South Pac + N" u* q, j& ?5 F1 Q
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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. 9 Q5 u& W! x/ X" b4 \
! d" E2 @$ F) K e0 m gMy planes attacked first.
$ l! d$ Y5 e# X- {First 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! 6 W" p; T( i. S5 D+ T( b
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ' S: \7 `9 ^6 z
Ah, 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. 2 R& J. a4 n# J S$ ~- L+ x! Q; d
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. ; Q% \, I! i+ L
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ' d0 Y d* V" B, k5 f, w
4 s, Z ]8 e! W& x; P& pThe 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.
+ T0 L4 _% d! A; FCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
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: t- A0 f# P2 w! D' GThere 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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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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8 c5 O3 f; g, P7 s: P OThen 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. + o/ Q' [7 H7 r
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The 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. 3 S0 w" R7 p7 b2 [
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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. 6 q" _2 `0 h" f- U# k' m
CV 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.
5 n$ h7 t0 J8 J5 j( sI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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3 v- o& C; O& S* T3 j" T20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
2 R- E6 K, {( Z- c3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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Fifth 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. . Y" Z; q/ |1 L3 O; A
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All this happened in the morning!! : I0 U* B/ ^) g- P
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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. ' \- z9 e; O& 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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& b; g3 E+ F5 z' M h2 C' y) @, h( fThen, 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. % [* r$ [: t& A( w8 v
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44 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. 6 ^ u; c6 L; s. Z- ^
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. # @3 }2 B& M6 I
9 L/ i' C8 e: U% p" M2 ~9 L7 r9 \. \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. % |2 k! L5 S2 Z/ N3 E
' U) o3 C0 W$ O' }$ FDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 2 _6 [1 ?# n- N g8 |! [: @
: p2 f6 e* ~: @0 O2 K89 Kate
- d. Y8 z" L0 E4 e2 [60 Val 4 A8 l [$ k- e* }
39 Zero 8 X) ~2 B6 a& P4 P% X
- H c6 Z, Q5 P188 a/c + }" [/ y- C+ L% S2 B& ^
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w4 j/ D- u( Q2 d126 SBD
/ Y7 P$ {* M2 T9 J, B1 d2 h; O r61 TBD
9 T2 m2 F t9 c2 s19 Albacore
0 _6 ~' o, r. J; c$ g5 |0 n5 Sea Hurricane & ~' l2 C$ m+ | P* j1 \7 u
21 Fulmar ) O r+ ~$ C4 @% i" }; Z7 M. d2 G
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19 F4F-3 & D6 O2 I, ?& @8 R: n3 p
24 F4F-4
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; }$ L4 K3 C: Q) ^0 J4 mThe damages for my ships are the following: ' P: w( X' b# m2 N& G, {5 X4 n, q
# A1 s# Y0 ?" O z: [CV Formidable 50/69/38 D0 a2 j% R( r8 o! _0 \3 M
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 ( @5 ]1 A/ Y. h. c4 k P' k- M
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 % O+ t* O. I6 o v: J) q# J2 i8 E3 g
BC Repulse 25/14/10 9 k- @/ e( x/ s* {
" I) v5 ] E3 b; g1 m( D, z/ DCV Hornet 58/89/49 ( e g7 d/ ], M6 b
DD Lamson 64/19/25 . \3 V8 W2 O# X @0 w+ k
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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。
4 f( p' h5 K$ B* F4 F+ R1 n) ? s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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