Author: Nai Dayurong
At 4:50 in the morning on June 6, 1942, violent explosions resounded in the waters around Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. With the "Noaki" and other four destroyers launching four bombs, torpedo hit accurately, the aircraft carrier "Akagi", the flagship of Japan's First Mobile Force (First Air Fleet) and the symbol of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, slowly sank into the sea.
In the Pacific War famous Battle of Midway , the delay of the Tone reconnaissance plane, the suicide attack of the Henderson torpedo plane, Nagumo's choice between torpedoes and bombs, Best's two wonderful hits, Various exciting topics such as Yamaguchi's desperate counterattack have always been a long-lasting talking point among military fans. This article will combine the important time points of the "Akagi" in the battle, focus on before and after it was shot, and talk about the aircraft carrier damage control and firefighting.
Past and present life
"Akagi" is Japan's oldest aircraft carrier and the main founder of the Japanese Navy's aviation power. The combat doctrine of Japanese aircraft carriers is based on the capabilities of the "Akagi". Regardless of its size, sailing speed, or aircraft equipment, it is the first true aircraft carrier of the Japanese Navy.
"Akagi" is 260 meters long and displaces more than 42,000 tons. It was originally designed as a battlecruiser , but was later remodeled and added with an aircraft carrier structure. Its low hull structure is a typical streamlined battlecruiser structure. The most prominent feature is the large and unique bow. This kind of bow is conducive to increasing the speed (Akagi can reach 31 knots). The bow is like a handful. The huge machete cuts through the waves.
Akagi
Above the main deck, the clean-lined design is altered by a unique superstructure that seals the aircraft hangar in the middle. The two sides of the superstructure are covered with a labyrinth of narrow passages. Huge cupboards cover the air inlets of the aircraft carrier engines. Crooked pillars support walkways, ammunition depots and fire control equipment. Huge horizontal chimneys rise from the ship. The starboard side curves downward and extends to the outside of the ship. The flight deck stands high, as high as six stories above sea level.
Although the Akagi looks like a hodgepodge, it has a very good balance and very powerful power among ships of the same level. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the "Akagi" participated in various major operations in the early stages of the war, including the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Darwin, operations in the Indian Ocean, and the Battle of Midway.
Sneak attack on Pearl Harbor
Before and after being shot
Before 10:26 on June 5, 1942, the "Akagi", as the flagship of the Nanyun Fleet, performed quite well in the Battle of Midway. Since being attacked by the first batch of U.S. shore-based aircraft from Midway Island at about 8 o'clock, the "Akagi" and its carrier-based aircraft have dealt with multiple rounds of U.S. military attacks without incident.
10:20, dozens of bombers from the USS Enterprise and the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier of the US Pacific Fleet launched a fatal attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier. At 10:23, " Kaga " was first shot four times. At 10:24, "Canglong" was shot three times. Both ships suffered heavy damage, immediately burst into flames and lost their combat capabilities.
The Akagi escaped the air attack. At 210:25, a bomber squad led by Captain Best of VS-6 Squadron began to attack the "Akagi". At 10:26, a 1,000-pound bomb hit near the central elevator of "Akagi" and penetrated the flight deck and exploded in the bottom hangar, immediately igniting the upper and lower hangars. However, compared with the other two aircraft carriers that were hit by bombs, the initial situation of the "Akagi" was not serious. The aircraft carrier could still sail at high speed (the tail rudder gradually failed due to the impact of the near-missile bomb), and there was no fire on the deck.
After the hangar was hit by a bullet and caught fire, the damage control mechanism of the "Akagi" was immediately activated, and the damage control firefighters began to put out the fire. At 10:29, Captain Aoki ordered water to be poured into the warehouse on the ground floor to prevent the hangar fire from spreading to the ammunition depot. At 10:32, the carbon dioxide fire extinguishing system in the bottom hangar was activated and the fire was under certain control.
Captain Best in the movie "The Battle of Midway"
has a flammable constitution
At that time, all the iron ore in Japan was imported, and the only bit of steel had to be used on the blade. The amount of wood used to cover the flight deck on the "Akagi" amounts to hundreds of tons. Even other auxiliary facilities related to fire protection (such as fire cabinets, etc.) are made of wooden materials and are arranged at backup passages and other capable In the effective space that can be used. They are all flammable.
In terms of oil supply, the "Akagi" has a series of vertical main oil supply pipelines that connect the oil storage tanks with horizontal oil pipelines. The oil pipelines are closely distributed around the hangar. Once a fire breaks out in a certain area on the ship The fire will likely spread to every corner of the mothership through the oil pipelines arranged in a cross.
In addition, the "Akagi" has one oil storage tank at the bow and one at the stern, supplying high octane and low octane fuel respectively. They have no protective measures at all, and they are all later modified and spliced onto the mother ship. Yes, once the aircraft carrier is damaged in battle, the oil storage tanks will easily disintegrate and leak oil.
According to the memories of Japanese sailors who served on aircraft carriers such as the "Akagi", there was a smell permeating the ship at that time. They are emitted by by-products of distilling petroleum, such as lubricants, chemical solvents, gasoline and thousands of tons of fuel oil.
The fire demon is raging
The appearance of things is often confusing. In addition to causing fires in the upper and lower hangars, Best's bomb also destroyed the fireproof roller shutters between the two hangars, making it impossible to isolate the fire between the two floors. The upper and lower hangars of the "Akagi" are fully enclosed. Except for ventilation holes that need to be installed in some places, the hangars are not exposed to the surrounding environment.
Such a design means that in the event of a fire, extremely dangerous items in the hangar that need to be dealt with immediately, such as burning aircraft, torpedoes, bombs, etc. temporarily stacked in the hangar, cannot be quickly disposed of by being pushed out of the hangar and thrown into the sea. From the perspective of damage to the hangar, the actual flaws of a design like cannot be ignored. It is like throwing firecrackers into a can. The explosion will be intensified and amplified in a closed space.
Japanese aircraft carrier model, the upper and lower hangar structures are clearly visible
As time went by, the situation of the "Akagi" gradually began to deteriorate. Due to the exhaustion of gas in the carbon dioxide fire extinguishing system, the fire that was initially controlled in the hangar has broken out of the hangar and begun to spread to other parts of the mothership. At 310:43, the fire that jumped up through the elevator shaft ignited the two Zero fighter jets that were stranded on the deck and had not yet been returned to the hangar, and then spread to the bridge section of the "Akagi City". The safety of the fleet's central personnel commanded on the bridge began to be endangered.
10:55, the fleet commanders headed by Nagumo began to evacuate. At that time, the fire developed extremely rapidly, and many people were injured during the evacuation. At this point, the orderly and organized damage control and rescue work on the "Akagi" further deteriorated, and the situation began to become uncontrollable.
Nanyun Zhongyi
dying struggle
When the time came to 12 o'clock, the fire on the "Akagi" had turned the aircraft carrier into a living hell. Damage control firefighters, who are small in number and have limited experience, are trying in vain to save their mothership.
Due to the failure (or exhaustion) of the gas fire extinguishing device and the foam fire extinguishing device , the only fire extinguishing resources on the mothership are water.Unfortunately, using water to extinguish aviation gasoline fires can only have a limited effect, because the gasoline will float on the water and then burn, and the water will also flow around the fire scene, bringing the burning gasoline to a larger area.
The designers of the "Akagi" did not divide the main fire escape routes into independent units. All valves, hatches, vents, drainage pipes were not differentiated by grade, and there were no standardized disposal procedures. Critical specialized firefighting equipment, such as emergency ventilators, portable gasoline-powered pumps and generators, is also rarely available.
Firefighters can only rely on large fixed backup generators and even hand pumps to pump water to extinguish the fire. As the fire raged, the steel bars in the aircraft carrier's structure began to crumble under pressure due to prolonged heating. Internally induced explosions continued to hammer the already fragile hull. After more than 9 hours of desperate efforts, the damage control rescue on the "Akagi" finally failed. More than 20 hours after being shot, the "Akagi" was buried in the Pacific Ocean.
Later Impact
For a heavy-duty aircraft carrier of tens of thousands of tons, a 1,000-pound bomb may not cause fatal damage, but for the "Akagi" that has undergone many modifications and has major flaws in the damage control fire protection design Say, I'm afraid that's enough.
After the Battle of Midway, the Japanese Navy learned from the painful experience and made targeted improvements in the design and construction of subsequent aircraft carriers. It added armor protection for the flight deck and oil depot in the hull structure, and laid fire-proof equipment in terms of fuel transportation. The fuel pipeline has been re-evaluated in terms of damage control, and the entire damage control procedure has been re-evaluated. In particular, the fire-fighting training for the mother ship's sailors has been strengthened, and the equipment of portable damage control equipment has also been increased.
The Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku
Of course, judging from the course of the subsequent war, these measures did not produce the effects that the Japanese expected, but the fire and sinking of the "Akagi" still set the stage for the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and users of subsequent aircraft carriers. They provide vivid negative teaching materials. When the author wrote this article, the first catapult-type aircraft carrier designed and built by my country was launched. I hope that our aircraft carrier combat power will learn from history, grow strong and healthy, and move towards the deep blue.
