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. " h8 W; _; x" `& u# v* `7 |
' j. h$ u2 L: F% xMy planes attacked first.
" b( }* r- O, h0 }& iFirst 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!
" M8 V1 j" e5 h) tAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 0 T# a w; t, o6 a T6 L5 i
Ah, 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.
' j7 ]+ H* ~8 v$ Z: O3 }. s! ]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.
* C* L. O+ ~( Z$ fCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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The 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. 6 K( X$ a5 S! U) D2 x% j8 `
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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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. 1 N# P; O7 b# e4 C- }9 I
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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6 @( n5 G8 Q$ ]/ g- eThen 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. / v: h$ B' t9 T/ p/ B' U; s1 ]) n% P
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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. Y5 ^& U* v; s
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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.
. ]0 ^% T. R6 I: u4 i* d. Q' X5 d- DCV 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. 8 k$ O% w; n% ~3 Z& i7 n: y, }
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 2 Y% n+ @8 Q1 N+ R9 @
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. $ J' S5 e8 `; z. [" V# T& J
" v8 ]5 v- ]! r5 N/ v4 rFifth 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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All this happened in the morning!!
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: k" |9 ]1 G+ QIn 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.
$ t6 v/ S& p/ b9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 6 o2 ~1 \& _6 r- l6 `" q' i
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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. & v3 ^. _/ v1 U M
$ q& s8 ^6 n8 P6 G6 P44 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.
8 O1 w% }3 n7 d4 q4 I$ \9 tCV 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.
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( y- j# n7 A% N3 W1 GBefore 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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89 Kate + r; F7 _6 u1 U/ i: `- f
60 Val 4 E8 A5 n) Z% z0 f$ e0 n$ l
39 Zero + d' }4 n& u+ g g {
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126 SBD
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$ i+ f! u- K' M+ |19 Albacore - w" r/ r- s9 X# Q4 ?3 N- z% c3 h4 s
5 Sea Hurricane - k# s8 u0 v% V! X( x4 E9 G
21 Fulmar & E0 M$ S% H. M5 n- y
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19 F4F-3
3 h" j( A. w1 h7 m8 E; v24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: - I% e. B% u9 u
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
: Z3 H( ~8 R& g5 \: \! [/ f" |# OCV Indomitable 35/34/42 1 k$ h4 l! i l. U3 K. l
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 $ W- s1 ~. i+ y, V% w# _; w
BC Repulse 25/14/10 / T! }- G( c7 U3 G" {+ _
3 m' f7 { v! G* {- {CV Hornet 58/89/49
1 t" C* ^# o6 Y( z3 x1 m4 a; q+ q$ `DD Lamson 64/19/25
8 U) T: {, o/ w1 e－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
! G, X5 R, y3 C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。
# I% N0 k& H0 D) C5 s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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