In fact, it was the emergence of the "Flying Fortress" and the Dauntless dive bomber that led to the misjudgment of two radar soldiers, Joseph and George, and the officer on duty at the time, Taylor.
Just as Zhou Zhihan was flying towards the battleship USS Arizona, he suddenly discovered that the most dangerous thing at this time was not the USS Arizona, but the oil tanker USS Neosho, which once exploded, would be as powerful as a nuclear bomb.
After the Japanese launched their attack, in order to avoid greater losses, the large and small ships in the harbor had no choice but to take risks and break out. This caused the oil on the water to roll up and down. As long as some places were hit by artillery fire, they would immediately be destroyed. Fires broke out, and some ships were surrounded by flames. The sailors stood on board in terror.
When the war started, shortly after entering Pearl Harbor, the oil tanker "Neiosho", which had just sailed into Ford Island and was preparing to unload oil, but had not had time to shut down, took advantage of the Japanese to focus all their attention on the nine battleships. , the experienced captain ordered the crew to quickly turn around, take advantage of the chaos to leave the oil tanker Wu, and escape.
Lieutenant Colonel John Phillip, the captain of the oil tanker [Nisho], knew that if his ship was hit by a torpedo and exploded, it would wipe out at least one-third of the warships in Pearl Harbor for the Japanese, so he yelled like crazy, Let the crew drive the oil tanker out of Pearl Harbor as quickly as possible.
The captain was anxious, and the crew was even more anxious. They tried their best to do everything they could, and they wanted to jump into the water and push the huge ship out to escape.
At this time, Pearl Harbor was already a hell on earth. Other warships were hit, and the sailors on the ship still had a chance to escape. Once the oil tanker was hit, they would be wiped out in an instant.
However, the oil tanker "Neosho" is too big and cumbersome, and it is too difficult for such a behemoth to accelerate after it has just stopped in the small boat.
The sailors on the battleships that had not yet been sunk, as well as the people who had climbed ashore after escaping from death, were all looking at the fully loaded oil tanker [Neosho] with fear in their eyes, and they were secretly worried for her. Sweating.
Everyone knows that once this big thing is hit, it will explode immediately. Its power and consequences are dozens of times more terrifying than any bomb dropped by the Japanese.
[Neosho] The oil tanker moved too slowly, and in the process, she had to struggle to avoid bombs that were constantly coming from all directions. The rolling fire on the water was also constantly attacking the hull, making it difficult for her to Everyone was worried that even if she was not bombed by the Japanese, she would be ignited and exploded by the fire on the sea in the next second.
What makes people even more anxious is that this behemoth blocks all ships that want to escape.
Finally, a Japanese bomber that was unable to intervene above [Battleship Avenue] discovered the big guy [Neosho] who wanted to escape.
I have mentioned many times before that before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the pilots could accurately write down the names of all the warships in Pearl Harbor and ensure that any ship could be recognized immediately when looking down from the air. .
Therefore, when the Japanese pilot was depressed about not being able to get a share of the "Battleship Avenue", he lowered his head and spotted the oil tanker "Neiosho". He was immediately ecstatic, gently pressed the lever, and the bomber headed toward "Nisho". "Osho" flew off the side of the oil tanker, and then made a beautiful drift turn, just like an eagle catching a chicken, and headed straight for the poor oil tanker.
Seeing Japanese bombers attacking the oil tanker, everyone thought that it was over, completely over.
As a result, sailors who thought they might be affected by the explosion began to panic and look for hiding places.
Once the Neosho explodes, all ships will be blocked in Pearl Harbor. The fuel flowing out of it can turn the entire Pearl Harbor sea into an oil field. The consequence is to directly save the Japanese attack.
The sailors on the oil tanker [Niosho] were in despair. They didn't even have an anti-aircraft machine gun on the ship. They could only watch the Japanese dive bombers roaring towards them like a god of death.
At this moment, there was another earth-shattering explosion in the distance. It was the destroyer [Donners] parked on the No. 1 ship Wu that was hit and the explosion occurred.
A dive bomber dropped an 800-kilogram bomb from the sky, which directly penetrated the torpedo cabin of the USS Downers and exploded with the six torpedoes in the cabin. Flames shot into the sky for more than 1,000 meters, and the fire was thick. The smoke instantly completely submerged Ship No. 1 Wu, and the airflow generated by the explosion rolled and surged around, mixed with tongues of fire, igniting everything that could be ignited within thousands of square meters nearby.
The shock wave of this explosion was so great that another battleship [Kaixing] not far from the destroyer [Downers] was seriously affected. This battleship had just been hit by a torpedo and tilted. The sailors were desperately trying to rescue it. , instantly swallowed up by the fire, like ignited paper figures, struggling desperately and falling on the ship, gradually shrinking...
The Japanese dive bombers directly attacked the oil tanker "Neosho". The bombardier Koji had a sinister smile on his lips. After this wave of operations, their achievements were far greater than any of their companions who sank the battleship.
The pilot, Second Lieutenant Yamada Shohei, had hot eyes because of the discovery of this super battleship. He licked his chapped lips due to excitement and nervousness, and shouted to his bombardier: "Kōji-kun, hold on, hold on, [Neo Shao] No.] oil tanker has no anti-aircraft firepower, so one bomb must hit its oil tank."
"clear!"
Koji also knew that if this bomb could not sink the oil tanker "Neosho" if he dropped it, then the biggest cake would be taken away by others, so he stayed calm and tried to wait for the bomber to reach the lowest altitude before dropping the bomb. Destroy the [Neosho].
Just as Yamada Shohei and Koji were staring at the oil tanker "Neosho", the rear machine gunner suddenly discovered that a Wildcat fighter jet appeared behind them as if it suddenly appeared out of the air10 :30, he rushed over like an arrow from the string, and was six or seven hundred meters behind him in an instant.
The No. 214 F4F Wildcat is too fast.
"American fighter jets spotted."
The rear machine gunner loudly reminded his companions, and at the same time, he quickly turned his gun and fired two consecutive interceptions at the swooping Wildcat No. 214, trying to scare it away.
Yamada Shohei's eyes were sharp as he continued to dive. The prey was right in front of him. He loudly ordered the machine gunner: "Kill him. We will reap the greatest results soon. When we get back, we will all wait to get the military medal!"
"Baga... this fighter jet was too fast. I didn't hit him... Baga... he rolled and passed under our abdomen... Get out of here..." The machine gunner's eyes were filled with fear. The Wildcat rolled and appeared from the other side of the bomber, shouting at the top of his lungs, "I can't stop him..." Before he could finish his words, he saw tongues of fire spitting out from the F4F Wildcat's wing machine guns, and then his body violently followed the bomber. Trembling, there was a loud noise in his ears, his head flew in the air, and he saw his torn body.
"oh……"
[Neosho] narrowly escaped death. The sailors raised their arms and gave bursts of howl-like cheers to the No. 214 F4F Wildcat in the air.
"Quick, quick, quick..." the captain, Lieutenant Colonel John Phillip, roared, "You idiots, put your clumsy butts away and let this lucky big ship fly..."
As soon as he finished speaking, two loud noises like the sky and the earth splitting were heard in the distance.
The USS Arizona battleship was hit by two torpedoes one after another. It was on fire and jumped out of the water.
