South Pac 4 b# g/ o. T1 m; d
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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. 5 {' K% [7 V, d8 ]3 [% A9 }
. P9 E8 v* t+ `6 @ NMy planes attacked first. 8 z/ |' Y% X v% B
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! 2 b) K- w0 Y3 N
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
) }2 |! j' w) C/ d$ j7 P, a3 SAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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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.
( M+ u8 \; D) d# x, E23 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.
5 [& E. z5 [0 j' hCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. " s9 L" D1 {2 A: o5 d) q
( F( {( M/ ~( P( C9 B5 KThe 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 i8 W/ |0 ?# O' |+ T4 Z
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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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. ! Y8 \" @& A' L2 p
) P1 D# b+ X* S7 p& C$ `' z$ WIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. " V- W9 |, c! X6 K0 B
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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. 2 ?! n' W; r1 q( R
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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.
; S) Q4 _0 L% OCV 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. 0 J9 i3 R- U* ?8 w/ T1 q. J$ b! u! @
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. . F) D1 _" c, F1 D2 T* u! K/ i
3 t1 g1 M) P. {0 W, W3 _. ~4 _' B20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. , g3 [, X- G1 F: |+ ?
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 0 h; o" B9 Z! _
- {- t# [1 b; S2 X/ e6 CFifth 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. 4 J9 q( x$ d" X# @
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All this happened in the morning!! ! i/ A) q* K T4 y
4 w! y ?4 e* t( tIn 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. 5 V& m W7 X" ]! o" 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.
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+ {* x4 N& a9 I" ?7 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.
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4 A+ W0 X$ ?& {" X6 g! G# [+ J" S44 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. ) d3 c- h6 w) c
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. : k4 D& @9 j8 P' L
4 V4 X! E! g' {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. 7 g* R- l/ ?5 }. _4 G/ I+ }7 R
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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; n- U& U8 @% f& l6 @: g89 Kate
& K$ p; }) I, k* A( O. b% v60 Val : E: m" C. N0 d6 }& M( p5 Y# {0 Z: o
39 Zero
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188 a/c
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2 @, I: T3 V1 z3 A( W
; |# P* ~9 _8 g" |# c% B4 e126 SBD 5 x. R y% {$ k7 i6 X8 r& O
61 TBD
1 M* K9 s! e. J; W' u19 Albacore
' r0 @+ J8 f% g' e, ?/ m5 Sea Hurricane % F2 F" x0 g) d, o4 N) K( @! {4 l
21 Fulmar + T O, S/ f. C8 ~$ Z) k1 Y' R
14 F2A
& o- V1 c; t6 ?0 n. t) J/ }6 E19 F4F-3
" x C5 ?3 [% ~0 F) ^5 v+ d24 F4F-4 U8 d/ b3 n3 h* Z) r
/ p$ i. U; n5 O: }The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 + e! S6 T. ^! [- Y6 ?. ?0 d
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
) Z5 l+ H1 N Q$ [) n) y4 x p/ `BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 0 S% R$ n' H2 q' i$ H7 U
BC Repulse 25/14/10 8 w6 W7 J( N u
& W9 O; Q) g' Y4 e tCV Hornet 58/89/49
% f2 R* j8 J5 }# `' XDD Lamson 64/19/25
9 ~, B$ s; x/ |! u2 G3 L－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
/ k9 e+ I- V' n" B4 ?6 }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。
& R2 u: M/ K; T* k7 D+ Z9 ?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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