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. % y$ { Q; W7 w' O
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My planes attacked first. % o9 E. b/ Z0 x" a% _
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!
+ j/ p# ], x! O9 P7 k* BAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
/ C, w& V0 G9 v( i: qAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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: E- r2 F- s }9 ^! q& YThe 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. * {& A! L" D' a1 q
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.
- x$ {% w$ N9 ~3 S' wCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. $ V. q, G$ M- x6 }3 S: b
1 d4 [& l7 _/ v4 vThe 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.
, g9 }! V; R& J+ [" v2 NCV 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.
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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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" U% j! v8 J6 |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. 8 p, I% Z& }( R& z: Z9 q
4 x& t: |$ [6 m& JThe 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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* U- l3 @' A8 g6 M1 N6 _. SThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. ) S. ?/ v+ w/ X- c" R, R
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. 3 i+ f4 U! r$ b X$ Y
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. , X0 j! u H8 ^0 O7 Y
& ?( m! N1 a+ d8 f3 P9 d2 h/ m20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
& y1 O& |; E$ _6 J7 @: p3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 2 q* }) l% V, X+ U4 e& `9 ?0 g8 s
3 m8 Q5 g' Y+ c& MFifth 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. M4 `% S2 ~* G! s& u; z) J p @
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All this happened in the morning!! ; E! B. O9 _/ L9 e
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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.
! X" @5 t! Q1 I7 ?9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ' y+ @' W5 x& A0 E: k9 T X
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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.
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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.
. R8 n& g) c/ Y4 G& KCV 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. 7 x* H3 q5 }4 b
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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.
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* X. e( s' [; v" A" ^( LDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. / i' w0 f- ~$ o5 K- X0 H: O6 F$ M
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89 Kate
, U' o- C9 P% i5 T7 C60 Val + y6 R! w- C6 r: ?& ~% k' B
39 Zero
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188 a/c ) O( m7 P7 [6 X6 @% ^0 f# s- t
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126 SBD ' C( Y+ C, l5 ~! A
61 TBD
0 J# s0 Z8 Q3 s& H4 M, c" p: G }+ l19 Albacore " [7 h* a( Q9 A6 B8 F1 Z3 e
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21 Fulmar 1 [( S% k( z/ }' y
14 F2A
3 n- y8 X1 ~" o9 j, @. _4 x/ J% {19 F4F-3 ! N# U, V, d7 i4 |+ Y# D
24 F4F-4 ; D$ I6 }& e# T9 w2 h
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The damages for my ships are the following: 3 m9 a$ E2 P) L* n8 b7 T- K1 Q
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
. Z& P5 S) B) `9 Z0 R; J5 Y, cCV Indomitable 35/34/42
8 _ k) f) r3 C. wBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 * F, y: M2 ]- I/ P3 l# O
BC Repulse 25/14/10 : {9 A7 B) j1 h6 V
( b2 P0 G! A( n7 m+ {CV Hornet 58/89/49 ( P E1 w+ @' c# f6 m h
DD Lamson 64/19/25
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2 \* U' M; n$ Y( 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。1 B% S! }) y5 Z6 H2 _ J
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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