binnovel Chapter 770 Suicide Attack
Chapter 770 Suicide Attack
At the same time as the American army's planes began to attack the Japanese airport, 193 Japanese planes also began to attack the American naval fleet. The American aircraft carrier Enterprise was hit by an aerial bomb, and a Japanese kamikaze suicide plane was hit and exploded on the side of the American Navy's aircraft carrier Intrepid. The fragments fell on the hangar deck of the aircraft carrier, causing a fire, killing two sailors and injuring 43. In addition, the American Navy's aircraft carrier Yorktown was also damaged, and two gaps were blown in the hull, killing five sailors and injuring 26. Fortunately, the three aircraft carriers of the American Navy were not seriously damaged, and in this attack, the Japanese lost 161 aircraft.
On March 19, 1945, the United States Navy's aircraft carrier formation dispatched nearly a thousand carrier-based aircraft to bomb Japan's aircraft manufacturing plants in Kure Port, Osaka and Kobe, and airports in Kyushu, Shikoku and other places. The Japanese Fifth Air Fleet also dispatched aircraft to counterattack.
During the fierce fighting on this day, the USS Wasp of the United States Navy was hit several times by bombs dropped by Japanese planes, which caused a fire on the USS Wasp of the United States Navy. After the desperate rescue efforts of the damage control personnel on the USS Wasp of the United States Navy, the fire was put out, but this also resulted in the death of 101 crew members of the USS Wasp of the United States Navy and 269 injuries.
When the USS Franklin of the United States Navy was organizing the takeoff of its carrier-based aircraft, a Japanese Comet bomber suddenly swooped down with the cover of clouds and dropped two 250-kilogram aerial bombs at an altitude of 30 meters. One of the bombs exploded on the hangar deck of the USS Franklin of the United States Navy, and the other bomb fell on the stern of the USS Franklin of the United States Navy. The bomb penetrated two decks and exploded near the officer's cabin.
The bomb that exploded in the hangar of the USS Franklin posed a particularly serious threat to the aircraft carrier, because the USS Franklin was organizing the takeoff of carrier-based aircraft at the time, and the hangar was full of carrier-based aircraft that were fully fueled and loaded with bombs.
After the bomb exploded in the hangar deck of the USS Franklin of the United States Navy, it immediately caused a terrible chain explosion. The fire spread rapidly and explosions occurred one after another. The thick smoke caused by the fire rose straight into the sky. Dozens of carrier-based aircraft on the USS Franklin of the United States Navy were all destroyed.
Hundreds of naval officers and soldiers on the USS Franklin of the United States Navy have been killed or injured. Explosions and fires have continued and gradually spread to the engine room of the USS Franklin of the United States Navy. At the same time, the superstructure of the USS Franklin of the United States Navy has been unrecognizable, full of bullet holes caused by the explosion, and the deck is covered with the wreckage of carrier-based aircraft.
When the fire spread to the ammunition pile on the rear deck of the USS Franklin, it caused an even bigger explosion. The smoke column produced by the explosion alone was as high as 600 meters.
When Rear Admiral Davidson, commander of the 2nd Squadron where the USS Franklin was located, saw that the USS Franklin was seriously damaged, he notified Colonel Gales, the captain of the USS Franklin, that he could order the ship to be abandoned.
But Colonel Gales, the captain of the USS Franklin, believed that the USS Franklin could still be saved as long as other ships of the US Navy provided the necessary sea and air support and cover.
Therefore, the commander of the 2nd Squadron, Rear Admiral Davidson, agreed to the plan of Colonel Gales, the captain of the USS Franklin, and immediately mobilized other warships of the 2nd Squadron to come to the rescue. Among them, the light cruiser USS Santa Fe of the United States Navy towed the USS Franklin with a steel cable to prevent the USS Franklin from capsizing and sinking, and at the same time took over some of the injured crew members on the USS Franklin.
Captain Colonel Gales of the USS Franklin first ordered the filling of water into the ammunition compartment of the USS Franklin to avoid a larger explosion on the USS Franklin. However, after the water was filled, the USS Franklin began to tilt to the right.
Subsequently, the boiler of the USS Franklin stopped working, causing the Franklin to tilt more severely to the right, with the deck almost touching the sea surface. The USS Santa Fe light cruiser was unable to control the tilt of the Franklin and was worried about being dragged and capsized by the huge hull of the Franklin, so it had to cut the steel cable.
Therefore, the USS Pittsburgh, a heavy cruiser of the United States Navy, was ordered to rush over and arrange steel cables to stop the Franklin from tilting. After unremitting efforts, the Franklin was finally stopped from tilting. The USS Santa Fe, a light cruiser of the United States Navy, also approached the Franklin again, tied the steel cable to the Franklin with the front main gun as a fulcrum, and worked with the USS Pittsburgh, a heavy cruiser of the United States Navy, to correct the tilt of the Franklin.
In the fierce fighting from March 18 to 19, 1945, the U.S. army lost 116 carrier-based aircraft, one aircraft carrier was severely damaged by Japanese aircraft, and four aircraft carriers and a destroyer were damaged by Japanese aircraft.
However, the American army destroyed a total of 528 Japanese aircraft in the air and on the ground, sank or damaged 22 Japanese ships. In addition, the American army also caused considerable damage to aircraft manufacturing plants and air bases in the Kyushu region of Japan, making it impossible for the Japanese Air Force in Kyushu to organize large-scale operations for the next two weeks.
On March 20, 1945, due to a change in the weather, it began to rain heavily and the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy began to retreat to the south. The Japanese army had suffered serious losses in its air force in previous operations and could only send a small number of aircraft to carry out sporadic harassment on the retreating ships of the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy. However, a Japanese kamikaze suicide plane still crashed into a destroyer of the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy.
On March 22, 1945, the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy met with the supply ships of the Logistics Support Brigade at sea and then carried out sea replenishment.
On March 23, 1945, after replenishing all supplies, the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy arrived at waters 100 nautical miles east of Okinawa Island and began to conduct preliminary aerial firepower preparation for the Ryukyu Islands.
The Japanese military headquarters still thought that the 58th Task Force of the United States Navy was just making a side trip on its way back to the Ulithi Naval Base in the United States and did not take it seriously.