" ~6 `; d/ ]. TEarly 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. ! p+ r6 y4 D/ S' d) _ : a& q# V% b- G1 ^) mMy planes attacked first. ! ~" R; x# f) C( p8 E8 e. g w9 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! 0 _" B; w1 E9 N* a9 f9 S
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. / b8 q2 q0 J/ F# V: T
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... ' ]3 _3 e2 r, d6 O! h
0 I7 F q6 S7 A% p; c1 B, _ s6 KThe 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. / y& j: E7 i/ z/ c
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. % D2 x0 U5 p4 A
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 5 h: c: s6 E( _# ~& z: W
9 p1 b$ p& Z8 g( g5 h% TThe 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. - d, W8 V& G5 g% A; u! ?9 c5 V& ^! ?CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. # G4 e: k _ ?+ ]
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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. 3 p" i+ [. r/ r1 d & p* U- M5 e$ Z& Z V: UIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 9 u6 K# o X( O! C% j" |# n: w
7 ~, H, o4 b3 r/ n( |5 V& wThen 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. ' b* v. w. p3 D - j9 K/ l1 h1 o# D# ?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. ) b& j: B2 u$ C I3 r) ? 8 r: \: m/ y' V' {The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. ' t1 s* C/ u" ?% q: E: _3 @; ^
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. 0 t$ W' p8 g" V: L9 iI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. - T, K, h' e7 R6 |8 b
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. * a$ k$ v' G# n u/ u3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 9 d3 C" h: h9 v( ` 5 m" U5 J, q. `- @/ p( C& s1 [$ bFifth 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. 8 p* l2 h: e$ E5 L- S {' M
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All this happened in the morning!! # J- s, y8 y- c$ \$ U+ H3 _4 M% O: [" H6 x3 W: s; e. Q6 A0 t( O
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. 9 o1 U" V+ @* d% N7 P, P# z9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 1 ?0 g$ R% i5 z! Z# U0 `7 Q% S7 d. ?2 n5 U; h
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. ( ~0 N. d6 N3 k5 z! Q+ n7 ^3 `% N! Y1 m- H3 k7 s! S
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. 6 W5 Q: P& J) ]8 u6 TCV 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. * X0 O: a- Q' N3 j3 V
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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. * i. d7 l# x8 C# S ^& c3 T3 d: m; `
During this terrible day, this are the air losses. & A9 f0 K3 O- U
% w6 h& s. S) V5 w l; Z% C
89 Kate ! Z) X9 P# u" G8 e
60 Val ( b6 ?3 J+ m- X& P+ `6 f39 Zero 8 x( Q0 z5 `7 \: i
' P, T x$ C% ^, q. K0 ?* _188 a/c % r. \$ U3 P* D8 d: b9 J5 Z3 K; d
/ T; x' S/ |# [: E126 SBD : A6 c8 k5 ]0 J6 u61 TBD 7 j3 f5 |: h" l$ k
19 Albacore $ e3 u0 |/ \, I# T
5 Sea Hurricane : ^1 T; q+ \( j" a! N
21 Fulmar 4 f; }% X) O! ~7 G" D+ v( E- {
14 F2A , v: b$ @9 h0 V1 p* u; f
19 F4F-3 5 A# a4 m& w! b4 E% J" \24 F4F-4 6 x" `$ w- t# Z6 L
6 D" A; F; H" W; i2 x6 [' R+ [
The damages for my ships are the following: . c, M/ `, E6 N6 I, Z, k; j6 S/ H2 `7 t( b" c
CV Formidable 50/69/38 , Y( X* v2 Y1 ZCV Indomitable 35/34/42 % m% s8 V, R+ {* I5 P* S8 fBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 0 @8 e: _4 u0 ?
BC Repulse 25/14/10 , G( T' b* c, O; o ! a! N8 E$ u! A* W7 oCV Hornet 58/89/49 * P9 w$ g K, D5 CDD Lamson 64/19/25 ; L# q- |/ w: T# L1 T) I－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－7 B( W6 M9 H# j/ I' I. 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。 " N B7 e7 z% T0 B& o7 ]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
