n. U& y# q+ [$ o5 Z. rEarly 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. $ B/ B& u' Q( d4 F$ ]& s6 ?) e C5 V& a2 T9 \% L( Z
My planes attacked first. + W* |" Y7 ^/ q9 ^6 q: W
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! # L- a' @8 w1 F2 Z X
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. , b! M6 Z. W& t! k/ y8 ?) n
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 1 J4 W) |% a* c8 ?5 f; h4 z. B* h
7 L. ?' I# p; ^' h2 aThe 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. ) H; X3 D$ C. k) ~" s4 R6 v1 b6 V7 ]
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. & M. A! B Q/ v: `) o S, A# a3 X0 LCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ; W/ p& }2 \, u! ?2 _0 s/ M / S) F8 W" p/ M+ d" X$ i; 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. 4 T3 q4 z4 _6 K n
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 4 x: r3 D( ]4 d- N+ j
0 T' m, H5 `% t/ I, h9 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. 1 U' A. M9 [+ `2 o$ w / J* Q/ r" I6 X5 HIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ! X( V' c3 a" \& ?
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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 m" v: ^, D0 q, s& }5 e: O
/ h3 ?- g, @: R4 t' d* q4 \, MThe 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. ' i6 y* A: A; K' u/ \1 z& H 0 w5 J* x5 z. j; l4 IThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. # u& _7 ` C( a# I
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. / z4 v9 n, p0 {" n' W
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. ) {3 g. O' D$ m4 t
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. ; h# K7 [; L m6 }: z8 ?! \3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. / \# s8 s6 h9 n1 L8 V) k
8 Y* k. J7 M! ?% j( H0 CFifth 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. G& j% H- R4 [1 N1 v0 F
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All this happened in the morning!! ! ?! R$ l" {/ F8 d& B# U+ s' K+ m: Z) M6 b$ u! U
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. 8 I! O& E9 q# Z+ w1 a6 J9 ?" 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. / N% [/ @- C% c/ w 7 _5 a; k+ @6 }9 iThen, 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. ) F# z* R5 Z! b) n4 D7 N) o , D6 K+ p* V& p) P8 n1 f2 y44 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. . J5 | ~6 p% y: v/ J: \
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. - i( K5 g8 h! y% C5 `1 Q2 W- ]6 \' Q. [4 s
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. & C. D( K% U( ?+ q5 ] . m, G1 ? |; Q+ R5 g: _During this terrible day, this are the air losses. % ~, f' p& x9 e$ y( B; Y. l( v! L7 j# G
89 Kate , G# v6 S) q9 L3 h9 y60 Val 6 W: g2 p# o [3 I4 ?% i( s
39 Zero % ~( N; ]) F4 U7 @4 D8 d+ t2 R$ h
- @! p/ e: ~: n' i- [' X0 h4 D N2 U188 a/c % o0 V! F* C5 n, a. L$ `; W% u
7 D6 `) R6 b+ W" F- k/ F1 b3 w: i: N: S% I2 k6 y. `
126 SBD 7 J& ^ D; @9 d2 H1 T
61 TBD 2 [+ ^% {; H& y: [. ^7 l2 S19 Albacore * t* E2 T7 R: j" y- Q5 Sea Hurricane . a9 t4 N3 \# L& k) b; k# H
21 Fulmar ( }6 V: e9 c+ F14 F2A ! j: R/ C- R+ m( v9 w; j9 C, y$ X
19 F4F-3 , t, W1 j% J9 N0 M! ^" K24 F4F-4 1 }0 I7 p& `6 i: E7 ^1 _# A " ^, o* D4 ], u4 u1 J, L: T# S; N T$ S2 ZThe damages for my ships are the following: 5 Q3 x4 r- U1 t% V) b- A; i `, A& [8 C( r: r, }8 a
CV Formidable 50/69/38 |8 `. \( W \! ]
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 * A6 @0 m7 U. g4 oBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 9 C2 h6 L- W: Q- ABC Repulse 25/14/10 % V1 j/ ~6 j5 [
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 % a6 ?# G1 g$ t2 f
DD Lamson 64/19/25 : O' ]' l& r( [; A( k－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ 3 }5 ]2 z" `- r3 O* x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 u1 W( _6 W7 v* C3 y
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
