0 Z9 [, C% ]9 f8 G( o5 gEarly 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. 2 G5 Y {& n- i6 X+ p
# h2 ^$ P N# ?* ]" F6 G% [
My planes attacked first. : n. C, ]* L( |! Z$ ~7 }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! * R: ?1 X" F* h6 b% s* S8 O
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. . `8 E0 Q. i( K+ t
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... % k( I/ W' A: a) R5 d# N3 b
' m% D* ^) ~- b8 {% Z) q* OThe 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. 7 D; O3 Y2 ~1 U% H1 U J z23 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. ) ?6 a" I: A( B
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 5 }( i5 |" g6 Z 6 P3 f) ~9 J; n( _* C# b$ [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. + ?' H/ g" {4 t% ?" N* A0 a+ rCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. - L& S& y& ?- `) T/ ]+ S( ~
7 F2 [5 p+ m9 h lThere 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. ; w) m7 r; [7 d
0 q& t' B5 M4 z$ s
It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. # _1 c9 D7 U4 d' M" I
4 }( z& [4 V: D9 R: [5 I6 L6 e( t, SThen 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. . o/ J" W. v: `0 N # N8 F) J: R' a: @! X- aThe 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. # H9 ?" ]( f9 ^; [# v1 h6 [' k; l. [; b
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. * u7 [4 [* R* m, N5 J2 {9 b3 a$ [
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* j, r7 R% S4 E
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. " a$ r# F4 R; q1 R
; y: ^# K- i, I3 y) v
20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 9 p2 W! f4 ?. ?& ^" P: ?3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 4 I" H9 z4 H7 l0 J- O; m; E; o3 E
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. + U2 E6 c. h' V0 U9 [5 f% F3 g% \; D) D; l) x3 d
All this happened in the morning!! ) M( C% w2 O+ E9 }" M x1 \/ ^# V3 R - N. e2 C5 d0 L+ F2 Y. VIn 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. ' U. Z$ G* j! s$ J u6 [" c: h
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 r! K0 o3 ~# |6 o2 q( P3 e+ O) E. U& a& G
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. 9 Y9 r4 K$ o6 G2 K
2 J( m- T8 B+ D8 y) L/ F$ F
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. + b$ q! e; ^* 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 ~4 h* v( ~5 V- b' e+ F# L7 W. d
& R/ Z+ J5 y1 h# j8 l3 o& o: QBefore 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. , x; R2 L: U; L( z 1 e2 S. w; x0 hDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. & t$ T& F3 R6 y * S) P# U( I6 P8 B89 Kate 5 Z/ A8 R9 m9 N$ v, O, @: E+ K$ [60 Val d3 t& m' m- h0 n39 Zero 5 o4 H$ R/ Q' S3 t4 s
5 I6 o" j( l/ S: ]3 X
188 a/c 7 h3 a, X9 O/ H+ ?
- m, c/ @, y9 g8 e& X. S 1 g L( P9 F% T9 ?# [3 S126 SBD 5 Z: i# P: R) `2 `: @& J& n0 X3 a* V61 TBD 9 x$ x% z( W4 _0 h. a& @# S19 Albacore , |; }2 @/ T3 `( H7 ?+ C3 Q4 j
5 Sea Hurricane ; t4 w0 @$ a, b/ M5 d; F& ]! e
21 Fulmar & s4 o* z- { I+ h
14 F2A 8 _) u6 c# R- a! g8 u* q! V4 H( W19 F4F-3 + ]8 j' ^+ {$ e6 A6 r0 v6 m
24 F4F-4 4 A5 b; D2 q3 l! d' T! B 2 C! _. c; R- \2 b0 oThe damages for my ships are the following: 3 P2 k2 M! x' q$ O3 {0 E4 G
i& x& k- y! N2 ECV Formidable 50/69/38 8 H/ T' F8 t& `& z1 D1 O# d! VCV Indomitable 35/34/42 * X; [* D6 X6 z: Z4 E% xBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 . t; \8 n0 U+ |. b$ ]BC Repulse 25/14/10 9 |( J- x- M) v( K/ l- D0 @( z; w+ _( D4 l' R
CV Hornet 58/89/49 / b7 n3 G6 a: m b. g/ y
DD Lamson 64/19/25 7 F0 |& v ], y: t* N: A－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ / T' \0 r9 q5 }+ Q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。: G# e; \, {$ ~9 r" ~
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
