afterglow

Chapter 506 Biplane? Naval Battle East of Hawaii

Second Lieutenant Alves, who is affiliated with the Marine Corps Air Force, was originally on a routine anti-submarine patrol mission today, but he discovered a fleet sailing in the distance at the outermost edge of the predetermined search area.

After flying closer, he was surprised to find that it was a Ming army aircraft carrier formation, so he quickly hid in the clouds and asked the rear seat gunner to send a telegram back to the base while carefully flying the plane to follow.

In the ensuing chase, the backseat gunner of the SB2U Defiant wounded a Ming Army carrier-based aircraft that came to pursue it, but he was soon shot dead.

However, the other remaining Type 37 carrier gave up the pursuit and turned around to return to the aircraft carrier. Lieutenant Alves was able to escape.

This major discovery was reported to Kumukasi Air Station on the Big Island of Hawaii at 14:23, and then forwarded to Pearl Harbor Command about twenty minutes later.

"They may find the British at any time! Damn it! We must drive them away."

Colonel Clarence was frightened and quickly ordered the aviation forces stationed on the Big Island of Hawaii to organize all available forces to carry out air strikes.

Chester Nimitz ordered this situation to be conveyed to the British army as soon as possible - Fleet W was located 200 kilometers east of the Big Island of Hawaii, and was only about 310 kilometers away from the Ming army's aircraft carrier formation.

In addition, the TF-31 task force immediately went south and rushed to support at full speed.

The experienced pilots showed a very high level of skill and completed the take-off of the dive bomber formation and the torpedo aircraft formation in about a quarter of an hour.

Both Ziweiyuan-class armored aircraft carriers have turned to the windward direction and increased their speed to 24 knots. However, in order to keep the black smoke emitted from the chimney away from the rear section of the flight deck, the aircraft carriers are not actually completely facing the wind, but slightly to the right. .

A few seconds later, when he saw the signal flag held by the ground crew swinging towards the bow of the ship, the pilot released the brakes.

The ground crew standing next to the mid-section flight deck held an orange signal flag with both hands and made a gesture to allow takeoff.

The messenger reported loudly: "Report! The lead aircraft is ready!"

As for the light aircraft carrier, its status in the doctrine is even lower. The Fomalhaut-class light carriers purely serve the battleship formation and assist one's own battleships in combat.

Under the watchful eyes of the officers and sailors, 19 more -type naval bombers took off in succession, with more than seconds between each aircraft's liftoff.

It was not until last year that Fleet A was completely destroyed and Fleet Z retreated in disgrace, that the Ming Navy began to conduct in-depth research and improve the strike tactics of large aircraft carriers, gradually transforming from "small formations" to "large formations."

The plane carrying the 250kg aerial bomb suddenly accelerated and roared forward. After rolling for tens of meters, it rushed out of the flight deck and calmly lifted up.

The fleet then completed its formation in the sky north of the fleet, and then slightly adjusted its course and flew neatly toward the northeast, like a flock of geese returning home.

At the same time, aircraft on the Ziwei Youyuan, three kilometers away on the right, were also constantly pulling up from the front of the aircraft carrier.

"I wish you all a great victory!"

For those on the flight deck, the wind speed at this time exceeded fifty kilometers per hour, and the warm sea breeze blew against their faces, making their clothes bulge.

Then the aviation guidance officer of the Ziwei Zuoyuan issued the order, "Take off!"

Next came the 14 Type torpedoes. The bulky torpedo planes also took off slower, and it took eight minutes for them all to take off.

There used to be various disagreements among the aircraft carrier schools of the Ming Dynasty - differences in aircraft carrier design, differences in aircraft carrier usage, and differences in attack tactics.

In the cockpit of the first Type 37 ship bomber, the pilot pushed the throttle all the way.

"Knock the British away in one go!"

In order to release as many carrier-based aircraft as possible at one time, the two Ziweiyuan-class ships did not even plan to lift fighters onto the deck this time. The dozens of aircraft just released were all dive bombers and torpedo planes.

Last year, that is, before the thirty-ninth year of Zhichang, the Ming Navy's doctrine clearly defined the role of large aircraft carriers as reconnaissance of enemy fleets, harassment of enemy vanguard fleets, interception of incoming enemy aircraft groups, and single-handed destruction of capital ships. At that time, it was It was regarded as impossible, and the strike tactics at that time were mainly "small formations, multiple waves".

At the same moment, the C-22 air attack fleet was already releasing their respective fleets.

Until the deck is cleared, the fighter jets are lifted up via elevators to warm up.

After taking off, they would chase the bomber formation and expected to catch up in about three quarters of an hour.

At 15:36, the first wave of attack formations of the C- air attack fleet merged smoothly.

Flying at the front is a dive bomber formation composed of 41 Type 27 naval bombers; about 12 meters below and to the right is a torpedo aircraft formation composed of Type naval mines; behind them, five One hundred meters away is a fighter formation composed of -type ship-driven aircraft.

Armored aircraft carriers with closed hangars cannot allow aircraft to start preheating engines in the hangar. Generally speaking, the flight efficiency is lower than that of ordinary fleet aircraft carriers with open hangars.

Despite many efforts, the attack waves released by the two Ziweiyuan-class armored aircraft carriers were still less than a hundred.

At the other end of the sea, as the bell rang, Fleet W was busy up and down. The Glorious and Brave were increasing their speed and adjusting their course.

Due to poor communication, Fleet W did not receive the first warning telegram from the Pacific Fleet Command.

The Americans later sent it again just to be on the safe side, and this time the Brave received it, but the captain, Captain William Jones, thought that the Glory next to it must have also been informed and took no action.

After several minutes, seeing no response from the Glory, Colonel William ordered a light signal to be sent out for questioning.

The fact is that the Glory did not receive this telegram. Captain and fleet commander Sir Dennis Boyd had no time to investigate the reason. He hurriedly ordered the carrier-based aircraft to take off and prepare for air defense.

The take-off operations of the two British aircraft carriers began at 15:18. The performance of the Brave was pretty good, but the process of launching its fleet by the Glory was terrible.

Not only was the takeoff process delayed, but a Fulmar fighter from the 880th Squadron failed to pull up after rushing out of the flight deck and fell directly into the sea.

Sir Dennis ordered an urgent turn, and the helmsman quickly filled the right rudder, but the huge Glory still smashed the floating fulmar.

After procrastinating until 15:55, the Brave finally released all the Sea Fighter biplane fighters of the 801 Squadron, and was preparing to release some more Skua bombers.

The launch process of the Glorious was even more speechless. Not only did an accident occur, but also two Fulmars were unable to take off due to mechanical failures due to lack of adequate training and unfamiliarity with the environment in the Pacific region.

Sir Dennis, the commander of Fleet W, has become particularly irritable. It may be difficult to understand his mood at the moment.

Originally, the entire fleet was on guard against Ming submarines, but suddenly they learned that the Ming aircraft carriers had already pounced on them, and the damn warning telegram was delayed for a moment before being notified.

Every minute and every second is related to the survival of Fleet W. If the tragedy of Fleet A in Malaya last year is repeated, where will the Royal Navy lose its face?

"Sir, I suggest sending some aircraft to attack the Chinese fleet." An officer suggested: "We should be able to take off the torpedo planes of the 827th Squadron."

There are almost twenty fighter jets hovering over the fleet now, should they be enough to deal with the upcoming air attack, right?
Obviously, the Royal Navy officers who are used to being at ease in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean have not yet experienced the intensity of the Pacific sea and air battle. Most people feel that having so many fighter jets to perform fleet air defense tasks is more than enough. At 16:01, the abnormal target that appeared 79 kilometers away from the Glory's 92Z radar was initially determined to be an incoming Ming army aircraft group.

The Glorious immediately terminated radio silence and issued warnings to other ships via radio, light signals, and semaphores.

The British carrier-based aircraft formation in the sky was also notified. Commander Major Enoch had 12 Sea Fighters on standby at an altitude of 9 meters, responsible for fighting enemy aircraft, while he led Fulmars to continue climbing to meters. Five hundred meters high.

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At 16:15, after more than an hour of flight, a Type bomber from the Ziwei Youyuan took the lead in discovering the British fleet on the sea.

The auxiliary team leader was Major Cheng Jianhuai. He immediately ordered the adjustment of the offensive formation and led the team to the southeast three minutes later, hoping to launch an attack from a more suitable position - directly behind the aircraft carrier.

The mission goal is also very simple and direct - the fleet of the Ziwei Zuoshu will attack the Brave, and the fleet of the Ziwei Right Yuan will attack the Glory.

Dozens of Type 37 warships were flying toward the southeast while climbing, but the torpedo plane formation was just the opposite and began to drop in altitude.

The fighter formations were ordered to form a V-shaped formation, maintain altitude and course, and be ready to encounter British carrier-based fighters at any time.

"Everyone enter combat positions!"

"They're coming, the sight angle is 19 degrees."

The light cruiser Sheffield, the anti-aircraft cruiser Dido and six destroyers guarded the two aircraft carriers in the middle. Dido's twin 5.25-inch high-level dual-purpose guns had been loaded and pointed diagonally at the sky.

Major Enoch in the air issued an interception instruction and directed all fighter jets to intercept.

At the same moment, Cheng Jianhuai's voice also appeared in the radio frequency band, "Each team will make their own decision after entering the battle position, and try to kill them all in one go!"

The Ming pilots then noticed some oncoming biplanes, which shocked them.

Is there any mistake? How come the British are still using biplanes when this happened?

The vigilant pilots knew the maneuverability advantages of the biplanes and refused to engage in dogfights with them. They just dived and strafed them and then left immediately.

As the last generation biplane fighter, the overall performance of the Sea Fighter is among the best among biplanes, but now it is already dominated by monoplanes.

Two Sea Fighters were shot down in one encounter. The slow biplane lacked powerful countermeasures in this situation.

A few minutes later, 20 dive bombers belonging to the Ziwei Zuoyuan Shaozai Team took the lead in attacking.

However, just as they reached the dive point and were about to push the stick and start the dive, five Fulmar fighter jets suddenly shot out from a higher cloud.

Major Enoch took the lead, aiming at a Ming army aircraft and firing violently. The eight 7.7mm aviation machine guns on the left and right wings sprayed bullets as densely as raindrops!
The Type 37 was caught off guard and burst into flames instantly. The pilot parachuted out to escape, but he was still carrying flames.

At the same time, three Ming army aircraft were also attacked. Several pilots panicked and subconsciously flew away from the formation and fled.

However, the remaining dozen or so aircraft still maintained order, stabilized their formation, and continued to dive.

Not to be outdone, their rear-seat self-defense machine guns fired back at the British fighter jets, damaging the engine of a Fulmar, and it retreated to the side dragging a long white smoke.

The disadvantages of liquid-cooled engines are thus reflected. Coolant leakage is likely to cause the engine to overheat and fail.

At 16:38, the anti-aircraft guns of Dido, Glory and nearby destroyers roared in unison and opened fire with all their strength on the invading enemy.

The powerful 5.25-inch high-level dual-purpose gun launches a 133mm high-explosive projectile weighing 36kg, which is significantly more powerful than similar American products.

The dense fire net fired by the four-pack and eight-pack bang-bang cannons is also quite terrifying. The power of a 40mm high-explosive bomb is enough to destroy any light aircraft in one shot.

The situation was very difficult as soon as possible, and there were still 11 Sanqi-type shipwrecks entering a dive attitude. From this moment on, the possibility of them being intercepted was greatly reduced.

At 16:43, the first dive bomber that cut in from the stern of the ship dropped the first aerial bomb of this battle. The 250kg armor-piercing explosive bomb missed due to the sharp turn of the target and exploded on the sea on the right. A column of water.

A minute later, Lieutenant Zhu Yu, who also cut in from the stern of the ship, scored a hit, and the aerial bomb landed in the middle of the deck of the Glory.

"boom!"

A large mackerel torpedo plane that was lifted to the deck was blown up, and some bridge glass was instantly shattered!

However, this mere 250kg aerial bomb cannot do anything to the strong armored flight deck.

Just over twenty seconds later, the third plane following Zhu Yu scored another hit. However, when it was pulling up, it was hit by a 40mm high-explosive bomb on the tail. The entire plane spun and fell into the sea!

Likewise, this shot only slightly dented the flight deck.

The Glory relies on strength rather than luck, but the Bravery next to it is different. She has neither luck nor strength.

At 16:45, the first aerial bomb hit the center elevator of the Valiant, destroying it instantly.

The captain, Colonel William Jones, commanded calmly, and the Brave turned sharply and managed to escape the next two attacks.

However, starting from the fourth time, the Ming army aircraft that followed up seemed to have figured out the trajectory of the aircraft carrier, and actually hit three bombs in a row.

One of the 250kg penetrator bombs continuously penetrated two decks and exploded in the middle cabin of the Brave.

At 16:52, a Type bomber was destroyed by an eight-gun bomber during the dive. The powerful shells caused it to disintegrate in the air.

But the wreckage of the main body of the plane still hit the bridge of the Brave, causing an immediate mess!
The splashing aviation gasoline caused a raging fire. Several damage control team members were extinguishing the flames in the elevator, but they were stained by the splashed gasoline and became a blaze in the blink of an eye...

At this time, the Ming army's fighter formation had given up its entanglement with the sea fighters and went to attack the fulmars, thus relieving the friendly forces.

The slowly flying torpedo plane formation also began to enter the attack position. Without the interception of enemy fighter jets, the pilots thought that the next step would be relatively easy.

The 27 -type naval mines were divided into two, each of which dealt with an aircraft carrier, and then divided into four to carry out a flanking attack on the target aircraft carrier.

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(End of this chapter)