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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. 9 H% v0 E! i# j! Q" n4 x
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My planes attacked first.
: J$ R% V$ w0 g: L3 dFirst 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! ' m2 i4 d: D5 B; B7 ]
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. - [& E6 n9 _. R* }3 Y \
Ah, 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.
( N/ R) x' v3 C) c p* [1 k0 @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.
' o* a4 P( ^- E/ d4 H- }; DCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. " j c" |4 R }' ~( a$ c
+ d4 S3 {( \# A! B/ w9 \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. & P" J( R1 W0 T( A7 C9 A
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. - {& N& i8 q. R U3 x, k
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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. 2 S9 X+ b- Y% m' ^$ C
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. . P1 F% Q* j- g- w( j
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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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' H5 F" W/ [' d& [& {4 AThe 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. ( }1 X- r$ X* A/ f' P
2 q. h K5 s& |* W3 l9 [The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. & T; E0 q9 D6 L6 L: I
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.
9 V, ^! D- `( hI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. ) y7 M R& K0 E- V1 W5 ~
8 p! p; Z+ r: |, t1 s7 A20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. , t- Q+ N# t t0 J5 s* h+ J
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. + D2 {# ~% e- N: B7 q' D
5 A# }$ u& ]+ F5 k' }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. % N; N: A9 h" E e$ t
# i7 j$ j( A% e1 M6 C) P5 _+ G5 yAll this happened in the morning!! 1 z' c7 i( H) T. h& B# S- ~
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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. 8 Q- B& R2 {+ E y$ I3 T+ `) D
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ' ~- c, Z8 ]. [ p) w* @2 U4 d
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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. , y2 Z; H" E% c8 a. c% F
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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.
" ^, S& g- _! @' o- q& s7 vCV 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. : C; A0 X5 Q/ `" d, A- P; D
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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. " a! _) Y5 k C$ f5 V7 R6 ~1 i/ M
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. % W3 P/ b* b* L' J# n- g
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89 Kate
) R; c$ K/ J7 r' S6 B0 E0 K1 R60 Val
4 N1 k8 G: S8 y/ s N7 d" y39 Zero 2 R) D7 L! r0 E* o* H& k0 {, l
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188 a/c # c) e' O* M3 n4 v' S7 u
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126 SBD 7 z4 X% B" t' j8 \$ g
61 TBD 2 B7 G+ L$ A$ I9 N% x
19 Albacore
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: L: h2 D7 i0 l; U1 D, g21 Fulmar
$ V2 E8 o: {2 H: d14 F2A
7 i; h5 c6 ?1 r2 V$ @& S- X19 F4F-3
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6 n1 i" f+ l- ]The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
* e; a. G8 K$ O! n# vCV Indomitable 35/34/42
E. @' w9 J( m" L7 Y5 S! Q7 nBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 : G" y5 m' Z8 O- y% [, s
BC Repulse 25/14/10 - `# k+ M) L. Y+ @* P
" H- j0 j4 W, ?: CCV Hornet 58/89/49 3 U {! r" y# N8 {
DD Lamson 64/19/25 0 o: s+ I+ s) j0 n
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
+ i1 v+ Z3 A; C8 ~9 _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。: w+ x! ~# A8 @% I9 a' [0 Z' D3 j, s! 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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