. F2 M2 r5 q7 E& Z& t7 n7 mEarly 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. 1 R: Z' C' @! f( |4 n0 R, ~
7 d* h" [4 p- V' p$ r7 KMy planes attacked first. + ^$ T6 J/ W8 N; J# S: i- K
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! . @- n9 l5 v2 r* s! j/ a" M) P: _Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. " w2 }& X( m/ T( @Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... - U% b7 [0 o6 G: k' f+ F6 H, x: n
% s n t9 ~# c/ b7 J
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. : [- f1 Z& b% [) E/ M5 q: H23 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 W+ I+ Z, d6 r% U, d) g$ x& E* x
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. : O4 V, ^. d" s2 ~+ F( K
. Q( d9 O5 ^1 [7 G1 _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. ( W, B! I$ ]3 V$ w
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ! I7 [7 H" n$ b8 ?8 r: ]$ N
1 G" z( {/ X$ S* _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. . H, e6 T# g" G( o# T- P# s) M [) V' l% d% S2 S6 b0 h3 U
It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 4 q! z1 Y( ^! H* O" r3 }) z1 V: C5 c4 t
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. , t! G. O" ~ d: v) G7 `9 B5 V: c
; |& v) \+ t8 ^, [+ P3 G1 nThe 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. ; y2 l& {; e, O
2 ~3 d! r+ M# K
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. * i; J' C/ Z) v3 |' m8 Y8 l& {( }
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. & }3 e1 l1 Z- {. w' {" ~I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 4 P( m: q6 C# i# Q& @. ~
0 @* ?/ E5 B z4 u20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. , Y+ q% s: \' h' T) L, f3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 4 P* n# g$ o. b2 ]1 Z
' D6 n& i( |3 D% 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. ) e' e3 O! P. [* j$ v& X
% m+ H6 z9 n" h3 n8 o
All this happened in the morning!! 6 H: k( Q7 V4 H) }" d1 I+ L
9 W# c3 L# X4 sIn 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 N4 [ D5 G( X' P' |
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 2 b! I4 @: B# C9 Y ( I& H8 B; |+ K0 pThen, 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. 3 V0 q5 R% Z$ _ 5 O! J. B2 e+ I! G/ P! f44 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. , V, G% b1 U" |& rCV 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 i) Y2 p( h% W- C4 T8 q
) Z* _7 D7 D9 X/ F3 V1 v' Z6 d
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. 6 {% \& O4 a$ S) |; N! f 5 ]0 u# G/ u: Y( NDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. ; N+ z5 n6 i" u7 Z0 G6 F* F# F% |) g0 C% n' a- Y& @
89 Kate 1 F& f0 h$ z$ f* `* _60 Val : M; o8 H& ^2 [* ]3 W0 W
39 Zero 3 c0 _2 ~' T: y( ^/ y1 \: L. s
, T8 N X+ ?# I/ X3 I( w
188 a/c # C0 _2 }( }4 Z1 n% `& L/ @, v$ u" I* W0 _7 R% ^+ B# X/ x$ t
$ d1 r7 V( V- `/ X
126 SBD 7 k! F4 v* d9 s. I0 ~/ @61 TBD % Y5 c1 Z( ^2 i6 F" R5 L# \4 D
19 Albacore " v4 w: r& g. b; z G& W3 U
5 Sea Hurricane " q) J/ _3 B* |/ p4 `; p7 Q21 Fulmar 5 ^ ~" o J @4 T) P+ o' J14 F2A : s1 H& |9 O2 D19 F4F-3 9 u4 I8 U0 `" p5 V" w; c
24 F4F-4 5 n& r9 e7 H5 `" h8 E0 w0 f: K0 @7 U0 Q; R4 s% c
The damages for my ships are the following: ( A$ D X T, Z8 D6 |
: ?1 b; s. j( D: g% mCV Formidable 50/69/38 . }5 a7 ]4 ]/ x5 D
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 6 v& r2 c- O) H6 y( F7 DBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 * o0 p- k. ^7 f$ U* b' }9 BBC Repulse 25/14/10 & X A7 \! m" o* i# y8 F" J
( z3 L! ^4 B- O' }
CV Hornet 58/89/49 5 B; h% o: h& c1 KDD Lamson 64/19/25 2 ~' W; p3 i% }/ r" e－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ . ?# ^- X9 T( s* x7 z4 D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。 ) Z- M, K9 l1 F" v q$ ]& K3 x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
