South Pac
" g, w7 _" S1 k1 R7 P* F+ \* h. s% o# r' E- W
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.
8 `9 ^0 [" ~# V
% h* {# p2 B; v# ^ J7 h7 nMy planes attacked first. 6 c7 x, p) G# W: K2 z: |
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!
! v3 ^, l& Y( n! Z+ m1 {Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. " S' y+ A/ ^) N q
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... % e& t" }. |& X3 r& C; C1 o
) k; }: p2 I# k' KThe 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. 0 ]6 X3 m3 x6 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. ' v' |# d% }+ ?6 a
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. Q- n) o& \/ _- e; i, z7 C% p
2 t0 L! L( N! m. R, d' W
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.
: s$ ^; Q0 z; K/ E4 O4 fCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
4 r! b( l$ M0 s, T r4 H8 V+ J3 b# e5 e
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. 9 |+ _6 H0 n% H; Z; ^
! Y- G5 p- O7 o% \- Y6 t
It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
`' P+ F1 n6 m, F
; ^3 A# W! R; H3 nThen 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.
7 C8 h7 |1 n B6 x$ `: D+ G" l' e' T1 Z2 X. E/ Z3 I( ?4 ^5 W
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. 5 Z! i- a) s) Y+ g
7 p2 _, I4 Z; F9 f% K6 w; B
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
& `8 @9 ?$ R4 U O8 I; ACV 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.
7 _3 h Z, u1 j3 ?6 ^9 a V' nI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. & _4 L. x7 |8 r; _4 e
$ c0 S0 _7 G! y k0 j5 h+ M9 \20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. + z, ~" H/ @9 n! \
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ; ~$ X4 B; p! m* ~3 y! u4 G
7 ^5 o/ B" J. b# T9 cFifth 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 h3 y$ ^/ L: s/ n6 }( T% R" ^( O; j/ Y0 T+ |0 s% E
All this happened in the morning!!
" S4 y! c s5 |8 `
/ X+ v; @8 |- Q8 jIn 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.
$ t% F9 ^/ Z R2 ^: e. H" I& Z9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 9 G" D" v; e7 C L/ b0 p, k
: d c. N6 @" H. N+ 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. # Y7 _3 F, o, b: A! o2 q
% O$ j2 m! k6 N: q% k44 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.
4 V8 X* }& q# T' y% iCV 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.
2 e; ], n. ~+ D0 S8 c. e$ ?" B9 o" O6 ]5 d" ?
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.
1 g) i @ p* @9 O; z9 e% y9 S8 O2 A3 t, r- e+ i
During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
h! q6 r/ ^5 y8 C
5 N6 Q V/ G8 l ^+ I89 Kate
( y* q6 C+ A0 n F60 Val
) k5 l7 M% o$ r# _4 x$ c39 Zero . U! @- k, S" |8 A
4 [$ O/ L. d6 k! t
188 a/c
! |- Y/ W# R3 V6 H; q9 X% D7 P! |* b8 t/ q' t9 S7 T; i
( r1 L% y; p% N! @9 u9 n% ]; S126 SBD
5 }0 E" d* ~ ^5 w& _' M61 TBD
% m/ i0 _, W1 s) C7 C6 L2 E- E* A3 a19 Albacore
# M( i( @* D/ y6 b5 Sea Hurricane
7 i8 {2 e# N& e) r# i/ p. J8 ?21 Fulmar 0 _9 O/ B5 v! F$ Y, u" I+ @5 |, N
14 F2A
! l( E: Q& S5 \/ t, \0 ^19 F4F-3
+ p( r3 [. M# U& G6 Q- _6 @' {" s24 F4F-4
) \1 z9 Z4 r9 A5 b+ G. S
# ?0 G& F7 d/ _0 }' vThe damages for my ships are the following: 3 T$ S, d2 G: f) {
* [# o0 T+ T" a8 S0 @% G
CV Formidable 50/69/38
2 k8 }+ E: g: r/ }CV Indomitable 35/34/42 & u! S! z+ ^- G0 `- y- }
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 : T6 n, f8 |7 b9 J7 F
BC Repulse 25/14/10 1 I/ @* L, g# t& l
& b, s/ G" z) N
CV Hornet 58/89/49 & ?% z2 ?! h2 z
DD Lamson 64/19/25
. h* N, q l' U1 Y! t" Z7 N6 I+ Z－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
# l8 ?8 d6 }5 c% y% |! W9 M" @: o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。
$ y: R8 L% n% i! e$ o, m. 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
| 
