At this time, the US military and local residents on Hawaii Island were spending Christmas Eve. The US soldiers who were left on duty at this time were naturally unhappy. In addition, it was already late at night, and they inevitably began to feel sleepy. Only a young radar soldier paid attention.
When I saw the anomaly on the screen, I judged that there were a large number of targets approaching quickly towards here about 20 kilometers away (the radar station was located relatively high, which to some extent weakened the ultra-low-altitude penetration effect of the Japanese military aircraft group), and I immediately screamed.
Said, "Enemy planes! So many enemy planes!"
Unexpectedly, when he reported this discovery, he was ridiculed and scolded by the officer on duty, "Hundreds of enemy planes? Are we here? Is this possible? Don't you think about it with your brain? It must be that radar.
What a problem, what an idiot!"
"That's it, what should I do? I don't know how to repair it." The radar soldier had not been in the army for a long time. After being scolded by the officer, he did not dare to die.
"What a waste. I'll find someone to go to your place right now. Forget it, let's wait. Anyway, you're not the only one on the island who has radar. Damn it, it's the holiday today, and those guys don't know where to be happy."
, the officer muttered and ended the call.
The young radar soldier was bullied miserably by the veterans just after he joined the army. Naturally, he did not have the courage to question his superiors' opinions, but he still felt a little uneasy. After walking outside for a few steps, he thought about it and returned to the radar screen, but
The target was found to be much closer than when it was first discovered. Although the radar soldier's technology still needs to be improved, his basic knowledge of radar is already quite good.
I understand, and my heart immediately tightened. "No, if it is a radar failure, even if the signals of these targets change, they will not be so regular. It is correct. There must be a large-scale fleet approaching Pearl Harbor rapidly.
, Since sir, he only guessed that it was a radar malfunction before, but did not say that we have planes coming, these planes must not be ours, they are enemy planes! They can only be enemy planes!" [
The radar soldier, who became more and more worried as he thought about it, stared at the radar screen. He dialed the phone again. Unexpectedly, he angered the officer and said, "You bastard, are you done yet?" and then hung up the phone directly.
Got it
The radar soldier was finally afraid of those wolf-like superiors. He didn't dare to call again for a while. After hesitating for a while, he finally plucked up the courage. When he was about to pick up the phone again, he heard a faint "buzzing" sound in his ear.
, his face suddenly turned pale. He knew that even if the commander answered the call now, it would be too late to prepare the base to meet the enemy.
As the "buzzing" sound became louder and louder, more and more American officers and soldiers began to realize that the danger was coming, without waiting for the radar soldier to warn them above. But by this time, it was already too late. Although it was still dark.
It is bright, but the accuracy of airborne radar at close range is still relatively reliable, and the lights shining everywhere on Christmas Eve are enough for the Japanese pilots to identify the warships and major buildings in the harbor with the naked eye (the lights outline the outline)
, and choose the target you want to attack.
Due to their location, the warships in the port were bombed first, and the three anchored aircraft carriers were the first to bear the brunt. The "Hornet" aircraft carrier, which had just entered service, was first hit by an 800-kilogram high-explosive bomb and exploded immediately.
Flying, stopping and flying
Several carrier-based aircraft were on the flight deck, and the upper section of the flight deck was blown beyond recognition. In less than 10 seconds, three more 250-kilogram high-explosive bombs hit the "Hornet" aircraft carrier one after another.
The fire on the ship was completely out of control.
The fire quickly spread on the deck of this giant ship, detonating the fuel tanks and "medicine" mounted on one carrier-based aircraft (only some of the aircraft, otherwise the aircraft carrier would sink faster), and the ship
The flames soared into the sky, reflecting the nearby sea surface like daylight. If it were not for the excellent anti-sinkability of the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier, this ship would have a full load displacement of no less than 2,500
The 0-ton giant ship may have sunk quickly. But even so, due to the severe lack of personnel on the ship when it was attacked and the lack of timely damage control, the aircraft carrier finally submerged into the sea after persisting on the sea for half an hour.
hit, and as early as when it was hit by the first bomb, the "Hornet" aircraft carrier had completely lost its combat effectiveness (Note 1)
During the Pearl Harbor Incident in history, the sister ship "Enterprise" of the "Hornet" narrowly escaped disaster because it was on a mission to transport aircraft to Wake Island and encountered bad weather on the way back and was late in returning to port. However, this
Time and space no longer had such luck. Three 800-kilogram high-explosive bombs caused it to suffer unprecedented heavy damage, and it sank completely earlier than its sister "Bornet".
Both heavy-duty aircraft carriers were so invulnerable to explosions. The USS Wasp, with a full load displacement of less than 20,000 tons, could not withstand the indiscriminate bombing by Japanese aircraft. An 18-ton super-heavy high-explosive hit the middle of the deck accurately, directly killing it.
It exploded into two pieces and sank to the bottom of the sea.
Even if the first wave of Japanese attacks terminated their mission and returned home, the substantive results they achieved have surpassed the "Pearl Harbor Incident" in history. However, Yamaguchi Tamaki is not the Nagumo who "just gave up when things got better" in history.
Chuichi (this guy also came, but returned to his best position as commander of the lightning strike fleet, and stole
During the attack on Pearl Harbor, his job was to lead the way). Although he was overjoyed after receiving the victory report code-named "Tiger Tiger Tiger", he immediately asked his subordinates to make persistent efforts and continue to expand the results. At the same time, he ordered the second wave of attacks to begin. He wanted to capture
Seize the opportunity to beat up the lost dog, and eliminate the main force of the Pacific Fleet as much as possible in their lair.
Note 1: As long as the flight deck of the aircraft carrier is damaged and the carrier-based aircraft cannot take off and land normally, it will no longer have any attack capabilities. And the anti-aircraft guns on the ship will also be difficult to survive after the fire spreads. After all, the anti-aircraft guns
’ guns cannot be protected by super-defensive main turret armor like large-caliber naval guns. Therefore, since the middle and late stages of World War II, although the survivability of heavy aircraft carriers has been greatly improved compared to before, except for
Unless they are attacked from underwater with torpedoes, otherwise, it is not easy to sink them, but if you just want to make them lose their combat capabilities, it is very easy, even for later generations of Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.
Although it cannot be sunk even if it is hit by dozens of anti-ship missiles (except for BTs like Maozi's "Granite"), basically as long as it takes one shot, it will have to suspend its mission and go back for repairs (to be continued...)