South Pac
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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.
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My planes attacked first. $ b5 X: L$ G7 j) 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! $ e9 j( J) o- ^
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
1 O) P: g2 J3 {: sAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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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. 3 O2 t; u7 i k6 p& O
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. ) e# h) `5 n3 |
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 4 e# F' U7 {3 i, p. C& r% z
/ J0 U4 b3 J. L( `' C h) G4 O+ vThe 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. , p, O+ D1 U# H. ]9 i. C& G
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
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/ t& I8 {* {; R7 vThere 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.
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6 A. W K' q" A7 x- R2 {4 VIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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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.
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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.
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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.
' a v: j" o: W$ L, g, `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.
+ y# x) x+ F7 }* ^( c: EI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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" P o7 }! \; G2 ]9 m8 y \20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
' R8 O- T. N( B: m8 z9 F3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. F; p% Z0 S1 J$ o
8 m% ~3 O7 \% u4 s+ XFifth 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.
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8 \0 f5 y1 o) ~; q5 T7 @/ RAll this happened in the morning!! % T, f5 {7 v$ T- j7 N3 Z2 J4 U& f
" X" \1 N* X4 @: K, {9 z6 _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. 5 _- k. z! P. P! H- 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.
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/ T9 ^( }/ Q5 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. + _+ B, ?1 | O$ j: W5 N
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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.
2 m: s/ n# T4 I R6 ]) BCV 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. # O" ?7 w, f; i- E( h/ R
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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.
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4 T, b3 ^3 J6 B' [During this terrible day, this are the air losses. $ W& M) s* O+ A/ z$ e5 P
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89 Kate 1 x! p2 k) G+ X
60 Val
k! ^+ w5 O( n8 m8 ^* T" T39 Zero
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126 SBD
# O0 t, x1 S. C6 c61 TBD 8 X2 y4 y0 D6 c! B# `3 v
19 Albacore 1 Y+ I' s/ m# `2 F
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21 Fulmar ; ]& c! J8 b ~$ }, g
14 F2A
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" m5 I8 m0 A; h4 U ]2 E8 F. L% \: ?The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
1 S/ @+ G9 Y* m. l, C8 E3 fCV Indomitable 35/34/42
$ _; `7 o. u3 d8 c/ f) P% s, i. ABB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
8 A- |1 Z. T1 x9 }- q6 X& [BC Repulse 25/14/10 - a ^3 k- w6 |: h
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
/ Z, J4 t8 b9 C' A+ n; cDD Lamson 64/19/25
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# q4 h+ d$ r2 \4 f( n, T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。
0 @% @$ A% O( u! q从战果上看，盟军的结果比我想象的好不少。而且还混编CV. |
发表于 2007-8-29 11:42
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