South Pac + d9 S8 l3 {* [& f! F1 p
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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. ; z4 v3 T& A1 y) p' H4 h
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My planes attacked first. ; K0 S0 Z( y% Z. [' Z5 \, IFirst 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! 8 y1 j L& Q9 X0 Z, Q& eAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. % c2 v* @, e3 M
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 2 F9 D0 {0 ~+ Z* |% u. L5 x % ~; ~9 |4 x6 s4 tThe 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. . ~7 A% k7 C5 c7 G# U, {5 z
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. & e0 w2 ?. Q) s, kCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ) x1 H- X( k4 M
2 c. O8 a6 ]7 t( V& wThe 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. . f" G, ]# s* W+ }* C4 _* b. h
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. R C5 L8 q" y) L2 B! f
9 H, o4 f+ p% S3 ~4 {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. 6 A: e" x: G3 C8 a {& H* F
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ! t. f* {0 N+ d% a1 i* w
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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. ) z/ m" P$ Y. n q! r' d# d' w. D9 T4 ~! _) w5 z
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. 3 \+ a W f. `6 V( g9 S/ s* i : N) b5 K2 g' FThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. : Q1 \, Q# H9 y* XCV 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. 0 b5 ^% o/ _" @6 l9 n1 A
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 1 w) H0 {) H3 B$ o% ?1 I$ n
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. . v! E6 ^. K' h7 ]5 o" Y3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 8 U+ T" _. G% e p! G$ X ' d3 G, y q, r* U9 lFifth 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. 7 C- a. _( m. ^1 X, x: {7 Y' W
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All this happened in the morning!! $ C( F Y. C1 n8 J0 f2 W9 I( ]% g1 E1 H
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. . z6 ?8 _/ g; G g9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 2 l1 k8 y& c E2 c7 v3 O) L 1 s) v1 W) t+ D, E" g* bThen, 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. ' m$ f4 m0 r, y9 @; K/ Q
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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. $ C8 Z2 h8 L) L! L' `
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. , B5 a9 v* l% A2 H9 i . \: V5 D W' l5 ~7 DBefore 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. ( I! p3 M, g, Z0 r% P. }" u
0 O, N$ w& n$ J1 w3 W! i1 VDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. $ C9 b- ~. v: U o- ^* l+ Z" C6 u$ W
89 Kate 8 @ v, J! y0 [1 X( L) T60 Val & W8 _- D: D% ~; t$ g0 O0 r4 X: w39 Zero ) W; x! T5 V8 n3 O3 O* S6 r7 Q- `5 D3 Q
0 C$ q1 b7 a( u( c4 K4 C4 b! C188 a/c & a2 F# N* q% q& C
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126 SBD * f( \- U: T( O# Z7 K3 u, o61 TBD + K% X% |( l7 K. c19 Albacore J b4 F9 n9 |
5 Sea Hurricane 4 m1 k8 s2 Q7 p8 e. @% e- g7 y: j21 Fulmar . e4 L# s# @0 u4 n& N7 p% u
14 F2A 3 m/ d$ J( s3 ?8 m' |. D. V19 F4F-3 : b6 y9 K/ @* U8 E3 ]5 |
24 F4F-4 ' l" [* | j6 F+ G; d% }& A8 q 7 ]( O9 e& `+ G: ~/ j4 n0 O/ dThe damages for my ships are the following: 7 Q5 s& f; U, U$ I, H5 T4 z: L ; x, J) L! o/ p. {% y& X6 rCV Formidable 50/69/38 7 ~; g/ Y' j% C& C8 }! C
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 ! T$ c, @6 R% r+ ?
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 . I, S4 B+ u) V8 k c) i
BC Repulse 25/14/10 ) `- _' P; d& U- U. I$ B0 ~, j* I" C: O
CV Hornet 58/89/49 5 S9 W- S, f9 i6 |! t
DD Lamson 64/19/25 7 i" c: F) U) Q! B: e% h$ S: A－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－* a, L. Q8 Y2 w
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。1 U% e- R: T: ]$ {
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
