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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' ^2 v. o; s! DMy planes attacked first. `8 k$ S" S3 a* W
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!
. f7 m; r) E* p* {$ `2 i$ k- EAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 8 x; Y. x" ~ x1 y5 c; H
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.
5 y1 V" B$ M0 O2 e23 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.
& D, s4 q$ ]9 t X3 CCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. * @( k$ N2 C7 @+ o
; Z, M+ o" h/ ]$ QThe 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.
; x: ^* y2 G* b4 j) PCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. * R1 G6 N6 s# H2 U8 m* r
; g2 J4 g' L7 f6 f+ \4 ?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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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. & z R, G2 N& F: ?$ J
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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.
; j- N# i! w7 x' [, UCV 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. , d4 L8 y3 C4 i7 t4 r
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 4 _3 {( p+ @2 D! V/ ?
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. y, ~2 m- U1 U& {
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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$ Q9 i3 S3 ^1 L5 CFifth 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. * `: ]) S# A. C! |+ w# H
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All this happened in the morning!! ) p( Z5 M c1 ~8 U% S1 T/ D0 a- Q& y
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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.
! D2 P" T# n, N8 q, H9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 2 k: s- x x* `# h0 _$ r
: B+ I. P, u2 c8 wThen, 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. 5 C! Y. k3 i! t/ M* g- P
0 ]/ o8 D8 j+ F" l44 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. ' k9 W2 P+ L4 d! K5 [7 Z! @* X
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.
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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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/ O2 v; w4 V. }2 t) W& oDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate
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39 Zero
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188 a/c
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126 SBD ( c1 E/ m* B. M+ l" _" d9 N
61 TBD
% y6 ~. c4 N! P/ M& A2 ?' k19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar ; [2 Z& J" {* G6 X! f) L' l
14 F2A
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. k. b+ i0 ~1 v" G$ [The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
: Q- X: e# G: I, MCV Indomitable 35/34/42
$ ?. s2 L) z; O8 Z+ PBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 & u9 q" Z+ l+ Q/ j
BC Repulse 25/14/10 9 c! |- f7 u9 m& j7 M6 T
. y( o6 V* i8 k* Q7 ^1 uCV Hornet 58/89/49
* s+ m! v! t0 }9 F1 K/ bDD Lamson 64/19/25 8 B8 [: W- `* X( W
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
4 I/ u5 k7 ~; l" R) @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。
# \: H e$ T( }3 r. x% ^0 h7 E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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