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. : |/ d9 {8 V, u- ?7 j/ e7 F: L
3 s' `7 ?. l6 D* _$ e1 nMy planes attacked first. / j9 H( L$ t% V' U# h# L* ^
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! . ?& n! ~- q. h3 ^( a$ G( K
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
) s& F; h: L5 l' O. BAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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8 ], \: L& G& x2 X9 | N2 a. vThe 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.
3 o; w+ M. J) K$ N; E& [! K1 J H! K- H23 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. 0 r' @# f, i$ J9 u: k: R
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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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. * \( |' k& P* H( |
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 0 q1 ]6 c; c, W) \9 T
5 A" F9 Q- {( |8 c2 c" r% OThere 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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1 d5 n z3 t6 E \It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ! O; U" `6 E; ]' [
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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. / Q) E" z# W2 Z7 \8 _( Y* s3 N
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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. ) k( N" A- o7 E# |8 x4 j; l
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.
* }4 C1 J! G% T' D& V: c! dI 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.
) w3 }, k0 W- z l( N3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 4 | K4 H5 O: V9 F
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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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' h3 A) e8 h5 U2 g# m3 GIn 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.
' o) E; J% _% e6 P6 {9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. # u( s- e& H4 e( _7 \+ N+ a% t& ^
( @/ a+ |& w/ a9 ?3 y) y# j2 GThen, 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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* R) o: k1 u. y6 E5 x# A44 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. $ }: v1 J9 H) L$ L! T" K
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. - Q, A: {# L- t, f. A1 `1 H# @$ i
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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. + s q* b0 h! \
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 6 A6 f" R, R# e4 \; }( Q' m
$ ]# S0 q: X8 I6 d! z4 E+ g( b, b89 Kate 1 T% Q9 H& o9 z9 [/ b
60 Val
1 u7 a9 ?9 U. W39 Zero
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188 a/c
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126 SBD
" H& N( i6 b. i1 R) P61 TBD
' o B" g; @& h1 `19 Albacore - K, g6 c) A& e6 \: z' X
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21 Fulmar 7 W) q' o8 v7 M' Q6 \$ R4 [9 O- e
14 F2A
9 [! u" Z+ {1 c0 Y7 h# E/ C- Y19 F4F-3 " q* k5 M2 m" d9 A
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: ) \0 C' O" F+ l, p% P1 A7 q# e n
/ z7 q! e5 K) x WCV Formidable 50/69/38 0 K, d$ f, C8 B/ Z4 T! h3 h
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
% d. e( }; N# j X/ J: O( bBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
: Z- M& g! f2 r& yBC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
6 g: J# m. o; D7 b' LDD Lamson 64/19/25 , N+ X) e/ ^) i6 Y `
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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。' t/ v6 N7 e! B: z+ Z8 B/ x) M( 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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