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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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My planes attacked first. 9 A! ]8 v* m4 b& {- V, i
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!
0 F/ b- T7 o% C7 X7 x. [) jAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 1 B2 l5 ~+ q: `' O 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. ; q O. U* z i
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.
/ U/ L' j. {, h g. H1 z# I& G- ?CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. # ]6 }3 I3 {5 B
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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. ' v8 M6 }! F3 X
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 1 i; X! q- l1 }7 H8 B' A
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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. - m/ W1 f0 X6 R5 o
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. " X6 y; m' i0 O( q5 p3 ~8 g$ j
( [- X8 A, `! hThen 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. ) ?* q& }4 x2 J5 W+ l' L( K
; d2 w" n% _4 \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. ) d7 R- F+ J; N6 G$ a. D
) i i; g4 n, q: h' T0 r# GThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
0 Q7 R8 }( ^/ z1 TCV 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.
& F- T9 v6 X# |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. 4 q$ `4 k( q7 m$ i
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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7 D& D, K, N& ]4 yFifth 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. $ t, m: e8 L& J
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All this happened in the morning!! 4 a, f0 R8 ^, B5 u9 D c
8 D$ `% o3 w" r {2 O; t3 S* jIn 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. 2 D' C+ m5 Z( }& c
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 9 K* n1 z# J% J. V( o$ h' H
9 j5 d% D, b- h$ ZThen, 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. % @; P$ U6 E, h Y$ M2 T
0 L5 y$ C% Y1 o+ A! Q8 E44 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. ' u% j0 q. E: i' h6 a1 `
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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8 s; T4 d7 B: u% C0 k: 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. 9 A/ D3 W5 q) w: j( S: h
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate : C0 A5 L, r. w; K
60 Val
/ `. e$ N9 t" {9 ^39 Zero
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: u3 |6 D5 [* P5 w5 b4 u+ j188 a/c
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126 SBD
" L. b$ g2 @. r" l& r61 TBD ) S5 |" t" N S8 | \
19 Albacore
* Y5 {; H, w- e5 Sea Hurricane
' x0 j* ] n5 ?7 g" v21 Fulmar " j8 j6 o* i. u( J6 [1 {3 `
14 F2A
+ h* ^9 {; ?! p" v2 G- a1 g19 F4F-3
& k9 `1 d6 ]. }$ @4 J! v/ S! r24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: 7 O U( _- D% Y6 n. C- S
! o7 i$ H+ B* m/ L* ~6 i& @CV Formidable 50/69/38 V/ X% T% M0 N% D/ o1 l7 F
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 7 a4 p, ~/ ?8 n$ A5 y% d& q
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
" [: T6 ]( U- z, Q4 eBC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
: s4 b+ V- w; S5 ODD Lamson 64/19/25
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. y4 W1 t7 i- e/ A7 w, h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。
. d1 b% O# L, w5 {8 V8 p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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