South Pac
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2 Y3 n$ D) v4 n" JEarly 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. 9 N ?7 o5 e, Z C5 K3 f
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My planes attacked first. 9 s; R: J4 I+ m' {
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!
$ z0 P% w) B3 Q8 H" j& CAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 7 @$ a% M6 U$ {3 O+ G1 ?2 Q
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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G# x7 V8 r4 p0 @! a: H7 b% y4 z; `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. 6 Z; b2 \) P- p: |+ u3 N! }
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.
; ]' U( z, C7 ~1 D; Q$ NCV 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.
# h8 _1 `! R) J& z1 ?) ?1 [CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 5 u& I1 e8 w5 g k8 r6 q
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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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It’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.
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[/ ~5 o1 F% vThe 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. 4 Q2 g: _' O. {
* z5 V# Y9 J% F1 r+ \. G, _ XThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
) ^* \8 n- |% ^/ ~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. 7 W' |$ c7 q7 d( i7 j9 u: P
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 6 D$ S3 \; H) L5 f
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
# u- m& J1 R9 ]; j B3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 3 x* ? l/ W- y9 H) l. t
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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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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.
5 [; Y- N# I7 z2 A9 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 i# h; ?) qThen, 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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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.
Q3 b0 w+ B- e0 W: SCV 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. . T& g$ b( b2 H- ?- Z% y5 D
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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.
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! c/ S* A9 I% J) G% K/ k, F3 ~" W, oDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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/ P+ i/ \4 \! h& Y' |" c# f89 Kate
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39 Zero
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188 a/c , E- y5 p% }6 ]8 f. v+ S# t! k
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126 SBD
# k; C0 ]/ j Q* Q; c4 \% \61 TBD
, C0 T8 `8 h& |19 Albacore 8 f& _! e1 L) L: [5 T6 x* a* W! _
5 Sea Hurricane # s Y' j) @ y3 d
21 Fulmar
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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B9 _; P1 y0 J4 r6 `9 mCV Formidable 50/69/38
6 K) r& o A# h; ~& S, X( CCV Indomitable 35/34/42
9 I& w* C; v2 m, ?2 \BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
- u S4 b& r7 g: bBC Repulse 25/14/10 0 O2 e( @) T9 J: J
M$ ~1 a$ h& d* ]CV Hornet 58/89/49 1 P0 m& M! i1 |0 h8 [$ `' i9 k
DD Lamson 64/19/25
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# W U( [" m# e2 A5 P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。$ T N7 y1 i% @: M) i
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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