South Pac 8 e* H u3 b1 l6 A0 ~( Z5 ^
% ?- S8 A; [! }( rEarly 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. 7 ~. Q$ V7 [8 h! P0 T
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My planes attacked first. % Z' F0 k0 z2 x3 r5 z
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!
L- _6 L8 v$ J7 \. hAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. & v# o& E# P3 K
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. 3 o$ I: [ T/ z$ i7 ~5 {
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. 8 e1 ?7 F# T7 S4 ^: c0 S! C
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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9 W. D; w X3 I; [6 p& J ^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.
" M# J7 f' M; F4 C: N& \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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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. 3 \: g+ _% |7 Z3 i" e
j! i$ v' n3 f6 w- aIt’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. . b) x& g4 d/ N2 l. [+ ?
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.
( [8 [! x. J9 VI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. % D$ E- D9 P" A
~7 |( ]4 T( Z7 x0 k2 }20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 7 u* X% G: s9 I, M) O3 n5 J
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. " j5 g% Z* D3 f' c
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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.
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$ t( I# T: `/ k9 I2 s5 i, b: W) nAll this happened in the morning!!
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! @1 F8 {! a3 N) b, pIn 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% n* w, x( K9 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.
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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. & O. k7 |, H% N% k2 c
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. 2 [1 i) W6 b5 k) W" f
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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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( R7 N: o4 L' v9 \9 fDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 7 r. ]0 t3 J& S# m+ X E5 h
$ l, E, b% ]: y3 n. t, T2 q89 Kate
+ n) O0 `( }# c! h+ z5 p" v60 Val
# y% `/ s6 u5 R/ |+ c; j39 Zero , N8 r+ T1 o* B& o5 u
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188 a/c
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) b' K2 @* s( e1 H3 g2 q' J126 SBD " o* a/ h- p. K$ O! [2 H2 T( @# ]
61 TBD # p6 r! i- k: Q2 \* K2 G
19 Albacore * b. ]0 p' H6 i& t+ v
5 Sea Hurricane
) n$ l! [) m# x0 M9 r8 ?; d0 d21 Fulmar
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19 F4F-3 9 j, d+ E+ K9 l, Q) D6 J9 T
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: 7 E) `& \$ j9 p' E
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
/ Y: q1 V, H& K. ?* m( c' hCV Indomitable 35/34/42
" u; V6 C' I3 e: A) NBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 ) _9 E7 N# a. w, t) k
BC Repulse 25/14/10 , z* m7 F% g' W: [; x0 y. l! R- t
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
! k2 x9 e5 E. d LDD Lamson 64/19/25 3 c; V* Z- v8 r* E$ M; b7 K# a
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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。
6 L& e. {8 m* J+ _% H. k, J4 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
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