South Pac
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# a, ?3 @) H+ D0 k' W& h: i9 pEarly 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. 8 f2 a# E, j7 D" G
5 e/ z* p& x! R/ ]% eMy planes attacked first. , i! q& t/ `. D- 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! % r& v" I' O" h0 T W4 H v& i9 r
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
8 u3 h/ C' T$ C, LAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... 8 |6 s- q K c3 [/ A6 T) \! J6 N
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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.
9 w' O* v& N2 G% K3 L. } t- f& F23 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. 8 {/ _9 Y8 p5 @2 e7 ^& a
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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6 G. w: i7 Z! i4 c1 _7 |& ~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.
6 w1 l' N* q5 X9 SCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. * M, u6 n7 O9 ~4 O) E
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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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Z7 E x" I2 ^, Q7 t' PIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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6 [# p: \5 y6 G" h3 DThen 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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0 l& N9 [" d% t2 M. Z2 x( uThe 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. ' F5 ?( X7 X( [( }& ]
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. 4 f; I2 K, |+ Z! H I) N2 n
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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2 P6 V+ a& N8 @7 G( z9 ~1 U1 I20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
9 `6 [# E ]; g1 x6 ]( p3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. * u: ]0 X/ u0 r5 P8 ] c$ t3 H9 i
9 L7 L% f) D* D$ q6 Q; h/ z5 zFifth 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. + @- Z# L) U! v( a
/ e) N# e! q) v% GAll this happened in the morning!! 7 L* O1 a5 s+ h! G! j4 {
) [- U$ L, o0 T' e$ `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. % S/ Q1 M* h4 @ r3 }% z6 H* q
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.
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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. ( e- f# v* y4 k+ [1 `6 ^: l. i
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. ' _ W7 v6 ~+ o# \! c5 }
^8 ~' ~- Q0 |! I/ EBefore 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. ( m, _. h3 T4 p0 |/ d `! u
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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) V" D6 j- ~$ k1 ?' _$ V89 Kate ! O/ K7 P0 L* D. S
60 Val
5 ]! N) j3 M8 f39 Zero
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8 T6 s/ E' [2 K" j" w& H- r* q188 a/c . ? `7 C1 q ~5 L5 F$ a. ^: b: a. q
4 ~1 T+ I# U! R* W7 }
6 z; q9 ]6 _* v$ C; m% }+ x126 SBD # U0 |- k1 n1 N- p
61 TBD ) {' n; L0 I- k; p7 C
19 Albacore
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) ~$ G8 ]. o9 A# O# F1 }21 Fulmar - ^# i# p- I' y4 ?- g) C
14 F2A ) V7 y" i# @* ^! N/ [8 M2 K
19 F4F-3 . V8 S: }# I& [' m1 Q' j/ f
24 F4F-4 1 e4 j( s N$ Y0 q' P" x0 P4 H- t
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The damages for my ships are the following: ( A! V& n; F7 n: t3 N5 C% k9 e* u
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
+ b8 E0 m4 m0 X! W3 TCV Indomitable 35/34/42 5 l4 @9 n8 F! Y: S
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 : l% W- A+ c# g! \2 `. f$ ?5 R
BC Repulse 25/14/10 $ ?6 @: p+ S: Y6 T, M6 }4 T- r
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 1 S! V: S; A; n: E& m( _ B
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。6 k- s$ H _; @( e1 R+ U
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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