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! n7 F. u5 ?* E3 MEarly 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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My planes attacked first.
3 Q% @( C. N: J/ J" E J# v0 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!
( m( q( C9 v% pAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
1 b3 Y+ s7 M2 R$ Y+ q# {8 k. U. Z( wAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... 2 N) G* @4 o% \) x, u0 c$ F" T
1 j8 w5 [# r- OThe 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. ! O- l" l* N* L: ` |* }; q
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. 1 }: Z8 c3 ~/ J9 _ b- J
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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% K; q v9 m- F$ H9 h, _: u( N+ [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.
: ], t! @. ~$ V2 K+ VCV 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 x- C* \9 K* Q; @! {0 l$ }8 nThere 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. 8 p3 ]) z' ^/ P, t
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. # q; S4 A7 E; R+ {* w6 y
4 _4 i' D. c+ a: iThen 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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/ D+ m+ T) h7 V2 Q) }# d' I; EThe 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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* M6 [" z7 ~' t1 P4 nThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. " U B: `( k" z% c
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. 3 c9 f! w6 I3 a/ c2 U% c$ @
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. & y7 J7 B! x& P% t2 v% m
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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3 o k! I+ Y$ D3 E8 S9 Z, I3 L+ mFifth 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. # W2 s) ]0 m2 u
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All this happened in the morning!! 8 |& @& p3 O3 T. F, ]' p" @6 h5 J$ P
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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.
. i- ^+ s- L# _$ W4 O9 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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3 {# e" q! h9 B Y. s4 gThen, 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.
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% h5 t+ D$ M2 l44 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 o* V7 s$ |4 _; x U+ i$ ]) z5 ~4 c! z
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. / B" P2 Z, _& B% w: O7 Q
; }. ]; V* W8 V% kBefore 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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2 U p, k( j1 m& R% B1 f) `5 K( f( iDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 6 W+ e7 v1 O7 y0 g/ B
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89 Kate
" ~, A# n0 M+ K) W+ J60 Val 5 J; n+ [: F; y+ g( T9 j9 }* c
39 Zero
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188 a/c + o [5 K- ?+ B2 N5 t0 ]
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& j! l# K1 S8 k% o; B126 SBD
7 Z L( Y' y; ?! i3 S61 TBD ; Y; s: C" ~- m" ^9 z% r/ H( y
19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar
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19 F4F-3 4 R6 z6 n' T& K9 d' ?
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
* P9 J z) x( |: {1 P* \+ z& W, zCV Indomitable 35/34/42 1 r1 x9 ~. f, Z' o A& ^
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
) O& p7 s; Z' V$ MBC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 ; ?3 |1 v: T% E) L4 O
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。% |. C0 h; N! `+ Y9 k C8 B; H
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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