South Pac 5 F5 c# c) u x8 I6 `$ d
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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. $ b+ \$ w3 Z4 h# N9 I+ {# [
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My planes attacked first. + k( T6 v. y( W0 o
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! - }% Z; Y8 S) _Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 1 a6 F# e% l. x$ I. h: l5 r
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... . W7 @& u, ]0 f0 S; }5 C" Y7 c$ K : N1 j, S% d& u5 J% q! A3 @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. / T) R, x; }3 F6 n& l( ~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. ( V- r9 u7 s# u' P4 N1 KCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. " e% } N9 s Q6 U! k- G! o+ ~* v. b1 h$ Z3 B1 ^: f" V. |
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. ' [' c3 X0 O$ U$ R. F- }* U( ZCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 9 k C8 _* O1 x5 w- ? # k1 O: M" f, |& y# gThere 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. ) }4 p( Y% s& U 0 i. m( p% e& V- {) O/ d1 zIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. : z# g1 T) S7 z G) d1 G2 v2 ^, V
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 V t3 z i# B3 \" S4 _
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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. & L \2 i6 K" O; y , ~! _/ U; F+ [The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. . r/ L2 Z: b3 H! N! u5 Z! r
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 [) B( P, ]' h- `3 V" g
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. ; B" f+ b! l0 Q1 N ! a* F; U! V5 c. |20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 9 z. G: I+ S7 C: h7 z3 u+ q
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 4 d7 P2 S. p9 j& `( k* H! x7 M- X( u y7 e" F( d
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. 7 u3 T2 t; x4 w8 i9 k w) v
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All this happened in the morning!! ; g- }* F9 w# ~, B" n5 D1 B5 y
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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 \( s3 w8 }- d6 B* Q- a6 Z7 v
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 1 J0 ~% d3 s4 p. v1 i 9 u6 u: q$ w2 N! [: ]$ r- T$ hThen, 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. - x, |, e' |$ M0 l 6 H4 r. H y: c" E6 l# 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. ) h( B7 o& m- c1 d" d- H
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. & {1 M, q1 z0 [1 y2 d5 X9 @1 ` # l3 ^3 ~, H1 I" A( p7 {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. 2 c) t' }# U- q; k' x
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. & y* M3 f# P+ N4 b 1 i. J0 L" y. R# V/ k! `- }5 M& F. J89 Kate 6 w1 T% g9 \; ?1 p; y8 Y. X! W
60 Val ' B7 J# y- t8 W& k( h5 ~% L$ j
39 Zero " s4 U/ b. H7 M8 `4 L' }9 R3 x( e4 q
188 a/c ) r( V3 v# L6 p k9 }: B( _
3 p# h; O& W* {0 F2 X& q* b' s7 _5 O
126 SBD 5 ~; m; I. ~' K8 p
61 TBD ! y9 n% N/ B9 Z& m9 ~; T
19 Albacore & c/ {, J4 I0 [! R/ |* `5 Sea Hurricane - b; W' \- j0 w. l. V
21 Fulmar ) K8 e# ]. q) d
14 F2A , M& M* g! U' ^' O5 n/ P
19 F4F-3 0 M: x5 Y' h9 m o+ {1 Q' j' w24 F4F-4 7 i/ ^/ {& I& F" K
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The damages for my ships are the following: 9 \6 S- [ j# K3 o# a- M
5 p/ @( O0 n' }% N8 Q& E- @CV Formidable 50/69/38 & e6 i/ q( G6 T% U K0 ]" D! tCV Indomitable 35/34/42 d7 }& ]6 I& O0 u
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 . _5 S: v# ]8 U- A
BC Repulse 25/14/10 : ?1 z9 K# ^; [. `1 I, \5 G) l- N6 Q+ Z+ }
CV Hornet 58/89/49 2 C, v5 j0 F9 B7 `- [, ~0 B
DD Lamson 64/19/25 9 Z. ^' h% H' J+ T－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ . N) w9 |- p8 W& e. K" Y9 A: }2 G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。 5 v0 V" {: R& m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
