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. ) w; B' D! g/ v- ?8 |
: E" y5 z: p9 A& K* TMy planes attacked first.
% u+ A- y. ?4 H3 L( `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! % b$ u: X# K1 z* F; }6 N* F/ l7 ^; R
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
' z0 S" \1 }5 A1 I2 k5 |. FAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... ; F9 C7 n- w) ~8 D# T+ C
" N! r9 h( D6 L$ j; d. 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.
& j/ b9 v2 `# _# o23 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.
& `( f; _; ]) i- I+ `" ?CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ( U3 i& ~) V! [- \/ K% @8 B
$ i6 @" j1 J( kThe 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.
& l) m' _+ q. b( \2 b! ?CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 4 L) p) t# i |3 Z# z( ^( k
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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. ; D8 p% i! K; Y h9 B7 p3 g
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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. ( T7 C* d% y7 e- u: ^
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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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, l/ T( V$ E P) f' BThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. ! j7 z; o) R! A
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 E% j3 i. M1 M2 g# l
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
1 p6 U, f6 w' h1 P+ E" L3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. $ @- ?; N, L1 g2 ~# e/ \; {
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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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& p# E! M0 [( o0 i/ A" Y; EAll this happened in the morning!!
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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.
- q" q% E8 d$ |; D0 s- |3 o0 {9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 8 ~9 n) _ M5 W: k1 I7 ]
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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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1 V1 a6 E% c/ F- n, A; A2 _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.
# L! g4 g2 E' O! A! 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.
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/ d. l* R0 P# L( L4 i7 g7 @0 B- IBefore 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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3 P, k9 Y* D% B2 |! T# aDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate : v# @6 P& \$ e1 f4 j6 @% }1 z
60 Val
( P' g% f* b3 Z& A. ]+ G6 A39 Zero
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9 D$ V& E8 N/ c3 L7 h; }126 SBD
. c( z3 V1 Y6 \# l% Z61 TBD 2 l1 t! M2 _% D) D" p2 V5 f/ g
19 Albacore
+ [! v1 a" i4 q) u5 Sea Hurricane
) H/ A+ ?, T! g; @21 Fulmar
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& d3 q: ^6 _+ b; g19 F4F-3
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
7 O' s4 J8 }& i# G5 p4 ]& kCV Indomitable 35/34/42
% c7 a F3 z8 j0 | ~5 ~BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
+ m0 B, D/ _8 ]/ G( t8 XBC Repulse 25/14/10 ) X0 Y- N j! x5 T" N0 }
, }. z; ~0 n9 L% `5 gCV Hornet 58/89/49 2 P. M+ V/ J3 A. F# k& t' J
DD Lamson 64/19/25 ) D, P. L0 M j6 R) o. w
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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。
1 f/ g t" ~: Q) o* C5 R: N1 X( }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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