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& ~3 J1 e6 G! t8 `. BEarly 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. " ~* Y6 ^8 K1 d! b1 d
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My planes attacked first.
1 J6 Z' \' m. v* O' N, M& HFirst 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!
' V/ }6 Q7 K! M/ G3 KAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
/ t# I% r1 J5 K+ M* IAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... . Y3 X4 t3 y* C0 Y7 J
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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. & @7 M: H; L7 o5 y! f6 ?/ [% T F( _' a
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.
! W, ?# y- R6 _8 x% O" ZCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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: K; m$ n9 [, [ J1 rThe 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. $ g0 D9 G( R# K% s( ?1 b9 m
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 9 f1 k/ O5 w; M! K8 x& ~% s5 S
; Q' S) r4 A" [9 g: 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. / S1 F9 R. b& {) g: Y
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 0 B# r# F( M7 \/ W$ y- _
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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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. V# i) p O7 bThe 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. 1 s2 j& G8 ]+ k2 @8 q
- p# |/ { m2 [! Y7 |& {' u4 uThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
5 D1 F1 B/ w! ^5 |6 aCV 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. 5 B& ^8 {* l( x: g- s) ]1 K
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 9 t! c! O3 N* `7 |, I+ m3 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. 4 A& P3 p( s- n8 N4 ^0 V
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 7 j2 R, g/ a; b
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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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: V' N f$ `* Z: e+ Z+ b1 c9 oAll this happened in the morning!! " w0 Y/ B5 ]! a( m- ?7 j+ ]
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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. 4 \' s; S8 B0 d5 R& c
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. - w4 ~* \1 z& r2 d$ b* N
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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.
8 J$ _4 J$ c7 N* J; DCV 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. 3 ~- d* P) q' i# c! R2 l
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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2 k& p3 q6 W( x1 T1 R89 Kate ) x% N( @# m0 U) d' U; X
60 Val
7 r: x- g* U7 h& Z39 Zero
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188 a/c
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126 SBD 0 p; M* f, {" a* T* L7 ^' o
61 TBD ; N& ]- E- t5 c0 I3 F o# R6 x
19 Albacore 5 T% K2 t3 J; I" d6 }/ A
5 Sea Hurricane
) Q! S0 r: M" k. E |21 Fulmar 0 h$ c, S: F' z& W
14 F2A
( K: x5 k- k8 K- `& K' g" ~19 F4F-3 ) _% e( N4 J0 n0 h8 O
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
; T) l- T( F3 iCV Indomitable 35/34/42 # p. N5 k3 a" e$ M, X7 J" O
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 ; F) J, K3 z7 @7 H& c
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
. r" c5 L% ?: s- KDD Lamson 64/19/25 # }0 [2 P4 P+ Q4 y, Q: s. m! z
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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。, a6 u+ N$ `4 b* _6 O
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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