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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7 c# H" r8 |2 D* q; z: c0 V5 ~My planes attacked first. 8 B `$ W0 e; ]$ ^4 D3 j
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! ) e( O6 D; \; t: @4 W8 y9 a
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
# G3 C) d; j Y `1 dAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... ' [$ p. |& E3 @/ f( h/ C
6 S3 i" v0 w8 b. Q* z& H0 [6 v( C WThe 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. . z( Q6 k9 a/ X6 j
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.
- i0 J/ D; l f6 o: s2 A, }) L; ~CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 7 f! t+ O( b/ }
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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. ' j5 k1 V7 O1 [' i' v
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.
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! Q1 A7 O3 H; l9 r$ f7 MIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. : [. ?$ @7 a, B9 \
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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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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. 2 R& I1 ~ D4 r* s* \
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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.
" l; y( C: N! }- L0 k2 SCV 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. 1 X# i: X+ |# A9 a
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. + D T, o4 W& _$ E Q: i
+ V9 P: |+ b4 e20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
' J* s- c7 w# h( N( z4 N# ?3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 2 N c9 Q# ^9 h/ K! J
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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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/ V- e) R. u( X Y0 b! \# iIn 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. 6 m. L9 W: ?; o- b, 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. % E( F+ B2 j, n! T% D1 L1 x( s1 q
# X7 f x" g; ^5 o! _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.
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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. , R. m* Y1 P+ l0 n! b9 n
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.
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9 V, d3 R% U; D; f7 ^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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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate 7 T6 J0 M% f0 S7 n
60 Val
4 X% F ~8 j8 q39 Zero
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# }* X5 `" D$ g& U, i188 a/c
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126 SBD - w4 q4 z7 w, D' I9 {
61 TBD / T, d* m: ^& y5 M: \8 h
19 Albacore
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14 F2A
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24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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. _0 K) i! @4 L4 oCV Formidable 50/69/38 , Q; a; n' ^3 N' a! D% J0 A
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
2 k4 F% m6 z6 @* yBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 9 i6 g+ r7 s) H# Z8 D p- e7 J
BC Repulse 25/14/10 + K$ |8 K+ Y6 I5 x; z" Z% |
8 x3 L, v) E# g6 a) \1 }CV Hornet 58/89/49 : ~: n1 _1 R8 K6 g" l! q
DD Lamson 64/19/25 + A2 x) z& M' v6 p- B
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
; R! m; ?9 b. g" q5 M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。" J7 P$ I& C& w$ ~, B' ]& L
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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