"Change of target! Nagato and Mutsu to the first ship, Ise and Hyūga to the second ship, Yamashiro and Fusō to the third ship."
Overwhelming advantage. Even in the voice of Commander Takasu giving orders, there was a hint of excitement.
The battle between Japanese and American battleships began with a six-on-six encounter and Japan took the initiative. The Fusō struck the enemy's sixth ship, a New York-class battleship, inflicting heavy damage and causing it to fall behind. Furthermore, Fusō immediately came to the aid of her sister ship, Yamashiro. Together, they overwhelmed another New York-class battleship, which was in the fifth position.
The highlight was the attack by the Hyūga, who was facing the enemy's fourth ship. She had been engaged in a back-and-forth battle, slightly falling behind the New Mexico-class battleship. However, one of the 41 cm shells fired by the Hyūga hit the side of the New Mexico-class battleship's first turret. It penetrated the armor and entered the ship's interior, unleashing its explosive power. The projectile weighed over a ton, causing the ammunition magazine to detonate. There was no way a battleship could withstand the internal blast pressure. The enemy's fourth ship experienced a massive explosion and sank to the depths of the seabed off Oahu.
"From the behavior of the enemy so far, it seems they had mistaken Ise, Hyūga, Yamashiro, and Fusō for Kongō-class battleships."
'Our advantage seems unshakable,' Chief of Staff Kobayashi's words were devoid of impatience.
"Probably, as the Chief of Staff says. The enemy estimated our forces as two Nagato-class battleships and four Kongō-class battleships. So, even if we opened fire first, they didn't rush to respond. They were waiting for the artillery engagement distance they had pre-determined because they had confidence in their superior strength."
As he spoke, Takasu reflected on the refitting of Ise and Hyūga, as well as Yamashiro and Fusō. In fact, there was a plan to replace Fusō's twelve 36 cm guns with ten 41 cm guns. According to what Takasu had heard, the original plan included twin turrets at the bow, as well as single triple turrets at the center and stern. However, when the refitting of the four battleships was debated, an offer from a wealthy individual, the Imperial Navy had already started developing 46 cm guns. Naturally, there were no resources available for the Imperial Navy to develop new triple turrets for 41 cm guns. So, to make up for the decrease in the number of turrets from 10 to 8, all four battleships were equipped with four twin turrets.
At that time, a rich man made a proposal to the Imperial Navy. The proposal was to make the ship designs of Ise, Hyūga, Yamashiro, and Fusō as similar to the Kongō-class battleships as possible. In ship identification, the turret configuration is one of the major distinguishing elements, equivalent to the bridge and smokestacks. This would be especially true for Japanese battleships, where there is no extreme difference in overall length.
And the US Navy fell for it perfectly. The assumption of sixteen 40 cm guns and thirty-two 36 cm guns turned out to be thirty-eight 41 cm guns.
Furthermore, it's hard to miss the fact that the refitting improved the ships' defense. By reducing the number of main turrets from six to four, it became possible to increase the thickness of the armor in critical areas.
'Or, if they had entered this battle with the previous 36 cm gun-equipped battleships, between Ise, Hyūga, Yamashiro, and Fusō might have met the same fate as the enemy's fourth ship. In that case, there might have been a possibility of us losing instead.'
YOU ARE READING
Cash-Loaded Fleet
Historical Fiction「As long as you have money, you can strengthen the fleet as much as you want.」 Born with a natural inclination for gambling, or perhaps a true gambler at heart, Binta Satsutaba is drawn by his instincts to immerse himself in the tumultuous world of...
