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8 Y5 Q5 x8 L. J& v1 C) r' ^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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6 q" o; F0 D) jMy planes attacked first. ( N" ?2 H% f& `/ [
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! . z1 w7 g6 O, ~
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
! {/ Q, w) D cAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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$ d( ~8 G$ Q3 d! EThe 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. # P7 Q% m% r/ U. A+ Y( K5 s
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. # ~' y% z- q$ W7 C) N' X
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.
; U, _5 M, w* c! |) S8 w, tCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 7 l% s% J% L( k6 f
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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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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.
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: b9 ^! ~7 k/ IThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
* o1 V$ R J* f. Y: O& y# lCV 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. " R( L! u; a; x" e3 u
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. 2 t% s9 O( }. l9 n
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ; R5 B. \( H) z0 p8 @2 I; ]
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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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$ r; y( a$ N) O5 o, N. j, j5 iAll this happened in the morning!!
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9 e; u4 F1 J1 rIn 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.
* I. H+ h" O8 V' X) F" I7 W9 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* s& p& y( u4 ^' B; p+ D$ }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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: R; q/ e# U4 R% D0 x44 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 p3 R: Y2 M% pCV 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. 2 e" G0 s3 T- [0 `9 `. z q% {
2 X1 X/ e$ G: C# q) CBefore 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. 9 S! ?. `7 H7 B, G, m
6 I5 q% D& K2 M* l6 F89 Kate
# `: t, Q# y5 k0 g5 Y60 Val
( M" }" i- _$ G39 Zero
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188 a/c
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* I' p" Q, S0 Q: F$ G+ A. O126 SBD / y. ]5 Y9 M( p6 f. R: j i
61 TBD
; w& Z( c, M0 K8 [8 N. N19 Albacore
/ X& u% _; T: r5 Sea Hurricane / B* q1 r# h1 b5 w. D9 O7 W
21 Fulmar 1 Z4 d5 s- {' X& u, i* d; o
14 F2A
0 v3 H5 h2 g+ o: G6 q" L7 [6 d19 F4F-3 1 E1 p/ [1 R% V9 W# @1 I
24 F4F-4 ! K0 w. p6 ~/ o0 y9 N7 W6 @4 i
% j" b! R6 p" x# ]% a' ^The damages for my ships are the following:
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- Z# ]4 P z: `& y; A0 U9 g! Y$ `+ yCV Formidable 50/69/38
! ^9 S/ a. m4 j$ B7 P/ ~7 b# _CV Indomitable 35/34/42
- m7 a( O/ f- K4 t, L2 f2 t9 e, PBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 3 Y2 I/ ~& V/ g) F2 h
BC Repulse 25/14/10 ( k& P5 ~; S# |/ ]" U$ ~6 u- [
P0 K0 w$ U, k$ N$ i) U- sCV Hornet 58/89/49
+ h! h5 w# {7 i* l( fDD Lamson 64/19/25
, M* p( E/ o: d9 v6 }( P$ v4 m# ~/ v－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
* R7 _4 M: n6 v O4 o5 q' E. x2 n6 a( p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。
- U3 r6 D5 L1 T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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