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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. $ C5 ~* C P7 }: U4 }8 k9 a+ C
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My planes attacked first. 5 M' Z u, k9 @1 v- d! s% F
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!
+ \ Q$ \8 g( A$ a. D0 `% BAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
9 m) k8 z/ l: mAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... + ?1 Y+ L% Y/ I" \, G! N* C
$ N, v/ \1 y* OThe 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.
: L' q) Q; b( k" A7 g2 t3 L0 {: d23 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. ; p6 p6 s4 ?, `0 b9 E- k, r
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. + T& A; C, L* g$ i4 W. b2 i
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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. 0 A" H3 L" @. Y$ f0 t) c
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ! q/ H; b% | P4 j1 c2 o1 t
o' }4 y0 L/ bThere 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. ; }3 P. U: H+ C- D6 D$ A
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. , R2 y) z: p. J8 a
& T5 W4 D3 Y/ t9 L2 ?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. $ ~# n. k" M& k) i" }
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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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The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 7 Q2 z9 z% g# y2 x' N# ]- u
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.
: e5 E" z7 R1 B. O" WI 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.
0 K$ X* t# T d' E( }. B3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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5 \7 w7 l& A5 `/ yFifth 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. : o0 n" C' `. T% U
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All this happened in the morning!!
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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. ) ]' u+ c' Y" u2 w4 H
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. / U4 m" C v: p a
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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. . ^' i, }: r: C! C# o/ b9 e2 l g" S
' U9 C+ M0 P" g( Q5 c# d0 i44 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 S3 b# {# }9 Z! y) Q6 bCV 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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; J" U1 G9 }" u5 i) TBefore 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. ) F, b" i! }& O! C. A0 P
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89 Kate ( I) [/ k6 K! c% q
60 Val
" X% K+ t6 `1 c/ |" ~39 Zero & m4 Q7 g: M y8 f
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188 a/c & t* B. s' S5 f" |
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126 SBD * q- B$ Z% v5 c
61 TBD 2 k( @1 W2 F' ^) L( E* `' _! T6 p V
19 Albacore
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! e, X- Y! h( n( s: D21 Fulmar ' j. ^- S' O7 n f7 b* a$ Y
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19 F4F-3 $ |' ^* ?6 n) i& U
24 F4F-4 7 e4 Z1 A6 s {. ~; ~
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The damages for my ships are the following: 9 X& t1 ?7 I- {" N. D5 R
8 X6 H/ J0 j& ^1 p( S; t6 XCV Formidable 50/69/38 0 F7 i2 Z+ h) e5 [
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 @$ p* @- R7 r5 K" b
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
$ k& o& O2 X x# C+ _" I! S0 BBC Repulse 25/14/10 & P6 I- u7 Q, \0 s: Z' ?' C
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 1 s- K) M3 o4 h8 D3 x: z: z7 n/ M
DD Lamson 64/19/25 5 z2 ?* r5 @' A8 X. j
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1 J4 F- |( {. \/ ]! o* D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。" @3 ]: y3 ]: B7 \2 t! }
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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