Compared to the Spruance fleet, which was chasing after them twenty or thirty nautical miles away, the US bomber group that attacked for the second time was a more direct threat. Although the German fleet no longer had fighter escorts, the Americans still sent many bombers.
Less P51D fighter, on the one hand
When the cannon fodder dispersed the German anti-aircraft fire, on the one hand, it suppressed the German close-in anti-aircraft artillery with dive strafing, which facilitated the second carpet bombing launched by the B-29 at medium and low altitudes. After all, although the first attack sank and injured many
The German ** ship, but the U.S. Navy’s B
The losses of the -29 were also very staggering. More than a hundred were shot down. Dozens more were barely able to fly back to the home airport, but they were too seriously injured and had lost the value of repair. If the pilots were not taken into account,
The difference in survival rate is actually not much different from being shot down. So the Americans have to find ways to reduce losses anyway. The cost of a P51D fighter is less than 6% of that of a B29, even if a few are sacrificed.
It is worthwhile to reduce the loss of one B-29.
Since the Hindenburg seemed to have been severely damaged, it naturally became the number one target of the US military, and those B-29s who boldly lowered their altitude were staring at the No. 1 main turret that had been blown apart to drop bombs. But
These Americans did not expect that there was a thick layer of armor under the No. 1 turret of the battleship Hindenburg, and the material was the same as the main armor.
As excellent as it is, only armor-piercing aerial bombs such as the "Goblet" with sufficient penetration depth can pose a fatal threat to it. Those high-explosive bombs of several hundred kilograms or even more than one ton are far more effective in that layer than ordinary battleships.
The outer armor plate of the ammunition depot, which has much thicker horizontal armor, is helpless unless it can hit hundreds of bullets, or hit dozens of bullets continuously in a short period of time.
But obviously this is simply impossible. Maybe the Americans really brought so many, or more bombs, but even if the bomb delivery height was greatly reduced, for a moving target like the Hindenburg battleship, the B-29 would not be able to deliver bombs
The average hit rate was only 10% to 20%, and more of them happened to hit the No. 1 main turret.
It's less than 10% of 10%, and it's useless if you smash it outside. You have to smash it into the hole. Well, just like this, you still have to smash hundreds of bombs. Calculating, the Americans have to bring hundreds of thousands of bombs.
Enough. If there were really so many, the Hindenburg would have been blown up to pieces. It wouldn't matter where it hit...
However, the US Army Air Force pilots who were eager to make meritorious service did not immediately realize this problem. They kept staring at the Hindenburg and bombing them indiscriminately. After consuming most of the bombs, they discovered that the Hindenburg was not about to sink at all.
Only then did he realize that he had made a big mistake...
The reason why the US military made such a low-level mistake is mainly because these aircraft and pilots are from the Army Aviation. They are also strategic bomber units that are rarely sent to carry out ship attack missions under normal circumstances. Therefore, they do not know
High-explosive bombs alone can only damage battleships
, but it is impossible to bomb and sink it (it should be known that it is difficult to bomb and sink, but how difficult it is, few people know.), and the tragic appearance of the Hindenburg objectively induced it to have the "only
It’s a misjudgment that we need to drop a few more bombs to sink it”...
Although Spruance was a famous general, he could not directly see the battle situation dozens of kilometers away. By the time he found something wrong in the battle report and asked about it, the US bomber group had already wasted most of the weapons it carried.
Bomb, so angry that Spruance shouted on the radio that he was stupid.
As a result, these young men from the Army Aviation were immediately angry. They came here to help the Navy this time, and they lost more than half of their aircraft, and more than a quarter of their personnel were killed or missing. As a result, the Navy did not know how to thank them.
, instead he yelled at them. Who can stand this arrogance?
Although Spruance was aware of his rudeness, as a dignified admiral, how could he bow his head and admit his mistake to a junior officer in the army? You must know that although the US army and navy are not as powerful as the Japanese army and navy,
They are the same as each other, but they have always had a lot of conflicts, so even if Spruance himself regrets it, he cannot admit this mistake for the sake of the Navy's face. What's more, given the garbage performance of the Army Aviation, is it wrong for him to scold him?
?
Due to the huge difference in rank, the commander of the US bomber group did not dare to scold Spruance on the radio. However, this incident had a huge impact on the enthusiasm of these Army aviation officers and soldiers. They were originally only thinking about meritorious service.
In the end, they just completed their mission, threw away all the bombs, and hurriedly escaped. In the end, those bombs only destroyed a few destroyers.
With the current speed of the German fleet, it is impossible to expect strategic bombers to attack it again. Therefore, Spruance had to order the fleet to start accelerating to catch up with the enemy as soon as possible to start a final decisive battle, or to entangle him.
Live them. Spruance's wishful thinking is that if the German army accepts the fight, then he will find a way to delay and wait for the bomber group to arrive for the third time. If the enemy just wants to escape, then he will follow behind and blast their anus. Uh.
, No, it’s a decisive battle with them...
Due to the failure of a turbine unit under the indiscriminate bombardment of the US military fleet, the maximum speed of the battleship Hindenburg had dropped to 27 knots at this time. However, this giant ship was priceless and could not be like those who were hit hard and could not keep up.
Auxiliary ships that reached fleet speed also gave up easily. Therefore, although Wegener did not want to be entangled by the US fleet, the Spruance fleet eventually caught up.
When the distance between the two sides narrowed to within 30 kilometers, an Iowa-class battleship of the US Army took the lead in firing in the afterglow of the setting sun. The shells fell near a German destroyer, stirring up water columns that towered into the sky.
Wegener showed a rare calmness at this time. He did not accept the challenge impulsively, because this sea area was still within the combat radius of the US military's long-range aircraft, but it was beyond the reach of all German combat aircraft...
"Damn it! As long as you give me at most 3 more hours, our land-based aircraft will be able to provide support..." Wegener, with a serious look on his face, ordered each ship to fire back with its rear main guns, but was not allowed to slow down.
and stop, and at the same time send several destroyers to launch torpedoes at the enemy to disrupt the enemy's formation and slow down the enemy's pursuit. This is just
At this time, the advantage of the hydrogen peroxide track being inconspicuous turned into a flaw. The US officers and soldiers could not see it anyway, so naturally they could not take evasive actions. In addition, the High Seas Fleet may have really run out of good luck, and a single torpedo would not be able to see it.
The enemy ship was not hit, so this destroyer torpedo attack was just in vain... (To be continued...)