South Pac
8 \0 R+ m: A: D+ K) n" ~6 ~: N% e# I5 c5 s& f. \# n0 H
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. ' x6 F) k/ l: A# U3 x
$ Y3 x8 t+ N$ m: W/ W% b( d) b" R y9 O1 PMy planes attacked first. ; ]2 [, V) t' Q* ~, 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!
. c. f2 c. z9 y1 N/ gAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
% e1 j$ @7 H% d7 b$ ^Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
; _) d% g" G1 B- A
" {' z' _- D8 N( o4 P4 B/ pThe 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 g6 W m9 i, R7 V! W* J. U; h
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.
5 |& i9 x' l! ~CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
, P F, L8 u% c8 K
2 R+ S, f" |9 h4 L& 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.
: P! |8 w4 g8 e$ E6 rCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
1 W8 y0 w! S; c$ Z# c! ]4 [ O! A
$ V! ^9 H. X$ M0 _5 lThere 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. - i5 B% e6 b* S0 X4 d1 C
7 t% ?: d' L3 q% E3 pIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. $ K7 g! j- Q) M4 H
& \. r, a$ [& e
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. * D7 l2 M1 [/ f9 \8 t
: e# N. U9 f, gThe 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.
9 l1 d- n4 R% o' l6 {6 V0 Q8 B, q) w! s) }( b1 R# Y1 U, \
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
, }2 G, F! d( @3 e9 d; jCV 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.
$ H, K' i- N* ~5 l& }4 lI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 0 x# {$ d( I5 l a
* |% ^& \( {% _8 Y5 n
20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 4 i6 ]& M6 Y8 J* x! G! X
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. & G; K' C' W$ c! y
N, }* V0 K; C! JFifth 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. ( ^9 n" [! ]5 i: [( w7 ?3 A" g/ T
+ ^5 f7 x7 @! I. s
All this happened in the morning!! + V' u2 z. u$ L, z/ J( S
" \: g; ^8 z( U; m- |$ _$ O
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.
/ L6 ?4 e6 H- U9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost.
4 y i. |3 A0 y" B' S+ [- O% E5 r8 f% `" @" d$ V) l
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.
1 B b/ y$ Y+ D& h5 V, H& I- w, u6 Z# Z Y' U/ w/ }) M" q; M
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.
2 Z4 q$ R* l" }) |# hCV 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. / x0 q$ [# ~* p
) r8 y' l/ a. x! P {) U+ u ^; ZBefore 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.
' l- K& q8 ~1 A3 e* w; [1 Q9 o4 r$ \0 P
During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
4 B' g) Y8 k- o
, v$ {* Y5 f8 f9 ~( P89 Kate
# e I% t8 n* x' ^$ K60 Val
* D% ~8 Q- d, J: A+ ]) B: U39 Zero ' [8 `0 |1 M. ?
" K8 m/ e6 u7 z$ W5 d9 q/ ]188 a/c
3 v/ z( r! ]) |5 p/ D: ^
. ^& k+ B6 N& U* m. k5 S0 Q! F& Q4 J9 E$ S
126 SBD . s" B! j$ i. B- z/ T
61 TBD
( x( A% X' I, H- w$ j d19 Albacore 6 W2 s1 b) u. t4 p
5 Sea Hurricane
& U& d4 g6 [2 V% C) p3 R21 Fulmar
/ L: }: E) x2 w! |14 F2A
8 A4 M3 M* ^$ ^+ {/ o9 e19 F4F-3
2 W# n$ _. r4 x# U1 A24 F4F-4
$ K l9 T- V7 z9 \/ e9 ~0 t4 z( N: A0 H$ J5 ~
The damages for my ships are the following: & ^! ?4 e, z* r5 Z P& M
1 G. b' `9 |1 f5 j- g$ {, K
CV Formidable 50/69/38
4 `; n* J% c3 w. i' ]3 I) S& UCV Indomitable 35/34/42
- @* D( P( X4 b4 sBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 3 p/ F- b# F* g" }% W9 c
BC Repulse 25/14/10
0 D4 o6 h5 Y* P% k+ W9 _: \
8 ?3 f1 e* P- H! E! F7 pCV Hornet 58/89/49 3 T6 k/ ~# ]+ s4 V4 ?' O
DD Lamson 64/19/25
! i" h; b% q3 d$ J－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－$ ?. {: R9 G8 O. g/ J; L$ w' S! ~
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。
# p. F. F2 t3 b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
| 
