The sea and sky are the same color, and the sky is dotted with white clouds that look like cotton candy.
When the forward reconnaissance group led by Lieutenant Colonel Kenji Sasaki arrived at the sea area where the reconnaissance plane crashed, they did not immediately find any trace of the US fleet.
The experienced Kenji Sasaki immediately divided the fighter jets beside him into four waves, searching northeast, east, southeast and south respectively.
At this time, an hour and a half had passed since the reconnaissance plane sent the intelligence. If the commander of the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet received a report from his own patrol fighter and learned that a Japanese navy carrier-based reconnaissance plane had been shot down in nearby waters, he would definitely respond as quickly as possible.
Leave this dangerous sea area at a fast speed.
As a result, the US fleet, which was speeding up its voyage, was estimated to be thirty or forty nautical miles away at this time.
The anti-aircraft fighters led by Sasaki were forty nautical miles ahead of the following bomber group, so he had to find the American fleet for the bomber group as soon as possible.
Sasaki is responsible for searching in the southeast direction, which is the most likely course for the American fleet. As long as it enters the land-based radar defense network on New Caledonia as soon as possible, the American fleet can be protected by land-based fighter jets.
Next. For a "Gale" fighter jet flying at a maximum speed of 350 nautical miles per hour, the range of thirty to forty nautical miles is only a few minutes. However, it only took Sasaki six minutes to find the expected target.
"Your Excellency Lieutenant Colonel, there are ships on the sea, oh no, it's a fleet, His Majesty the Emperor is on board. We finally discovered the American main fleet!"
Sasaki was carefully observing the situation in the air. Beware of encountering American escort fighters in advance. When he heard the wingman pilot's exclamation, he immediately shifted his attention to the sea below. Sure enough, under the pale white clouds in the southeast, there were more than thirty warships.
They formed a neat queue and were sailing at maximum speed. Moreover, they probably discovered the approaching Japanese fighter jets, and the fighter jets on three of the aircraft carriers were taking off in an emergency.
"Prepare for battle immediately and notify the bomber formation. We have found the target!"
Sasaki arrived just in time. About two squadrons of F6F "Hellcat" fighter jets performing air defense patrols over the U.S. Navy fleet just landed on the deck. The twenty-four "Hellcat" fighter jets from the other two squadrons that had just been replaced had just arrived.
It's in the air and trying to climb.
The Americans finally made an unforgivable mistake. After shooting down the Japanese reconnaissance plane, the US military used air and sea search radars to conduct an all-round search of the air and sea within a 150-mile range, but no Japanese troops were found.
Traces of fleets and fleets.
Under this circumstance, the Americans were very worried that the Japanese would find their position through the iff transponder, so they immediately shut down the radar system, kept radio silence, and relied only on aircraft to perform warning tasks.
Many people think that radio silence before the naval war in World War II was because the electronic system could not accurately locate the radar. There was no need to turn off the radar system. In fact, this was a misunderstanding. Because the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany had developed rcm receivers as early as before and after the outbreak of World War II.
This electronic device can detect the opponent's radar signal long before the radar detects the opponent. An excellent RCM operator can often tell in which direction the opponent is searching and when it is searching based on some characteristics or intelligence.
When will you discover yourself, and when will you attack yourself?
The Japanese captured a large number of Allied warships at Pearl Harbor and later in the Indian Ocean Battle. Naturally, they also obtained the ife transponder systems of the British and American navies. Although the United States and the United Kingdom later made many modifications, its principles are basic.
are connected.
The Americans shut down the fleet's radar system, which should be the correct response in theory, but it is inappropriate in this area of water, because it is not far from the New Hebrides and New Caledonia. They are completely
You can apply to the command center to have land-based fighter jets escort you.
When the lookouts on the American battleships spotted the approaching Japanese fighter jets, the three aircraft carriers immediately began to turn around in an attempt to allow more fighter jets to take off, but by this time it was already too late.
Under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Sasaki, the eight "Gale" fighter jets that gathered quickly rushed over the U.S. fleet. Those F6F "Hellcat" fighter jets that were still trying to climb were unable to turn and evade, so the first round of attacks failed.
Eight of them were shot down cleanly, and the Japanese fighter jets were truly victorious.
Immediately afterwards, the eight "Gale" fighter jets quickly turned away from the U.S. fleet's air defense firepower network, preparing to find their opponents again and launch a ruthless hunt.
Stimulated by the Anjia Army Air Force and receiving advanced engine technology and aircraft manufacturing concepts from the United States and Germany, the "Gale" fighter jets deployed by the Japanese Navy's Fifth Air Fleet have evolved into the fourth generation. This "Gale"
, the power is 2500 horsepower when taking off, the power is 2250 horsepower at 1800 meters, the power is 2000 horsepower at 5000 meters altitude, and the power is still 1800 horsepower at 8700 meters altitude. The maximum speed of the "Gale" fighter jet at this altitude reaches 650
km/h.
At the same time, the "Gale"'s climb rate is extremely astonishing. It can climb to an altitude of 10,000 meters in 12 minutes and 58 seconds, and its practical ceiling reaches 11,500 meters. In terms of armament, the wings are equipped with six 20mm Type 99 Type 2 cannons, with a firepower ratio of
The "Hellcat" equipped with six 12.7mm Browning M2 machine guns has an advantage.
More than a dozen "Hellcats" that scrambled for takeoff rushed toward eight "Galewinds" like crazy, and more "Hellcats" were taking off from the aircraft carrier deck.
On the sea, the U.S. fleet was in panic at first, but when it was discovered that only eight fighter jets were attacking, the U.S. naval officers and soldiers on the battleship breathed a long sigh of relief. Despite this, each battleship still quickly entered its fighting position, and three ships
After the aircraft carrier released all its fighters, they returned to the center of the fleet and were placed under the tight protection of cruisers and destroyers.
The air battle was extremely brutal. Since the Japanese army and navy also followed the United States and removed their respective ace pilots from the front lines and sent them to the aviation schools of the army and navy as instructors, most of the pilots of the Japanese Navy's Fifth Air Fleet can only be regarded as skilled, but not qualified.
excellent.
In just a quarter of an hour, although the "Gale" shot down five "Hellcats", due to being outnumbered and the Americans' fearless attack, they lost six of them. Only Lieutenant Colonel Sasaki relied on his skillful flying.
Technology. He led his wingmen to skillfully deal with the Americans, avoiding fatal blows time and time again, and slowly led the pursuing "Hellcats" away from the sky above the US fleet.
Just when Sasaki was tired of parrying, 40 "Comet" carrier bombers and 30 "Meteor" carrier-based attack aircraft, under the cover of another 31 "Gale" fighter jets, approached the U.S. fleet from the southeast. In this direction
The two "Hellcats" on patrol fled in a hurry, but were knocked into the air and exploded by the "strong wind" coming from all directions. Afterwards, all the bombers entered the bombing route.
The 40 "Comet" shipboard attack aircraft specially used for precision dive bombing quickly rose to an altitude of three thousand meters, while the 30 "Meteor" shipboard attack aircraft used for torpedo attacks circled and lowered to a height of three to four hundred meters above the sea.
meter. Immediately afterwards, the attack aircraft on the "Meteor" ship first launched an attack on the three aircraft carriers at the core of the US fleet.
On the sea, 30 "Meteors" were divided into three formations. They rushed towards three American aircraft carriers respectively. At this time, the anti-aircraft warships in the US fleet had discovered the uninvited guests and immediately intercepted them with fierce artillery fire and equipped with vt.
The 127mm artillery shells from the message tube continued to explode at low altitudes.
However, the attack aircraft on the "Meteor" ship have excellent performance, reaching an astonishing top speed of 543 kilometers per hour. They often avoid dense rain of bullets at the critical moment and shuttle back and forth in the black smoke.
The Japanese attack was very layered. The 10 torpedo bombers in each formation were divided into three batches. The first two batches were three in each wave, and the last batch was four. They entered the attack channel from three directions at the same time, and then dropped torpedoes at the same time.
Just as the American anti-aircraft warships were busy dealing with the "Meteor" attack aircraft flying close to the sea, the "Comet" ship explosions also made a shrill roar from high in the sky and swooped down. All the "Comet" ship explosions
They all use a two-plane formation, two at a time, entering the dive channel together, and then dropping bombs.
The three aircraft carriers in the U.S. fleet are all sailing at maximum speed. The two-mounted and single-barreled 127mm anti-aircraft guns, the four-mounted 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft cannon, and the 20mm Oerlikon cannon on the aircraft carrier are all aimed at the approaching enemy.
The torpedo bombers ignored the threat from overhead.
The U.S. fleet, which had realized that something was wrong, immediately chose to abandon radio silence. On the one hand, it asked for help from the Naval Command and requested that land-based fighter jets be dispatched as escort as soon as possible. On the other hand, it summoned the "Hellcat" to attack and gave up the pursuit of Sasaki and his wingmen.
Hurry back to the fleet and rescue him.
Seeing the withdrawal of the American "Hellcats", Sasaki breathed a sigh of relief, and then he immediately realized that it must be his own bomber fleet that attacked the US fleet. So, without further thinking, he immediately called his wingman and turned around.
Kill him and go back.
When it returned to the sky above the US fleet, the American light aircraft carrier USS Princeton was already billowing smoke, and at least two 500-kilogram-class aircraft bombs hit the aircraft carrier.
The "**" class aircraft carrier was rebuilt from the "Cleveland" class light cruiser. It has 127 mm of side armor, 51 mm of hangar deck armor, and only 12.7 mm of armor on the command tower. It can face attacks from 500-kg aircraft bombs.
, obviously somewhat inadequate.
At this time, the hull of the "Princeton" had begun to tilt to the left. It was obvious that a torpedo hit the port side of the aircraft carrier near the waterline, causing water to enter its watertight compartment.
Those bombers that have not yet dropped their bombs and torpedoes are besieging the USS Lexington and USS Wasp aircraft carriers, and the 31 "Gale" fighter jets escorting them have already suffered considerable losses at this time.
"Gale" is still fearlessly blocking the returning "Hellcat".
Without any hesitation, Lieutenant Colonel Sasaki said hello to the radio, took over the command of the escort fighter jets, and then led his wingmen to join the battle circle. The whole air and the sea were in chaos.
The "Lexington" aircraft carrier has dodged three torpedoes and six aerial bombs in a row. This huge aircraft carrier is like a frightened whale, turning left and right on the sea, constantly avoiding the attacks from overhead.
The dive bombers and the torpedo bombers sneaking over the sea.
At this time, four more "Comets" of two waves entered the dive orbit.
The leader of the "Comet" ship exploded in the air less than 500 meters away from the sea. It dropped the bomb decisively, and then acted like a drunken man, almost wiping the radar and communications of the "Lexington"
The antenna was pulled up, and a 500-kilogram bomb hit the anti-aircraft artillery position behind the aircraft carrier island. A "Comet" that followed the bomb was torn into pieces by the anti-aircraft gunfire from a nearby cruiser when it was pulled up.
Got fragments.
The two "Comets" that crashed behind exploded, dropped aerial bombs one after another, and then quickly left the range of the Lexington's anti-aircraft firepower network.
These two 500-kilogram aerial bombs all landed more than fifty meters away from the starboard side of the "Lexington" and became near-misses. Although the huge waves and shock waves generated by the explosion caused some damage to the aircraft carrier's hull,
However, the effect is not obvious.
Subsequently, four more "Comets" bombed the "Lexington". Two of the 500-kilogram aerial bombs landed directly on the tail of the aircraft carrier's flight deck, destroying all the two anti-aircraft guns behind it, but they were not able to
Causing greater damage. At this time, all the "Comets" that besieged the "Lexington" had dropped bombs, but the heavily armored "Lexington" was like an indestructible sea fortress.
Standing tall and motionless.
On the sea, there were three more "Meteor" ship-based attack aircraft, and at this time they dropped mounted torpedoes on the "Lexington".
The "Lexington" quickly turned to the left and struggled to turn the bow of the ship toward the torpedo to reduce the area hit by bombs and avoid torpedo attacks. Although the hull of the "Essex" class aircraft carrier is divided into numerous watertight compartments, this structure
This makes this class of aircraft carrier more survivable, but if the watertight compartment is damaged too much, big problems may still occur.
The first torpedo almost grazed the stern of the "Lexington" and accidentally hit a destroyer behind it, causing its power unit to fail and spin on the sea.
However, the next two torpedoes left two large holes on the port side of the Lexington.
Continuous violent explosions almost threw the "Lexington" out of the water. Then the speed of the "Lexington" dropped a lot. It was obvious that the propeller on the left side was seriously damaged, and it could only rely on the propeller on the right side to continue sailing.
.
If it were not for the thick armor and unique watertight cabin structure of the "Essex" class aircraft carrier, these two torpedoes might be enough to sink it into the sea forever.
At the same time, the battle to attack the "Wasp" was also extremely fierce.
The "Wasp" aircraft carrier was closest to the returning "Hellcat". More than 30 "Hellcat" fighter jets, regardless of the threat of their own sea surface anti-aircraft fire, immediately attacked the "Comet" ship and the "Meteor" ship attack aircraft.
intercept.
Among them, four "Comets" that were just preparing to enter the dive bombing orbit were directly hit by the explosion, swinging and falling to the sea, making a huge explosion.
The second batch of three "Meteor" ship-based attack aircraft that entered the attack channel were turned into fireballs by eight "Hellcats" that swooped down from high altitude. Below, the anti-aircraft gunners on the "Wasp" aircraft carrier and surrounding warships,
He immediately cheered loudly.
It was too late, but it was too soon. Seeing that the siege of the "Wasp" aircraft carrier was about to fail, the last batch of four "Meteor" ship-based attack aircraft that did not enter the optimal torpedo range, and the attack planes from the "Princeton" light aircraft carrier,
The four "Meteors" that came for reinforcements dropped torpedoes about one nautical mile away from the "Wasp" and then decisively withdrew from the battle.
It is quite incredible to say that the anti-aircraft gunners and lookouts forgot their own jobs at this time, waving their hands and cheering loudly that the "Hellcat" drove away the bombers that attacked them, without paying any attention to the killings under the sea.
Eight torpedoes came over.
When the lookout saw the eight white mine lines and issued a torpedo attack warning, the eight fast-moving torpedoes were less than 500 meters away from the "Wasp", and for the Type 91 aviation torpedo sailing at a speed of 42 knots
For example, 500 meters is just over 20 seconds, and this is only enough for the "Wasp" to turn 30 degrees, or sail two to three hundred meters, and it is simply impossible to avoid the attacks of these eight torpedoes.
"Boom boom——"
The first torpedo directly hit the bow of the "Wasp" aircraft carrier. The shock wave generated by the explosion knocked all the gunners on the anti-aircraft artillery positions on the port side of the ship into the sea. At the same time, the gunners on the port side of the aircraft carrier were more than 20 meters away from the bow.
A large hole with a diameter of more than three meters was left in the place, and seawater quickly poured into the watertight compartment at the bow of the ship.
The second torpedo hit the port side amidships of the aircraft carrier, opening a large hole there and piercing a watertight compartment again, causing serious flooding!
The third torpedo hit the stern of the aircraft carrier, and the explosion destroyed all the anti-aircraft guns on the port side and rear, and also damaged the propeller drive shaft on the port side and rear of the aircraft carrier.
After that, three more of the five torpedoes hit the ship. The entire hull of the "Wasp" was shaking violently, the explosions became more violent, the flames filled the air, and the sky was covered with gunpowder smoke.
At this time, four more "Comets" arrived over the "Wasp" and launched a desperate charge to death.
The aircraft carrier "Wasp" was attacked by torpedoes one after another. Its speed has dropped sharply from 33 knots to 15 knots, and the steering gear on the left side has been stuck. The maneuverability of the aircraft carrier has been greatly affected, and it can only rely on the right rudder to maintain stability.
Heading and steering speed were reduced by at least half.
What's even more serious is that due to as many as six watertight compartments on the left side being flooded, the aircraft carrier has begun to tilt to the left, which means that it is impossible to quickly avoid the attack of the diving bombers.
Four 500-kilogram-class aerial bombs fell from the sky. Although the last four "Comets" were all shot down by intensive anti-aircraft fire when they were raised, and the two pursuing US "Hellcats" were also turned into large exploding bombs.
fireball but this
Among the 500 kilogram-class aerial bombs dropped by the four "Comets", three directly hit the "Wasp", and another one also exploded less than ten meters away from the "Wasp". The entire "Wasp" was completely destroyed.
Shrouded in fire and smoke.
Since all the dive bombers and torpedo attack planes had used up all their attack weapons and had no money left to continue their attack, Lieutenant Colonel Sasaki had no choice but to order the flight team to return. Before leaving, he took a closer look and found that the three aircraft carriers were still floating stubbornly on the sea surface.
Go up and come back full of regrets.
However, it didn't take long for his regret to turn into ecstasy. Just half an hour later, the second wave of attack aircraft rushed over the US fleet. At this time, the US land-based fighter jets that took off from New Caledonia were still in the air.
On the way there, the U.S. fleet with three aircraft carriers was continuing to move south at a slow turtle speed. Due to the tight time limit, the Americans did not even have time to launch bombers to counterattack the Japanese fleet.
The Japanese attack aircraft group entered the bombing track again. The "Hellcat" fighter jets patrolling over the U.S. fleet discovered the incoming aircraft group in time and quickly intercepted it. The 39 "Gale" fighter jets covering the Japanese bomber group also swooped down and fought with them.
"Hellcats" fight together.
The luck of the Americans was finally over. Although this wave of Japanese bombers paid the price of half of the fighter planes, the USS Lexington, USS Wasp and USS Princeton, which had long been severely damaged, were still under attack.
After continuous strikes from torpedoes and aerial bombs, it finally sank unwillingly.
After that, the Japanese naval aviation continued its efforts, and two of the four escorting light cruisers were sunk, and seven of the sixteen destroyers were sunk. The Battle of the Coral Sea became another disastrous defeat for the U.S. Navy since the failure of the Indian Ocean Battle in 1939.
When the Japanese government immediately announced the results of the war, it shocked the whole world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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