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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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9 \1 u& j& v3 ~, i5 m& v8 ?My planes attacked first.
+ t4 a- F2 O6 ~! G* f0 I. |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!
, I1 ]2 t' l9 X1 r9 C# ^Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
' c u2 M: R/ k) i; U5 dAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... / d) K$ N3 ^4 l2 ~" c& _( h$ p
9 u3 V$ ]4 t& K. J* M$ g* ^ g) `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.
6 {2 d& o4 G% e. a23 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.
$ P" |7 l6 C- O. h4 ?2 ECV 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. / E+ U9 F v3 I0 v' H
CV 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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. \; ?7 ]3 l; Q" s( z, j/ a2 CThere 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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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.
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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.
a/ ?$ R# x6 p" G+ w* 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. * F% z) ?3 g' W
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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! r0 r2 h. D, S3 P3 i20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
3 V3 p- K O7 q$ C8 f y3 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. 5 B+ P& Z% L* q0 L( C3 G
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All this happened in the morning!!
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- q/ `* H9 e" ^3 G# X. ?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.
5 g" f+ I# C6 S' ]/ F" t7 b9 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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Then, 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. ) x6 S1 O3 Y- |* m9 t
7 _" `) v' a" J. U6 }! M( j44 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. * @7 {( ~0 ?, y# H9 r& |
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. " E" O% [2 r) Y- e$ K6 U
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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. * j% h. O! c1 A# a3 `
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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p$ B% J( D! y# j# N) i89 Kate 0 i/ u. p) P' W( X8 S, Z
60 Val 2 [/ o2 P4 b5 i$ B" o+ v
39 Zero . x/ W+ t! B& V: R" U# b2 n6 r$ p7 n
( [# L: r- _! v6 r" a, i188 a/c
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( A, b* W( f# ^' S- x. m- c126 SBD
8 p# k ? b" L0 M: {& T; D61 TBD
: s; P: j; ?) {% a( v$ [ k ?19 Albacore
: M3 P/ M+ Q6 S4 [+ O$ L5 Sea Hurricane
: R& m2 }" w/ A5 R! e21 Fulmar
/ {8 _. E; ^/ L& w14 F2A
- `) b. }, P! n' Q2 [19 F4F-3 8 u- ]" r5 [3 q' O* O
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3 M$ A( u* [$ o. iThe damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
4 i# ]4 r- Q" Q& ACV Indomitable 35/34/42 ; {2 G2 g' z: @/ N7 D' M
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 0 q, X' a z/ A1 I0 l. U
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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: @# a4 r+ ~2 E- eCV Hornet 58/89/49
p( n; m+ M0 r- X# }0 l, _DD Lamson 64/19/25 - N# Q4 j4 y) h6 [% y
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
; ]- P+ m5 x4 z8 u5 R8 ~5 h a- X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 v, a0 T( h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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