At night, in a combat situation, there is an enemy that is more dangerous than all the others: darkness.
Under cover of darkness, the most sinister crimes were committed and impressive victories were won. Those who had time to correctly orient themselves in the darkness of the night could dictate their own rules and smash the helpless enemy.
Night battle on the roadstead of the bay of the same name, which ended with a score of 20 to 1 in terms of personnel losses and 15 to 1 in terms of losses of the main line forces. July 7, 1770 - the day of military glory of the Russian Navy, which defeated Ibrahim Pasha's fleet on the head. At midnight, Russian sailors shot the enemy line, guided by the explosions and flames of burning Turkish ships, after which they burned the remaining sailing ships with the help of firecrackers (lighter ships that burned enemy line forces with them;
On the night of August 9, 1942, the samurai circled the island counterclockwise, killing everyone in their path. Without having time to really understand who and where fired, the Astoria, Canberra, Vincennes, Quincy went into the dark waters of the strait, the cruiser Chicago was seriously damaged. Irrecoverable losses of the allies amounted to 1,077 people. against 58 killed by the Japanese. Having destroyed the entire compound, the samurai disappeared into the darkness of the night. Pogrom at about. Savo went down in history as the "second Pearl Harbor" - so great was the severity of losses and disappointment with the actions of the US Navy.
The first photo shows the unfortunate Quincy, brightly lit by the searchlights of Japanese cruisers. He has no more than 30 minutes to live. On the left, another burning ship is visible, presumably the TKR Vincennes.
On the second - the flagship of Vice Admiral Mikawa heavy cruiser "Chokai". A flurry of fire will soon follow the beam of the searchlight. During the short battle, the ship managed to fire over three hundred 203 mm shells and eight 650 mm torpedoes ("long-lance").
Before the massive appearance of radars, the Japanese were recognized masters of night combat.
Six Inch Machine Gun: The Helena cruiser fires at the Japanese in Kula Bay. Ships of this type could fire up to 100 rounds. per minute with the main (152 mm) caliber, approaching in technical rate of fire to the Kalashnikov assault rifle.
But this did not help “Helena” - this fight was his last.
Since the end of the last world war in 1945, the world's forty largest economies have not openly fought each other. Therefore, despite the qualitative growth of photographic equipment, there are no images of any night battles. The number of casualties is matched by a few against the backdrop of the grandiose tragedies of the Second World War.
The night shots and explosions of the recent past are mostly the result of trials or accidents.
The explosion of the ammunition cellars of the frigate "Antilope" during an attempt to unsuccessfully clear unexploded bombs. Two dead. Falklands War, 1982
Merciless fire of the battleship "Missouri" on tanks and fortifications in the area of Kuwait airport
Night battle of the Japanese destroyer "Kurama" with a South Korean tanker under the Kanmon Bridge, 2009
The result of the fight - a fire for many hours and three injured sailors
Fire training of personnel aboard Marshal Shaposhnikov, on the night before the assault on the Moscow University tanker captured by pirates. Gulf of Aden, 2010
Unsuccessful launch of the Bulava SLBM, filmed over one of the coastal regions of Norway
"Calibers" are flying east. A salvo of ships of the Caspian flotilla against IS infrastructure facilities. Naturally prohibited in Russia
American "response" to the Shayrat airbase. The moment of the exit of the RGM-109E '' Tactical Tomahawk”from the mine of the universal launcher
Group takeoff of Sea Knight Marine helicopters from the deck of the landing ship
A queue from the automatic anti-aircraft gun "Falanx". The shipborne self-defense complex was adopted by the American army, which suffers from regular mortar attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan. Land modification of the marine complex, designated C-RAM "Centurion"
The heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov performs combat missions as part of the operational formation of the far sea zone off the coast of Syria
The night Syrian Express goes to Tartous. The moment of passage of the large landing ship (BDK) "Yamal" the Bosphorus
Fighters "Dassault Rafale" on the deck of the aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle". Amazingly beautiful French technique
The night "grin of socialism" (the nickname of pr. 1164 in the fleets of NATO countries) is the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet GRKR "Moscow". Night illumination only further emphasizes the monumentality of the cruiser and the power of its weapons.
