$ ~* p& V) `/ u4 r; \7 \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. 5 _; W& M" Q! ]- ^3 s8 I , E, ^/ T1 T7 g, \My planes attacked first. & g( Z- j! }- Y, H# CFirst 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! 1 x% X8 R4 }" _; e! R
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ?# i1 I9 v9 u7 _) QAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... % A1 x1 i9 s' {/ i
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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. ' ^! C' \5 r9 R23 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. $ s. F# I0 {5 F4 _$ D
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 4 } i ?# i7 C1 W! a , l: U9 Q9 D) L: }, O1 B9 V5 RThe 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. 9 D# h' C+ ^# ^' @CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 9 G# X7 b6 K1 f9 u' R: Y
! r- R) K* z0 Q6 [: x0 kThere 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. 7 d! ~7 [# R7 v6 j4 ?8 F 8 b4 [& y6 J' ]- MIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. " i3 H+ h K+ i' ]6 J# |3 I$ P' [) a% V! `+ l( ?; @) 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. * \5 S5 d h% i# V+ f5 e0 U& J& Y) C2 E
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. $ M7 P2 T2 R) c9 J# ]
. q, X( j# {, D! x5 ~9 |! p6 z7 A' n& ?The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 1 C9 p! i" ]. y5 P' `( 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. 9 y6 u/ l5 k8 s, ^; M
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 6 ?3 n+ W0 N- |$ p, I5 f$ w# [- e2 J7 y, R
20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 0 N- O& H' ~7 ?0 [% u! f3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ( n* W ?) V, e& w& t
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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. ; \, y; t6 E9 I % Q/ n6 R* X* Q- k1 g" J" |All this happened in the morning!! 6 a! e& ~- `$ S+ L& m6 w" w6 t6 a * L8 s6 n* i! g! bIn 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. 2 K& ^. Y' s5 g2 i9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 0 f9 N, U* M3 z' G
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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. v* _8 M- F+ @! B$ X# E1 k; h5 J1 M1 W; W: t
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. 4 n+ l: i1 I. N5 g" QCV 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. $ q9 D4 S% g' g! m l( q 2 P$ q8 {; C; GBefore 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. Q: U6 l \. l; p* y
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. + X2 E, E* B# y
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89 Kate ; j/ `( c0 s5 H% I5 h
60 Val - ?( [7 q5 [0 o0 ^/ C39 Zero ! K" z# G% {# E' N9 s9 ]3 A 1 W$ V: |8 t) R188 a/c ) Y" {. @0 @. j: f. P0 N ( }8 E0 A- j. F* d: D6 w5 b3 t3 ]/ s( g5 ~9 v8 @2 L
126 SBD 1 }: h7 y0 i. M" c' K" B0 B: f+ h
61 TBD ; T* k+ `8 m: L. m0 Q* V
19 Albacore i) W7 Z7 U4 `6 _/ ~
5 Sea Hurricane : N# o* A, g1 k; B( q, b21 Fulmar 3 O# g% Q4 e3 w+ o# U! V- O* x14 F2A % l( y0 k2 W% |* w$ w
19 F4F-3 7 ]% q" ]5 p& L: Y0 g1 S+ j24 F4F-4 / ^5 f7 {+ n! C/ t% k 8 p9 L( P. Q. S/ N+ ZThe damages for my ships are the following: ! e8 e, V. {/ P1 G* H0 i
7 }$ f; P; Q7 W- u; b8 }# \
CV Formidable 50/69/38 ) ^/ ]# Q1 ]9 u
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 ( j5 l$ [7 N4 j7 }! O+ [; F1 j
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 ^" A8 y/ e1 W2 u
BC Repulse 25/14/10 . T7 W" ]+ v6 Z+ R; f# E0 } 1 n5 ?2 U$ L& k5 g) p" VCV Hornet 58/89/49 . k0 V6 o; F* O% z8 [$ C. W% VDD Lamson 64/19/25 1 x; e* \( p& S) p－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－5 R* g, L- p( f! ~' \5 z/ S
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 w! k# i) }& D9 B, Y6 K7 D4 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
