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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3 Y% ?% L( d, BMy planes attacked first. * m' ^( g- a1 m( i" h
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!
; W. G' O% v) f1 q" ?Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
# l, r5 I& i! ~( tAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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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. 7 i8 S6 n5 G6 n) e$ N- \
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. * q1 J% }5 {1 [* d4 d8 C2 Q
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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* i2 R3 o- {2 E l+ A1 \4 g3 N2 JThe 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.
- g+ M% R5 E) [% [6 q* bCV 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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3 v5 @/ r& D" dThere 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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+ w# t$ K2 Q3 K4 N$ X; {6 ?+ j: CIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 4 e) S0 x! w5 y' [& n
. K0 Z# l1 I3 U! ` K& |1 _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. 0 b! Q7 q [! n7 m* W8 l2 ?( G
3 L1 O: s7 ^9 z1 F5 {+ A3 xThe 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.
! G$ ]# S' x LCV 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. , F* {) y: F7 D
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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. i9 I2 f- M5 T- q2 q+ n* Q0 {20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
0 T7 {( ~+ l- k3 A) Y) x( y3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. : h' \- l/ @& g0 ^
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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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$ T) k( T2 W/ Y0 u- {; qIn 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. ( N F7 C9 s( D- s! X
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 0 ~4 s% p! [% {4 L0 A u
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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.
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: C" |, N$ |7 }8 B- G. H& Q; 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. . _8 p. ~# E. M% d
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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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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! J' S/ [2 ~$ S1 p( s/ Q7 r) @During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 9 r. j; h) x0 ~9 c) s6 Z7 ^
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89 Kate 7 G) i" W. t5 _$ k! V
60 Val
8 J2 D5 X) \' K$ \+ w1 L8 ^- a6 P3 l39 Zero
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126 SBD
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19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar
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24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: * ~* s1 e7 G; m( m: K/ V+ x, D+ K
0 l* D ] R/ iCV Formidable 50/69/38 / b. F! T" E @) r+ g" {+ L
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 5 P$ W) _: ~$ S; q$ s
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 5 F. e* r( _" \4 H7 G6 A, x
BC Repulse 25/14/10 , N/ m! r, e( ]2 ]
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 , u# c5 J6 s* c0 F( Z
DD Lamson 64/19/25
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- l0 L5 O5 I3 n" {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。
! M$ }) P% c B% F1 M7 S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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