South Pac
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0 ]) q+ \1 B, m5 ]' BEarly 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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My planes attacked first. ) u o ?# p6 C% M# a- n
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!
) S; x _+ E4 ?Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
/ Q/ y7 T' H/ t5 a. A0 LAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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0 K, v" Z! }1 {3 ~% `$ [; |7 E" aThe 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. - s. P1 V+ j1 z6 d" x# L
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. ' k1 S. M B0 j
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 3 a9 ~: L7 u% D+ M. z$ j
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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.
) {+ O3 S; a3 y" kCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. & i2 j$ x* Q: G
" x6 j. H, N, j# z* {, Y$ rThere 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. ) B7 n; X& r5 X$ ^7 ~8 r6 d
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ; e$ R, h8 \% M/ L( E2 L
: `1 H3 y0 s1 D. R/ ^ fThen 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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9 b/ c4 K4 {& b: B) N/ aThe 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. ; J# `2 @- T! b3 N' B
; m# S* O1 f- p0 ZThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
2 k% E, F! B. J& RCV 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.
: I: E. c2 ]* T+ W2 nI 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.
! J E+ D3 v- N1 H9 U) O8 C3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ; W1 _* ~) H$ ?: H9 `* j' h8 Y0 I& E
1 G! L$ @9 i5 }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. $ E( Z, F' R/ B' A5 w
& I n# E6 f5 `1 m1 K0 k5 Y+ b# |7 iAll this happened in the morning!!
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# O4 o. H+ ~& B; k0 T {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. 9 x1 D( P( _! t% K& _' f# A& E+ 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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1 o7 @0 N* S. i$ \5 NThen, 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. - [/ W$ r4 j5 C9 m$ t( @
9 b/ u0 P. T D7 e) A5 |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.
0 @& ?: \: e/ f+ l* ^$ T' ]) PCV 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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) D$ L# m o6 X; x- NBefore 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. ( a! @0 A! H, w5 x- u6 }6 x
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 8 S8 ^( Z+ m3 y7 t0 Y0 i0 d' b4 h
. H, ^; m; z& C; M0 w* ]2 ~89 Kate , z+ O2 ~' r- P' q d, n
60 Val ( v# C% ~6 M6 m2 u7 Y& l: I% H/ t
39 Zero
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) Z( S. e/ L) b188 a/c
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4 k6 D) \, ` Y1 C126 SBD
$ }4 o9 _8 `5 }- {$ U61 TBD
# A$ ^5 s7 c7 k19 Albacore 2 _* y8 X; ~" X! J; U
5 Sea Hurricane
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14 F2A 1 W3 a. }5 [& h
19 F4F-3 / ~; k' p; }5 M. _" G a% p8 N
24 F4F-4 , j0 q- n5 e/ a( E' P1 Q
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 ! m. O9 q4 W4 G9 ?" O
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
X. m- Z+ \/ XBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
4 k; {, n) q0 p. B% HBC Repulse 25/14/10
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% F) |" l: c; w$ w) O; cCV Hornet 58/89/49 3 J5 L" j9 Q" e# ~7 s' X# g
DD Lamson 64/19/25 }7 B4 Q X/ ]0 H: o* [, w
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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。
, q% x" y- C% F R, b) ~2 h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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