South Pac
" W* G; I# z0 U9 p) [6 e: h0 X7 Y# w# _
* h2 ?' m M: A# UEarly 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. - C1 q: `. n: R* w" O
: I! C8 I7 V; bMy planes attacked first.
$ v' s% B( ?1 t- u: k1 o# z0 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!
! ~0 W3 K {- KAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 2 K* L2 V8 c" Y/ W
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... ; d3 @" y3 v) y$ F3 P: s
4 W* }# Z K, U! M4 hThe 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.
; D' O, @( [$ L7 p23 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.
8 D$ F5 d4 A/ nCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ! R- Y) a9 H1 b! }# x
3 c( A1 J+ y9 y( j' s9 PThe 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.
4 U$ P% e) U9 Z2 R2 B- n! uCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
U2 d" I- a( r
2 ?8 V4 v+ d3 p: A- E! g" M5 k5 cThere 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. & F4 S# K8 V0 y- x* j
9 j9 x! R$ m6 g, |4 j
It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. : e/ i+ d D" j" T
# G7 e$ n5 l+ v# y! v, c5 ^
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. 6 S8 X1 Q# C }* L/ F- X
0 |. l$ V' A, ~; t3 DThe 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.
" i; T, T4 ~6 y+ W' U( r# d: {- N0 Y) p
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
: n) n, C Z$ {7 qCV 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. ) {+ o% c. U" _3 Z3 ~1 h9 ~
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 1 b$ ]7 f( I9 T: p$ N' ` F' W/ }
8 [* j1 V/ `, m( k; R" z' D20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. + s1 r& }4 R" m0 o
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
5 z! c k, Y# `) N& J
2 N9 }7 y8 h8 d& N* ? E) RFifth 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.
! i2 |3 D( f5 s( t! g$ J
8 V, k' i+ {; M, {0 n& UAll this happened in the morning!! 4 R- y% Y. t* Q
( Q+ y6 S- p, Q) x
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.
3 X3 g) x6 s0 X3 y+ \" n9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. + _9 l9 D% n( W+ H
& [& O* R) { W3 E# l% BThen, 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. 3 j* t; a, \) p1 x, P, [
( K; a- g* N6 j4 ~: 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.
3 y e. [2 s# W- [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.
! F# F! Z/ A+ _
, w s0 Y9 i% x5 I. h1 ~' F2 e* vBefore 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. # I) x5 Q) y7 t1 c! T
# y% \7 [' j# L1 ?During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 0 O0 _' I# f2 f/ c/ O# _
, S2 [" {; Q8 \. b9 e( R
89 Kate + I1 ?4 a: c5 R' T2 e/ R# t& {
60 Val 8 X; e1 Z9 k% y9 |' v0 U0 R6 k2 b, n
39 Zero
& ?' E; O& a S, {3 O6 _4 B
# q5 z( c" B/ J1 C3 m l188 a/c , e* Q0 D" y* U' L H8 z
3 O {( \( p! [, K( }
+ |: j0 R6 F3 |, E0 n* d& |0 [126 SBD
8 W! B; u- X- k5 O( K61 TBD
/ A( A, K+ v/ Y; I& p8 U/ q19 Albacore o9 o' j' j H+ S2 n
5 Sea Hurricane
: }6 g8 a# F6 V, u21 Fulmar
1 M. c. N+ S# w. W- W14 F2A
, T% N8 k7 M' X; l0 e' {19 F4F-3
" k# [6 S: ]* @3 k4 B: p1 {24 F4F-4
# V4 ?: U! w2 R, z' t
0 _1 s3 q1 U9 x0 s- h( gThe damages for my ships are the following: - d' O7 V8 s; g3 Z- m0 t1 V
6 q7 G B* O& r8 ~ O1 C8 M
CV Formidable 50/69/38
5 ~* g( P9 p9 C: M( ?* ~CV Indomitable 35/34/42 0 I6 Y9 i' X( u
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 ) \. v6 [2 ]3 i+ X# i0 i9 W
BC Repulse 25/14/10
9 ]6 | ]" y* `% ]7 L3 L6 `
5 v) ]5 X1 ~" w3 U: _! l3 zCV Hornet 58/89/49 ?6 S K) H ^4 c! b' K
DD Lamson 64/19/25 - {( b+ f+ |8 S5 Q
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－, \; O: R% L+ r8 ~
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。5 n1 n4 \+ R ^$ N0 q R
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
| 
