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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. 8 V( f# i7 x/ X: `* i
4 y; n# H/ U0 D5 h pMy planes attacked first. 4 C; _1 u& ~1 U# ^& |% t3 m
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! * j/ m7 s* `! v X
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 6 l$ @! l' P: ?* ^
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 8 e' \+ }3 R! m$ A* g
( s c( O: Z4 i& |9 A% UThe 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. 7 t& O! d E' K8 ~. }
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.
9 V, b1 Q3 D+ ~( k- T7 wCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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) h* Y& ]8 V% v" x. \+ FThe 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.
$ Q/ _+ _. I/ V# e1 M6 dCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 7 k; q% i1 h$ z0 P8 x$ ~
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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. " L/ T& E" J- }) h
" W. ]# h" x* G8 G2 [It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 9 ^8 }3 `; G! P: @
$ J2 R" C- [* \ y3 N' c% ?' 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. ; [$ M; n2 Z. h5 `
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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. 9 y! T- K+ O& [
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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.
5 R6 F9 C" Y, G3 ^; Q U: hCV 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. ) x" x5 }) i+ r& p7 Y
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. ) ?) I: X* q% k+ ^! ~$ _
) M9 i' W1 q8 T9 P: e4 q2 K0 f20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. " }+ b; O) d+ e3 I. C. v6 M
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 4 [- ^; }; O- p4 Y9 ? h9 I+ p
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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. ) i4 a2 A8 p; X
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All this happened in the morning!!
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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.
4 y% p7 N/ k; V$ O6 j7 x9 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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, ^6 w' T" K* GThen, 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. ! ~4 j# M) j$ L- Y* W6 T- W% k" d, Z
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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. ) e5 I( {5 _# o4 n3 K, d( n, P
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. 4 {; V% K% J3 Q* e
1 [# S0 Z% _! g4 N2 `% FBefore 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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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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& L) h! @6 j0 R9 Y. q/ `1 p- _89 Kate
7 D J1 {, m) U, x5 T60 Val
2 D$ P% y. [' T8 G9 `& t* Q. U& v, e( m39 Zero + H9 v& p) N! S3 a5 s, T e( H7 w' x
^3 @' t; q% a' D) s1 a; [
188 a/c
3 E% s/ G g( z D2 N4 M/ }* t e7 U$ h
% X7 {3 P0 t. `+ W8 U" i2 Z0 r1 p126 SBD
1 q; v$ e& e- d3 S61 TBD ! U+ Z1 w/ m$ K8 N
19 Albacore 0 L0 q3 C- J' o9 i5 p; f2 d. o
5 Sea Hurricane . X9 N+ t+ t' J& L+ A
21 Fulmar 2 n+ u" f4 R& J! p I& r
14 F2A
; n+ |- c5 B8 X/ i- W19 F4F-3
' c7 _ e/ k2 t" B* U7 t' y3 d6 k24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: 5 `+ ~! x1 n% `! X/ v$ t, ]
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
9 M: T/ D# ~' V9 ^: ~: O, \2 s LCV Indomitable 35/34/42 9 H. T) l* _; \; e8 n
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
$ ]5 ~" ]* \5 W6 XBC Repulse 25/14/10 ' l( I/ b; m1 p: o* _
# B8 r2 A, ~# z% D) ZCV Hornet 58/89/49 ' o; D3 r- u% X9 c/ q1 L2 J
DD Lamson 64/19/25
a2 a) y! d. o－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
/ Y; l" ~6 c8 |" _2 X; 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。
E5 `7 ^$ e1 I& f- ^. v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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