South Pac 1 r" \3 X2 V! w0 f7 y+ O
, m" O: s. A6 }# }# J" oEarly 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. 8 k/ d2 S" D5 F* P% {4 q
6 K% N2 T5 ~/ i: Y4 C1 w! PMy planes attacked first. 7 Q8 y' H9 e" N* `; Z0 k
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!
. q6 E: V: k7 u' wAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 4 P( B* l& `( K$ `! N
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 4 p6 s3 _( w) d9 I9 H Y6 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.
# _6 J7 v3 y7 v23 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. : ]9 D/ S/ W7 a6 j7 e
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ; t, b. W! ^" ?) h* e; b
6 d! F0 Y! `9 ~& t7 I, Q8 k0 NThe 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. 4 `$ K/ s( l; {, K& ]3 b
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ( { h, T& u' H3 S9 {
5 _; Y: N! Z& G1 t' g* IThere 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. 1 {: y d; |# m; s& h0 |
8 t$ m2 r2 b# ~; X* i) ~0 ~& tIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. " h0 f) |! X4 C# {& w9 {
0 y, p4 `( @+ mThen 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. $ h. w$ D7 v4 w+ \1 h
' Q" s' ]2 a5 E% V+ k! n. HThe 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. , _' C/ q6 }# \. r
: t7 }! j4 V6 S: G3 [1 gThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. : E( `8 ^; m2 V6 m5 U# n
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. 2 }. P! @# w- { |6 M( k
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
: F3 U' | `; T% F$ X3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 1 A+ O9 _5 C8 b' W9 |) j
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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.
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All this happened in the morning!!
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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.
1 o/ o e, ^# \) F* P5 Z- g9 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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3 v# M$ R! _% ^% c* o) nThen, 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. 4 V/ g; N, d& h8 ]; K
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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.
a5 p( Y; J Y8 t2 B0 V% YCV 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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, f4 O$ l% T: FBefore 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. " \+ b' k/ w g, _
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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9 L; h7 c* Y! L6 {89 Kate 4 g! T/ T/ _( A) z* A$ k' D- b
60 Val : A3 x: M x8 U% N
39 Zero
$ y" x. K- z1 ? E1 {) w, t/ s/ l7 n1 d
188 a/c . Q: z6 Z0 N5 R K8 C$ Z( e
) G# X: I& m; d- \5 ]
8 e' G. d: S9 s x$ ?
126 SBD 8 S5 w/ F: E* ]4 j( p
61 TBD
4 K: f7 `' H" E q% E' |& M19 Albacore 9 A' u ]1 h* P7 |
5 Sea Hurricane : |( M1 k! ~' m% R, w" h# _ V. ^
21 Fulmar
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19 F4F-3 $ Y4 N# A' r3 ^7 [+ F
24 F4F-4
/ x' s% P/ F/ q8 M/ H" ], x+ W1 C
% ]0 {2 |" h6 u7 E8 UThe damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
0 Q5 V! _: t& u: n% \CV Indomitable 35/34/42 # \/ K; O' _. P
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
/ @! Q) h; J2 A; `1 HBC Repulse 25/14/10
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9 P) [4 f) Z& n7 y, K& p% X; TCV Hornet 58/89/49
$ O/ J; h; ~6 p3 y6 r2 P# rDD Lamson 64/19/25
$ i$ K* x2 b- A( c: g1 y－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－: x% T9 n4 m6 L
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。1 E* V' L8 E/ q6 j: W4 v6 [
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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