South Pac 8 q/ i" I Y$ q2 Z& S: M; M9 j
4 Z/ m3 P/ h5 m# nEarly 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.
8 T5 y1 @$ ^( U4 l# J5 f) MFirst 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!
& _1 f- J6 u+ q5 ]6 M: Y+ pAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 1 r' e3 W2 w+ z
Ah, 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. . H$ y0 z: v1 r0 [5 L) b: P
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.
! ^/ D r: @. d; WCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 2 E$ F9 i* e% r) Q$ g/ a; L \
* G4 p+ ^! v9 i& i' n6 E1 MThe 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. # I8 L& {' e) H. ^) G) y" Z5 c
CV 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 \; m& S/ g; G) {( y1 e1 m0 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. ; W5 g4 h6 {. [* b) Q
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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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.
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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.
0 U/ S# p& G4 i, ]# A9 MCV 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. % H X! D6 m& v9 Z% T8 v) o
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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! n3 s1 n/ A2 j20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 8 R3 h, q; C& k( g z, J1 ^
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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w, G) Q$ h7 Q$ aFifth 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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; e8 V4 k% G) U' Q' B$ DAll this happened in the morning!!
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8 z5 V7 s9 h: E/ u" 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. - z$ D& F% e6 }; O! B, P! Z( V
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 W2 H1 D) b3 f; Y( C% s, ]
4 T; L j1 p9 g: o E" zThen, 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) c& _6 F) K- L8 k2 i44 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 t6 ~7 L9 _ s+ N( p2 `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. : `# {. P3 q$ G* W. \8 x- Q; G, m
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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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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate
) @+ n: ^: `2 f/ c+ M6 A T9 K* Z60 Val 2 i, m1 u" m, B6 Y# P
39 Zero ( t' p3 n& t" `0 t! M* C. Y( Q
7 g1 p" K& ^# u7 e0 ]188 a/c ' a9 _. ~* U5 U2 N0 v
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126 SBD ! H4 ^* s1 J8 |: w- s' L
61 TBD
$ U$ A5 s0 h) c5 ]5 K19 Albacore
* Z6 e8 S8 @) w. {4 T5 Sea Hurricane
8 v5 X$ N2 Y! O0 |6 ^21 Fulmar 3 p) U0 [$ b! _
14 F2A
6 f+ _' }- C% Y( V19 F4F-3
2 Y- @3 \4 \7 S. @24 F4F-4
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' D2 c+ d) Q: e: ^$ t* `4 h9 LThe damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 9 ]* h. s |, k) U! I
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
/ ^: d. e& F0 f( ]& E5 v# n6 p; KBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 1 r4 c, L( r# ~! k' O2 A5 K$ L
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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$ ?# O! I3 N9 X8 K# b- E6 yCV Hornet 58/89/49 ! A9 l, K; c" g* c. _5 V/ |
DD Lamson 64/19/25 ; v! d. f/ a, j
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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。0 h) x r: M* Y
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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