South Pac
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; u7 F- E0 j7 L zEarly 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. 6 w z/ o/ s2 V5 ?1 ?9 R
) g2 j& b9 I- T5 ?My planes attacked first.
5 O3 J- K0 t; G+ ?% x4 h9 bFirst 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! : X# p$ r& K! V! b. i* h
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
" V. P3 }7 f0 m! ?6 j4 s# MAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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. p K& l5 \. TThe 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. ( O( Q1 F. g+ O( E8 J7 U, q |
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.
7 j: l, s( ^2 CCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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' o5 a7 V9 }3 d: L6 K q2 MThe 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 Q+ H3 n+ ]. eCV 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.
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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5 G1 \5 {" f/ x+ }9 D; `: BThen 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. $ j \% q, C% w
' m# J2 G" `$ j3 w' _; TThe 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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) i, D, T3 G; M2 rThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 5 C- }, S- g8 I" l9 j' p0 r1 P4 J
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.
. K4 k( U1 s mI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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- c0 e9 C' ?# G/ Y3 l20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. / R9 y" A& O8 C) A
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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& l& E8 k; H% K4 vFifth 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. 3 x8 L( L2 Y8 o2 H
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All this happened in the morning!!
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1 C& c9 |4 C4 v0 r7 c8 }& o- IIn 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. ! \( |8 P( b/ 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. # V1 `9 O+ Z$ K7 S$ s+ B+ b& @
% t% I) t' S5 a% KThen, 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. 7 U4 p% A& w5 K; S
' {2 d( G7 V) m$ Z9 c3 i44 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. 6 c4 E0 ]1 r9 \
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.
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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. 5 F9 ?2 s4 @4 u' b- [" V" _
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. # }' i. z" Z' i+ @# l8 n, t- G
" Z* e/ U8 M' H/ I5 ]8 M4 ^89 Kate
/ m n2 P) X- h) [60 Val
/ {, ^0 T" C% P* A- O5 [39 Zero $ F# Z+ I6 l! L. M4 b4 T& S5 D g2 _
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188 a/c - Q8 g/ L: y* ~
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126 SBD 4 u8 Y0 H7 y3 ^* I, _' G; f$ W
61 TBD ' u# T; e2 I4 p8 M6 N. S
19 Albacore
7 G. f) M& i: w/ g5 Sea Hurricane
. s5 [. ?* y( N, L$ C21 Fulmar
5 W3 O+ m. ~) \6 `7 z/ i3 U14 F2A
6 [. i) e" B+ a19 F4F-3 ; W% E* ^* a5 n \0 v% z' Z! M2 O
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The damages for my ships are the following: ! K( s8 x! W1 g6 e# F/ `
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
4 u8 Y+ a- u+ x9 `) B6 hCV Indomitable 35/34/42
7 n& u/ E0 e' w+ Q$ `BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
' C6 z: N, ^" Z% q1 Y0 l6 NBC Repulse 25/14/10
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( z% y( S" }+ o& B: D6 JCV Hornet 58/89/49 ) ]* X- R, a; z( q' ^
DD Lamson 64/19/25
9 }) A4 A0 l/ e0 D) o( r* A& s－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
& m `/ ]# Y" D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。$ Y! O" I( W" D) A' y- z
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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