South Pac 8 M5 a9 i+ n2 M1 `, U9 i1 g$ S$ N5 m' }3 W
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. 6 O4 j; W# h# _& F7 b" ?9 j& c e% C* o% L1 ~- B- w' g6 JMy planes attacked first. 0 r& e! w1 `9 l d9 g8 D |' `
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! * T* Y) v7 O9 m9 c3 f
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 5 E9 z7 e& N: j% s
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 6 L8 n% [7 ~5 m2 |. X! Z5 ~) |$ E
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. ! o& j7 l: D) m3 A/ R7 m
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. # y9 M: K4 Y, d% |, T9 v
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 7 d/ [- k. T" H1 ~: P! C; U # F, `) K. V9 ZThe 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. ' \/ _ f. {# k& oCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ( }, R' Q5 R2 {% u, u7 ? g. n$ v
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. , j; \7 A; l/ {; M% G- ]: s % @) s7 L& u- @* E' `% gIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. / B8 Q) ?; A$ l* q J, ]+ R . l, `; }; N) h( UThen 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. : T3 j) h2 A/ U1 U V/ V* S4 B4 R/ h$ GThe 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. ( T u# D" O/ H7 s$ x# P
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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. v7 T! [" J* Z. eCV 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. T2 D( O+ p% B& S0 II lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. - H# a' m" d9 g" [1 E* h8 T) T" v& `5 T- K% o& R& k; d) O
20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. $ x4 K7 ^8 l' P* X( e* F8 |
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. . V/ A. u$ V- T1 i/ H8 ~
# D$ k' x( V! D+ YFifth 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. . ^; P9 L3 Y) |1 J4 z4 I' N7 `: T
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All this happened in the morning!! : L _9 w# i; U3 m0 B
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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. S3 O5 Z) n' C3 l+ Y
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. b# N' e: a y% [) C. a- P7 d0 |. h: A' X. Z- r/ _) a( Q
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. " Q- `+ N+ Z% E$ B1 J$ Y7 i( n' X+ E h" w" `* R
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. 6 u+ U, s6 K9 S, O5 N3 o+ P" g
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. % [% a( L# n! n. p ) p) k$ R k8 J2 n% K' v0 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. : b% k! }6 I( v2 l) |0 k. R4 u7 u7 P: O
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 3 l( B% x$ p* u3 U. N$ @3 B
% S1 C& K# `4 {0 C" k6 X89 Kate * p) v }' T7 Q* E W% C' u60 Val . q' T( E6 `" p' H4 Q4 z5 F7 F39 Zero 5 K! {# _% ?! [2 V' f 3 X( t l$ n! H( R" z+ c188 a/c * U: I S6 i0 A+ ]
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* [1 _ R3 z. {: p9 K: ^126 SBD % z$ r2 {* y, P h; ^- H61 TBD N7 y4 a5 z# B4 a, O" Y19 Albacore 0 d9 R7 [8 k/ t3 H5 Sea Hurricane 8 \% R! P C9 h0 {
21 Fulmar + B6 d/ i- s7 X9 x' M9 H2 v5 m. d
14 F2A ' N& w8 l% r# l+ c, C& B1 \19 F4F-3 5 o9 f/ u" q- N& T24 F4F-4 : }4 ~3 t: D0 T# `; r; E % w* V+ {) f# ]7 EThe damages for my ships are the following: 6 R/ @+ Y3 N' Z h2 s" ~ $ c3 P# T7 ?& V) ?CV Formidable 50/69/38 # q A, c/ ^0 K0 h9 d3 k* H
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 4 p/ S( }! u' x' h; `* RBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 $ R$ N' \, h$ I
BC Repulse 25/14/10 2 i8 n, q3 s' U/ \/ Z; n 8 Q3 B7 ?! c) c2 fCV Hornet 58/89/49 4 W- b7 F" K, Q
DD Lamson 64/19/25 5 V# a7 X& g1 e. W, x－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－8 a1 F! T$ |# p, k6 a0 W5 y
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。 6 c2 M/ L; J* ~; P! k, P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
