9 | s5 {, \$ r% V' 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. " e: J6 N3 K& Z3 b# h E8 q$ K6 H
My planes attacked first. 9 m. C; o; q; M. Z }, uFirst 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! 4 B; |! g1 z$ ?) J+ O
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. L# L2 i/ T* ]& E0 [% JAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... : a! w1 M, R7 A% T' |
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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. 5 L* S; c! @6 ^6 N) F: X E# P23 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. 8 @8 F$ k/ Y* O& W
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 9 D" ~- u$ ^8 c# } 4 w# k3 {5 N0 Z0 y* R% bThe 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. 5 g: x2 N* o* A6 P6 y5 _% s/ UCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. $ F: u9 Q& D6 P3 i o
! p. S/ P% a! U& M9 t) ^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. 8 E! s- h5 S( c
% r0 s- R0 ?. E4 J% I( A4 UIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. - u5 y' u3 K' p# o x
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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. % C ]' P, C. l
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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. % y" ? N$ G/ _ c v# ~
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The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. " y- b. l4 z5 s$ W/ i1 X/ K
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. + E3 X6 Y' i% D8 {& e% Y5 \I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. + u% v. [; d+ y3 v/ H3 s
' U I/ M! w/ x& d* X! G+ d20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. - x. |/ z) f/ S* y" V/ h$ G4 R3 a3 [3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ' K! H8 N+ P: K* Z) t4 A0 i' N, C8 A
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. ' p8 a, w! A; W, O; B$ c3 E" P' I
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All this happened in the morning!! 7 [; Y7 Z: l! E; x4 H r 5 m7 I+ W2 t$ v8 | E5 oIn 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. % v7 \/ y6 t& m6 F9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ) i# I, y3 O. b' W2 ?
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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. $ h$ R- m$ P0 {9 f
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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. ' ]5 @6 v v4 q1 p4 h+ u4 [
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. " h4 I, s: Z& B; T @% s% N8 _
4 m0 }" b! B0 Y6 i O" eBefore 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. ! v, t/ O- |4 S' v+ w
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 9 V5 g! t2 e8 N/ @, d$ X 3 f8 f& k5 }; J8 |89 Kate ! u6 Z% n- p% C# U' s( u7 L60 Val # N+ u% }- ^1 V39 Zero 6 T* k' n2 g U- O - b8 d8 Y( I' k+ t8 z; U188 a/c 9 b! d; a. Q% K( V6 W. T. X% p
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$ g5 \/ g: B2 f8 o* ~& s _126 SBD 8 W1 y' h x5 C9 j2 w+ T
61 TBD 1 J& {4 a W) {' r8 Y
19 Albacore . G! c/ j; R8 p6 e6 Q; T, b. S) J5 Sea Hurricane / n4 z% g3 k& A/ B3 U* B9 \$ ^6 c! a21 Fulmar ; b" \5 ~6 Z6 x! S4 R14 F2A ) K0 _5 b& t" f3 o19 F4F-3 , {9 B8 {; T: d- E. u5 k24 F4F-4 + q0 K; Y V* f7 Q* F: p+ f1 Y 4 \0 i6 a. u! P& dThe damages for my ships are the following: : p- S0 y4 t% \4 A: j
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 , U( ?+ Z; a& C2 O; A# KCV Indomitable 35/34/42 6 f+ P& j' B* J2 WBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 % ~ W; W6 e' S# L
BC Repulse 25/14/10 # i( W/ v8 M6 q$ n; z
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 1 [! k6 {. d5 }0 k( [: ~+ e* xDD Lamson 64/19/25 4 C% v: }" ?2 [3 z& H8 q5 ?6 X
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ 3 c* E F/ [* `* B4 t q9 j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。 1 n: z; x, O1 L/ d7 @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
