In the heavy rain and rough seas, only a majestic ship like the "Ohio" can barely maintain the stability of the voyage. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 The newly commissioned North Carolina Improved Battleship, or Ohio class, uses a mix of old and new crews – the old crew is basically survivors of war-damaged ships during the Battle of the Azores, including some former British Royal Navy officers who volunteered to become American citizens, and the new crew is conscripted after the outbreak of the war. Even though the "Ohio" was commissioned three months earlier than planned, the run-in between the crew and the battleship was still cramped, and the commissioning of various equipment on the ship was far from perfect. Under such circumstances, it is still very uncertain whether this battleship will be able to play a mainstay role in critical battles, despite its nine powerful 18-inch guns and near-extreme protection design......

As the battle for the outpost progressed, Nimitz, chief of staff of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, made a suggestion to Stark: "General, do you want the right flank detachment or the Jacksonville detachment to send ships to reinforce the advance detachment?" ”

Stark shook his head decisively, and then ordered: "Send a secret telegram to Rear Admiral Kate, the advance detachment must hold back the enemy's reconnaissance fleet at all costs, and must not let it penetrate the flank of the main fleet." ”

Nimitz, of course, knew what Stark wanted, and he didn't say anything more, didn't show any displeasure or displeasure, but looked at the sea out of the porthole with a determined expression. The advance detachment carried out Stark's order to the letter, on the surface, they were not inferior to the outpost of the Allied fleet in terms of mobility, but the firepower was slightly weaker, the momentum was slightly worse, and they only needed to try their best to maneuver with the enemy to complete the task, in fact, the seemingly inconspicuous technology of fire control radar was a very critical influencing factor in a naval battle where optical equipment was difficult to work normally, at a distance of 15,000 to 18,000 meters, the heavy patrol detachment of the Allied countries was like a group of fierce and efficient fighters, less than half an hour, Half of the American advance detachment was bruised, and what was worse was that they seized on the opponent's idea of avoiding too close to the battle, and forced the American detachment to retreat, thus seizing the detachment and the main fleet. Heavy cruisers, of course, could not compete head-on with battleships, but after seizing a favorable position, they could wait for an opportunity to move, or disrupt the opponent with artillery fire, or launch a medium and long-range torpedo offensive, forcing the main force of the American fleet to counter the enemy's main fleet while devoting a part of its combat strength and energy to deal with the threat from the flanks and rear.

Almost at the same time that the outpost of the Allied Navy successfully penetrated the US combat array, the main force of the Allied Detachment 1, which was coming from the direction of Grand Bahama Island, suddenly changed course and pointed the edge of the arrow battle array at the tail of the main formation of the US Atlantic Fleet, assuming a posture of flanking the opponent in front and back with the outpost team. At this time, if Stark dispatches the main ships to press forward, joins hands with the advance detachment to wrap the dumplings of the enemy's outpost team first, annihilates or inflicts heavy damage on them, and then turns to deal with the enemy's main force, there is not enough room for time and space, and the psychological quality of the commanders of the detachments and the commanders of the ships is high and low, and it is difficult to guarantee that no one will lose their combat position due to timidity or conservatism at the most dangerous moment of the battle situation -- in this respect, the 1st Contingent Fleet of the Central Powers, with the German Navy as the absolute main force, undoubtedly occupies a significant advantage.

Weighing the pros and cons, Stark quickly made a decision, the main formation kept the speed and course unchanged, and launched a long-range attack on the enemy fleet in the port direction by concentrating firepower in the detachment, leaving a small number of alert ships with the Jacksonville detachment, and the rest were all engaged in the attack on the enemy's outpost team!

As a result, with the two main fleets separated by 29,400 yards, or about 27,000 meters, the U.S. capital ships opened fire before the opponent. The rumbling sound of cannon resounded across the sea, and the suppressed tension seemed to be completely released at this moment. Although the experience of the first naval battle of São Miguel Island showed that the effective firing range of the fleet artillery battle had been enlarged to about 30,000 meters, the naval battle took place in a daytime with a good line of sight, and the observation and ranging of both sides was mainly based on optical instruments, supplemented by radar equipment, and the current environment was completely different, even the most sophisticated optical equipment could not accurately measure and locate the target 15,000 kilometers away, and although the theoretical range of the fire control radar could reach more than 30,000 meters, the farther the distance, the geometric decline in the accuracy of the fire control.

Stark knew this very well, and his opponent Ruttyans was also well aware of this, the former preemptively fired not only to boost the morale of the army, but also to test the opponent, but the American capital ships fired seven or eight rounds each, and the distance between the main arrays of the two sides was reduced to about 24,000 kilometers, but the Allied fleet on the opposite side maintained an eerie silence, which even made some American officers and men doubt their own equipment: Could it be that the fleet detected by the radar was an illusion created by the enemy using some technology?

Subsequently, the left flank detachment of the American fleet refuted this groundless suspicion with a brave combat reconnaissance -- several super-large warships of the Central Powers, together with the light ships guarding the formation, maintained a tight and neat battle formation, and no signs of being shot by any enemy ships were found!

On the other hand, the US advance detachment, which was struggling to support the tide of the battle, was hit again, and the flagship of the detachment, the new heavy cruiser "Texas", was attacked by the opponent intensively, and the hull of the ship caught fire, and the commander, Rear Admiral Egmonds-Kate, was seriously wounded. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Allied outpost team continued to carry out high-speed maneuvers, narrowing the distance between the two sides to 12,000 kilometers, and the hit rate of the next few rounds of heavy artillery fire has increased significantly.

Before you know it, the battle of the outpost has been going on for nearly an hour, and the ultimate duel between the main ships of the two sides is gradually heating up. When the distance between the two sides was reduced to 27,600 yards, or 26,000 meters, the Allied fleet began to "strike behind". Different from Stark's detachment's concentrated attack, Lütjans still used the tactic of concentrated attack of the whole team - at the beginning of the artillery battle, the main guns of five battleships and one battlecruiser smashed into the American battleship "Maine" at the head of the line.

The "Maine" and the flagship "Ohio" belonged to the North Carolina-class improved battleship, and its hull was built at the famous New York Navy Shipyard. Despite all the difficulties faced in the construction process, the Americans completed three of the four improved North Carolina-class warships in early 1935. The process and results of the Battle of Bermuda and even the Battle of Hawaii show that the core position of the battleship in naval warfare is being replaced by aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft, so there are big differences in the treatment of these new battleships by the US military leadership, and domestic public opinion is no longer as praised as before, many people believe that only by building more aircraft carriers can they regain sea supremacy, and the fleet artillery battle that takes place in the waters of Grand Bahamas today is a relic of the previous era in the eyes of these people!

Another round of deafening heavy artillery roar, eight 18-inch caliber German-made armor-piercing shells flew to the target more than 20 kilometers away with huge kinetic energy. Continuing the German Navy's fighting style since 1914, Lütjens's combat flagship "Germania" proudly ranked first in the battle column, followed by the ship of the same class "Friedrich Wilhelm II", which has been in service for more than 14 months, has completed the run-in of personnel and equipment, and has been replaced with the latest model of fire control radar more than two months ago. After the first few rounds of firing were tried and adjusted, the expensive fire control radar soon showed its extraordinary value - the 18-inch armor-piercing shell hit the main armor zone of the "Maine" at a distance of 22,770 meters, and the penetration of the medium-velocity standard shell was now fully revealed: although the improved waterline armor belt of the North Carolina class was fired at a standard of less than 18-inch naval gun bombardment, its thickest point reached 16 inches, and the inclination of 16 degrees was adopted, but the "Germania" The blow still blew a large hole about 120 centimeters above the waterline, and the fuel in the tank then gushed out.

The two Germania-class battleships at the front of the battle column were majestic, and the three German-class battleships that followed them were not inferior. They had all been in service for three years and were the backbone of the German Navy's campaign in the Middle East and the West. At a distance of more than 20,000 meters, the German-class 16-inch naval guns, although difficult to directly shake the main armor belt of the Ohio-class waterline, were enough to ravage their secondary armor belts and deck buildings, thereby weakening their combat and survivability.

With the successive launch of the two Germania-class and the three German-class, the "Maine" was bombarded by five large-caliber armor-piercing shells in less than ten minutes, one of which penetrated through the twin auxiliary turret mount on the starboard side, and the shells and projectiles that had just been sent to the turret quickly caused a second explosion, and the fire quickly spread along the lower compartment of the bomb supply channel, and the continuous explosion turned the lower cabin and passage into a human purgatory, and the billowing smoke soon enveloped the battleship's amidships. The swaying flames became an excellent reference for the enemy shooting commander to correct the impact point. Two minutes later, an 18-inch gun hit the "Maine" again, and the heavy armor-piercing shell penetrated the external armor about 9 meters from the stern, and a violent explosion occurred on the right side of the engine room of the second ship, which instantly reduced the power output of the battleship by one-third.

Under the continuous siege of the enemy's six capital ships, this super-large battleship, which was built with the essence of American and British shipbuilding technology and the most advanced manufacturing technology, equipment and technology in the early 30s, soon became full of holes, and even the bridge was surrounded by fire, although the two Germania-class battleships of the Germans were also under heavy artillery fire, but because the number of fire control radars of the American ships was small and the performance was low, the damage of the German ships was much less than that of the "Maine".

At 7:17, when the hull of the ship had been tilted to 33 degrees, the captain of the "Maine", Captain Artie, ordered the crew to send a signal to abandon the ship for help, and only 7 minutes later, the battleship capsized, and hundreds of crew members were trapped in the inverted battleship, but the situation of the fierce battle did not allow the accompanying ships to go to the rescue, and the Americans could only watch it sink slowly...... The sinking of the previous generation of "Maine" brought the United States a rich Philippines, and the sinking of this generation of "Maine" not only failed to bring any benefits to the United States, but also the beginning of a disaster. In the more than four hours after its sinking, 41 warships will disappear under this rough sea, plus the second Battle of Grand Bahama after the 9th, nearly 100 ships sank here, making it an out-and-out "iron-bottom bay".

(End of chapter)