% A' k# O6 I% xEarly 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. 9 @1 X$ K a. R% h : D8 s) t- I' U6 b: K* I$ r: SMy planes attacked first. % {( g8 z( B) I3 H) y7 O7 y, H$ }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! ) c! l7 v# A$ ], V$ OAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 5 l% T- D% k) N) X7 V! y0 ~! u3 k
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 0 d# w# ^8 O- ~
# c. q R% `. f; v: C
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. ! o3 M' @! [0 w5 S
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. . d9 J) C# J" z6 D- z" O2 C
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ) ?- z. _: l/ b5 w& q8 \
5 o$ F. N& \9 _0 N! C$ k1 SThe 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. $ Q$ ^7 B& ]8 w! G( `, U( G. t, ?- lCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. + f7 E+ @# L" i7 R. o% [: R M2 d' H8 |4 M$ H+ n, s# N( |5 |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. . e! T2 u+ }7 I9 A! U
8 M6 N' x/ H8 Q; K% ]
It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 2 {* X: K: h" U + p5 C0 t# T) J) F @) _4 hThen 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. 1 ^- e0 @6 }# k; W$ n # {8 P# N$ u' i- X" iThe 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. 1 A0 @; o8 v: f0 e G( V2 t7 H 0 d o% ^& _& WThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. ! l P% a6 J) T4 @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. 1 B) Q' x6 b: V+ [- E. Q
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. " p; E% Z. f3 V
- X. l# a3 B j: H
20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. * `- i) a0 |, L% E1 k0 X
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. E! h4 x2 b1 W. ~' O
; Y- i1 L/ G) 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. & V5 ?7 e( ^! t4 P; b7 y! W `* W* b1 f5 x, ~2 d, J# GAll this happened in the morning!! 6 b4 T; L8 O9 y; x5 c) M6 s' }
! f9 x9 e+ i# R7 I/ w6 xIn 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 K J$ ]* Y9 [+ w! Y+ Q9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 1 D' N& {7 G8 U# p, n$ T( X t0 v" t$ n/ F7 j" N: P
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. 6 @1 m: P8 b+ F! p O1 [
( X; w# a+ w" M
44 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. 9 Y- {! [/ f" j3 F+ l+ ^; j
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. 3 u" l& a) t( f: `6 _( o
* @; a" k1 h9 J9 C4 a/ v% pBefore 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. % c Q7 ]3 `* L/ Y/ i6 V, h# ^; ~. d' Z A. K
During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 9 V' D: P8 X$ E5 e, Q8 g
" z6 ]2 I" H7 J! |3 x% p2 C
89 Kate ( Q& |& c0 _! d& F9 ?60 Val 3 U4 ^$ S- n+ i5 f' ^/ K39 Zero 7 z" j+ }7 q$ C' W. t9 Q* V$ U - ]0 I# i, x: y- {188 a/c 7 o2 I, X1 }2 y. f
2 M; w, O, ?5 b: a8 e4 e
* `2 n' j/ D4 c$ B2 |
126 SBD 3 z( W a1 N$ ]& ]/ A61 TBD * j$ P( T/ z1 w2 L0 q& p
19 Albacore " D' k- @) w; }5 m
5 Sea Hurricane ( i8 H) u2 J. m4 o- u1 D
21 Fulmar & x" i* e( v# V$ `14 F2A 4 Z, E8 |8 | m( r. U
19 F4F-3 8 {! z0 H6 _8 H, Q1 W: L0 ~
24 F4F-4 ; |7 a8 c6 Y. E* j* ^' Q3 v$ U) _1 {8 d( C
The damages for my ships are the following: # ]. E0 W, ~0 `* x
4 m; V' X5 {) d2 t i! Z0 uCV Formidable 50/69/38 ) u' f8 f: Y! i- Z4 r$ m
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 + W' G3 B* s8 {& T4 ^9 S) l; i
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 7 F* S. I/ h, n4 R7 m1 _BC Repulse 25/14/10 / O) f+ Y- D5 }0 \% Z; R$ n6 r2 |; Y$ S! e; ~
CV Hornet 58/89/49 0 s+ D+ E: j- u6 v% T. h" I8 E; w
DD Lamson 64/19/25 & F: U8 z. B- o, ^3 w－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－1 V* u7 G" N& Q$ _3 F" `8 Y
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。) v- `8 ?6 S; m# Q" Z
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
