South Pac 4 y) l+ w* Q! @8 K# S8 n
( f7 u* v2 T) n# aEarly 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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: _+ i' J2 n3 c; @* X% bMy planes attacked first. ( P. P5 Q+ k0 A
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!
6 B9 A. J) u5 }0 H _/ ]' BAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ! \. @+ n B% U3 j5 N
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... ) L$ U. _7 D T
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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. ' a* ~" I; i7 k4 Y! ~; U9 s
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.
3 e) f5 H y" {& uCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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* a; R6 `& x! x4 M% H9 X+ H" GThe 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. ; p2 Z, }) C6 }/ m
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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& h" o% M4 p3 }* l% fThere 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. 8 f+ M7 ?* P6 f
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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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; S5 r* `9 v& [' t+ DThen 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. 5 y4 h4 H% I! a9 @
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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. ' ?$ o$ K3 |7 o3 r
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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.
+ a$ g, A5 S, R4 {, t6 v5 ^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. 0 \. S3 P, K- T+ G e6 {( n1 p
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. ) v2 v1 S" y5 _4 |9 b6 I
. L5 O' F1 n7 U; d1 D& W) ?20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. ; v. |% I% j& F( @/ P U( E% h
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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; m+ Q0 R9 h; Z# CFifth 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. * l8 K5 k$ Z" m) X; d
; V0 }0 M. c4 ?$ M: V ]All this happened in the morning!! 0 G- o) ~0 V! x$ ?. s
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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. 6 N# y& ?% J( ^' S6 B! S
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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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. + M& M s" Y+ b. C8 B$ a1 H2 m9 v2 o
$ ^. [/ k5 N/ Y& W" o3 _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.
8 B' N w! X4 b9 l# q/ e/ rCV 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. 9 |6 E) c* ~- p ?8 e; u3 R( e1 ]
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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. ) @3 ]8 \0 v; ^+ E1 ?
& a6 }- v+ e* lDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. K6 t ]2 R3 Q
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89 Kate
5 x/ O" [% w- B- n" j60 Val
/ s% u" `7 E# X9 V: v! C39 Zero 6 N* S8 o' A" p% {
3 _. ^& W( [% ?* x( N8 f7 ^188 a/c - u `& O2 O0 P* C
3 {! T, D% E- o) ]
. }' @8 ?- D" Z" m126 SBD
2 g! }: {( }- W5 s! m3 p- d61 TBD . [) x8 A+ V \, E( l0 n
19 Albacore $ ~7 G T; \8 ?
5 Sea Hurricane
5 M4 t0 Z5 t4 g1 i5 M5 Q; x21 Fulmar
& L2 z. ~2 ]1 B- R14 F2A
# h3 d/ ~4 x! [( L- {! p0 R8 t4 I19 F4F-3
4 p! H1 v' V0 }6 b1 U# P! I' U24 F4F-4 8 _' A8 U: k2 W! {
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
% {6 W- X0 f- L% yCV Indomitable 35/34/42 1 v$ `/ }# O6 m9 d
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
1 o) u* d- y8 J/ x' J) P* PBC Repulse 25/14/10
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% U, U, A2 z) F- k- U! w2 aCV Hornet 58/89/49 ; I+ J7 y" u; f! y- A
DD Lamson 64/19/25
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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。5 S' `9 f6 D8 {5 ^1 S. s+ g
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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