South Pac
' z f3 J- [. I/ Z3 p7 p; B
: H5 j! ~ M9 S7 eEarly 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. # \/ ? C4 i* z
: v- K9 q' k3 S" M+ d$ b
My planes attacked first.
5 R, X% `1 i3 \: _% k9 }: iFirst 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! ' m* S# Q. T, y7 |
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ) F' d4 D9 g- z. B. R* l
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
/ T* P# J ~$ x3 ^- P/ ^+ I+ @8 ~; {' r
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 O) p- [$ a2 N9 f& W8 Q, s* h
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. * `) b' u$ u+ h+ `- m; P' L
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
/ |4 m8 }7 a9 |( s/ \3 c; [% K8 B9 M, r+ y2 P
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. ; ]+ F! [- S/ c6 S9 Q j
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. w$ K! d* D" W6 K, I u
$ B. i# @2 s1 V `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. : A* Y. i; E. b8 g
7 q% q. P3 [, D4 p7 z1 I
It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
- @# X5 ^1 h0 r: V$ s# b( x" `9 ^/ ~, n! V; F) g
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.
) _8 r* o8 R2 P6 d8 @
) D% P$ p% h" B, }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.
! M; T% z2 L% I2 N9 G% h
7 _- v7 `: H8 ^0 j' ]5 `& Y5 xThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
+ \( \6 [2 p9 c- F2 xCV 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.
- G3 X+ d* T; k3 w, T5 T# C7 rI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. / O6 K# S# {: {, h. I
2 ^; }' T2 L- a$ O( ?: `6 g20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. : {( F" s" Y$ h
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
) J0 m) h2 {- a$ a! }* o( g0 W ~5 o$ M; D
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.
8 L+ E3 j- N( ?
& B: D( Y2 d5 G- y. pAll this happened in the morning!!
8 |, s) l$ p% D1 W8 \
0 _9 o+ f) H8 DIn 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. : c4 _" h2 {3 E- K
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. + b. k& _- V D+ W7 Z
* X: t( G& K [8 g! V6 Q. P1 M VThen, 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.
5 M, u; `1 V* U9 e( e
8 \7 W/ ?8 X( j: W) ~* ]3 g9 e! ~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.
( o7 k; ~: ^% c7 U% fCV 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.
/ u9 F- j; V: K5 s& @& a' t4 A% y |4 T3 U
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.
8 K* b9 ~- S! {0 W. E9 M
3 P$ S$ F$ R/ w1 l* j8 YDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 6 P9 u) {, [) L4 l
( `9 }* W* q5 s5 H
89 Kate
. s5 o3 u! w) a2 v, i! o3 K60 Val / V, X% s* G' D* s. f W
39 Zero
' ~+ t! H- m; G! p) T1 J4 ?- S- X$ q* b) D, @5 C
188 a/c $ J+ W( q# M; }, N7 L7 B
# q) X# R( {( |! i* _7 m
9 E2 k$ p5 O, s/ L/ {" c: u! ?' ]1 x6 Z! o
126 SBD . V- I% _" y* S/ e) n
61 TBD : I: `- N! c% L6 @, j
19 Albacore
d$ U4 x- J' X- j5 Sea Hurricane
* u2 Z; J, m T) j* f* T) y/ m21 Fulmar
7 S$ n T, V0 K14 F2A - ^0 Z3 c4 N( {7 H/ L" w% m+ P
19 F4F-3 " ]" R, o1 @5 u) A
24 F4F-4 9 V2 x# @0 z' r ?1 m; p
* p4 [9 i! Y2 o$ @% D. QThe damages for my ships are the following:
: Z$ P( j8 I1 B+ Y5 f) v9 w) K8 C
* |% H7 I( k& {6 u# ?9 rCV Formidable 50/69/38
8 R/ H& N k6 }3 R# i0 }CV Indomitable 35/34/42
/ D' v" N& {5 u& q( u) yBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
8 H/ G |2 a' |BC Repulse 25/14/10
$ K: {- K6 ? i8 ]: @" `; \; ]( Z$ h) J5 i7 P( |+ ]7 V
CV Hornet 58/89/49 5 s8 }- Q! a8 b% X2 X- ]
DD Lamson 64/19/25
" d, f; |. o/ x7 z5 P6 V; E+ q－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
8 c6 a9 I( I* a3 Y2 c3 b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 }6 \; m `) }4 C
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
| 
