South Pac
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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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* E$ M5 |2 I6 F# rMy planes attacked first.
) u$ o* L/ ]! ?6 a. h2 t9 B9 S8 jFirst 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!
1 x7 i2 H$ Z& k2 g2 e4 f2 ~Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. - c6 V+ m3 c) M, a
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... ( O) \1 _, ?* F6 e3 f+ n+ O, L
0 n- V% f8 e6 ]$ T5 S! zThe 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.
) a# \: Y% S8 v) j23 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.
5 ]* x6 C5 p: G% o4 DCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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2 B; W% W# J2 Y9 q+ o; u# EThe 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. , Y* Z, Z% w/ ~5 e8 E
CV 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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$ p! U6 q4 |9 WThere 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. * I2 o4 e/ h: C, y2 l, P
6 n% }0 I9 U2 f% H8 ~' gIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. - n0 V% `5 e3 u* A. W
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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.
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7 B' t( v8 |* ^' _% Q$ ^5 t; P3 N" {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.
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The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
9 q+ D; J7 f/ ?9 Q" L5 M5 kCV 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. 9 ~8 W$ O$ k& n/ Z5 _# v. R& i7 c
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 7 t" w, N; C1 S7 R) w
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. / e5 V7 o1 Q- E$ r
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. $ E( E, ^2 g1 |" Y3 ?! R4 V
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Fifth 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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All this happened in the morning!!
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+ Z9 N1 P$ S/ n, GIn 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.
) w4 i/ S4 l2 ~; Z9 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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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. ( U7 N- x* [; f3 e% [
+ D/ }$ x+ u! [* V' D44 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. " a" J% R. F6 Z( V% z. }5 E
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. ! o( k6 z2 @3 _+ z; V3 n
3 K$ x, q; w* `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. ; M* M- [. U) f8 B' }5 k, Q
$ V- t: C8 K+ S6 LDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 6 ~6 u, \5 z8 e. N+ T6 y. O
! k9 |, o! Y5 \( V$ l0 Y A( b89 Kate
1 @2 p) g8 B& y! _( g3 z60 Val
$ {7 O' M8 h. g( K39 Zero
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126 SBD
5 a3 g/ I8 S3 }2 C2 ~61 TBD
; Z. d+ J' a7 y' i6 T1 n% m19 Albacore . a4 [! Q6 R1 |5 W; [) c
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21 Fulmar # }4 R% v; T2 Z
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24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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( f6 C: M! e# F" H" T- kCV Formidable 50/69/38
# ~' k* e# r7 K4 d) Z& r0 h7 E" A3 XCV Indomitable 35/34/42
- e" M0 T0 }7 Z! ~) DBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 . O$ ?) `1 G9 n$ j) p) r
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 . A6 W# {! a1 m3 g l
DD Lamson 64/19/25 ! U1 S# i9 X9 |' r" W( p: z, z
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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。1 t7 [& S8 t: f2 M: o" g7 t f
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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