagumo Chuichi, and is stronger than Fang Minghao.
The four aircraft ships on hand are stronger, and because Fang Minghao dispatched three squadrons of fighter jets to provide air support to Suawan Jinháng, his air defense capabilities are even weaker.
At 12:15 noon, the two sides launched a fierce air battle. The carrier-based aircraft of the US Seventh Fleet and the Republican Navy's Fifth Fleet both flew near the enemy fleet.
Chang Yingtongguo, who was unwilling to give up, ordered all 12 submarines of the 16th Submarine Group of the Third Fleet to surface and attack the enemy fleet with rocket launchers. As the order was issued, several black submarines emerged from the water.
, the sea radar on the boat began to rotate to detect the enemy fleet's position, distance and other shooting data.
As the order was issued, bursts of unique roaring sounds of rocket engines sounded on the sea. 96 large-caliber rockets launched from 6 submarines sprayed out streams of fire and thick smoke behind them, towards the enemy sixteen nautical miles away.
The fleet flew away in the direction of the fleet. After completing the launch, each submarine immediately put away its launch tube, began to dive quickly, floated up, measured the target, and completed the launch and dive. The entire submarine took less than fifteen minutes.
.
Spruance's fleet was arranging a dense air defense formation, preparing to go all out to deal with the Republican aircraft group that was about to attack. The submarine force's attack did not hit the aircraft ship, but it still hit three warships. However, due to the
The warheads were just high-explosive bombs, which would not cause a fatal blow to the warship, but it caused chaos in the entire fleet. Subsequently, the six submarines located behind the seventh ship also launched two missiles at the enemy fleet in accordance with the order.
shelling.
This caused a great misunderstanding to the U.S. air fleet. Many commanders believed that Ziji had fallen within the range of the enemy's battleships, which was a fatal thing. If the Ruguo aircraft carrier entered the range of the battleships, then there would be no choice but to
It's time to carve up a share. The US-Japanese task force that suffered a blow began to turn with all its strength and retreat backwards. Yijing was unable to maintain its aviation formation, which allowed Yijing's approaching Republican Army aviation to find an opportunity.
As the order was issued, the bomber force broke through the enemy's air defense circle and pounced towards the chaotic enemy warships on the sea. (To be continued.)