South Pac
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8 O+ K! c ~4 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.
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My planes attacked first. 3 D* p0 [2 n8 |4 h, }
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!
9 y6 g3 B$ d$ \/ |5 n, kAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
3 h7 s l2 h* _' L9 jAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... & ^, |6 t" \$ ]
' E [% @5 x3 Y H+ FThe 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. R8 e; F; y2 N; H, }+ w: b
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.
8 [. H+ e( j# @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. - ^ M% `3 {! l0 D: E# m
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. . N2 S/ ?. Q# W/ i6 ^
2 t' T0 W1 n) { b) _1 XThere 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. 3 o/ ]5 A$ B' u* T3 q. s; t" s
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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.
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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. & K" A: t" w6 G; K6 @
8 D3 [4 a% K$ J4 IThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
' k" M8 l! I- A1 DCV 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.
' ]; Z# y, I& f/ f% B2 uI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. e% j( K5 q4 Z- W. s6 I* G
5 c7 U) r, d3 c7 g3 g4 x+ V20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. . |4 o+ Y8 n! v9 k
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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6 z1 M6 V+ M+ o Y, AFifth 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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! y- g* W" ^6 ]' GIn 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.
. r2 t! s( t$ O1 @. o, m. d v9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. % a, F/ z4 J: q
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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.
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7 ^1 e$ I% g5 c# r44 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.
5 W, p, Q+ y4 v 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.
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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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( p8 i: \4 q! I& [" h. ]During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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+ S$ g: ?. A6 K% ~! x89 Kate
6 B: n8 ^: x; _7 X. V2 ~/ v60 Val 1 y- X: u* h1 |& ~
39 Zero 0 K$ y# W$ Z. F* z, k3 k/ w/ j
' K. z; w) z. y; U8 Y) K$ e: I188 a/c
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126 SBD
, c0 y/ j% b7 @" h61 TBD
0 n- p6 h' \. y" l9 [19 Albacore
3 e& n) s4 [" {$ M5 Sea Hurricane
( l- U V* W! Y9 M/ K! M21 Fulmar / s+ B* Z9 ?8 \0 f* k ~0 o7 f
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19 F4F-3 0 I' b& ^* v, w7 K% u/ w# l# X3 w
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 . v6 g% X K7 |7 L0 @- a0 r
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 1 x4 Y% D* s. G& Y2 z7 i6 @! a/ E5 j
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 , a$ ?" k n$ m
BC Repulse 25/14/10 5 D! g/ m. x ]# ?5 y
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 ) [# L6 N( d& [
DD Lamson 64/19/25 9 e0 Q2 ~, e3 g3 W- |! `% R4 a9 t! w
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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。
' \! I) p" d3 M) `4 M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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