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. ' `- i) z( O3 A) |
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My planes attacked first.
' v( |( _$ 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! $ k3 w. |; m; O- A/ d% k
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. * g$ l. B5 }) i S2 f3 C8 w
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... - L# g ~3 w; a( r, }( ^5 P
/ D) `4 {6 D1 ~7 m2 e" t# X" s( L- TThe 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.
0 x0 r# y& _; [7 c; j5 U23 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.
; b; l& }; C# }: C. q; P8 b( f# nCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. * s7 J* ~( \, Z
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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. ?0 @. }7 c) K3 c% U
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. - N- Z9 L7 C3 y, W8 b% N) _
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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.
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7 b) D& l: G* J+ d3 Q' j6 BIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. + |& C' X7 d8 ~; q% r0 J/ |4 j
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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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" a, t' V1 p' b; o6 aThe 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.
3 o- K: {+ v# l+ h6 v3 s- [) tCV 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. ' u& Y# s: K6 K' h4 o; W
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.
: x& }# A2 D. h0 R4 |3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 5 c( x8 ^8 Z9 D! A6 ]" e# g
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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. , V9 p8 @' a2 n; r$ v0 L3 m7 ^7 l
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All this happened in the morning!!
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d) t, i% d1 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.
' P8 X( i/ Q1 ~2 |. ?8 Z5 ]" t( z+ _; f9 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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# M9 ]% q) I5 M1 s4 A) lThen, 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. : g6 t4 H9 c! Q
+ j8 f" H6 l( ]. L) B. s T$ x44 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.
! k+ @+ h) c m; w0 @& r% {- xCV 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. % h, W6 P' N, y$ w( d* v( h# v& U
* x0 p9 ^* | [. s0 d0 M. cDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate
& s8 x, G( M3 c9 C60 Val
. H6 K0 s7 G* l! K! N9 U: {0 a3 |39 Zero & J3 ?/ w& ^7 z! H2 {( @9 W9 G
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188 a/c ( m$ }8 s0 u& G. B% K
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126 SBD 2 X& e" m8 ]( B/ F0 C
61 TBD 1 e- S/ j" U. q3 L. y& I9 \1 z
19 Albacore
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; D1 F; ]* v9 V21 Fulmar
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# P2 m* n) ? M' Q" ?) o: d19 F4F-3
7 y" Y% x8 X: L* Q `24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
. L( w' o+ }. F( M1 qCV Indomitable 35/34/42
) \5 _2 o# J' F$ D, T2 M. a6 X( UBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 ( j+ @4 w5 L9 n! v _0 \2 ~
BC Repulse 25/14/10 2 w: Y$ @6 g2 O/ w8 R
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 , Y9 I2 ]% y; Q ^" a
DD Lamson 64/19/25 4 e) r% m2 E% ?" d' q- `' T8 u
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
* a, c+ Q: q5 M2 c3 w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。
1 S( M) S; |3 q; {. 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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