What is the history of aircraft carrier development?

The aircraft carrier is a strange monster with the most powerful power, but it is vulnerable. In the past, it once galloped on the battlefield and was all the rage. Before 1940, the aircraft carrier was regarded by many people in the navy as a ship attached to the battleship. However, only five years later, it took its place and eliminated the battleship. Now more than 60 years have passed, and people have different views on the future of the aircraft carrier. Many people think that this behemoth is doomed to decline.

It is often said that battleships are too expensive. However, the last generation of aircraft carriers built during World War II were equally expensive and equipped with more crew members. At present, the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has an average cost of about 4 billion US dollars and has more than 6,000 crew members.

Answering the above question is not a few words, but a simple fact: both the most primitive aircraft carrier and the most advanced aircraft carrier have dual purposes, that is, people can conquer the ocean and the sky at the same time. The ocean accounts for two-thirds of the earth's surface. When people try to control the ocean, those who have effective means to control the ocean get the greatest benefit. Similarly, the power to conquer the sky belongs to those who are powerful. However, the sea is difficult to control. It is so vast that early planes could not cross it. Also, even today, supersonic long-range aircraft will encounter trouble once they leave the land and fly at any distance at sea. The sky has no boundaries, but the sea and air on the earth are insurmountable barriers for many shore-based aviation, and this situation will continue.

An important role of early aircraft carriers is to make people realize the potential value of aircraft carriers quickly. 1908, the U.S. navy prepares to let an airplane take off from a warship. Because it didn't buy any planes, it got nothing in two years. However, a report caused a strong response: a German mail ship sailing on the Hamburg-US route was going to let a plane carrying mail take off from its foredeck platform to speed up the delivery of mail to new york. This is the first signal of air war. People immediately suspected that the German military authorities were testing a new technology to attack the United States under the cover of the postal service. This report benefited Colonel washington irving Chambers, an assistant director of the Naval Materials Bureau, who was in charge of keeping in touch with flight affairs not long ago. He was soon allowed to take charge of the take-off test on the warship, and installed a take-off platform on the front deck of the new cruiser Birmingham on1910 65438+10.

Captain washington irving Chambers.

Chambers is more difficult to find pilots than warships. However, after interviewing several pilots, including wilbur wright, he met Eugene B. Erie, a performance pilot who had worked with another famous flight pioneer, glenn curtiss. Yili expressed her willingness to do it for the navy. In order to defeat the US Navy, Le Monde decided to support another Curtis pilot, J McGrady, to try to take off on the "Pennsylvania" sailing from Hamburg to the United States, which increased the drama of this plan. Mcgrady made a test flight in165438+1October 12, but when starting the engine, the propeller hit a refueling oil can and damaged the blades.

Driven by this competition, Norfolk Naval Shipyard worked hard all day the next day (Sunday) and installed a take-off platform above the front deck of Birmingham. This is a wooden runway, 25.3 meters long and 7.3 meters wide, which slowly inclines from the bridge of the cruiser to the front deck. 165438+1October 65438+One morning in April, Curtis of Yili was hoisted onto a warship. The plane has been modified and equipped with two airbags to reduce the momentum when the plane loses altitude and falls into the water.

Birmingham sailed out of Hampton Waterway on time and entered chesapeake bay. Four destroyers escorted at fixed locations along the way. At about 3 pm, the weather improved and we were ready for the test flight. When the cruiser broke the waves smoothly at a speed of 10 knots, Yili started his 50 horsepower engine and began to slide down the runway. The biplane left the runway and watched it fall. Wheels, airbags and propeller blades come into contact with water. People watching the take-off are sweating for Yili. However, although the propeller was damaged, it was still rotating, which made the plane start to climb. The plane left the warship and gradually disappeared in the drizzle. The plane took off from a warship for the first time in the world and was successful.

1910165438+1October 65438+April, Yili took off from Birmingham.

The sky was gray and Yili soon disappeared without a trace. He landed safely about 2.5 nautical miles from the warship. This incident immediately caused a sensation in the US Navy. Chambers suggested that all cruisers should be equipped with this platform. At the same time, some people put forward the idea of installing the take-off platform on the turret of the warship, as well as some strange opinions. Fortunately, this enthusiasm did not end there. The main achievement of the test flight in Birmingham was that the US Navy sent the first pilot, Captain Theodore G Ellison, to receive training from glenn curtiss in June+February, 5438.

The next step is more ambitious. Chambers was allowed to land Eugene Erie on the heavy cruiser Pennsylvania. This flight is more difficult and quite dangerous to the warship itself. A leveling platform nearly 30 meters long and 9.6 meters wide was installed above the stern of the cruiser. The platform extends from the bottom of the main mast to the outside of the stern, and the outboard plate is inclined. The flight was arranged as follows: Yili landed while the warship was sailing, so it was easier to control the plane by using the wind speed against the wind. His plane has no braking device, and the landing blocking device on the ship is also very primitive, consisting of 22 blocking cables with sandbags tied at both ends.

19 1 1, 1, 18, the weather in San Francisco Bay was terrible. To make matters worse, the captain of the "Pennsylvania" thought that the waters where the ship was located were too small to maneuver, so he decided to anchor and let the stern face the wind. For any pilot, such cooperation was really a bad thing at that time and now. Maybe Yili has no idea of the insurmountable danger in this situation. He flew the plane to the Pennsylvania, lowered its altitude and rushed to the stern. When the plane approached the inclined tailgate of the platform, he pulled up the plane and then turned off the engine. Due to the momentum and downwind of the plane, the hook under the wheel frame only hooked the 1 1 blocking cable behind, and the plane stopped at a distance of 9 meters from the front end of the platform.

191165438+1October 18, Yili landed on the Pennsylvania.

Eugene Yili's success marks the beginning of the naive stage of naval aviation. But at that time, there were high hopes for this, and the conditions were not mature. Yili is a skilled performance pilot and an acrobat who is good at shooting dangerous scenes, so she dares to risk her life to board the ship. At this point alone, it will take time for the US Navy to have enough pilots and planes to complete the task at any time. In addition, the aircraft itself is still in the early stage of development, and there is neither equipment to communicate with the ground nor weapons more lethal than grenades. The above situation is helpful for people to understand why they abandon land planes that can land on the deck and develop seaplanes instead. Seaplane is a specially designed plane, with buoys on its wings, or a land plane with airbags beside its wheels, which can float on the water. Seaplanes, like Yili, take off from the gangway and can land on the water near the mother ship, and then be hoisted to the deck with a derrick. 19 1 1 In February, glenn curtiss carried out this experiment in the port of San Diego, and the warship was still the Pennsylvania.

In order to continue the flight test, a month later, the US Congress allocated $25,000 to the Navy. As Colonel Chambers said, in less than a year, several amazing progress has been made: you can take pictures from the plane; Planes can fly for hours at a time; In the case of moderate wind and waves, the plane can be hoisted to the ship. Soon, the second naval officer, Captain John Rogers, was sent to the Wright brothers for training. The navy purchased two Curtis A- 1 aircraft and one Wright aircraft. 19 1 1 In July, the aircraft made its first test flight.

Setbacks followed. 19 1 1 At the end of the year, Eugene Yili died unexpectedly only a few months after he became famous. Except for a thank-you letter, the US Navy did not pay Yili for his flight, and only a private foundation paid him $500, which is a wonderful irony. Twenty-five years later, the US Congress posthumously awarded him a Flying Cross, acknowledging his contribution to the aviation industry of the US Navy.

1965438+In April 2004, when there was another dispute between the United States and Mexico, the United States Navy owned 12 seaplanes. In order to expose new air weapons, six of them were sent to Veracruz for reconnaissance. They were carried by the battleship Mississippi and successfully completed the reconnaissance mission of the landing troops. However, when a pilot returned, there was a bullet hole in the horizontal tail of his plane, which was a bit funny. The New World reported this incident as "the first air battle".

The first original catapult was manufactured by Captain Theodore Ellison at glenn curtiss factory in Hammond Harbor, new york in 19 1 1 year. It is just an accelerator composed of three downward inclined ropes and a heavy object. Colonel Chambers, who was in charge of naval flight, saw that the design was flawed, so he relentlessly improved his ejection device. His device uses compressed air, much like a torpedo tube, to push the plane out of the warship deck. 19 12 In June, this device was completed and installed at Santi Wharf in Annapolis. In June165438+1October 12 this year, Ellison successfully carried out the world's first catapult take-off. Then continue the experiment. 19 15, 10 In June, the armored cruiser "North Carolina" installed a prototype catapult. 1915165438+15. On October 5th, it catapulted off a Curtis AB-3 plane, with the pilot being Major Henry C. Mastin. 19 17 At the beginning of this year, the armored cruisers Seattle and Huntington were equipped with this catapult. After the United States participated in World War I, the catapult was dismantled because it affected the escort of warships.

1915165438+1October 5th, Mastin took off with his plane for the first time.

1920 In July, the US Navy put forward a plan to build four aircraft carriers within three years. A year later, it was proposed to build at least three ships first. This step is too fast. The ambitious plan of the US Navy has been affected by the artificial financial restrictions imposed by Congress. It is hard to say that the financial resources of Congress have dried up. Since the Versailles Peace Conference, the activities of the world political arena have tended to ease, and Congress is unwilling to allocate large sums of money for rearmament. All members of the Admiralty hope to approve the construction of a large aircraft carrier capable of carrying 24 aircraft in the 1929 fiscal year. The design of this aircraft carrier is a research project made by Goode (the designer of the British aircraft carrier "Competitive God") in August 2008. It is 240 meters long and has a displacement of 22,000 tons. 191August modified the scheme, with a speed of 35 knots and a displacement of 24,000 tons, equipped with 152 mm 10 gun 19 19. In March, 2009, the General Committee of the Admiralty decided to add four 203mm guns. Later, these combat cruisers were converted into 43,000-ton Lexington-class aircraft carriers.

The design is ingenious, and there are two island superstructures, one on the left and the other on the right. The bow and stern are equipped with 203 mm guns. 132mm naval guns are arranged on both sides of the hull, and the double-mounted152mm naval guns are arranged below the tail flight deck. The superstructure of each island has a large cage mast like a warship. According to the calculation, the normal displacement is more than 29,000 tons, the speed is 35 knots, and the main engine power is 65.438+0.4 million horsepower.

However, Congress was unmoved and refused to approve the construction of any aircraft carrier in the fiscal years 1920 and 192 1. The funds planned for the construction of ordinary ships have been reduced to the level of 19 16, not to mention the trial production of "new gadgets". All we have to do is agree to convert a large fleet coal ship "Jupiter" into an aircraft carrier for testing. This ship is one of two coal ships built seven years ago, with a displacement of 5,500 tons and a speed of 15 knots. Its sister ship sank in an accident in 19 18. Now, because most of the battleships in the fleet have burned oil or intend to burn oil instead, "Jupiter" has become a burden. It is the first large ship equipped with steam turbine-motor power plant in the US Navy. 19 17, it sent the first naval pilots to Britain.

CV 1 "Langli"

The Navy Committee is unwilling to refit this ship, and it is better to regard this refit as a stopgap measure than to have no aircraft carrier. Soon, its name was changed to "Langley" to commemorate the pioneer samuel pierpont langley; Code name is aircraft carrier 1 or CV 1. Although the length of "Langli" is not enough (the total length is only 150 meters) and the speed is low, it also has some advantages: the cabin is deep and it can provide a wide warehouse for aircraft and repair shops; Few crew members are needed. 1March, 920, entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a two-year modification. During the modification, the superstructure and loading and unloading boom were removed, the cabin was rearranged, and a wooden flight deck with a length of162.8m and a width of19.5m was installed.

All six engine rooms in Langley were modified, the first engine room was changed into aviation gasoline cabin, and the two engine rooms next to the first engine room were changed into two hangars. The total capacity of the two hangars is 56 aircraft. Under the flight deck, there are two mobile 3-ton cranes running through the track. Aircraft can be used from the hangar to the elevator, and then lifted to the flight deck by the elevator. The word "hangar" is not appropriate here, because it has no hangar deck usually used in hangars, only four warehouses, and planes have to be put into the hangar by cranes. Between the two sides, there is a crane to lift the seaplane. There is a large space between the flight deck and the hangar for aircraft maintenance.

When the "Langli" was first built, it was a bit like the Japanese "Fengxiang". A hinged chimney was installed on the port side, which can be put down during flight operation, and later a chimney was installed. The bridge is located at the lower part of the starboard bow of the flight deck, and the two telescopic masts can be lowered to be as flat as the flight deck during flight operation. Although this warship is ugly, it looks like a station wagon, but 1922 was very liked by pilots after its service in March. The ship is equipped with a direct flight deck and can carry more than 20 aircraft, which is mainly used for air cover and maritime reconnaissance of battleships. Since then, an aircraft carrier has appeared in the world navy series.

At the beginning of World War II, American officials still pursued the policy of non-interference in the growth of the military power of the Axis countries. 1938 in may, congress passed the naval expansion plan. According to this bill, it is allowed to build a 40,000-ton aircraft carrier. However, the number of aircraft carriers approved by the US Navy is still 27,000 tons, and the total tonnage is limited to175,000 tons. In order to seize the time, the Committee of the US Admiralty decided to build a York-class ship of the same type, while continuing to design a new-class aircraft carrier. This ship is the "Bumblebee", which was approved for construction after five days of service of the "Enterprise". Construction started on September 1939. It is wise to seize the time to build the Bumblebee, which not only provides another fast aircraft carrier in time for the war against Japan, but also gives the repair bureau time to prepare new designs and raise the aircraft carrier construction technology to an unprecedented height.

CV8 Bumblebee

The US Navy finally decided to build a large aircraft carrier. This decision has a greater impact on the historical process than any other decision made in the 1930s. The basic requirement of the whole Committee of the Admiralty is to increase the carrying capacity of aircraft, but it should also be fast and protective. Therefore, the displacement of the new aircraft carrier has increased from 20,400 tons in CV9A to 25,000 tons and 26,000 tons in CVI9E and CVI9F. The final design of CV9 is 27100t. In the summer of 1940, Congress passed the Fleet Expansion 10% Act and the Two Seas Navy Act, abolishing the previous statutory restrictions. The former bill approved the construction of three 27 100-ton aircraft carriers, and the latter bill approved the construction of eight more aircraft carriers. The aircraft carrier built according to this design became a powerful weapon to finally defeat Japan, although it was not completed until two years later.

During World War II, the assault capability of aircraft carriers was manifested as attacking warships at port bases. In the Pacific, the obvious war case is Pearl Harbor. 194 1 year, Japan decided to sneak attack on pearl harbor in order to contain the Pacific fleet of the U.S. navy, gain the sea power in the theater, and ensure that the Japanese army could gain time to invade the Malay Peninsula, the Philippine Islands and the eastern Dutch East India smoothly. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Joint Fleet, personally worked out the operational plan. The aircraft carrier task force is commanded by vice admiral, a loyal member of Nanyun, and consists of 20 ships (including 6 aircraft carriers) and 360 carrier-based aircraft. On February 7 of the same year, at 7: 49 Honolulu time, Pearl Harbor was attacked. The carrier aircraft of the Japanese navy bombed Pearl Harbor in two waves for about two hours. * * * sank 8 ships (4 battleships and 4 cruisers each 1 ship), injured 1 1 ship, sank another oil tanker, and destroyed 464 aircraft. I only lost 29 planes. Due to the inaccurate information obtained by the Japanese army, the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Lexington were not robbed in Pearl Harbor. In addition, the Japanese army ignored two key targets in the battle plan, namely the factory and the oil depot. In this way, damaged American ships can be repaired and defense facilities rebuilt.

Pearl harbor is a milestone in the history of American aircraft carrier operations. Battleship troops no longer exist, so it is impossible to adopt battleship tactics; The only choice is to attack the Japanese with pure aircraft carrier tactics. Since then, although the US Navy has not officially issued documents, it has actually abandoned the use of battleships as the main force of the fleet, and instead set up an aircraft carrier task force, attaching importance to naval aviation with considerable experience.

In World War II, the assault capability of aircraft carriers was more manifested in the confrontation between aircraft carrier formations. The main combat action is the naval battle between the two aircraft carrier formations, that is, the Coral Sea Battle and the subsequent Midway Sea Battle reversed the Pacific War. 1on may 7-8, 942, the aircraft carrier task forces of the United States and Japan only fought a naval battle between aircraft carriers in the coral sea in northeastern Australia. On the morning of the 7th, the carrier-based aircraft of the Japanese Navy mistook the American oil tanker "Niesao" and the destroyer "Sims" for a special mixed formation including an aircraft carrier. So 78 bombers, torpedoes and fighter planes that took off from Ruihe and Shoukaku made up all of attack force. But then the search report of the ship-borne reconnaissance plane confirmed that the initial information was wrong, but it was too late to change the target. As a result, although the tanker "Niesao" and the destroyer "Sims" were sunk, they missed the fighter planes that attacked the American aircraft carrier. At about 1 1 in the morning, the US carrier aircraft found the light aircraft carrier Xiangfeng in the Japanese close cover formation, so nearly 100 planes took off in York City and Lexington. They broke through the interception of Xiangfeng's "Nakajima" fighter plane and attacked Xiangfeng instantly.

At 8: 22 the next morning, the squadron of the US military carrier reconnaissance plane found the Japanese aircraft carrier formation more than 90 nautical miles away from its aircraft carrier/KLOC-0. Two minutes later, the Lexington aircraft carrier intercepted the wireless telegram sent by the Japanese reconnaissance plane searching for the American aircraft carrier formation, and Japan and the United States detected each other almost simultaneously. So the first naval battle between aircraft carriers in history began. Japan and the United States have taken pre-emptive measures, and each dispatched all the attack forces on the aircraft carrier. Japan took off 70 torpedo planes and bombers, the United States took off 67 torpedo planes and bombers, and took off 15 fighter planes for air cover. The US carrier aircraft was either on the approach road 20 nautical miles away from the target or was violently intercepted over the other aircraft carrier, and launched a fierce air battle. 10: 57, Lexington attacked Xianghe, and a minute later, Yorktown attacked it, too. The ship directly hit three bombs and was injured. Seeing that the American plane was threatening, the Ruihe sailed into the nearby storm area to get rid of the attack. On the other hand, at 1 1: 20, Japanese torpedo planes and bombers attacked from both sides of the Lexington almost simultaneously. "Lexington" was hit by five bombs, "Zuo Hang" was hit by two torpedoes, and the water column caused by three near bombs flooded the flight deck. The whole attack lasted only nine minutes. The ship damage management team quickly put out the fire source and pumped out the water in the water tank to eliminate the tilt caused by the torpedo explosion and make the ship sail at full speed again. Just as the plane was being recovered, refueled, replenished and prepared for another battle, the bottom of the Lexington ship at 12: 47 suddenly exploded violently, and the landing port of the flight deck immediately emitted smoke. After the aviation fuel tank was hit by a torpedo, the gasoline in the fuel tank flowed into the adjacent engine room, and the gasoline volatilized and gradually gathered together, causing a violent explosion and eventually sinking in the evening. While the Lexington was attacked, the aircraft carrier Yorktown was also attacked by Japanese torpedoes and bombers, but the ship successfully escaped the torpedo and only hit a blockbuster. The bomb penetrated the flight deck and exploded in the storage room below, causing no other losses except 37 deaths. After the first wave of aircraft attacks, both aircraft carriers retreated and separated. When the Japanese side tried to carry out the second wave of attacks to expand the results, it was too late and lost its fighters.

The last scene of the Lexington

In the Coral Sea Battle, the Japanese side lost the light aircraft carrier "Xiangfeng", a destroyer and three small boats, and the aircraft carrier "Shoukaku" was injured; The failure of occupying port moresby frustrated its attempt to expand the southern occupied area from the sea; The total loss of the United States is: the aircraft carrier Lexington, the tanker Nisso and the destroyer Sims sank, and the aircraft carrier York City was injured. The Return of "York City"

After returning to Pearl Harbor, after two days and two nights of emergency repairs, we can go to sea to carry out combat missions again. The Battle of Coral Sea marked the climax of the naval air battle in Langben, which was the last victory in a series of victories of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor exactly five months ago. The us military has achieved a major strategic victory.

The battle of midway is a decisive battle between Japanese and American aircraft carriers after the Battle of Coral Sea. In the first five months after the Pacific War, the Japanese army captured Malaya, Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, the main islands of Indonesia, a part of New Guinea, New Britain and Solomon Islands, and Hong Kong. So far, the first stage of Japan's strategic action to seize rich strategic natural resources such as oil source and rubber has been completed. However, Admiral Yamamoto and the entire Japanese navy believe that their first task is to annihilate the American aircraft carrier. Yamamoto believes that the tiny place of midway is the key to the whole battle plan. Once the Japanese army took control of Midway Island, it was equivalent to inserting a wedge into the American defense triangle with Pearl Harbor as its apex and the west coast of the United States as its base. Yamamoto believes that this action will definitely induce Americans to attack and defend Midway Island. So far, although the American aircraft carrier has achieved little, it is obvious that if it is not killed, disasters will follow.

The Japanese-Navy Joint Fleet attacking Midway Island was commanded by Admiral Yamamoto, which had three fleets, a attack force and two troops stationed on the island. The main force was commanded by Yamamoto himself, attack force (a task force composed of four aircraft carriers) was commanded by Lieutenant General Nan Yun, the invading troops were commanded by Nakakuni, and the northern troops were commanded by Lieutenant General Hosokawa Morihiro. Among the troops stationed on the island are advancing troops. Another shore-based aviation unit has 36 fighters, 10 bombers and 6 airships in wake island. There are 72 fighter planes and 72 torpedo planes on Kwajalein Island. Because the American army obtained the telegraph code of the Japanese army, it had already learned the intention of the Japanese army. The troops defending Midway Island are under the unified command of Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy, and have two aircraft carrier task forces and one troops stationed on the island. 16 Task Force was commanded by Major General Sprus, 17 Task Force was commanded by Major General Fletcher. Fletcher was in charge when the two task forces acted in unison at sea. Another 25 submarines are deployed in the sea passage west of Midway Island. Judging from the strength of the two sides participating in the war, the Japanese military academy has an absolute advantage over the US military.

1from may 26th to 29th, 942, the joint fleet of Japanese navy was divided into three roads: Taiju Port in the north of the island, Zhudao Anchorage in Hiroshima Bay and Saipan. Departing from Guam. Most of the combat troops going to midway set sail from the anchorage of midway. The ship's action was very concealed, and the radio kept silent, in an attempt to take it by surprise tactically, so that the US fleet could not respond before the attack on Midway Island, in order to attract the US Pacific fleet to sail out of Pearl Harbor and force it to fight a decisive battle under unfavorable circumstances and destroy it in one fell swoop.

At 8 o'clock on June 3, the main Japanese army sailed to the northwest of midway island about 900 nautical miles. The guard troops in the main Japanese army left the main Japanese army and headed for the Aleutian Islands to cover the attack on the island. At 0900 hours, the transport ship of 12 amphibious landing force under the command of Major General Tanaka and its escort ships had advanced to 500 nautical miles southwest of midway Island and were discovered by the US Navy patrol aircraft. On the morning of June 4th, when attack force of the Japanese Navy was about to launch an air raid on Midway Island, Lieutenant General Nan Yun and his staff did not know that their transport fleet had been discovered and attacked by the US military yesterday. At 4: 30, the first attack wave of attack force's four aircraft carriers *** 108 aircraft started to take off, and 15 minutes later completed the take-off. At 6: 45, it is less than 30 nautical miles from Midway Island, which is beautiful.

After the first attack wave plane took off, four aircraft carriers were busy preparing for the second attack wave plane to attack the Metersbonwe-Bang Wei mixed formation. Because the plane on midway has been lifted off and the ground troops are in a state of war, the Japanese air strikes have failed. The first attack wave sent a telegram when it returned, which not only reported the situation, but also hinted that it was necessary to carry out a second attack. At 7: 15, Nanyun saw the telegram and ordered the second attack to prepare to attack midway island. In this way, "Chicheng" and "Kaga" torpedo machines have to unload torpedoes and refit bombs. As a result, the torpedo machine already on deck was recovered to the hangar. When people were nervously unloading torpedoes and loading bombs, the attacking troops' search plane was in midway 10? Found 10 American warship at a distance of 240 nautical miles, heading 150? The speed is 20 knots, and it's 7: 28. At 8: 20, the search plane further discovered that there was an aircraft carrier in the formation, and the distance between the two sides was about 200 nautical miles. At this point, the fighters in attack force, who served as the cover of the second wave of attacks, immediately took off and strengthened air combat patrols. At 8: 30, the first attack wave plane returned to prepare for landing. Thirty-six bombers, which had been prepared to stop on the flight decks of the Dragonfly and the Black Dragon, were still on standby, making it difficult to land. At this time, Nan Yun ordered the plane's nuclear weapons to be recovered before the attack. When all the aircraft carriers were preparing to take back their planes from the deck, the tired ground crew on Akagi and Kaga took the torpedo planes back to the hangar. 18 at 9 o'clock, all the fighters of the first attack wave and the second attack wave were recovered. Finally, it is decided that 10: 30 will take off 102 will attack the Metersbonwe-Bang Wei mixed fleet. On the other hand. At 8: 30, the aircraft carriers Enterprise, Hornet and York City in Metersbonwe-Bang Wei mixed fleet sent planes to attack the Japanese attack force. At this time, the distance between the two sides is 200 nautical miles, which exceeds the operational radius of the torpedo machine. However, in order to gain the initiative, the Metersbonwe-Bang Wei mixed fleet took the risk of taking a long-range attack. When the carrier-based aircraft of Enterprise and Bumblebee arrived at the designated position, no targets were found on the sea, so the squadrons scattered their search, but because no targets were found, most planes had to return. The 15 aircraft of the 8th torpedo squadron on the Bumblebee searched four Japanese aircraft carriers at 9: 20. At this time, they could not get the cover of fighter planes and the cooperation of bombers, so they had to attack Chicheng alone, but they were intercepted by nearly 50 Japanese planes on the way and all were destroyed. 10 minutes later, the 14 aircraft of the sixth torpedo squadron of Enterprise and the 12 aircraft of the third torpedo squadron of York City both found targets. They launched their own attack, but were intercepted by Japanese planes. Only five torpedo planes of the third squadron finally threw torpedoes at the dragonfly, but none of them hit. Only eight planes from the two squadrons returned. 10: 24, all the planes on the four Japanese aircraft carriers started their engines, and the ships turned against the wind. At the critical moment of the take-off attack, the bomber squadrons of Enterprise and York City reached their targets. By accident, the two squadrons chose different targets for dive attack. They dived almost vertically from an altitude of more than 5,000 meters to more than 700 meters and dropped bombs, which were not intercepted by Japanese planes. At this time, Japanese warplanes are still preparing to intercept the other torpedo planes at low altitude. As a result, York City hit Chicheng with two bullets, Enterprise hit Jiamao with four bullets and Black Dragon with three bullets. All three ships exploded and caught fire, causing a chain explosion of planes, bombs and fuel tanks nearby. The last three aircraft carriers sank one after another.

At present, the attack power of the Japanese navy is only one aircraft carrier "Dragonfly". 10: 40, take off 18 bomber, attack under the cover of six fighters. During the flight, they found that the returning US carrier aircraft was tracking, but it was intercepted by the other fighters on the way. In the end, only eight bombers dived and dropped bombs on the Yorktown at 12, and three bombs were hit on the ship. After being damaged, it can continue to sail with 14 knots 19 knots. 12: 50, the "dragonfly" took off 10 torpedo plane flew to the target under the cover of six fighters, and it was also hit by the US on the approach road.