South Pac ; k, B# G; C: Y5 W% z' ?! _& K
# ]- W; n' O- M2 tEarly 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. 9 F- ^2 V& A* S% f) I+ J: t0 G
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My planes attacked first.
# P2 f8 |+ v' C6 qFirst 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!
- Q+ m' K1 y& ~9 [Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ' q C8 o8 x* z% `
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... p8 T0 v2 y1 }4 g! S$ @
1 B _/ B, b- Z# UThe 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.
3 R" Y% b/ v2 ?7 s7 U" i7 [ C23 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. " m% o: p \- {4 a
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ! F5 p% i( n8 t
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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.
5 \; s! Z- S, D2 ?" zCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ( v& }. a9 c& r
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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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: K, ~( e/ x/ x+ U/ @/ wIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ( D* A! Y% P, U+ U& q
, i. M O" d) j# ^$ j) nThen 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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( t* W" {$ j0 d/ x' |! I: X1 ZThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 7 b7 b- L7 X" @: x& k7 ~
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.
3 n; E( ^) i+ JI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. + B' s" e* Q0 w$ |( R 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. . f7 Z! y5 v& a1 \
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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# B" }5 Z5 @4 dFifth 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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" E4 W1 `, s1 I3 b) R+ `All this happened in the morning!! ; i/ d9 e% K- B5 d) w
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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.
7 w' B5 E7 E# [$ l9 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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7 y3 q9 i& x3 }; x' lThen, 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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9 s. b. r% Q2 w, b* Z44 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.
* O% L6 S P3 v7 N( KCV 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. 3 e; ]) w% D+ S* U# \7 e& s$ e- j
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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.
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1 r+ q( b" W% }7 JDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. / \4 N- Y& w& K1 }1 ?2 \/ l
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89 Kate 0 C& s2 i6 I4 k) d3 e
60 Val / c+ c( i" w; k
39 Zero
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! e2 x U. G, A188 a/c
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; {2 v6 z, Y; Y; y126 SBD
: J% e8 A: X1 T" X& U- A61 TBD
8 `) {1 G6 ~7 i& H) z, x19 Albacore
8 V Y6 O6 S7 v3 W5 Sea Hurricane ^: n5 x, i% T8 v
21 Fulmar - J* D$ j/ f& `9 h
14 F2A & O! Q; \0 m9 _/ x7 o
19 F4F-3
5 E1 y r3 p7 @- M6 W2 m24 F4F-4 1 b9 I3 H1 S2 M
% d) _7 y: H* D/ r: I3 D; zThe damages for my ships are the following: 7 K: m# I, |5 l2 i* h. I% Q+ D
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 4 j5 D! e: j/ b8 G$ ~
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
' ~7 ~3 d- j* L+ p V) b2 CBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 " }5 I5 S* u: \+ H% a# `
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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4 {% y5 e9 |& R7 ]CV Hornet 58/89/49 : S0 m8 n, q2 l, ~+ p
DD Lamson 64/19/25 ) _- s% _1 C6 N5 m
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
. T5 T: _1 R9 P V% }4 Q# a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。3 J$ u0 C1 _" H6 P
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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