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. K4 p8 M0 V6 \2 u7 L
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!
! ^4 d7 g& X C! R# Z% K6 VAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
/ Y% s+ e: P/ z6 TAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... . N% ^% q1 S& B
2 i2 t; J# O8 e: @/ h( sThe 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.
X1 r- s* ?4 r# N' g% O23 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.
7 c/ r+ m! p( @( `: G0 SCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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% C) r) ^- U, h5 C7 U$ JThe 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. 8 h* U/ O: x B! h0 {( ]
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 7 P# u0 p3 X4 H# J/ P. E& F+ r
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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. / X5 a3 `2 ^; L# C. c
5 K0 Q& {8 r" c5 R# z9 ]It’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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0 `2 g9 N; H: R3 |% |' i6 j5 RThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
0 D0 s0 o) i) }) s: u4 \ w5 ]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.
+ g( v/ e+ `+ e# S$ _I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 3 ]" k# s9 n/ k! c7 T# T! x
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. : y e& u" X0 t. g, C z
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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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. 7 r# I: k% d, _ O0 l
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All this happened in the morning!!
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: Q2 N1 f8 |6 R% F; Y! U; eIn 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. 1 K& U3 B' U9 i8 y7 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.
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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.
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+ P/ D6 k, t y* K5 H& R44 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 l; [$ n* S# 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 a1 p. b' `* R& D7 k- C
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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. # J. q( ]/ t0 U1 T. g; }
6 @/ W4 E: [$ z/ g# wDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate 0 _+ t/ J/ B! K5 a, l6 z- s% g7 b3 ?
60 Val
$ E! C c9 J3 P0 g39 Zero
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188 a/c - w4 P" N' N5 S% R" |; f. U1 M+ H5 v: h
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126 SBD & b- D2 x# R! g+ A/ M
61 TBD
2 S1 V: e* T r: d+ i8 c( Q19 Albacore
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3 ]8 \5 T" T3 L+ q8 D: W! y7 @21 Fulmar
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19 F4F-3
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 % I6 j) Q6 `8 e5 ]# f/ z9 L
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 " C; i1 m0 Z0 e
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 ! |/ L" g5 Z j2 C) o j
BC Repulse 25/14/10 1 w, ]% g! S! ~0 ~; p
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
( r. O1 L4 R# n) O% W9 G- I! Q+ nDD Lamson 64/19/25
4 @1 M- ~, E% g7 b! X－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
2 m# j- C8 a' p" t# Z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。# E' g0 `+ ]( _0 f! a# ~
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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