South Pac 8 E3 l! c5 z8 f 0 n6 ^0 h5 `1 D9 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. + Y8 Z8 }. Y* m Z! P! S: ?8 _6 n" X3 G: T- m; E. V
My planes attacked first. " H) S8 n! T( F
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! 0 V( y: j b* G) H" h/ gAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. * E4 O3 G$ p4 y; T# l8 t
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 3 x/ {; R, H8 R& x- k/ L- h5 z
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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. 1 }. r" l) |! n0 f23 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. `3 n$ D3 m# [" X- d( lCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 4 V: h, r# h+ q) S; ?
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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. 6 H1 z& T; h1 i! I! v. `+ n4 x. D
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. , G3 H% W. j& ]# w0 S' J9 J, V" X
4 ]* X. y. N4 E" O2 yThere 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. * f( X L( `2 Y3 d " _0 R9 y! q/ P6 Z; ~0 Q) s# cIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 9 J( m( W! J; w4 t$ E& _
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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. 0 g2 w* n* W }9 n b9 m+ X) w: l! P9 S3 ^
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. 1 g: {6 e) K. K" Y4 T7 ^0 J9 s" e, s0 H! R
The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. / g$ e4 U( k5 i; ^9 k9 |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. $ f& F5 ]+ L' s% `0 ZI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 1 g' ?# z# d! r % m& ]* g: L/ q6 F20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. $ }, v) Q! d& h8 u4 w5 J. ~
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. , P6 L& j2 n7 @% }! f: H' Z
4 S0 C+ h# E* A& o' u" pFifth 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. $ b6 m% r; I" p1 r- t% z6 K& ], n o& Q* ]& h& s* S# Q2 C1 `
All this happened in the morning!! " s6 `: F! m) V, \5 R, B" p( k
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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. 6 j9 N! }) I' Q& M0 R
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ) M: d$ _. v9 J. Y2 X' s: |9 S
) w# V6 g5 S& o. i3 D- \( m9 SThen, 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. 0 W4 r9 t8 \* u4 k0 }! O
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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. & R N2 d1 {0 p5 z4 a& [$ w
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. 0 B5 G" {% v% L8 [
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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. 4 K4 y, c1 k9 d" B7 Q. Z3 N! i) t# i
During this terrible day, this are the air losses. ( ~4 n/ }- k+ ^ s$ K
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89 Kate & n; D. l* X4 K5 r# g% ~60 Val 5 S3 ^7 {! Q. D. J; t F: K
39 Zero " ]/ b% K6 w6 D" a' q2 G% k: q) t' V3 x* Q# F
188 a/c ' @' C* g/ e4 E0 n/ l% _2 E# c
$ D; W) }7 J# v5 j5 r: {
& m3 ~& {5 h5 H3 e, _" e: L126 SBD 0 o; \3 ]: W/ i; s. m) j2 _6 J
61 TBD 2 d* N$ o, |8 m1 N, T, `9 K7 p
19 Albacore ! |1 {8 k* C. L$ {
5 Sea Hurricane ; M$ @9 |% R0 s) C& u% G
21 Fulmar ' b1 X& U+ z' n% h7 Q( h3 P14 F2A 3 d! b7 i! g; k! C* c
19 F4F-3 3 d) h" P4 M2 r7 |24 F4F-4 ( M+ B9 x# j C' T0 @: ?# t3 A& e9 ^! e( g& z# R
The damages for my ships are the following: 7 Y3 ?2 D0 }3 t; m0 R5 d. f$ L) G5 ]& H+ u. B( n ^
CV Formidable 50/69/38 # _/ L( }$ [/ j) A' m0 @ UCV Indomitable 35/34/42 ! t) Z G5 f8 E+ c
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 1 g: n6 F& M9 w* z& W9 @+ n2 R
BC Repulse 25/14/10 * U9 i2 K6 O1 T( d
2 {" A! D+ Y- F2 {
CV Hornet 58/89/49 3 }; @) _8 c9 H+ z/ s) uDD Lamson 64/19/25 & c `3 g/ a0 r9 O－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ x& r$ o' \1 n8 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。 1 t( d& j& |6 e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
