Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Weather forecast - The naval battle in Kula Bay strikes again.
The naval battle in Kula Bay strikes again.
19: 30, the Japanese fleet left Shortland Island and headed south for New Georgia Islands. Due to the bad weather along the way, the formation was not discovered by the US bombers and the water patrol aircraft responsible for reconnaissance missions. At 0000 hours, the formation successfully reached 20 nautical miles north of kolombangara. At this time, the 1 escort formation left the queue as planned and headed for the landing point on the east coast of kolombangara. The rest of the ships continued southbound at 2 1 knots. 1: 05, Japan's flagship "Crescent" found an American surface ship 5 kilometers from the port side at 100. Major General Akiyama immediately ordered the formation to be vigilant and move on. 13 minutes later, it was ordered to turn around and head north. (The Japanese Defense Agency lacks an explanation for this behavior in history. The author speculates that Akiyama is confusing the American ship or confirming safety. According to American data, 1: 06, the radar early warning device on Akiyama's flagship "Crescent" issued an alarm. This point, the author failed to verify in the Japanese materials at hand, but it provided readers with imagination. In fact, the target that the "New Moon" first discovered was not an American ship at all. Now Major General Akiyama doesn't know that he is mistakenly approaching a real American fleet because of this misjudgment. 1: 43, Major General Akiyama felt that everything was safe. He told the Second Transport Team to leave the queue and go to the landing site. He led the cover team to continue northward and served as a guard at the mouth of Kula Bay. Five minutes later, the Japanese army suddenly found an American warship formation on the starboard side-* * * 3 light cruisers and 2 destroyers (this judgment is basically correct from a technical point of view, please refer to the US military sequence for details). Four minutes later, Major General Akiyama ordered all personnel to gather, accelerate to 30 knots, and steer 40 degrees to the north. The curtain of the war slowly opened. In fact, the rally of Japanese destroyers to Shortland Island that day caught the attention of the US military. They found that a new Japanese destroyer fleet had left Boone. General halsey inspected his available troops and found that Major General ainsworth, who had just returned from the shelling mission, could be put into interception, and immediately asked the Ministry to quickly complete the supply and go out to sea to intercept the Japanese formation. On the 5th 15, the ainsworth formation receiving supplies at tulagi Port received a command telegram. Major General ainsworth, commander of the formation at this time, was very excited. Because in the past six months, except for a few submarines, the Japanese fleet did not take the initiative to challenge the US military. Therefore, as a commander, he is eager to meet the Japanese fleet, test his new tactics and make achievements. Previously, his formation was ambushed by a Japanese destroyer, and this attack was an excellent opportunity to avenge the "strong".
At this point, in the formation of Major General ainsworth, the destroyer Strong had sunk, and five destroyers stayed in Rice Bay to cover the landing ship group. The destroyer Knight was also damaged by the other side's shelling, so the destroyers Radford and Jenkins were ordered to join the formation to enrich their troops. In this way, the formation includes 3 light cruisers and 4 destroyers. Then, sailors and dockers began to load materials crazily. Then the original formation consisting of three light cruisers and two destroyers set sail first. 16: 47, Radfort completed the oil-water supply and began to inject water into the ammunition depot. "Jenkins" provided it with 200 shells, and then left the port to catch up with the formation. 18: 37, Radfort, the last warship in the formation, also left tulagi port after receiving 300 shells and blessings from Chevalier. The seven warships met at the rendezvous point and then advanced at a speed of 29 knots.
Now, some American officers doubt the feasibility of this action. Colonel Robert W. Heller, who once commanded Honolulu to participate in the naval battle of Tasfulonga and escaped unscathed, noticed that the battle plan was very similar to that unfortunate naval battle-a group of cruisers and destroyers rushed to intercept a Japanese light formation responsible for transportation. However, due to the delay in joining the destroyer formation, there is no time to modify the plan now, so we can only take it one step at a time. However, the morale and self-confidence of the US military are still high, because the captains think that the formation commanders are excellent and have enough time to practice and understand the existing plans; And "Radfort" and "Jenkins" are also old members of the formation, and people are as familiar with the trough as the Hampton Strait is with the Atlantic fleet; More importantly, each ship is equipped with SG radar and operational intelligence center. According to Major General Ainsworth's tactical plan, the troops fought according to the principle of centralized use. Specifically divided into two situations. Use radar shooting control at a distance of 8000 to 1000 yards, and use flares for instructions at a further distance. He thinks the Japanese have inferior radars and oxygen torpedoes. But he still thinks that the 6-inch gun with high firing rate is the first choice for naval warfare (unfortunately, this choice was soon proved wrong).
At midnight, seven warships passed through Cape Vesuvius, northwest of New Georgia Island. The whole formation is on alert. When the radar screen clearly showed that there were UFOs in the air, Major General ainsworth ordered the formation of an air defense formation. After avoiding a short shower, the deck gunner looked at the moonless night sky with satisfaction, and clouds and breezes floated on the calm sea (this climatic condition is beneficial to the US military because the vision and resolution of the Japanese observation post on the moonless sea are greatly reduced). Major General ainsworth slowed the formation to 25 knots.
At this time, the Japanese formation has entered Kula Bay. When the American formation sailed along the northwest route to the north of Kula Bay, the Japanese formation had entered Kula Bay and sailed south. Originally, the US military would not have found them prematurely, but they were exposed to the US military radar because of the operation of returning to the north mentioned above. 1: 40 (here, according to American data, the Japanese war history is recorded as 1: 36). SC radar received the reflected signal of the target 24,700 yards away-the Japanese formation was found, from which it can be judged how inferior the radar warning device of the Japanese destroyer is. At 1: 06, the false alarm disturbed Major General Akiyama's judgment, but now when it was really discovered by the US military radar, it lost its function. This time, Major General ainsworth's TBS immediately became noisy, and he ordered the navigation formation to be changed to the battle formation, ready to fight. The destroyer lifted the circular alert and changed to a column to accompany the cruiser. The order of the team is the destroyer "Nicholas" and "Oberon"; Light cruisers Honolulu, Helena and St. Louis; The destroyers "Jenkins" and "Radfort". 1: 42, while changing the formation, the heading was changed from 292 to 242 to shorten the distance from the target. The speed is still 25 knots. A few minutes after the discovery of the Japanese formation, the American formation did not fire immediately, and a problem puzzled the experts in the operational intelligence center. Because the echo of the towering hillside on Gala Island in Colombo covers up the target, they can't judge how many enemy ships are ahead, what level, configuration and course, and they can't distinguish the four destroyers of the second transport team. At this point, everything depends on the commander's on-the-spot judgment. At 1: 49, Major General Ainsworth asserted that there were two enemy ships, a total of seven or nine. In order to maintain the most favorable position for the attack, he ordered the course to be adjusted to the right by 60 degrees and restored to 302 degrees. Now the distance is 1 1000 yards. He must adjust as soon as possible, because it is very important to suppress the enemy first, and he does not want to be "strong" like last time. At the same time, ainsworth decided to use radar to guide medium-distance artillery fire. Now the radar screen shows that the four targets in the second group are big ships, so he ordered the Jenkins and Radfort to shoot at them with cruisers, while the Nicholas and O 'Bonon dealt with the targets not far away. 1: 54, he lit the fire. When Colonel Mackler, the commander of the expulsion team, asked what weapons to use, the flagship replied: "All weapons are used, but artillery is the priority."
After giving the order to fire, Major General ainsworth revised his order again, because he thought that the big ship (the second transport team) behind the fleet 1000 yards, which was relatively close to the US military, did not exist. He ordered all the artillery of the cruiser to concentrate on attacking the closer formation. "Follow the ship ahead and turn to the enemy ship at the same time." 1: 56, 7000 yards away. It should have been shot, but the Helena failed to find its target. 1 minute later, when Akiyama's ship clearly appeared at 6800 yards on the port side, it fired its first shot. These warships, especially the Helena, spewed dazzling flames. This is because "Helena" has no fireworks, and the flameless bombs of other warships are only enough for the first three or four rows.
The Japanese destroyer was in an excellent aiming point when the American army fired, but the "Crescent" failed to launch a deadly torpedo in time, and the American ship completely suppressed it for the first time. Six-inch shells rained down on it, destroying the steering gear transmission equipment, and it quickly burst into flames and staggered out of the queue. But to make matters worse for the Japanese army, American artillery shells destroyed Crescent Bridge, and Major General Akiyama and the staff officers who commanded the battle returned to Jiuduanban. Now three Japanese detachments are fighting alone. 02: 12, only 15 minutes after the US opened fire, the "New Moon" sank rapidly ―― few people were rescued. The "Cool Wind" and "Gu Feng", which were not shot, carried out the only counterattack of the Japanese formation at the flash point of the US gun muzzle-launching 16 49-section spear torpedo. Then the two ships retreated to the northwest, and at the same time cast smoke screens in the hail of American troops.
Unlike cruisers, the United States kept silent when expelling the captain. Among them, Donald J.MacDonald, an experienced captain on the old ship O 'Bonnon, believes that under the current circumstances, it is best to attack with torpedoes instead of using artillery as in the battle of Guadalcanal. Although his gunner put forward a perfect shelling plan, he still refused to approve it, and he didn't give up his stubborn idea until he determined that he had lost the opportunity of torpedo attack. Nicholas, who walked far ahead, and Jenkins, who followed the cruiser, faced the same problem, so when the torpedo was not fired, the artillery did not fire. On the other hand, Radfort has been blocked by Jenkins, so the ship can't fire.
If the weight of metal is calculated purely in the past, Major General ainsworth's cruiser won the first five minutes of the battle. More than 2,500 6-inch artillery shells (called "6-inch machine guns" by the US military) were thrown at the enemy, but the resistance was very weak. Ainsworth thought that the enemy's fleet was "almost destroyed", but this was actually wrong. Of the three destroyers escorted by the Japanese, only the Crescent sank, and the other two were slightly damaged: the searchlight of Liangfeng was damaged, the front turret lost its combat capability, and the ammunition depot of 1 anti-aircraft machine gun burned down, and the hull was somewhat damaged, killing three people. "Gu Feng" loss is lighter. A dud hit the winch compartment of the anchor chain and the food compartment was flooded. Both ships successfully escaped the American attack. When "Liangfeng" and "Gu Feng" left, and American artillery fire was sparse, the ships of the Japanese Second Transport Team appeared on the radar screen of American warships. Their distance is 13000 yards, and they sail north at a speed of 30 knots. At 2: 03, the resourceful Major General ainsworth ordered the formation to retreat and took the course 1 12. Only in this way can we grasp the favorable tactical T position. But the Japanese spear torpedo was killed before the US ship's signalman finished sending the signal. Helena, who has always been lucky, became a victim of misfortune. Within three minutes from 2: 04 to 2: 07, it was hit by three spear torpedoes in a row. The first one exploded between turret 1 and 2, blowing up a full quarter of the captain's bow. Water quickly poured into the hull, causing both ends of the hull to fold. The American ship left the waters immediately. When Helena was struck by lightning for the first time, ainsworth ordered her to turn around. Colin campbell, the captain of the St. Louis, ordered a U-turn to the right to avoid a collision with the Helena, turned a big ring and sailed straight to the southeast.
When the lightning strike happened, in the engine room of Helena, the chief engineer Lieutenant Colonel Charles O Cook was standing in front of the instrument. His eyes quickly jumped from one to the other, and his ears listened to the muffled sound (swish-swish) when the 6-inch gun was fired. Suddenly, the warship was hit by a torpedo. Cook looked at the instrument and the steam pressure was normal. The attack wasn't in his B section. When his telephone soldier asked about various posts, he was violently attacked for the second time nearby. The torpedo exploded deep in the No.2 flue. The instrument shows that the steam pressure drops rapidly. Normal lighting has been lost, only the fuzzy emergency lighting equipment is turned on. After testing the rear engine, there was no answer, and the engine speed dropped rapidly. The experienced chef didn't panic. He calmly faced the crisis and carefully analyzed the causes of the problem. These problems show that the main engine room and boiler room No.3, as well as these rooms, were damaged before the torpedo hit. He knew that this meant that the No.4 boiler room was flooded. He inquired about the bridge and found that the power supply was also cut off. Now human life is more important. He ordered the armored hatch to be opened, and with the help of weak emergency lighting, the group of men in black fled to the deck, leaving only six people to repair with him. Then came the third torpedo, which was very close to the hit position of the second one, and the bottom of the ship was broken like a broken nut shell. Fuel was sprayed on Cook and his men's faces, and they heard the sound of seawater pouring in below. They must leave at once. When they rushed to the third deck, the sea flooded their heels. They tried to close the hatch cover, but the pressure of the sea water was very high. They boarded the second deck with another ladder. The rising sea washed down Cook, but he grabbed the steel ring and was not washed away. Here, he met E (Robert E. Sang Bei, US Navy reserve captain, who led his men to stick to their posts because they did not receive the order to abandon the ship. It was not until Cook, who was covered in oil, appeared in front of him that Sambe believed that his post had been soaked in oil. They had a brief exchange of views. Sang Bei said it was impossible to communicate. A sailor pointed out that the cabin was flooded to the eye level. They immediately moved up through the escalator. When they reached the main deck, they found that the stern had been tilted high and the hull was divided into two parts. Some people fell into the oil and water and prayed desperately not to catch fire. As the second half of the "Helena" gradually sank, the remaining wreckage of the first half began to sink, and the bow of the ship also tilted high. Captain Cecil shouted, "abandon ship!" The communication officer was seriously injured and fainted twice. He is worried about secret documents and passwords. His assistant neatly dragged the bag onto the deck and left it there. Radar officials discarded radar parts. Officer C.I.C supervised the lowering of the life raft, which was full of hands. Captain Cecil finally left. He swam across the oily sea and boarded the nearest life raft. Six minutes later, the "Helena" fracture disappeared in 300-depth seawater, and the bow floated on the sea. Although the "Helena"' s mid-thunder caused the formation of the US military to be chaotic for a time, the US fleet immediately reorganized its combat formation after the turn was completed. In addition, although the sinking of the "Helena" gave Major General ainsworth a warning, he didn't have enough time to pay attention to it. He should first consider taking a positive stance and attacking emerging Japanese targets. At 2: 07, Major General ainsworth, who led the fleet to sail eastward, turned right 30, heading 142. Seven minutes later, he turned left to Highway 60 and headed for Highway 82.
At 2: 00 18, he ordered the first ship of the second Japanese transport team, Amagiri, to volley at the southwest 1 1600 yards. Seeing that the Japanese fleet was turning right, three minutes later, he ordered "turn 3" and headed for 1 12. Through this maneuver, he once again obtained the T-prefix position of the Japanese formation. All Japanese ships are under the fire of all American warships, and only the first Japanese ship can fight back. American gunners and soldiers saw Japanese ship targets being fired at one after another, burning and exploding.
Under the shooting of American artillery, Tianwu was quickly hit by four 6-inch shells, destroying the front radio room and circuit system. The commander of the second transport team, Sugino Hideyoshi, immediately ordered a right turn and hid in the smoke to avoid further injuries. But at the same time, it also lost the opportunity to launch a torpedo. The No.2 ship "Chuxue" in the formation was hit by gunfire and was hit three times in an instant. Although there was no explosion, the shooting director and communication equipment were damaged, and the steering room of the bridge was also damaged, which ran through 1 boiler and 1 main fuel pipe; The torpedo tube twisted, destroying three torpedoes and killing five people. Fortunately, all the bombs were duds, and "Chuxue" then left the rudder and fired back desperately. The "Yongyue" and "Sasuke" behind them walked through the gunfire because they couldn't see the American troops. At 2: 20, they arrived at Villa Anchorage and unloaded the soldiers. When unloading, "Long Moon" was hit by 1 6 inch shells. 14 minutes later, "Tianwu" and "Chuxue" came to meet.
At 2: 27, ainsworth turned right at 150 degrees and sailed west, but could not find the target. After the "St. Louis" fired flares, Honolulu fired sporadically. The radar screen only has its own destroyer and the bow of the Helena. At 2: 35, all the sailors heard the order of "all guns retreat"-the battle was finally over.
The destroyers Nicholas and O 'Bonon arrived in time when they were engaged with the ships of Japan's Second Transport Team. According to McInerney's orders, the Oberon fired five torpedoes at a distance of 1000 yards, but the enemy ship just turned and no torpedoes hit. No target was found on the radar screen of "Nicholas", so no fire was fired. "Radfort" fired at the sinking "Crescent" while maneuvering to avoid a warship, which was later proved to be nonexistent until it was four miles behind the formation. "Jenkins" carefully carried out ainsworth's tactical orders, but it didn't fire all night, because the captain had been waiting for the opportunity to launch more torpedoes. At 2: 58, he fired a torpedo at the supposed target and didn't hit any target.
After 2: 30, Major General ainsworth received a report saying that all Japanese troops had withdrawn. He made a sharp turn and took No.292 to Caohai. Seven ships left the remains of Crescent (or the bow of Helena). "Nicholas" fired five torpedoes at the sunken ship, then moved forward, and the radar scanned the Bay of Vera until 3: 00, 15. "Radfort" slowed down to 15 knots and searched Kula Bay with radar, but its radar found nothing except the target on the beach, so Captain Lieutenant Colonel Romsey reported to ainsworth. Ainsworth thought that he had finished his task and there were few shells left on the cruiser, so he sent a telegram to General Mecherle at Guadalcanal Air Force Base, suggesting that a plane should be sent to attack the target on the beach after dawn (there was actually no boat there, but this suggestion was later proved to be wrong). Now ainsworth has turned to the southeast and withdrawn from the battlefield. Before he left, he appointed McInerney to lead the "Nicholas" and "Radfort" to rescue survivors. At half past three, he went to tulagi military port with victory. Ainsworth finished the task, but the officers and men of the "Helena" are still struggling in hell. An engineer on board jumped into the sea with an inflatable life jacket. Before, he didn't throw away his shoes, so as not to hurt his feet when he climbed the coral beach, but the oil pollution made his shoes disappear like quicksand. He can't grasp the smooth kayak wall, and his fingers can't put the life jacket in the inflated position. Finally, he boarded a life raft and saw many people around the floating bow. Rows of volley shells landed near them, and he couldn't tell whether friendly or enemy fired.
Cecil, the captain of the Helena, is fully organizing the rescue work. He organized a team of three ships, and let these people go out to search with waterproof flashlights, so as to get ready in case the rescue ship comes. The officer shouted, "Long live, long live!" Drive everyone to shout together, hoping to be heard by friendly forces. Some sailors whistle. At 3: 4 1, Radfort and Nicholas stopped and began to send small boats to carry out rescue, but the sailors on the sea were scattered and the effect was not good. Before most people were rescued, when the shift bell rang, the radar of "Nicholas" found a target approaching at a high speed 8 miles to the west, and soon "Radfort" found another target in the south. McInerney ordered to stop the rescue and turned to ainsworth for help. Two destroyers snaked around the survivors in the water, signaling, "Hang on, we'll be back!" " "
What the radar found were Liangfeng and Gu Feng, which were returning to be attacked by torpedoes again. 1: 59, they temporarily retreated and sailed to safe waters at high speed to reload torpedoes. They used railway trolleys to load the spare torpedoes on the deck into the launch tube and simply pressurized the launch tube with an air compressor. Under normal circumstances, this operation procedure only takes 20 to 25 minutes, but the ammunition depot of "Liangfeng" was hit, and the torpedo soldiers worked under fire, losing their calmness and reason. This has brought great trouble to operate a 3-ton torpedo on the rickety deck. Due to a series of crazy mistakes, it took 1 hour 15 minutes before the torpedo officer reported that it could be launched again. So when they returned, the American cruiser had already retreated. Fortunately for the survivors of the Helena, two Japanese destroyers failed to see the Nicholas and Radfort. So after a brief appearance on the radar, they thought that all the enemy ships and the "New Moon" had sunk and retreated contentedly. Then "Radfort" and "Nicholas" continued to return for rescue, and ainsworth stopped supporting McInerney and continued to return. When ainsworth crossed the top of the Gulf and pounded the Japanese army, some Japanese convoys had sent goods and 65,438+0,600 soldiers to Villa. By the time the American cruisers withdrew from the battlefield, the Japanese only paid the price of 1 destroyer. However, the Long Moon ran aground at 2: 46 when it left Bambari Port, five miles north of Villa, without radar guidance. The "Poundmoon" failed in its attempt to tow, and abandoned the ship at 4 am to accompany the injured "Chuxue" to retreat from the blackett Strait, which was full of mines. The two ships successfully returned to Boone's base.
In addition, the flagship "Tianwu" of Japan's second transport team chose a somewhat bold direction. It left the anchorage at 4: 45 and sailed north along the coast of Galardon, Colombain. 5: 15, it heard the call of the survivors of the "new moon" and saw them struggling in the oil pollution, so it stopped to rescue. At the same time, "Nicholas" and "Radfort" are rescuing American sailors at the northwest 13000 yards. Although both sides respect their opponents, this is not a gentleman's war. The radars of two American destroyers found each other before the "Tianwu" stopped. At 5 o'clock 18, they were also discovered by the "Tianwu". Sugino Hideyoshi ordered to stop the rescue operation and sail to the northwest at maximum speed. McInerney took the same disposal method two minutes ago, and all the weapons were aimed at the target. At 5: 22, Nicholas volleyed half the torpedoes at a distance of 8,000 yards. At 5: 30, the Tianwu returned fire in the same way. They are all very lucky. American torpedoes passed through the fore and aft of Tianwu, and Japanese torpedoes passed through the stern of Radfort 15 feet. Nobody takes advantage.
At 5: 34, the Japanese army opened fire, and the American army hit the middle of Tianwu Block under the guidance of the flare fired by the Nicholas (Japanese data showed that it was launched at 5: 33, and three minutes later it was considered as a launch, and two of them hit the American cruiser. There are questions about torpedoes and launches. As for the torpedo hitting the target, it is even more a myth. The shell destroyed the launch control circuit and the radio launch room. The captain of the Japanese army did not dare to continue fighting, and quickly let out smoke and retreated, which was mistaken for a heavy blow by the US military.
At the same time, the "Three Sunmoons" and "Feng Bin" of another transport team watched warily the fire and explosion in the distant sky when unloading materials and personnel. They also retreated through the blackett Strait. It took 1 several hours for the "Full Moon" to unload the cargo, so it was already 5 o'clock when it began to retreat (the American data was 6 o'clock, subject to the Japanese data). Tadashi Tadashi, the formation commander on the deck (note: Morrison's "History of US Naval Operations in World War II" stated that it was Tadashi, but it was actually verified as Tadashi by Japanese data), and chose the Kula Bay route near the coast of Colombain, hoping for safety. However, American radar found it, and at the same time, at dawn, McKinney's sailors saw their opponents for the first time. "If that son of a bitch wants to fight, we'll sink it!" Andy Hill, a sailor on the Nicholas, muttered. After giving up the rescue, at about 6: 00 10 (according to Japanese data, the shelling time of the "full moon" was estimated), they fired at each other at a distance of 5 miles. After a brief exchange of fire, both sides were hit by many short-range bullets. At 6: 00 15, the "Moon Watch" launched 1 torpedo, and then disappeared into the smoke it released to repair the damage of the turret and torpedo tube. American troops also hid in the smoke.
McInerney was surprised that there were so many enemies floating in Kula Bay, but he knew that if he stayed, he might be attacked by air. At the moment, there are 745 survivors on the deck of the Helena. So at 6: 0017, except for leaving four boats and volunteers to continue the rescue, "Nicholas" and "Radfort" turned to the southeast and headed for tulagi at high speed.
At present, only the Long Moon is left in Galla Beach in Colombo, and its crew is even more unfortunate than the survivors of the Helena, because American planes will bomb it at dawn. 15, before 7: 00, the watch post at Colombain Gala Beach saw 14 secondary lifeboat disembark. 10, 10, the U.S.1SBD dive bomber and 10 TBF torpedo attack plane were killed under the cover of 15 fighter plane. The "long moon" that lost its mobility can only be covered by anti-aircraft guns and 70 wars. Bombed and killed in four zero wars at the same time. One afternoon, several B-25s blew it into a sea of fire, and its ammunition depot exploded in the water. Some crew members stayed on board until the next morning when they moved to the villa. At this point, the naval battle was completely over.
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