Chapter 969 Nimitz's Counterattack (2)
At the current stage of the war, history has already taken another fork in the road, changing the war that Hoffman knew so well beyond recognition.
In the original time and space, due to the short construction period, low cost and strong attack capability of aircraft carriers, both sides built aircraft carriers at all costs. The reason why the United States prepares 24 Essex-class ships to launch into the Dumpling Sea a year is originally based on this consideration.
However, the old problems have not been solved, and new ones keep popping up: the United States cannot provide enough skilled sailors and pilots for the large number of aircraft carriers in service. Pilots, in particular, have become a more troublesome problem than the shortage of warships. This shortage has even brought about unavoidable consequences. tactical changes.
In other words, if God opens his eyes now and the Norfolk naval port is filled with Essex-class aircraft carriers tomorrow, Admiral King and the Navy will also have to worry about equipping enough qualified sailors and pilots. The same problem also occurred in the German Navy. It is unpleasant to sink the Hyuga and Joffre in the Battle of Iceland, but if these two warships do not sink, the two newly obtained Vengeful class ships should be used by the sailors. They are worried.
This is why Germany has to adjust its military services, turn land into sea, disband the offshore submarine force, and use officers and soldiers to enrich the destroyer force. But this kind of adjustment can only be achieved by Germany in the world. It is impossible for other countries to achieve it due to the constraints of the system and the conflicts between sea and land.
Due to concerns about insufficient manpower, the Naval Shipbuilding Planning Board rejected further improvements to the Essex-class construction. Originally, according to the shipyard's suggestion, if the acceptance standards were lowered (for example, lowered to the standards of the Victory Ship) and simple construction methods were adopted in certain areas, the Essex-class construction speed could be reduced to less than 14 months. It was nothing more than this method. The warship's sinkability will be less than ideal.
Nimitz clearly opposed the simple construction method. His view was: "It may be possible to provide a few more aircraft carriers, but once an aircraft carrier using this construction method is attacked, it is likely to sink immediately, and then the entire ship's officers and soldiers will be killed. In the past, there was still a chance to escape... In the end, morale must have collapsed and the army's organization must have been disorganized. "
What is surprising is that the Army actually supports this view. The experience comes from reports sent back by observers stationed in the Soviet Union: On the Eastern Front battlefield in 1943, the Soviet Union did not hesitate to use inferior materials and simple equipment to produce more tanks. T-34 tanks were forced to increase production. At first, Voroshilov plausibly explained, "Facing the Tiger, a tank made of high-quality steel will be killed with one shot, and a tank made of inferior steel will be killed with one shot." But in actual combat, , tanks produced from high-quality steel and inferior steel have different protection for personnel. When more and more skilled crews are eliminated, the new novices behind will fight even if they have tanks available, even if they have several times the numerical advantage. But the veteran on the other side.
Until later, the Soviet Union concentrated on high-quality steel to build IS-1\IS-2. Although the number decreased, the exchange ratio was no longer disparate.
In view of the reality of the shortage of excellent pilots, Nimitz's second innovation is to go one step further on the basis of the cross-replacement of Spruance fleet aircraft carriers and escort aircraft carriers to achieve a separation between the old and the new: allowing skilled and experienced old pilots to conduct fleet air defense direct cover operations, leaving inexperienced new pilots to perform accompanying operations under the leadership of a small number of skilled pilots to cover the assault of the attack aircraft group.
This is by no means out of his mind, but the product of careful thinking and analysis: regardless of victory or defeat in air defense operations, there is a high chance that the pilots can be saved, while as long as the cover aircraft group in offensive operations is shot down, regardless of whether they survive or not, it will be a loss to the fleet. . After adjustment, it can at least ensure that the loss of skilled pilots is reduced to a low level.
This is of course unfair and quite helpless, but after the explanation and candid announcement, it was recognized by the carrier-based aircraft pilots.
Nimitz's third innovation was to adjust the proportion of torpedo attacks and dive attacks in the attack fleet to increase the number and strength of torpedo attacks.
Before the outbreak of the war, lightning strikes were the mainstream of aviation operations, and dive bombing was initially temporarily sidelined. But in the later stages, dive bombing became more and more mainstream, because torpedo planes with slow speed and poor maneuverability could easily become targets of anti-aircraft firepower and had little success.
Moreover, as the bombing accuracy of bombers improves, the contrast between the low hit rate of torpedo planes becomes more obvious. The hit rate of torpedo planes piloted by Japanese and German elite pilots trained on Socotra Island can theoretically exceed 50%, and the hit rate of dive bombers exceeds 90%. %. In actual combat, due to enemy ship dodge and anti-aircraft fire deterrent, the dive bombing hit rate can be close to 50%, but the torpedo attack hit rate is less than 20%.
If the German army is like this, the contrast with the US military is even greater. The torpedo hit rate of its attack aircraft pilots is less than 10% in training, and only slightly more than 3% in actual combat. Such a low hit rate is closely related to the training method. Most of the US military's current fleet aircraft carrier pilots are transferred from escort aircraft carriers, and the latter cannot take off and land torpedo aircraft at all. Therefore, the pilots have no chance to practice and have to transfer to the fleet. The torpedo attack tactics are trained only after the aircraft carrier, so one can imagine their technical capabilities.
In addition to having a lower hit rate than its opponents, the US military is inferior to its German counterparts in torpedo aircraft performance (TBF vs Ju-98) and torpedo performance. In addition, torpedo attacks are more difficult than dive attacks, so the US military has repeatedly lowered the proportion of torpedo aircraft in aircraft carriers. .
The initial results strongly supported this adjustment: Japanese and German aircraft carriers were relatively fragile and could be effectively sunk by aerial bombs (all four Japanese aircraft carriers were killed by aerial bombs in the Battle of Midway), making the US military rely more heavily on dive bombing.
In order to effectively respond to American dive bombing, Japan came up with the idea of building a heavy-armored aircraft carrier Taiho, trying to use a thick deck to resist the impact of aerial bombs. The United States has slightly thickened the deck of the Essex class to reduce the chance of explosions in the oil depot and ammunition depot, and at the same time reduce the chance of the power compartment being penetrated.
In the final analysis, the tactical needs of the United States are different from those of Japan and Germany: in the United States' vision, severely damaging Japanese and German warships is considered a victory - because the opponent's repair and construction speed is slow, heavy damage can ensure that the opponent's combat effectiveness is paralyzed and thus gain time - now the United States is most short of time ; In the axis tactics, sinking U.S. ships is the first priority, not only because the Americans can build them quickly, but also because sinking U.S. ships can cause a large number of casualties to the opponent - no matter how strong the American production capacity is, producing one person It still takes 20 years!
The core problem is that it is difficult to sink. The biggest headache for Japan and Germany is the anti-sinking ability of the Essex. Unless it is particularly effective, the 400kg bomb carried by the Ju-198 will be difficult to sink the Essex. , torpedo planes must be retained.
Dive bombing is a good thing, but it cannot deal with battleships, especially super battleships, which gives the US military a deep headache. Main battleships such as the Yamato class, Richelieu class, Bismarck class, and Veneto class have all been hit by aerial bombs, and they were hit several times. There were more than one, but nothing could be done about these new battleships. After a period of repair, they appeared on the battlefield alive and well.
The U.S. military's offensive operations have even encouraged opponents to optimize ship layout and equipment. For example, Germany took the opportunity of repairing the Richelieu to replace the original design of three triple-mounted 152mm/55-caliber secondary guns and six double-mounted 100mm secondary guns. /45 caliber anti-aircraft guns were taken down and replaced with a combination of 12 twin 128mm anti-aircraft guns + 6 phalanxes, and then a circle of 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns and 30mm quadruple anti-aircraft guns (ball lightning anti-aircraft vehicles) were deployed around them Carrier version), with the improved fire control radar and proximity fuze, it has built three layers of intensive air defense firepower: high, medium and low.
In terms of the anti-aircraft firepower of the battleships in the axis, none can surpass the Richelieu, so Hoffman considered using the Brave to build a purely anti-aircraft battleship.
The Combined Fleet was also envious of the German anti-aircraft firepower. According to Ozawa's introduction and intelligence exchange, Horikichi spent a lot of money to purchase a large number of 128mm electric anti-aircraft guns from Germany to fully replace the Type 89 high-level and flat dual-purpose guns on the Yamato class. As for the newly built information Concent, the anti-aircraft firepower was built with reference to Richelieu's transformation level. Except that the Phalanx cannot be packed (actually it can be packed, but Japan is reluctant to give up the 4 triple-mounted 155mm secondary guns), 12 double-mounted There are many 128mm anti-aircraft guns (although the Yamato-class hull is larger, the Richelieu-class guns are all concentrated on the front deck, and there is more air space on the aft deck), 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, and 20mm Oerlikon machine guns.
Japan's most criticized radar and fire control level are also catching up. The Yamato class is all imported goods, and the large amount of gold makes the Germans smile from ear to ear - they were sold at three times the German ex-factory price. Japan also has cheaper and better equipment than its own. Therefore, a separate item was included in the armistice conditions between Japan and Britain. The United Kingdom must transfer relevant radar technology to Japan. However, the United Kingdom obviously will not transfer its special skills to Japan.
In view of the above reasons, both sides adjusted their tactics in unison, and finally embarked on a path to the same goal through different routes. Germany developed the Ju-198, which combines lightning strike and dive bombing, based on Meteor modification technology, while the United States also uses the BTD, which combines lightning strike and dive bombing. However, the two companies differ in their specific focus:
The Ju-198's bomb-carrying capacity is not as good as that of the BTD, but its speed, high ceiling, and long range make it suitable for use by excellent pilots;
BTD has slow speed and short range, but has a large bomb load and a relatively stronger fuselage, which is suitable for the characteristics of most novice American pilots. Since the hit rate is difficult to increase in the short term, we might as well double the carrying capacity, so that the hit rate remains unchanged. Hit results will have exponential effects.
This time Nimitz equipped each of the three Essex-class aircraft carriers with 48 BTDs to prepare for increased lightning strike intensity.
This scene is different from the history that Hoffman is familiar with: in history, dive bombing was the absolute mainstream in 1944. In addition to attacking Musashi and Yamato, which used more torpedo planes, SBD and SB2C were the absolute mainstream of the US aircraft carrier formation. The protagonist, no one knows that Nimitz’s innovation is actually another form of retro.
ps: I will try to resume the third update tomorrow, my thoughts have been a bit confused these two days, sorry...