Chapter 1493 Powerful Main Fleet

Admiral Hasben Kimmel stood on the bridge of the battleship 'Montana', facing the sea wind, looking at the huge main fleet, extremely excited. He is a believer in giant ship cannons, even if the combat effectiveness of aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft has been proven in naval battles. However, Admiral Husband Kimmel still has a sincere love for battleships with huge artillery.

"This is definitely the most powerful main fleet in history!" Admiral Hasben Kimmel sighed as he watched the huge ships.

Indeed, although in terms of main gun caliber, the U.S. Navy's "Montana-class" battleships, "Iowa-class" battleships, and "South Dakota-class" battleships are not as good as the "Yamato-class" battleships that will be commissioned by the Japanese navy. However, in terms of soft power, such as radar and fire control systems and sighting and targeting equipment, these capital ships of the US Navy are even better. In particular, the "Montana-class" battleships and "Iowa-class" battleships are equipped with 50-caliber 410mm main guns, which are not much worse than the "Yamato-class" battleships of the island navy in terms of power.

The 'Montana-class' battleships are the most powerful battleships in the U.S. Navy. Although the speed cannot be compared with the 33 knots of the "Iowa-class" battleships, the speed of 28 knots is already very good. This is why the 'Montana-class' battleship has one more main turret than the 'Iowa-class' battleship, and the reason why the armor is thicker.

The "Montana-class" battleship is equipped with four triple-mounted 50-caliber 410mm main guns. The "Iowa-class" battleships are only equipped with three triple-mounted 50-caliber 410mm main guns. In terms of armor, the side armor of the "Iowa-class" battleships has a side armor belt as thick as 307 mm, the front armor of the turret is 495 mm thick, and the armor of the conning tower is 445 mm thick. However, the armor of the "Montana-class" battleships is thicker, with a side armor belt armor thickness of 409 mm, plus a second layer of 35 mm bulkhead. The frontal armor of the turret is as thick as 571 mm, and the armor of the conning tower is also more than 500 mm thick. This makes the 'Montana-class' battleships not only lower in speed than the 'Iowa-class' battleships, but also stronger in firepower and armor than the 'Iowa-class' battleships.

If the "Montana-class" battleships compete head-on with the "Yamato-class" battleships of the Japanese navy, the "Montana-class" battleships will definitely not be at a disadvantage. It can be seen how powerful this class of battleships is.

"General, those old battleships of the Germans are definitely not our opponents! Whether it is a 'Montana-class' battleship or an 'Iowa-class' battleship, they can easily tear those old German battleships into pieces. Fragments. I even seriously doubt that the main guns of the German battleships can penetrate the armor of our 'Montana-class' battleships?" Rear Admiral Cowell, chief of staff of the battleship formation of the US Fleet, said with a smile.

"Haha!" Admiral Hasben Kimmel couldn't help laughing.

"Indeed, the main guns of the old battleships of the Germans may not be able to do anything against the armor of our battleships. Especially those old battleships equipped with 380mm main guns, it is impossible to penetrate our 'Montana' Class' battleship's main armor. At that time, our 'Montana-class' battleship will be enough to kill them easily!" Admiral Hasben Kimmel was very proud.

Admiral Hasben Kimmel knew that it would be difficult for them to successfully destroy the German Navy's base in the Azores. It may even be intercepted by the battleship formation of the German Navy. However, he wished this was the case. In that case, he can lead the capital ship formation of the US fleet to engage in a sea duel with the capital ship formation of the German Navy. He believed that with the strength of these battleships of the U.S. Navy, those battleships of the German Navy could easily be defeated.

Although the capital ship formations of the Pacific Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet of the German Navy beat up the capital ship formations of the island navy on the Pacific battlefield, the capital ships of the Ang Island Navy were almost completely lost. As a result, countries all over the world have to face up to the old battleships of the German Navy that have been in service for many years. However, General Husband Kimmel dismissed this. In his opinion, the capital ships of the island nation's navy are completely rubbish.

The capital ship of the island navy followed the shipbuilding ideas of their teacher, the British Navy. Emphasis on firepower and speed, despise defense. The defense is insufficient, and the electronic equipment is far from being able to compete with the German Navy. This made the capital ship formation of the Japanese navy easily slaughtered by the German navy's capital ship formation in night battles.

On the other hand, the capital ships of the U.S. Navy not only have strong firepower, but also have very strong defense capabilities. In terms of electronic equipment, although compared with the German Navy, there is a certain gap. However, such a gap is not very large. Therefore, Admiral Hasben Kimmel is confident that he can defeat the German Navy in one fell swoop in the capital ship duel.

"Command the fleet, switch to air defense mode, and speed up!" Admiral Hasben Kimmel ordered vigorously.

There are still a few hours before dark. Relatively speaking, it is more dangerous. Once they are besieged by shore-based aircraft or carrier-based aircraft of the German Navy, their situation will be more dangerous. At that time, we can only rely on the fleet's anti-aircraft firepower for defense. Admiral Hasburn Kimmel preferred to act after dark if possible. But unfortunately, if that is the case, I am afraid that they will have just destroyed the bases of the German Navy on Corvo Island and Flores Island before dawn. At that time, they will be besieged by shore-based and carrier-based aircraft of the German Navy. In that case, no matter how powerful the capital ship of the U.S. Navy is, it will undoubtedly be very difficult to escape.

"Yes, General!" Major General Keweier immediately went to give the order.

The capital ship formation of the US fleet, under the protection of a large number of cruisers and destroyers, headed towards the Azores at high speed.

The destroyers located in the front, left and rear of the fleet all turned on the air search radar. The rich and powerful U.S. Navy equips every destroyer with air search radar and sea search radar. This allows them to spot the enemy with these radars. Similarly, the German Navy also equipped a large number of radars on its warships. Even, the radar performance of the German Navy is more advanced than that of the US Navy.

The U.S. Navy's air search radar can only detect targets 250 kilometers away. The German Navy's air search radar can detect targets 300 kilometers away. Even the large-scale air search radar on the ground can already detect targets 400 kilometers away.