South Pac 1 Q/ G. P( v' Z! b' _$ ~, l/ M) x* r
$ L. m, F5 o! Y4 PEarly 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. 0 I9 o! A+ E. v: E4 N2 j1 q7 q
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My planes attacked first. & l( U i6 B5 ^" v- E1 X1 j$ 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!
' f/ j: m$ ~3 k; [7 ~% r) v' ^Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. r" G: o3 P- t% |
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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6 p9 o4 {, z) O; T# q2 ]' Y- @5 _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. + I/ Y2 @. n9 I% p9 W
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.
# l f ]: V) `, VCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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# x, K% [: m* Z; ]! [" aThe 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 O$ B" m4 l$ v5 c H5 |+ W" v
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. % r* o. ?1 G! n/ }. p3 f ^! D( _% X A
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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.
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. * b2 O- s; P- w o
5 o5 {1 C- h# u6 @: c# S4 Y( gThen 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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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. ! e) F0 u! i; b; a. r
2 f$ R6 |" v& z1 @0 d+ \. mThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
* }/ T& u, C9 |8 D& _3 ]% JCV 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.
9 @" k' r; a# ]. h7 G6 nI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. + N8 ]6 a$ F( A5 r0 d. ? i
) |9 x8 ]2 j0 G20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
1 a+ ? b! T0 T9 H( h& t# @3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 5 C1 e9 B2 v$ B
9 b2 o% n& O6 {2 c* qFifth 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. # X7 @6 X5 c/ U% J6 ?0 Y
" X8 C5 q: U9 V' ~9 y l# DAll this happened in the morning!! * m; b1 j- M$ R6 Y9 o, R
) z/ I% u/ E& Q: l f ^& L; bIn 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. 8 s0 m9 L, r4 @) `% i
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. % a( I7 |& W% C3 k/ e, t' L) y+ n
5 s5 G. Z: G7 K$ VThen, 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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' m3 i& R8 u( H9 L: v44 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.
: M1 [; t6 G7 @% c1 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. ; ]1 g; W6 _0 f9 \) ^& T( O
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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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9 [" m+ N h; b1 u% B+ R, S1 jDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 9 t5 z1 A; d- q. O p
0 b3 P2 B9 \7 J89 Kate
( [7 v3 u1 N+ ?2 W- L60 Val : e5 x4 ?+ T! G; j
39 Zero
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: G: o2 N; i9 ]& Z4 a* U) Z188 a/c 4 S$ q" D3 v8 _7 n
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, ` E7 }/ H+ T m/ J126 SBD * _, j. W) x9 J+ v2 v& @( o
61 TBD
0 \8 D* s8 r5 c5 y' J; ^19 Albacore
1 ?6 Y9 B. \; V5 Sea Hurricane " `# L) w. m f# u: L+ O7 n
21 Fulmar
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19 F4F-3
% Y v- r& S/ D, `24 F4F-4 $ P0 J$ I/ k" c% F
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The damages for my ships are the following: " f- j( s6 b# ] L$ [* C
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
" h5 Z z; G( l$ hCV Indomitable 35/34/42
) E% J: Q- J {) f" z3 w/ IBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 - O1 B2 z+ x/ y
BC Repulse 25/14/10 ) _# J% k: j7 U& z d1 u! x
Z) s6 j* @7 Q) U
CV Hornet 58/89/49
( Q; w: h3 V6 Y( w4 YDD Lamson 64/19/25
, M! i* y) I* `8 r－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
. s4 m4 R7 W, G1 w" _7 t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。" z( e4 a- l" ~
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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