South Pac
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5 Q9 L2 |" f2 g& N1 H' F7 ^( y4 JEarly 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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" K* o: Z( i3 y% C M; D( NMy planes attacked first.
, J6 D/ ^+ |9 y# F8 {# EFirst 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! 3 X: E$ _" h2 T6 ^
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
7 W3 \! a( `# P' dAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... 6 ]7 z9 o) U' J3 q2 z
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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.
& N/ x9 f5 f/ M4 x23 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.
4 v, ?/ X1 v! w% b* LCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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6 y$ \* y, }5 P! ~: R# TThe 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. " D. b' G) I/ ?) S
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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0 C# l5 \0 z. n) ]% y' rThere 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. ' t9 J2 r4 h# X9 c& w
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. / B, `- i; U# }/ ^3 K7 b8 z# j" Z* q% j
4 S& h) z* D+ c5 [# U- J3 LThen 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. ; E3 Z( X; B5 T4 W5 U$ V7 B9 `, N
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.
5 W# k- l5 H7 B, ]I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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9 |7 }4 d; k' }& U/ M) x( |9 F20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. & ^/ s, z" B* M8 N0 V, G* w
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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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. ( G( n9 F- p, L3 f7 ?2 E* w
0 t$ J3 d- L5 G, w: v/ `All this happened in the morning!! 3 D* W% w8 k1 u9 E
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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.
( ]% }8 S: d" g9 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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# Q/ N. Q6 D# f: s m" {4 qThen, 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 u$ D, t5 S8 u; d _% a
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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.
Q- K! S- y% vCV 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. - h* ~) V! C4 G" y3 j) i
+ h5 `1 I- @* | HBefore 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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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate
% ]$ ^" f3 q1 X d( _/ s% z60 Val
; O) k8 o# _) a8 T2 W( }' G39 Zero ' i0 b$ Z r s& p, P. V
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188 a/c
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3 C) Q9 z8 o% i$ L4 K% @126 SBD
' b* O. M) _# \! E61 TBD
& f- Q; |1 u- k$ d19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar
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3 U* o6 o1 P/ Z19 F4F-3
|( r& A% J8 ^24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
; ^( J6 W' i# O8 A UCV Indomitable 35/34/42
5 b# ~1 _# l5 N& u( g/ S9 v2 HBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
! a1 B% {0 [( X# {7 T3 g6 ]1 M$ ABC Repulse 25/14/10 6 S a, m: U3 e
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 + |0 k+ f1 w( @; K5 h/ G
DD Lamson 64/19/25
- k! l/ Y0 d, u3 h9 |. K－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
- [$ A, |+ d9 j+ H2 I: o; f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 F1 Z" X' b" n7 ^+ a: z8 [8 E6 D
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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