Drastically Modified Combined Fleet

Chapter 48 - Fluke

Before the heavy cruisers of Japan and the United States began their artillery duel, a battle between the faster Japanese and American destroyer fleets had already commenced. The four Asashio-class destroyers, namely Asagumo, Yamagumo, Natsugumo, and Minegumo, four destroyers each of the Kagerō-class, Kuroshio, Oyashio, Hayashio and Natsushio, formed two destroyer divisions. They urgently confronted six damaged American destroyers that stood in the way to protect their wounded allies.

At a distant range of 8.000 meters, they unleashed all of their deadly oxygen torpedoes without hesitation. Despite being considered a decisive weapon, holding back on its use could lead to counterfire, and any explosion of torpedoes or depth charges on the destroyer's deck could be catastrophic. In fact, destroyer decks were densely covered with explosive weapons such as torpedoes and depth charges. A poorly aimed shot could easily result in rapid sinking, even from machine gun fire. There were instances in the Imperial Navy where destroyers were lost due to strafing by enemy fighters, causing detonation of depth charges or torpedoes.

Moreover, apart from the six destroyers directly facing them, the only enemy ships capable of maneuvering effectively at the moment were the four cruisers faced by the 6th Cruiser Division's Myōkō and Haguro and the 7th Cruiser Division's Ashigara and Nachi. After dealing with these ten ships, the remaining damaged ships were easy to handle later. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of their own ship before the American destroyers' gunfire accuracy increased at closer ranges, the eight destroyers fired all their torpedoes.

Ninety-six 53 cm oxygen torpedoes spread out in a fan shape, forming a deadly encirclement against the six American destroyers. However, due to the relatively distant launch points, only two torpedoes hit their targets. A hit rate of just over two percent was a dismal result, but it also created a decisive numerical advantage between eight and six destroyers. As a result, Japanese destroyers could now engage an American destroyer with two of their own.

At the climax of the battle between Japanese and American destroyers, there was no significant difference in the crew's proficiency or the ship's performance between the two sides. In such circumstances, the outcome depended on numbers. Despite the disadvantageous situation, the four American destroyers fought valiantly, inflicting significant damage on the Japanese destroyers with their five-inch shells. However, they couldn't overcome the double numerical superiority, and Asashio-class destroyers and Kagerō-class destroyers sank one after another under the barrage of 12,7 cm and 10 cm shells.

. . .

As the battle between Japanese and American destroyers reached its climax, the flagship Myōkō of the 6th Cruiser Division's bridge resounded with cheers from the crew. The second shot fired by Myōkō against the enemy's lead ship had scored a hit. Considering it was a heavy cruiser shooting at a very long range of 25.000 meters, and achieving a hit with only the second shot, it was almost a miraculous feat. The captain of Myōkō couldn't contain his excitement as he praised the gunnery officer with every word of commendation he could muster.

The dreamlike reality of scoring a hit with the second shot. The main reason for this achievement was the victory of the friendly carrier task force in the naval air battle, securing air superiority. The use of observation planes during long-range artillery battles had a significant impact on accuracy. Furthermore, there was no doubt about the effectiveness of the newly equipped radar. Traditional optical rangefinders struggled with accurate distance measurement at long ranges, often introducing errors of several hundred meters depending on conditions. However, with radar targeting boasting superior distance resolution, precise measurements were possible.

Of course, it wasn't solely due to hardware. The effort and dedication of the crew, including the gunnery officers, couldn't be overlooked. Rear Admiral Kakuta understood this well. However, even with these factors, achieving a hit with the second shot at this distance was, in his unspoken opinion, mostly luck. Despite being a heavy cruiser equipped with an excellent fire control system second only to battleships, hitting the target at this distance and with only the second shot was normally considered impossible. At 25.000 meters, depending on weather conditions, it wasn't an easy range even for battleships to reliably hit their targets.

That's why this stroke of luck had to be seized.

Officers, including the gunnery officer, were well aware of this. After a brief pause, the Myōkō roared once again. The impact on the crew on the bridge was incomparable to the previous shot. The Myōkō had fired eight heavy shells, each weighing 170 kilograms.