USS
Colorado
Southern Oahu Waters
Daytime
All torpedoes hit home, the Battleships attempt to fire off one last salvo, which fails to hit anything. All that's left now are their sinking hulks.
The submerged kunoichi has a small smile on her face as she learns that her torpedoes manage to finish off the battleships, silencing their cacophony of gunfire for good. Three down, many more to go.
Perhaps she could turn her attention to the ones at the north. They're far away, so she could use her missiles in the meantime.
NMS Mărăşeşti
Between Oahu and Kauai
1:00 PM
"Attention all allied ships!" I call out to everyone through the radio, "There is a German battleship about to be hit by a large number of torpedoes. She has a few minutes form the looks of it. Please launch any aircraft you can to try and shoot the torpedoes, it's a long shot but there aren't many other options. German battleship! Either move to one side or slow down, by doing so you should be able to avoid two thirds of the torpedoes."
(Only around 180 torpedoes total, Mara is overestimating their number a little)
...
Her smile turns into a frown as she realizes that she can't help with that. Neither her missiles nor her torpedoes can target other torpedoes, and she has no guns to shoot them with. She could only silently pray for the battleship's survival.
Instead, she focuses on where she can help, which is to take out the ones at the north. Unfortunately, she is too far. She would have to move closer before she can torpedo them, and she would have to be careful. From her data, they have anti-submarine rockets, and she'd rather not get hit by those.
She opts to use her missiles first to thin the herd. Ascending closer to the surface to be able to launch them while underwater, she has her crew prepare them. Once one of them gives a mental version of a thumbs-up, she designates her targets, which are twelve of the guided missile destroyers, and gives the mental command to launch.
Twelve white cylindrical-ish objects could be seen surfacing above the water, only to skim over it as their engines come to life.
After doing that, she descends once more, hiding below the thermocline, if possible, to muffle her accoustic signature, and begins making a cautious approach towards the northern fleet, choosing to prioritize stealth over speed. She keeps her ears and sonar open for foreign, and dangerous, sounds.
On another note, wow, it's cold down here, but it never bothered her anyway...
@CCBubba
Actions:
- Shoot Harpoons at Charles destroyers
- Dive and begin cautiously moving north
Targets:
- 12 Charles destroyers, the ones not targeted by Sara nor Kongou (1 Harpoon each)
Weapons Left:
- 21 Mark 48s
- 0 Harpoons
JS
Kongou
Southern Oahu Waters
Daytime
"JS Kongou, this is USS Gerald R Ford, come on up here and lead the way~"
"Sure thing, dess~" She enthusiastically replies as she continues to play the role of escort. No threat, whether air, surface, or underwater, shall get by her!
Well, she's actually a few nautical miles from them, but with the missiles she carries, she might as well be right next to them, tactics-wise.
@Zeroth Jupi
All torpedoes hit home, the Battleships attempt to fire off one last salvo, which fails to hit anything. All that's left now are their sinking hulks.
As Tirpitz beats her hasty retreat towards everyone else, the Abyssals giving chase race after her in a frenzy. Her main guns mobility kill 4 of the light cruisers, and damage another 6. Her secondaries barely manage to hit anything, with only 2 killed, and light damage to 5. The Abyssals begin firing when they get inside range, raining a mixture of HE and AP, with some fires set when they hit Tirpitz. Suddenly from behind her she hears the sounds of missiles streaking in towards the Abyssal fleet. Turning back she she sees them strike home on the Abyssals, before realizing just how close they are as she sees little splashes and empty torpedo tubes just before the missiles strike. The whole Abyssal fleet was killed, but not before they managed to deliver their deadly payload.
There, that should teach them not to mess with her allies!
Now, she could help out in the north. Those missile boats shield that fleet, and must therefore be sunk, one by one. With that in mind, she aims her metaphorical crosshairs at eight of the guided missile destroyers, and sweeps her left hand at that group. "All Type 90s, FIRE!"
Soon after they're on their way, however...
NMS Mărăşeşti
Between Oahu and Kauai
1:00 PM
"Attention all allied ships!" I call out to everyone through the radio, "There is a German battleship about to be hit by a large number of torpedoes. She has a few minutes form the looks of it. Please launch any aircraft you can to try and shoot the torpedoes, it's a long shot but there aren't many other options. German battleship! Either move to one side or slow down, by doing so you should be able to avoid two thirds of the torpedoes."
(Only around 180 torpedoes total, Mara is overestimating their number a little)
So many torpedoes, more than a hundred of them! Even her radar can't track them all (though at least they're going straight), but she might be able to do something about it! Her radar can direct her missiles, and from what she heard, it can even detect swarms of insects, and she's heard before of another ship's Aegis being improvised to destroy an unstably orbiting satellite. It's rather non-standard, but it's worth a shot!
Putting her thoughts to actions, she readies four Standard missiles, and immediately launches them. With a nudge of her mind, they are guided towards the cloud of torpedoes, intending to detonate the missiles on them and destroy them with both shrapnel and explosive force.
@CCBubba
Actions:
- Continue escorting carriers
- Fire Type 90s at Charles destroyers
- Fire Standards at torpedoes
Targets:
- 8 Charles destroyers, the ones not targeted by Sara nor Colorado (1 Type 90 each)
- Western torpedoes (4 Standards)
Weapons Left:
- 0 Type 90s
- 6 Mark 73s
- 40 Standards
- 10 Anti-Ballistics
- 20 Type 07s
Sara Tan, USS
Saratoga
Southern Oahu Waters, Hawaii
Daytime
"Friendly carriers, this is JS Kongou. I'll be your escort today, over!" She says over the radio.
New allies keep popping out of the woodwork! Not that it's a bad thing, since we need all the help we can get. "Thanks," I answer.
I notice from my Hawkeye's radar that she's the destroyer, not the battleship. I wonder if she's anything like her older namesake...
All torpedoes hit home, the Battleships attempt to fire off one last salvo, which fails to hit anything. All that's left now are their sinking hulks.
As Tirpitz beats her hasty retreat towards everyone else, the Abyssals giving chase race after her in a frenzy. Her main guns mobility kill 4 of the light cruisers, and damage another 6. Her secondaries barely manage to hit anything, with only 2 killed, and light damage to 5. The Abyssals begin firing when they get inside range, raining a mixture of HE and AP, with some fires set when they hit Tirpitz. Suddenly from behind her she hears the sounds of missiles streaking in towards the Abyssal fleet. Turning back she she sees them strike home on the Abyssals, before realizing just how close they are as she sees little splashes and empty torpedo tubes just before the missiles strike. The whole Abyssal fleet was killed, but not before they managed to deliver their deadly payload.
I see a confluence of explosions as many missiles find their mark, but the rest of the field gets my attention before I could reflect on it.
Now that the fleet over there is done for, I could make efforts to slow down the other one to the north. With that goal in mind, I quickly check how many Harpoons my planes still have. Fulcrum Squadron has none, having carried, and used, three each, while Libra Squadron still has two each. Aegir Squadron carried two, and now has one each, while Hammer Squadron has none, having carried, and used, three each.
Knowing those things, I have the Fulcrums and Hammers return to me for rearming and refueling. The Libras and Aegirs can still perform one or two more strikes, with the latter being able to conduct ASW afterwards, so I have them get ready to do that on the destroyers to the north. To protect them, I have my Prowlers of Weasel Squadron, along with the newly rearmed (and refueled, since they turned out to be low on gas as a result of the dogfighting) Tomcats of Maverick Squadron, accompany them.
NMS Mărăşeşti
Between Oahu and Kauai
1:00 PM
"Attention all allied ships!" I call out to everyone through the radio, "There is a German battleship about to be hit by a large number of torpedoes. She has a few minutes form the looks of it. Please launch any aircraft you can to try and shoot the torpedoes, it's a long shot but there aren't many other options. German battleship! Either move to one side or slow down, by doing so you should be able to avoid two thirds of the torpedoes."
(Only around 180 torpedoes total, Mara is overestimating their number a little)
Wait, what? There are fishes inbound? I can shoot them? "Copy!" I reply.
But only my Hornets have a chance. My Tomcats are too far, and my other active planes don't have guns! To that end, I hastily redirect both squadrons of F/A-18Cs towards intercepting the fishes and riddling them with gunfire. As a result, only the Aegirs are able to launch their Harpoons.
A sudden thought comes to mind. If rapid gunfire can take them down, and since battleships have rapid-fire guns with them...
After reading the battleship's IFF, which is shown as a part of my mental heads-up display, I say over the radio, "Tirpitz, shoot the torpedoes with your AA guns!"
They have some gun depression on them, right?
((Actually, they do, 9 degrees for the 3.7 cm guns, and 12 degrees for the 2 cm guns))
@CCBubba,
@Michael Lewis
Active Planes:
- Maverick Squadron: 10 Tomcats: Escorting Aegir Squadron
- Iceman Squadron: 12 Tomcats: Rearming and refueling, one by one. Patrolling around me in the meantime
- Fulcrum Squadron: 11 Hornets: Strafing western torpedoes
- Libra Squadron: 11 Hornets: Strafing western torpedoes
- Weasel Squadron: 6 Prowlers: Escorting Aegir Squadron, jamming hostiles
- Hammer Squadron: 6 A-6E Intruders: Rearming, one by one. They still have enough gas for another go
- Aegir Squadron: 8 S-3B Vikings: Harpoon strike vs Charles destroyers
- Argus One: 1 Hawkeye: Be the eyes in the sky
Targets:
- Western torpedoes (Hornet squadrons and their guns)
- 8 Charles destroyers, the ones not targeted by Colorado nor Kongou (1 Harpoon each)
- Northern enemies (jamming)
Enemies Remaining:
1. Western fleet:
- Torpedoes in Tirpitz's general direction
2. Northern fleet, missile range and closing:
- 8 battleships (Montana)
- 28 guided missile cruisers (Albany)
- 48 guided missile destroyers (Charles F. Adams)
