South Pac 5 u1 R5 Y! F2 M" J( @; G4 ?3 t1 R( m! t. o9 `$ K. c
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. % f1 s; ?0 D- W& u3 M% X, H2 m9 i7 j
My planes attacked first. # y1 }+ d2 i; M( r/ R2 W: \5 XFirst 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 s2 S5 y: c# GAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. " @$ J& h1 @. w: q3 W
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... . s1 I5 V1 Y7 A! M" I% |7 f, u8 G& Y |! y/ O
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. . x8 I% `. V9 N* o23 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. 3 u3 _9 t4 k* w) M2 ^: X! m0 S( I! X
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 7 B! S- {% k0 h1 O1 `
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The 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. , F8 h5 V; E/ N# r: {1 k! aCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. / H1 x! U' S4 j
w& x. Q7 ]+ |/ SThere 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. & i. P- |1 ` H
0 V6 Z9 d) A5 R" Y2 p; m; O5 SIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. / l8 G1 s B* o" Q+ n9 j+ u T- l7 z) q
- n7 s0 ?! H3 `! a/ A p/ D2 P& @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. 5 x, S0 W! c5 c: e
k. l: n3 [% sThe 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. : v+ x: w: I0 S5 J, w S" l! ^8 z% @9 j( D& k2 a% q4 @
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. ( P* B% S' Y% @ {3 Z% X4 g" sCV 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. . l6 Y* s; \8 U. x+ q/ b
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. ' h8 h) B7 p% Y" q3 P! X& T& H ; ?' I8 w& b8 B/ A% `7 C20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 9 X& |9 N2 _( ]8 t8 m3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ' J+ ?, S' a* U4 D' d
2 [) Q: Q% v# D, `0 e4 n, WFifth 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. 2 d7 ~, n: b8 Z8 K1 s2 l* @, D- j- W& O: b5 x& ^) s+ r
All this happened in the morning!! * V" p6 F u h8 [; ~+ P0 \
- b8 o& ^+ O3 R; f7 F1 l9 T0 pIn 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. ) q* j2 M; k5 {7 C! d/ T" E" D9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 8 U8 A. a' V3 U- y1 ^5 |9 ?# E5 i, S9 Y6 B, i
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. 1 a ~" S. x' ]% O) a
3 Z# T. s( O3 ?/ G F44 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. & ~- D1 e; v2 B$ j P! ]2 U% c0 a
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. 4 c) {8 ?$ r4 q; ?* n- A" P
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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. * Z6 O- h* ~, }1 f8 Q I3 Q! H' h0 P- t8 o5 a2 M0 u
During this terrible day, this are the air losses. : n! r; g1 o" T7 W2 ^/ ]. r' [3 J s8 z+ j
89 Kate 0 q2 E G0 L% E; `60 Val ( [! S# Q. t5 ~; }
39 Zero + T( o; u; u \% I5 W
