South Pac
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0 ?3 e+ m" T3 ^' w9 d& s L8 bEarly 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. 0 i/ U% t7 Q2 F
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My planes attacked first. ( T1 }4 F" l! P$ H/ S2 ]
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 j8 \% w! n% h l2 S7 ~Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ) u9 q/ ^ v, Y. t! o9 V
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 9 f* ]+ W3 K, ^ _! w# n
7 U; e) B) t" r1 S! d. v: ?( V, aThe 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. 8 F( P! i. D7 D9 k, A8 O' @! P! [
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.
* y% E6 C' i% A3 v& Q& Q' e; }CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. , r+ `( f/ G6 p
7 ]4 A4 l2 j, m3 m' ~+ {4 c( dThe 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. 8 K: e6 r: C/ A' V) d
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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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. # l K3 H2 {; m' h/ n. o
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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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. o8 V" T! L) g" z' MThen 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. ' Z( C6 _$ {- ~# P+ F3 T% Z
" u$ x# s5 |7 y* FThe 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. . v+ F7 C# w; w1 ~! o$ @5 d
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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. , R: E& y# L0 Y6 o9 d/ j" L6 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.
: I. R. ~4 g4 |2 l( PI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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! ?& a( z- ^7 F4 {* L% T20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 1 `8 q- T# a) k0 F
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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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. 2 D, t/ m, q1 Q2 _' ?
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All this happened in the morning!! : ~2 v- c& _$ B8 S& _. B' T
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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. - M7 Y: o. S) a8 q% `2 a
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. - @, ?, O( z5 j2 L. n5 h, V
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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. , \- A) D/ F6 ]; L3 C7 w0 E
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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.
: Q2 e) J0 R! M4 Y' uCV 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.
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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. 1 ~0 C _: H: D4 F+ t4 u# u! ^
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. . J4 C$ y; W9 d( |
* j- L; b! ]6 U89 Kate
5 Q0 J C. p- ~1 N8 O8 L4 |60 Val
& F( ?; Z4 W' l5 G6 }. L' U0 r39 Zero 8 V( f `' F2 s' ^; O8 Q/ N) ^+ g3 Y+ M
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188 a/c
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126 SBD
: h* @% S1 h/ k61 TBD 7 N5 y" v g& k- [5 O* u4 R
19 Albacore ; F) w1 G! S; F q: ]1 O. q; r
5 Sea Hurricane
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24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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! ~: Y7 W2 b9 |; v3 w6 GCV Formidable 50/69/38 ' g3 h0 w: Y) z% D
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 5 b T4 M, B0 j& u$ _- Z% }; r
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 5 R, B4 `5 z' J2 K3 d8 B1 N
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 : a5 V( ^& {" Y3 v/ R! A
DD Lamson 64/19/25 & F6 F6 W3 W! q( |+ n6 r
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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。7 X9 t/ e3 Q. 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
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