South Pac 1 W0 P) _4 u! O" {3 B6 W* H0 {9 V/ q 9 H D {2 G5 t' [3 qEarly 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. 0 ^% |7 U% m' {0 Q2 W# J/ c8 \( _
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My planes attacked first. * w/ m" N- U. Y; @. m5 V4 ~
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! 4 V$ S! b6 L, j, x( ]Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ! i0 f& `+ h9 N0 O- AAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... + o& W7 \; b# o- ^; {; ~+ H
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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. / U7 T* G7 c8 J3 N6 K
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. 0 q* A) G4 t* g7 G/ QCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ' g6 N! x' }& ?+ s/ Y* S
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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. ' H1 U& M! c6 ^8 [& nCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 9 t: d9 v7 |8 w! r. ]2 j" W* U0 Y
/ `* i; `6 v+ n* QThere 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. / S5 E& S9 r+ M7 v# a- l
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ) [+ R% S$ @) F- S# |
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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. 2 {* c9 Y) Z# p) t/ Z
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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 L/ Z _: }3 o! W6 X: {1 r. q6 u) W) F: e/ l
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 8 H* k2 b$ ~ X% q3 U9 R% H) m
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. 9 p; v. a6 d; i5 p2 v* A! Z* |
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. & x% P$ h7 p, n, \ t3 F
. e1 F# r3 X- ?3 k20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 0 V5 Q& n* ^& C) p4 L
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ; N7 h. a; i' j4 ~( J
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Fifth 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. 5 N( T# g( _7 D G3 D3 k" Q6 G. p. m5 W6 h- l/ d4 \
All this happened in the morning!! " i/ r9 W. O5 \
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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. 3 I) _# y% M- L1 S9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. : l& o% @# S# d! S2 t6 W; F* D
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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 b0 y) R3 Z: _* K 6 F, x; l2 O. o) A& G44 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. $ M' ~" o: F7 W7 R
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. 0 W) z2 U1 e4 g/ E / P$ O; ]" j; W2 f$ JBefore 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. & o# B/ }, k( p, ^
/ h: a ]: e5 t6 tDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 5 U7 ~! E Z H0 j
/ T+ B% o2 w$ e( o2 B B+ h89 Kate % L" i2 P# V# G" S/ m; y
60 Val # I: c w+ @% o) t# M39 Zero 6 R# O* j4 \+ c k, a" J; n " W% a, u' q& K) w. p4 b7 z3 v188 a/c # q2 M9 @0 u% q+ Y! s' j1 A
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& l; v# o/ O$ b) g) z126 SBD 2 w, p9 p+ {1 b- O61 TBD 5 |# o9 p" N. @' @19 Albacore & x: C9 y# s. C- y, {" {( f5 Sea Hurricane . ?: S! L+ H4 c( f7 K) t21 Fulmar + n6 {5 b5 C; _9 l14 F2A ( E% @5 Y4 y5 D19 F4F-3 & l. L; l; m1 ^7 {24 F4F-4 - S+ A& M) g z0 i/ X b2 k: d
1 N: A0 `$ @& Y9 O$ b7 iThe damages for my ships are the following: % O6 G9 }6 S$ r
" U6 O$ K# |6 \CV Formidable 50/69/38 9 a7 E0 k* B7 U+ f, ?
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 ( m4 t4 L( J2 q; c6 J! iBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 6 w5 c- N9 u$ j8 n9 {$ c
BC Repulse 25/14/10 ; S$ Z! f8 e. [3 b: r 5 b, Y/ r2 _: K( j9 }0 uCV Hornet 58/89/49 % [: b+ O }; J$ D6 f: q. b/ e. UDD Lamson 64/19/25 , P/ j/ d" w# ?2 g' ^( d
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ - B, G, x, W1 h% L x. ], 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。0 M2 X7 ?7 v/ w+ C+ 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
