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. ' S8 Q) x0 e9 a% V/ \' n. K4 A
2 B( s) d7 i! @$ ~7 p& q' EMy planes attacked first. 6 S6 l+ \+ j9 w, D# ]( q, f
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!
0 w- A9 u2 `- l; H9 @Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ' s5 q/ U% i; M4 B% l& U3 `
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... % p; P; |8 d9 `8 d2 R& c
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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. b' Z4 `8 B. ?8 ?0 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.
, k0 ?* u! Y' M- P; s& j+ mCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 6 ~* A; C7 b0 s' e+ w8 n3 w
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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. 1 _ |" t0 \1 x- g
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
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, \: ]# z5 y/ r5 O: kThere 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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( c: Y/ E( j3 U9 Y! U. X: {$ p. Q( XIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. * u- S2 Z! Y1 ]/ F3 ^4 j/ D
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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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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.
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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.
! p t9 j' A) E4 d" e. MCV 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. % R& g5 x5 i! d
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. / A& d0 X+ y, O x
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. # N" {! I( z9 Z& ]
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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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. . `+ ?$ Z9 g3 i3 k0 ~
* m; a0 ~* c( X U4 X3 H. S# d* [All this happened in the morning!!
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8 L, P& R8 ^4 vIn 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 i5 p$ D e& s( b/ {( s. L
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ' W- |9 Q3 o* n& l" C& ^. }8 ]6 x
0 q8 e( z* Y5 O) EThen, 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. # ^7 {8 F9 T T, i0 b
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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. ; K1 c' P. f% S" g& s
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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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. 4 { _( x- p4 o- M3 n1 J) Y
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 3 x. d( T+ @/ ]4 Z" d8 w4 [) S6 K
+ ]3 p+ Y9 |" o7 [' N# c! z89 Kate - v8 b! e9 T' j) j+ K
60 Val 8 b! q! d2 o1 M; m7 |1 \ n8 }: ?
39 Zero 5 N' u/ O$ g0 \
* A- F* O' ^! Y188 a/c r; N4 P; F; S0 B5 O9 k* L/ K6 A
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: E% ^7 {; v- a' A8 M/ w1 V( m126 SBD ( E* U+ B% ^+ ]4 d+ B( x: G' Q2 W) H
61 TBD ' s, B: y. F- s2 g6 B* D% e8 l
19 Albacore
7 [, S0 b: T6 n: m3 j9 G- O5 Sea Hurricane % u3 _& \" r5 F4 ^8 `/ q! D
21 Fulmar 8 V8 Z( J# f+ A& q
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. e3 h, }2 o% K3 c) ^: r- m$ ^The damages for my ships are the following: 1 _9 g* Y: y: z, K J" ~: X* h
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
4 _ K; U3 |9 n3 G, p8 fCV Indomitable 35/34/42 & {9 [6 Q' U3 l
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
8 E/ r' \/ N) v! x2 G8 A9 _8 \/ VBC Repulse 25/14/10
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% ?. R& D9 ^5 b- h! KCV Hornet 58/89/49
! c* ~2 Q. O& [" C# I2 nDD 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。
( ^8 V- Q( H; M, a. q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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