South Pac + ?. }6 G9 Z ~3 ?. j
; S% E9 I; v3 vEarly 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. 7 \) {' k- X0 O$ T; C
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My planes attacked first. ' @5 k0 f, }7 `' m P
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!
; p' v3 C9 y1 j, W7 BAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. # L% z; c% q3 ?# A- {: K; R8 c
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... % s) }5 |* I/ q6 p9 G! B0 m; h' I
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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. 1 A* m' `1 S$ [0 K6 w2 J
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.
i7 U# a: r& n# n$ c9 [CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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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.
$ \6 ^- a \5 i- ]) M% gCV 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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: p6 f! ]" F! G" Y# Z$ d% E; l+ QIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. - a, w8 l9 _7 o+ f5 G N
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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. 4 c* H( Y' K+ v0 `: J
" U6 p$ ^9 S1 s# L- V" {- \! yThe 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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4 e8 K) ~; g: R* a; J* b; I& ZThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
' W, S6 w3 ?$ K W6 g: r5 [! `0 ICV 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. . ?; U. ?2 b" v5 p
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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' \( i& i+ `$ Q4 n& \. |20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
x, j$ g, w' G% N# d: G7 Y3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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8 N S7 g: ?' `* T3 e( BFifth 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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All this happened in the morning!! 7 y9 _# Z7 Q+ z
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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.
4 |. f5 y& @* d5 y* m, X" [9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. , }0 ~/ `0 u* h9 x% W- X9 Q. O
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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. & S! _ d0 s' S$ s
5 m. p6 y( M0 L; t& X6 ?8 ]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.
w# C p; h. E" 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. ) p! c) l4 p0 c* I& x
2 `9 A3 E( H" R* [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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$ s: l+ }$ V7 i; }- f2 ^/ _During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate
8 g1 w1 j' x1 C60 Val ' h* f( a! Z5 n- D c$ }9 m {* s: |
39 Zero
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6 _2 t# I- N6 v" `- z. D. x6 q188 a/c 7 r4 u6 }; Y! p9 }/ O ~& o B
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126 SBD
3 J% } d1 T8 I" y61 TBD
b4 L& a9 Q8 V* o19 Albacore 9 Q' N1 b j ?$ e
5 Sea Hurricane
9 J- t ^! k' M3 F! m* E' Y21 Fulmar / r- U9 J- d$ `% U
14 F2A ( Q) m; D8 X* c3 P2 W" d m O
19 F4F-3
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The damages for my ships are the following: 0 j; n2 _9 l3 C9 \
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
7 J2 K5 a+ L! ?9 f+ N3 D/ xCV Indomitable 35/34/42 9 I s' ?9 {3 C. K- v5 u) J. p0 ]2 h
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
: L) ~2 Z% s3 y" I! YBC Repulse 25/14/10 % R5 Q" e! _; I: G6 U
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 & {/ a. l# Z! a7 n4 w/ V. F
DD Lamson 64/19/25
$ Y5 W, [% B% z－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－* k1 ~/ ~# ~0 F2 F
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 m; D1 r7 k: |$ U. E
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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