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.
- ?" c" F9 c6 W! ^2 ?, p2 FFirst 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 v3 a! W# x! i5 A2 Z% r4 dAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 7 _' K" R' s5 P9 h0 B
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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7 c2 G, a2 `/ i- I+ nThe 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. # W0 H5 ~7 L! v8 n8 `0 y
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. 7 G, B. ?0 O+ X
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. % ~3 \7 P' C, {6 ?9 X+ x! L+ S
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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.
2 ]' Q9 B0 ^) c7 h: n2 U$ s2 sCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ' ~" r0 O' v" s( z" u% T
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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. . Y& z- b6 x1 c# M
1 l, ?1 p6 Y3 a, zIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. - W+ B, e4 Y u7 i3 M: Q2 ^
) s" E! L8 C" g: [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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9 {: ~4 _4 N0 M, F2 s H5 EThe 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. 1 M* t7 b/ P5 t- C
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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* c w1 t& ]: 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. - k* B- d' f0 ~ Q
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 O: b- J) ]: B B3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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N6 B$ i' Y9 W3 d P( {, oFifth 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!! $ X" T' x9 H2 g% c+ `- f8 o
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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. 0 O: m2 i2 \! ?9 p) m( _6 j% q
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. 3 R& V; ^: Q! T
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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.
N+ z6 n) \9 n& m; j+ R- C ECV 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. # |8 o4 y p7 C6 o; y* O- _
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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. ' o, U, }8 b: @7 Z+ k0 M) H7 q
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 5 k. y: l; [" i6 S
/ R2 Q2 E4 b2 @2 i5 Z6 v+ D89 Kate 5 V( z7 u' N/ l) o
60 Val ! b# d b* V) k
39 Zero
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7 [- z& k6 R. |7 E$ M188 a/c : V4 J3 t1 H: |( @* U
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) Q. ~3 K( ~7 p* i126 SBD
% J' n P! A" c3 L% j! Z61 TBD
" r2 G+ r* g3 e: @1 {0 g19 Albacore # n) U3 A0 G/ ?, S( T
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21 Fulmar Q" M+ S" L$ l$ c" k# v5 P7 s
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19 F4F-3 ; ] \4 T4 w) I( h+ \
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The damages for my ships are the following: % A4 c, t& {9 W$ t
; r+ G& X: A2 A+ Z; h3 g3 yCV Formidable 50/69/38
3 L9 J& E6 ^& I1 kCV Indomitable 35/34/42 , Q$ ?& x7 m( v' E) C3 Y
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
1 W, R! z7 G* Y% y3 o, {' NBC Repulse 25/14/10
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9 U L* V0 U4 \CV Hornet 58/89/49
) A- N6 N2 T& H. J2 FDD Lamson 64/19/25
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. |( }. [6 y6 `7 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。6 h! ?5 G1 P7 \0 g) t
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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