South Pac 5 S5 S5 W* j/ X5 u' K8 F1 p; e
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Early in the morning the recon of both parts, spotted the opposing force. The KB were NE of Funafuti. My carriers reacted and closed of 1 hex and the same have done the enemy CV. 1 j* ^& c2 x1 i- d5 X" E
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My planes attacked first.
% a$ ?5 T: v7 q iFirst wave, composed by 34 SBD, 15 TBD and (only!) 6 F4F, arrived over KB. 92 Zeros were on CAP. Only 8 SBD and 6 TBD managed to pass through the screen. 1 1000 lbs-bomb hit Kongo: boink! 0 c$ R9 r s* c' r( ~
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
" ]; _3 X0 \* \7 ^# o; H- P. cAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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The second attack was more dramatic. 84 SBD, 30 TBD, 35 Albacore, escorted by a total of 30 fighters, arrived over KB, few minutes later the first wave. The same 92 Zeros were on CAP. - w8 h0 j4 c7 ~% o
23 allied fighters have been shot down, in exchange of only 3 Zeros. Also 15 SBD, 6 TBD and 10 Albacore ended their flight in the water, but the rest of my armada attacked the Kido Butai.
) @7 g E1 s" y7 u" o/ wCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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& F, S0 \% b" F& f" e. _The third were were composed by 4 F4F (!), 34 SBD and 15 TBD. Again, 89 Zero were on CAP. I suppose that japanese pilots were tired, because only 1 SBD, 3 TBD and 1 F4F have been shot down, while 2 Zero have been shot down.
2 ^& i1 x( D& T9 T' BCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ) }7 k4 W6 K2 Y' M' c$ y
) ?/ a1 q2 Z3 |There was time also for the fourth wave, composed by 15 SBD (1 shot down) and 17 TBD (5 lost), (no Zero shot down). CV Zuikaku and CV Shokaku received 2 more bombs each.
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" F. F1 l! I$ L* A8 _6 @It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ' ], s; `4 a' ^% v/ ?! G) P* ~3 @
9 @1 @/ ^2 N: LThen came the japanese attack. The first (small) wave, 23 Val and 6 Zero, was intercepted by 83 fighters. 15 Val and 6 Zero shot down and the others Val turned back. No losses for the allied. 5 l1 L) z4 C9 ?! n- z( \; S
: U4 v- ]1 I3 ?0 a6 dThe second wave, composed by 22 Val, 25 Kate and 9 Zero, has been intercepted by the same 83 fighters. Only 1 F2F and 1 F4F lost, while my pilots shot down 6 Zero, 12 Val and 14 Kate have been shot down, and the survivors, again, turned back.
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The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
: \8 [( H8 v6 dCV Hornet took 2 torpedoes and 5 small bombs, CV Enterprise 2 torpedoes, 3 – 250kg – bombs and 2 small bombs, CV Lexington 5 torps, 1 -250 kg bombs and 2 small bombs, CA Chicago 2 torps and DD Lamson 4 bombs and 1 torp. ( ?4 |' B% _8 @& L9 y. z( ]9 d/ @
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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$ V4 O U6 V3 s20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 5 \1 o+ @3 }% `5 V7 ^- U1 R; w# P
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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# N" i) K. U$ B3 @+ l8 KFifth wave attacked the same TF (again!). 21 Kate, 17 Val and 13 Zero fought against 58 fighters, but managed 1 torpedo on Lexington and 3 bombs and 1 torpedo on Hornet. 2 Kate and 13 allied fighters lost.
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8 r8 U( H$ e. ^- G: hAll this happened in the morning!!
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In the afternoon british TF closed one more hex and launched one small air attack. I lost 4 Albacores during an attempt to attack CV Akagi, without results.
4 g8 L+ C& I- |9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost.
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- A2 J# }9 @- XThen, 18 Zero and 16 Kate, from another carrier TF, probably composed by light carriers due to the number of planes, attacked the british TF. Prince of Wales and Repulse received 1 torpedo each. Only 1 Kate shot down.
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+ A3 v2 Z( p+ J) h$ A8 [# p44 Val, 21 Kate and 29 Zero attacked again. Only 5 british fighters were on CAP. The closing of one hex towards the KB, leaved the british ships without US air cover. 3 Val and 1 Kate for the japs and 2 fighters for the british shot down.
8 R- ]" K5 Q6 h |$ t- ]0 M& [CV Formidable resulted hit by 10 bombs and 4 torps, CV Indomitable by 4 bombs and 2 torps, BB Prince of Wales by 2 bombs and CA Canberra by 1 bomb.
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Before dusk, Lexington and Enterprise sunk. No reports of enemy sinking, but I suppose that Zuikaku and Shokaku are in a very bad conditions and they are between the Ellice and Suva. A long way home. , I2 }! B0 R C+ C0 k# p+ e! `6 j
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. ' o* K% }$ o- o5 k
$ N. [) _5 t& y6 q$ M. k89 Kate
% y% R6 p. Y" ^- j9 X60 Val
* Q; |. H- n5 [* Z39 Zero
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, `& V z: v' v/ r- z" E1 `188 a/c
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; P1 s8 R/ D3 t& H126 SBD
3 [8 d" Q2 v: B T3 R61 TBD
& \" X) ]2 @7 m" d* Y @/ Z( O19 Albacore 3 ~' o, H' d5 i. b( P% j1 J
5 Sea Hurricane
/ P% b4 c6 X6 j3 ~' Q8 _& H21 Fulmar 4 m6 ~3 r6 M5 e8 x) ?
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19 F4F-3 6 w8 ^2 C( U/ z C [) }
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4 n7 @$ n( L& ^5 y0 KThe damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
m" w( ~9 {; DCV Indomitable 35/34/42
- y3 L* _6 v4 n' n5 GBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 ) J; K r6 b- z* ~( `
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
# d6 [6 y$ g! H \ vDD Lamson 64/19/25
% M) Q8 r: L" Y" m8 N－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
7 r1 M2 C* t' @: k2 U" |6 O2 N7 a: I盟军42年4月竟敢在fiji北主动出击，最后损失2：5，日军损失两鹤。
% b2 ~7 @$ p7 l+ d; c) G+ O从战果上看，盟军的结果比我想象的好不少。而且还混编CV. |
发表于 2007-8-29 11:42
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