/ E" B ]5 w; zEarly 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. * W4 d4 L* j% e4 e) T0 S 8 J" X% U/ |1 J8 Z! P, L, nMy planes attacked first. 3 [: ^% S+ D2 D2 w; C( vFirst 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! # e0 |: _- C; A8 S3 }& f
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. , i# ^2 U& K+ V; }Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 6 ]1 ?3 u+ {5 n( r- V; r( w4 g
1 H6 G# f# L$ o- Q3 a* ?
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. 2 y3 [4 Y4 A! @7 q) i2 d
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. / C) c# e( _/ o4 m2 N- i( w+ U
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. " t9 ? }- i* S' z 0 y6 [. E$ s7 P; t( q* y' ]. d% LThe 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. % U7 `' ~; }! h3 R
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. $ Z5 k( `& H8 q z# N3 d 0 |6 [6 a- Z) q5 u5 f7 ~( XThere 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. * a3 t% s/ m( A) m) f- G# M 2 w2 g% l$ H% J A0 n2 [! {It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. $ a# Y+ X6 j) f+ k+ }6 M9 E
! ~; s7 [/ `# l+ QThen 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. " F% J. V' P" h, G" F
9 |- `, ]& Y4 g1 h) o; A9 w/ KThe 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. ) ]6 w, C, ]! ], t/ E! k M' j' Q5 m$ B) I v; ?3 H* b
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. . M4 r# H, C, M4 _% A+ U
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. & o* [) v1 Y# d. o: {: Y7 K6 KI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. - A! H; k& R/ q- j4 {* P a ; d: e# a9 q8 @: `20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 3 Q. K9 u B3 ?4 X
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. & C" v2 a3 Q% T; ^ ) q/ `& a" {! c5 ^2 TFifth 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. 4 c1 Y# \ L9 _- j: h, _3 w ( E b0 L, _; u- X5 xAll this happened in the morning!! * Y, x2 T9 A5 n6 q3 S) q# R6 H& v- d* ^0 l
In 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. 4 o& C& t. k' X; L8 b9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ; o% k! u0 p+ z t: E4 P
6 o s- m! C8 ^! g) p& PThen, 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. $ L2 y. H* G- O% } ~
3 r- q5 p" V' m( |$ Z4 X, e44 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. * U* Q& U& _5 y4 p% `5 _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. $ k. z/ h! t) H4 S- E0 C7 G1 ~( p , }8 Y/ d* w$ {4 tBefore 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. 6 ~1 {0 Y7 b; H4 M c \0 g: ]9 V# G
During this terrible day, this are the air losses. ) \9 o" c8 a6 v( {* T
( D! V) e3 @; I- Z. B7 `
89 Kate # j @7 w# N' d$ H! Y( e
60 Val n" m4 X% U# t+ G
39 Zero # z* d% d2 x/ q; R2 l 2 _% o# \; n1 p% L188 a/c 2 B; U' i1 y4 N S1 K' G
D" r1 m+ p6 i$ q; A
# t8 i- z+ l2 j126 SBD 8 G8 c: `; s1 {! y9 r
61 TBD : @" T: f/ ^0 N
19 Albacore . c: f+ [+ i8 Z. G+ A
5 Sea Hurricane 4 T& k: K k J21 Fulmar . f8 @# H% Y, p; P K14 F2A % l$ y8 N: U7 q- `$ ?3 v# U$ S19 F4F-3 N& o! s& v1 ~! u
24 F4F-4 $ A" U7 I/ u/ j. Z$ |) l 4 S+ M1 K6 ]" \" l, a4 TThe damages for my ships are the following: 4 p8 t8 |$ G! b5 r! |6 W/ @4 ~ + X8 h( [1 p: b% ^+ u0 }CV Formidable 50/69/38 7 X. i r" ?, }$ o4 VCV Indomitable 35/34/42 & \. k; t4 e( Q9 R4 j0 `! {; D( q& E
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 0 ?3 r% ]: q' Z, ~9 M
BC Repulse 25/14/10 " o( q; R+ E4 ^ V. b; X1 [; ~; k! ]CV Hornet 58/89/49 5 l" b+ @6 Q4 l# I' x
DD Lamson 64/19/25 + W f' Z3 j- G2 M! t
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ + E6 ?: s% t- r+ Z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。! @) Q0 h N% M0 N) 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.作者: harry 时间: 2007-8-29 12:04
