South Pac
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Early 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.
1 ?+ n. Z8 e2 O' D) e6 L; B( fFirst 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! ( \2 ~9 y1 I# u( m, J$ ]( L, c
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
+ i) p0 }& J/ e6 r5 O) `" KAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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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.
+ R+ C) u8 d, A23 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. ( C) P) L9 c8 x* |* P9 |; q
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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" ?' O: O' h- t4 q4 R2 ^# [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.
- U# u0 i y6 V7 _+ s) \CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ; B, Q* _( l+ i j" Z
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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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8 g3 `, O4 x$ _' x0 p. I* kIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. + ], \8 {9 Y+ w7 ?
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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. 2 A) H9 `, y1 A
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The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
+ Y/ q( W! @" `2 |$ j" M5 D, 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.
; K+ f/ _) z9 E: ^I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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) n! X; R8 b5 U% [. u, ~0 U20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 9 c1 R3 w8 `. ?! i3 Q* m5 T
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ) h. |5 U" q& _6 f8 C
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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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5 A" M+ ?. f, q2 aAll this happened in the morning!!
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2 E% N8 [, C! u# R6 r8 VIn 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.
?2 b: F# I/ c# z- m9 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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5 F/ i* M+ k! n# q, B PThen, 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. * _2 j+ C# v- \, e" C( S7 h' I
9 `7 F3 Y& B, B44 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.
0 g. k- X/ J! E; Y, G/ eCV 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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: m+ e/ h# l) z- zBefore 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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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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( F9 `6 F2 _/ Y89 Kate
3 M5 ]8 H0 r2 n60 Val
* W2 ^9 G4 M4 X& O39 Zero ! p0 m( B/ W7 k7 g
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188 a/c ( { I; s7 J+ Z: L( N) w' Y
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126 SBD
* X% _; T8 s7 C/ S+ B0 B' G61 TBD 2 z S* t; F* ]: N. t
19 Albacore
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- h9 N; \; s3 y+ J- d! a5 P6 W21 Fulmar , v$ o% S/ o' k
14 F2A
0 y* m( S% N G+ y$ e. K" v19 F4F-3 }5 A# d3 E! x! ?- D4 q7 n( x
24 F4F-4
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' x' K; c$ }1 Y/ V7 Y {: P# C ~% TThe damages for my ships are the following: $ G7 [( ~9 M. A( w
# j" k" r. n/ ^' E3 p' WCV Formidable 50/69/38 A }3 Q# d8 |6 J! I
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 7 d$ H: }. P! `, w. g1 F5 h
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 / T" p$ B% l$ n; E' F. C ~
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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' b: @/ w3 `0 Q) S. oCV Hornet 58/89/49 5 U |. u+ v2 s9 F2 w$ P& Y" q; r
DD Lamson 64/19/25
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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。
- G% { ?4 T. V" Q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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