South Pac
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4 Y& @% M" v& x; ?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. , h/ @) J* d7 v
3 V1 ]/ C# {* j$ wMy planes attacked first.
3 D; q/ U }+ y- H. M# G& z# n) bFirst 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!
4 b+ | s, L9 E! E1 L: b8 iAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. : U; m. |1 m) J5 q. s
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. + V( |0 u$ x( X! g/ f$ y7 b1 z
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. , S# V( S. Z( S5 C0 O% J$ P- p
CV 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.
% T9 g6 O* S. T9 CCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. : g9 \1 \% ~ o$ D
0 |1 T8 S: n9 w1 S: ]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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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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4 p: H! Q C0 k6 mThen 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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+ ^2 E- m, E; P. SThe 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. 2 F, |+ p& r {/ O# y9 i P
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.
! A$ Z5 l+ Q3 @2 ^I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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" ^; o/ O! S: D0 ^- K20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
. m: i" @6 C6 X8 O* i5 {3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 0 z0 t+ M' j# x5 [, j8 n6 R: C
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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. , t8 u% T7 @0 |( J0 L6 v
! k( W w2 ]6 I FAll this happened in the morning!!
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7 X2 M: t! ?( ~+ cIn 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. 5 b3 z- Y+ ^" v" p5 p
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. # ~8 t, \8 V7 R
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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. 2 ^' G+ P5 z7 q6 E+ Z* q+ U
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. 8 h/ X- V+ @7 U5 Y% D8 D
( N! d- o1 {! y% X+ k% bBefore 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. ( L, ?( C, n2 |$ E4 Z! z4 ^& q4 d! s. y
. l/ Q: d2 W |' XDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 1 Z3 W# Z, ~5 W7 s2 Q: l, J
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89 Kate
6 q' I1 P m" B2 y- t6 L60 Val
4 o/ c$ w8 [0 e B8 Z1 ?5 t. O2 k39 Zero " h; [" i2 b% ~$ F9 ]# L9 ?
$ Y9 s- \1 P' K% U188 a/c
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- v/ _0 A: H0 K, b# Y+ ~4 j126 SBD 6 Q, A0 h3 D4 r0 g: Q$ ?6 T- ]# d) a
61 TBD . B3 O5 `2 L4 s$ D G2 [7 N
19 Albacore
4 ~/ E* e7 V8 a5 Sea Hurricane
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14 F2A
6 y% f2 c% C0 L) C3 I% J19 F4F-3 5 p+ a* Z6 P1 Z: ]* U6 {% \
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: & W+ t) P, X1 G- V: c
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
3 y n7 M/ o# R, b5 `7 [4 GCV Indomitable 35/34/42 3 @8 R+ @3 @0 b& y
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
- z1 `0 a+ g; |2 hBC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
5 }, d* D. t9 j' p: B+ pDD Lamson 64/19/25 ; M/ _8 m4 }7 }
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7 i; M) L1 {0 i3 [8 y2 j* ?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。% X- D. z1 I/ V7 y, T* v
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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