Cash-Loaded Fleet

Chapter 30 - All American Battleships Annihilated

The Pacific Fleet has only three aircraft carriers. Upon realizing this, Vice Admiral Shirō Takasu, the commander of the First Fleet, initiated an eastward advance at maximum speed to close the distance with the Pacific Fleet. With a total of nine carriers between the 2nd and 3rd Air Fleets, there was no fear of losing. After an advance that lasted a day and a night, they had already spotted the Pacific Fleet just after dawn.

Acquiring air superiority made the situation of the Pacific Fleet clear as day. Five cruisers and fourteen destroyers were fleeing at a crawling speed. Each of them had suffered serious damage from the Type 0 attackers of either the 2nd or 3rd Air Fleet. Furthermore, six battleships and sixteen destroyers formed the rear guard. These 22 ships were likely the Pacific Fleet's last hope.

The First Fleet continued to pursue without hesitation. In their course lay nineteen damaged vessels. If the American battleships avoided combat, the First Fleet would continue forward and flatten the damaged ships. In response to the First Fleet's clearly visible intentions, the American battleships, along with sixteen destroyers, formed a T-shape, indicating their determination to resist fiercely.

"Designate targets. Nagato, the first enemy battleship. Mutsu, the second battleship. Ise, the third battleship. Hyūga, the fourth battleship. Yamashiro, the fifth battleship. Fusō, the sixth battleship. The 7th and 9th Cruiser Divisions, along with the torpedo squadrons, are to eliminate enemy destroyers."

Following Vice Admiral Takasu's orders, the four Mogami-class heavy cruisers, the light cruiser Naka, and the sixteen Kagerō-class destroyers accelerated. The two heavily torpedo-armed ships of the 9th Cruiser Division, Kitakami and Ōi, followed suit. The six battleships, including Nagato, altered course, directing their bows in the same direction as the American battleships, entering a parallel course.

The gunfire started earlier on the side of the First Fleet. With unrestricted use of reconnaissance aircraft, long-range gunfire was a given. At 25.000 meters, the six battleships began firing. Long-range gunfire during the day and under favorable weather conditions made the task less challenging, and the conditions were right.

The Japanese battleships were equipped with a fire control radar as well as a search radar. Like the search radar, the fire control radar is an electric measurement device that was created as a byproduct of the development of guided weapons. This fire control radar's accuracy was far superior to that of optical rangefinders, which are not very good at achieving distance accuracy. However, 25.000 meters was still far away. It was still quite difficult, even with the support of reconnaissance aircraft, to score direct hits at such a distance.

Meanwhile, Admiral Pye, the commander of the battleship force, and his staff maintained their composure despite the difficult circumstances. The reason for this was Japan's force composition. Of the six battleships, the two forward ones were equipped with twin-gun turrets fore and aft. These two were undoubtedly Japan's strongest battleships, Nagato and Mutsu. Behind them, there were battleships with superfiring turrets fore and one each in the center and aft. Only the Kongō-class battleships of Japan had such turret arrangements. These Kongō-class battleships were believed to be causing havoc in the South Pacific resource area. But it seemed that information was mistaken. People, whether civilians or military, tended to trust what they saw with their own eyes more than hearsay from others.

Their own force consisted of two Colorado-class battleships, two Tennessee-class battleships, and a Pennsylvania-class battleship. When they departed, there were also two Oklahoma-class battleships, USS Nevada and USS Oklahoma, but these two had been sunk in yesterday's air raid. In any case, the Kongō-class battleships could not defeat the Tennessee-class battleships or the Pennsylvania-class battleships, no matter how hard they tried.

Nevertheless, being continuously bombarded was not conducive to their mental well-being. Therefore, Admiral Pye allowed for counterfire despite the long distance. At the same time, he ordered the Japanese fleet to close in rapidly. In a close-range engagement, they clearly had the advantage in defense. This would also compensate to a significant extent for the disadvantage of not being able to use reconnaissance aircraft. However, as soon as Admiral Pye issued the orders, the worst news came in. The radar had detected a large formation. You could understand the true nature of it without even asking. These were the ferocious individuals who had obliterated the mobile fleet in a single strike yesterday, and then quickly sank two battleships.

. . .

'I feel reluctant to steal the spotlight from the gunners, but this is also a part of war. Please don't think badly of me.'

While apologizing to the crew of the friendly battleship fleet in his heart, Lieutenant Commander Kusumi, the commander of the third attack group, observed the battle unfolding among the battleships below. Both sides had six ships in good condition, and their distances from each other were quite significant. There were no ships belching smoke due to fires, so it was probably still in the early stages of the battle. He briefly wondered if both sides were inexperienced, but he decided to keep that thought to himself.

The third attack group was a combined formation of the 2nd and 3rd Air Fleets. Among them, the Type 0 attackers, which constituted the main force for anti-ship attacks, had suffered damage in previous battles, and their operational aircraft had fallen to less than 40 percent. Nevertheless, there were 139 aircraft in usable condition, and 128 of them were equipped with torpedoes for this sortie. The remaining 11 aircraft were all from the Hiryū or Sōryū. Compared to the other seven carriers, these two carriers had fewer torpedoes on board. Therefore, these 11 aircraft were tasked with peripheral surveillance, maintaining contact, and confirming battle results for those without torpedoes.

"Designate targets. The 2nd Air Fleet is to attack the enemy first, second and third battleships. The 3rd Air Fleet is to target the fourth, fifth, and sixth battleships. The attack procedure for the 3rd Air Fleet is at the discretion of the 3rd Air Fleet air group commander."

After a brief pause, he continued with his instructions.

"For the Hiryū and Sōryū groups targeting the first ship, the Hakuryū group and Unryū first and second squadrons targeting the second ship, and the Sekiryū group and Unryū third and fourth squadrons targeting the third ship. Sōryū and Unryū groups, attack the enemy battleships from the port side, the rest go from the starboard side."

Following Kusumi's orders, 41 Type 0 attackers maneuvered to the starboard side of the enemy battleship formation, while the remaining 24 circled to the port side. As the pincer formation was completed, 65 Type 0s launched their attacks.

The targeted American battleships retaliated with anti-aircraft artillery, machine guns, and guns, but they could only shoot down a few aircraft before the torpedoes were launched. Each American battleship faced around 20 aircraft carrying torpedoes, and with the pincer attack, there was no way for them to escape. Desperate evasive maneuvers were in vain, and water columns rose one after another along the sides of the American battleships due to torpedo hits.

Out of nearly 120 torpedoes fired in total, only about 35 or less hit the American battleships. Despite being slow, American battleships surprisingly had good turning capabilities. Nevertheless, the effects were significant. Not a single ship avoided taking at least five or more torpedoes, and no ship survived without suffering fatal damage.