South Pac . g8 Y) O/ N9 o
( S7 n* f# o4 y; Z1 H
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. " U) n, b1 K, \ c* [
5 w% m) D. a' m- {( [4 ]5 ZMy planes attacked first. ( A) h3 X `$ ?9 A! m! e
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!
/ ]# C0 j' {2 Q( {3 h+ YAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
2 X, n6 R) [0 K0 z0 h4 R8 |Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
) H# Q( C( ?) z- I9 X& E8 V/ R
& ]6 `) d4 @5 t: K0 mThe 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.
: [4 M7 n3 S g& d5 b23 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.
9 p$ I1 e* O3 l7 v8 V. R; O' L* b- ~CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. / i9 o0 s: W0 [2 o
5 d, T+ q1 J$ k% r" Y
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.
7 O* ]7 y# O3 u: m6 @7 LCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ! y& J) e. @( I* M
) c3 ^( ^& t# D ~2 Q) A6 y/ z
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.
3 t" W: C2 S; q5 n* ]# \6 Z l2 }0 x
It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
7 F) Z2 M/ M3 t* W" Y# F) Z2 H
- L8 I. k5 {! O0 i8 n3 }- cThen 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.
3 H7 ?& u+ |, U' n3 k' ~1 N' }5 q; y- r& A9 d. B/ h
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 b) @! E5 R5 y) e6 m4 ?; R) C2 \ o" r% X
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
' v+ F- F2 ~/ y( [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. . v- I& | R7 R2 q( W7 W0 Q
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
9 j" K8 h, B- z$ q6 A3 \1 v) v0 @2 _) n( w) _2 `" X/ P) V
20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. , ~: Z; s% a" m4 L7 w; ?( k
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
, Q7 B+ Z. [+ t6 ?' g6 R* `* v+ y' s
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. 7 P+ O: o' q% A; E1 X
, E5 \8 x3 h( v- F4 D0 D, q
All this happened in the morning!! 0 Z( p$ t" G5 g8 Z
. q/ S6 Z3 @* m+ B' pIn 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. 2 y, D) P! ?% L7 h9 B
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost.
5 F; `; u1 S& a8 l0 I! B# X7 j5 @6 Z. [9 h. J9 @0 Y- j0 ~* [
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. - \% a2 t3 v" B/ m! _
4 b4 @- h, J) H- W" k8 N! Y; y3 h44 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 I; s3 O( y$ D3 z2 V' W. ?1 Z
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. 1 t# u$ S' a6 D9 m) z# i) _
( i. d! f4 S- n9 I" U h! GBefore 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. * S6 `* J. k, Y0 l
" j; B$ F1 H( f2 }, T7 ^4 z
During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
/ G) p8 p6 U; i {1 j: u: m, D S4 P$ J" N" d; N# w
89 Kate
9 a1 w3 N, B) S9 `60 Val
4 X2 o% K7 K2 m, v7 N+ I% `39 Zero
- r8 l5 m. x3 ]! h) f, H, X5 `7 g/ l" @* L4 r
188 a/c 2 s# S2 j9 l+ n$ R- C
" I6 C; }) [" _2 }3 j- i
* x9 x2 T, @6 O3 f
126 SBD
# K+ Y3 ^ K* f4 X61 TBD
3 j8 c! @: ?) h/ J4 v q19 Albacore 2 O9 e3 d0 K t/ X& o: i6 r+ |, z5 q
5 Sea Hurricane
3 l0 E+ z/ g& s0 X/ S) R21 Fulmar + w& Z; q3 {7 a# j9 O
14 F2A
4 [9 ?) j$ |+ [8 K1 T; `19 F4F-3
6 N. m- S$ O: L& u% Q5 X% K24 F4F-4
1 M1 w2 \ `& p% C: R/ K# x. m8 g
5 r' _+ C6 |2 Y8 MThe damages for my ships are the following: ( N9 c- t/ _6 E s, l' V& {
9 r0 |0 J' M5 NCV Formidable 50/69/38 9 X1 o @3 H0 A. j
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
" ?1 _. q" I3 X. yBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 6 G1 p5 Q. _ t% Y% u
BC Repulse 25/14/10 % s9 A) r$ u/ ?
- J, u0 _$ H3 J* r1 l& L
CV Hornet 58/89/49 ; J6 P X! N! R1 W5 Z& P
DD Lamson 64/19/25 & U, i% M/ ?4 a. P! R$ x
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
; r: }% t/ A% q W& R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。
6 p+ T; ~" i& g# O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
| 
