South Pac . t5 r% v; y% @# X9 r7 k& L c( v6 i* Q2 _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. 7 B! N0 A, N2 X3 `
# U' D9 S! \" f# U5 N7 rMy planes attacked first. % ~' ~* D' a3 n# _6 k0 X
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! ; T3 s. }$ M$ i0 {; M/ @8 m
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. * [) e8 t( ~# L" E! C4 b, rAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... + ]/ o6 r D0 p6 [7 w* ^
! y; Q& k5 V; k' u6 m/ I6 Z. \5 ]4 ]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. + w- m+ H" X, p4 m# l. A23 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. 9 @* {3 u% @4 v& d ICV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. / f& E4 z' z+ _" Y3 E- [ 1 u3 `9 B! G. U$ Q/ pThe 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. 3 a n- K6 r3 S6 B& sCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. / R* B' C( M" `& o( F% z! L2 ^6 T) ^+ y2 I( L
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. ) J5 Z8 G& {- Z' a4 W & x0 \7 J' |% m; }It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. . Q: B0 N) e+ n [; k7 S# L) z7 v: `9 \' K+ G! y0 ~
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. - o" ]2 ~2 H0 a4 P
; t& I" O6 Z$ a6 {2 U- W
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. / \% i/ h9 }7 W5 X9 ^. z) B/ Y
( Z! q! M/ _: @3 N* P6 U
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 3 k- b6 I. S' b: j6 _3 fCV 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. 5 S! k( c, J$ |0 Q* Q, |$ Z5 W
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. - r, O1 U9 L' G w" ~8 u. z' _4 r8 f) }- Q
20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. ; W* p2 ?! q0 {( [2 h; L6 Y0 S# B0 f
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 9 }2 w `8 L3 k $ {7 M( M6 T: z" J- pFifth 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. % \6 M( d: i/ y. e
& e2 p* ]/ v8 b B% g( v3 n9 ?
All this happened in the morning!! ! f! g" m$ Q( a# _, a$ p
7 S1 x. V4 _7 B8 [6 {- vIn 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. + |, w4 n" B/ m0 V1 h* `2 [
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. " ?9 M: T) p; v
4 x4 x6 A3 b1 r8 `
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. , R8 I% M$ [8 K$ I: k2 B& {; y2 u 0 ]$ y' J; R$ r7 U3 n5 `, B44 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. + i1 q$ e! T! W7 g- a; DCV 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. ' v) [- _/ N( M' `# g6 u4 e- f; k0 M; f6 f8 P- @2 X; O
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. 5 E- W( j; h$ s* h$ Q, j/ t; q
7 Z3 o+ C2 S( K* d+ x+ iDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. . `# ?3 ~! z: L; n5 Q5 l/ @# q: J
) p" c* a( g$ j+ r8 |
89 Kate 3 \# U: b3 W4 C- ?) O: m& p$ I60 Val + S# T8 s0 ]/ e3 Q, _8 Y
39 Zero " v- s: M8 z( \) v4 L/ {) U r8 i' \$ G; r1 I
188 a/c 1 ^) z, l3 J- x9 W: G6 y9 @5 ~
9 l6 z I- p: q7 O
. ~" y! `+ `0 ]; |& q126 SBD o- Y3 c2 Y/ N/ g9 t
61 TBD , v% }6 Y( I$ O, t" Y19 Albacore & s" a+ L( C! R7 s8 o
5 Sea Hurricane 4 C* d" z1 L7 } w7 b7 n9 _- F21 Fulmar 5 d S1 n8 [* U& g |% y h) t14 F2A * ?% z' G" U3 l4 T3 r8 ~2 @. a19 F4F-3 . F' P, [& |# y& ]) d
24 F4F-4 " _* c; T/ X" _) f) t; [ ]: x9 e 2 Y- _% w% T9 |The damages for my ships are the following: 1 d6 D7 w5 D+ @' m" {% @
6 k2 J: C* x, U% N
CV Formidable 50/69/38 4 a6 C- R" i7 U# |$ vCV Indomitable 35/34/42 8 u; q6 @9 ~0 `* t+ x4 V% qBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 4 e' s V5 K7 z2 @% k- ?
BC Repulse 25/14/10 0 i- s3 z% ?. ], `& d ) e7 x; T2 E& J: }: SCV Hornet 58/89/49 # W% s" t s8 e$ Q* H& q
DD Lamson 64/19/25 : U4 W! Y# q" ^－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－5 t+ v$ @6 K G4 l6 B
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。 - }: P( ?/ b: w6 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.作者: harry 时间: 2007-8-29 12:04
