South Pac
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, W4 ~, m' ], P" Z( T3 qEarly 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. ; @- |( |" {6 [0 I- T
1 _( H9 h$ ^. pMy planes attacked first. 5 I: x4 T: H1 i, }
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!
; r7 t* Z! t* |; O1 k; RAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
/ n( W B- W- B0 K$ J4 d' aAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... # i, h E4 b# q# w
& a" ]% r0 N1 Z0 FThe 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.
+ u* O# Q5 j1 p. Q6 s23 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. # g: M7 f9 ?6 e4 `
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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$ t2 y$ w* m1 Y# ]% {& I+ Q( nThe 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.
3 x6 Q: s6 D& n' q& o7 p( 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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; k0 o+ p8 C3 ?# f _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. 5 d- M' |' g! |7 l7 x2 W) n
# n; ^- j$ Q4 N6 ], R/ a% jIt’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. - K3 T. o0 ^3 B- l$ \
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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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9 `& S% q( f$ s4 K- W4 _The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
& g" y8 w% W7 X. ~1 t4 HCV 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.
5 w6 S6 Q0 V3 S- T, q1 aI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 8 m( c9 o$ Y9 d" z& M9 a* `
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. % ]) K: k7 ], f w% D
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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/ g" D/ S, v2 C+ M9 d* U- }. n* QFifth 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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+ n8 \) I6 L- t, n. Z, T4 h wAll this happened in the morning!!
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6 l9 ]* Z( | y; f8 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. 1 r4 `5 V, F* {/ ^" J
9 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 D0 g( B) yThen, 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. ; E( f( _, B4 M7 {) _
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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.
. |' m5 t( [' V8 Q2 h w3 L8 L! ~0 tCV 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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3 R, p- x/ q K5 C U! hBefore 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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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate
3 l. Y* T. X# Z60 Val ) b& y H& G- ]' W
39 Zero
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188 a/c ; I. i2 N1 b. q+ T' x/ Z) [" {
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8 c4 U9 v( y$ B126 SBD
! s% M7 J2 Z! n8 E* k7 q4 s61 TBD 3 N. `( o0 w6 J
19 Albacore
& I5 A. }3 ^) S2 l5 Sea Hurricane : P U8 b. X+ |' |
21 Fulmar 3 q% H- ?9 ] E4 A; P: W6 L
14 F2A
D. Y3 B$ ~$ k+ {1 z19 F4F-3
7 M) m8 T+ b( `24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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7 q7 `" J; ^4 G5 xCV Formidable 50/69/38 8 y g8 |- S" W! d! _
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
, C4 j& ?$ O. H XBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 2 j% I4 ~. I* O* |' ^6 B# @
BC Repulse 25/14/10 1 W1 o$ [+ q' K5 S4 q6 n4 U' d
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 2 B6 H, q/ A5 {. W
DD Lamson 64/19/25
0 H! A! s& y. b$ S1 O－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
. y& ^# f- @2 \! z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。& L* ^% D. r1 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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