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7 }: b, U2 N$ c! DEarly 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. 2 o S6 ]# `7 w7 M2 Y- |+ Q6 ?
& E4 h. J3 r! F0 XMy planes attacked first. ! p1 M2 Q% I6 q0 o7 n
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! ' o; o5 B3 r0 D9 r9 \: J* G
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
4 V* _0 E9 g* i7 k* q0 d* vAh, 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. 8 G7 X. z# p+ C9 @- a
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.
# d% R2 g! U7 h2 e7 p' F9 r! ]2 gCV 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.
. n4 P- g7 ?4 ?7 c& fCV 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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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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' W" T8 x! X& V$ [) ]6 N$ EIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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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. 6 A- e7 k$ ~1 C" G' e0 F
, j7 k7 S* {$ z& p: U1 rThe 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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) N) w" y) p4 t4 B( KThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
4 X& W4 @3 X4 W" P$ Z* `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. ; a- q5 H& Q9 u* c
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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0 t% z; y! z& G- P20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
7 W/ p! @# } `$ D3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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" A: V" \; V) e) S HFifth 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. 8 y: q @3 n6 ~6 H- ?6 U
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All this happened in the morning!! ! k7 w# R: B1 t T1 w) f2 S. P
( t$ M' m* @/ t/ J IIn 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.
# O# R* x3 j. R: y! @- X7 @9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. : F1 f4 z1 |" z) w R3 Y
" `7 c7 x+ p- [. K: rThen, 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. " h; ^- ?" n# H! q2 `1 T/ s
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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. ) v2 p; [# V9 W0 r
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. . e! L) x5 J" ]$ E6 N
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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. 6 m/ a: v2 p! S
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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% [. J7 J6 [; S8 \9 m89 Kate
) d4 q) W) |+ D' L60 Val
6 `: h: s* `$ W% d39 Zero
8 ~6 W0 c4 r+ @" C, t$ H( S0 G1 `, J
188 a/c ( g/ j! K9 E: `* K- Z* W$ l0 R
4 q' u+ B( Z; g5 R' w+ [1 s0 q$ w* w' X) m$ _5 g) k" S
126 SBD
' Z8 r4 f7 s S. ?2 i61 TBD 3 ^/ K4 ]" z6 H n' s1 A$ O' A- J6 ]
19 Albacore 7 ]0 y S6 D: q# u- s! q
5 Sea Hurricane 6 z& b/ v% m6 _; |/ U3 A
21 Fulmar
3 }* B2 [9 c2 S# ] h1 J5 G2 w6 E14 F2A
/ @8 ? I% {3 r! a6 d3 B+ P19 F4F-3 0 O R5 m6 w3 t- ]1 i& |' M
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 ) a# u* i$ f/ I) [5 |3 g' p" a
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 ! F7 u" A( m4 p/ @" D7 }7 G) \
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
- s& ] a: @, B) h5 F$ _BC Repulse 25/14/10
3 A, x* `6 v- g9 c! U$ Z9 n7 P! i
CV Hornet 58/89/49 0 H4 g$ Y8 E* y8 K" K
DD Lamson 64/19/25
7 o# \, Y. Y! F W) i－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－* {, n* s( ?7 n; D( k3 {4 Y1 K
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。
+ n5 {: D! ]# F: s% T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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