Big-Ship Big-Gun Combined Fleet

Chapter 46 - Tech and Skill

If attacking the submarine base in Brisbane, they should have been prepared for the inevitable retaliation from enemy submarines. That's why the Fourth Fleet had a total of 48 destroyers prepared as a countermeasure. However, the number of enemy submarines and their determination far exceeded their expectations. The attacks from enemy submarines, whether driven by a sense of duty to protect the city of Brisbane or seeking revenge for Fremantle, were persistent and accurate. The Japanese military was unaware, but the detection capabilities, stealth, and torpedo targeting systems of the American submarines far surpassed those of the Japanese I-boat submarines.

Naturally, the primary target for the submarines was the battleship of the Yamato-class. Positioned at the forefront and considered the flagship, the Yamato itself took a total of 12 torpedoes, with two of them exploding. The explosions, combined with the damage from an aerial torpedo on the same port side, resulted in an increased list. Despite emergency flooding, the maximum speed achievable dropped to 16 knots. Nevertheless, the Yamato was still fortunate. If, by chance, the torpedoes had a flaw in their detonators and they had exploded properly, even the Yamato might not have avoided sinking.

On the other hand, luck was not on the side of the third ship, the Shinano. Although it took four torpedoes, unlike the Yamato, all of them detonated. Suffering more damage than the Yamato, its maximum speed dropped to 14 knots. However, the fortunate aspect for the Shinano was that all torpedoes struck the opposite starboard side, the side not hit by the aerial torpedoes. Otherwise, she too would likely have sunk off the coast of Brisbane. However, the Japanese were not all beaten up, as they also managed to sink one of the attacking enemy submarines and achieve victories over three others.

The decrease in speed due to the torpedoes hitting the Yamato and Shinano meant that escaping from the pursuing American surface strike force became impossible. At this point, Vice Admiral Kondō, the commander of the Second Fleet and overall commander, made a decision to have his fleet act as a shield for the damaged Yamato-class battleships and carriers to escape.

"The First, Third, and Fourth Fleets, leave the area immediately. The Second Fleet will provide cover."

The Yamato-class battleships were the trump cards of the Imperial Navy and could not be lost under any circumstances. The aircraft carriers, growing in significance day by day, were also indispensable to the Imperial Navy, much like the Yamato-class battleships.

Although the First Fleet had powerful units such as the 3rd Battleship Division and the 7th Cruiser Division in addition to the four Yamato-class battleships, Kondō had no intention of pulling them out. The battleships of the Second Fleet, except for the Nagato and Mutsu, were slow, and if they were to break through the enemy's fast vessels, catching up would be impossible.

If the 3rd and 7th Divisions were pulled from the First Fleet, in case of an emergency, only the heavy cruisers Tone and Chikuma, along with the torpedo squadrons, would remain to protect the Yamato-class battleships and aircraft carriers. Furthermore, incorporating vessels from different fleets temporarily would only add to the confusion. In the chaos of battle, there was even the risk of friendly fire. Therefore, the Second Fleet acting alone would make the battle more manageable. Additionally, the Pacific Fleet had lost a significant number of well-trained soldiers due to the defeat at the Battle of Marshall Islands, so the overall tactical strength of the fleet should be far from matching theirs.

"The gap in technology can be overcome by the difference in skill."

In World War I, German battleships armed with 28 cm or 30 cm guns showcased superior skill that sank battlecruisers with 34 cm guns and pushed the latest battleships armed with unprecedented 38 cm guns to the brink of defeat. The Second Fleet aimed to replicate such a scenario in the waters of Australia. Certainly, the United States' shipbuilding capability is formidable. However, on the other hand, the naval personnel aboard those ships are likely to be inexperienced or new recruits, as the United States is scraping the bottom of the barrel for personnel. Nurturing naval personnel who are both warriors at sea and skilled technicians takes years.

"The Americans are not as strong as they appear."

While Kondō maintained a confident demeanor by convincing himself of this, he also deeply understood the significant disparity in firepower between his own battleships and those of the enemy. Even if his side had an advantage in the skill of the personnel, it was unlikely that the performance gap between the Nagato and the new American battleships could be completely bridged. The enemy's new battleships surpassed the Nagato, even if they didn't match the Yamato. With ships like the Ise, Hyūga, Yamashiro, and Fusō, the gap widened further. The possibility of the outdated battleships on his side winning against an equal number of new battleships with an intermediate level of firepower between the Yamato and Nagato was extremely low.

"But still, we must do it."

With a tragic determination, Kondō issued successive orders. He couldn't retreat at this point, as it was essential to protect the only entities capable of countering the new American battleships – the Yamato, Musashi, Shinano, and Kii.