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. ; a+ Z* } L; a Y x5 L6 \- M1 m
& i: R# D; Z; }My planes attacked first. / d4 f( t" ^) k$ Q% U& E: V
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! 6 `. d5 o2 d, r$ @8 Q
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
+ t' U& }$ |/ ]9 LAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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; q% B+ E" J8 \. B, pThe 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.
8 E- p z3 x4 f/ ?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. # g: X& W5 I9 M& D* U# b
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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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. . j$ N- z& m; k
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. + T5 F! f% ~5 H3 A. \6 [
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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.
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6 Y/ q% s1 @; ]8 b3 s4 o9 m) f9 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. ' q `) ~/ W4 f& C
/ c6 J ]. F o WThe 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. 9 Q' c# {+ T1 U8 T
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. # L7 B8 e z1 J1 p2 x# v* z
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.
: Q- v4 \( M% q0 V0 E; X, b& `3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. " ~% C5 z- N5 T: s0 B5 k% z
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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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: o1 P' X' K* S6 Y) k4 U' _All this happened in the morning!!
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; O) m7 ]1 J% qIn 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 w' w q/ ]1 g r8 L+ q
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ( |1 t; K5 f/ U' Y' w
! u* Y3 S% i& V$ yThen, 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. / d0 H- T$ H. V. T; b
4 @& M! v' F# P" H44 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.
. j# O0 w/ T* @' p% y( rCV 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. ' l0 J, J2 ?, I, y/ ]2 ^
0 m* _& K7 G$ o N, q& x" k9 S: `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. . c; |( b6 p, q- P5 U; G# ]
' O# C' D* |/ TDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. , c) @5 a/ y9 O( l! ] ~; j
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89 Kate 3 q. K6 ?. d: m6 [+ A. K/ ~4 V6 P; ^, M
60 Val
) Z+ Z$ |8 I; i6 K9 Q6 `9 J; U39 Zero
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126 SBD
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6 H3 f) w5 E9 _/ E7 E0 `19 Albacore 9 X: D: K& v4 O; t
5 Sea Hurricane
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0 X! D% o8 B+ j) Z' QThe damages for my ships are the following: 1 C$ n5 U, _4 ? Z, E7 G9 z
+ X: S1 R2 x$ MCV Formidable 50/69/38
% K' d4 ?) v" |* G# JCV Indomitable 35/34/42 ' K n- H3 Z- A& ~ f
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 6 N. @) r8 j( d) d/ U" a j8 Q+ h
BC Repulse 25/14/10 % e" {5 U* [. |4 |# E: ?
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 & v- x% v( J4 ~* K- T( ^
DD Lamson 64/19/25 / G/ [ H: b+ @& S8 b
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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。3 o* d, W0 ], z5 Z( U
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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