"General, the 'Tikonderoga' is over! The oil tank has been detonated." Lieutenant General Halsey looked frustrated.
You know, the USS 'Tikonderoga' aircraft carrier also belongs to the 'Essex-class' aircraft carrier. It is the main aircraft carrier of the US Navy. But now, it is still sunk by the German Navy.
Admiral Nimitz was expressionless, but his heart seemed to be bleeding. It is undoubtedly a great blow to him to watch his aircraft carrier being sunk by the enemy.
Although, the U.S. Navy has a total of 24 aircraft carriers. However, the loss of two "Essex-class" aircraft carriers in succession is undoubtedly a serious blow to the U.S. Navy. What's more terrible is that the attack of the German Navy's carrier-based aircraft group has just begun. Next, they will definitely lose more aircraft carriers under the attack of the German carrier-based aircraft fleet.
"May God bless the American Republic!" Admiral Nimitz said secretly.
Even though he is the commander of the fleet, he has no other way but to pray to God now. In such a fierce battle, the role he can play is not even as good as an ordinary sailor. After all, even ordinary sailors can manipulate anti-aircraft firepower to attack the German carrier-based aircraft fleet and protect their warships. But Admiral Nimitz could only watch from the sidelines.
It was the first carrier-based aircraft of the German Navy's Mediterranean Fleet to kill the US Navy's "Tikonderoga" aircraft carrier. The first batch of carrier-based aircraft of the Atlantic Fleet had dropped all the bombs and had to return.
However, they had caused heavy losses to the **** fleet of the aircraft carrier 'Tikonderoga' before returning. The first batch of carrier-based aircraft of the Mediterranean Fleet was able to deal a fatal blow to the "Tikonderoga" aircraft carrier in one fell swoop.
At the same time, the first batch of carrier-based aircraft of the local fleet also rushed to the battlefield. The huge carrier-based aircraft group consisting of 96 fighter jets, 144 dive bombers and 120 torpedo attack aircraft directly launched an attack on the US Navy's aircraft carrier formation. The direction of their attack is the northeast direction of the US aircraft carrier formation. And the closest to them is the 4th aircraft carrier formation of the US Navy. In addition to the two "Lexington-class" aircraft carriers, this aircraft carrier formation consists of three "Independence-class" aircraft carriers.
Under the attack of the huge German carrier-based aircraft group, the entire 4th aircraft carrier formation of the US Navy is in crisis. Although, the escorting warships were also firing wildly. However, under the overwhelming bombs and torpedoes of the German carrier-based aircraft fleet, these **** warships were being sunk one after another. When these **** warships were almost lost and the air defense firepower network of the US fleet was completely torn apart, it was the turn of the aircraft carrier at the core.
Obviously, under the tactics of the huge German carrier-based aircraft fleet, the US aircraft carrier formation could not resist at all.
At the same time, the huge carrier-based aircraft groups launched by the 2nd and 3rd aircraft carrier formations of the US military also began to attack the carrier formations of the German home fleet.
However, these carrier-based aircraft were also intercepted by a large number of German air defense fighters. 124 carrier-based FW-190 fighters and carrier-based BF-109 fighters launched a fierce attack on the U.S. carrier-based fleet. This caused the U.S. carrier-based aircraft fleet to suffer heavy losses under the attack of these air defense fighters before they discovered the German aircraft carrier formation.
Even for those carrier-based aircraft that managed to penetrate the defense successfully, facing the powerful German fleet air defense firepower, it is not so difficult to destroy the German aircraft carrier.
However, the home fleet of the German Navy did not receive the support of shore-based aircraft on the Azores, so that when the second batch of carrier-based aircraft of the US military arrived, the anti-aircraft fighter jets did not provide support for this batch of carrier-based aircraft due to exhaustion of ammunition. The machine has dealt too much of a blow. As a result, the local fleet also suffered a lot of losses under the attack of the US carrier-based aircraft.
"Boom! Boom!"
A German destroyer was hit by an aerial bomb. For a German destroyer with a displacement of nearly 3,000 tons, two heavy aerial bombs weighing 1,000 pounds were enough to cause fatal trauma to them.
Not to mention, then a heavy torpedo also hit the side of the destroyer, directly blowing off the keel of the destroyer.
Soon, the destroyer sank into the sea.
"Boom boom boom!"
The German anti-aircraft guns fired crazily, and the intensive firepower continued to tear the U.S. carrier-based aircraft into pieces. However, it still couldn't resist the onslaught of the US carrier-based aircraft.
In order to sink the German aircraft carrier, these U.S. carrier-based aircraft are also desperate. Those pilots attacked as if they were dead, until the plane they were driving was shot down.
"Boom!"
A German light cruiser exploded violently, even though the German light cruiser displaced more than 10,000 tons. However, after being hit by several aerial bombs and several torpedoes in a row, it could not escape the fate of being sunk.
It's just the **** battleship of the German aircraft carrier. Often the displacement is larger and the defense is stronger, making it more difficult for the U.S. Navy's carrier-based aircraft fleet to sink these **** warships and have to use more ammunition. This makes the US military's carrier-based aircraft fleet consume a lot of ammunition, while dive bombers and torpedo attack aircraft carry limited ammunition. A dive bomber can carry two aerial bombs, while a torpedo attack plane can only carry one torpedo. They consumed too much ammunition on the German **** warships, which reduced their threat to the German aircraft carriers a lot.
However, the German home fleet still suffered a lot of losses under the fierce attack of the US carrier-based aircraft.
The "Apollo" aircraft carrier was hit by 28 aerial bombs and 17 heavy torpedoes, causing the aircraft carrier to capsize on the sea and sink slowly. Except for an anti-aircraft cruiser and a heavy cruiser, the escorting warships were either sunk or severely damaged. It can be seen how fierce the battle is.
In addition, the flight deck of the "Aphrodite" aircraft carrier of the German Navy's home fleet was also hit by several aerial bombs, and the carrier-based aircraft could no longer take off and land.
Other aircraft carriers were not hit. Moreover, the anti-aircraft firepower of the German home fleet caused the US carrier-based aircraft fleet to pay a very heavy price.
Two batches of 258 F4F fighters, 288 dive bombers and 144 torpedo attack aircraft lost more than 70%.