South Pac $ y4 a) l$ L& ^2 o% Q2 ?$ \4 ?9 B
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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. 7 o0 |( X- u3 B+ ~9 v$ }: q0 j8 d
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My planes attacked first.
i- y& A* q( {' MFirst 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! 6 ?' ~: O* Q2 A8 L/ s! E
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
. q* u. F& z# I. w; P! v5 R! `Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... ! o2 x% [, } O6 C" \
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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.
* H& N5 {) w8 J( n& v' C/ R23 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 i# I6 t. g6 P" T' d* tCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 7 @7 `8 k9 ^8 d' B: [$ \, X- K
9 L0 \* V# v3 x& _5 [7 A. |- E9 nThe 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- u( V* r9 N6 y% P, KCV 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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, l7 }4 ?+ L# c5 m7 x( lThere 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. ! S& c( G2 x( o# g- b7 O
/ t: m) H+ x# n; GIt’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. ( ^+ }7 C1 \- w& |
8 U2 S- F4 n5 W9 ]2 p% uThe 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. : h, U' G+ T3 p" E8 _* D, Q! ?
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.
, P; L; V9 F* e# [% a5 k8 sI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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) K, T/ F; D' C' k, @20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. & E5 a2 I6 k- F. w
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 2 M$ K( f: ~7 B9 |
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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. 2 \" E" Y" m, ? k# D# j
: @5 S' Z1 `& \3 ]$ b* ]All this happened in the morning!! : J0 v* B+ F% T/ d
. f& C1 v, z7 AIn 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. 0 w. d7 E% p( k
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ' Y' Z2 K% t- p' }/ i2 [+ j, m. C
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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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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. 5 U* \% M* g2 c8 |- M7 J9 `% m
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.
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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. . C' D" @% _* I
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 1 @6 U% s7 {. U k
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89 Kate
! _5 } o3 S% z8 g60 Val ) k# j4 v4 k# z6 f
39 Zero
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4 u3 V8 }' }) O( H# k" S; R7 s5 J. X188 a/c & b) \/ t. J/ ?* j1 \3 u" l
5 O) h1 r. @9 H( Z2 X3 S) W7 B
) j, T! y; ~% J9 l126 SBD
1 r# [- c q) [3 o61 TBD
. z+ K2 w1 C8 V19 Albacore
4 q- b- q1 J) L5 Sea Hurricane
& ~0 Y: K4 O$ O. p7 V21 Fulmar - |1 w, j8 F) l' D0 R
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19 F4F-3
2 M$ Y" P' g5 H9 Y24 F4F-4 " r& \5 h) \* w W
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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6 U1 W$ l8 J9 f& OCV Formidable 50/69/38
5 c" Q0 v3 X/ k' m: w, }$ i9 tCV Indomitable 35/34/42 + M! X" ^$ b/ a1 } S4 J
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
- @1 `" I- ?& E) j/ `BC Repulse 25/14/10
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1 z# j4 x* A$ Z, u# o8 TCV Hornet 58/89/49
' Q1 ]$ b! a7 E9 J" xDD Lamson 64/19/25
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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。
; u3 g" W( n$ B. v' d. ]: ]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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