South Pac
1 j0 }2 ]- {% c
' E8 Q" V0 Y+ B+ VEarly 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. * ]- o* M5 f' R+ i+ J
2 _# `- C$ l# i" n7 L2 q
My planes attacked first. K! b, O* \5 Y: v3 @; a
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! 5 c8 @9 |! G6 Y: n
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ( T5 Y: h2 _. S) J7 E! F" H
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 2 U5 ^: T" R, o; h9 I) n) e
' {- A1 ]* w. k; ^
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.
& g' ?0 @2 h% k' C6 F23 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.
0 V: p' o G( J2 vCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
u/ T" f5 T7 v7 j. \) r" H: ~ [7 n+ o
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.
+ a! v' P% i5 y/ }. N- `, `& ECV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 1 `/ L1 e) a" `, ?. c
' W; U1 h: m& J0 m0 ZThere 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.
; Y& A& G. r$ ~4 H" I
9 b1 d7 y) x1 `, n. FIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. / o( {8 Y. M' G5 I! P7 F/ b
4 j! b! z3 | e
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.
5 x8 V4 d% @) e
" \- J! E `& K' `, A3 _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.
+ O l1 q0 p. [" y' [
- _: `- s0 X% [$ XThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
: m F' T$ U4 D4 y" }) l' c$ xCV 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.
; w7 u5 w8 p& T! O! wI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. # n0 L' ~0 A1 _0 ]. r
0 u. j+ x3 h' T5 l20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
- W) @% p2 V+ T$ M) `3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. * e& t4 I0 Q b
+ k f& h7 F! {: i( k% j2 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.
% K, K7 `- z7 ]3 O: ^9 t
5 u) ?/ _- X/ _$ X/ \# I- fAll this happened in the morning!!
( I# e, P9 s+ c$ I. W& j; L+ w9 D% O1 Q& `7 A8 ?: J, _
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 }9 l& d$ N5 I) H+ s- A9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 7 g- Q$ E( J% K4 {7 k; d5 j/ L
4 ~* @+ ~/ t4 _7 w; U# _
Then, 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. " b* [ u4 P$ @% J) [& l
9 e. b5 }5 M8 }) R. ]
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.
+ Z# k0 ?! E% k- ?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.
; U; l3 M$ W. x. k
: [9 x* Y* |. L& U0 cBefore 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.
f( b2 S# t) N& M, p b( M. x$ y; s7 a. Q2 E
During this terrible day, this are the air losses. : c$ L0 s3 ~: ^ s4 i. u a
! ^* j# x E% ~
89 Kate
* Q8 l, M; H. d- s60 Val
7 u E q% D4 @+ w4 E. n39 Zero
" T6 r# V; J$ q1 A% U5 t. U, L$ N3 g! ~$ @
188 a/c # c$ m4 q2 ~5 C& w8 r( J) \
6 t* s# A0 R1 [1 X% v+ d
$ j* C# x0 O0 u6 B+ o8 e
126 SBD
0 b# N8 u" R4 }8 \61 TBD 9 A! f: N+ G D/ t
19 Albacore ! ?9 V! |: U9 r# {% y: [ `
5 Sea Hurricane
+ f2 p! {5 r7 D) M0 @4 [21 Fulmar 4 `% |$ E) ]6 H, x+ z% ^! T1 z
14 F2A : ^, C! _) A' P- O& o6 h
19 F4F-3 * }' {. F/ W( d3 E# L" t9 ~6 L
24 F4F-4 9 u+ n% x+ f4 t# e/ t
4 m' O1 ?/ E8 e3 fThe damages for my ships are the following: / p2 R3 f' J/ L1 n1 O- Q
. Q) E' y4 g8 K) p
CV Formidable 50/69/38 3 T% L4 O1 s4 c; R) p5 B; \: a5 V
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
+ I M( V5 X( @: s/ OBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
% J% V$ W0 H* d8 X vBC Repulse 25/14/10 9 }* {9 p9 L$ v U. Y
# o& B+ w4 z! f0 Q5 F+ n3 PCV Hornet 58/89/49
. ^" A) F) C4 H Q: S2 ^DD Lamson 64/19/25 6 h0 d1 O M# k
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－2 ?2 p, N4 f% C2 d
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。
/ F/ y2 K& H+ n4 d0 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
| 
