South Pac
, c3 s5 `+ W* l; h! v3 X" c' B" d
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. 9 z" [3 p. ^7 j
$ l$ |# ]" D" Z+ y/ c9 f4 ^My planes attacked first. # a; K6 D' [: w X; y: t: g
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! 8 p1 s0 _. l U: s) d
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 8 w7 G9 \( b2 e O) E% M
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... $ {8 u* ^7 X( q: S
5 L. J6 t! x& _7 }5 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.
O/ ?$ H( P; t! i; Q23 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.
( P8 |0 C7 z( ?! LCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
- c+ d' _, G) K$ y$ R, k
. y8 d( ^7 Q& |8 P/ iThe 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.
& R& H8 k- N7 Q& {( c" |CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
& E& a/ }1 y& G }; e: P& [. S3 g: W
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. 7 H0 g& N N. {' R0 q: z: D |( }- Q5 ?
( U. ?+ X5 C' oIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
# M4 c4 j1 Q/ ^( X0 \0 l7 h6 F. m0 b
4 O* s, k3 F$ p0 j& ^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. 5 ~7 Z( o1 A7 A0 ?0 s
1 b& i2 _7 e* A3 v7 V! E$ g6 y1 m7 jThe 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 t4 `2 m( r/ y
' D. r4 a( G, Y+ oThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
" [2 V8 I7 _: VCV 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.
7 k: v8 ^5 R) B2 I6 d) rI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 0 ~( j7 X& o b+ C
- S/ X7 C$ j4 z20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 1 R. H7 ?1 S& L. X
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
+ F& U3 I' D0 P! i* @
; s- U5 ]: s! s, E) f DFifth 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. . e; y1 V+ A/ D6 {3 _/ G* g- B
0 i8 c1 F2 D3 I$ J! oAll this happened in the morning!!
# m9 J8 Q8 W7 _5 E: _8 J+ d4 O7 P# x" M- v6 e4 @( O0 x( F8 G
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. ! Q- A. `! y. g" Q) A% ^
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. / X& b; j1 Q2 p
2 H( \' c! O# e& x6 F
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.
, v2 ]! O4 Q% }) b9 N5 E3 \5 ?
1 F$ _/ ~/ u6 S5 a) h44 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 m; x0 E5 Y# j+ E- y
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. & s! }! f1 ^( N" V, ?
2 J) _2 n( l2 P& H b4 QBefore 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. * J r f n# b+ d) X, [0 v
1 C" @! v& W2 X; ADuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
9 e6 S( @1 E& z+ C! I% V4 p2 k
3 D1 P+ F' X5 J+ B- A( A89 Kate
5 B/ s: |' o3 Z. g* J60 Val
8 B4 Q8 d% o& k5 E' m( |) {39 Zero
; o7 b Y! b. V: |: h1 T7 A. R8 B0 _0 y0 i
188 a/c
- Y( T/ d, @ m/ S6 b: m: t7 X, k. B
; _& {; D3 Y! m: r) `1 v5 c126 SBD
4 v4 R! r( N- W B1 O( l61 TBD ; j6 _7 a, [& V- T
19 Albacore ( D& A" ^$ [) H. q6 Y+ M8 E
5 Sea Hurricane
, a9 N" N7 i' Y, h5 l21 Fulmar . g+ C" c4 y$ _7 E7 d7 n0 ]: z
14 F2A
$ M& f# ]2 p. B2 z! _19 F4F-3
, V" T P! M% S4 y ?24 F4F-4 + T* @+ m* k% E+ f9 y4 A& s
& k, M5 g$ D# ~) [2 A2 G0 U4 A
The damages for my ships are the following:
& G) p" G! A! O- b: L j4 V
3 p$ B5 S% t4 Y/ MCV Formidable 50/69/38 # _) g% ^% w' j1 Q
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 ' }# o8 d$ f1 A% Y8 ^6 z
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 1 S+ `6 y5 Y! m
BC Repulse 25/14/10 0 @$ t) v R6 u4 t7 v( O
0 g9 G3 q! ?* ]5 s$ x2 F9 |
CV Hornet 58/89/49 . B) ]' S# O8 g* q
DD Lamson 64/19/25
& \8 A% C3 d" _8 R: `% A－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－% k9 n* q) @2 n# [8 z
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。
3 Q7 {7 w$ y! G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
| 
