3 J4 l: _! \. a' R: pEarly 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. % _! j) q5 X. |
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My planes attacked first. ! ?( B$ Q4 x* _7 l1 D: x. D/ I) J
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! 2 H1 L) b+ s+ E, wAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 4 s3 r: @; I; E/ e" ^* kAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... 6 V6 C/ s9 k! e1 U
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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. ; X' ~1 v7 h1 J8 \/ s' l" R8 D23 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. , Y- e! I1 m! @
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. , f% A6 c2 e9 j; u, p
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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. : i# m$ a X I' Z8 d0 n3 S& p4 z+ W
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ) f" {3 `5 I& m: v
. `1 e7 n- {$ |5 {2 n# a3 pThere 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. ; U4 P: r* i1 y/ }' E4 j* b
' B: M& `4 U$ o8 A' d) U$ `8 O, x" \It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. # D! {' }8 `. W3 q ) C7 ~, U& x% QThen 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. 7 m& R0 E4 X# `+ k4 m; v
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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. * U1 y0 Y' m0 ]# f0 @6 n! G& x6 Y8 B" q8 {. [; {/ Z* u# \2 _4 _
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 0 d( ]$ M) \1 w9 q3 L- OCV 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. : i- h9 P1 _1 i+ b/ e; J! e
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 4 T; o" ]; a# }# r* u
+ I1 g' ?; s# f1 \20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. , {, n2 ] a4 A/ G2 ?& V$ S
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. E @- X4 J3 n* t/ ^& Z* o- e" G- \ 6 U L: s: h! ^! L+ n" oFifth 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 o( F) A3 V- P" E( Z
& A2 d m! g" a$ WAll this happened in the morning!! " }' h% a% E4 c+ w( }9 v `6 m1 d; i* z3 t4 b/ i9 Y
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. 4 T( d3 h) L6 U+ a. q
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 5 P# K Z$ w" l7 Y8 K; G( ~5 c( G: F
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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. 1 ^2 M; G1 J, Z, l/ p. b
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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. 7 c5 \' }, @% O4 s0 G( ?+ f
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. ) Q0 g' b3 a) p( X' e8 C) A( i8 F n$ t; d2 f$ f7 z
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. . T$ H9 c# K- }* y 5 C: {- Z h2 @/ ?During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 9 s9 x, {4 |; ?& }! D9 F( g
" t( N$ h( q/ A* ]- q# X2 k89 Kate $ q7 R! q6 {! d
60 Val 7 X: B7 G- O7 y; o39 Zero 2 c7 S% k- N# r# @; u
5 z1 ^7 D% v7 g+ C S7 ?6 ~
188 a/c 3 a4 l2 }) X8 }; M7 t9 V
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126 SBD 9 N/ t4 C3 y' ]" n5 Q0 x0 l61 TBD 1 s4 d3 C0 ]( K; ]$ [9 ~- P3 s8 v19 Albacore : F& F- A% r$ f
5 Sea Hurricane & e( c5 ~+ Z3 p) D$ m0 H) L7 i21 Fulmar 9 h. s$ D5 g) E. E5 F& s9 |' B14 F2A $ Q* [, v3 c8 ]1 M* h8 b' r1 h
19 F4F-3 0 ~% S) U0 e u" R3 F) a6 s
24 F4F-4 * c! `6 N2 `, d X. t, y3 y
' H; L" n& B1 G; JThe damages for my ships are the following: , q& B' @+ p+ z7 B2 S8 b - Q# G1 q& U4 Y6 h9 E( MCV Formidable 50/69/38 0 ?$ K* Q* l3 X# Q5 B% O3 WCV Indomitable 35/34/42 , O( \ ^% _. R; XBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 . Z ^9 u6 v/ Z8 L
BC Repulse 25/14/10 ) k6 z- u9 N6 Z
2 u7 x- O, `! K0 @8 [2 |7 M# yCV Hornet 58/89/49 8 s* }$ ~ ^" q9 t/ s9 w
DD Lamson 64/19/25 W, j! ]* O" B/ F9 s4 ^4 P
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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。 / { n5 a4 M# e, [% Q# v, `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
