South Pac : S' W9 }$ P9 k- B! `$ ?
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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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" y$ H- P ?2 }& h0 S E' EMy planes attacked first. ! P: K7 T% D# i+ o
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!
; `; @. V1 h: M9 J" g$ z( c$ C$ c7 M5 K: MAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 4 T6 N" c+ c6 Q- @2 e/ n# d. ^# b
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... . ~7 _. |5 a, s
7 x0 ?7 k W6 c, s3 B1 XThe 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.
/ T) b% V6 f0 }* w1 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. " L& G$ c3 @2 u+ l' l$ x
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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% ]: z" Q! Q. N; ]1 Q% g c! ^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.
7 F) q# d% s" k* uCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. : Y! }! K$ R5 _; U$ e; ^, C9 Y# f( i
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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. $ k1 \+ n/ o1 ^( `7 K
* R s' F+ W3 AIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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- _0 u! g" k- p0 @* yThen 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. $ N2 i. X4 w, b$ L3 V- t2 `
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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. 8 V# }# s7 H+ p1 B' f: S5 O* J0 `
' Z: y: T0 B1 w4 SThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 7 F. ^) Y" J0 J% R- e/ X5 G
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.
; [/ ^$ H. j# o. Z, P& Q' EI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 6 Z y, T. b" J# u+ G4 I" q
: G' V. e2 Z$ l9 F20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
2 s/ L2 J& u" Z6 `/ v% N( t# X. O3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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/ i. ~8 L" C ]* ^- s7 Z/ 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.
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/ k( ^4 }0 j4 Q7 `$ {6 @* NAll this happened in the morning!!
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6 ^3 A4 Q+ s. }% `1 {# tIn 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.
! ~ B& k* {6 |9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. " @+ m' q- B6 R9 r3 |
" [2 N, D+ A! K( L" FThen, 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. ) ?0 c& @2 R: y& ]2 S
& r8 E! J* k& B' ?( c2 D; 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.
1 W! X4 }& ~+ D% ACV 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. 3 E% \% O7 ?4 X0 I ?* A2 F
3 _, a$ e) d7 B) U, f! W' FBefore 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. , ]' r/ k6 J/ ^# l, M! ~+ a4 C
1 W$ y( C4 p7 D3 }- H' ZDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate 5 R1 L- C+ N: U' ?0 ?
60 Val 7 H9 }' a% ~8 F2 N
39 Zero - |+ u! {7 M/ v9 {- u/ _% T3 Q) S% n& o2 ?
- o2 y3 r- u' c' n c& f188 a/c
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: H; i( U- X0 g( i& B7 {126 SBD
1 I. J, X$ m: C" T& w: P9 B61 TBD
& {- ^& Q4 f( V8 v6 p19 Albacore : O( s+ A6 w9 t
5 Sea Hurricane : h! |" Q, ]% M2 q$ ?; E; e! \
21 Fulmar
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2 y7 w: o; H+ Q0 L& z+ Z24 F4F-4 , ?9 n# x# O1 ]% x p8 C4 c
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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, f" E4 l, I% `& Y" c0 r0 R- jCV Formidable 50/69/38 0 c8 W* a+ o+ I: ?) W. z+ G d
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 , p d% S) F2 @& X0 o2 u$ m
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
4 |' m' \. k H/ [8 F3 G: YBC Repulse 25/14/10
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. M! G" h; d# Q# A. D, Y6 e. V4 U* YCV Hornet 58/89/49 ! i; C/ w7 K# C8 |. M3 P- [
DD Lamson 64/19/25
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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。$ ?$ z, q6 t3 ^3 y1 R+ M8 [
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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