South Pac
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+ a; ]" J$ b" ~% |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. ' R) n" c1 ?) O- T o! j8 p- \7 g
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My planes attacked first. / {8 x& \/ B3 m2 Q2 E, 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!
/ e5 n4 p, W, d V) s' PAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
% g. P1 Q' o6 X2 c5 QAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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0 o+ d) u$ o' N0 @9 JThe 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. ( ~& ?/ c" v. y* t! s* g
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.
) C% T5 n m$ u" F' L( ECV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. , d2 J, o! n2 p: o
, ^5 K8 Z( H( Z% i1 ^/ HThe 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. 7 X1 |* n `$ C
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 1 |+ w. q* n. Z% C# M7 v" }1 Z
7 z- o1 y! W0 i, WThere 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. . M; U% O8 o# F1 \; c1 D
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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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]( Q( o$ j, a, ], O! I" ?! i3 BThen 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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The 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. ! q) n3 u% _, V& t! R6 x+ P
1 b5 V$ X+ V9 O$ j' X3 u% nThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 1 ~" D, W( I% ?% W8 u; v0 J
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" ~5 _" Y: x! u
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. ) u' I! g4 r* ~& R/ |8 V5 ~
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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 F7 l: z# x1 g4 d
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 5 P* F8 A- [( j+ I e
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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.
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5 Z9 X1 R* N) \% e5 X8 SAll this happened in the morning!!
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8 b! l, }$ A- I+ ]$ \2 M sIn 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. ! B: G4 p& j2 Z
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. / q/ g9 Q( j8 f5 I; l, u" E3 d. j) q
2 A5 W( |6 @( B" k+ J! i( }: mThen, 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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! I2 M+ l( _6 _1 Z. P0 d S0 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.
* D# ?% n) Z' r1 E+ \4 f+ @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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B+ l: j7 j# R: {( i. FBefore 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.
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. L! o- n! h) hDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate ! Y" n& H; k9 P: ]4 o( J& N7 S
60 Val
A2 A7 A; v2 f! o2 m39 Zero
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188 a/c % ?: l" P5 [ t" ]0 T: T
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126 SBD
% C! o$ m' t+ l( c0 v# P61 TBD * S6 f, v# n. S
19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar
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# I: O; ~3 N7 X" s. J' N2 H# R19 F4F-3 ( |( J- `0 K/ d z
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
' X3 D' q# L2 h$ QCV Indomitable 35/34/42 \0 ]+ Y, S3 y3 S3 u# S
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
3 a' Y+ o, A7 TBC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 : G6 }+ \5 H0 F
DD 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。
. ^4 O, R$ p* Z! i) `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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