South Pac ' s) g1 {6 \# R: {) p* Z2 a' X: b- S' k- v2 ~6 n) M
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. 0 \# o& ?% u- n4 x4 N9 n
0 P$ K( t, ~& a# rMy planes attacked first. 9 E5 Z9 l6 s( ?( z4 J- X7 Y, b
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! 3 H1 O3 T6 j1 ^+ W7 q% a: m7 v% V2 W
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. # B* Q% l# H9 cAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... ) s9 o! l" R% j. l5 { 0 c) W6 o; G. K4 NThe 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. - ]& b7 c* Z5 a; ^4 U
23 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. ]. t& \. p$ R. g) \, T
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. % @# C; S2 K' K
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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. 2 [2 l7 c2 R9 M6 W. LCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. / ~0 |; q6 G, X* a0 Y
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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. R3 F- a: l& _2 j3 [9 j3 h6 a/ a5 b h* l8 @. _ G
It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. . y q2 ]0 u& F2 n3 R ( E7 r6 S6 i5 g5 iThen 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. F0 {0 h2 v6 y4 F( i8 }7 C
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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. 0 \% S# f: ^$ m+ m. _9 b. q9 ^/ y/ u/ x4 {
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 4 @/ [# o p" aCV 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. 0 R- [# s$ [' [+ h' `5 vI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. m0 T4 {! Y5 x; _0 ]- m
- ^$ E, T/ B! X3 H1 g6 ?, P5 \7 _20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 7 e9 J! Y G( M4 {; _* g$ {+ w9 J
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. , v# `+ e9 r. s4 H# K; H# m7 B% F- X) \
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. 1 y) ?: q, b+ J1 ]0 T
8 T9 |) R/ u5 G! Z5 v0 F' p9 [All this happened in the morning!! 3 `9 a8 F. `7 e1 h$ x! h& _' j/ w( f
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. 2 C8 O% c* K( N) [9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. - n3 R! N- ~! a. J0 Q " j2 n% l4 C$ ]/ xThen, 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. ; q) g$ K' W# ?: Y9 h. h0 v
* X6 H+ |0 B% H0 r, A% }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. 3 _) g: ^- @ f5 Y% I! [
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. / B1 G$ @! x) {2 j
K9 U- K; _9 T9 R8 {8 A2 MBefore 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 j3 L8 v% r5 b% O% ~4 M1 b ( P6 Y E# {) G5 r: kDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. " e* T* |) B8 I5 K0 @% L1 j. ]- a. F# G' Z |
89 Kate 4 Z( v% E. m) M% w( }+ s
60 Val 7 m* g4 m" [6 U) L8 e3 p6 ]39 Zero # `5 c0 a# n3 x' [- b3 R C6 r _7 M2 U' a3 F, @188 a/c 3 x+ q6 E9 ~8 W 7 Q3 c& ]4 W9 q# c% I+ A# A3 K6 N" S. \8 n7 a
126 SBD ) y5 L" s$ m0 M n3 ` q. _5 n61 TBD 0 d n7 U- e" l7 l# R19 Albacore / @: l/ C- U' Q# E, V/ V9 F7 b
5 Sea Hurricane # v0 S) y# j( m# `# C21 Fulmar ; M; @1 L1 j9 n7 Q1 d7 d8 S14 F2A 1 I/ ?8 M5 N9 Q Y
19 F4F-3 6 y( g. p' d2 T3 ~. ]* i24 F4F-4 & l, z1 ~ I8 l, M7 i! t9 i
" I% Z J& f4 ~The damages for my ships are the following: ) G% S4 ?& n9 a# I' o
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 % V) W" w1 p; l! R1 y0 k" Z
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 8 r- u: [% Q e9 H" ~0 j- GBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 6 a, K6 A8 t$ u' j o4 f& p
BC Repulse 25/14/10 , A( Y0 u1 Y% ^3 R0 S6 @+ h% M
8 \6 _* y7 v; l& n! }
CV Hornet 58/89/49 # s) y$ B" Q' W* X! U) h" S
DD Lamson 64/19/25 + h- t: A% r* c. h' U－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ $ _8 @+ O1 ]6 p$ k" A9 [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。 & G6 J2 D6 x# C- O; J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
