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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9 N" Y3 @& I$ R! ?My planes attacked first.
+ E3 ?, {8 F$ \& H/ B% pFirst 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! + R+ A+ V/ G9 C$ E6 ~% U1 O% M
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
3 o* Q8 j3 ~# I8 Z. v `: s# eAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... 4 { T5 x2 {# z0 `
" Q7 K, R+ F5 k/ d" `, C+ b/ }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.
/ V7 q. }" n2 G. ?" `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. 7 U( U% d3 z: g, Q, w
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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3 Y# E7 |4 `6 G& @8 ^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. , ^5 J# V' P g& o, s- j
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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& A- ]) X$ j9 h/ e8 E. u% L5 mThere 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. ( Q( u ~. S5 U/ u3 |
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 0 Y+ f$ W8 L! s( r& n
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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. 7 Z0 Y, i* R$ ]- C |+ q
: h! J( o% s4 u8 u- T! W# QThe 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.
2 n: c9 s. {% f mCV 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.
4 a* W( G2 A8 J2 h7 U4 vI 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.
8 A7 \. C; m) i5 Q2 b3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ! X R0 i0 p; g
/ M+ D6 F+ H( Z& r2 t# h! L! |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. ; t3 B5 B1 u0 ?$ G3 m \( Y
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All this happened in the morning!! ) [! X- n- O4 z( m" q
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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.
% m% I: m* ?$ f6 F0 l, a; i" s9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. % w, z3 f8 S/ E, M3 Y
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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. ) |4 J6 k! l$ f2 u8 Q/ M( M
4 z2 q( G' a- V6 I# @7 {# P' v& g44 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.
$ k" M! J3 m3 n2 g; a* XCV 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. h. G, l. Z. I# w p0 |
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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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, m* N4 a( e% Y8 C, BDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 4 v4 c9 ]) A/ }# S
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89 Kate ; k! ], P( q/ Z3 O }0 [
60 Val
2 b6 B) E; u; B" Q/ [% W39 Zero
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6 n4 H3 A, U: U Y5 o: K7 j' J8 t4 f188 a/c
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2 W7 e x( `2 u, b/ |* C% i126 SBD
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19 Albacore
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6 @! q% T1 f9 ]9 D+ N5 x21 Fulmar
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/ t5 R% J0 b5 B9 o: l19 F4F-3 4 s* b' ~: p3 j1 D$ h
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
& e9 O1 c6 N& r* \/ q* [3 |CV Indomitable 35/34/42
' g7 Y# Y4 o- {; h, K/ ABB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 ( U! u3 D/ W2 ]# {
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 # ?3 g6 P/ z5 {3 ?' d8 I+ h
DD Lamson 64/19/25 ( [+ S9 a. D5 j# v* @
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5 W5 o6 s$ E: q0 d. L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。
: @2 N; g1 T; a8 V8 S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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