South Pac * U6 h7 X% E, q 2 V1 _# C# i s [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. . S* C9 ~. C0 _9 X 4 |; o' U+ n$ Z4 @6 K, r- VMy planes attacked first. / L) i9 A# E4 e/ h9 u( dFirst 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! ; U- l; J5 f% b2 ^( O/ m* p) P0 h
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. , @3 r' X, C2 ^ O/ K" G
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... & n+ K! ^+ v" `' e& P% z5 A2 Q2 u2 o2 x7 E& l
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. / A( s9 u+ @1 l x23 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. 2 V# A( R# F. D0 Q- |CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ) ^# N9 x$ h/ X( ~+ [( E4 A
2 {! K' O3 U' `: V$ \5 }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. 6 H4 C) I/ M( R3 ]: }- u+ y
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ' ?3 |% U ?7 n% @& |* g+ | k ! L4 R( y& b9 F' l7 ]8 k, NThere 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 F& R6 C5 T6 |4 p% q: P 5 `, ^. H! g# a! U4 B& E8 ?& ZIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ( u- j @8 E3 B% N; g
* j" _ b3 e% \4 N2 FThen 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. & t( l- n) t- ^. w
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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. d, E+ l! n5 G! Q! F8 L8 I6 T! W$ z
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The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 5 f( O" U# J" ]1 E { pCV 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. : s, d( [3 J- k( cI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. # n5 h6 J, P# @) G0 M
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 1 f7 t7 H. I7 r/ `3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 2 N# ^* ]- H0 t4 }. m [1 ]3 K; v0 Z: f) J, p/ C: J' @8 K
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. 2 |* s& l; A: U8 {+ h. f$ G
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All this happened in the morning!! # B/ S; K4 L) D) A. E h- E) F* H3 _/ _7 ]- u
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. 2 v6 l2 F& Q: k/ D& Z. x* A
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. , l% g. E: K3 Y8 a" J% }
6 p* a R+ E& }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. ) Y. g: p8 M: ?! O- I
1 `: v2 R/ b! {. r44 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. 0 I7 p$ a0 W: e: D/ `$ r9 ~# oCV 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. 3 q7 I& i& H6 g2 @0 X+ L% I8 w4 `, T
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. / ]: J P7 J9 n7 ]& [5 r. U7 R+ I/ C' B" X1 M' q( T
During this terrible day, this are the air losses. H9 K3 q. l. v# f6 ?% y
0 v! Q: \3 e- G$ m" Q6 Y89 Kate + A. i4 k q9 v- N$ R! o- O# Z( }
60 Val 0 I- C7 @% c" g# y: V# Q39 Zero , ~0 r; T3 m* Y' C' R4 M7 l) W( N ' y# m; l+ D$ e188 a/c - g' ]7 C; G3 s9 X) p% C+ t6 K& D+ r& U6 V
8 z. ~& K- a! K" q4 F3 \, y126 SBD ; p( S* o) z1 }, H
61 TBD 0 N2 Y/ h# C# L' d9 t. M19 Albacore Z F+ ~" F; ~) j
5 Sea Hurricane ; l; I7 P6 V0 Z" N, Q0 z3 C
21 Fulmar / p' {1 g) t0 R( k. H) d& w( Q# I
14 F2A $ a8 S5 y+ r+ V$ v
19 F4F-3 6 A8 P8 k: J9 p B5 Y! o
24 F4F-4 ( I; Q2 I. F! ]3 O/ ?9 E0 r4 c
. ]3 R" s) F3 ?7 B4 C& \, t4 kThe damages for my ships are the following: 7 `0 @; v7 m; ?9 q) X$ B7 t& a' M' b1 m+ ~- @/ H2 W, ^
CV Formidable 50/69/38 5 j, S7 b! P4 A0 m1 s2 Q$ J6 y: LCV Indomitable 35/34/42 4 q1 ^9 |% H0 ^* r/ s9 H) E6 CBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 5 [* h/ _7 X( bBC Repulse 25/14/10 0 i- J r3 K1 |* O& [$ i6 N) A- `0 i" T 4 b7 Z) O5 {& }7 E1 RCV Hornet 58/89/49 2 \8 L9 y; R! {4 l& |& j+ m
DD Lamson 64/19/25 : N+ d+ r. D- o
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ a4 o5 U( m$ C( ]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。 & F+ r) z* {) K# D9 E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
