South Pac
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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.
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My planes attacked first.
9 i2 z$ b. Y! H* zFirst 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!
3 n( ~" d$ @1 @1 g9 S: A X! eAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ( @1 F# Y6 T1 t4 }! P; X
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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7 I& e& P1 g# l/ Z' l/ M8 fThe 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.
, q7 J% Q: l: g8 y8 `7 N& B23 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.
" J, o* ]" K0 YCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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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.
9 z9 E# `* r O) A1 G+ jCV 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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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. 8 l$ I' L, z/ t2 r
9 ]! Q: q# R4 p; Z8 nIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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Then 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.
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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. 0 L e$ W; o& ?' E9 v! X+ u- |
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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. " ?$ P- J4 r& Z) Q) t& J" Q3 Q
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. 1 ^7 E5 H; \. F' |
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. , u" z4 b6 B; X! t0 p: q
: J9 i0 y5 W. R9 _( f# {6 I8 y! X20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. " N2 t2 v* W; u! t, a
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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5 @4 j6 `" n/ N$ c) A+ N, p9 gFifth 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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All 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.
u9 R$ f$ w9 `) G9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. % g3 N5 j0 j5 c
9 X4 N% R5 \/ ]. {4 f( 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. 7 H* I. J; ]$ {2 o$ E: a9 t- f! \
6 h( f) [$ a0 e1 P$ 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.
) R$ \* O( G; m. O% A# A5 M3 uCV 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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% o A( W- O Y6 tBefore 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. 4 T2 I; s2 w2 K, C
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 3 N; \# s/ e0 [/ x* b4 v4 r& |
& n1 @: v+ c* ]0 b3 f) V$ I0 D% c89 Kate ; y+ N% S: i! O5 t4 \1 O
60 Val
8 j: n0 ?4 y) | k/ r39 Zero - Y6 Z% f3 o* ], a1 H3 w8 ]
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188 a/c 0 N( i1 q# A. g2 b( V. W
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126 SBD 6 Y+ N: q2 v+ w( r( i5 z
61 TBD 0 m5 W) k/ Y" Q8 w/ F3 ~
19 Albacore 1 g8 s8 J. B- x p( i) F! _3 M
5 Sea Hurricane 9 H' W" K1 k& l. B; }/ V9 A$ l
21 Fulmar
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5 {9 l% ^# t5 l2 e* k19 F4F-3
5 Y" d8 h: |8 n1 B( n% P24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: ' H% x; N- i" e2 s0 X7 k3 }
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
* y S0 T! j+ h8 \/ s# K6 {; ~CV Indomitable 35/34/42 0 u% y, v$ o5 G) Y8 C
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 % G6 T( J3 P2 r7 r- H( d3 q
BC Repulse 25/14/10 ! l' }4 I% ?) w( F D
/ I! N9 {1 z0 ECV Hornet 58/89/49
( W5 m9 o3 C6 X" n+ _3 yDD Lamson 64/19/25
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' H' b4 k- n6 s) w4 f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。
. G0 F6 M/ b, v% m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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