South Pac % K: B1 M; S' c @$ f9 C2 q" Z. U ]5 Q$ d8 M6 A7 g
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. : ^) _$ o D; P& W0 `
4 G1 Y! {6 D. ?) E6 ^( OMy planes attacked first. 1 z* U# l3 \: ^# E% S ]# M9 Q
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! - m, `4 |: |% D* M- f& ~: O5 LAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. , E, Z5 w/ `) \0 H# h5 i
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... ' k; h8 u' a' |4 j$ L 5 F7 ]; H* Z* D& ^, S1 pThe 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. 9 e) K/ q$ ]# E% U- E7 K: D
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. - T! ?5 [. Z( a5 t2 m
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. # d$ C: z, N/ N. E x5 g+ g # J- t- R! j+ _- q3 G" N) QThe 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. % N7 C" y- z% D, TCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 7 j6 u0 p$ D& m z ! a- z. x5 |: F- n wThere 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. u9 ~. b$ X1 a( E# a! ]# t6 f- g: S2 w
It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. / _# o! {" j: v+ Y: a( D# \5 E. F: C" C! {/ I
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. $ F: _4 H+ M( ]6 Q% V! Q
3 R# E1 I" u: m9 z% R1 \# n. |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. - C; D8 m: G, q$ D8 N6 ^& `7 o0 D! L# J+ P# a
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. + S! J8 F+ ` q& V5 p; C0 u
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. % m& o$ B% @( b# {4 [I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 1 n p w! P w: L' \9 ?7 Y1 H7 [. }2 F9 E$ ~9 }
20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 9 m9 _/ m9 C' B! u5 n3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. " K* O* a5 n( t: K - c" z2 ]6 R! j& LFifth 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. 0 z- h0 w; \& e: E$ d5 f% g/ N# R1 V& x2 y, ?! @# O. m& ^! @% o- f/ Y
All this happened in the morning!! ' ~. z/ R9 j* C, k9 ?% Z
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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. ) L. H ?9 r! L+ E/ h# F
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. + |4 N' `2 e p3 u+ j# y* U
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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. $ s- W" Z7 c/ c9 v: z+ G4 _2 H2 d
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. ( W3 ~4 h; q& d+ L5 {, Y
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 V6 B% {% ~1 A3 A! f9 |5 S/ c$ d+ i& O0 q* o( K7 v
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. & W. f; z2 s1 M/ ]( z1 z. A! f4 |. B3 J( `) \7 r# O3 u
During this terrible day, this are the air losses. ( ]( K# R, s0 Q" Y4 d2 |( k9 C
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89 Kate l4 J; N, h5 {
60 Val : y: `- }% F/ g% c: }9 q, ~
39 Zero ; b" O% O( s/ s! B& a7 O6 R J- C x" a1 m9 q. a! z2 Q
188 a/c . x; `# @3 |2 A
, z+ e. ]8 c4 V9 X" v" L" Q* G
& {0 K, u5 |1 A
126 SBD 2 i4 W, ?& H, m7 `0 a. K8 s) C61 TBD 5 f. S5 X. N/ u5 G4 }
19 Albacore ) b7 u4 U- k% W/ G( n. t* A; i6 m
5 Sea Hurricane / c7 l" E2 E. P- Q& |21 Fulmar 1 P" t0 E F8 \! i14 F2A 8 c- F* m9 O0 l- ]
19 F4F-3 8 a ?; p- L- j; B. W
24 F4F-4 ! L2 `7 _. q9 o- g, v3 w: f# q) {* |6 K# [+ f
The damages for my ships are the following: # J, Y# T) M6 m( L* R. i
6 [4 n1 z2 ^/ I* C
CV Formidable 50/69/38 . P5 _7 E6 i( f; N. KCV Indomitable 35/34/42 " U9 X: V& y# W7 W
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 / d! D) W! @ Z2 EBC Repulse 25/14/10 . m: k+ f; k7 u* `; N $ |5 E& K8 i/ { _4 u0 ICV Hornet 58/89/49 0 K8 H! [6 c L; ~) E+ Z1 nDD Lamson 64/19/25 9 [' b5 w8 g$ V, K% C6 W－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ : o$ p: a+ Z8 l* \/ \9 e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。* c" D) z: B3 ?
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
